'Well, he didn't say f*** off' - Ireland boss on talks with Chelsea-bound Liam Delap

The 42

a day ago

HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON HAD spoken about a handful of his Republic of Ireland players for the upcoming friendlies with Senegal and Luxembourg when conversation naturally turned to someone who has yet to have any involvement with the Boys in Green.
Step right up Liam Delap.
On a day when the Ipswich Town striker agreed a £30 million (€36m) move to Chelsea, informing the likes of Manchester United, Juventus and Newcastle United that their sales pitch was not sufficient, Hallgrímsson confirmed that they, too, had sat with the England Under-21 international to assess the lay of the land.
The 22-year-old is still eligible for the upcoming U21 European Championships and will be part of Lee Carsley's squad for the tournament in the coming weeks. 'That is his focus at the moment. What will happen after that we will have to wait and see,' Hallgrímsson said.
A senior pathway to the Ireland team, following in the footsteps of his father Rory, was made clear to him.
'Liam has good qualities, everybody knows that. We have sat with him, yeah. Just told him we would love to have him in our camp. But, like I said, the focus in the [England] under-21s.'
Given he is a player who has progressed from Under-16 up with England and his club career is on the rise after a breakthrough season in the Premier League, the obvious question for the Ireland boss was whether Delap showed any interest in switching.
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'Well, he didn't say f*** off,' Hallgrímsson said, a deadpan delivery followed by a laugh. 'We want the best players available, always playing for us. Others might have other opinions.
'It is up to him. These questions you need to ask the player himself, not me. We always want the best players.'
Attracting a player like Delap would be a coup, significantly bolstering options ahead of a World Cup qualifying campaign which the Ireland boss remains confident can end with reaching north America next summer.
'I think we have the material to qualify, sure. I think I have, again, from experience, have qualified with less talent than we have here,' the former Iceland boss said.
'So that's my take on this question. I know what you're getting at. Obviously, we would like more players to play at a higher level. And I think more players will play at a higher level. They're still not peaking in age and all of that. So I'm pretty confident that we will have more players playing more minutes in the top leagues.'
After Seamus Coleman was forced to pull out through injury, Robbie Brady is the only player in the squad for the upcoming friendlies who was part of Euro 2016.
If Ireland fail to reach the World Cup it means the country will have to wait until Euro 2028 – as one of the co-hosts – to play at a major international tournament. That 12-year-wait will be the longest since first making it to the European Championships in 1988.
'I can only say from my experience, once you have smelled it, you know how big it is and you would want to go again and again and again. They know that and we need them to spread that around the young players, just how massive it is and how fun it is,' Hallgrímsson said of reaching a tournament.
'These are the moments you remember when you stop playing. To share that experience is so important. I have spoken about Robbie [Brady], how good he has been since I came in, in the absence of Séamus, him and Doc (Matt Doherty) have needed to step up in the leadership role.
Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson speaking yesterday. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
'It's not only to qualify, it's the two months of being together that will continue to grow the team. That's not spoken of, but it's one of the reasons why it's always the same teams qualifying. They spend that valuable time together that other teams don't get.
'That is the valuable time for national teams, to be in camps in finals, it's something we really need at this moment.'
Coleman's availability is also a necessity for Hallgrímsson, who believes some players might have called it quits at international level after dealing with some of the injury issues he's had.
'I think that is just an example of what kind of person he is, even though through this many players would probably have stopped. But he pushes himself always to the limit and he expects the same from others. And that's why he is so important for this young squad to grow.
'And just believe in his qualities. He's still in the Premiership and wants to be in the Premiership. Some players would have lowered maybe the standard around. So, but it just shows his mentality that he knows his quality and he knows he is helping a lot. I know Moyesey (Everton manager David Moyes) well and he respects him so much. So, no, it's big up for him, like we say in Jamaica,' Hallgrímsson said, smiling with the reference to his last job before coming to Ireland.
'We're selecting him (Coleman) even though he has little playing time. We've been in contact, so he knows our thoughts and we would like to have him. To have experience like him and to have leadership skills like him would be really important once you qualify for the World Cup, for example. So hopefully two more years.'