Read the latest YBIG blog from Ireland fan Bob Bashford...aka Roger Milla and the forty thieves
Clinton Morrison's omission from the Ireland panel named by Giovanni Trappatoni for the Serbia game was in my opinion a glaring one. Since he was named to the Irish team by Mick McCarthy Clinton has served the green jersey well, amassing quite a few goals, if not quite enough caps for my liking. Having been dropped completely by Steve Staunton he was once again overlooked this time round and I think this is a mistake. As far as I am concerned he is ahead of Andy Keogh, Darryl Murphy and Shane Long, all of whom have potential but none of whom have a scoring record in the green akin to Clintons.
Clinton's first game for Ireland was an U-21 appearance against Portugal. He had come to the fore during a succession of excellent goal-scoring performances for Palace, particularly one against Liverpool and after a bit of faffing about as regards his English and Jamaican credentials he finally decided to pull on the green. To the shouts of "Clinton for Ireland" he entered the fray and then got his first full cap against Croatia where he came on and scored a tap in to enter the pantheon of those scoring in their first game (yes Bernie Slavin, I'll never forget you).
Clinton did enough in this period to make sure he was brought to the world cup in 2002 in Asia. I recall two good performances against Nigeria and Denmark in the preceding friendly's especially what looked like a good understanding with Stephen Reid. Not to mention his little turn against the Danes which was played for months as the intro to the showboat on Soccer AM. Clinton saw no action during the world cup but memorably he was introduced to the joys of Gaelic football. When asked if he liked it replied that he did and when told it was an amateur sport he said he would play it for free. This we cannot doubt as he actually played for Crystal Palace for free at one stage when the club was having financial difficulties.
Brian Kerr had great faith in Clinton and it was during his tenure that he became a full member of the squad often vying with David Connolly for the right to partner Robbie Keane. Although quite tall and a decent header of the ball Kerr preferred to go with Gary Doherty rather than Clinton as Robbie’s partner and it did get him out of jail a few times , most noticeably at home to Albania. But Clinton nonetheless was able to score a few vital goals and personally I remember the one in Basle with great satisfaction having left the St. Jacob Park fairly dejected only a few months before. Sadly Brian Kerr was unsuccessful and we never made it to Germany for the world cup. Steve Staunton entered the fray and Clinton exited stage left.
Fast forward to the present day and he is currently training with Chris Coleman's Coventry City ( the 4C's ) on a training camp in Italy and Coleman had this to say about him.“ He scored 17 goals last year and knows the division. If we can get him it would be great." Let’s compare him to his rivals for that 3 striker spot as I think we can definitely say that barring a serious drop in form that the Keane/Doyle axis is our preferred and strongest partnership.
First of all Andy Keogh , currently Trappatoni's golden boy due to some good performances in the Portuguese training camp and then a face-saving equalizer at the death in Croke park in May. Trap was turning back to say "I told you so " to Tardelli as regards Keoghs inclusion and lets hope that Keogh continues in the same vein this year but , and its a big but, although Keogh scored 13 goals last season ( 4 less than Clinton) Mick McCarthy this season has him competing for places with Ebanks-Blake ( championship top scorer) , Iwelumo ( bought from Charlton) , Vokes ( bought from Bournemouth) and not forgetting to mention young Stephen Ward our B international who will be looking to make the break through. It looks a pretty tough assignment for Andy next season and his grip on the third berth might become tenuous indeed.
Next up Shane Long at Reading, he certainly is a kid with a lot of promise but has he lived up to it so far? Statistics would say so. 8 caps and 3 goals for Ireland and 60 games in the last 3 seasons for reading is excellent for a young lad learning his trade. He was very poor on his full debut against San Marino and was outstanding when the Danes were taken apart in Aarhus last August. But to my mind 8 goals in 3 seasons for reading is not the stuff of our third choice striker, not when you consider Clintons (yes admittedly a much older and more experienced player) 41 goals for Palace in the same period.
Finally Darryl Murphy , what a goal he scored for Sunderland this year against Wigan and lets hope he can build on his second premiership stint and on the three goals he scored this season to go on to much better things. He looked quite lively when introduced by Trappatoni but once again I fail to see what he currently offers Ireland that Clinton Morrison cannot. The facts are that during Stan’s tenure Clinton was left out in international wilderness, but that at 29 he is now at his peak and has an international record unmatched by any of his competitors for the squad position of third choice striker. Goals away from home are something of a golden chalice for our teams and Clinton has provided competitive ones against Switzerland and Israel and also a non competitive one scored in Hampden Park. I for one will be singing a few Clinto tunes in Montenegro, the old standard “Clinto for Ireland “and a newer one “All we are saying is give Clint a chance”.
