Fear of more retirements loom
Fear of more retirements loom
Brian Kerr will seek reassurance from some of his longer serving squad members that they will not follow the lead of Dean Kiely and announce their retirement from the international scene.
Kiely’s shock announcement on Friday has raised question marks over some of the more senior members of the squad who have seen little action since Kerr took over the role as Irish manager. Gary Kelly, Ian Harte and Jason McAteer have all been fringe players since Mick McCarthy stood down last year and Kerr is believed to be worried that these senior pros could follow Kiely’s lead and retire from the Irish set-up. The Irish manager has publically stated that he doesn’t believe that there will be further retirements.
“I’m not too worried about anything like that,” stressed Kerr. “I think the response in the matches so far has shown that isn’t the case so I’ve no problems on that score.
“Ian played for me in Scotland and then there was an awkward domestic situation which made it impossible for him to travel to Georgia and Albania. Jason and Gary have been injured so I don’t know how you can read anything out of that.”
Nevertheless, it is believed that Kerr will speak to the three players to reassure them that they have a vital role to play in the Euro 2004 qualification bid.
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