Alan Browne has admitted the Republic of Ireland lack a “world-class figure” to lead them back to international football’s promised land.
A poor start to the Nations League campaign under new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson has left disappointed fans harking back to the days when the likes of Paul McGrath, Ray Houghton, Roy Keane, Shay Given and Robbie Keane starred in teams which repeatedly qualified for major tournaments.
That is something which has eluded the latest generation of Ireland players – they have not made it to the finals of major competition since Euro 2016 – and Tuesday night’s 2-0 home defeat by Greece suggests things are not going to change any time soon with trips to Finland and Greece to come next month.
Former Ireland defender Gary Breen, working as a TV pundit, voiced the opinion that the current team lacked leaders, but asked about his comments, Sunderland midfielder Browne said: “No, I think there are quite a lot of leaders in there.
“I think there are quite a lot of players who have captained their club or captained their country. If you look at the team, there are a good few in there.
“We probably don’t have that presence, that Premier League quality player that stands out a mile from the rest like you might have had in years gone by.
“Boys are playing in the Premier League and doing quite well, but we don’t have that world-class figure that everyone looks at and thinks he is going to win us the game.
“I know Evan (Ferguson) has obviously got a bright future, but it is a lot to put on his shoulders, being so young. And at the minute, he hasn’t played a lot of football. Yes, you are probably just missing that presence rather than leadership.”
Nineteen-year-old Brighton striker Ferguson is widely viewed as Ireland’s most promising prospect, but had not kicked a ball in anger since March because of an ankle injury when he met up with his international team-mates last week.
He was able to play only a few minutes as a substitute in 2-0 defeats by England and the Greeks at the Aviva Stadium and while Hallgrimsson and his team-mates will hope his day will come, it cannot arrive soon enough.
Losing, it appears, has become a habit for a side who won only six of the 29 games they played under previous boss Stephen Kenny, and their only competitive wins in the last 10 have come against Gibraltar alongside eight defeats.
Whatever way it looks, we need to win games
Republic of Ireland midfielder Alan Browne
Their latest reverse came after a promising start with scond-half goals from Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis killing any momentum they had created.
Browne, 29, said: “It doesn’t matter how well or how poorly you play. Results are the most important thing. That’s what we need to get into the habit of.
“Whatever way it looks, we need to win games. We haven’t done that for a long time. We haven’t ground out results, we haven’t dominated games and got results. Whatever way we’ve played and however it’s looked, we’ve always come out on the wrong side, more or less.”