HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON has been told to scout the world to find the next Roy Keane – because he won’t come from the League of Ireland.
That is the view of former Republic of Ireland international Mark Lawrenson, who believes the country got lucky with previous teams.
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Hallgrimsson will have his first game at the helm of the Boys in Green against England at the Aviva Stadium on September 7.
Twelve of his first 23-player panel play for Premier League clubs, while eight came through the League of Ireland.
However, Mark Lawrenson – who won 39 caps for Ireland – believes Hallgrimsson will have to look further afield to find somebody capable of reaching the standards of Roy Keane or Liam Brady.
Keane came through Cobh Ramblers before moving to Nottingham Forest and then Manchester United, with whom he won seven Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, and a Champions League.
Liam Brady, meanwhile, donned the colours of Arsenal and Juventus – among others – and was named PFA Player of the Year for the former in 1979 and was named in three PFA Teams of the Year.
Speaking to Paddy Power, Lawrenson said: “Heimir Hallgrímsson has to scout the world for people that can play for Ireland.
“I don’t think the FAI have much money, and therein lies a problem.
“They can promise to do all these things with the league, but I don’t think you’re going to get a superstar coming through from there, like Roy Keane or Liam Brady.
“We have Evan Ferguson coming through at Brighton but he’s not starting there.”
Ferguson, 19, has been out of action through injury since April, but has been named in the squad to face England and Greece.
Ireland have not been to a major competition since Euro 2016.
The next available tournament is the 2026 World Cup and, should they not qualify for that, it will be the longest wait between competitions.
Meanwhile, their record is a far cry from the teams that got to three tournaments in six years – Euro 1988 and the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
And Lawrenson believes the country was fortunate to have the players that were at Jack Charlton‘s disposal in that time.
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O’Riordan will join The Irish Sun’s first live football preview event on Tuesday September 3 ahead of the Republic of Ireland v England match in The Aviva that weekend.
Goals Live 2024, in association with TonyBet and hosted by well-known sports commentator Dave McIntyre, promises to be an evening of entertainment, discussion, analysis and lively debate as the
panel delves into the upcoming big match between football rivals the Republic of Ireland and England.
The event, which is for over 18s only, will take place in The Camden, Dublin 2, from 6.15pm – 9pm.
The ticket includes a complimentary drink for attendees and each ticketholder will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a pair of match tickets to the big game in the Aviva on Saturday September 7.
Tickets are just €5 and available to purchase HERE.
He added: “When you look at it now, we were lucky with the players of the 1980s/90s.
“If you’re a small country, you’ve just got to hope that a bunch of players all come through together that are top class.
“It’s like Denmark, when they had Jan Mølby and the Laudrup brothers together.
“They all came together at the same time and became a top top team.”