No sooner had Graeme Souness decided to hand down his bunch of sour grapes to Declan Rice following his decision to represent England than another former Liverpool midfielder was jumping for joy.
It was always bound to create extreme reactions although like most issues in football, the words storm and teacup are never far out of one’s mind.
No doubt many more words will follow in the fullness of time but eventually – as is always the case – things will settle down and however many of them are published the fact remains Dec is now officially English – his decision, no one else’s. Err it’s not Brexit after all!
Unfortunately, in football nobody is allowed to make a decision and receiving respect for having made him mind up – reactions are usually OTT and of no relevance to anyone else but those who make a few bob out of offering their opinions from the national media outlets.
However, Jamie Redknapp’s may be of more interest to those who follow England where in the Daily Mail he says: “Declan has shown incredible maturity in learning his position in defensive midfield.
“He picks pockets, makes timely blocks and reads the game well. When I watch him at West Ham I see a natural leader. “He is always talking and organising his team-mates.
“I would be amazed if he is not in next month’s squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro. “His decision is great news for Southgate and England.”
Let’s start by recognising that Declan Rice is by both heritage and residential status more English than Irish. Then let’s examine who is really at fault for the situation that Declan finds himself in. I have no doubt whatsoever that it is the set up in Ireland that is to blame, and ergo the Irish football authorities. They cannot, or do not want to, develop their young footballers. Instead they appear to be content to forage into the nebulous backgrounds of young English footballers in order to find a reason to embrace them as Irish. If you give a young lad the opportunity to put on an international shirt for another country, of course he will accept, because he doesn’t know that one day he may be good enough to play for his own country, England. I would be dumfounded if this is not exactly the case with Declan. When he first got the call from the Irish, he surely could not have guessed that one day he would become such a terrific footballer. Now that it is established that he is, wouldn’t it be terrible if he couldn’t play for his own country because of the ineptitude of those running the game in Ireland. I would urge all those Irish fans who are now moaning to take a good look at there own country. Declan has done NOTHING wrong.