Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill believes he could have made Wes Hoolahan a better player if he had coached him at club level in his younger years.
The 35-year-old, who retired from international football in February after earning 43 caps, made his final appearance for Norwich City on the weekend after spending a decade with the Championhsip outfit.
Hoolahan was introduced to the Ireland setup by O’Neill’s predecessor Giovanni Trapattoni at the age of 26 but was 31 by the time O’Neill took over in November 2013.
And O’Neill feels Hoolahan, one of the country’s most naturally talented players in recent years, would have benefitted from his mentorship at an earlier stage of his career.
“I of course inherited Wes when he was older,” O’Neill told Off The Ball’s Jamie Moore.
“He’s a player that I would have liked to have got hold of when he was 21 or 22 because I think if you were working with him at club level – and this is no disrespect to other managers who had him – I think you could have taught him the game in the way which I was taught at Nottingham Forest.
“I thought I knew the game but really didn’t for quite some considerable time. By that I mean; when to pass the ball, when to run with it and all of those things. But I’ve enjoyed working with him. He’s never been a minute’s trouble and he’s always wanted to play for Ireland, which is a great thing.
“I had a conversation with him when he was retiring and he was very appreciative of the time he had here [with the Republic of Ireland] and the time that he was on the field with me.”
Ireland’s next fixture sees the Boys in Green take on Celtic as part of Scott Brown’s testimonial before taking on France and the United States in a friendly double-header.
But O’Neill hinted at taking an experimental approach as he looks to give some of his more senior players a rest at the close of the season.
“I’ll have players who are going to be involved in play-off games for a start,” O’Neill added.
“Secondly, when we were organising the international games at the end of the season, some of the Premier League players might have been looking for a little family holiday before we actually met up.
“And of course the Scott Brown testimonial game came a wee bit after some of the guys had organised things. And in fairness, they’ve talked about maybe changing plans. But if they have made this family holiday and it’s the only chance they get then I would allow one or two that time.
“It gives another opportunity for some of the other younger players coming in to try and make their mark. That’s something I’m considering but it will become a little bit clearer by next week when I announce the squad.”
Written by James Hopper
Martin O’Neill was speaking at the launch of the 2018 Sports Direct FAI Summer School.
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