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'They were a breath of fresh air' - Kiely delighted with quality of goalkeepers in Ireland squad

Republic of Ireland goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely: Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile Expand

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Republic of Ireland goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely: Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Republic of Ireland goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely: Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Republic of Ireland goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely: Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Aidan Fitzmaurice

Gavin Bazunu has become the latest Irish goalkeeper to get the cold shoulder at club level, as he was dropped by relegation-threatened Rochdale.

But despite the lack of game-time for Ireland’s netminders across the leagues in England, goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely is enthused by the quality of players available to Stephen Kenny right now.

On Saturday, Bazunu (19) was rested by Rochdale for a second game in a row. The change of ’keeper, however, offered no relief to Brian Barry-Murphy’s club.

Another defeat, to Fleetwood Town, has pushed them closer to a drop into the fourth tier and failure to win at home to fellow strugglers Swindon Town – managed by John Sheridan – tonight would leave them five points away from safety with only six games to go.

Barry-Murphy, the club’s Cork-born manager, says he omitted Bazunu to give the overworked teenager a rest after a testing spell, where he was asked to help out in their relegation battle and also make his senior Ireland debut.

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 “For a few weeks I’ve been desperate to give Gavin a breather. He didn’t get the international break due to his call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad and he’s had a very intense block of games, and there’s the amount travelling involved, too,” Barry-Murphy said.

Bazunu had earned praise for his displays in a struggling Rochdale side, with positive reports submitted back to his parent club Manchester City ahead of what is likely to be another loan spell, albeit at a level higher than League One, next season.

With no competitive international until September, there’s no need for Kenny to panic over the status of his ’keepers, but their lack of game-time is indeed a concern.

Darren Randolph remains sidelined by injury, while Caoimhín Kelleher is still battling his way back to fitness at Liverpool.

Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Mark Travers (Bournemouth), Max O’Leary (Bristol City) and Kieran O’Hara (Burton Albion) were benched last weekend along with Bazunu (Rochdale), so not one goalkeeper eligible for the Republic played across the top three divisions in England last weekend.

The only Irish sightings in goal happened in League Two (veteran Joe Murphy with Tranmere and Jimmy McKeown at Grimsby) and Scotland (Colin Doyle with Kilmarnock). Although, domestically, players who have been involved with international teams – James Talbot (Bohemians), Waterford veteran Brian Murphy and Ed McGinty (Sligo Rovers) – were active.

But Kiely, who recently replaced Alan Kelly as Ireland goalkeeping coach, says the form of the ’keepers he worked with last month was one of the pluses of a difficult international window.

“While I was away with the Republic of Ireland, Darren Randolph and Caoimhín Kelleher were both injured, which meant that the goalkeepers I had were Mark Travers, who is in his early twenties, Gavin Bazunu, who is 19 and made his senior debut, and Kieran O’Hara, a young ’keeper at Burton Albion who was previously at Manchester United,” Kiely told the Beyond Football Show podcast.

“I came away from the ten days, the results weren’t fantastic, but in terms of them as goalkeepers, their ability levels are excellent.

“I came away thinking that it was a privilege for me to work with such young, talented goalkeepers, that was my take-away from that trip,” added Kiely, who is also first-team goalkeeping coach under Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace.

“The last trip, those results weren’t fantastic but the environment, the process, the people I worked with were excellent. The three young ’keepers – Mark, Gavin and Kieran – were a breath of fresh air, great to work with. I came back disappointed with the results, but buzzing with how it went for me personally.

“I want to work with them, help as many goalkeepers and managers as I can, the ones who invited me to do that job.

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“I take it really personal, if Roy Hodgson asks me to work with Crystal Palace, I say definitely. But I want to make his job as easy as possible with the job I am doing with the goalkeepers. 

“And it works the same with Stephen Kenny. He asked me if I would be involved, I wanted to come, be his goalkeeping coach and help him be successful and be part of what he wants to create.”

Irish Independent

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