Choosing country of his birth will give Jack Grealish more chances on the biggest stage

Outspoken pundit and former Republic of Ireland international Eamon Dunphy has let rip at Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane over their handling of the Jack Grealish saga.

The Aston Villa star is expected to be named in the Ireland squad for next month's friendly against England and Euro qualifier against Scotland by Martin O'Neill today.

Dunphy has heavily criticised the current Irish management team and Giovanni Trapattoni for their failure to secure the services of top quality players who are Irish-qualified.

“The last two regimes have been hopeless. We could have had Harry Kane,” Dunphy told RTÉ’s Game On. “He was in Tottenham’s reserves this time last year, and if you offered him a cap, he’d have jumped at it — Jack Grealish likewise. He could easily have been capped in the game against Gibraltar.

“He’s actually insulting him — he said the Scotland match would be ‘too big’ for him. And a few days later, Grealish was the most important figure at the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.”

Dunphy slammed Roy Keane for making comments about Grealish's father Kevin during a press conference.

"Keane also had a go at his father, saying he was high maintenance and all that kind of stuff. It's hugely irresponsible,” he added.

“To be blathering on in press conferences when he's not present shows such disrespect to any player.

“Never mind one who’s been a seminal figure in a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and a relegation fight.

“It’s a disservice to Irish football and it’s absolutely outrageous.”

Dunphy believes that O'Neill should be scrutinised for his handling of the affair and doubts whether Grealish will ever feature in a green jersey due to the mismanagement of the situation.

“I’m going to try and restrain myself here in what I say but if people think that they’re too big to manage the Irish team and that their egos are more important than the job they’re getting a million quid a year to do, then when or if we don’t qualify, I hope they’re judged very harshly.

"He won't tog out for Ireland while Keane is making snide comments about his father.

“I don’t think Jack Grealish will ever play for Ireland and I don’t think what these guys have done has helped.

"We're crying out for good players.

“To say that the Scotland game was too big for him… Scotland are a team full of journeymen, they wouldn’t be too big for me.

“Someone’s getting a million quid a year to manage Ireland, blathering on as if they’re in a bar. This is irresponsible, it does no good to Ireland and most importantly, it does no favours to the Irish fans who are paying top dollar to be going into the Aviva Stadium to support the team and often, to travel away as well."

Online Editors