EXCLUSIVE: The Football Association of Ireland have been told to make an approach for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - who has impressed for Everton this season
Dewsbury-Hall in action for Everton.
The FAI are weighing up approaching Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to ask him if he would be interested in joining Heimir Hallgrimsson's squad.
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Jason McAteer has called on the FAI to go and get Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - but has raised concerns about whether Heimir Hallgrimsson is a big enough name to entice players to play for Ireland. The FAI are weighing up approaching the Everton midfielder to ask him if he would be interested in joining Hallgrimsson's squad.
The 27-year-old is eligible to play for Ireland through his family heritage and has never been capped by England at any level. And while McAteer believes making a move for the Premier League star is a no-brainer, he has claimed that John O’Shea would be better served making the pitch due to his playing career.
"Go and get the likes of Dewsbury-Hall," he told the ECHO, via Casino.org Ireland. "Go and entice him to come. Is the manager a big enough name to go and entice someone of that quality?
"You look at Jose [Mourinho]. We talk about managers. Jose is a brand. Jose is a figurehead. Jose is a personality, and he's a very, very good man manager.
"I'm not saying that he should be the Ireland manager, because I'm sure they can't afford him. But if he knocks on a potential player's front door and you're opening it, and he says; 'Do you want to come and play for Portugal?' Or; 'Do you want to go and play for Ireland'?
"You go; 'Yeah, absolutely'. Jack (Charlton) had that presence. Jack came and watched me at Bolton. I'd been asked to play for England. He walked in the players' lounge. He came over, a World Cup winner, and said; 'I want you to play for Ireland'. And I went; 'I'd love to, Mr Charlton, 100%'.
"It's not rocket science, just good old-fashioned man management. You've got to be a little bit more creative with your managers and what your aspirations are.
"Dewsbury-Hall, let's use him for a minute as an example, it's unlikely he's going to play for England, but does he want to go and play for Ireland? When they are getting battered by the media and getting battered against Armenia?
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in action for Everton against West Ham - and Jason McAteer has told the FAI to go sign him up for Ireland
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in action for Everton against West Ham - and Jason McAteer has told the FAI to go sign him up for Ireland
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"He's not going to want to do that. But if you get a manager who comes in and entices him in and protects them and looks after them and gets the media back on side and gets a bit of enthusiasm with the fans, he just might accept the offer.
"You'll find players will start reacting to that, and they'll say, Yeah, I'll come play for you. I'm not going to play for Spain. I'm not going to play for Italy. I'm not going to play for Germany.
"I'm not going to play for England or Scotland; I'll come and play for Ireland. I know there's that patriotism that goes into international football, of course, it's there.
"I wanted to play for Ireland. When I saw Jack come into Bolton, I didn't know whether he was going to ask me or not, but I wanted to play for Ireland. I didn't want to play for England. My granddad was from Northern Ireland, County Down.
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"England was never really an option and when Jack said; 'Do you want to play'? I said, Yeah. I rang Jimmy Armfield and said, listen; 'I'm going to play for Ireland'. I wanted to do it. So, yeah, you've got to be creative.
"It's not really rocket science. If things don't work out with the current manager, and I don't love to do this, then my choice would be John O'Shea... If John O'Shea rings Dewsbury-Hall up and says; 'Do you want to come and play for Ireland'? I dare say he'd accept. That's a good start.
"No disrespect to Hallgrimsson, but if he rings up, you're probably going to ask more questions because he didn't have the career John did, so you'd ask about where Ireland are actually going and what their long-term plans are.
"If things don't change, then give it to John, build a culture, support him, let him get his team in, and all back him."
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