Eamon Dunphy believes Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill missed out on a 'top top player' by not capping Jack Grealish when he had the chance.
Aston Villa midfielder Grealish announced today that he would seek to represent England at senior international level despite playing for Ireland from under 15 all the way up to U-21.
"I'm very disappointed but it's probably what was always going to happen," Dunphy told RTÉ 2FM's Game On.
"He's a top, top player, I think he's going to be really big in the game when he gets a bit stronger.
"I've seen him twice in the last seven days. I remember him from the semi-final of the Cup, when he turned the game Villa's way and they beat Liverpool last year."
Dunphy believes that O'Neill and his assistant might have alienated Grealish with some of their public statements but that ultimately, once England became interested, it was already too late.
"A couple of comments, one made about his father by Roy Keane about a year ago, would not have helped," Dunphy said.
"Another comment by Martin O'Neill after the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley that the next Irish game would have been a bit too much for him mightn't have helped either.
"We could have capped him against Gibraltar [in October 2014] and that might have made his mind up for him but we didn't."
"We could have capped him against Gibraltar and that might have made his mind up for him but we didn't"
"To be fair to everyone concerned, including Roy Keane, Martin O'Neill and the FAI, if he had a chance he was always going to go with England.
"But 18 months ago we could have capped him at full international level.
"Roy Keane was in that club [Aston Villa] and if he knows anything about football he would have known, from the coaching side, that this guy is a real class player, pop him in the first team and we've got him. As Trap said, the cat would have been in the bag."
"That's where the trick was missed, the Gibraltar game," agreed RTÉ analyst Alan Cawley. "Everybody knew the potential and I think if he was picked at that stage he would have [played]."
"There wasn't the hype around him then that there is now but then he bursts on the scene and England get involved.
"Martin O'Neill definitely missed a trick but management is so short-term now, he doesn't care who's going to be playing for the Ireland team in 10 years.
"All he was worried about was that qualifying campaign so he probably looked at Jack Grealish and thought 'he can't benefit me in my campaign'.
"But for the good of the game here, we could have had him for the next 10 or 15 years."
Dunphy also contrasted Ireland's recent approach to international recruitment with the strategies employed by previous managers of the Boys in Green.
"Jack Charlton was outstanding at that and so was John Giles, who got Mark Lawrenson, then one of the best defenders in the world, to qualify and play for Ireland," he said.
"Charlton got Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Kevin Sheedy and others. Real top, top players.
"Jack made it his business. It was good for Jack and good for Irish soccer. Nobody else has done it since. John started it, Jack continued it.
"Everyone is using the 'granny rule'. Spain use it, they have a couple of Brazilians in the team, including Diego Costa, when he shows up.
"Every country is doing it so we shouldn't be ashamed of it or apologise for it."
