Kenny Cunningham believes the Republic of Ireland need to move on from the Jack Grealish debate.
Tthe Aston Villa star turned yesterday down the chance to be part of the squad to face England and Scotland in June.
Ireland manager Martin O'Neill revealed that he had asked 19-year-old Grealish to be part of his squad, but that the Villa attacking midfielder stated that he needed more time before deciding on which country to represent.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, the former Ireland captain said: “I think he should be given as much time as he wants, but we shouldn’t be waiting for him. I think Martin did the right thing to get him included in this squad.
“This is a lad with real, real talent. For such a young age his game intelligence, his technical ability, his awareness is pretty phenomenal. He’s a lovely player to watch. I’ve watched him play the last couple of weeks.
“From an Irish perspective we’ve gone way, way, way too far down the road. You pick him in the squad. He turns up or he doesn’t. It’s as simple as that. If he doesn’t you move on.
“The level or ability of the player doesn’t come into it. It’s the principle at stake here. We don’t go chasing anybody cap in hand, bended knee, to go and put on the international jersey, simple as that."
It has been suggested that Grealish wants to continue playing for the Ireland Under-21s, thus deferring his decision over which country to play for at senior international level.
However, Cunningham has rubbished these thoughts and stated that playing international football should be about national allegiance and not hedging your bets.
“There’s a lot talk that he wants to go back and play for the Under-21s but that’s farcical. It’s laughable," said Cunningham.
"All that means is he wants to go back and play Under-21 football so he doesn’t have to commit himself one way or the other so he can keep his options open going forward, which is absolutely ridiculous.
“You’re always told in team sports from a young age to check your emotions, to box them away, to keep calm and to keep focus, in relation to what’s ahead of you.
“When it comes to international football almost the opposite applies. I think you have to let your emotions take over; it has to be an emotional decision in terms of which country you play for.
“He’s third generation Irish, but even still he’s been in the system for four or five years.
“When he first put on that jersey at 15, 16 years of age, how he felt and what that meant to him. And I’d like to think we [Ireland] played a small part in his development as a player and in getting him to the level where he’s at at the moment with the kind of plaudits that he’s getting."
Cunningham feels that Grealish, born in Birmingham, is allowing his head and potential marketing and financial ramifications to dominate his thought, rather than basing it on his national allegiance and patriotism.
“He’s got to do what his heart tells him. Telling us he needs 12 months to decide which way he wants to go, for me, that’s not making a decision with your heart, you're making it with your head.
“You’re making a cold, calculated decision on a professional basis on what’s best for you. ‘How many caps am I going to get for England? How is that going to benefit me from a marketing perspective? How is my profile going to be going forward if I associate with England instead of Ireland?’
“Once you go down that road for me that’s when we take a big step away. We walk away. I think we’re already there now. He has been asked to come into the squad and he has as good as refused.
“Forget about needing a bit more time and going back to play for the Under-21s. He’s trying to stoke a bit of interest from England, we shouldn’t be waiting in the wings, we should move on without him."
Cunningham went on to state that he believes Grealish is most likely aware of what his decision will be over national allegiance and that the promising youngster should not be blamed for wanting to play for the Three Lions, but it should be made more promptly.
“It’s obviously attractive to him to be involved with the England international side. That’s absolutely fair enough. I’m not bitter at all towards that," said Cunningham.
“Every individual situation is different. Deep down he must know that. He must know deep down emotionally where that attachment is. It doesn’t matter whether you get one cap or 100, that shouldn’t factor in. It’s a very simple decision to make and he is taking his time to make it.
“I think at a younger age group you can make a poor decision and it’s only right you can change your decision, but I think at under-21 level, once you make that decision you stick by it. I certainly don’t like the situation where we’re becoming a consolation prize for players who can’t fulfil their aspirations elsewhere.”
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