Interview: Mary Hannigan finds Clinton Morrison perky as ever despite repeated challenges to his position with club as well as country.
He might be viewed as the Irish squad's bubbliest character but the last year has tested Clinton Morrison's innate cheerfulness like no other. Injuries and a shortage of goals, for club and country, have perhaps been the biggest test of his self-belief since the day, as a 16-year-old, he was told he was being let go by Spurs.
He arrived in Dublin this week hoping a change in fortune was imminent, but then, out of the blue, came the news that Birmingham City had signed Dwight Yorke from Blackburn on transfer deadline day. Add Yorke, then, to Emile Heskey and Mikael Forssell and Morrison knows he has a fight on his hands claiming a place in the Birmingham attack.
He's defiant about the news, but there are evident doubts, too, about his future at the club.
"Of course there's going to be more competition now that they've signed Yorke but I don't think he'll put me down the pecking order - if he does then it's obviously time to move on. But I'll see. I'll have to wait till January. That's up to the manager, but he's told me I'm still in his plans, so that's good news for me."
"I'm not bothered who they sign, at the end of the day. I spoke to the manager before I came over to Ireland and he said that I'd probably have played against Tottenham (last weekend) if I'd been 100 per cent fit. At the moment Birmingham aren't really scoring the goals, so he's told me I'll get my chance. I don't care about it (the Yorke signing) really."
"It happened before when they signed Christophe Dugarry, I had to bide my time, and in the end I got in the team and stayed there, so I don't mind. I'm not bothered. I believe in my ability. I believe I'm good enough to get into the Birmingham team, and with the help of a bit of luck and a few more goals I will."
And what of Yorke's "party animal" reputation?
"Well, that's just him. I hope I don't get sucked into the party scene with him," he laughs. "Na, I won't. I'll just get on with it."
And Morrison really doesn't need reminding that it's been a year and 11 games now since he scored for Ireland, a record, he acknowledges, that could jeopardise his place in the starting line-up, particularly if Brian Kerr opts, at some point, to play Damien Duff alongside Robbie Keane.
"It has been a long time; it does play on your mind. But as long as the team keeps winning you're not really fussed who scores the goals. I've a lot to prove, I know that, but I believe in my ability."
"I think when I do score I'll just carry on scoring again. I don't let it worry me. In training I'm still hitting the target so I've just got to keep going.
"Obviously some people will look at it and say 'he's not scoring goals - what's he doing for the team?' But I'm bringing different things to the team that Brian's impressed with. In the last year I've come on in leaps and bounds as an all-round player so if I can put that together with scoring goals you could have a talent on your hands," he says, laughing.
"I spoke to Duffer myself. I know he prefers playing on the left, and when me and Robbie have played together we've done well - we've complemented each other. But that's up to the manager. If I'm not playing obviously I'll be disappointed, but I'll respect his decision because I'm in his thoughts and in his plans anyway."
But have the injuries and his goal drought resulted in his self-confidence taking a battering, dampened his exuberance? Absolutely not. Well, maybe.
"I'm a positive person," he says. "You've got to enjoy life. I'm doing something I enjoy, playing football. I'm a fortunate one to have made it. I've had knock-backs but I'm a bubbly person and I try to be a happy-go-lucky character. If you take that away from me I'm not the same person.
"But I'm a worrier. I'm a bit insecure. I need people to build me up, to tell me I'm doing well - if they don't I start worrying if I'm doing the right thing. I do worry, but I ain't one to go and show it to people. I put on that image, really, which sometimes might be a good thing or a bad thing, but that's just me."
"I've had knock-backs. Getting knocked back by my boyhood club (Spurs) was hard. But when that happens you just go to another club and work hard to win a contract, which I did. I'm happy that I've made it as a professional footballer but those times are hard. Very hard. There were times I wanted to give up but my mum just pushed me all the way to carry on going.
"I don't get in the way of my mum. I've got a lot of respect for her and I owe her a lot. She sees my ability and she knows what I'm capable of, so she believes in me. That's the way she brought us up, my sister as well, to be positive and enjoy life as much as possible.
"I suppose I'm seen as the bubbly character in the squad, but I want to be seen as helping the team on the football side as well. But yeah, when the lads are down in the dumps I just try to cheer everyone up. You always have a joker in the team. I don't mind being noted for that in the squad, but I also wanted to be noted for being a good footballer. I want to score goals for Ireland, and that's something I need to improve on, definitely."
After being struck by a shoulder injury last season Morrison desperately wanted a clean bill of health for the new campaign, so that he could be in the best shape possible for Ireland and Birmingham. But then he picked up that knee injury against Bulgaria last month.
"At first I thought I'd done my cruciate and I'd be out for 12 months, but the pain went straight away. But then I went back to Birmingham and I couldn't train. I had a scan but it showed no cartilage damage, just a bit of swelling. I thought I'd miss these two big games and that was why I was trying my hardest, to get fit for my country. Now and then I get some pain in the knee, I wouldn't say I'm 100 per cent fit, but I know I've got to give it a go because we're short of numbers - but it's the best I've felt in a long time. Well, in the last few weeks anyway."
Morrison is fit, then, unlike Matt Holland, Roy Keane and Liam Miller. The loss of the trio he describes as a "massive blow".
"When you take Roy Keane out of Man United you see how much they miss him, so obviously we're going to miss him a lot. And Mattie Holland has been vital to us, scored lots of important goals, so them two are a big loss. But that's why you have a big squad. I think whoever comes in will do a good job.
"For me, on a personal level, Roy's a big loss because on the training pitch and that he speaks to me and tells me what positions to take up. It's improving my game listening to him; he's helping me out. I can only get better playing with someone who is a world-class midfielder.
"Obviously other people have not got on with him but I get on with him very well. I think he's a top bloke in every way, and he's a great footballer. I respect him as a player and as a person. I've a lot of time for him. He's a good person to talk to. I seek advice off him. So of course it's disappointing he's not here, but hopefully he'll be back for France. Any team would miss Roy Keane."
It is, though, he says, a chance for some of the younger players to show their worth. He's hardly a veteran himself but does the youthful influx into the squad over the past year make him feel, well, like an elder statesman?
"Yeah," he laughs, taking a liking to the title, "I do feel like an elder statesman in the squad - but I'm only 25, only a couple of years older than them. But the future's bright."
Do you pull the youngsters aside and give them advice?
"Na, they give me advice. They're all top players. I just have a laugh and some craic with them. I just enjoy it. I love being part of this squad because it's getting better and better.
"Andy Reid looks like he's played international football all his life really. And there's Liam Miller, who will be brilliant. Them two have impressed me immensely, two very good players."
Confident for today?
"With Duffer and Robbie Keane in your team you're always confident that you've got enough there - they're two players who can change a game. If they change the game and I'm in the team and they manage to put the ball through to me and I score I'll be buzzing."
And then onwards to Germany 2006?
"It would be my dream to actually play in a World Cup - I went to the last one but didn't play. Yeah, that's my dream."
Along with scoring the winning goal in the final against Brazil?
"Aaah, I'd be a legend back in Ireland - they'd build a statue of me."
The Morrison file
Date of birth: May 14, 1979
Birthplace: Tooting, London
Irish qualification: Grandson of Mary Morrison of Garristown, Dublin
Former clubs: Crystal Palace (from nine to 14), Spurs (from 14 to 16), Crystal Palace (1995-2002), Birmingham City (2002 to date, £4.25 million).
Irish debut: v Croatia, August 15, 2001 (made under-21 debut against Portugal in June 2001)
Caps/goals: 22/5
Made his name when: He scored for Palace against Liverpool in the first leg of the 2000-01 League Cup semi-finals.
"To play against Michael Owen and Emile Heskey was a great feeling," he said. "To upstage them was even better. I was looking at all the opportunities Owen had and was wishing I could have had some of them. I would have put at least two away."
Debuts: scored on his debut for Crystal Palace on the final day of the 1997-98 Premiership season against Sheffield Wednesday and in his first game for Ireland against Croatia.
Scored again on his first start against Denmark in March 2002 and in Brian Kerr's first match in charge of the Republic of Ireland senior team, against Scotland in February 2003.
Trouble on the home front: Birmingham City rivals
The arrival last season of Mikael Forssell from Chelsea curbed Clinton Morrisson's first-team opportunities at Birmingham City. The rivalry for a regular place up front was increased by the transfers of Emile Heskey from Liverpool and, more recently, Dwight Yorke from Blackburn Rovers.
Morrisson, who played under manager Steve Bruce at Crystal Palace, says: "I don't think he'll put me down the pecking order - if he does then it's obviously time to move on. I'll have to wait 'til January. That's up to the manager, but he's told me I'm still in his plans."
