Morrison story worth retelling

He's only 21. He's played about 10 minutes in the Premiership, he has never played football at any international level and he is currently part of a Crystal Palace team that is on the verge of relegation to the second division of the English League. Yet somehow, are we not entitled to ask: whatever happened to Clinton Morrison?

Maybe that should be: whatever happened to the Clinton Morrison story? Given that it flickered into life in January, blazed through the newspapers for a couple of days and then burned itself out, apparently due to an unsustainable fuel called incredibility, the question is a valid one. Both are, particularly in a week when the Republic of Ireland are playing Andorra in a World Cup qualifier when goals, goals, goals are the things that matter most. Morrison, remember, is a goal-scorer.

Not a brilliant one of late, perhaps, but then the number of Irishmen hitting the back of the net at the highest level or the one below is not what Mick McCarthy would call large. Niall Quinn, Robbie Keane, and the half-forward Gary Doherty are the only McCarthy strikers to have scored in the Premiership this season. David Kelly has eight goals for Sheffield United and Dominic Foley has one for Watford a division below. It's not a vast array.

Which is why Mick McCarthy was interested in Clinton Morrison in the first place.

A brief resume of the Morrison CV might be helpful at this point. Born near Selhurst Park in May 1979, Clinton Hubert Morrison made his debut for his local club in the last game of season 199798. He was 18 and Palace were already relegated from the Premiership after a solitary year. Morrison came on as a late substitute in a side containing Attilio Lombardo and scored the 90th-minute winner against Sheffield Wednesday. It was a good start.

The next season, as Palace stabilised in mid-table in Division One, Morrison was the club's leading scorer with 13 goals. The official PFA handbook reported: "Showing some of the qualities that drew obvious comparisons with Ian Wright."

Last season Morrison was again top scorer, 15 this time. His name was beginning to be mentioned by Premiership scouts.

Then came this season. In particular, January and a League Cup semi-final with Liverpool. Palace, who had knocked out the holders Leicester City - Morrison scored - had lost two games in 18 and beat Liverpool 2-1 in the first leg. Morrison again scored and said afterwards: "To play against Michael Owen and Emile Heskey was a great feeling. To upstage them was even better."

As the game coincided with the news that McCarthy had sounded out Morrison about his Co Dublin grandmother, people were simultaneously excited and put off by Morrison's cockiness. Irish public opinion cooled, however, when Morrison, praised by Sven Goran Eriksson's assistant Tord Grip, issued what is known as come-and-get-me plea to Sven on Sky television.

That made things rather difficult for McCarthy, who had been hoping to call up Morrison for the Denmark friendly at the end of February. Soon after, though, Morrison told BBC Radio 5: "My heart is set on either England or Ireland." (Well, at least he didn't mention Germany, Italy or South Korea).

It appears Morrison never got back to McCarthy on the Denmark friendly and since then the story has disappeared because it has been buried. But is it dead?

McCarthy was not at Prenton Park to watch Palace play Tranmere Rovers on Saturday - Morrison hit a post - but he did see Morrison play against Bolton just over a week ago. McCarthy was at Selhurst Park to watch Bolton's Gareth Farrelly but Morrison knew of McCarthy's presence and was sufficiently impressed by it to tell close friends about it.

Now, it seems, Morrison would welcome further contact. On Friday his agent told The Irish Times that Morrison "maintains a great desire to play international football". Even the offer of an Irish under-21 cap would be considered.

Cynics will say that this is mercenary expedience. Morrison had scored 17 goals in mid-January and was one of the flavours of that month. He has scored two in the 13 games since and Palace are now in the bottom three. Sven has not been on the phone and there are Premiership players like Alan Smith, Malcolm Christie and Jonathan Greening in the England under-21s. Playing for England is a remote possibility.

But playing for the Republic is not so distant. Purists will not want Morrison contacted but McCarthy does not have room for that ideological indulgence. He has to be a pragmatist. Morrison has mucked McCarthy about a bit but that's not McCarthy's fault. And forgiveness is a virtue.

Should Palace be relegated, the three years left on Morrison's contract will count for little and he will be sold almost certainly to a Premiership club. To score goals.

That brings us back to where we started.