Irish interest in transfer deadline day pretty much mirrored the wider world’s with just about all of the bigger names staying put while many who did move were merely completing deals that had been extensively flagged in advance.
For Eoin Doyle, leaving Chesterfield had long been a given but things turned out better than the 26-year-old expected at the weekend thanks to Cardiff's renewed interest. Predictably, having seemed certain to simply move to another League One side, the Dubliner grabbed the opportunity to move up a level. The question now is what he can make of the opportunity.
Doyle, to be fair, has coped well with every challenge since heading to Hibernian in 2011. His subsequent switch to Chesterfield, then of League Two, surprised many but the step back set him up for two forward and having proven more prolific post-promotion this year, he is unlikely to be awed by the challenge of Championship football.
Sceptical
As to whether he can play his way into Martin O’Neill’s plans, the manager sounded just a little sceptical on Sunday when it seemed the striker would be remaining in the English game’s third tier. There was, he said, a judgement call to be made when watching a player in such surroundings as to whether they could make the step up. The fact that the most encouraging noise he could then make about the former Shelbourne,
Shamrock Rovers
and
Sligo Rovers
player was that he is is not in much of a position “”to rule anybody out” certainly suggested that he had made that call in his own mind.
Different matter
Scoring regularly in the Championship would be a different matter and while Doyle insists that international football is “a dream” he hasn’t even had the chance to dwell on yet, he’ll know that he can, at the very least, become a bit-part player for Ireland if he can achieve his stated aim at Cardiff of “contributing to the team and continuing to score goals”.
For Ireland's other most notable mover of Monday night, Keith Andrews, a return to the international set-up looks rather more far-fetched at this stage although the midfielder, has been understandably reluctant to admit defeat in his battle to get back into the squad under the current manager.
A firm favourite of Giovanni Trapattoni and arguably Ireland's best player in Poland 2½ years ago, Andrews' troubles since have been a little hard to fathom at times but having finally (he'd been training there for a few weeks) completed his return to promotion-chasing League One side MK Dons, where he enjoyed significant success between 2006 and 2008, he has at least got himself back into a position to play regular football again.
“Being here before was an absolute turning point in my career,” says the 34 year-old. “It gave me the platform to go on and play at the level I did. It’s in my DNA never to forget anything that anyone does for me in or out of football [and so] I’m here now to do every single thing that I can on and off the pitch to get this club to where it wants to be.”
Playing opportunities
And so, most immediately, Andrews finds himself, like Doyle only last weekend, aiming for the Championship with this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash against Bristol City having the potential to play a big part in whether MK Dons achieve their goal.
For Andrews, any move that provides playing opportunities must seem like a good one after the problems he has endured, most recently at Watford but the coaching role he has taken on as part of the loan suggests he may not play at the higher level himself again.
