Surprise as Newcastle United player earns international call-up after Eddie Howe training pics emerge
Rory Finneran has never played for Newcastle United but could now earn a maiden Republic of Ireland cap.
Newcastle United youngster Rory Finneran has earned a surprise call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad.
Born in England, both of the 18-year-old’s parents hail from County Sligo and he has decided to represent his lineage on the international stage. Finneran joined Newcastle from Blackburn Rovers, with a tribunal required to determine the compensation fee.
He is yet to make a first-team appearance but has starred for the under-21s and under-18s setup. Eagle-eyed fans may recognise Finneran occasionally training with Eddie Howe’s squad when the club publish galleries online.
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Newcastle United youngster earns call-up
This was the case ahead of Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Brighton last weekend. Despite never playing a professional game for the Magpies, Finneran has been called up to the Irish setup.
Injuries to Cardiff City defender Joel Bagan and Ipswich Town winger Kasey McAteer have given the Toon prospect a golden opportunity to impress. Ireland will enjoy a training camp in Murcia, Spain before taking on Grenada.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men - who failed to qualify for the World Cup - will also face Qatar later this month. Ireland have bizarrely organised both games despite the English and Scottish league campaigns being in full swing.
Ireland will name a young squad, giving Hallgrimsson a first-hand look at several promising stars. Finneran will be hoping to represent his country for the first time against Grenada on May 16.
Eddie Howe cautious on youth
Howe was asked if he could turn to the academy during Newcastle’s recent slump. When discussing Sean Neave and Leo Shahar, Howe told reporters: “Well, they've got a long journey ahead of them. I think I've said many times in this seat, the hardest transition is to go from academy player into the first team. It's such a difficult jump and such a big jump for all of the young lads to take.
“They have to work at their games. They have to improve in every moment. They can't waste a day. Sometimes that's difficult to do because there'll be very small groups training, as there has been this season.
“There haven't been 20 players training regularly for them to probably fully immerse themselves into that world of development through their training. It's been more individual-based in smaller groups, and that places even more emphasis on their learning coming from themselves, with our support. So they've got a big journey ahead of them.
“I think what we've tried to do is help them play as many games as they can, so when we have been able to release them to play 23s games, even at the cost of being on our bench, we think that's been really important because they need to play.If they don't play, they won't get better. We've tried to facilitate that so they're still getting the game time that they need.”
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