International gap massive but Heimir must cap Victor now

I sometimes feel with international selection debates that everyone is right and everyone is wrong at the same time.

Club managers are entitled to fight for their players. They see them every day. They see the work, the growth, the little improvements that even supporters might miss, and that international managers might not fully appreciate from a distance.

Alan Reynolds putting Dawson Devoy's name forward is exactly what he should be doing.

Stephen Bradley doing the same with Victor Ozhianvuna is exactly what he should be doing, but the two cases are not the same.

Devoy has been one of the standout players in the League of Ireland this season and, on form, there are few midfielders in the country who have done more to force themselves into the conversation.

Reynolds has already said he would not stand in Devoy’s way if Ireland came calling, even if the timing created complications for Bohemians.

That is the public answer. Privately, I would imagine it is a little more complicated.

Bohemians are in a sticky patch. Their winless run was stretched to nine games after the recent draw with Shelbourne and they remain a club trying to rediscover the rhythm that had them looking so strong earlier in the season.

The thought of going into a league fixture without your best player, while he is fully fit, available, and not guaranteed to get on the pitch for Ireland, is not an easy one to accept.

While supporters would always celebrate an international call-up for one of their own, they also live in the week-to-week reality of results. If Devoy goes away, does not get capped, and Bohs drop more points in his absence, the conversation quickly changes.

On Devoy himself, I love watching him play. He wants responsibility. He can receive under pressure, and he gives Bohs a control that is very difficult to replace. He is one of the league’s best players, but I still think the gap is too big at this moment.

That isn’t an insult to Devoy or to the league. It’s just an honest reading of the level. The midfielders Heimir Hallgrímsson has available are operating at a higher level every week and they are there for a reason.

I would love to see the day when the League of Ireland is consistently producing senior internationals while they are still playing at home. The league is improving, the players are improving and the environment is improving. But there is still a distance to go.

The Ozhianvuna case is different.

Not because he’s better than Devoy right now. That’s not the argument. The argument is around his ceiling, and timing.

Bradley has been loud on this and that will surprise nobody. Since Hallgrímsson came into the Ireland job, an international window rarely seems to pass without Bradley finding himself in the middle of a discussion around the FAI, the national team or the treatment of League of Ireland players.

On this one, I agree on Ozhianvuna’s inclusion.

Ozhianvuna has kicked on this season. Bradley has trusted him in central areas and the player has repaid that faith with another excellent midfield display against Drogheda in their 4-1 win.

You can see the growth in him. Physically he looks stronger. In his general play he looks more comfortable. He wants to take the ball in areas where young players often hide. He can travel with it, break lines and change the tempo of a game.

Arsenal paying a significant fee for him tells its own story. Clubs at that level do not take a punt like that for the sake of it.

Would it be a huge jump from Ireland Under-17 football and League of Ireland minutes straight into the senior international squad? Of course it would, but this is not a normal case.

The strongest reason for bringing Ozhianvuna into the senior set-up now is not a pat on the back for his League of Ireland performances. It’s not even because he is definitely ready to impact a senior international game tomorrow.

It is because Ireland cannot afford to be naive.

With parents from Russia and Nigeria, Ozhianvuna is eligible to play for more than one country and we should not pretend other associations are not watching.

The FAI is actively leaning into the diaspora to strengthen our senior team, and rightly so. That’s modern international football. But if we are doing our homework on players raised elsewhere, we must assume other countries are doing the same homework on players raised here.

Cap him now and get it done. Get him into the environment. Let him feel the standard. Let him understand that Ireland sees him as part of the future.

The player pool is too small to allow a homegrown talent of that potential to slip through the net.

This is a reason I’m happy to see Jaden Umeh included in this squad. I was also happy to see Harvey Vale capped in the previous window. These decisions matter.

It’s about protecting tomorrow. Most times you wait until a player is ready. This time the risk of waiting could be too great.

With Victor Ozhianvuna, Ireland should move early.

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