‘If I need to ask Ciarán about a player, I’ll ring him. If he wants to ring, ring’ – Ireland boss Eileen Gleeson responds to Kilduff criticism

Speaking this morning as she announced her squad for next week’s Euro 2025 first round play-off with Georgia, Gleeson stoutly defended the absence of any inter-personal contact between the second most powerful woman in Irish football and the country’s leading bosses.

And she insisted that if any calls need to be conducted, Kilduff should ring her and not the other way around.

“What am I calling him about? I’m not selecting his players,” said Gleeson, albeit Athlone Town goalkeeper Katie Keane was announced in this morning’s squad.

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“There’s hundreds of managers, I’m speaking to players that we need to. We’re watching the players.

“If I need to ask Ciarán about a player I’ll pick up the phone and ring him. If he wants to ring, ring. There’s nothing stopping. If he wants this dialogue then pick up the phone and call me.

“When it was suggested she might call Kilduff,” Gleeson responded. “For what, is the question?

“There’s nothing that’s going on, nothing going on. I’m here as the national team manager and that’s the role I’m going to do.

“Ciarán decided to write an article with his views and that’s his prerogative. That’s it. I’ve said what I wanted to say.

“Our core message is that myself and the staff attend games and we bring in players who we feel are able to adapt to the level.”

Kilduff had argued that there was an absence of validation for players plying their trade at home but Gleeson was eager to counter by re-affirming her commitment to the domestic game.

“We watch players every single week in the League of Ireland. And I, over 30 years, have been the biggest advocate of League of Ireland and its inception at National League and promoting League of Ireland players being integrated with international pathways,” she said.

“So statements that we don’t watch players are completely inaccurate. I’ve been here 30 years, I’ve committed my whole career to League of Ireland and to the national league here, so statements that say I don’t advocate on behalf of League of Ireland players are completely misrepresentative.

“In terms of Katie (Keane), my assistant Emma (Byrne) has actually attended Athlone’s training sessions to watch Katie. We’ve had Katie in the pre-mini camp in July.

“So we’re watching these players constantly. Winning League of Ireland doesn’t negate an immediate call-up to senior international football. It’s a very tough level, it’s elite level.

“League of Ireland players are in direct competition with players who are in professional environments and full-time environments. So the primary message from that is we’re constantly watching players.

“I don’t want to get caught up in Ciarán’s comments here today. It’s the squad announcement. We’re here today for the squad announcement for the play-offs. We’re in a good position, it’s the second play-off for the Euros I think in the history of the women’s team.

“That’s what my focus is. The over-arching message is that we are watching League of Ireland players and players that we deem capable of coming in or potentially adapting to the environment. That’s really the core message of what I’m saying here today.”

Gleeson pointed to the example of Galway United’s Julie-Ann Russell, who returned to the senior squad in spectacular goal-scoring fashion this year.

“The game has moved on over the years but it’s still essentially an amateur league. To play at senior international level there is natural attrition of level. We all know there’s a difference between League of Ireland to the WSL,” she said.

“You know that is an objective difference. We’ve got players playing in the League of Ireland, you’ve got players playing the in WSL, you’ve got players at the top of the WSL, you’ve got players in the middle and that is your direct opponent to be selected for the national team.

“But from the League of Ireland, we’ve integrated players, Erin McLaughlin, Ellen Molloy is in – she’s just moved to Sheffield – Eva Mangan plays with Cork City, she’s in, we’ve had Freya (Healy), we’ve had Ellen (Molloy).

“So there is a commitment to try and continue to look at the players but there’s also a natural objective to admit that there’s a difference between an amateur level player and a pro level player.

“We have to pick 23 players. It’s survival of the fittest, so you can be an excellent League of Ireland player but not a senior international player.”

“Julie-Ann is exceptional. You know Julie had 70 caps before she’s come in to me, so is that not reinforcing the point that we take players, that we’re happy to have players that are the level and that can sustain the demands of the game at international level in the squad. That is what we want.”