Come on Heimir - homegrown talent deserves to be exported to Spain for at least one game
Bradley and Reynolds have it right with Victor and Dawson calls
Victor Ozhianvuna and Dawson Devoy will know exactly where they stand in the international pecking order at the end of next week just by looking at the location of their seat, the faces all around them and the date on their ticket.
On Thursday next, Ireland’s B Specials will fly into Murcia from whatever part of the world they happen to be playing their football in as Heimir Hallgrimsson hosts a training camp in Spain that will include a friendly against Grenada, one of the islands in the West Indies.
The night after Ireland arrive in Spain, Bohemians will make the relatively short journey up the M1 to Dundalk while Shamrock Rovers have a bit of a longer trek West to undertake for their Premier Division fixture away to Galway United.
Coach travel is bound to feature on both days next week - it’s a question of which coach and in which country they sit that will tell us so much about the short term international aspirations of 17-year-old Victor and 24-year-old Dawson.
Their club managers clearly have no doubt that the absence of so many senior players from Heimir’s plans for Murcia - due to club commitments in the likes of the Premier League, the EFL play-offs and the Scottish Prem - should open a Spanish door for two of the best young players in the League of Ireland.
Reynolds has been saying as much for weeks about his creative playmaker Devoy, insisting that he won’t stand in the player’s way if the call does come.
That Reynolds, under pressure after a seven game run without a win after leading the league for so long, is prepared to do without his star man for games against Dundalk and Drogheda makes the gesture all the more worthy.
Likewise, it is clear that Bradley will let Victor go to Spain and miss games against Galway and then Dundalk if it means his teenager, already signed to Arsenal, has a chance of training, never mind playing with the Irish senior squad.
Bradley really talked up Ozhianvuna yesterday, saying that the Tallaght native offers something that no other player in any Irish squad, underage or adult, can offer. And he will know - he sees the youngster in training and on the field most days of every week.
He is also a manager who has worked with some of the best players in the modern Irish game, including current Hoops Jack Byrne and Graham Burke who have played senior international football for Ireland.
Reynolds worked extensively with Devoy when he was assistant manager to Jim Crawford with the Irish Under 21 side that lost out to Israel on penalties in a European Championship play-off so he too knows what makes an international footballer.
There are, of course, many options open to Hallgrimsson when he names his travelling squad on Tuesday and some players from the lower leagues in England that we have probably never heard of yet may make the grade and get to sit a Spanish exam.
That’s fine. The manager is paid to cast his net as far and as wide as he wants to in order to make sure we have the best players possible available for both the upcoming Nations League and the Euro 28 qualifying campaign.
But he should also cast his net close to home every so often. When Bradley criticised elements of the Irish international team set-up in the not too distant past, Hallgrimsson listened. He should listen again now - to Bradley and to Reynolds because Victor Ozhianvuna and Dawson Devoy deserve to fly off to sunny Spain next week.
Y Viva Espana as they say.