What we’re watching - Premier pressures & Champs chaos
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25 April 2026; Gavin Bradley of Ulster FA in action against Gavin Curran of Connacht FA during the FAI Youth Inter-Provincial Tournament match between Connacht FA and Ulster FA at Drom, Salthill Devon in Galway. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
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
Cathal Dervan, Editor
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.
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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.
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Ups, downs and Champions League chaos all feature along with VAR in today’s episode. Kevin and Cathal review Arsenal’s performance in Spain and look at this weekend’s EPL matches.
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley has offered Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson some more advice - get Victor Ozhianvuna into the squad for the end of season training camp and internationals.
Hallgrimsson is due to meet the media in Dublin on Tuesday when he will name his first summer squad for a training camp and friendly against Grenada in Spain this month - with this squad to be made up of non top flight players due to club commitments.
The Ireland coach will then decide who stays in the squad and joins his senior internationals for a Dublin friendly against Qatar at the end of the month followed by a trip to play Canada at the start of June.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s home Premier Division game against Waterford, Bradley talked up the international potential of 17-year-old Ozhianvuna who has already committed to Arsenal in a €2million deal which will see him move to London as an 18-year-old next January.
Bradley told the Irish Mirror: “I’d take Victor into the squad tomorrow. I think he’s a special talent, I really do. We haven’t got anything like him at any age in the central area of the pitch - from the senior team down.
“I’m not saying he’s a mainstay but I think he’s a serious talent and there’s nothing like him [in] every aspect. We have very similar midfielders from the senior team down. Very similar.
“We could go through them, player for player, they’re all very similar in how they play the game and the attributes they have. They’re good players of course, they’re playing at good levels, Premier League, some of them [in the] Championship. But we have nothing like [Ozhianvuna]. Nothing.
“I’m not getting carried away. You have to be careful because he’s young and it’s a lot. He’s so young. But we have nothing like it.”
Bradley also revealed that veteran striker Rory Gaffney could soon return to the Rovers squad as he recovers from an infection picked up following surgery on a long term achilles injury.
Irish Under 21 winger Trent Kone-Doherty has confirmed that his hunger for first team football persuaded him to swap Liverpool for Norwegian side in the last transfer window.
The Derry born 19-year-old has lifted the lid on why he chose to take the unconventional route to senior football with the Norwegian side rather than await more first team opportunities under Arne Slot.
“I was ready to start playing senior football, but at that moment I wasn’t getting that at Liverpool,” said Kone-Doherty in an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent’s Sean O’Connor.
“For me, it was about going somewhere where I could get some experience in senior football. I felt like it was the next step for me. Once you get a taste for the first team, it makes you eager for more.
“It wasn’t an easy decision. My whole life was in Liverpool. I had three years there, but I think it was best for my career. I had to make the decision in the end. You just have to be brave sometimes and take control of your career.
“It can be tough to break through, especially when you’re at those top clubs. It takes a lot of patience. Sometimes, you just need to make a decision.”
The English FA are set to step up their interest in former Sligo Rovers winger Owen Elding, currently making a big impression at Hibernian in the Scottish Premier Division as he awaits his Irish passport.
Elding was due to attend a ceremony to take up Irish citizenship recently but that was cancelled at the last minute and he is still waiting to complete the paperwork that will make him eligible for Jim Crawford’s Irish Under 21 squad.
Now the Irish Sun reports, via London based reporter Charlie Wyett, that England are keen to bring Elding into their underage set-up after he marked his move to HIbs and Scottish football with three goals in his first nine appearances.
The 20-year-old is the son of former Stockport and Leeds United striker Anthony Elding but qualifies for the Republic via the residency rule after moving to the country when his father signed for Sligo.
Elding played 67 games for Sligo between 2023 and 2025 and scored 16 goals before his €430,000 move to Hibernian.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has again insisted that Iran will play at the World Cup finals in America this summer - despite their football federation delegation missing the FIFA Congress in Canada this week due to visa issues.
Speaking after the congress, when he confirmed he will run again for the presidency, Infantino told the BBC that he has no doubt Iran will fulfill their group fixtures against New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
Infantino stressed: “Of course, Iran will play in the United States of America. The reason for that is simple, because we have to unite. We have to bring people together.”
Cork born manager Brian Barry-Murphy has again been linked with a top job in English football but his Welsh employers at newly promoted Cardiff City aren’t buying into any speculation about his future.
The Wales Online website reports that Cardiff’s owners have poured cold water on reports putting Barry-Murphy in the frame to replace Scott Parker at relegated Burnley when they join the Bluebirds in the Championship next season.
Craig Bellamy and Steven Gerrard have also been linked with the Burnley vacancy but the website insists that Cardiff sources are adamant that Barry-Murphy will stay put.
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