Some people are just lucky.
Look at some of these players from the top 11 of the Premier League last season:
Everton: Darron Gibson, Aaron Lennon, Tom Cleverley.
Stoke City: Erik Pieters, Charlie Adam.
Liverpool: Alberto Moreno, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson.
Leicester City: Christian Fuchs, Marc Albrighton.
That’s just the top 11. That’s just glaring examples. Those are players who haven’t been brought through the youth system, clubs have actually gone out, selected them, and paid money for them.
What do those left backs and midfielders have that Robbie Brady doesn’t? What do they contribute to a team that Robbie Brady couldn’t?
Another season in the Championship it is for Robbie Brady. It doesn’t matter what he did last year in the Premier League, or how he performed on the international stage against Sweden, against Belgium, Italy and France. There’s a top bracket and Robbie Brady isn’t in it.
That’s why Alex Neil can come out confidently and speak openly about the Dubliner on deadline day and how he’ll be staying at Norwich.
“I don’t anticipate that [a move] will be the case,” the Canaries boss stated.
“Nothing is happening [regarding Robbie]. Unless somebody is making offers, then there is nothing to discuss. There are numerous players who have been linked with moves away but no-one has put any firm bids in.”
Sure why would anyone take a chance on Robbie Brady when they can fall over themselves fighting to loan Jack Wilshere for five injury-free games?
It’s an epidemic now at this stage, the stigma attached to players in the second-tier or, worse, the one that blows up ordinary footballers in the top bracket into something they’re not.
Fans of some giant clubs really want Jeff Hendrick and why the hell shouldn't he get a big move? https://t.co/refqMAkLRQ
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 7, 2016
Look at it in everyday terms, it’s rife there as well.
How many people have you seen walk into a job because they have a good CV?
Then, when they get into that job, you might find that they’re not all they’re cracked up to be. But time goes by and they get an even bigger move somewhere else again because of the experience and positions they can talk about. You don’t necessarily need to be good or prove that you’re good, just have a good CV.
All it takes is one good interview, one fooled employer and then that person is in a certain bracket for the rest of his/her career. They won’t need to take a step down even if they’re not doing anything good. All they have to do is not balls up and someone else will be interested because of this portfolio behind them.
By the same token, if you’re Tom Cleverley and you’re shit, it doesn’t matter because you came through the Manchester United system, Alex Ferguson plays you and you’ll always be held in that esteem now.
It doesn’t matter if Cleverley never does anything half decent, he’s in a bracket now for the rest of his career, picking up England caps, starting every game for Villa even though he was generally brought off or ineffective and still getting a move to Everton then because everyone accepts these unspoken rules about which players are suited to which clubs.
Unfortunately for a lot of good footballers, they’re lumped into the B grade for no reason either but for the fact that they’re there. It’s like a graduate job looking for experience. You can’t get the experience until someone gives you the experience.
Richard Keogh won’t get the chance no matter how many player of the year trophies he picks up. Jeff Hendrick will only get it at Burnley or Hull for now.
It’s depressing when you see talent not getting rewarded and incompetence being elevated for no real reason or logic. Just reputation.
If Jamie Vardy hadn’t risen through the divisions with Leicester, he would never have been given a chance. But when he got the opportunity on a bigger stage than he was ever offered, he showed he was good enough – miles better than most of the rubbish already there.
So Robbie Brady is a star, he showed it against the best opposition, he showed it for his country at the Euros at left back and in midfield. Wherever he played, he took control of games and he beat his opponents and made things happen. He held his nerve, became a leader, and stepped up for the whole world to see.
He’s 24 and ripe for a big move. He’s good enough and he’s proven himself enough. But it doesn’t mean anything. Not to the top tier teams anyway. Not when they can trust Tom Cleverley to do nothing for them instead.
They have their pool and they stick with that. Brady will get there eventually – he just needs the chance. Don’t expect anyone to take it anytime soon though.
Listen to Colm Parkinson, Conán Doherty, Senan Connell and Barry Cahill dissect Dublin v Kerry in the latest GAA Hour.
