‘We’re all in this for the common goal’ – Crawford
By Hayden Moore
NEWLY-APPOINTED Republic of Ireland Under-21 manager Jim Crawford believes that the current international set-up has the capability of bringing Ireland back to the glory days and make the country “a top nation” in football again.
The Jobstown man, who had served as Stephen Kenny’s assistant manager with the Under-21s, was named as the successor to his fellow Tallaght native last weekend.
Jim Crawford has been appointed as U21 manager
The move came in lieu of Kenny’s accelerated appointment as Senior boss, which was pushed forward almost four-months in light of the delay to the senior European Championship play-offs caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Crawford has been involved in the underage ranks of Ireland since 2016, when he was appointed head coach of the Under-18s.
A vital cog in the transformation of Irish football that FAI High Performance Director Ruud Dokter set up seven-years-ago, Crawford’s Under-21s have benefited from a fluidity between teams in the youth set-up in recent years.
“I am really looking forward to the challenge, to develop these players further, who are as we know, an extension of the Senior team,” explains the 46-year-old in a phone interview with The Echo during the week.
“The players, the staff, we will all be having meetings together because we’re all in this for the common goal and that is to make Ireland a top nation that people are talking about again.”
He continued: “I’ve seen a massive change in the psyche or the mentality of these players after the Toulon Tournament.
“They were playing against the Brazil Under-23s, China Under-22s, teams who were getting ready for the Olympics, and they saw that they could perform and compete on a world stage – they played to a fourth-place finish.
“It may have seemed like a small part of their development but it was the right step towards them getting to pull on a senior jersey, not just for one or two caps, but for what we hope could be a long international career.”
Since his promotion from assistant to manager with the Under-21s last Saturday, it has been a hectic few days for Crawford.
“It was really just routine stuff on the laptop in the house and then a whirlwind came on Saturday – and that whirlwind just hasn’t stopped since then,” he said.
“I know Stephen Kenny had been talking to [Interim CEO of the FAI] Gary Owens on Friday and then he wanted to have a meeting with me on Saturday about my positioning moving forward, the staffing between the Under-21s and Senior sides – it was a really great meeting.
“It is a huge honour for me to be appointed as Stephen’s successor with the Under-21s and it’s about me now continuing to nurture and develop these players.
“When you look at the likes of Aaron Connolly, Lee O’Connor and Troy Parrott, they have all been capped with the Senior squad and we want to continue to get players ready for the Senior set-up but still focus on playing competitively at Under-21 level at the same time.”
Crawford and his management team, which now includes John O’Shea, have the opportunity to bring Ireland to their first ever UEFA Under-21 European Championship finals.
They have made an impressive start in qualification so far and sit top of Group One with three games remaining.
They are eyeing the November window to play their games with Iceland and Luxemburg, which were originally scheduled to be played at the end of March but were postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“I’m going to sit down with the High Performance Director [Ruud Dokter] during the week to work out a calendar, a road map, of potential games for the players and the staff,” details Crawford
“There is an unbelievable opportunity here for this team to be the first to make the Under-21 European Championship finals.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a hell of a lot of work ahead of us if we want to achieve that.
“I’m desperate to get over to the UK to be able to meet with the players and talk to them.
“We’ve done a lot of work with these players since we got hold of them, really, it’s just carrying on what was already started.”
