As he searches for a way to end a continuing goal drought, Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson has a range of options at centre forward.
Michael Obafemi scored Plymouth Argyle’s first in the 2-1 defeat of Blackburn Rovers last Saturday, and only a week ago Tom Cannon finished with four as Stoke City beat Portsmouth 6-1.
Neither striker was called into the Ireland squad to play Nations League groups games in Finland on Thursday and Greece next Sunday, but their sparks of form show that Hallgrímsson has multiple candidates willing to solve his primary problem.
Leaving aside the seven put past Gibraltar last year, in 2023 and 2024 Ireland have scored eight goals and conceded 22 across 16 internationals, which include 11 defeats.
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The trend is downwards. So far this year Ireland have scored two goals, an Adam Idah header and Troy Parrott’s injury-time winner in the 2-1 defeat of Hungary last June at the Aviva Stadium, while conceding nine in six internationals.
The jostling for one, constant presence up front has been a topic of prolonged conversation since Robbie Keane retired in 2016 with 68 goals from 146 caps.
The obvious solution is for Evan Ferguson, who turns 20 this month, to rediscover fitness and take up where he left off before last year’s ankle injury.
Ferguson could start against Finland on Thursday despite Brighton and Hove Albion’s new manager Fabian Hürzeler using him sparingly behind Danny Welbeck, Joao Pedro and Georgino Rutter in recent weeks.
Idah remains an alternative, even though he struggled in the No 9 role during the 2-0 defeat to England last month, after which the 23-year-old lost his place to Sammie Szmodics for the defeat by Greece.
Idah’s club form this season is impressive. He wasted no time fitting into the Celtic squad with four goals, largely off the bench, behind Japan’s Kyogo Furuhashi.
If form is a driving factor for Hallgrímsson, Parrott must be in line to feature against Finland. He has six goals for new club AZ Alkmaar, having swapped a nomadic life outside the Tottenham Hotspur first team for Dutch football, where he scored 17 goals on loan last season to Excelsior Rotterdam.
Perhaps the other young Irish strikers should follow his lead.
“I don’t know if I can tell them ‘you should go there or you should not’, I think it’s different for everyone,” said Parrott. “It suited me a lot to move away and play somewhere else.
“There could be a young Irish lad who goes to the UK and does really well straight away. For everyone it’s different. If someone asked me I would say it has been a good experience and would advise them to go.”
Parrott, still only 22, has effectively swapped the punishing 46-game EFL Championship season for the Eredivisie’s more possession-based approach.
“Just the style of football is different. I played a lot in the Championship, a bit in League One, the style of football in the Netherlands is different to the Championship and I think it suits me more in Holland.”
The pressure Parrott felt after signing for Spurs, where he made his debut age 17 in 2019, slowed his progress.
“Trying to live up to the hype at such a young age,” he explained. “It was never going to happen that early because football isn’t so easy. For me it was more about growing up a bit and trying to block out the noise.”
From the media?
“It was a lot from the media, not a lot of people around me. I knew that I had talent, how good I was I didn’t know. I didn’t get many games to try to show that but it was a lot to do with media.”
The Dubliner will not be asking Hallgrímsson about last month’s camp, when he was overlooked for game time as Callum Robinson and Kasey McAteer came off the bench.
“No, I am not really the type to ask a lot of questions. If he’s made that decision, that is his decision, it’s gone and I can’t change what’s happened. Although I want to play, it is what it is. I hope I can get some minutes this time.”
There are other prospective Ireland strikers, such as Liam Delap and the five forwards called into Jim Crawford’s under-21 squad.
Delap has four goals from seven starts in the Premier League for Ipswich Town this season. The current England under-21, whose father Rory played for Ireland, is being monitored by the FAI in case a Fifa rule change allows him to switch allegiance before a senior call-up.
Mason Melia’s outstanding displays for St Patrick’s Athletic, particularly against Istanbul Basaksehir in a recent Uefa Conference League qualifier, earned the 17-year-old promotion to the under-21s.
Not that Melia is guaranteed minutes in Ireland’s European Championship qualifiers against Norway on Friday at Turners Cross and Italy in Trieste next Tuesday. Johnny Kenny, on loan to Shamrock Rovers from Celtic, has 14 goals this season to Melia’s six.
Neither are expected to start, mainly because Mark O’Mahony is excelling on loan to Portsmouth from Brighton and Sinclair Armstrong is a regular at Bristol City.
“We have certainly got riches in the forward department,” said Crawford. “Mark O’Mahony scored on Wednesday night [against Stoke and again on Saturday against Oxford United]. As a centre forward, he is a player with tremendous values that we always look for.
“Sinclair Armstrong who has scored goals in the Championship and is a real handful for defenders. Then you have got Aidomo [Emakhu at Millwall] who is a real threat with his pace.”
And do not forget Aaron Connolly, who is currently seeking to rejuvenate his career at Sunderland.
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