In the first of a series of pieces in the lead up to the new
season, I take a look at one of our new signings, one who is arguably both the
least known and the most exciting in terms of potential.
It’s pretty safe to say that when the rumours started
surfacing about City landing this young, Oxford winger, most had to quickly
Google the name to find out a little bit more about him. Kemar Roofe took most
of the plaudits at the Kassam Stadium last season and was the player fans
perhaps hoped we’d be in for this summer.
On a little more investigation, the move comes as little
surprise when you hear Mark Ashton was a big fan of O’Dowda whilst at the U’s,
and gets on well with his family. Whether or not you feel Ashton should be the
one identifying players or not is a matter for another day, but you’d hope and
assume with the network now in place that Lee Johnson has also seen enough to
be convinced.
Equally, digging a little deeper I have found out that some
at the club actually rated O’Dowda as a better prospect than the
afore-mentioned Roofe, despite the latter grabbing most of the headlines last
season with his goals and form.
So who is Callum O’Dowda? Well I aim to follow this up with
a more in-depth look at him via an interview, but for now I’ll give you the
words of Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry), correspondent for Irish Sports website www.SportsJOE.ie.
“Bristol City are getting a lad who has seemingly come from nowhere but who looks like he has been around for ages!
He is a pacy winger, with a trick or two in the bag, but likes to drift in and get on the ball. He had a great 2015/16 with Oxford and scored a brace against Barnet earlier this year.
His grandfather, Brendan O'Dowda, is Irish so that made him eligible to play for us. He was called up for Ireland U21s in March and scored on his second appearance for that side.
Martin O'Neill was hearing good things about him so got Steve Guppy to watch him in club action. A senior call-up soon arrived and he made his debut against Belarus in a 2-1 home defeat before Ireland set off for Euro 2016.
He stood out like a beacon in that game, unafraid to take on and beat his man and demand the ball in the tightest of spots.
My SportsJOE colleague, Conan O'Doherty gave him 8/10 and wrote:
‘Was given just 20 minutes to prove himself to O'Neill and, Jesus, he did everything he could to impress in that time. Looked lively, looked creative, confident and positive and really made things happen for Ireland. As late as late bolters go.’
He was a genuine option for O'Neill at Euro 2016, but he went instead with David Meyler as he could cover a number of defensive and midfield roles. Irish fans have only caught a glimpse of him so far but his Championship move should change all that. Expect him to be a regular in Ireland's World Cup Qualifiers squads!”
A regular in a half-decent Republic of Ireland squad and
potentially better than Roofe certainly sounds exciting, and helps justify the apparent
fee of over one million pounds – one of the largest in our history.
Let’s hope he can fulfil that potential with us and ensure
no-one is googling Callum O’Dowda in future to find out who he is.
COYR!
This is a good step taken by the time and I hope that he would be able to prove himself that he is a good choice for his team. The future games would prove his worth and place.
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