It was less than a year ago when James McClean said 'If you're not proud to be here and we're a stepping stone, then sod off and play for someone else.' It's been a few months since we've heard from Patrick 'Paddy' Bamford on his muddled international football ambitions and his struggles to decide whether he wants to wear the Ireland shirt. Bamford has shed more light on whether he'll ever play for Ireland, and we fear McClean wouldn't be greatly impressed.
Bamford was capped for Ireland once at U18 level and qualifies for the Ireland team through the granny rule. When asked in the spring about Ireland's approaches, Bamford said he was strictly concentrating on his club football as Leeds as pushed for Premier League promotion. When Bamford didn't make the switch over the summer, many Ireland fans presumed Bamford had moved on. However, this week he confirmed he hasn't ruled Ireland out yet, he just hasn't made his mind up yet since he is still concentrating on his club football.
“Some of the stuff that gets written in the press is a load of rubbish."
“I spoke to Mick and he asked me to basically change over nationality for the summer games and I said ‘look I had a bad injury last year and I want to concentrate interest of the season with Leeds.’
"I am not saying no, I am just concentrating on Leeds. I haven’t closed any doors, I have not said yes, I have not said no.”
Bamford turns 26 tomorrow. You'd think the window is closing on his international career. But for now, and probably for the rest of his career, he's just concentrating on his club football.
