Ireland call questioned by fans as fallout to England and Greece defeats continues
The Boys in Green suffered back-to-back 2-0 losses during this month's international break
Republic of Ireland fans have been questioning Heimir Hallgrimsson's decision to give Liam Scales no gametime against either England or Greece.
The Boys in Green suffered back-to-back 2-0 losses during this month's international break and are already in a battle to avoid relegation to League C of the UEFA Nations League.
Hallgrimsson made a number of changes, both tactically and in terms of personnel, for the Greece game after the defeat to England, but Celtic defender Scales still didn't get on the pitch.
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The former Shamrock Rovers man has struggled at times at Celtic, but put in a brilliant performance against Rangers days before Ireland's clash with England, with the Hoops running out 3-0 winners.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers stressed the importance of Scales to his squad after the game, stating: “I don’t know where we would have been without Liam last year. When he came in and played away at Ibrox and all the challenges that he has had from a player that was maybe going to leave. He is such an important member of this squad."
He added: “Sometimes the guys that come in that are either Scottish or from Ireland they might not feel to be the sexiest of players, we might not have signed them for a lot of money.
“His robustness, he plays games, he hardly ever gets injured and again he stood up today.”
Scales joked about Rodgers' 'not the sexiest' comment before the England game, telling the media: “I take a bit of offence to it. No, if you read the article the headline was kind of taken out of context a bit.
“He was talking about the players from Ireland or Scotland or the UK in general, the fans don’t find them as glamorous as signing a player from Spain or Italy.
“He meant it in a good way. It was a compliment and I’ll take it and I know exactly what he means.
“Sometimes fans get more excited about players from elsewhere and that’s football but to hear that I am a crucial part of it is brilliant.”
Scales also told of his desire to play against England, adding: “Being left-footed, the centre-half that is left-footed, does give me an advantage.
“But the manager is going to pick what he thinks is the strongest team and there is massive competition in that area.
“Four centre-halves are playing in the Premier League, so it’s strong, but that will bring the best out of our players because it is competitive and that’s what will bring the best out of everyone.
“I just have to hope that I get the nod and if not I will still be ready to make an impact off the bench if I’m needed.”
It wasn't to be for Scales and a number of fans have expressed their disappointment at not seeing him getting a chance in either game.
One wrote: "I'm not Liam Scales biggest fan but there's no way he shouldn't be starting for Ireland."
Another commented: "Surely Liam scales and Jake O’Brien are looking at that Ireland back line and wondering what they have to do to get a game."
Someone else said: "@CelticFC fans often question Liam #Scales but he’s in the #Ireland team at centre half today that first ‘England goal isn’t happening."
"How’s Liam Scales not starting," asked another fan.
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