Robbie Brady has been Ireland's go-to man in the last 12 months. Starting from his goal in the fog against Bosnia, to his crucial winner against Italy in the Euros - it's hard to pick a player who has been better in green than the diminutive playmaker with a magical left foot.
But Niall Quinn is banking on someone else becoming Ireland's newest talisman - Jeff Hendrick.
To an extent, that can make sense. O'Neill is still struggling to figure out how best to use Brady - he's so good from left-back, left-wing, or in the middle of the park. While Hendrick, at 24-years-old, is coming into the prime of his career and is settled in his position in midfield.
Hendrick was brilliant at the Euros, which earned him a £10 million move to Premier League side Burnley, and that's why Quinn is so high on him:
There’s no doubt about it, I think he was the most surprising good news story of the team in the summer. Very few of us foresaw Hendrick stepping up to the plate the way he did at the Euros.
He just has to carry that on now and try to think of himself as somebody who could go all the way and be the main man in the Irish team, galvanising midfield. They’re the targets that people like him should set himself.
Ireland are facing into a new era without Robbie Keane - something that has been unthinkable for the last 18 years. Most people think that Shane Long will be the man to turn to without Keane - but Daryl Murphy's transfer to Newcastle caught Quinn's eye and he thinks it could help fill the void:
Daryl has got the most brilliant move at a point in his career when a lot of players will be looking over their shoulders to going backwards.
Murphy has yet to score for Ireland - something that hasn't been an issue for him at club level. Quinn can relate to having taken over 18 months to score his first Ireland goal.
Whether Murphy will get the nod for Serbia on Monday remains to be seen, but we're all hoping for a big game from Hendrick.
[Irish Examiner]
See Also: The Ireland Team That We Desperately Want To See Line Out Against Serbia On Monday
Photo by David Maher/Sportsfile
