Jake O'Brien: It's not about developing any more, it's about winning
THERE’S a softness in Jake O’Brien’s voice until the tone rises into the alchemy of delivering the money line.
“Growing up,” begins the inquisitor to the debut Ireland call-up, “What players did you look up to in Irish context?”
“Obviously, John,” O’Brien asserts.
“John would have been the centre-half I looked up to and it's amazing that now he's my manager. From watching him to playing under him.”
For those guessing, that’s John O’Shea – minding the house as caretaker boss for two friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland.
Twenty years on from a younger Munsterman heading to one of those countries – from Manchester United to Royal Antwerp – another Red Devils fan undertook that rite of passage.
Both tall, athletic but adept centre-backs, they share similar style and personality.
Nothing too high or low, good and bad days but they’re unified by absorbing a run of better days this year.
Last summer, once O’Brien franked his season-long loan in Belgium by guiding RWD Molenbeek to promotion, he saw a better future beyond his parent club Crystal Palace.
Lyon spotted his potential, Laurent Blanc snaring a bargain by brokering a €1.5m bid purchase. It helped that both clubs were part of the Eagles Football Group, owned by US billionaire John Textor.
Somebody O’Brien calls a good friend - Molenbeek was also part of his stable – Textor’s stewardship, allied to poor results, provoked anger from the loyal Lyon following.
They had the memories of a past generation to cherish, when the likes of Karim Benzema, Juninho and Florent Malouda turbocharged them to dominate Ligue 1.
Textor was treated with suspicion by the hardcore and soon the crowd turned as a relegation battle threatened. Blanc exited and another continental legend,
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