LEGION OF BLOOM

Hallgrimsson banking on one or more of our crop of exciting attacking talent to blossom and replicate the glory years of Ireland's best hitmen

- BY GARRY DOYLE

A GOLDEN boot came to Ireland at the same time as a golden era began.

And if you didn't know any better, you'd swear the two were linked.

But they weren't, because, even if John Aldridge was a decent performer amid Big Jack's heyday, Ireland's success didn't revolve around him.

Instead, his international career faltered — no goals in his first 19 caps as his form thrived at Liverpool, 63 goals coming during a two-year spell at Anfield, including 29 goals in his golden boot 1987/88 season.

His form did cross borders — but at club level. After Anfield, Aldridge ended up in Spain, getting 40 goals in 75 appearances for Real Sociedad, including eight in six games against Barcelona.

Yet with Ireland you could have sworn you were looking at a different player, six goals coming from the 41 caps he won between 1986 and 1991 — the peak years of his club career.

While a certain amount of this related to the selfless requirements Aldridge had to fulfil for the team, it wasn't the only reason.

"It often takes a player 20 games to feel comfortable," Mick McCarthy regularly said about international football, and that's certainly the case for strikers." History backs him up. Robbie Keane ended his career with 68 international goals but started it with just seven from his first 28 caps.

Then there was Niall Quinn, Ireland's second highest goalscorer.

He made his Ireland debut in 1986 but didn't reach double figures in terms of goals until 1993, by which stage he had played 93 games for Arsenal and 91 for Manchester City.