The former Manchester City captain discusses the club’s recent recruitment, Aston Villa’s Champions League campaign and the future of Irish football.
Former Manchester City captain Richard Dunne says he was impressed with his former club’s recruitment in the January transfer window and has tipped defender Abdukodir Khusanov to be a success after a tricky start in Manchester.
In our exclusive interview, Dunne also praised the job Unai Emery has done at another of his former clubs, Aston Villa, who are currently 25/1 in the football betting to win the Champions League.
What was it like when the money started to come into Manchester City? Was it a chaotic time when the takeover happened?
I think on that initial first day when it happened there was bids going in left, right and centre for every top player around Europe.
It was a case of trying to make a mark and make a big statement signing on day one and show the intentions of the club.
I’d say, probably from that moment on, the owners plan kicked in and they became very strategic about what they were going to do, which types of players they were going to sign.
The club is going from strength to strength, and I don’t think there’s ever been a period where it’s felt chaotic, or it’s felt disorganised.
The plan has always been followed almost since day one, they took their time – it wasn’t instant success – but it wasn’t very long.
Then, because of the organisation and how the owners ran the whole club, it’s been able to be sustained.
They’ve been at the top of the league and the top of European Football for over ten years now, so it’s been a huge success I think for the owners.
If there were any signs of chaos on that first day when the bids were going in everywhere, I think since then it’s been a perfect example of how to run a football club.
Do you have any regrets about not staying at City for a while longer, even if it meant competing with centre-backs they paid a lot of money for?
Obviously, you want to stay.
The club went from strength to strength, so you’d love to be part of that and be part of the success that they had.
But in football if a club wants to get rid of you, they want to get rid of you.
They wanted to change direction and go somewhere else, so I wasn’t one for sitting around in places that I wasn’t particularly welcome.
I was fortunate I got a really good move to Aston Villa, and I really enjoyed my time there and City went on and did their thing so it’s just part of football.
Your face fits sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t, and you have to move on.
You would have trained and played with a young Vincent Kompany. Were there signs that he’d go on to become an elite player and a top-level manager?
I think he was always, even before he came to Manchester City, renowned as being a really top player with Anderlecht.
I think there’d been a couple of clubs who’d looked at him previous to City signing him.
When he came, he had that sort of personality where he wanted to be a leader, he wanted to improve constantly, and he wanted to get better.
I think that’s obviously a sign of a top player and also of a person who has the potential to become a top manager.
I think the career he went on to have, nobody probably would have seen it when he first signed for City because it wasn’t the City that it is today.
He was obviously helped by the signings that the club made and the progression that the club made.
He was more than capable of continuing at that level as it improved each year, and he ended up having a fantastic carer and becoming probably one of the best centre-backs that the Premier League has seen.
I suppose the next step for someone like that was to go into management.
So far, he’s been really successful in that and watching him over the last Champions League nights against Bayer Leverkusen, they looked like they were streets ahead, so that’s a real compliment to him and especially against such a good manager like Xabi Alonso.
What have you thought of Man City’s recruitment recently, and Abdukodir Khusanov’s impact?
I think it’s been good, normally when City do sign players, it takes them a period of time to adjust and understand what’s expected from the manager.
Certainly, on Abdukodir Khusanov’s part, I think he’s settled in brilliantly.
It was a bit of a rude awakening he had in his first game against Chelsea, it was a little bit of a surprise to him, but since then he’s been outstanding.
He looks like he’s going to be a great signing for them, I think Omar Marmoush, as well, is an exciting player.
He’s someone that looks like he wants to run in behind, he wants to create opportunities for teammates and can obviously score a goal.
So far, I think they’ve been good, there obviously needs to be more players who can step up as well.
I think Nico Gonzalez has come in and probably been more steady than super exciting.
I still think there are areas to improve and I’m sure the plan all along was to do all of this in the summer but because of the situation they’ve had to bring a couple of the signings forward, so I still expect them to try and strengthen again in the summer.
You spent a short period helping out the Manchester City Under-18s last year, was there any sense of worry internally at the club in the face of the charges facing them?
I was only there for a short period but there was never any mention of it.
I don’t think there’s any and there’s nothing the club can do now.
They’ve answered their case and just have to sit back and see. The comment all along has been that they’re innocent, they don’t feel that they’ve doing anything wrong, so I’m sure they’ll continue to fight that and believe in that whatever ruling comes, we’ll just have to wait and see.
I don’t think it’s had any effect on the team in the Premier League, it’s always stuff like that which is out of players’ hands.
It becomes noise from the outside rather than anything that affects them internally.
What have you made of David Moyes’ impact since he returned to Everton?
I think he’s been brilliant.
I think the impact that he’s had has completely changed the outlook of the club now.Â
There was a lot of panic about, obviously whether they would be in the Championship in their lovely new stadium and all that sort of stuff, but that worry seems to have been washed away now.
It’s much more positive, things are looking up, in the next few years – if this short period David Moyes has been in is anything to go by – they can start looking and hoping that European Football could be on the horizon in the future.
I think that’s huge for the club going into the new stadium, he did an amazing job the last time he was there, obviously won a European trophy while he was away at West Ham United.
The hope will be that he will come back, resurrect Everton’s fortunes and hopefully get them challenging for European places and see what they can do in the competitions.
What have you thought of Jake O’Brien’s performances in the absence of the injured Seamus Coleman?
I think Jake O’Brien has done fantastic; he’s had to wait a long time to get his opportunity to play.
He obviously had big success in France last year and scored quite a few goals for Lyon which got him the move to the Premier League.
But he’s had to be patient, and he’s come into the team at the right time.
When a new manager comes in and the first thing he does is put his trust in you as a player, you feel that confidence right away.
He’ll feel like he wants to prove Moyes right and so far he’s done it.
He’s obviously got the goal against Brentford a couple of weeks ago so if he can start adding some goals between now and the end of the season that would be just fantastic for him.
In terms of his performances, he’s been part of a really solid defensive unit and a really improving team so fair play to him he’s done great, he’s put his head down and he’s got his opportunity.
Now he seems to be taking it with both hands so it’s great for him.
In terms of Seamus Coleman, obviously age catches up with us all and you come to a stage in your career where you do come to a crossroads, and you think about whether you carry on or go in a different route.
Seamus is probably coming to that period now, if he’s still capable I’m sure he’d love to just carry on playing, that’s what we all love doing.
He’s one of those players where he’s earned the right to decide what he wants to do, if he decides to become a coach, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of opportunities for him.
If he wants to carry on, there’ll be lots of club who will want him and I’m sure Everton will want him to stay around, then obviously he wants to step away for a bit that’s something he’s earned as well.
I think there won’t be any sort of pressure or expectations put on Seamus, it will all be down to what he fancies doing.
Throughout his career he’s always made good decisions, so I’m sure he will again
What do you think of the current Aston Villa team and what Unai Emery is doing there?
He’s done really well. I mean, they had a couple of seasons where things obviously weren’t great, they got relegated and managed to get themselves back up and just about survived.
Again, it looks like a club that had a plan to get into the situation that they’re in. It’s taken a couple of changes in manager with a lot of new players coming in and out and all that sort of stuff, but the manager seems to have high demands of the players.
Obviously last season they got into that Champions League spot by being a really solid side and they’ve added to it again this year with the signings they’ve made
I think trying to balance the Premier League and the Champions League this year they’ve found, at times, a little bit difficult, but I mean the Champions League season has been fantastic for them.
They have a quarter-final now to look forward to knowing that it’s going to be PSG. Getting through is something they’ll obviously be desperately wanting to achieve.
Yeah, so it’s been a huge turn around and a huge achievement by Emery to get the club into the situation that they’re in.
Towards the end of you career you played for QPR. There were a lot of interesting characters at that club but what was Harry Redknapp like?
He was great, a manager who wants to converse with the players, wants to help the players get better, wants to make sure everyone’s in the best of moods and everyone’s in the best moments so that they can perform at their best.
He was just a really, really good fella. I’m sure you’ve seen everything that he does – he comes across as a really good guy and it’s the same when you meet him in person. He was brilliant and it was a really enjoyable time being there with him. I thought he was great and I’m sure most of the players around that time would say the same.
Did Harry do much coaching or was he one to stand back and concentrate on man management and team selection?
Yeah, I mean he’ll do tactics and man management and all that sort of stuff, all stuff you’d expect from the manager but a lot of experienced managers have coaches who are on the pitch putting the energy into the training sessions.
The experienced managers will sit back and watch and know what they’re looking for.
Harry was obviously hugely experienced and someone who knew the game inside-out so he knew that rather than taking the sessions he’d be better off looking at the sessions and seeing what he’s getting from each player and knowing what exactly he can do, who’s ready to play and who isn’t.
Do you think Heimir Hallgrimsson is getting any closer to knowing what his strongest Ireland team is?
I think he is. I think there’s so many players that have played for Ireland over the last five years.
Loads of players have been given debuts and loads are breaking through at different levels. There is a process you have to go through in terms of looking at who’s the right fit and who’s available and all that sort of stuff. I do feel we’re getting to understand what he wants from players, what the expectations are, so with that you start to see a tactic and then you start to see a style of play that he wants to introduce.
Depending on form and injuries, he’ll pick the best players available, but I think what everyone was looking for was – What are we trying to do as a team? What type of system are we going to be playing?
Are we going to have a go at teams? Are we going to try and hit them on the counterattack? I’m sure he’s starting to find out what best suits the players and what best suits him and hopefully we’ll see the fruition of that over the next couple of weeks, certainly in the game against Bulgaria.
I mean, it’s not the most attractive of games but it’s a really important one because we don’t really want to be dropping down to the third tier of the Nations League.
What have you made of Hallgrimsson as Ireland manager so far and do you expect him to introduce new players to his starting team in this international window?
I think Troy [Parrott] has had a really good season at AZ Alkmaar. He’s become a bit of a leader at AZ, I think he’s become the player that most of the team’s attacks run through. I think he links up really well so I’m sure he’ll be thereabouts when the first 11 is getting picked.
Obviously, I think Jake O’Brien will be a player that will probably come into the starting 11 now as well. He gives you that extra threat again at set-pieces. And hopefully Evan Ferguson is back up to his full steam. He’s getting minutes at West Ham now and he’d be looking to start.
I think when you have a forward line that includes the likes of Parrott and Ferguson, well then straight away you’ve got players who can make an impact in the game, so I think that will be a positive boost for the whole team to have them available.
I think in general they’ve done alright, there’s been a slow progression in the team and the performances. The hope is that we can qualify for the World Cup…for me, I think it’s a big ask.
I’m not sure they’re quite ready yet, but signs of improvement would be that we’re still involved and still have a chance to qualify with a couple of games to go in the campaign.
I think that’s huge to get the team competing and staying in games and groups. That has to be the aim for the manager over the next few months
Do you think the experience accumulated by young players under Stephen Kenny is now starting to stand to the Irish team?
Yeah, I mean what Stephen Kenny did was really good in terms of the number of players he blooded into international football.
He gave them those experiences. The problem that the players had was there were a lot of bad experiences for them. They didn’t win a lot of games and didn’t gain a lot of confidence so now they’re understanding, I suppose, what it takes to win an international game, what it takes to stay in international football.
There now has to be a progression. It’s a natural thing – the older you get, the better you become. You’re more experienced, you understand the game more.
The players have that now and yeah, the expectations have to rise as well because you’re not looking at young kids or inexperienced players anymore, you’re looking at lads playing week in, week out, competing at really high levels.
It’s a squad, I think, which if they can click, if they can get it all together, and the manager can get the right system and the right formula for them then there’s certainly a squad there that can be at this level.
Hopefully it’s within this next campaign.
Marc Canham’s name is in the headlines again this week, what are your thoughts on his performance in his role at the FAI?
I don’t know, I think he’s tried a lot of stuff which doesn’t’ really resonate with Irish Football.
I see a lot of people have gone against his proposals, I mean the appointment of the manager took far too long.
Whatever way they try and spin it took far too long, it wasn’t a process that left the FAI covered in glory at all. I mean, I don’t see any major positive impact that he’s made on the FAI so far. It’s obviously a difficult job for him and he’s trying certain things and trying to change a lot of stuff which will always have a lot of people pushing back against.
He’s put himself in a situation where he’s not gaining many friends around the game in Ireland and I think that doesn’t help, I think that’s part of the job – working with people.
He’s found that difficult. It’s not been super, and the FAI hasn’t been for a long time. It hasn’t been productive in helping the League of Ireland or helping Irish Football, so it is what it is.
Everyone’s opinion is out there on how it’s ran. It’s not in a place where we’d hope the FAI would be at this stage.
Having coached in England at under-18 level, would you be concerned about the level of facilities and training young Irish players are getting in comparison?
In comparison to Premier League clubs, it’s lightyears away. They’ve got infinite buckets of money in England.
There’re objectives that the FA set out to them which they must achieve and I think that’s what the League of Ireland needs to do. Why the young Irish players won’t fall so far behind is that they’re getting an opportunity to play first team football which is huge because if you’re getting to England and you’re seeing some of the players in the under-21 teams playing and they’re not ready for first team football because they’ve never been exposed to it.
Whereas, at least in Ireland the players are exposed from a young age to competition, to competitive leagues.
I think that will stand them in good stead. I think that has to be the aim for the League of Ireland clubs – to improve facilities, both stadiums and training facilities – and hopefully that comes through investment form the government, the FAI or whoever it may be.
That has to be the thing – bridging the gap in terms of facilities and giving young players ta better opportunity to reach their full potential.
There were reports before that you were interested in the Bohemians job. Would you still be interested in taking a League of Ireland job If the right opportunity came up?
Yeah, I think opportunities and timing and all that stuff comes into account but yeah, it’s certainly something that I’d still be interested in.
I’ve been coaching for a long time at different levels and stuff like that so to get the opportunity to manage the team and to try and do it at a good level would be really interesting.
Like I said, it’s trying to get those opportunities and trying to be available and be ready at the right time.
How consuming is the role as a League of Ireland manager?
It takes over your life, that’s the way it is. It’s not like a Saturday or Friday night job; it’s a job you’ve got to be involved in 24 hours a day to try and be successful.
Yeah, it does consume people, but I think everyone who does is crazy in love with football and it’s what they’ve done all their lives so it’s what they’re used to.
Are you encouraged by the trajectory of the League of Ireland, particularly in the wake of that huge Bohemians Vs Shamrock Rovers game at the Aviva Stadium?
I think the League of Ireland’s been great. I think it’s been steadily progressing over the last few years.Â
Every time Shamrock Rovers or one of the teams does really well in Europe, it grows the profile again. Fans now are realising that they’re getting really good quality football at their doorstep so that’s great.
They’re filling the stadiums and the standard has been good. The level of manager is obviously really high and the league this season looks like it’s going to be one of the most competitive leagues around Europe so it’s exciting times.
You just hope long may it continue. I think for it to continue, it’s about the progression of the league as a whole in terms of facilities and getting the standard higher and higher. It’s a league, I think, that people can be very proud of – proud to have it here and proud to watch it on a weekly basis.
Who is the greatest Irish player of all time?
For me growing up it was always Paul McGrath, someone I idolised and think he was an unbelievable player.
He had a hugely successful career and was a player who could play in many different positions. I mean there’s been loads – obviously John Giles, Liam Brady, Roy Keane, Robbie Keane, Damien Duff – there’s been so many good players in recent history.
But since he was my favourite growing up it would probably be Paul McGrath.
You were on the front cover of the Irish edition of FIFA 09 beside Ronaldinho, which Irish player would you back to be the next EA cover star?
That was a weird one that. It was me and Ronaldinho on the cover, which was a strange one. It should have been the worldwide edition!
I’d say Evan Ferguson. He’s the one that if you’re playing the game I’m sure you’d want to be scoring goals and he’s the one able to score goals.
He’s the most high-profile Irish player at the moment and the one that the young kids are trying to emulate now.