This week’s news of Tom Cannon’s inclusion in the Ireland squad was met with a mixture of excitement and scepticism. Ireland fans though should afford Cannon the benefit of doubt.
A youth product of Everton, Cannon made his debut for the Toffees as a late substitute in a 4-1 EFL Cup loss to Bournemouth in November 2022. Four days later, he went on to make his Premier League debut in a 3-0 away loss (again to Bournemouth).
In January 2023 Cannon joined Championship side Preston North End on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 4-0 loss to Norwich City and on 25th February 2023 he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2-1 win against Wigan Athletic. During his time with Preston, he scored 8 goals in 20 games.
In September 2023 Cannon joined Leicester City on a permanent deal, penning a five-year contract. In an injury hit season, he made his debut for the club on 9th December 2023 as a 63rd minute substitute in a 4-0 win against Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup, and on 1st January 2024 he netted his first goals for the club, a brace in a 4-1 home win over Huddersfield Town in the Championship. Just this month he became an EFL Championship winner, gaining promotion to the Premier League for next season.
For Ireland Cannon played in three Under 19 European Championship qualification matches against Switzerland, Gibraltar, and Denmark (scoring one goal – against Gibraltar). He was then called up to an Under 20’s squad in March 2022 and then got his first call up for the Under 21’s for a friendly versus Iceland in March 2023 (a game in which he netted the first goal in a 2-1 win).
In March 2023 Stephen Kenny called Cannon into a 22-man senior squad for a four-day training camp in Bristol, ahead of two Euro 2024 qualifiers in June that year against Greece and Gibraltar. He subsequently withdrew from this get together because of tonsilitis. Then, in June 2023 Kenny advised that Cannon would be taking time to reflect on his international future after an approach from England to play for their under 21 side. At the time Kenny said, “His (Cannon’s) agent is Kenny Moyes (brother of David Moyes), and he just said, ‘Let’s get this camp out of the way and we’ll come and meet you and have a chat.’ He said, ‘Obviously England U-21 have made an approach’ and he just needed a bit of time to reflect and see what the situation was and wanted to speak to me after the camp, sit down and have a conversation.”
The worry was then that not only was Cannon keeping his options open, but that he was planning to jump ship and play for England. A further interesting layer to this scenario was that current England under 21’s boss Lee Carsley was for a long time linked to the Ireland senior men’s management position.
However, fears that he was to defect to England have been subsequently shot down by Ireland interim boss, John O’Shea, as he handed Cannon his first senior call-up for next month’s friendlies against Hungary and Portugal. The absence of Evan Ferguson and Chiedozie Ogbene has opened the door for the 21-year-old, and after holding positive conversations with Cannon’s agent and family, O’Shea is delighted to get him involved.
“I spoke to Tom a couple of times. I tried to get him in for the March window if possible,” said O’Shea. “Seeing Tom with the Under-21s, I know what a talent he is, what type of striker he is. I spoke to him and his agent as well and said, ‘take your time, and when you are ready just get back in touch with me’. “Thankfully they did and we were able to have another conversation.”
So, all sounds good right? But just mention the names Rice and Grealish and cynicism creeps into Ireland fans. Declan Rice played three friendly matches for Ireland and then pledged his future to England. Similarly, Cannon would not be tied to Ireland should he appear in either (or both) of these upcoming friendlies.
We can only hope that he is sincere with his acceptance of the call up. O’Shea added: “He was with his family when I spoke to him and they were very proud and very happy to be committing to the Republic of Ireland. I can only take a person at the conversation we had. He’s looking forward to it and excited to come in for these two games. Let’s wait and see, I’m sure it will be the case that he will be committed.”
As a nation we need all the quality players that we can get our hands on. Cannon is an interesting option, a young striker, who may not have been prolific in his career so far (he has had his injury problems) but next season he will be plying his trade in the Premier League, and he has bags of potential. Let’s give the lad a chance and the benefit of doubt and see what he can bring to the table.