Football: How Harry Redknapp made sure it finished happily ever Arter

As the rumours surrounding Harry Arter’s international future swirled last month, the Bournemouth midfielder found himself caught up in a media storm he would rather have avoided.

Suggestions that Arter may walk away from the Republic of Ireland squad and open up the door to an England call-up were not fuelled by the player or his advisers, yet Irish fans on social media were quick to criticise the in-form midfielder in the most raucous way possible as he was forced to deal with Twitter abuse that shocked him.

All the rumours should end this weekend as Arter his set to play his first World Cup qualifier for the Republic of Ireland in Austria this Saturday and ahead of one of the biggest games of his career, he has spoken to Yahoo Sport about his pride in wearing the green shirt.

WAS THERE EVER ANY TRUTH IN THE RUMOURS THAT YOU WERE CONSIDERING A SWITCH TO PLAY FOR ENGLAND?

My stance on the whole story was I didn’t need to comment on something that was little more than a rumour. My ambition has always been to get into the Ireland team and hopefully that will happen now. I really don’t know how the story gathered momentum, but there was nothing in it.

DID YOU EVER DOUBT YOUR DESIRE TO PLAY FOR IRELAND?

There were a few negative tweets that surprised me when the rumours blew up claiming I might declare for England, but you cannot allow that to affect you. I have played for Ireland for a long time in the junior ranks and into the senior team, so my ambition has been to get into the senior team. Hopefully I get a chance to do that now.

ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED NOT TO HAVE PLAYED A COMPETITIVE GAME FOR IRELAND UP TO NOW?

It has been a bit frustrating not to play up to this point, but injuries have got in the way for me at times and I have to accept that there are players in the Ireland team who have been there for a lot longer than me.  The boss doesn’t know me as well as he does a lot of the players and it’s up to me to gain his trust and force my way into the team. The manager has a lot of players who have more experience than me at this level, but I feel ready to make the step up now.

APPARENTLY YOUR FIRST MEETING WITH IRELAND BOSS MARTIN O’NEILL WAS A LITTLE UNCONVENTIONAL. TELL US THE STORY?

I have been friends with Harry Redknapp and his family for many years and I saw Harry walking across the car park at Fulham with Martin O’Neill back in 2014 and I had to go an introduce myself. It was a chance meeting, but it turned out to be very useful because it gave me a chance to tell the manager about my ambitions to get into the Ireland squad.

DID O’NEILL WELCOME YOUR DIRECT APPROACH TO FORCING YOUR WAY INTO HIS SQUAD?

The manager was fully aware that I qualified through my grandparents and that I had played for Ireland at junior levels, but I think the meeting helped. He came to watch me at Bournemouth a few weeks later and when he announced the next Ireland squad, I got my first call-up. It all happened very quickly after that first meeting. It is funny how these things work sometimes. I’m not sure if that car park encounter helped, but hopefully he could see how desperate I was to play for Ireland.

JAMES McCARTHY IS OUT INJURED FOR THE GAME IN AUSTRIA THIS WEEKEND SO DO YOU SEE THAT AS A CHANCE TO STEP IN?

I don’t assume anything. I play a deep midfield role for Bournemouth so that would be the position James plays for Ireland and maybe I will get a chance now that he is out. It can’t do me any harm to be playing in the Premier League every week and the performances I have put in this season have probably been the best of my career. So if I get a chance to start for Ireland, I feel confident that I’ll be ready for that.

HAS THE IDEA OF PLAYING IN THE 2018 WORLD CUP FINALS CROSSED YOUR MIND?

I have never really thought about playing in a World Cup, but that’s where we all want to be. From my perspective, I have a lot of hard work to do to get into this Ireland team, but you look at the results in this qualifying group so far and we should be aiming high. This Ireland squad showed at Euro 2016 last summer that we can compete with some of the top teams when we are at our best and there’s no reason why we cannot come through this group.

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CRITICISM FOR THIS TEAM IN THIS IRISH MEDIA. IS THAT UNFAIR?

To have seven points from our first three matches is a great start and if we can get a positive result in this game against Austria, we will be in a great position in this group. Wales failed to beat Georgia last month and Austria lost in Serbia, so those results showed that our results so far have been impressive. Maybe some people need to have a bit of perspective on what is realistic for this Ireland team and I have never got the impression that our fans are negative towards the team. The atmosphere among the fans before and during Euro 2016 was fantastic and everyone should remember what big wins can do for the country. Let’s be positive about what this team can achieve.

YOU HAVE BEEN GETTING POSITIVE REVIEWS FOR YOUR PERFORMANCES THIS SEASON SO IS THIS THE BEST FORM OF YOUR CAREER?

I would say I have felt more comfortable then ever in the Premier League this season. It takes time to get used to this division and it feels like a few of us at Bournemouth are in good form this season. Last season was frustrating to me because I had a few injury problems, but it feels like I have found my best form this season.

WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE AMBITION IN THE GAME?
I want to try and become the best player in the Premier League. That might sound ambitious, but it should be the aim for every player. I would say it is the same for most of the Bournemouth team. Who would have thought a few years back that any of us would be in the Premier League now? You need to aim high if you are going to realise your full potential.