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After news broke yesterday that Lucas Neill is on loan to English Championship relegation-contenders Doncaster Rovers after just one month at Watford Hornets, can the Socceroo legend still make the World Cup squad?
With a grand total of 97 minutes in all competitions in 2014 – 90 of which were for Blackburn Rovers Under-21 squad in early February – Neill’s loan move to Doncaster is very much a last-ditch effort to put the 36-year-old central defender on Socceroo coach Ange Postecoglou’s radar.
While a six week training stint with former team Blackburn Rovers early this year has kept Neill’s fitness at a suitable level, the Championship club were unable to offer Neill a position on their roster.
His fitness and obvious leadership qualities were seemingly enough for fellow Championship adversaries Watford to sign Neill as defensive injury cover until the end of the season.
However, with Hornet defenders Tommie Hoban, Essaid Belkalem and Joel Ekstrand returning from injury, it appears Neill has seen too much risk to his ambition of reach a third-straight World Cup by remaining at Watford.
With his last-minute loan move to Doncaster expiring on April 22, it gives Neill just six games and 540 minutes to give Postecoglou some thought to pencilling his name into the preliminary, 30-man roster for the May 26 World Cup farewell friendly against South Africa in Sydney.
Neill’s first game for his new team will be away against Leeds United on March 29.
Neill will be up against a four-game backline combination of left-back James Husband (age 20), centre backs Abdoulaye Méïté (33), Paul Quinn (28), and right-back James Coppinger (28), although their last game was a 0-2 away loss to FC Burnley.
Of those pair of centre backs, Quinn may be the obvious choice for Neill to replace. As a recognised right-back, Quinn is out of position in a team with eight available centre backs (including Neill) for Doncaster manager Paul Dickov to choose from.
What Quinn has over Neill is 790 minutes over ten games in all competitions in 2014 alone. Abdoulaye Méïté has played all 1215 minutes of regulation time in 2014 at the centre of defence and is the obvious first choice.
While Neill may have another season left in his legs, time and games are running out for the 96-cap Socceroo to prove his ability to handle Postecoglou’s plans for regenerating and transitioning the national team in time for the World Cup.
Postecoglou has left little room for confusion to all Socceroo hopefuls surrounding his desire for his chosen squad to play regularly, play well, and at a high-enough level of training and fitness to adequately realise his philosophy on the pitch.
Watching the Leeds game from the bench could well mean Neill watching his last chance for earning a plane ticket to Brazil pass him by.
Should Neill play all six remaining games of his loan spell at Doncaster, he could still find he has left it too late in terms of earning a place through shear weight of game time banked in his ageing legs.
Neill’s last game in England, the day before his loan period expires, is set to be against his first English side, Millwall, at The Den.
It would be a fitting way for the fiftieth Socceroos captain to bow out of the game should he not make the World Cup or field any club offers next season.
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