SHANE FERGUSON refuses to be rushed into declaring his international allegiance and has rejected comments made by Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington that the 19-year-old Newcastle United left-sided player has ignored his calls.
The Derry-born player is the latest teenager to become embroiled in an international tug-of-war between the IFA and FAI over recent weeks, and despite reports suggesting he was bound to declare for the Republic, Ferguson yesterday insisted he would take his time before making a decision.
Worthington appeared to have given up on the possibility of keeping the Newcastle starlet in the North, claiming he had made several failed attempts to contact the player.
“The situation with Shane is, I and two other officials from the Irish FA have tried to make contact,” he said. “We have left voicemail messages, text messages and made random calls to Shane. There has been no reply.”
However, Ferguson described those claims as “untrue”, and said he had informed the Northern Ireland boss he wanted time to mull over his decision before pledging his future to either jurisdiction.
Ferguson is concerned Worthington’s public comments would damage his future relationship with Northern supporters, should he decide to opt to represent the North.
Ferguson, who can play on the left side of midfield or in the converted defensive role adopted at Newcastle, suggested that the IFA were “jumping the gun” before he had made a final decision.
“I haven’t made any decision yet and some of the stuff Nigel Worthington has come out and said wasn’t true. That has really annoyed me. He said something about me not talking and ignoring calls from him, and that’s not true either.
“I spoke to him and told him I wanted to wait until the summer before making any decision. I want to have a good think about things and then I’ll make my decision.
“I told him that very early, long before I was even home for the summer break, and then he’s come out and said all this stuff. He’s probably made me out to look bad,” he said.
Whether Worthington’s comments have forced the hand of the teenager remains to be seen, but Ferguson is adamant he will take everything into consideration during his break before making his final decision.
“It’s just a hard decision and I’ll have to sit and think about it over the summer. People are jumping the gun and thinking I’ve done it already, but nobody has heard me say anything about this.”
The eligibility row has soured the relationship between the IFA and FAI following high-profile cases involving other Derry-born players Darron Gibson and Shane Duffy in recent years.
