Waiting by a fax-machine while on international duty to discover if your club career is set for a backwards step is not something Liam Lawrence should have to do.

But that was the bizarre and rather sad predicament the Republic of Ireland international found himself in this week.

If failed paperwork doesn’t prevent his proposed switch from Stoke City to Portsmouth going through, then perhaps footballing decency and common sense will.

 

That’s not a cheap shot at Pompey – if they snap up the winger he’ll be a huge coup for them – but he should be playing at a much higher level than the Championship.

While he’s been in and out of the Stoke team, Lawrence has been a revelation for the Irish since breaking into the side just over a year ago. He has brought the composure and reliability that some of Ireland’s other midfielders have often lacked, and that includes his team-mate at the Britannia Stadium Glenn Whelan.

Of course they’re very different players with different roles, but it doesn’t make it any less peculiar that Lawrence is the one who has to make the step down to the Championship.  

Since making his debut against South Africa at Thomand Park, Lawrence has made it very difficult for Giovanni Trapattoni to leave him out of the Republic’s first eleven despite having Damien Duff and Aiden McGeady available on the flanks.

And that’s what makes Lawrence’s proposed move to the south coast even more extraordinary.

If Duff recovers from injury and is available to play in October’s crunch Euro 2012 qualifers against Russia and Slovakia, Trapattoni is likely to recall the Fulham man and stick with Lawrence – a player destined for the second tier of English football – over McGeady – a recent £8.5m recruit for Champions League bound Spartak Moscow.

In the event of McGeady’s talent being polished and his inconsistencies eradicated in Russia then he will undoubtedly become a better all-round player than Lawrence but as it stands, the possible Fratton Park loanee has expressed a presence and determination that Ireland can ill-afford to be without.

He was largely subdued in the games with Armenia and Andorra this week, but he seems to save himself for the big occasion. Against Italy and France in the World Cup qualifying campaign he was outstanding, causing them problems throughout and underlining his status as a gem of a find.

Perhaps it’s just Potters boss Tony Pulis’s belief that producing it at international level doesn’t necessarily mean it can be replicated in the frenetic gung-ho madness of a typical Saturday afternoon at the Britannia.

But if Stoke’s early season struggles continue and they’re in desperate need of a more refined approach, they could end up ruing Lawrence’s departure.