As Heimir Hallgrímsson named his second squad as Ireland head coach on Thursday, Matt Doherty was the most notable absentee.
The Wolves man has been a mainstay of the national team since making his debut in 2018, vying with veteran Seamus Coleman for the right-back spot.
That Coleman is out injured for this window only added to the eyebrow-raising nature of Doherty’s exclusion, off the back of a nightmare camp for the full-back last time out.
Doherty, like the rest of the Irish team, was poor in defeat to England and was dropped from the starting line-up for the visit of Greece three days later.
When coming off the bench in the second half, Doherty was met with boos from pockets of the Aviva Stadium crowd, before being slammed for his role in the visitors’ late second goal in a 2-0 win.
Heimir Hallgrímsson addressed the Irish media on Thursday and, naturally, the first question was about the exclusion of Doherty from the squad.
The Icelandic coach gave an intriguing explanation which arguably posed more questions than it gave answers.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson explains Matt Doherty’s absence from Ireland squad
7 September 2024; Matt Doherty of Republic of Ireland in action against Anthony Gordon of England during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Republic of Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
When asked to explain Matt Doherty’s exclusion from the 24-man Ireland squad, Heimir Hallgrímsson gave a wry smile before cracking into his answer.
We knew this question would come. Not easy…first of all, we know that Matt and Seamus [Coleman] have been here for a long time in the squad, our most-experienced full-backs, our best full-backs playing at the highest level for a long time.
Unfortunately, they will not play forever. We need to have a plan B if they are not there. My job is to get this team to the World Cup in US ’26.
Given that next year, if we end up in a [qualifying] group with five nations, all our FIFA windows next year will be official World Cup matches. So this is the only chance to kind of experiment, to give players a chance to show what they can do. That is the reason why we opted to go for other players at this stage.
I called Matt yesterday for an explanation. He was not happy, of course, he wants to play every game for Ireland. But I ensured him that it’s not like we are leaving him out, we’re just testing other players.
Because of his experience, as well, not to bring him in and have him on the bench…it’s better just to give him this camp off.
A few questions immediately jump out from Hallgrímsson’s explanation.
It’s hard to argue with excluding Matt Doherty in favour of Festy Ebosele, especially with Doherty’s younger rival enjoying more regular minutes with Watford than he currently is with Wolves. On form, it’s the most reasonable call. To leave Doherty out of the squad entirely is a bold decision but one that could indicate Hallgrímsson is starting to put his own stamp on the Ireland squad.
However, his explanation relating to the lack of time to trial out alternative players once again raises the glaring issue of the FAI’s delay in appointing a permanent head coach.
Hallgrímsson was of course preoccupied with his previous role as Jamaica manager before taking over as Ireland head coach. However, this team had four friendly matches to test out new players earlier this year, all of which took place under John O’Shea and with very little rotation in the squad between the two windows.
The new head coach has now been placed in a situation where he feels he must sacrifice competitive games in order to ensure he can select his best squad for next year’s World Cup qualifiers, a far-from-ideal situation.
The irony of this was put to Hallgrímsson when he later said he hoped that excessive rotation would not be required in order to get the team playing fluidly. That line came despite his previous attestation that this was his only chance to trial out new players.
It’s all something of a mess but, at the very least, fans can feel encouraged that Heimir Hallgrímsson’s exclusion of Matt Doherty shows he is not afraid to make ruthless decisions when called for.
What happens next for Matt Doherty’s Ireland career is perhaps the most intriguing question of all.