Heimir Hallgrímsson was given a rude awakening during his first week as Ireland boss, with the Icelandic coach seeing his side struggle to back-to-back home defeats against England and Greece.
There were even boos by full-time of the Greece defeat, with many fans choosing to leave after the visitors made it 2-0 in the dying moments.
Hallgrímsson was a somewhat surprising choice as head coach when he was announced in July, and the reaction to his first window in charge has been extensive. Eamon Dunphy has gone as far as saying that Hallgrímsson should be sacked, with FAI President Paul Cooke assuring fans at Saturday’s AGM that there was no prospect of that happening any time soon.
However, there have been several elements of Hallgrímsson’s approach thus far that have not gone down particularly well with Irish fans and pundits. The decision to put assistant coach John O’Shea in front of the press the day before the Greece game raised a few eyebrows, while the new head honcho has also admitted on several occasions that he is still unfamiliar with his squad.
It was most certainly a baptism of fire for Hallgrímsson against England and Greece, and it is an introduction that Shay Given believes will have revealed to the new man just how big a task lies ahead of him.
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Shay Given surprised by Heimir Hallgrímsson’s start as Ireland manager
10 September 2024; Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson before the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Republic of Ireland and Greece at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Shay Given appeared alongside Damien Delaney in the Premier Sports studio on Saturday, with the two ex-Ireland players charged with dissecting what had gone wrong for Ireland in their Nations League openers.
Given spoke on the introduction of Heimier Hallgrímsson, and said that he believed the media and fan scrutiny on the performances will have been a rude awakening for the Ireland head coach.
I don’t know Heimir that well, we’re all getting to know him. I think he realises now what a big job he has taken with the media reaction and ex-players like myself and Damien talking about it.
We’d love to be sitting here talking about four points or something, beating Greece and getting a draw against England. But we’re not.
Hallgrímsson has been candid in admitting he has sought the advice of assistant coaches John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy, who worked with the team as interim coaches after Stephen Kenny’s departure.
Suggestions were made that this was ‘O’Shea’s squad’ or that Hallgrímsson had deferred to his right-hand man when selecting the team for the England game.
After Hallgrímsson himself revealed the team had a strong O’Shea-McCarthy imprint on it, Shay Given questioned whether making such information public was a wise move.
The thing that surprised me most about Heimir…he came in and said, ‘I left it to John and Paddy to guide me this week’ and all this.
As Damien said, for the last three or four years it hasn’t been working for these players. Confidence is at an all-time low. As a manager, first and foremost, you’re a leader. You come in and go, ‘Right lads, I’m going to do it my way, this is how we’re going to set up, we’re going to be really hard to beat and defensively solid.’
I was very surprised he even came out with that in public as well.
Heimir Hallgrímsson now knows the level of scrutiny he will be under as he attempts to bring Irish football back from one of its lowest ebbs.
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