Eoin Harrington reporting from the Aviva Stadium
Heimir Hallgrimsson caused something of a stir during his first public event as Ireland manager with his comments about wanting a “bastard” in the Irish squad.
The Ireland MNT head coach spoke to season ticket holders at an invitation-only event in the Aviva Stadium last week and spoke of his desire to have a hardened character in the Irish squad.
I think the first impression of the players is really good team players, really good characters, maybe a little bit too nice. Sometimes you need a bastard in your team. I’m looking for him. Maybe we can develop him.
As Hallgrimsson faced the press on Thursday shortly after naming his first squad as Irish boss, it was only natural that those comments might be brought up once more.
However, the Icelandic coach was keen to suggest that his quotes had been portrayed misleadingly, and sought to clarify what he had meant.
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Heimir Hallgrimsson says “bastard” comment taken out of context
Heimir Hallgrimsson faced the Irish press in the Aviva Stadium’s press conference room on Thursday, having picked his first squad as Republic of Ireland head coach.
Heimir Hallgrimsson has named his first squad as Ireland manager 🇮🇪
Thoughts? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zbgZwnHw90
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) August 29, 2024
Bar the call-up of English-eligible Kasey McAteer, there were few surprises in the squad selection. The group of players bears a striking resemblance to the squads picked by John O’Shea during his time as interim boss earlier this year.
However, one of the very first questions posed to Hallgrimsson was whether he had found his “bastard” in the squad – which led to the new man in charge clarifying what he had meant with his initial comments.
It was taken a little bit out of context, but I still like it, the sentence.
In a way, I was saying we have so many players at a similar level, all of them are really nice characters.
Except, sometimes, you want to have a player on the pitch who will make the opponent feel uncomfortable. That is what I meant.
It’s more the fact that I think we have a lot of players that are kind of similar, whether it’s the midfielders, whether it’s the centre-backs. We’re waiting for someone to be a little bit different, someone who can be a game-changer for us.
Let’s see [in] this camp if somebody shows up.
It can’t be denied that Ireland have lacked some edge to their play for quite some time. Though the fading influence of figures such as James McClean and Shane Duffy may ultimately be positives in a footballing sense, they have certainly left big holes in the character of this team.
Perhaps Heimir Hallgrimsson’s first job as Ireland boss will be to instil a more hardened spirit around the team’s style of play and presence on the pitch.
He has a serious job on his hands to get things up and running, with the Icelandic coach saying he will likely have only three full training sessions with the squad before his first game in charge against the might of England on September 7.
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