GIVEN how long it took the FAI to find a coach, perhaps we need to be patient on the matter of when he can be expected to deliver.
Having dispensed with the services of Stephen Kenny in November last year, it was expected that a replacement would be in situ by February or March.
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Jonathan Hill, CEO at the time, said as much.
He also said that the appointee would be given a four-year contract.
That, apparently, came as news to the FAI’s chief football officer Marc Canham when he unveiled Heimir Hallgrimsson on a much shorter deal in July.
Given the pair had been on the same selection committee, it summed up how badly the process had been handled.
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Canham and Hill’s successor David Courell are sticking to the line that Hallgrimsson was identified as their No  1 target in March.
But this does not tally with the Icelander appearing to know little about the players he inherited when working with them in the September international window.
Notwithstanding his commitments with Jamaica, any coach worth their salt would have known their squad inside out if they thought they had a chance of landing a job, let alone knowing that it was their next port of call.
Meanwhile, four friendly matches came and went with interim John O’Shea overseeing them.
There was a draw against Belgium and defeats at home to Switzerland and away to Portugal which came either side of a victory over Hungary in Dublin.
Sammie Szmodics and Tom Cannon were handed their first international caps, with Cannon receiving his against Portugal.
A further four debuts — for Jake O’Brien, Mark McGuinness, Jack Taylor and Kasey McAteer — followed in the Nations League.
O’Shea was, along with Paddy McCarthy, retained by Hallgrimsson with the duo taking a leading role for the first two matches, at home to England and Greece.
The sight of Lee Carsley in the away dugout was a reminder of how drawn out the recruitment process was.
And the goals scored by Jack Grealish and Declan Rice in a 2-0 England triumph underlined how, at times, the FAI has not succeeded in keeping hold of the talent they once had.
That defeat and a 2-0 loss three days later against the Greeks served as a reminder of how difficult a job Hallgrimsson took on.
Beating Finland 2-1 away from home the following month provided evidence of progress being made, particularly because of the way in which Ireland had bounced back from an early setback.
And while there were times when it looked like Ireland were hanging on in Piraeus, Ireland grew in confidence in the second half and might have snatched something from the game before conceding a sloppy second goal in a spirited 2-0 defeat.
A 1-0 home win over Finland, secured by a goal from Evan Ferguson, meant that the pressure was off going to Wembley for the final group game against England.
WEMBLEY WALLOPING
But what unfolded in the second half left a sour taste in the mouth for everyone in a 5-0 humbling.
Hallgrimsson’s tactic of deploying Nathan Collins in midfield had been working well in terms of stymying England’s attacking forces and they were denied a penalty.
Nobody could argue that the visitors were not worthy of going in level at the break.
But maintaining parity for a further 45 minutes was going to be a challenge and it was one which was made all the more difficult by Liam Scales’ dismissal.
The concession of three goals in quick succession, followed by a further two, made for grim reading.
Though a reasonable draw for both the Nations League play-offs and the World Cup qualifiers means that, if Ireland can build on the progress they had made prior to that collapse, people may well drop their curiosity on how Hallgrimsson got the job.
But don’t count on it.