John O’Shea was front and centre of the Irish press conference this morning ahead of Tuesday night’s clash with Greece, with no sign of Heimir Hallgrimsson.
The Icelandic manager has maintained that he would look to assistant manager John O’Shea and assistant coach Paddy McCarthy for guidance during his early days as Republic of Ireland manager.
Hallgrimsson also left squad selection in the hands of O’Shea and McCarthy, admitting that he was relying on them as he finds his feet.
His idea is to get his bearing before tackling the job head-on but some have questioned the approach, believing that it causes confusion as to who’s the boss.
O’Shea faced the press last week ahead of Ireland’s 2-0 loss to England on Saturday and it was the same story again on Monday, ahead of the Nations League Group B 2 clash with Greece.
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RTÉ reporter Tony O’Donoghue put it to O’Shea that the arrangement has the potential to cause confusion but O’Shea, who managed Ireland for four games before Hallgrimsson’s arrival, rebuffed the notion.
‘The boss is the boss, there are clear lines on that’
Republic of Ireland assistant John O’Shea told @corkTOD that there is no confusion over the management structure and Heimir Hallgrimsson is very much in charge pic.twitter.com/XvWzcHYaqs
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 9, 2024
“It’s very simple, this plan was in place beforehand and it’s obviously to give the boss as much time in terms of preparation, the quick turnaround in the games, that was always the case so there is no change in anything,” said O’Shea, having been asked numerous times about the arrangement.
“It’s clear, I’m the assistant…So I don’t know why you have to keep going on about that.
“The boss is the boss and there are clear lines on that. As I mentioned, this is the plan that was in place beforehand, and we felt there was no reason to change it.”
“The players know that, you can ask Caoimhín (Kelleher) about that. The meetings that were coming across, the plans in place.”