Heimir Hallgrimsson’s failure as Ireland boss forces us all to accept a brutal reality

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s curious tenure as national team boss is likely to come to an end after the final round of World Cup qualifiers next month, with his story set to be another forgettable footnote amid a period of relentless disappointment for our national team.

Hallgrimsson’s unexpected appointment as Ireland boss in July 2024 came after a painfully long-winded recruitment process that gave the impression the Icelandic coach was a long way from being a first choice contender for the FAI decision makers.

While his lack of knowledge of the Ireland players may have been understandable after he was plucked from his role as Jamaica boss to succeed Stephen Kenny, Hallgrimsson’s fumbling early media appearances did little to convince a sporting nation hoping for a Messiah that Heimir was that man.

Yet as we pick over the bones of another qualifying campaign that ran into trouble in the first half of the opening match against Hungary last month, the most significant question we need to ask comes with an answer none of us want to accept.

Could anyone get more from this current Ireland squad than Hallgrimsson?

From the evidence of what we have seen over the four World Cup qualifiers, the brutal truth appears to be that this group of players are not good enough to compete at the highest level of the game.

We’ve got a fine keeper in Caoimhín Kelleher and defenders playing regularly in the Premier League in Nathan Collins and Jake O’Brien.

The attacking trio of Evan Ferguson, Troy Parrott and Adam Idah could offer a finishing touch if they had midfield inventors carving out chances, but this team are not equipped to win matches at international level and a change of manager won’t erase that reality.

We can try to claim Hallgrimsson’s tactical naivety or his reluctance to play a system that would allow his players to express themselves is the reason for Ireland’s constant failure, but this story has too many layers for it to be down to one manager.

While Stephen Kenny was given far too long to confirm that his eagerness to embrace a possession game that pushed the Ireland players out of their comfort zone would not work, Heimir’s failings seem less glaring.

He’s tried to play with more caution and relied on set-pieces to carve out results, but it has not been enough in this World Cup qualifying campaign so far and we’ve seen nothing to suggest they can get the results required to save this story against Hungary and Portugal next month.

The agonising 1-0 win against 10-man Armenia on Tuesday night was the latest snapshot of a team that appears to have lost belief to emerge from their shell, but the outcome is unlikely to have been different if another coach was standing on the touchline.

Hallgrimsson has more than 20 years of experience as a coach and while he has not worked at the highest levels of club football, he would not have retained a presence in the game for this long unless he had some tactical acumen.

As is often a case when a manager leaves his post, he is arguably more qualified for the Ireland job now than he was when he was handed the role, with the knowledge he has gained over the past 15 months giving him an overview of the scale of this task.

Yet when he makes what seems to be an inevitable walk into the sporting sunset, the discussion over his successor will begin and they are certain to face the same issues.

International football is a challenging environment for a coach who has a brief period to work with his players each year before he is judged on a handful of results.

Without top-class players who can adapt to a new team quickly, the task is tougher than it is at club level, where daily work with a group allows a manager to bed down some ideas.

At international level, the lack of time to implement that vision combined with a limited stream of talent in the Ireland set-up ensures the kind of performances we have seen from Ireland in recent years may be inevitable.

Could Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola get hold of this Ireland team when they have three or four days to work with them six times a year?

Probably not, and that ‘mission impossible’ perception will be pressing on the mind of the candidates who will be linked with the Hallgrimsson succession plan.

John O’Shea will be back in the mix after he was overlooked by the FAI last time around, with the former Manchester United defender struggling to make an impact in his current role as Heimir’s assistant.

Damien Duff will be mentioned as a contender to take over and while the former Ireland winger impressed when he led Shelbourne to the League of Ireland title last year, operating on an international stage with this team would be a very different challenge.

Robbie Keane, Ireland’s all-time record goal scorer, should be in the mix after he won a league title in his controversial stint as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv, before he expanded his coaching experience in his current role with Hungarian side, Ferencvaros.

Inevitably, there will be a suggestion that Roy Keane could be the leader to turn water into wine with this Ireland team, but the former national team captain does not have a coaching CV or a track record for forging long-term harmony in a camp that suggests he could solve the huge problems that are undermining Ireland’s ambitions.

Such is the underwhelming impact he has had in his time in this country that we will probably struggle to remember Hallgrimsson’s name a year from now.

Anyone who takes on the challenge of succeeding him is likely to face a similar fate when their time as Ireland boss ends in predictable failure.

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