Gavin Cooney

IRELAND HEAD COACH Heimir Hallgrimsson is not planning to travel to the UK to scout his Irish players in person in the coming weeks, the FAI confirmed. 

Hallgrimsson handed squad selection duties to assistant John O’Shea for the September window, saying he did not have the requisite knowledge of the Irish players and their character. He has hinted he will lean heavily on O’Shea again for next month’s window, which features away games against Finland and Greece. 

Hallgrimsson does not plan to get to know his players’ respective characters by travelling to the UK to watch players in action and meet them, however. Speaking after yesterday’s FAI AGM, interim CEO David Courell said Hallgrimsson’s preferred approach is to watch footage of players on the online scouting database, WyScout. 

“Heimir is simply trying to maximise his time”, said Courell. “He sees his greatest value at this juncture in leaning on the different platforms, WyScout etc, to get a greater depth and analysis of the players at a faster pace.

“That scouting technique will change as he gains a deeper understanding of the player pool but right now that is his logic that he wants to be as efficient and effective with his time so that he is as prepared as he can be for the next window.” 

Courell also confirmed that Hallgrimsson has not yet moved to Ireland, as was his stated intention upon his unveiling in July. Courell says a move to Ireland remains Hallgrimsson’s intention, and confirmed one journalist’s question that Hallgrimsson has not decided to re-open his dentist’s surgery in Iceland. 

Speaking to reporters after the Greece defeat on Tuesday, Hallgrimsson defended his decision to delegate so many duties to O’Shea. 

“Like I said in the beginning, I don’t know everything about the players”, he said. 

“Oh my God, I can’t do that. So I have relied a lot on John and Paddy this first camp to tell me about, ‘What kind of a player is he? What type of personality is this player?’ I might see it in games, judging from that but you learn more about a player from a few games you watch. I’ve relied a lot on them.

“I’ve been extremely happy how they have conducted themselves. Like I said, when I took over, it is unusual as well to have an interim coach taking assistant role after being head coach for four games. It just shows the personality of John, how he loves his country, what way he is willing to do for the country. But if you’re unhappy with him talking [at press conferences instead of Hallgrimsson] and you want to criticise that, then you are saying something I don’t agree with.” 

Meanwhile, the FAI say they are disappointed that Northern Ireland will be unable to co-host Euro 2028 games, following last night’s confirmation that the UK government would not fund the redevelopment of Casement Park in time for the Euros.

Dublin is currently slated to host six games at the tournament, with the five initially given to Casement now to be reassigned. No final decision has yet been made. The FAI say they are willing and able to take some of the Casement games. 

“Of course there is a conversation that will ensue about what happens to the games that are scheduled to take place in Northern Ireland and I believe that our success in hosting the Europa League final this year means we have proved our capability to deliver major events in this country”, said Courell. “The Dublin Arena is there if Uefa as the tournament owners decide to reallocate games. We would absolutely welcome the opportunity to host more.”

Courell said no final decision has yet been made as to the fall-back qualification options for co-hosts, saying the FAI expect Ireland to qualify on merit. He also said he expected Northern Ireland to remain as co-hosts, and can be included in the bid in spite of not hosting matches. 

“We would expect them to remain a co-host, they can still play a part in this tournament in a different shape or form”, said Courell.

Hosting team training bases and a Uefa ExCo meeting are understood to be among those possibilities.