Gavin Cooney

AT THE END of his media briefing with journalists in the FAI boardroom yesterday afternoon, Heimir Hallgrimsson asked us all to stay back after class. He then plugged a HDMI cable into his laptop – today’s version of wheeling a TV into the room – and opened up his WyScout account, to show us its attractions and efficiencies. 

WyScout hosts a truly enormous library of footage, all of which is indexed and easily accessible.

Within a couple of hours of full-time in a match, Hallgrimsson is able to click onto the profiles of any potential Irish squad member and review every one of their actions in a pre-edited video.

WyScout, then, is a rejoinder to the question, Why Scout?

Hallgrimsson gave this short tutorial as he is clearly, if not stung, then at least aware of criticism aimed his way for not regularly travelling to England to scout players in person. It’s not accurate to say he doesn’t go to games, but he chooses them more judiciously than his predecessor.

Hallgrimsson admitted WyScout footage does not always portray the full context of a game or a player’s position in the context of his team’s structure, and he will travel to games to asses players when making a call on a tight selection decision. He also calls on his UK-based assistant John O’Shea to do some of the scouting for him. 

All these WyScout hours have helped Hallgrimsson familiarise himself with the Irish squad, but he wants to balance next week’s Nations League games with some more experimentation ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers. 

Hence Matt Doherty is excluded, with Hallgrimsson again saying he wants to audition a couple of other options at right-back. Seamus Coleman has returned to the squad, but a hamstring problem has already thrown that into doubt. Coleman won’t play for Everton this weekend and so perhaps Doherty will yet be offered a scenic route back into the squad, with another right-back option, Andrew Omobamidele, absent through injury. 

But that is no guarantee: the suspicion is that Hallgrimsson is not looking at alternate options to compete with Matt Doherty, but to replace him. 

Hallgrimsson will have to replace his left-back, with Robbie Brady missing with an ankle problem. This may lead to resurrection of the brief online campaign for Ryan Manning, who was initially overlooked by Stephen Kenny before underwhelming when he was brought into the fold.

While Manning has started each of Southampton’s last four Premier League games, Hallgrimsson wants to road-test O’Dowda at left-back, as the Cardiff man was initially called up for last month’s games before being forced to withdraw. 

“We still haven’t seen him play, or I haven’t seen him play for us, so that is the priority now”, said Hallgrimsson of O’Dowda. 

Interesting, too, is the recall of Shane Duffy at centre-back. 

“I really wanted to see the younger centre backs, we’ve a lot of up and coming and exciting young centre backs”, said Hallgrimsson. 

“In the beginning we went for the younger players but I felt – especially last camp and the camp before – there was some areas we can improve. For example, we lost a lot of duels, especially against Greece in the first half. And his leadership, his character will probably help us  in that area. It’s good to see what he brings in and I hope that will be the attributes he will come in with, with leadership, a little bit more steel and winning duels, especially set pieces.” 

So while Hallgrimsson is looking at options in some areas of the pitch, he needs to find solutions elsewhere. 

Ogbene suffers his serious injury while in action for Ipswich last month. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Most pressing is Chiedozie Ogbene’s absence: he underwent surgery on his achilles on Wednesday, and Hallgrimsson expects him to be absent for up to nine months. Ogbene, one of the first names on the team-sheet ever since Stephen Kenny gave him a debut in 2021, is thus unlikely to play again for Ireland until next September’s international window. 

One option to replace Ogbene is Festy Ebosele, whom Hallgrimsson is not hemming into any one particular position. Right-back, right-wing back, right wing…Ebosele may be asked to play them all between now and next September. 

With Jamie McGrath out and Alan Browne not deemed to have played enough football at Sunderland this season, Ireland’s midfield stocks look even thinner than usual. Andrew Moran has been called up now that his U21 commitments are over, and he is listed in a sparse-looking midfield along with Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, Jayson Molumby, and Finn Azaz. 

Ireland need only avoid defeat at home to Finland next Thursday to guarantee a third-placed finish and avoid automatic relegation. They would then go to Wembley on Sunday in true bonus territory against England. 

A third-placed finish – where Ireland have ended up in all of their previous Nations League campaigns – would not be enough to guarantee safety. In that scenario, Ireland would play a two-legged play-off next March against a runner-up in League C to ensure they remain in League B. 

“That is the decisive game in the group, the Finland game”, said Hallgrimsson. 

“Looking back on first game with them, it was a kind of good and bad performance, first half and second half. When we were on the front foot we played really well against them, as we did in second half against Greece. We try to find balance between low block and high pressing. We would like to be on front foot, we always take the opponent into consideration. We go into this camp with that mindset, yes.” 

Hallgrimsson’s ultimate focus is on next year’s World Cup qualifiers, the draw for which will take place on 13 December. Next week’s games remain a balancing act between the necessity of avoiding relegation and the benefit of experimentation.