NEW REPUBLIC OF Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson has confirmed that he wants John O’Shea to stay on as his assistant.
At a press conference in Aviva Stadium alongside FAI director of football Marc Canham, the 57-year-old was also adamant that he was never going to leave his previous job with Jamaica before this summer’s Copa America.
Hallgrímsson stressed that he made the FAI aware of this from the outset of their pursuit and it also led to an emphatic defence from Canham that he did not deliberately set out to mislead anyone when he said in March that only “existing contractual obligations” were preventing him from naming the permanent appointment.
It was at the first unveiling of O’Shea as interim boss for March friendlies that Canham stated the new boss would be in place by early April.
“Contrary to what’s been written and said, it was never, ever, our intent to deliberately mislead anyone. To be super clear, never ever did we sit in the room and think, ‘let’s deliberately mislead anyone’. Never, ever was that part of our conversation or decision-making, ever.
“It was always the focus on getting the right person, I am conscious that I am repeating myself, and will continue to do so if I get similar questions, that was not the best communication from us, we take responsibility for that, if we were to do that again we’d communicate in a different way and it’s good learnings from us moving forward.
“We always stayed true to the fact that we tried to get the best person for the job.”
In a back and forth to determine the timeline and whether Hallgrímsson might not actually have been the candidate cited for that early April appointment, Canham said: “We made a decision that Heimir was our no.1 candidate.
“We hoped to conclude that process, it wasn’t possible. Heimir was consistent all the way through that he was committed to the Nations League and Copa America. The learning from us was the we shouldn’t have communicated that we hoped to make an announcement at this point.”
Hallgrímsson confirmed that he had at least one other option to consider – believed to be Ecuador – and that before the Copa America he informed Jamaica of his decision to resign after the tournament.
“It was always kind of exciting and the top of my list to come here. I don’t what date it was when I was clear in my head to take this. I just always admired the professionalism from the board, the respect they showed me in the process,” he said.
“I know it was probably difficult for them, I repeated myself again and again that I was focused on finishing the Copa America and that probably not what they wanted to hear.”
Ireland begin their Nations League campaign at home to England on 7 September and Hallgrímsson is now in the process of forming his coaching staff, as well as finding a home in Ireland with his wife Iris after confirming they will be based here for the duration of a contract that runs during the Nations League and 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Hallgrímsson wants O’Shea to be part of those campaigns, citing the need for “continuity” and spoke with the former interim boss briefly yesterday, as well as chatting with captain Seamus Coleman.
“The challenge is of course getting to know everything and everyone and getting to know their names, and you know what they can bring to the national team etc, so that is going to be a tough time for me as a coach.
“I’m relying on past coaches, John O’Shea and more to assist. I told him I’d really love to have him as a part of this journey and he has a lot of respect from the board being a caretaker. I really think in the context of him continuing with the team, if he is on board, we will probably move fast in what we want to achieve, and the same with the staff. That is the most challenging thing, knowing not only the players but the culture.”
