THE BALD MAN stood up and took the microphone.
He wasn’t visible from the back of the President’s Suite at Aviva Stadium but he had a strong Dublin accent. More Ballyfermot than Ballsbridge.
“If you cut any of us in this room open we will bleed FAI blood,” he started, perhaps giving away one of the requirements to gain entry for this Q&A session put on for Republic of Ireland season ticket holders with manager Heimir Hallgrimsson.
The Nations League starts next month and England visit Dublin on 7 September followed by another home clash with Greece three days later.
Hallgrimsson will name his squad next Thursday, and England was on the bald man’s mind.
“I wonder how you will feel standing in the tunnel before walking out,” he asked. “This will be like the Milan derby in the San Siro. The Old Firm derby. The Fenerbahce derby. It will be electrifying. We will be screaming our heads off. The hairs will be standing up… On my neck, not my head. But how will you feel? We really, really want you to do well because it’s about time we were back where we belong.”
A round of applause from almost everyone in the room followed. Some stood up and filmed the ovation.
“Well said, well said,” Hallgrimsson replied.
“I will definitely be excited but my job is to calm the players and remind them what they have to do. I don’t think you have to motivate Irish players. It’s about focus. I told John [O'Shea], we don’t need to shout in the dressing room. We need to calm them down.
“They are favourites but that is the reason why this game, football, is so incredibly popular. This game will always give surprising results.”
Hallgrimsson knows as much as anybody given he was part of the Iceland management team that knocked England out of Euro 2016 to reach the quarter finals.
“I have a 100% record against England as a coach so I hope I can keep that,” he said with a smile.
“If we are prepared and organised we can always win. That s what we will hopefully do against England. It’s always good to play the best because the worst thing that happens is they expose your weaknesses and then you improve. But that’s not going to happen.”
Another fan followed up.
“We have half decent players, let the Irish run wild,” he said.
Hallgrimsson paused.
“If I choose my football style, it is rock and roll football. Aggressive. But it’s about consistency [in international football]. We will start with the basics and know what we need to do.”
Ireland need bastards.
Hallgrimsson said so himself and feels there is a soft underbelly.
“In many ways, Ireland is similar to Iceland in the sense that we don’t have many players playing at the highest level in the Champions League. So there is no high, high, high profile player.
“It’s going to be down to the group, to the squad to win the games, not the individuals.I think the first impression of the players is really good team players, really good characters, maybe a little bit too nice. Sometimes you need a bastard in your team. I am looking for him. Maybe we can develop him.”
When asked what to expect from the squad he will name next week, he replied succinctly.
“You can expect everything, it’s your choice.”
The first squad selection won’t solely be Hallgrimsson, though. Those duties fall to assistant John O’Shea and coach Paddy McCarthy, who he says is “doing double shifts” because he is starting preparation work after 5pm for Ireland each evening once his day job with Crystal Palace is sorted.
“I’m not going to even try to lie about being an expert on Irish players, so that is why it is so important to have Paddy and John with me. This selection of the squad will probably be more or less based on their opinion,” he admitted.
“I promise you he (O’Shea) is going to be as much of an influence as me on selection or what we are doing. I will use him for advice as much as I need to. I am not afraid, if somebody knows more than me or is more intelligent than me, I am happy working with those kinds of people who can help me grow as a person and a coach.
“He is definitely one of them. He knows the players, the culture and he has a lot of respect in the country. So I am really lucky having him with me.”
It was on 10 July that Hallgrimsson was unveiled as Ireland manager. His wife, Iris, was alongside him and the couple are still staying at a hotel in Dublin while they find a place to live here.
“Nobody told me the housing market was so bad here in Ireland. They are probably laughing at me.”
We learned that the 57-year-old is a boyhood Liverpool supporter and that because of his club allegiances Caoimhin Kelleher is his favourite Ireland player. Of course he would like the Cork native to be playing regular first-team football but he insisted it was not the place of an international boss to make demands about someone’s club career.
Hallgrimsson, of course, is a qualified dentist and while he still has a share in his practice at home he sold the business and now his clients are “mostly just family.”
He likes to do some dentistry work to keep his fingers moving, although it took a while for his mother to come around to turning his back on the profession in order to pursue football.
“I came from a pretty poor family. My mum cleaned floors in a factory. She paid for my rent for me in Reykjavik University. I opened a clinic at home but then spent more and more time coaching. She got angry with me, asking ‘Why are you doing this football thing?’ I told her that it’s just a passion and you can’t help it.”
A win against England and he might just bleed FAI blood.
