IRELAND BOSS HEIMIR Hallgrimsson spoke enthusiastically of Robbie Keane’s speech to the Irish players this week, as the nation’s record goalscorer presented the Irish players with their international caps.
Keane has a fraught recent history with the Irish team, continuing to draw a salary under a four-year coaching contract signed in 2019 in spite of the fact Stephen Kenny did not involve him on his coaching staff.
Keane coached Maccabi Tel Aviv to a league title last season, but left in the summer. Keane’s decision to remain in his job following the launch of Israel’s war in Gaza has led to strong criticism from some Irish supporters: the FAI’s social media post of Keane’s presentation attracted an avalanche of negative comment. Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for sport, Chris Andrews TD, said the FAI’s invitation to Keane to present the caps was “extremely disappointing.”
Hallgrimsson said he was unaware of the backlash and, when asked, clarified it was the FAI’s decision to invite Keane to present the players’ caps at the team hotel on Monday, but praised Keane’s contribution.
Great to have Ireland’s record goalscorer Robbie Keane in camp last night for our annual caps presentation 🇮🇪
Always a special occasion for any player to receive their international cap and recognition 🧢💚 pic.twitter.com/bQtxqK2q8N
“Yeah, he had a good speech”, said Hallgrimsson. “The players were asking him questions. I think it is good to connect past players, the legends from the past to the present. What was really good was how he, as a goal scorer and a really high profile player at his time, was talking about the importance of team unity, fighting for each other, team spirit.
“It was probably not what you would think a striker would say, scoring all his goals, but I think it was a really good message to the players.
“We did the same in Jamaica. Brought in old legends just to connect the past and the present. I think it was a good thing.”
Nathan Collins, sitting beside Hallgrimsson at today’s pre-match press conference, added, “As a kid growing up, these are the players you watch. You watch him every international camp, you watch him score his goals for Ireland.
“It’s nice to know that we are in a similar boat and what we are building here is what they had as well. We can take a lot of things from what he said and use them in our team.”
Ireland play Finland at the Aviva tomorrow night, and must avoid defeat to remain in third place and thus avoid being automatically relegated to League C of the Nations League. A third-placed finish nonetheless means Ireland would have to secure their League B status with a play-off against a League C runner-up next March.
Shane Duffy, Seamus Coleman, and Adam Idah have already been forced to withdraw for injury, and there are further injury concerns over Andrew Moran, Festy Ebosele, and Dara O’Shea. They will be assessed after this afternoon’s training session.
With Coleman out, Matt Doherty has been recalled having been dropped for the October window. Asked about Doherty, Hallgrimsson stuck to his line about wanting to explore alternate options at right-back ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
“Just to answer on Matt, we always said we did not want to have both Matt and Seamus at the same time, to think a little bit for the future, so missing Seamus and Shane Duffy too, two really experienced players, no doubt in my mind that Matt was the replacement there”, said the manager. Doherty, however, was omitted from last month’s games against Greece and Finland despite the fact Coleman was absent too.
Hallgrimsson said his conversations this week with Doherty have been “pleasant.”
“I hope everyone, not only him, will show that on the pitch, ‘I deserve to be here’. That is where players should be doing their talking”, said Hallgrimsson.
Hallgrimsson also does not believe the need to avoid relegation will heap added pressure on the Irish players.
“Not more to us than Finland. Finland comes to Dublin and they need to win. That’s their priority. It gives us an advantage. They would probably, at one point or another, need to take more risks so we need to be clever in that sense. It doesn’t bring more pressure to us than the Finns.”
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Hallgrimsson praises Robbie Keane's presentation to Irish players ahead of Finland clash
IRELAND BOSS HEIMIR Hallgrimsson spoke enthusiastically of Robbie Keane’s speech to the Irish players this week, as the nation’s record goalscorer presented the Irish players with their international caps.
Keane has a fraught recent history with the Irish team, continuing to draw a salary under a four-year coaching contract signed in 2019 in spite of the fact Stephen Kenny did not involve him on his coaching staff.
Keane coached Maccabi Tel Aviv to a league title last season, but left in the summer. Keane’s decision to remain in his job following the launch of Israel’s war in Gaza has led to strong criticism from some Irish supporters: the FAI’s social media post of Keane’s presentation attracted an avalanche of negative comment. Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for sport, Chris Andrews TD, said the FAI’s invitation to Keane to present the caps was “extremely disappointing.”
Hallgrimsson said he was unaware of the backlash and, when asked, clarified it was the FAI’s decision to invite Keane to present the players’ caps at the team hotel on Monday, but praised Keane’s contribution.
“Yeah, he had a good speech”, said Hallgrimsson. “The players were asking him questions. I think it is good to connect past players, the legends from the past to the present. What was really good was how he, as a goal scorer and a really high profile player at his time, was talking about the importance of team unity, fighting for each other, team spirit.
“It was probably not what you would think a striker would say, scoring all his goals, but I think it was a really good message to the players.
“We did the same in Jamaica. Brought in old legends just to connect the past and the present. I think it was a good thing.”
Nathan Collins, sitting beside Hallgrimsson at today’s pre-match press conference, added, “As a kid growing up, these are the players you watch. You watch him every international camp, you watch him score his goals for Ireland.
“It’s nice to know that we are in a similar boat and what we are building here is what they had as well. We can take a lot of things from what he said and use them in our team.”
Ireland play Finland at the Aviva tomorrow night, and must avoid defeat to remain in third place and thus avoid being automatically relegated to League C of the Nations League. A third-placed finish nonetheless means Ireland would have to secure their League B status with a play-off against a League C runner-up next March.
Shane Duffy, Seamus Coleman, and Adam Idah have already been forced to withdraw for injury, and there are further injury concerns over Andrew Moran, Festy Ebosele, and Dara O’Shea. They will be assessed after this afternoon’s training session.
With Coleman out, Matt Doherty has been recalled having been dropped for the October window. Asked about Doherty, Hallgrimsson stuck to his line about wanting to explore alternate options at right-back ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
“Just to answer on Matt, we always said we did not want to have both Matt and Seamus at the same time, to think a little bit for the future, so missing Seamus and Shane Duffy too, two really experienced players, no doubt in my mind that Matt was the replacement there”, said the manager. Doherty, however, was omitted from last month’s games against Greece and Finland despite the fact Coleman was absent too.
Hallgrimsson said his conversations this week with Doherty have been “pleasant.”
“I hope everyone, not only him, will show that on the pitch, ‘I deserve to be here’. That is where players should be doing their talking”, said Hallgrimsson.
Hallgrimsson also does not believe the need to avoid relegation will heap added pressure on the Irish players.
“Not more to us than Finland. Finland comes to Dublin and they need to win. That’s their priority. It gives us an advantage. They would probably, at one point or another, need to take more risks so we need to be clever in that sense. It doesn’t bring more pressure to us than the Finns.”
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doffing the cap Heimir Hallgrímsson Republic Of Ireland Robbie Keane Soccer