THIS WAS SEAMUS Coleman up close.
Sitting on a couch in a quiet corner of Carton House, where he spent this week on his 15th pre-season with Everton after signing a new one-year contract earlier in the summer, the Republic of Ireland captain provided his thoughts on a range of subjects.
From new international manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, to taking his Ireland future “one week at a time” and the need for the squad that has been blooded over the last four years to properly mature.
Coleman was candid in his assessment.
“Maybe they have started to realise that it’s not just coming in to get a cap and play well [for] one in every three games. Hopefully some of the senior lads are letting them know that there is a bigger picture to it. It’s about qualifying,” Coleman said.
“There have been too many tournaments that have passed us by now.”
He namechecked Gavin Bazunu, Dara O’Shea and Nathan Collins as three who have emerged, hinting at the need to make sure the right characters are driving standards to reach major tournaments.
“They have more of an understanding about wanting to get to tournaments.
“I’ll do what I can in terms of on the pitch and around [the squad] to make sure that we have lads who really want to get there.”
There was no bombast.
His points were delivered concisely and with purpose.
When the Ireland captain acknowledged the nadir which the men’s team must fight to claw out from, he did so seeking to find the positives.
“We have to believe and we have to hope that things will change,” he said.
“I think we’re good enough but we’ve a bit to go and it’s where this manager comes in.”
Coleman spoke honestly about his own ideas, his own selfishness, and not just the importance of football bringing the country together but football getting its act together to give the country something to really believe in.
“We can’t see more and more tournaments go passed us,” he said.
“So much joy and emotion and craic. That’s what you want. I’m probably biased in this, too, but I feel like football is the one that gets the country together the most when we are in a major tournament.
“I know we got it in 2016, the lads got it before me in 2012, and maybe we did take it for granted up until the last three or four (tournaments) that passed us.
“Ultimately it’s going to be on the manager now to help us get to that next stage.”
Coleman spoke with Hallgrímsson on the morning of his unveiling to the media at Aviva Stadium last week, and admitted he was blindsided by the appointment like everyone else.
“We were, of course. No one really knew who the manager was going to be,” he said.
“I think we’re all glad that we’ve finally got a manager, whichever way it’s come about, and we’ve to back him now and support him. I know that’s what the Irish people do.
“I know that ultimately to progress long-term, you want a style of play, you want a way of playing football. But selfishly, as a player, you want to get to tournaments, so the best way possible is to get to those tournaments without maybe turning your back on trying to play attractive football.
“Of course that’s what we all want and that’s how you develop, but you have got to weigh it up.
“England got to the final [of Euro 2024] and I don’t think they played lovely, attractive football, but they got to the final. Maybe it only got them so far, but we have to get the balance right between playing attractive football, but also playing to win games. For me, that’s where we need to get to.”
Coleman publicly backed John O’Shea to get the job on a permanent basis during the June window but has been encouraged by Hallgrímsson’s early impression.
“It wasn’t to be for him (O’Shea) this time. The new manager has come in and he’s excited by it.
“From the couple of minutes that we spoke you can tell that he wants to do things right and wants to understand the culture that we have, and understand the Irishness in us all. He seems very eager, very hungry to do well for Ireland.
“There is talk of styles of play and development, and I get all that for the future of Irish football, but the here and now is that you want to be at these tournaments, however way that is. If that’s playing out from the back or whatever, kicking long, the nation needs to be at these tournaments and we need to find a way of getting there.”
Coleman said that it’s “entirely up to him” whether Hallgrímsson wants him as part of his plans. He made it clear he “still has the fire in the belly” and was “there to support the man in charge and do all I can for whoever is in charge.”
In the conversation with Hallgrímsson, Coleman revealed that he made more of a point about the need to maintain the current support system.
“They will go above and beyond. I’m not just talking about the coaching staff, [it's] the backroom staff, medical, kit. We are very, very fortunate to have them and I just mentioned that to the manager as well. The people in there, he can trust [them] and everyone, ultimately, just wants Ireland to do well.
“There are no egos, no drama. It’s everyone pushing in the one direction.
“Ultimately every manager is different and every manager has got different wants and needs. Some like to come in and strip it completely because they want, I don’t know, it’s a ruthless business and maybe they feel they can’t trust certain people when they come in new. But I do think it’s good to have a group there that is there regardless and you can work around that.”
Coleman hailed Portugal’s “incredible” Pepe who starred during the Euros at the age of 41 and insisted “the fire in the belly for football is still going strong.
“Listen, lads are going longer now. Lads are fitter now, if there is someone, please God the likes of Festy [Ebosele] and others can kick on and you’ll happily move aside when the time is right. At the minute I still feel good enough against some of the best wingers when I play against them. It’s one camp at a time, one week at a time at the minute.”
