Heimir Hallgrímson wants John O’Shea to be part of ‘exciting’ Irish team

John O'Shea is in interim charge of the Boys in Green

Will John O'Shea join the new team Credit: Eddie Lennon (ETPhotos)

New Republic of Ireland Men’s Head Coach Heimir Hallgrímson has already made contact with former interim manager John O’Shea and would love for him to be part of his coaching staff for the upcoming UEFA Nations League and FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

Hallgrímson, who famously co-coached Iceland to victory over England—his first opponents as Ireland boss in September—and led them to the 2018 World Cup as group winners, called O’Shea on Wednesday to offer him a role as one of his assistant coaches, although the centurion has not responded as of yet.

"I'm relying on the past coaches, including John O'Shea, to assist and help. I called him yesterday and told him that I would love to have him as part of this journey," said Hallgrímsson at the Aviva Stadium.

Hallgrímsson has a history of leading underdog nations to major tournaments, most recently with Jamaica to the Copa America, whom he left after they failed to reach the knockout stages a fortnight ago.

Ireland are set to be third seeds for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, having seen their FIFA World Ranking plummet to 60th, but the Icelandic coach still views the opportunity as one worth taking and sees similarities between Ireland and Iceland.

"This job is an interesting project. This national team and this job," said Hallgrímsson.

"I had some other offers as well, but before Copa America, I talked to the president of Jamaica and told him I would resign after the Copa. I tried to depart Jamaica in a positive way, and I think we succeeded in that.

"Both the characteristics of Irish and Icelandic people are similar. The team is similar to the Iceland team we started with in the beginning. Young, exciting, with a good team spirit.

"Young players that have been given time and international experience—that is the most exciting thing (about Ireland) for me.

"What made my decision was the professionalism of the (FAI) board in their contact with me.



"I hope we can build on similar things that we did in Iceland.”

Hallgrímsson’s desire to have O’Shea involved in the coaching team was echoed by Director of Football Marc Canham.

"We expressed the desire from the association that John O'Shea would be an important part of what we want to do moving forward," said Canham. "More broadly," he continued, "we want to generally develop Irish coaches."

Stephen Kenny and the FAI parted company 231 days before Hallgrímsson was announced on Wednesday, leading to widespread criticism of Canham and the recruitment process.

Canham said the FAI ran a 'very thorough process’ and it was important that it remained confidential while refusing to comment on any other candidates in the process.

"In March, our selection committee decided Heimir was our number one candidate.



"But he has been very committed to the Jamaican national team. This was a decision we respected; we remained in contact with Heimir and were willing to wait for him to become available.”

 

 

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