John O’Shea has a small window to accept or reject an offer to become the Republic of Ireland assistant coach under Heimir Hallgrímsson.
The former Iceland and Jamaica manager phoned O’Shea on Wednesday, asking him to remain a part of the Irish set-up that attempts to qualify for the North America World Cup in 2026, the Waterford man having been the interim manager for recent friendlies against Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland and Belgium.
The former Manchester United defender’s lack of experience prompted FAI director of football Marc Canham to appoint Hallgrímsson.
“I told John that I would really like him to be part of this journey,” said Hallgrímsson. “For me, as a foreigner, it is really helpful to have an Irish coach that knows the culture, knows the players and he would be the perfect candidate in my opinion.
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“Of course him being head coach for two camps, four games, I understand that it is tough for him to be assistant. It’s his decision.
“For the continuity of the national team it would be really good. To have an Irish coach is good; to have a good coach is the most important – I know John is a good coach and good person.”
Hallgrímsson and his wife Iris will move to Ireland before the Nations League games against England and Greece in early September. His first domestic match as Ireland manager was the Uefa conference league qualifier at Tolka Park last night between Shelbourne and St Joseph’s.
An already hazy timeline around the 231-day recruitment process was further clouded on Thursday when Canham revealed that attempts had been made to convince Hallgrímsson to leave Jamaica before the Copa America and take Ireland into the June friendlies against Hungary and Portugal. The 57-year-old declined.
“We would have hoped we could have put on our best persuasion skills but that wasn’t possible and we respected that completely,” said Canham.
The FAI only held “informal” talks with Hallgrímsson in March, which raises questions about Canham’s in February that they were “really close” to making an appointment. The director of football had indicated that a replacement for Stephen Kenny would be appointed by “early April”.
“We shouldn’t have said that,” said Canham. “We made the decision that Heimir was still our man, our person, our candidate, and it just meant we would have to take a different approach for the last three months.”
Canham remains adamant that the first choice was always Hallgrímsson but the new coach clearly stated that the decision was only made in recent weeks.
In fact, he had another coaching offer to consider when informing the Jamaica Federation in June that he would step down after elimination from the Copa earlier this month.
“Heimir was the outstanding candidate,” Canham insisted, “he led Iceland to the knockout stages of Euro 2016, and qualified for the 2018 World Cup. Most recently he took Jamaica to the Copa. Both countries surged up the world rankings, that was critical to us.
“It was always about getting the right person – Heimir was the only person we offered contract terms to.”
Multiple reports previously linked Lee Carsley, Willy Sagnol, Gus Poyet, Roy Keane and a number of other coaches to the vacant position.
“As you’d expect, and in order to protect the association, we remained in contact with other candidates, we were open and transparent in conversations with Heimir. We were happy to wait for our number one candidate.
“We never set out to mislead people,” added Canham. “We recognise that was not the best communication from us.”
Hallgrímsson: “I had other offers but I was leaning towards [Ireland].”
Is there enough time to prepare for England? “For September, probably not but we will try to do our best.”
Before Canham and Hallgrímsson spoke at the Aviva Stadium, FAI interim chief executive David Courell tried to explain why the announcement of the Ireland men’s manager happened during the same week as historical allegations emerged of inappropriate relationships and unwanted sexual advances by male coaches towards female Irish players came to light.
“Please know our preference would have been to make this announcement at a different time but due to a range of factors we had to proceed today,” said Courell.
“Despite today being an important day for Irish football those courageous women remain at the forefront of our thoughts. It remains the top priority of the association.”
The announcement also overshadowed Friday’s Nations League fixture between Ireland and England at Carrow Road in Norwich.
“We have tried to pay absolute respect to the women’s international team,” said Courell. “We spoke to Eileen [Gleeson, head coach] in advance of the announcement. She understands.
“This is the reality of professional football. Unfortunately, the calendar is jam packed, there is never an ideal time for these announcements. We had secured our preferred candidate and wanted him to get going as quickly as possible.”
