REPUBLIC OF IRELAND head coach Carla Ward remains coy on her contract situation, insisting her full focus is on the upcoming World Cup play-offs.
“I love my job,” Ward said as she announced her squad on Tuesday morning.
The Ireland boss spoke around the same time as her former club, Aston Villa, announced the departure of Natalia Arroyo – and elevation of Ward’s would-be assistant, Brian Sørensen, to interim manager.
Ward’s name has predictably been mentioned in Villa circles for the permanent post, but it is believed she is committed to the Ireland cause. The former Birmingham City manager has been linked with other English club jobs during her time in charge, and she revealed last year that she turned down a WSL offer.
Ward spoke to the media before these developments, with her Ireland contract – which runs until the end of the 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign – a topic of discussion.
Asked if there have been any talks regarding an extension, Ward said: “My focus, honestly, is the next four games and just the next four games.”
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(Ireland face Kazakhstan in a two-legged play-off semi-final next week, before a potential final against Belgium or Poland for a ticket to next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.)
So no talks? “My focus is Kazakhstan first.”
Pressed further about the focus of her agent – rather than her own – Ward responded: “I haven’t spoken to my agent to be honest, I saw her at an event last week, She knows I am obsessed with what is ahead.
“I think everyone knows I love my job here, I love what I do, I’m very passionate about the job. My focus is getting on these games won.”
Meanwhile, Ward has called for Ireland’s “most professional performance” as she guards against complacency ahead of next Friday’s first leg against the lowly Kazakhs in Astana.
Ireland are expected to comfortably dismiss a side ranked 79 places inferior in the world rankings, although they will face some challenges with the lengthy travel to Astana, artificial pitch, and absence of key trio Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan and Marissa Sheva for the opener.
“That (complacency) is not going to happen and I’ll tell you why that’s not going to happen, because I won’t allow it,” said Ward.
“I have had conversations with a number of (players), we have had a really good campaign, a really good year, and the challenge now is how do we go up another level?
“I am expecting our most professional performance. There is going to be pressure on us. What I mean by that is, there is pressure on us to go and perform from me, from within, not from the outside as such, in terms of how we can get better. We talked every single game, whether it was Poland, France, Netherlands, we want to be better all the time, we want to compete with the best in the world. So there will be nothing different in this camp.
“We’ve been the underdogs all year, right? And we know what we’ve done to teams and the message will be exactly that to the players. If they’re the underdogs, this will be the biggest result for them in history if they can beat us. So we have to turn up, we have to do our job professionally and we have to absolutely be at it.”
These World Cup play-offs loom as the Irish football agenda is dominated by the controversial Men’s Nations League fixtures against Israel. Ward fielded several questions on the topic, but was keen to bring the focus back to her side and their upcoming games.
Ward revealed she had breakfast with Ireland men’s boss Heimir Hallgrímsson – the pair share a “really strong, close working relationship” – on Tuesday, and added: “Heimir is a human being, like any of us. We all do a job. You, me, everybody in this room, everybody in football does a job that is under scrutiny. The level of scrutiny, everybody has to face that at times.
“I go back to human beings have feelings. I think what he did say this morning is he wishes us well. He now has a big week coming up as do we. And we’ve both got jobs to do.”
Asked if there were any concerns about the care and welfare of herself and her squad amidst these challenging times, Ward said: “No. I think the women have done the nation extremely proud. I think there should be a lot of support for the women and what they’ve delivered this year.
“So listen, we’re four games away from a World Cup finals, we are going into the very first of two play-offs. This team has written a lot of records this year, a lot of people should be shouting about it. The focus and energy should be on the women and what they’re achieving and what they continue to strive to achieve.”
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'My focus is the next four games' - Ireland boss Ward coy on contract talks
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND head coach Carla Ward remains coy on her contract situation, insisting her full focus is on the upcoming World Cup play-offs.
“I love my job,” Ward said as she announced her squad on Tuesday morning.
The Ireland boss spoke around the same time as her former club, Aston Villa, announced the departure of Natalia Arroyo – and elevation of Ward’s would-be assistant, Brian Sørensen, to interim manager.
The 42 understands Sørensen will no longer join the Ireland set-up, disrupting preparations for the play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan next week.
Ward’s name has predictably been mentioned in Villa circles for the permanent post, but it is believed she is committed to the Ireland cause. The former Birmingham City manager has been linked with other English club jobs during her time in charge, and she revealed last year that she turned down a WSL offer.
Ward spoke to the media before these developments, with her Ireland contract – which runs until the end of the 2027 World Cup qualifying campaign – a topic of discussion.
Asked if there have been any talks regarding an extension, Ward said: “My focus, honestly, is the next four games and just the next four games.”
(Ireland face Kazakhstan in a two-legged play-off semi-final next week, before a potential final against Belgium or Poland for a ticket to next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.)
So no talks? “My focus is Kazakhstan first.”
Pressed further about the focus of her agent – rather than her own – Ward responded: “I haven’t spoken to my agent to be honest, I saw her at an event last week, She knows I am obsessed with what is ahead.
Meanwhile, Ward has called for Ireland’s “most professional performance” as she guards against complacency ahead of next Friday’s first leg against the lowly Kazakhs in Astana.
Ireland are expected to comfortably dismiss a side ranked 79 places inferior in the world rankings, although they will face some challenges with the lengthy travel to Astana, artificial pitch, and absence of key trio Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan and Marissa Sheva for the opener.
“That (complacency) is not going to happen and I’ll tell you why that’s not going to happen, because I won’t allow it,” said Ward.
“I have had conversations with a number of (players), we have had a really good campaign, a really good year, and the challenge now is how do we go up another level?
“I am expecting our most professional performance. There is going to be pressure on us. What I mean by that is, there is pressure on us to go and perform from me, from within, not from the outside as such, in terms of how we can get better. We talked every single game, whether it was Poland, France, Netherlands, we want to be better all the time, we want to compete with the best in the world. So there will be nothing different in this camp.
“We’ve been the underdogs all year, right? And we know what we’ve done to teams and the message will be exactly that to the players. If they’re the underdogs, this will be the biggest result for them in history if they can beat us. So we have to turn up, we have to do our job professionally and we have to absolutely be at it.”
These World Cup play-offs loom as the Irish football agenda is dominated by the controversial Men’s Nations League fixtures against Israel. Ward fielded several questions on the topic, but was keen to bring the focus back to her side and their upcoming games.
Ward revealed she had breakfast with Ireland men’s boss Heimir Hallgrímsson – the pair share a “really strong, close working relationship” – on Tuesday, and added: “Heimir is a human being, like any of us. We all do a job. You, me, everybody in this room, everybody in football does a job that is under scrutiny. The level of scrutiny, everybody has to face that at times.
“I go back to human beings have feelings. I think what he did say this morning is he wishes us well. He now has a big week coming up as do we. And we’ve both got jobs to do.”
Asked if there were any concerns about the care and welfare of herself and her squad amidst these challenging times, Ward said: “No. I think the women have done the nation extremely proud. I think there should be a lot of support for the women and what they’ve delivered this year.
“So listen, we’re four games away from a World Cup finals, we are going into the very first of two play-offs. This team has written a lot of records this year, a lot of people should be shouting about it. The focus and energy should be on the women and what they’re achieving and what they continue to strive to achieve.”
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