ALL GOOD THINGS must come to an end at some point. Eileen Gleeson departs her stint as interim head coach of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team with the enviable record of six games, six wins.
Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania were put to the sword. Home and away. Not a cast that would have struck much fear in the past but expectations are well above where they were, pre World Cup. 6-1 was some scoreline to sign off on.
And there was the added historical significance, as Amhrán na bhFiann was played here, for the first time in Windsor Park. It wasn’t lost on Gleeson.
“It was great to be part of this occasion, coming full circle from the Aviva. Sport bringing together north and south. And our main focus was performance. A nice loop from the Aviva bringing it to Windsor,” she said.
There’s a slight bristle as she slightly objects to the suggestion there might have been a stuttering opening, and she shakes her head as she says she doesn’t know the euphemism of ‘dirty petrol’, stating, “I didn’t think it was a stuttering opening, we gave respect to Northern Ireland, we knew they would be competitive at the start and they were, we had to be patient and wait to carve open the chances and when they came we took them.
“We were clinical, six different scorers, so for us it’s a really good performance, good intensity, we had a lot of distractions about whether we lacked motivation or hadn’t got personality. We didn’t want to listen to that. We know who we are and that showed on the pitch.”
Having already qualified for the top tier of European football, the challenge for Gleeson was to keep motivation and standards high.
The mere suggestion though seems to bring about a Keanesque reaction.
“You don’t need to motivate these girls, it’s intrinsic. You’re playing for your country. There’s nothing you can be prouder for.
“It’s not always a given but I know the girls and there’s one bad performance and suddenly we lack motivation and we’ve no personality, so let’s keep perspective here.
“We know the girls, we know their character, we see their character game in game out. I didn’t have any, or ever have any doubts about that. Their motivation is there. The squad is competitive, and the girls work super hard. We saw out there.”
With Gleeson going, she is asked if there are any more developments with the staff around the team. An FAI media handler interjected at this point to note that there will be an, ‘update due in the next coming weeks.’
Gleeson leaves headaches for the new man or woman. Good headaches.
“Yeah it’s a really positive time I think,” she responds.
“Young players transitioning through which is a super exciting time. We’ve got to bring in some young players from the League Of Ireland as well so it’s a really positive time for women’s football in Ireland.
“It’s been a magnificent year 2023, participation in a first ever World Cup, promotion to League A, six games from six.
“The story is continuing and I keep saying the longer-term aim is Euro 2025 and the World Cup 2027, and having the consistent qualifications for those tournaments, so these young players coming through are really bright. We want to keep continuing to develop those young players.”
