THE DAY BEGAN in the press conference room at the FAI’s headquarters in west Dublin and would continue in a meeting room of an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Sport that has become like an FAI timeshare retreat.
This was just another pre-match for the Republic of Ireland.
The team’s manager, Heimir Hallgrímsson, spoke about his players being a unified force in one while the association’s chief executive, David Courell, and president Paul Cooke were denying that decision makers were divisive in the other.
Let’s start with Hallgrímsson, who arrived for Wednesday’s press conference to face Austria just after 10.15am.
No spoilers, but he was not asked a single question about facing Austria. It is a game that is of significance, of course, but will be quickly forgotten as this fraught and unprecedented time in Irish football is fully assessed.
Hallgrímsson realised that Austria would be off the agenda. His messaging was far more purposeful.
Since the 3-0 win over the same opposition in Hungary, a game that will go down as the most contentious in the modern history of the FAI, the Ireland manager has spoken about finding out about leaders in his squad.
Advertisement
It was a point he referenced in the immediate aftermath of that victory and which he returned to on Wednesday. He also wasn’t quite as equivocal as Cooke that the association handled the week well.
“I would think the association would learn from these events, like I would learn from being a leader and a coach and a human being,” Hallgrímsson said.
“I think everybody will look back, even you guys (the media) will look back and say ‘did we report in the correct way, did we say something that was not true?’ I think all of us will look back and be better afterwards.”
Hallgrímsson hit out at “the lies” that have been reported. He was following a familiar course of action taken by Cooke when he spoke for just under nine minutes in Debrecen before boarding the charter flight home to Dublin with the rest of the travelling party.
It should be no surprise that some of the ire and the blame is being directed outside. Players won’t be speaking to the media for the remainder of the week having decided that since fulfilling commitments in Kosovo they no longer feel comfortable engaging any further while Israel is a live topic. That may well continue after this window.
It is perfectly understandable to find the logic in these actions. When so much discussion and debate has been about issues out of their comfort zone, it feels completely reasonable that everyone in the Ireland camp is falling back on the most basic form of football muscle memory to process what is happening and make sense of it all.
They are closing ranks and finding a common enemy.
The 42’s reporting before, during and after that dramatic day in Debrecen last Saturday was rigorous. For example, in the course of inquiries with several sources, it became apparent that Finn Azaz’s future as an Ireland international was something that some in the FAI believed was under consideration by the player.
This information was offered up and then backed up with additional checks. It could not be ignored, especially as his own family ties to Israel are a crucial part of the context and nuance of the discussions that have taken place between the FAI and among players.
“[I] had good conversations with Finn and obviously he is just in a tricky situation. He’s in a tricky situation. It’s difficult. He wants to belong to the national team of the Republic of Ireland,” Hallgrímsson said.
“He wants to belong. He wants to be a part of this squad. He’s shown it in action that he wants to belong, but it’s difficult for him. As you can understand from his background.”
Hallgrímsson confirmed that the FAI have brought in a psychologist to help both staff and players for the remainder of this camp. He has already availed of the opportunity. “Just to talk and have discussions with someone that you know you can trust and reflect on one’s self.”
It was something later repeated by the FAI’s People and Culture Director, Aoife Rafferty, to the Oireachtas committee.
Plenty more of the same ground from the weekend was trod over again, although it was interesting that Courell noted that Hallgrímsson had spent “around an hour” with Gavin Bazunu at his club at the end of August while director of football John Martin said no one on the staff – including goalkeeper coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson – had spoken to any of the goalkeepers about facing Israel prior to coming into camp.
The president, Cooke, was peppered with questions by chair of the committee Alan Kelly as to why there were two rounds of voting carried out by players the day before the game about going ahead with it. He denied he held sway or influence.
The 42 had revealed on Sunday morning that these two votes took place and also detailed the general tone of the question put forward to the players: “Given the circumstances, do you still feel comfortable taking to the pitch against Israel?”
Cooke was adamant the first vote was to gain greater clarity for the players on how everyone was feeling, and the president confirmed to the Oireachtas committee that it was “a collective decision” involving him, Courell, Martin, Hallgrímsson and captain Dara O’Shea that a second vote was required.
Speaking to the committee, Courell said that “it wasn’t a Nice Referendum – go again and get the answer” while returning to Sunday night when he spoke to media in Hungary, Cooke said that it was the players’ decision to play.
Courell said it was the “significant majority” of the vote that made them press ahead with fulfilling the FAI board’s decision to face Israel.
The CEO spoke to the committee of a “natural hierarchy” when it came to decision-making after being asked what would have happened if the players voted ‘no’ to playing.
Related Reads
'It's definitely been testing, psychologically, 100%' - Ireland boss opens up on Israel fallout
'I think we've handled the week quite well' - FAI president
A day like no other in Irish football: Chaos, pain, apologies and TWO rounds of player voting to play Israel
So why even bother with one or two rounds of voting with the players at all? Why put them in such a difficult position at the end of an already emotionally draining and confusing day if a “natural hierarchy” was in place to decide the outcome?
It has all fed into the sense of chaos and despair, something the players somehow found a way to overcome by putting on a rousing performance in completely dismantling Israel.
Such momentum will be needed going into what should be a sold-out Aviva Stadium on Thursday night. Hallgrímsson admitted on Sunday that he was somewhat fearful of the reaction from some in the crowd towards the players for fulfilling the Israel game. He shouldn’t be.
Protests are to be expected at Aviva Stadium for a game which will have the added Uefa attention of being a test event for Euro 2028.
Those good times feel like an age away.
Tonight – Republic of Ireland v Austria, 7.45pm, RTÉ 2.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
The two sides of the FAI share stage on another jarring day
THE DAY BEGAN in the press conference room at the FAI’s headquarters in west Dublin and would continue in a meeting room of an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Sport that has become like an FAI timeshare retreat.
This was just another pre-match for the Republic of Ireland.
The team’s manager, Heimir Hallgrímsson, spoke about his players being a unified force in one while the association’s chief executive, David Courell, and president Paul Cooke were denying that decision makers were divisive in the other.
Let’s start with Hallgrímsson, who arrived for Wednesday’s press conference to face Austria just after 10.15am.
No spoilers, but he was not asked a single question about facing Austria. It is a game that is of significance, of course, but will be quickly forgotten as this fraught and unprecedented time in Irish football is fully assessed.
Hallgrímsson realised that Austria would be off the agenda. His messaging was far more purposeful.
In the opening exchanges of his media briefing he set out his belief that Ireland will fulfil Sunday’s return fixture with Israel that is to be held behind closed doors on Sunday.
Since the 3-0 win over the same opposition in Hungary, a game that will go down as the most contentious in the modern history of the FAI, the Ireland manager has spoken about finding out about leaders in his squad.
It was a point he referenced in the immediate aftermath of that victory and which he returned to on Wednesday. He also wasn’t quite as equivocal as Cooke that the association handled the week well.
“I would think the association would learn from these events, like I would learn from being a leader and a coach and a human being,” Hallgrímsson said.
“I think everybody will look back, even you guys (the media) will look back and say ‘did we report in the correct way, did we say something that was not true?’ I think all of us will look back and be better afterwards.”
Hallgrímsson hit out at “the lies” that have been reported. He was following a familiar course of action taken by Cooke when he spoke for just under nine minutes in Debrecen before boarding the charter flight home to Dublin with the rest of the travelling party.
It should be no surprise that some of the ire and the blame is being directed outside. Players won’t be speaking to the media for the remainder of the week having decided that since fulfilling commitments in Kosovo they no longer feel comfortable engaging any further while Israel is a live topic. That may well continue after this window.
It is perfectly understandable to find the logic in these actions. When so much discussion and debate has been about issues out of their comfort zone, it feels completely reasonable that everyone in the Ireland camp is falling back on the most basic form of football muscle memory to process what is happening and make sense of it all.
They are closing ranks and finding a common enemy.
The 42’s reporting before, during and after that dramatic day in Debrecen last Saturday was rigorous. For example, in the course of inquiries with several sources, it became apparent that Finn Azaz’s future as an Ireland international was something that some in the FAI believed was under consideration by the player.
This information was offered up and then backed up with additional checks. It could not be ignored, especially as his own family ties to Israel are a crucial part of the context and nuance of the discussions that have taken place between the FAI and among players.
“[I] had good conversations with Finn and obviously he is just in a tricky situation. He’s in a tricky situation. It’s difficult. He wants to belong to the national team of the Republic of Ireland,” Hallgrímsson said.
“He wants to belong. He wants to be a part of this squad. He’s shown it in action that he wants to belong, but it’s difficult for him. As you can understand from his background.”
Hallgrímsson confirmed that the FAI have brought in a psychologist to help both staff and players for the remainder of this camp. He has already availed of the opportunity. “Just to talk and have discussions with someone that you know you can trust and reflect on one’s self.”
It was something later repeated by the FAI’s People and Culture Director, Aoife Rafferty, to the Oireachtas committee.
Plenty more of the same ground from the weekend was trod over again, although it was interesting that Courell noted that Hallgrímsson had spent “around an hour” with Gavin Bazunu at his club at the end of August while director of football John Martin said no one on the staff – including goalkeeper coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson – had spoken to any of the goalkeepers about facing Israel prior to coming into camp.
The president, Cooke, was peppered with questions by chair of the committee Alan Kelly as to why there were two rounds of voting carried out by players the day before the game about going ahead with it. He denied he held sway or influence.
The 42 had revealed on Sunday morning that these two votes took place and also detailed the general tone of the question put forward to the players: “Given the circumstances, do you still feel comfortable taking to the pitch against Israel?”
Cooke was adamant the first vote was to gain greater clarity for the players on how everyone was feeling, and the president confirmed to the Oireachtas committee that it was “a collective decision” involving him, Courell, Martin, Hallgrímsson and captain Dara O’Shea that a second vote was required.
Speaking to the committee, Courell said that “it wasn’t a Nice Referendum – go again and get the answer” while returning to Sunday night when he spoke to media in Hungary, Cooke said that it was the players’ decision to play.
Courell said it was the “significant majority” of the vote that made them press ahead with fulfilling the FAI board’s decision to face Israel.
The CEO spoke to the committee of a “natural hierarchy” when it came to decision-making after being asked what would have happened if the players voted ‘no’ to playing.
So why even bother with one or two rounds of voting with the players at all? Why put them in such a difficult position at the end of an already emotionally draining and confusing day if a “natural hierarchy” was in place to decide the outcome?
It has all fed into the sense of chaos and despair, something the players somehow found a way to overcome by putting on a rousing performance in completely dismantling Israel.
Such momentum will be needed going into what should be a sold-out Aviva Stadium on Thursday night. Hallgrímsson admitted on Sunday that he was somewhat fearful of the reaction from some in the crowd towards the players for fulfilling the Israel game. He shouldn’t be.
Protests are to be expected at Aviva Stadium for a game which will have the added Uefa attention of being a test event for Euro 2028.
Those good times feel like an age away.
Tonight – Republic of Ireland v Austria, 7.45pm, RTÉ 2.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Preview Republic Of Ireland Soccer none