HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON HAS revealed that he plans on meeting Roy Keane for a coffee and would like to get the former international captain and assistant manager to visit his squad during the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Keane was Martin O’Neill’s No.2 when the Boys in Green last reached a major tournament at Euro 2016, and while his World Cup history is understandably complicated Hallgrímsson insists there would be a major benefit to maintaining links to the past.
The Icelander had a chance meeting with Shay Given earlier this week and suggested that the international centurion visit the players ahead of the Senegal friendly next month, although work commitments won’t allow it.
Hallgrímsson visited League of Ireland clubs Cork City and Cobh Ramblers this week and, when asked if he might try and see if Keane was back home for a catch up, he revealed plans are in place for a meeting down the line.
“We are going to have a coffee at some point as well,” Hallgrímsson said, explaining how the pair met after England’s win at Aviva Stadium last September and then again at Wembley in November.
“Yeah, I have [spoken to him]. It was good. I really like to involve, if I have permission to do it and I did it in Jamacia, involve the older players, former players, legends to come into camp and talk to the players, sharing their experiences.
“I flew with Shay Given from Manchester yesterday and told him he should come into camp and stay with us for one or two days. It would be nice, but he is doing the commentary for the game against Senegal, so maybe at a later stage. But for me that is kind of connecting the past to the present.”
Hallgrímsson spoke effusively earlier this week about Ireland’s aim to qualify for USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026, an achievement that would end a 24-year wait to reach a World Cup.
And bringing Keane in to meet the squad before that opening qualifier against Hungary at Aviva Stadium on 6 September is not off the table.
“I don’t know what he would think about it if we are speaking about him in this sense, but I just want to connect the past to the present and it was really good, the cap presentation with Robbie Keane and he sat with the players and spoke about his career.”
As he builds towards a shortened World Cup campaign over September, October and November, Hallgrímsson has identified a key area for improvement, which is partly why midfielders Killian Phillips and John Joe Patrick Finn have been called up for the first time next month.
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“I felt at times we needed to win more duels than we did. When I came, I had in my mind, the Irish would never lose a duel, that was my presumption,” he said.
“With the Irish, that was something I wouldn’t need to worry about but when I look at the stats, it is the opposite. And probably everyone else comes to our games thinking that way, that we need to win the duels.
“It goes against us. That is one thing that we have analysed that was missing but it has come back in the last camp, it was really good in that sense. We just need to be a little bit more aggressive than we have been.
“I really like these players who are so motivated like him,” Hallgrímsson said of Dubliner Phillips.
“He is always giving 100% and you never know where that leads. Every day, he is pushing himself and if you do that every day in your life, you are bound to improve. And that is the attitude we would like to see.”
It’s why Hallgrímsson had no issue with striker Adam Idah’s shush celebration after coming off the bench to score against Bulgaria in the Nations League promotion/relegation playoff victory.
The Celtic forward revealed afterwards that he had a frank discussion with the Ireland boss about why he had not been selected to start.
Hallgrímsson views Idah as “probably the most physical of our strikers” but believes the 24-year-old “can develop a little bit better, keeping the ball up there for us.”
But there was no issue with Idah’s celebration and the Ireland boss explained how his recent meeting with predecessor Stephen Kenny provided more insight into the squad.
“I smiled. We had talks before the game and I knew he was not happy. That was the reaction I really wanted from him, ‘show me’, make your feet do the talking. The same with Evan [Ferguson], Evan was not happy and not playing in the first game much, that is the reaction we want.
“Once they get the chance, that’s their chance to prove a point. It’s not in the media or in the social media or whatever. It’s on the pitch.
“It shouldn’t be a given that you are in the national team, you have to earn it, no matter your age or where your playing should automatically get you a spot on the national team.
“I have given credit to Stephen Kenny to have selected them in the past, a really young squad, we are benefitting from his selections now these guys have 20/30 matches. But there is also a kind of negative side to that one if you are presented with a prize too early, you think that is your god given right to be there because you have played through the tough times.
“Sometimes it’s a negative if you are rewarded too early. It can affect you, you [may] stop progressing and [think] you have made it. There are pros and cons to everything in life, but we are really happy that these guys started to play that early.
“I think it’s a good thing for a foreign coach, because he is not connected to what the player did at U-19s or U-18s, he is only focused on the now and not connected to them in the past.”
On that meeting with Kenny, Hallgrímsson added: “I have sat down for a coffee with him for a long time and we had a good chat. He explained the process to me. It was a big and a brave decision to do that, we are benefiting from a lot of players now having 20-plus caps for Ireland.
“You never know when you pick young players, some just click in and are ready but some need 10 or 20 games to establish themselves. Who should be the one to start to give them the first games where they are not completely ready? Like we are doing now with Killian and John Patrick and these guys, maybe they are not ready but they need to start somewhere if we see something for the future.
“He took a whole squad, played them, yes we had a good U21 team at that time, like I said there are pros and cons but we are really benefiting from what he did.
“And I can understand he wanted to stay on because he invested in those players. And obviously young players sometimes have a good game, sometimes have a bad game. You can see that in the result, playing good against Portugal, losing against Luxembourg, etc.
“So that’s natural when you have young players. But in the end, they will find their path.”
Hallgrímsson’s aim now is to somehow become the one who can guide Ireland to a World Cup.
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Hallgrímsson wants Roy Keane to meet Ireland players as he ramps up World Cup mission
HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON HAS revealed that he plans on meeting Roy Keane for a coffee and would like to get the former international captain and assistant manager to visit his squad during the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Keane was Martin O’Neill’s No.2 when the Boys in Green last reached a major tournament at Euro 2016, and while his World Cup history is understandably complicated Hallgrímsson insists there would be a major benefit to maintaining links to the past.
The Icelander had a chance meeting with Shay Given earlier this week and suggested that the international centurion visit the players ahead of the Senegal friendly next month, although work commitments won’t allow it.
Hallgrímsson visited League of Ireland clubs Cork City and Cobh Ramblers this week and, when asked if he might try and see if Keane was back home for a catch up, he revealed plans are in place for a meeting down the line.
“We are going to have a coffee at some point as well,” Hallgrímsson said, explaining how the pair met after England’s win at Aviva Stadium last September and then again at Wembley in November.
“Yeah, I have [spoken to him]. It was good. I really like to involve, if I have permission to do it and I did it in Jamacia, involve the older players, former players, legends to come into camp and talk to the players, sharing their experiences.
“I flew with Shay Given from Manchester yesterday and told him he should come into camp and stay with us for one or two days. It would be nice, but he is doing the commentary for the game against Senegal, so maybe at a later stage. But for me that is kind of connecting the past to the present.”
Hallgrímsson spoke effusively earlier this week about Ireland’s aim to qualify for USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026, an achievement that would end a 24-year wait to reach a World Cup.
And bringing Keane in to meet the squad before that opening qualifier against Hungary at Aviva Stadium on 6 September is not off the table.
“I don’t know what he would think about it if we are speaking about him in this sense, but I just want to connect the past to the present and it was really good, the cap presentation with Robbie Keane and he sat with the players and spoke about his career.”
As he builds towards a shortened World Cup campaign over September, October and November, Hallgrímsson has identified a key area for improvement, which is partly why midfielders Killian Phillips and John Joe Patrick Finn have been called up for the first time next month.
“I felt at times we needed to win more duels than we did. When I came, I had in my mind, the Irish would never lose a duel, that was my presumption,” he said.
“With the Irish, that was something I wouldn’t need to worry about but when I look at the stats, it is the opposite. And probably everyone else comes to our games thinking that way, that we need to win the duels.
“It goes against us. That is one thing that we have analysed that was missing but it has come back in the last camp, it was really good in that sense. We just need to be a little bit more aggressive than we have been.
“I really like these players who are so motivated like him,” Hallgrímsson said of Dubliner Phillips.
“He is always giving 100% and you never know where that leads. Every day, he is pushing himself and if you do that every day in your life, you are bound to improve. And that is the attitude we would like to see.”
It’s why Hallgrímsson had no issue with striker Adam Idah’s shush celebration after coming off the bench to score against Bulgaria in the Nations League promotion/relegation playoff victory.
The Celtic forward revealed afterwards that he had a frank discussion with the Ireland boss about why he had not been selected to start.
Hallgrímsson views Idah as “probably the most physical of our strikers” but believes the 24-year-old “can develop a little bit better, keeping the ball up there for us.”
But there was no issue with Idah’s celebration and the Ireland boss explained how his recent meeting with predecessor Stephen Kenny provided more insight into the squad.
“I smiled. We had talks before the game and I knew he was not happy. That was the reaction I really wanted from him, ‘show me’, make your feet do the talking. The same with Evan [Ferguson], Evan was not happy and not playing in the first game much, that is the reaction we want.
“Once they get the chance, that’s their chance to prove a point. It’s not in the media or in the social media or whatever. It’s on the pitch.
“It shouldn’t be a given that you are in the national team, you have to earn it, no matter your age or where your playing should automatically get you a spot on the national team.
“I have given credit to Stephen Kenny to have selected them in the past, a really young squad, we are benefitting from his selections now these guys have 20/30 matches. But there is also a kind of negative side to that one if you are presented with a prize too early, you think that is your god given right to be there because you have played through the tough times.
“Sometimes it’s a negative if you are rewarded too early. It can affect you, you [may] stop progressing and [think] you have made it. There are pros and cons to everything in life, but we are really happy that these guys started to play that early.
“I think it’s a good thing for a foreign coach, because he is not connected to what the player did at U-19s or U-18s, he is only focused on the now and not connected to them in the past.”
On that meeting with Kenny, Hallgrímsson added: “I have sat down for a coffee with him for a long time and we had a good chat. He explained the process to me. It was a big and a brave decision to do that, we are benefiting from a lot of players now having 20-plus caps for Ireland.
“You never know when you pick young players, some just click in and are ready but some need 10 or 20 games to establish themselves. Who should be the one to start to give them the first games where they are not completely ready? Like we are doing now with Killian and John Patrick and these guys, maybe they are not ready but they need to start somewhere if we see something for the future.
“He took a whole squad, played them, yes we had a good U21 team at that time, like I said there are pros and cons but we are really benefiting from what he did.
“And I can understand he wanted to stay on because he invested in those players. And obviously young players sometimes have a good game, sometimes have a bad game. You can see that in the result, playing good against Portugal, losing against Luxembourg, etc.
“So that’s natural when you have young players. But in the end, they will find their path.”
Hallgrímsson’s aim now is to somehow become the one who can guide Ireland to a World Cup.
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FAI having his say Heimir Hallgrímsson Republic Of Ireland Roy Keane Soccer