Emma Duffy Reports from FAI HQ, Abbotstown

KATIE MCCABE SAYS the Ireland camp is “full of energy” under new manager Carla Ward as they look to put their Euros heartbreak behind them.

Ward’s side face Turkiye in tomorrow’s Nations League opener at Tallaght Stadium [KO 7.30pm, live on RTÉ 2].

“I know Carla a long time now, a couple of years having played against Carla,” said Ireland captain McCabe as the duo faced a press conference this morning.

Former Aston Villa boss Ward chimed in: “Broke my heart scoring a late winner [for Arsenal], didn’t ya, at the Emirates? I’m not over it.”

McCabe described this week’s preparations under Ward, assistant head coach Alan Mahon, and assistant coach Amber Whiteley as “really good, really exciting, full of energy”.

“Obviously having played against Carla’s teams, we’ve always found them very difficult to break down and the resilience Carla has within her set-ups, to now learning and working together, as well as Mahony and Amber, it’s been really good and really good insight to understand their way of playing.

“It’s challenging, but for us, we’re looking forward to the challenge in how to set up and play a different playing style.”

Leanne Kiernan has been ruled out of the opening game with a calf injury, which will be assessed ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Slovenia, but the new head coach has an otherwise fit squad.

Ward is hoping Ireland show “a clear way of playing” and stressed “energy, personalty and freedom” as they meet Turkiye — 35 places inferior in the Fifa World Rankings — for the first time at international level.

And McCabe is willing her side to bounce back from their failure to qualify for Euro 2025 and December’s heartbreaking play-off defeat to Wales — with the 2027 World Cup the ultimate target.

“Some of the best feelings I have had in my life have been on a football pitch, both good and bad,” she told The 42. “That day in the Aviva was definitely one of the worst for sure.

“It was so disappointing. Just given the stadium, the fans, the energy that they gave us. You feel like you have the responsibility of young girls’ futures on your shoulders. You feel that responsibility having had the connection with the fans for so long. What we do on the pitch matters for women’s football in Ireland. It was devastating. I was in a really low place afterwards. It goes to show you the highs and lows of high performance environment.

“You have to move on quickly. There’s always the next game around the corner. When we came in on Monday, there was a real energy and enthusiasm in the whole squad. We wanted to impress Carla straight away, to get that jersey on Friday. I’m really proud of how the team has bounced back, the application in training, because we have to switch our focus.”

McCabe spoke about building on the “unbelievable work” of Eileen Gleeson and Colin Healy as noise around the assistant coach’s departure, in particular, heightens.

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley blasted the FAI for their treatment of Healy last night, and the Irish captain spoke to that this morning.

“From our point of view, given the news that obviously Eileen and Colin weren’t going to continue on, it was a shock. A lot of the girls were surprised by it, more so from the point of how well we got on and the spirit they had for us, the connection and the good environment they created.

McCabe speaking to the press this morning. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

“I want to say a big thanks to Eileen and Colin for everything they’ve done. They brought in a real energy and freshness to this team when they took over for that first game in the Aviva. We’ve created unbelievable, special moments together. We went on a really nice run in the Nations League, got a massive result down in Cork against France. We’ve had some really amazing moments.

“Unfortunately for us we didn’t qualify for the Euros and the FAI made a decision off the back of that so for us as players now we need to look forward and start looking towards how we’re going to qualify for World Cup in 2027 and that starts tomorrow night with out new manager in place.”

Of those who played under Gleeson and Healy, Denise O’Sullivan has been the most vocally critical of the FAI, with Caitlin Hayes and Aoife Mannion also weighing in.

“I think we’ve dealt with it initially as a team and as individuals when we got the news back in December. There’s been so much gone on in between that,” McCabe added.

“Obviously when we’re coming into camp our full focus is on what we’re doing here and we don’t really pay attention to what’s going (on) outside of that. Everyone has their own opinions on what happened and we need to respect that for sure, but ultimately our full focus is on tomorrow night.”

Ward, meanwhile, reflected positively on her first week with the team, who have been “top-drawer” and “first-class”. It included observing a game between an Ireland development squad and the U19s yesterday. She spotted some home-based players, who she could now “drip feed” into the senior set-up, with opportunity ahead for those of all ages.

“There’s so much quality,” said Ward. “There’s quite a few that I liked. I think that development squad’s going to be key because the gap from 19s to first team is big, but the amount of quality coming through is really exciting.

“There were one or two in particular I’m saying, ‘I think we need to get them involved early and put them in positions that stress them.’ I think all the top players at a young age in their careers were stressed. It’s important that we try and do that as early as possible.”