Gleeson: 'There is a lot of noise around the camp - lots of pressure on the performance'

Eileen Gleeson has been installed on a caretaker basis to fill the void while her boss Marc Canham headhunts a permanent appointment.

PRESSURE: Eileen Gleeson is taking charge of Ireland as interim manager with pressure mounting the side after a month of controversy. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Eileen Gleeson admits the noise around the Ireland camp has mounted the pressure on Ireland’s players for Saturday’s Nations League opener.

The FAI are estimating a 30,000 turnout for the first-ever senior international at Aviva Stadium when neighbours Northern Ireland make the short hop down the M1.

Gleeson has been installed on a caretaker basis to fill the void while her boss Marc Canham headhunts a permanent appointment but the fallout from Vera Pauw’s fractious exit has engulfed preparations.

That spiked on Monday when stalwart Diane Caldwell launched a blistering attack on the Dutchwoman’s four-year reign, adamant the team’s progress to a first World Cup in the summer was attributable to the players’ efforts, not the head coach.

It merely verbalised the body language and non-committal answers from her colleagues during the tournament in Australia, indicative of player power forcing the FAI to change guard.

Interestingly, Caldwell’s detailed critique stretched to Pauw’s early days as boss. She had Gleeson as her assistant from the start of her role in 2019 until 2021 when the Dubliner left to take up the managerial reins at Glasgow City.

Asked today about her awareness of Caldwell and captain Katie McCabe raising concerns about Pauw’s methods to Pauw’s predecessor Ruud Dokter, the interim boss played a straight bat, refusing to comment either way.

What she did acknowledge was the attention on the squad arising from the month of controversy. They are top seeds in their Nations League, firm favourites to take six points from Saturday and the trip to Hungary next Tuesday. They meet Albania home and away next month.

“There is a lot of noise around the camp - lots of pressure on the performance,” confessed the former DLR Waves and Peamount United boss.

“It is the first time they’ll play at the Aviva and there’s a lot of spotlight on the players. There is external pressure, so we must galvanise internally to try to place as much focus on the game on Saturday as we can.”

That entailed stonewalling any queries on the background to Pauw’s demise.

“I can’t really comment on that as I was not part of that meeting or the conversation,” she said regarding the showdown three years ago after they missed out on a Euro playoff.

“That was a meeting between Ruud and Diane and Katie. I am not even going down that route around 2020. Vera and I had a good relationship. I was on the support staff. We still have a good relationship. That’s where it is at.

“I am focused on the here and now. Conversations that happened back there are not for me to comment on.

“We are all working towards the same goal. People having a difference of opinion, with a shared goal, is not really an issue.” 

While Pauw was criticised for her defensive approach, the adventurous style which Louise Quinn publicly pleaded for over the summer is music to the ears of Gleeson.

She won’t be involved in headhunting the new manager and will revert to her original post as head of women’s and girls’ football once the vacancy is filled.

“We’ll play with the squad we have and capacities within that, factoring in who we’re playing,” Gleeson added.

“It would be easy for me to say we’ll score loads of goals. This is an international, we’re playing Northern Ireland and nobody is underestimating anybody who turns up on Saturday. We’ll have a measured approach to the game.” 

There are no additional fitness concerns ahead of the double-header. Denise O’Sullivan is due to join up with the squad today, having captained North Carolina Courage on Sunday night.