Experience a prerequisite as Hallgrímsson is Ireland's chosen one

No promises were made to John O’Shea. Clearly from the outset, experience was a prerequisite.

Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has been named as the Republic of Ireland's new head coach, the Football Association of Ireland has announced.

When a toothless reign is followed by a toothless search for his successor, no wonder the new Ireland manager is a dentist.

Heimir Hallgrímsson was the chosen one during the third and final phase of a recruitment process which began last November with Lee Carsley as being the outstanding candidate.

That pursuit oscillated in pace until the final rejection was delivered before the set deadline of the February 8 Uefa Nations League draw, convincing the FAI headhunters to broaden their array of candidates.

From the stated preference of Irish nationality outlined by director of football Marc Canham, the criteria was relaxed to avoid restrictions.

A coach adept “on the grass” seemed a stretch when the name of Gus Poyet emerged in April and it was even stranger when he rebuffed the approach after his contract with Greece expired.

Their conquerors in the playoff, Georgia, had another person of interest at the helm and their shock win seemed to alter the script writing Willy Sagnol’s name on the contract.

That unexpected turn obliterated Canham's declaration of an early-April appointment – delayed solely by what was presented as “existing contractual obligations”.

By Canham accompanying Hallgrímsson’s announcement with the boast that he was identified “earlier this year” as the number one candidate, some justification for the saga will be floated.

Yet that timeframe covers all bases and it appears a certainty that the 57-year-old was only turned after the first, and then second, self-appointed deadlines passed without a figurehead.

Affordability, in the form of a wage around the €560,000 level, was an undeniable factor too and there was no pushback on Wednesday when the FAI board were requested to rubberstamp the recommendation.

“Some time back, I heard about the interest,” said the Icelander. “Like others that made contact, I told them I was focused on Copa America with Jamaica and we’d decide after Copa.” 

Once a torturous campaign in America for Reggae Boyz ended with their third straight defeat 10 days ago, an agreement was reached for Hallgrímsson to cull his contract midstream.

Up to that juncture, and with the clock ticking towards the drop-dead date of the September 7 opening Nations League clash against England, John O’Shea remained on standby to upgrade his interim candidacy to permanent.

No promises were made to O’Shea. Clearly from the outset, experience was a prerequisite.

As Neil Lennon discovered, despite all his trophies at Celtic, that condition was precisely international.

Hallgrímsson has two stints and six years behind him as senior manager, leaving both Iceland and Jamaica in better positions than when he assumed control.

Nice’s Allianz Riviera stadium in where his name was etched in his country’s sporting and cultural folklore – scalping England to reach the quarter-finals.

Achieving another shock in seven weeks’ time would go a long way to overcoming the wave of doubters who were left underwhelmed by his name, face and words appearing on the FAI’s social channels at 3pm on Wednesday.

“It is similar to when I took over Jamaica, in that five days later we played Argentina,” he said of his introduction.

“It’s always good to play top teams. They will always expose our weaknesses but it’s good to have a tough team for our first test. Hopefully we will have a full house and you never know in football.” 

More likely to feature in the initial assessment are the results against Greece and Finland in that group which concludes at Wembley on November 17. 

Hallgrímsson’s contract not only includes next year’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup – the draw due in December – but also the Euro 2028 which Ireland seemed a shoo-in to be handed an automatic place as co-hosts.

Should he get that far, the quest to overturn Ireland’s slump to 61 in Fifa’s rankings will have succeeded.

Otherwise, a break clause identical to the one installed in Kenny’s second contract will be activated and Carsley’s candidature will be revived.

Lest we forget, it was the timing – midway through England’s U21 Euro campaign – that contributed to the first-choice declining.

O’Shea, should he accept the invitation to revert to his assistant role, would also be in the frame.

Rather than resist, Hallgrímsson embraced during negotiations the concept by Canham and Packie Bonner of an Irish presence on the bench.

Paddy McCarthy is in pole position to maintain continuity, yet that will depend on his commitments to Crystal Palace. 

His former Manchester City teammate Glenn Whelan accompanied O’Shea to Germany for scouting duties on England and is expected to stick around. 

The involvement of Brian Kerr, restored for the March friendlies in a technical capacity, has not been ruled out. All should be revealed during Thursday's 2pm unveiling at Lansdowne Road.

“What has been done in the past by previous coaches is really helpful,” he noted about his predecessor Kenny. “There was a little but more possession-type football but I thought John O’Shea brought it back to basics. We should always start from the basics and build from there.

“First and foremost, this is an exciting project. I think Ireland has underperformed for the recent years, 

“This is a young and talented squad but still has a lot of experience. The toughest thing is getting players up to international level.

“Some need one game, others need 10 to be regulars.

“There’s a lot of similarities between Ireland and Icelanders. They’re honest, hard-working people who enjoy life. Then after a drink or two they start to sing.

“The values are similar. I think we can do similar things on the pitch as well. It’s going to be exciting times.

Hallgrímsson will expand his scope to appreciate those characteristics by visiting Cork next Tuesday for the women’s international against France at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The FAI eventually scooped a big name – in letters anyway – but after this nail-biter belatedly concluded, the longevity of smiles he creates from applying surgery will determine the popularity of the dentist.