John O’Shea in prime position to succeed Hallgrimsson

Heimir Hallgrímsson said: 'I'm delighted to secure the services of John and Paddy for the coaching team, and welcome Gudmundur to Ireland'

STAYING PUT: John O’Shea has accepted the No 2 role, with Crystal Palace’s Paddy McCarthy also staying onboard as an assistant coach. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

John O’Shea has put himself firmly in position to succeed Heimir Hallgrímsson once the new Ireland manager’s tenure concludes.

As revealed by the Irish Examiner on July 26, O’Shea – who took interim charge in the four friendlies while the FAI’s search struck multiple delays – has accepted the No 2 role, with Crystal Palace’s Paddy McCarthy onboard as an assistant coach.

Fitness coach Damien Doyle also stays on, having been initially promoted in 2020 by his U21 boss Stephen Kenny, and a performance analyst is to be recruited in the coming month.

Doyle was part of O’Shea’s caretaker staff, along with McCarthy, but there was no direct reference to Glenn Whelan sticking around while Ipswich Town’s Rene Gilmartin is no longer goalkeeper coach.

Icelander Hallgrímsson, appointed in mid-July, has primarily stuck with a native backroom staff bar his compatriot Gudmundur Hreidarsson being enlisted as the goalkeeping coach.

Hreidarsson has worked with the new supremo throughout his coaching career, starting in Iceland at club level before flanking him with the Icelandic and Jamaica national teams up to the Copa America in June.

Hallgrímsson will name his first squad towards the end of August for the opening Uefa Nations League matches against England and Greece on September 7 and 10 respectively, both at Lansdowne Road.

Centurion O'Shea had eventually declared his interest in the vacancy midway through his stopgap tenancy but was ultimately overlooked due to his lack of senior management experience.

That will only grow while he aids Hallgrímsson stint, contractually covering the upcoming sprint of six Nations League matches over nine weeks and the World Cup qualifiers kicking off next week.

When indicating his desire for O’Shea to revert to his previous position, the new boss dangled the prospect of a succession avenue. Unlike the arrangement ex-chief executive John Delaney hatched with Kenny and Mick McCarthy, there won’t be any official guarantee of a handover. Yet there was a pointed tone in Hallgrímsson’s comments about “what the future should look like”.

The 57-year-old said: "I'm delighted to secure the services of John and Paddy for the coaching team, and welcome Gudmundur to Ireland.

“It was an absolute priority for me to bring John into the staff when I joined the association. I travelled down to Waterford at the first opportunity to sit down with him and discuss the role. It became clear we're very much aligned in our ideas and what the future should look like, and it's fantastic he has agreed to be the assistant head coach.

"Paddy has also agreed to continue his work with the team and the wealth of experience he brings will continue to be invaluable to the team.

“Gudmundur has been an important part of my coaching staff throughout my career and I am delighted he can join me once again in Ireland. Work has already begun with our focus fully on the matches against England and Greece in September."

O'Shea, impressively developing his coaching CV with assistant positions at Reading, Stoke City, Birmingham City as well as the Ireland U21s and seniors, added: "Everybody knows the passion and commitment to the Irish national team I have had throughout my playing, and now, coaching career, so it was great when Heimir approached me to be part of his coaching set-up.

"Since I sat down with Heimir and talked about the plans for the team, and what he saw for me in the set-up, I was delighted to accept the role for the next two campaigns and continue my work with the team ahead of two huge fixtures for the group.

“It was important to have some continuity for Heimir with the players and myself and Paddy will be able to provide that and support him in the role."

FAI Director of Football Marc Canham coordinated the appointments, highlighting the importance of continuity.

He said: "It's great that Heimir has been able to secure John, Paddy and Gudmundur to join the new coaching set-up for the next two campaigns.

“It was important for him to be able to have some continuity from the previous interim coaching set-up and important for the players to have that also.

“We're delighted we can support Heimir to bring together such an experienced and high-quality coaching staff, and we extend a warm welcome to Gudmundur to Ireland also.

“One of the association's key aims is the development of Irish coaches and it's great that John's involvement with Irish international football continues.”