Halgrimsson’s Ireland need results fast in absence of more heavenly promises

The Boys in Green started life under the Icelander with defeat to England on Saturday.

NEW ERA: Ireland's assistant coach John O'Shea and head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

A penny for his talks? Saturday gave us some standout snapshots: Declan Rice holding his hands up in quasi-apology. Jack Grealish jumping for joy minutes later. And the chat caught on camera between Heimir Halgrimsson and Roy Keane afterwards.

Oh, to know what passed between those two… Keane had given the Ireland manager and the home team something of a free pass when sharing his views on ITV. His ire was aimed instead at a sloppy second-half England performance and, not for the first time, the FAI.