Hallgrimsson hopeful of turning the page with a fresh start from the Finnish

Ireland's new manager and captain are "sick of it" and ready to call a rain check on the negativity with Helsinki offering the best hope of a flash of positivity

Thu, 10 Oct, 2024 - 05:55

John Fallon, Helsinki

Weather conditions in Helsinki mirror the grim form of both nations but at some stage it must start raining goals for either Ireland or Finland.

This week’s build-up consisted of two strikers rolled out to the Irish media in succession, Evan Ferguson following Troy Parrott at Abbotstown on Monday, and yet the search for someone proficient in finishing endures. It’s not as though the service during the five blanks among six matches this year was plentiful.

Maybe if Ferguson had converted that penalty in the first of them against Belgium, the tone would have been set but the sparsity of midfield creators, allied to the habit of defenders becoming repeat offenders, contribute to the overall decay.

In essence, the hesitation at the back must be eradicated, Josh Cullen stamps his authority in this new managerial tenure and the forwards apply a ruthless streak to whatever opportunities are presented. This ought to be their best chance, statistically at least.

A scan through Finland’s probable starting team informs why their strides at the start of the decade have slowed to mediocrity Players operating in Poland, MLS, Sweden and the Bundesliga's second tier will form their backbone.

Sure, they have a solid goalkeeper in Lukas Hradecky but so do Ireland and Caoimhin Kelleher couldn’t have been blamed for any of the four goals conceded last month.

Ireland’s tournament drought of a decade and plunge to 62 in the world, two places above the Finnish, confer no sense of entitlement.

Still, if the Helsinki Olympic Stadium isn’t the venue for the rot to be stopped with a first competitive away win over three years (bar Gibraltar) well then an acceptance of mingling with the lightweights is deserved.

It wouldn’t rival Eamonn Coughlan’s 5,000 metres gold medal in the 1983 World Championships or the pivotal win for the women’s team in 2021 for magnitude but there’s a tide-turning element available from extracting a result here.

“We’ve been speaking this week about how much we want to win, to get over that line and have that good feeling back into the country,” declared Nathan Collins, captaining his country for the second time on the spin at the age of 23. “As a group we are all sick of it and we are all getting frustrated.”

It’s apparent Heimir Hallgrimsson is expanding his medical tutelage from the mouth to the mind. His diagnosis centres on a lack of confidence, the collateral damage of a generation anaesthetised by years of premature exits from qualification mixes and, in the broadest sense, collectively paralysed from failure. Expectancy levels have moderated from qualifying to merely competing.

"I don't think it is a lack of confidence,” Collins opined, in response to his manager’s analysis. “We know, as a group, we are a good team, we have good players. We see the level of individuals at club level, and lots of players are flying at the minute.

“There are many leaders. I could go through six or seven who help but I don't think we need to create a group of leaders to change what is happening. We know what it is and what we need to do.

“It annoying and frustrating that we can't get that result. This week has felt better as a group, talking to the lads, the information we are taking in, how we've been training, everything does feel better.”

That’s the least we can count on, coming from a hopeless place.

Teething complaints for the new regime can be redirected towards the FAI and Marc Canham for their botched headhunting search but the Icelander will be judged on getting the selection right and optimising their output.

Switching to a back-four against Greece – whom they travel to on Sunday – was a success in the mind of the manager, suggesting its retention.

His squad cull is indicative of a manager still seeking the settled team he craves but the fact some contenders are idle at club level won’t be decisive to his criteria.

“Often players play really well with the national team despite not doing it with their clubs - and then vice versa,” he noted, opening up the prospect of Andrew Omobamidele keeping his right-back slot.

“That does not need to go hand-in-hand at all. If he is doing his job for the national team and doing well, and the team is doing well, I see no reason why it should be.”

Neither does he feel the need to slap down his doubters. Stephen Kenny got 40 matches before exiting but his successor might be jettisoned by the FAI after just four next week, according to former defender Richard Dunne.

“To have an opinion or an opinion all day long, then we would not be coaching at all,” Hallgrimsson said, adamant outside commentary will be respected. “That's the (media) industry - trying to get subscribers or buy your papers.”

A related truism revolves around bad news consuming minds. All could do with a rain check from that.