'He can talk as much as he wants' - Carla Ward shrugs off Slovenia boss comments

Sasa Kolman claimed Ireland “played into our hands” in the reverse fixture.

Tue, 03 Jun, 2025 - 06:00

Stephen Barry

Carla Ward batted away suggestions that Slovenian manager Sasa Kolman had outfoxed his Irish counterpart ahead of their Nations League promotion decider at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The boss, who struck up a friendship with Jim McGuinness at Celtic, trumpeted his “tactical win” after beating the Girls in Green 4-0 in February.

Kolman claimed he didn’t bother with a Plan B as he knew what Ireland would do, declaring that they “played into our hands”.

Ward hit back, saying: “I'm going to concentrate on us and what we do. He can talk as much as he wants.

“It's not hard to look at a Carla Ward team over the last eight years and work out how I like to play the game.

“He can comment all he likes. It just shows that he's probably had a look at my career, which I can take a little bit of confidence from.

“My focus is on my team and how we set up.”

As a consequence of that drubbing in Ward’s second game at the helm, Ireland require a four-goal victory over Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to achieve automatic promotion to League A. With that, they would gain a guaranteed play-off spot for the 2027 World Cup.

Ireland enter with doubts surrounding the participation of Lucy Quinn and Aoife Mannion, who have started all five games under Ward.

Quinn has been struck down by an illness and looks less likely to feature. Mannion is suffering from a quad issue after a long season, but could play a part.

“She's a doubt, but not a major doubt,” said Ward. “It's an overload more than anything.

“She's finished the season, gone straight out to Portugal to play in the Sevens, and it's managing her load.

“We're hopeful that she'll be fit. We'll see today how she gets on, but she's massively important for what we want to do and the way that we want to play.”

Ireland have switched to a possession-based style under Ward. Yet, both of their late goals against Turkey were a result of balls launched into the box. Ward wouldn’t be drawn on any plans to mix things up.

“I can't say, can I? I'm not going to tell you that. What I will say is we are preparing ourselves in the best possible way to go and get the job done.

“There's so many different permutations, but we've whittled it down. We need to win by four clear goals, which sets it up for an exciting evening.

“I've heard an awful lot about the crowd here. I've heard an awful lot about the good times here. We'll be ready. We know what we have to do. We're going to have to be aggressive but also secure at the same time.”

Ireland’s latest recruit, Erin Healy, could be in line for a debut if Ireland are left hunting goals.

Amid a confusing contract situation, Adelaide United had confirmed that the California-native will remain with the club for the coming season. However, Ward believes she may yet relocate to Europe, as previously indicated.

“She might still,” said the international boss. “There’s a clause in her contract, probably quite smart from Adelaide to come out and say that when she’s just got her first call-up. All I can say is there’s interest.”

Ward isn’t distracted by internal staff changes in the FAI, either. Chief football officer Marc Canham has departed, while head of women and girls' football Hannah Dingley is leaving this summer for Manchester City.

“It’s massively important that we replace those two roles with football people,” said Ward. “That for me is an absolute non-negotiable priority.

“But right here and now, does it affect us? No. I think I’m very good at utilising the right people at the right time.”