Heimir Hallgrimsson tasked with finding the best position for the versatile Bosun Lawal

VERSATILE: Bosun Lawal scored six times from an advanced midfield position for Fleetwood and he has also had a stint at right-back in the club game so he can do different jobs. He seems destined to be a major player for his country, but where? Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s success or failure as Republic of Ireland manager will rest on six World Cup qualifiers inside the next ten weeks. There is little room for error, even less for experimentation. The future is now.

Bosun Lawal could be tomorrow’s man, but could he be today’s too?

Still uncapped at senior level, Lawal is only 22 and has played really only one season of senior football: that was out on loan with a League One Fleetwood Town side that fell through the trapdoor to the fourth tier.

A subsequent move from parent club Celtic to Stoke City was wrecked at first by a back injury that took six months to heal, but now he is established at the Potteries and standing out in the centre of defence and in midfield.

Club boss Mark Robbins even said he reminded him of Franz Beckenbauer.

Lawal scored six times from an advanced midfield position for Fleetwood and he has also had a stint at right-back in the club game so he can do different jobs. He seems destined to be a major player for his country, but where?

“I get that question a lot,” said Lawal who came through St Kevins and Bohemians before signing for Watford and then Celtic. “I’m not that bothered where I play. I’ve said many times as long as I am playing on the pitch, I will give it my all.

“There are a couple of positions where [Hallgrimsson] said he wants me to play but it doesn't really bother me where I play. I’ve played in most positions in my life. I can take different elements from different positions, I am prospering.” 

It wasn’t always the case.

He never played for Celtic and that back injury last season could have soured another chapter in the UK, but through it all he has felt the love from back home with John O’Shea calling him up 14 months ago and Hallgrimsson following suit.

That helped. So did his faith.

“I've always had this since I was young. I came from a very Christian background. Parents are both very heavy on God. So it's been installed in me. Over time, I've just kind of seen different things happen in my life, just around... Yeah, it's just made my faith go stronger.” 

Hallgrimsson played Nathan Collins in a holding midfield role against England in Wembley last November. What odds we see Lawal there, and elsewhere, sooner or later?