After nine months of uncertainty, Ireland fans now finally have an idea as to what the immediate future of the team will look like after the appointment of Heimir Hallgrímsson as manager.
There was a collective sense of shock when the 57-year old was revealed as the new head coach yesterday, with his not being one of the numerous names that had been heavily linked with the vacancy in recent months.
The Iceland native has a good pedigree at international level, having led his home nation to both Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. More recently, he achieved some impressive results with Jamaica before resigning from that role after their Copa America exit earlier this month.
Now, he seems ready to take on a new challenge.
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Heimir Hallgrímsson primed for Republic of Ireland challenge
The FAI insisted this afternoon that Heimir Hallgrímsson has been their first choice to become the new Ireland manager for a number of months, dating back to March.
The coach himself was perhaps aware of this, although he insisted that he would finish his duties with Jamaica before taking on a new challenge. Speaking to the media at his unveiling this afternoon, he explained why opted to take the Ireland job despite also having interest from elsewhere.
I said from the beginning I was committed to Jamaica, finishing the Copa America.
It was always an interesting project, this national team. I think this job is really an interesting project. It's exciting for all coaches I think. When it got closer to the Copa, I was more leaning on this, even though I had some other offers as well.
Before Copa America I talked to the president of Jamaica and told him I would resign after the Copa. I tried to depart Jamaica in as positive a way as possible. I think we succeeded in that, thanks to them for doing it in a professional mode.
It was always kind of exciting and the top of my list to come here. I don't what date it was when I was clear in my head to take this. I just always admired the professionalism from the board, the respect they showed me in the process.
I know it was probably difficult for them, I repeated myself again and again that I was focused on finishing the Copa America and that probably not what they wanted to hear. They were really professional all the time.
Initial contact with Heimir Hallgrímsson was first made towards the end of 2023, and while hew remained in touch with the FAI, the formal process that led to his appointment only gained traction at the start of this month.
He will inherit an Ireland team that has underperformed in recent seasons, but he sees this as an exciting project.
When you have some interest from different areas you of course think about the pros and cons. In this case there were a lot of positives.
Young players that have been given, what i think is really important, they have ben given time. So they are young players with international experience. That's the most exciting thing.
What made my decision was the professionalism from the board. They showed me a big respect even though I knew that they might go for someone else.
I insisted that I wanted to finish the Nations League with Jamaica and then the Copa America. They were so professional and that was the most appealing thing, working for these people. I hope that it's going to be fruitful.
Hallgrímsson's antics with Iceland is likely what piqued the FAI's interest, with the process to turn Ireland into a competitive side on the international stage not dissimilar to the one he went through with his own nation.
Indeed, this is what he feels could make him a valuable asset to Irish football moving forward. This is what he said when asked what convinced him he would be a success with Ireland.
Experience. Probably. It's a lot of similarities, both the characteristics of the people. The team is similar to the Icelandic team we started with in the beginning.
Young, exciting, really good team spirit etc. I hope we can build on the same things that we did in Iceland. A little bit different in Jamaica, there were more high profile players but something, some key element that we need to work on to get results at this level...
In football in general you need basics, especially at international level. It's trick to be a national team coach, it's totally different being a club coach and a national team coach. Your time with the players is so limited, so you need to have the basics perfect before you build on something different.
If you get the basics, being organised, being compact, being a strong unit, that's always the first thing you need as a national team. Then you can build on progressively from that thing.
His first game in charge will come against England in September, with the UEFA Nations League fixture likely to be a real baptism of fire.
Considering how long it took to reach this point, there is no doubt that both the FAI and the Irish footballing public are hoping that he turns out to be a success.
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