Heimir Hallgrímsson caused quite a stir on Friday afternoon with comments he made surrounding the future of some Shamrock Rovers players.
The Ireland boss was speaking at a press conference after the draw was made for FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying earlier in the day.
Ireland were drawn in Group F where they will play either Portugal or Denmark, Hungary and Armenia as they look to secure qualification for the tournament that will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
In light of Shamrock Rovers recent success it was only natural that they were going to be a topic of conversation at the press conference.
Stephen Bradley's side have qualified for the play-off stages of the Europa Conference League and defeated Bosnian side FK Borac on Thursday night at Tallaght Stadium, with Johnny Kenny scoring a brace and Neil Farrugia also netting.
Off The Ball's Aisling O'Reilly asked Heimir Hallgrímsson whether he had been keeping an eye on Rovers' results which prompted this reply:
"Respect and compliments to them. They are doing good for Irish football, leading the way," he said.
"I think that others will try and copy elements of what they are doing both in regards to their success…Their season is now a whole year so they’ll probably go from the knockout stage to starting the league so they don’t have any rest. It would be nice for them to qualify straight for the last 16...They could maybe take a two week break during Christmas, otherwise they don’t have a break from the start of the season to the start of the next season. Hopefully it will be enough for them."
He was then asked whether he was keeping an eye on some of the players with an eye on bringing them into the Ireland squad:
"Good players, impressive. Two or three really impressive performances yesterday. I’m not going to name them and put pressure on the players or me but it’s obviously good when they are playing all season," he said.
"It’s easier to pick them if they are playing regularly before the national team comes together.
"I’m pretty sure that a lot of teams in Europe are watching them and asking 'who are these guys going this far and doing this good in the tournament.' There’s probably a lot of scouting on those players at the moment so hopefully they will get career change from this good success."
The 'career change' comment has caused a stir with many seeing it as a slight at the League of Ireland and some Shamrock Rovers fans likening it to Jack Charlton's approach to the League of Ireland.
Hallgrímsson has previously said that he'd like to have a January international window which would allow domestic players to play for the national team.
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