There was a sense of inevitability about the FAI's announcement in December that Eileen Gleeson would take up permanent residency as head coach of the Ireland WNT.
Gleeson took over on an interim basis after the post-World Cup departure of Vera Pauw and saw great success during her time in charge in last winter's Nations League.
Six wins from six saw Ireland top their group and earn promotion to League A - with it came the guarantee of at least a play-off to reach EURO 2025.
The squad appear to have taken to Gleeson and her coaching team and the atmosphere around the camp seemed hugely positive during that Nations League campaign.
Speaking to Balls.ie and the Irish media on Monday, Ireland WNT captain Katie McCabe was asked where she had been when she learned Gleeson would be permanent manager and what her initial reaction had been to that news. McCabe firstly joked that she had been in the midst of fleeing the country, before summing up how the squad felt about the move:
Where was I? I was flying, I was leaving the country!
I said, 'I hear you're the manager? I'm leaving!'
Nah, I'm joking. Obviously it was a great period for us over the course of the Nations League. I think Eileen and her whole team of backroom staff came in and it was a real breath of fresh air, something different.
For us, you could see how we were enjoying that. We were able to then express ourselves on the pitch as well. The run of games we had, the run of form, how successful that Nations League campaign was was really positive.
She absolutely deserved it herself and her staff as well. It's a fantastic appointment, in my opinion. The FAI got it spot on in terms of who they think should take this forward in order for us to qualify for the EUROs.
She's got my full support and she knows that, as do the rest of the coaching staff. That's why I'm so excited, I feel like we've got the ingredients to do something really special as a team.
It's about us now, as players, focusing on performances and making sure we fulfil our potential with that.
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Ireland WNT: Katie McCabe happy with first performance of Eileen Gleeson era
26 February 2024; Manager Eileen Gleeson during a Republic of Ireland women training session at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Arsenal star McCabe went on to say that the groundwork for last winter's successful campaign had been done by Gleeson's predecessors - but said that their was no room for looking backwards, as the team sought to hit the ground running ahead of the EURO 2025 qualifiers:
"We can't forget the foundations Vera put in when she was here, Colin [Bell] put in, Susan Ronan before that," McCabe said on Monday, "They're the coaches I've had as a senior player and each one of those coaches made sure they were leaving Ireland as a team in a better place than where they inherited it.
"There's lots to take from each and every coach we've played under but it's now about moving on to Eileen's reign and making sure we're moving forward with that."
Gleeson was alongside McCabe for Monday's press conference and praised the adaptability of her side in adjusting to a new formation in Friday's impressive draw away to Italy.
McCabe played as a deep left back in that game, having been used higher up the pitch in the six Nations League games last year. The 28-year-old said that she had enjoyed the challenge of adjusting to a new formation in such a high-profile game, and said that the squad understood the importance of making the most of this international window:
It’s important to play around with these new formations. We’ve obviously been playing in a five-at-the-back for a long time now. Eileen’s looked at changing that up, we have new personnel coming in, different players can play in different positions.
It was really refreshing for me, to be honest. I said that at the end of the game to the girls because, like Eileen said, it’s a short window.
Ireland face Wales in Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday evening. Kick-off is at 7:30pm, with the game live on RTÉ 2.
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