John O'Shea's (supposedly) brief stint as Ireland head coach came to an end with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Switzerland on Tuesday evening at the Aviva Stadium.
Saturday's stalemate against Belgium had brought increased positivity around the future of this Ireland team, though Tuesday's game perhaps served as more of a reality check.
Switzerland were comfortably the better team for the first half and cruised to victory once Xherdan Shaqiri put them ahead with a contentious free-kick just before the break.
No-one is under any illusions with this Ireland squad - it will take quite some time to bring them back to competing at a high level in European football. To expect John O'Shea to pull out results against such high-level opposition with such little preparation time would have been a foolishly optimistic expectation.
Despite results, it seems as though O'Shea has thoroughly endeared himself to the Ireland squad, judging by the comments of Nathan Collins post-match on Tuesday.
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Nathan Collins hints that Ireland squad want John O'Shea to stay
Speaking to Virgin Media after Tuesday's defeat to Switzerland, Collins appeared to suggest that the Ireland squad wanted John O'Shea to remain in his role of head coach permanently.
🗣 "I'll speak for myself, I really like him. Him and the backroom team have been unbelievable this week."
🗣 "I'd like to think so (on if the players want O'Shea to stay).
Nathan Collins with a ringing endorsement for John O'Shea.#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/ALXLoiPfKh— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) March 26, 2024
Collins was first asked for his personal feelings towards the interim boss, before being asked if he believed the squad as a whole wanted O'Shea to stay on:
I'll speak for myself - I really like him. Him and the backroom staff have been unbelievable this week. I think the attention to detail they've done is great and I can't speak highly enough of them.
I'd like to think so [the squad want O'Shea to stay on].
It's a major vote of confidence from Collins, with the permanent managerial candidate still a mystery to the Irish public.
The FAI stated that they were tied down by "contractual obligations" until early April and that the permanent replacement to Stephen Kenny would be named at that time - leading most to believe that the next boss was tied up in a role elsewhere until April.
That has not stopped speculation mounting that O'Shea will soon be named as permanent Irish manager.
Even if doubts persist about his ability to bring Ireland to the top, it certainly seems as though he would be a popular choice with the squad. Collins is not the first Ireland player to hint at the squad's hopes O'Shea will remain in his role, with Dara O'Shea suggesting likewise earlier this week.
Collins also sang the praises of the returning Brian Kerr ahead of the game against Belgium. It remains unclear whether Kerr or O'Shea will remain part of the setup but Collins said he was impressed with the work done by the coaching team to get Ireland competing with Belgium and Switzerland this week:
I think it was obvious that we have [risen to the level].
We've gone into both games where we feel like we've been harshly done not getting a result. I think today showed how much we can do and how much we can dominate a game with the ball and without the ball as well. I think there's a lot more to come from us.
With the FAI promising clarity on the managerial situation in early April, we should not have to wait long for an answer on John O'Shea's long-term future.
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