Nathan Collins is set to become the Republic of Ireland captain, starting with the Nations League game against Finland next Thursday in Helsinki and a return to Athens to face Greece on October 13th.
The 23-year-old took the armband off Séamus Coleman when the 35-year-old skipper was injured against England last month and also led Ireland in the 2-0 defeat to Greece at the Aviva Stadium.
“It is highly likely,” said Irish manager Heimir Hallgrímsson during yesterday’s squad announcement in the FAI boardroom. “But we’ll see.”
An ever-present for Brentford in the Premier League this season, Collins might be the natural leader Hallgrímsson can build his team around before next year’s World Cup qualification campaign.
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That is the priority despite an imminent threat of relegation to the third tier of Uefa’s international competition.
Similar to Stephen Kenny in 2022, Hallgrímsson is lessening the importance of the Nations League by laying the groundwork to reach the 2026 tournament in North America. Only 12 European countries qualify automatically for the World Cup, with four more places via play-offs, and Ireland will be third seeds in their qualifying group next year.
As a result, the notable omission from the 24-man squad is Matt Doherty but Hallgrímsson stressed that the 32-year-old’s international career is not finished. The absence of Coleman means that Festy Ebosele is the only right-back named, although Andrew Omobamidele filled the position against Greece.
“Séamus and Matt have been for many years our best full-backs but they will not be playing forever,” Hallgrímsson explained, “so we need to have a Plan B if they are not there.
“My job is to get this team to the World Cup in 2026, and given that next year, 2025, if we end up in a group with five nations, all our Fifa windows next year will be official World Cup matches, so this is the only chance to experiment, to give players a chance to show what they can do. That is the reason we opted to go for other players at this stage.”
Kenny made similar comments after defeats to Armenia and Ukraine two years ago, only for Ireland’s form to collapse with six straight defeats against Greece, the Netherlands and France blocking qualification to Euro 2024.
Hallgrímsson also confirmed that England under-21 striker Liam Delap, whose father Rory won 11 caps for Ireland, has been asked to change allegiance after scoring three goals for Ipswich Town so far this season.
Capping Delap, however, may require a change in Fifa’s current eligibility rules.
“I just know his qualities. It’s not my job to test that. It’s always the player who decides who he wants to play for and I’m not the right person to ask if he’s eligible or not. Someone else can probably answer that better.”
The FAI have been asked to provide clarity, but Hallgrímsson added: “I’m happy with the level of players we have. We have a lot of good Championship-level players. We are always looking for solutions somewhere else, instead of picking players, playing them and getting relationships between players.”
On Glenn Whelan switching from FAI scout, where he attended the Greece versus Finland match last month in Athens, to questioning the attitude of Irish players on Virgin Media days later, Hallgrímsson confirmed that the former Ireland international is no longer involved.
“I don’t know Glenn at all. I wouldn’t know what to expect. I wouldn’t have done that. He’s not scouting now, no.”
Whelan has taken up a new role coaching at Wigan Athletic.
After assistant coach John O’Shea picked the squad in September, Hallgrímsson has stamped his authority on the group by recalling the fit again Josh Cullen, Jamie McGrath, Finn Azaz and Jack Taylor to a midfield that lost Will Smallbone to injury.
Uncapped Luton Town centre-half Mark McGuinness replaces Everton’s Jake O’Brien, a decision prompted by Hallgrímsson spending last week travelling across England to attend club matches.
“Finn Azaz is another one who has been playing well for Middlesbrough – I think he can step up and show his strength for us.”
Evan Ferguson, Adah Idah, Sammie Szmodics and the in-form Troy Parrott will fight to start up front when the squad comes into camp on Monday before travelling to Helsinki on Tuesday. But Tom Cannon misses out despite scoring four goals for Stoke City in the 6-1 defeat of Portsmouth on Wednesday.
Coupled with planning for the future, Hallgrímsson is keenly aware how damaging 11 defeats from the last 13 competitive matches has been to player morale.
“At some point we need to stop this bleeding. Losing becomes a habit like winning does and we need to break that connection.
“I think I know what we need to improve on the pitch. I’m going to focus on that rather than listen to what others think.
“Finland and Greece have been playing together for a long time, their average age of around 30, 30-plus so they’re individual understanding is much higher than ours. Their passing and decision-making is quicker. This is what we need to improve, quickly.”
