HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON has travelled to Waterford today in a bid to keep John O’Shea on the Ireland coaching staff.
O’Shea was in interim charge for four friendlies in March and June as the search for Stephen Kenny’s permanent successor dragged on.
Last week, the FAI appointed the Icelander on a contract to over the Nations League and 2026 World Cup.
He made it clear that he would like O’Shea to be his assistant and – after attending a girls-only football camp at Verona FC – he headed for the south-east in an effort to convince him to work alongside him.
Hallgrímsson said: “After this, I have a meeting with him in Waterford, I’m going to drive down and sit with him.
“I’m going to start with him, obviously he is the most important guy for me is the assistant. I’m going to start with him and take it from there.
“I think it’s better for me to talk about it after we speak but if he wants to meet probably he’s considering. I think it’s more positive than negative.”
Whilst the ex-Manchester Unitedstar is most likely disappointed after being passed over for the job on a full-time basis, Hallgrímsson will cite his own career pathway in an effort to persuade him to stay on.
He was initially assistant to Swede Lars Lagerback before being promoted to joint-manager with the pair steering Iceland to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 after beating England.
Hallgrímsson then took sole charge of the team as Iceland became the country with the smallest population to qualify for a World Cup, in 2018.
He said: “My way into national team coaching was exactly like that and I think the assistant coach should be the one that carries the knowledge to the next cycle.
“And they have obviously shown that they believe he is going to be, or is good enough to be the coach. So I think it’s a no-brainer, whatever happens back to me.
“I always say the same thing, I want to leave the shirt in a better place when I go, and to have a guy that has been doing the things with us is probably always the best one to take over, if you want continuity, growth and development.
“That kind of makes sense to me but it’s always difficult to have been the head coach and then stepping down to be assistant coach. That takes a good character to do that.”
The 57-year-old and his wife Iris have been kept busy since his unveiling on Thursday, fitting in some house-hunting as well as watching the Euro 2024 decider with beaten finalist England the opponents in his first game in September.
He said: “We’re just trying to look at the country, where we want to live, looking at sites.
“That’s more or less what we have been doing for the last two days and then looking at the tournament, I saw the game yesterday etc, and then just trying to familiarise with people in the office, all of those people.
“That has been the last two days since we met, not a lot of info since then but we’re trying to gather our heads around where we are, who we should talk to, who can help us.”