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Who the hell is Ireland's new manager?! | 5in5
26 Plays6 months ago
After 231 long days of rumors, lies and wishing for a successor to Stephen Kenny and we finally have one.
Out of the blue today, The FAI announced that Heimir Hallgrímsson is to become the new Republic of Ireland senior men’s manager
Marc Canham called him their ‘number one candidate’ but we’ve heard that before.
Hallgrímsson himself said it was an honour to be given the job and spoke about having a ‘young and exciting team that has genuine potential’
An exciting unexpected appointment, or the FAI scraping the proverbial barrel – this is 5 in 5.
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Transcript
Highmere Helgramson Announced as Ireland Manager
00:00:01
Speaker
231 days.
FAI's Choice and Helgramson's Vision
00:00:23
Speaker
That's 231 long days of rumors, lies, and wishes for a successor to Stephen Kenny. And we finally have one. Out of the blue today, the FAI announced that Highmere Helgramson is set to become the new Republic of Ireland Senior Men's Manager. Mark Canham called him their number one candidate, but we've heard that before.
00:00:50
Speaker
Hal Gramsen himself said it was an honour to be given the job and spoke about having a young and exciting team that has genuine potential. An exciting, unexpected appointment? Or just the FAI scraping the proverbial barrel?
Helgramson's Overachieving History
00:01:03
Speaker
This is Five and Five. One. Haimir Helgrensen is best known for his remarkable tenure as Iceland's joint manager at Euro 2016. Alongside Lars Lagerbach he led Iceland to the first major tournament where they famously defeated England and reached the quarter of finals. He then took over as solo manager and led Iceland to the qualifications for the 2018 World Cup becoming the smallest nation to reach the finals.
Challenges and Achievements in Previous Roles
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He stepped down after the tournament as Iceland failed to emerge from the group.
00:01:32
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2. After a spell in the Qatar Stars League, he most recently worked as manager of Jamaica before stepping down earlier this month after the team's poor performance at the Coppa America. He had been in the position for two years and had a 40% win rate, which is 2.5% less than Stephen Kenny had at Ireland. Now this may not fill you with confidence, but I think it says more about the Jamaican Federation which has constantly come under fire from players like Leon Bailey for a lack of professional standards and failure to pay players, leading to some of their top talent pulling out of squads.
Helgramson's Fan Engagement and Recruitment Strategy
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3. In addition to his football management career, Jaimeer Helgramson has a unique background as a former dentist.
00:02:10
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Now, this may not help him on the pitch, but it is a sign of the man. Added to that is the fact that he likes to be where his teams are, meaning he spent much of his Jamaica tenure actually living on the island. And back when he was managing Iceland solo, he invited fans to meet him up at pubs so he could unveil the starting line-up for the next match and dis discuss the opposition's strengths and weaknesses, something which became a tradition for them. He could soon prove popular with the Irish fans. Four. The granny rule is back, baby. Whilst with the Reggae boys he brought a whole load of players into the fold from their diaspora such as the Mari Gray, Omari Hutchinson, Joel Latibuderi, Dichon Bernard, just to name a few. 5.
Tactical Flexibility and Team Fit
00:02:54
Speaker
The Tactics
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Helgramson has played with both a 3 and a 4 at the back during his time at Jamaica, but usually favouring a 4-4-2 with two deep sitting central midfielders, often with Leon Bailey as a forward, despite usually playing out wide at club level. This could be interesting for Ireland as it could fit with a Smodex and Ferguson front too, and the likes of Cullen and Smallbone sitting deeper. And having played with a tree at the back system too, Ireland could be the perfect match for the Icelandic coach, who we will get to see for the first time against England at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin this September, marking the start of a potentially exciting new chapter for Irish football.
Political Implications and Fresh Start
00:03:34
Speaker
Now, I will admit to being biased, but I am excited by this appointment. I think he's a very good coach who has made international teams better than the sum of their parts. He was a crucial part of the staff behind the Iceland team that took down Roy Hodgson's England. I think it's clever politically because it gives us and the manager a clean slate. There is no hang ups about interim managers, former internationals or any other potential
Support for Helgramson and Potential for Change
00:04:02
Speaker
distractions. What we have here now is a coach who can only be judged by what he does with the team.
00:04:09
Speaker
Now, the cynics amongst you might be saying this is very good timing because of an international break coming up and tickets needing to be sold. Let's just park that, support our manager, and support our team. Because this is who we're going to have for the next couple of years, and it's not like we can change countries. So let's get behind Helgramson and his boys in green. This has been 5 and 5 for Nada Pundit. Messy, messy. Oh, my goodness. Atelier, Aquero.
00:04:44
Speaker
That is extraordinary. What a hit. Right, right. Back of the net.