O'Shea didn't need persuading for Ireland role

O'Shea says he is excited to learn from Hallgrimsson

John O'Shea has said he did not need to be persuaded to join Heimir Hallgrimsson's Republic of Ireland backroom team.

Former Manchester United defender O'Shea, who won 118 caps for the Republic of Ireland in a 17-year international career, took interim charge of the national side for two friendly double-headers in March and June following Stephen Kenny's departure late last year.

While O'Shea outlined his ambition to lead the team on a full-time basis, former Iceland and Jamaica head coach Hallgrimsson was confirmed as the Football Association of Ireland's surprise choice to succeed Kenny in July.

Earlier this month, Hallgrimsson announced O'Shea and Paddy McCarthy would be part of his coaching set-up.

"In terms of the personalities and the trust, you can see that I was going to enjoy working alongside him and learning as well," said O'Shea, who faced the media alongside Hallgrimsson on Thursday following the manager's squad announcement.

"That was a big factor but when you examine it all, I knew what was going on, if you know what I mean, to an extent in the background.

"I was always aware of the situation so it was key for me to assess the situation in a cool, calm way and go 'this is really good for me'. I'm still learning and it's a good person to be learning from."

When asked about what he would do were a club opportunity to present itself, O'Shea added: “It’s straightforward for me. In football, we won’t be looking too far ahead.

"For me, the full focus is on England and Greece, first and foremost, the campaign to come, and obviously the big draw coming up in a few months’ time too."

'Our personalities have clicked'

Hallgrimsson says he will tap into O'Shea and Paddy McCarthy's knowledge of Irish football during the early stages of his tenure

While Hallgrimsson and O'Shea are not joint-head coaches, the former has a proven track record of forming fruitful partnerships at international level, having led Iceland to Euro 2016 alongside Lars Lagerback.

After Lagerback left to take over as Norway boss, Hallgrimsson led Iceland to qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

But as Hallgrimsson bids to lead the Republic of Ireland to their first World Cup since 2002, the 57-year-old says he will lean on O'Shea and McCarthy's knowledge of Irish football.

"We just need to start working together to find out what is the best way to work," Hallgrimsson said on his dynamic with O'Shea.

"But in my opinion our personalities have clicked. There's a good trust between us. We can share more or less everything.

"In the beginning John and Paddy (McCarthy) will have more to say knowing the players and their characters. They will probably be guiding me in the beginning, but that's good because they have experience."

'You need to keep things simple'

Hallgrimsson is tasked with reversing the Republic of Ireland's fortunes after Kenny's reign yielded just 11 wins in 40 games.

He has been handed a tough start in the Uefa Nations League with home games against Euro 2024 runners-up England - who he beat in 2016 - and Greece, to whom the Republic of Ireland lost twice in European Championship qualifying last year.

But Hallgrimsson was quick to temper expectations as he outlined the restrictions on international managers compared to the club game.

"You don't have much time," he added. "You need to keep things simple.

"You need to have continuity. You don't have a pre-season, don't have them all day every day, can't train two times a day.

"At this time, we probably have three training sessions. How much can you influence if you try to over-do things? Probably you would fail. Start slowly, and build from that."

Hallgrimsson added that having international windows in October and November following next month's double-header will help him during the early stages of his reign.

"I'm lucky we have games in September, October and November so players won't be away for 5-6 months and then come back," he said.

"They will at least know what happened three weeks ago. That's a good time to start so you can build hopefully, little by little."