Exactly 14 months on from Heimir Hallgrímsson’s appointment as Ireland manager, he’s citing the same issues for his tenure likely being confined to one contract.
England comprehensively beating his side a year ago triggered the Icelander into blaming the weight of history applying deep wounds to his players.
It was alarming to hear similar sentiments being expressed when a nation ranked 101 places below, Armenia, lacerated his team in Tuesday’s 2-1 World Cup qualification defeat.
Hallgrímsson was initially left in a state of speechlessness by the error-strewn showing in Yerevan before declaring it as an outlier but evidence suggests otherwise.
What he succeeded in achieving over his first 10 games was beating teams notionally inferior, Finland and Bulgaria twice apiece, yet the eleventh match last Saturday against Hungary was a manifestation of chaos.
A rallying second half display retrieved a 2-2 draw but that proved to be one step forward and two back in the Caucasus.
Rather than being on the cusp of something special, as assistant manager Paddy McCarthy predicted last week, Ireland’s players are on the verge of official elimination from the qualification reckoning in the October window.
Selection, tactics and substitutions by the management team all backfired, leaving Ireland fortunate to escape with a narrow defeat.
Talk by players of raising their game for the visit to Portugal on October 11 was as foreseen as it was laudable but the pragmatic dentist realises the point of no return has struck for his toothless performers, merely one third of the way into the campaign.
“This campaign is like (six) rounds of boxing and now we were knocked down,” said the 58-year-old about their measly return of one point from six in the opening double-header.
“It is very difficult to see light at the end of the tunnel but we should get up and do our best to get as many points from the next camp.
“Then hopefully we have some chance in November but coming here and losing in Armenia puts a big dent in this campaign.”
Hallgrímsson has continually noted how he believes the source of Ireland’s malaise is as much attributable to mental fragility than technical deficiencies.
Whereas Ireland started with four players from the English Premier League, Armenia’s starting XI contained a quartet of representatives from their domestic league.
Trying to reconcile the status of his players at club level with their abject showing on the international stage leads the manager back to his mindset argument.
FAI financial restrictions had prevented him enlisting a sports psychologist to his staff.
“Psychologically, it was massive to come here and lose,” said the former Iceland and Jamaica manager.
“It was massive because we all felt we were on the right trajectory.
“This is probably down to old scars. Our players are not as confident as they should be in my opinion. They probably carried something from the past. We said before that it’s a heavy shirt for them to carry.
“I don’t think a (sports psychologist) would make things worse but there’s no quick fix in this area.
“It’s an honour when you play for your country. You play for all the people; your family members, your friends and everyone .
“You want to do good, and when you don’t, then you disappoint a lot of people and it’s a heavy burden. That’s what representing your nation means.
“That’s probably something that people who haven’t played for a national team don’t know. It’s fun when winning games but tough when you lose.”
Hallgrímsson remained adamant the disastrous display in Armenia was an anomaly, emphasising it ended the longest unbeaten run since his predecessor Stephen Kenny lost at the same venue in June 2022.
“After going five games in a row without losing, I don’t agree that we’re on a downward spiral,” he proffered.
“Yes, this wasn’t disappointing but it’s a setback.
“I can’t be selfish and not give credit to Armenia. We expected to beat the team below us but this performance was so different from previous games.
“We need to look inside, see what was different and ask why. We need to recognise it. In my opinion, these players are good enough to qualify.”
Any slim prospect of edging Hungary hinges on an improbable set of results, starting with scalping a Portuguese side ranked as the fourth best in Europe.
An unlikely victory in Lisbon is the only way out of their plight.
“It would be difficult (to qualify) by only having two points from three games,” he admitted about the relevance of a draw, the dividend accrued in the last competitive meeting three years ago.
“We cannot produce this performance when we go to Portugal. It will be a different game.
“Portugal will have more possession and we will need to defend for longer spells.
“I don’t think that’s what we need to worry about.
“We need to recharge, reset and try to psychologically recover from this. It’s tough on everybody right now.”