Heimir Hallgrímsson’s position as Ireland manager looks untenable in the aftermath of Tuesday’s shambolic defeat to Armenia in Yerevan.

The Icelander’s contract is up at the end of this World Cup qualifying campaign but as Ireland’s fate is effectively decided after last night’s disaster – deemed by many as the worst defeat in the history of the men’s team – there is nothing to negotiate.

The FAI now face a decision about keeping Hallgrimsson and his team in a lame duck capacity for the rest of the campaign, or bringing forward the inevitable.

Ireland will travel to Lisbon to play Portugal and then host Armenia in a month’s time. The mercifully short World Cup qualifying campaign will be wrapped up by mid-November.

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There were immediate calls from Ireland supporters on social media for Hallgrimsson to be sacked because of the result.

Writing in his column in the Irish Daily Star today, Eamon Dunphy provided a damning verdict on Hallgrimsson’s time as Ireland manager and called for him to be sacked by the end of the week.

He has to go, go this week, and the FAI should appoint a caretaker for the games in October and November.
This campaign is dead so what’s the point in hanging on to the Dentist for another couple of months.

Dunphy called Hallgrimsson a bluffer and said the defeat was the worst he’s seen in 70+ years watching Ireland.

A lukewarm endorsement for Hallgrímsson

The Ireland team looked shellshocked after the game. When asked about his position by reporters after the game, Hallgrimsson replied:

“I’m not concerned about me. When you have a performance like this, the coach’s job is under question, that’s just the name of the game.

Ireland captain Nathan Collins was asked about Hallgrímsson’s position after the match while speaking to Stephen Doyle of Off The Ball and gave a lukewarm endorsement after a question as to whether the team still backed their manager.

It’s hard to say. There’s a lot of emotion after a match. It’s not the time to be deciding things like that.

The time for making those decisions will come today and tomorrow for the FAI.

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