<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
Szmodics missed the Bulgaria playoff in March through injury, before withdrawing from June’s double-header of friendlies just days after playing for Ipswich.<\/p>\n
In September, he withdrew from the game against Armenia, only to come off the bench for Ipswich against Sheffield United just three days later.<\/p>\n
Similarly, he would withdraw from the October window through injury despite having played every club game in the intervening period – and then played over an hour for Ipswich the following week.<\/p>\n
Szmodics’ inconsistent availability for Ireland appears to have alienated some fans<\/a>, and the 30-year-old evidently took the criticism of some supporters to heart.<\/p>\n Writing on Instagram late last month after knee surgery, Szmodics said:<\/p>\n On the mend after a minor knee op. Thank you for all the supportive messages.<\/p>\n Also thank you for the keyboard warriors that know more about my life and my situation than I do.<\/p>\n The last two weeks have been nothing shy of ridiculous the amount of hate messages me and my family have received over the recent international football concerns.<\/p>\n Injury comes with playing games and rest is so important otherwise things like this happen. Question my ability and performance but never question my professionalism.<\/p>\n Looking to be back ASAP. I will be making no more comment on the matter.<\/p>\n Szmodics was again absent from the Ireland squad named by Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson this Thursday, as he enters a lengthy recovery from his knee surgery.<\/p>\n Head coach Hallgr\u00edmsson did comment on the matter at his squad announcement on Thursday morning, and said he had “no reason” to doubt the veracity of Szmodics’ previous injury claims.<\/p>\n READ HERE: Roy Keane Outfit Choice Pays Subtle Tribute To Late NFL Star He Once Broke Golden Rule For<\/a><\/p>\n READ HERE: Amid Cup Finals And Relegation, Cork City Supporters Protect Soul Of City’s Only Club<\/a><\/p>\n Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson responds to Sammie Szmodics – fan fallout<\/p>\n Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson addressed the Irish media on Thursday morning, and confirmed a lengthy layoff was ahead for Sammie Szmodics after his operation.<\/p>\n “Quite a few players [are injured],” Hallgr\u00edmsson said.<\/p>\n “Sammie Szmodics is out for a few months. It’s been a better situation for us in the past.”<\/p>\n When asked by\u00a0Balls.ie, Hallgr\u00edmsson confirmed he had spoken to Szmodics about his recent social media messaging.<\/p>\n The Ireland head coach said Szmodics had his full backing, and that he and the coaching staff had always found the forward “really honest” to deal with.<\/p>\n We’ve spoken to him. Sammie has always been really honest to me.<\/p>\n If the club says he’s injured, and he says he’s injured, then there’s no reason to doubt that, in my opinion.<\/p>\n He’s always been honest to us. At this stage, he has a serious injury, so he will be out for a long time. That’s why he’s not included in the squad.<\/p>\n But he definitely wanted to come in before that injury and show everyone how dedicated he is.<\/p>\n I have no reason to doubt him, at all.<\/p>\n There is no doubt that Ireland are a better side with Sammie Szmodics in it, and his availability has understandably been a bone of contention for Irish fans this year.<\/p>\n However, he will know he has the full support of the head coach, even if some fans have made their displeasure known.<\/p>\n Eoin Harrington reporting from FAI HQ<\/p>\n
![\"david](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/heimir-hallgr-iacute-msson-defends-sammie-szmodics-after-backlash-from-ireland-fans.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sammie Szmodics was a fan favourite at the outset of his Ireland career, but his relationship with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,6706],"class_list":["post-125425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-sammie-szmodics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}