Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson insists he will prioritise pragmatism over popularity when he leads Ireland into what could be the final pair of games under his reign.<\/p>\n
September\u2019s defeat in Armenia left Ireland playing catch-up in their World Cup qualification group, meaning four points are the likely minimum target from the top two seeds.<\/p>\n
Cristiano Ronaldo brings his Portugal side to Lansdowne Road next Thursday needing a result to consolidate their ticket to Brazil next year.<\/p>\n
Presuming Hungary beat bottom seeds Armenia earlier in the day, Ireland must avoid defeat before beating the current runners-up on November 16.<\/p>\n
Permutations aplenty abound but it might be the case that more than a single-goal triumph is necessary for Hallgr\u00edmsson\u2019s side to leapfrog Dominik Szoboszlai\u2019s Magyars for the playoffs spot.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a scenario the Icelander branded a \u2018miracle\u2019 after the Yerevan bodyblow but he\u2019s using the gutsy performance in Lisbon last month \u2013 when they lost to a last-minute goal \u2013 as reason to be confident of Ireland stunning the Portuguese.<\/p>\n
Should his salvage job come up short, the likelihood is Hallgr\u00edmsson\u2019s reign being curtailed to 16 months and one contract term.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot be populistic by considering what others think,\u201d he asserted, convinced his methods can engineer a late flourish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I think by seeing the big picture. I know others would disagree and want to do something different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI totally respect that, but if you want to win the dance competition, and you also would like to be the most beautiful girl on the dance floor, it kind of messes up with the other thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you have to pick and choose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hallgr\u00edmsson absorbed flak for persisting with the back-five formation for the must-win visit of Armenia, three days after their rearguard action in Portugal.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s confident of Evan Ferguson recovering from his ankle injury to lead the line in search of goals but appeared to be leaning towards continuity of system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our last window, we conceded 0.5 goals per game and that norm is normally enough for any team to qualify.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we keep on building on that thing, that is the way forward for us. No matter if I\u2019m not here.\u201d He added: \u201cWe cannot play an open game against Portugal because their biggest strength is transition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re so quick and skilful, using spaces in behind against every team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that calculated risks will be needed as the game goes on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
US-born Kevin O\u2019Toole was the bolter included in yesterday\u2019s 25-man squad, as the New York FC left-sided player was drafted in as cover in the absence of Robbie Brady.<\/p>\n
Josh Honohan of Shamrock Rovers was considered but not deemed sufficiently match-fit following his recent layoff.<\/p>\n
Indonesia are interested in discussing their managerial vacancy with the former Iceland and Jamaica manager should he part ways with the FAI.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you think about the future but my focus is I’m going to stay here until next June because I still believe that we\u2019ll qualify,\u201d he vowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not letting anything else distract that because then I’m not doing my job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m optimistic but I’m also a realist. I’ll do the best I can and then the future tells what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson insists he will prioritise pragmatism over popularity when he leads Ireland into what could be the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1113,61,60,2539,5782,43,5783],"class_list":{"0":"post-125860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-fai","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-league-of-ireland","12":"tag-local-soccer","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-premiership"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125860","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=125860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}