It's fair to say that the identity of the long-awaited (very, very, very long x100) new Republic of Ireland manager took many people here by surprise.
Plenty of other names had been thrust forward over the past eight months but among the likes of Lee Carsley, Willy Sagnol, Gus Poyet, Roy Keane, Chris Hughton, Neil Lennon, Slaven Bilic, Chris Coleman, Anthony Barry and Anthony Hudson - just to name a fraction of those linked with the role at various stages - Heimir Hallgrimsson's name never really featured on the tip of any tongues.
But Wednesday's announcement that the Iceland native would become Stephen Kenny's permanent successor on a deal running until the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers has also taken his own countrymen by surprise as Icelandic sports journalist Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson of the daily newspaper Morgunblaðið outlined to RTÉ Sport on Friday.
He said the expectation in Iceland was that Hallgrimsson would remain in charge of Jamaica despite the early exit from the ongoing Copa America.
That being said, there is plenty of pride among Icelandic fans to see him get the Boys in Green job.
"It's definitely the biggest job of his career. We're super happy for him because he's a big hero and also I think he wanted to get back to Europe to be closer to home and we're delighted for him and we're absolutely sure he will give his absolute best and when he does his best, good things will happen," said Hafþórsson.
Hallgrimsson cut his coaching teeth in his native Iceland, going from the club scene in both the men's and women's game for his local club ÍBV before working his way up the ranks of the senior national team during the Nordic nation's recent major tournament-qualifying golden era.
But what can be gleaned about his personality and coaching style from the Iceland experience?
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Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson discusses Hallgrimsson in detail above and also talks about covering the Champions League first leg between Shamrock Rovers and Vikingur in Reykjavík last Tuesday
Charming but with a ruthless streak
Hallgrimsson hails from the small municipality of Vestmannaeyjar which is not on the Icelandic mainland but on an island off the southern coast called Heimaey.
He remains attached to that area, according to Hafþórsson and is "just a normal guy from a small town in Iceland" which informs aspects of his relaxed demeanour.
"About 5,000 people live there but he had to flee his hometown because there was a volcanic eruption which is a very Icelandic thing and he had to flee for about half a year when he was only five-years-old," he said.
"It's a tiny island on the south coast of Iceland, it's disconnected from the rest of Iceland and it's a very small town with a tiny community and he tries to be there as much as he can. He loves that place."
From a media and communication point of view, Hafþórsson described Hallgrimsson as a "charming" character with a ready smile until he is on the end of one too many questions about his other career - in dentistry.
"Don't ask him about his dentist job. He's had so many questions through the years and he's happy to talk about football," he said.
"He has a smile on his face when he's talking about football but his mood changes a tiny bit when you ask him about his dentist job.
"But even when he was coaching Jamaica, when he was back home, his clinic was still open, so he was still doing his dentistry work while coaching Jamaica."
Affable though he may be both in dealing with the media and as a man manager, he does have an uncompromising streak if lines are crossed, with an example coming in his recent spell with Jamaica when dealing with Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey.
"We were talking about (the fact that) he's a nice, charming guy but he also has a ruthless side," said Hafþórsson.
"He and Leon Bailey, they didn't get along and Leon Bailey is a star player for Jamaica. He had some problems, had something to say and he wasn't chosen for the Copa America. So you have to follow (Hallgrimsson's) rules."
Set-pieces, adaptability and work-rate are his cornerstones
Of more relevance to Ireland though is what he brings to the table tactically. As mentioned previously, his coaching career began domestically with ÍBV and his exploits there in both the men's and women's sides of the club - he led the women's team to cup glory in 2004 and had both teams punching above their weights - marked him out as among the "bright, young managers" in Iceland.
So, in hindsight, it was not a surprise that he was appointed as the national team's assistant manager in 2011 as part of ex-Sweden boss Lars Lagerback's management set-up.
"He was basically like a sponge. He was getting everything from Lagerback, taking it all in," Hafþórsson explained.
"He learned so much from him but within the team he was more of a player-to-player manager. Lagerback did the tactical stuff but Heimir did the man-to-man management.
"He has character, you can see him smiling a lot with his dentist's smile and he's a charming guy so he was good with the players."
Essentially, Hallgrimsson was being groomed for the top job by the Icelandic federation, the KSI. In 2014, he and Lagerback renewed their contracts but with one change, Hallgrimsson being promoted to joint-manager for the qualifying run which led to the country's first ever appearance at a major tournament at Euro 2016, before taking the top job after a magical summer when Iceland got to the quarter-finals and stunned England on the way.
The tactical shape was unapologetic with a 4-4-2 based on hard work, grit, direct counter-attacking and the use of set pieces. Indeed back in 2017, defender Kari Arnason told me that it was "park the bus" at times and playing to their strengths.
The equaliser against England in the last-16 exemplified that with a long-throw into the box towards Arnason who, while mystified that he was being marked by the much smaller Wayne Rooney, flicked the ball on for team-mate Ragnar Sigurdsson to score.
So expect set-pieces to be a cornerstone of his approach with Ireland, according to Hafþórsson.
"I hope you have a good long-thrower, it's going to work. Yeah, set-pieces are huge," he said.
"In the press conference, he said there's a lot of similarities with Irish people and Icelandic people so he believes that what worked with the Icelandic team can work with the Ireland team as well because they have similar mentalities."
However, unlike Lagerback who was wedded to 4-4-2 which is a system that became hugely popular in Sweden from the 1970s onwards due to the influence of English coaches in that country, Hallgrimsson is more flexible on that front.
He evolved Iceland into other shapes including 4-4-1-1 after taking sole charge in 2016 and his Jamaica team played in a 3-4-2-1 during the recent Copa America.
"After Heimir fully took over (Iceland), he started experimenting with different tactics. He adapts to the opponent and to the players he has but with Lagerback it was 4-4-2 or nothing but that works if you have two very hard-working strikers," said Hafþórsson.
Hallgrimsson has already set out his stall about taking Ireland back to basics and hearing that was of no surprise to Hafþórsson.
"The Icelandic adventure had to start somewhere. We call it going back to basics. It's all about hard work. You have to work hard to be successful and he gets his players to work for him," he said.
"And be happy out of possession, be comfortable out of possession. The wingers were basically second full backs when they were defending and the defending starts with the front two really."
And while the identity of his backroom staff is on the long finger for now, Hafþórsson expects Hallgrimsson to be adaptable and open-minded in regards to who works under him, with the only coach to have followed him to most jobs thus far being goalkeeping coach Gudmundur Hreidarsson.
Either way, the litmus test will come on 7 September at the Aviva Stadium against England but as history has shown, it's a country he's had some fortune against.
Watch Spain v England in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
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