Former Republic of Ireland international Kevin Doyle believes that new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson must now "take charge" of the position as his second international window comes into view.
Hallgrimsson’s reign started with back-to-back Aviva Stadium defeats to England and Greece amidst a swirl of debate about his decision to essentially to ride shotgun to former interim boss John O’Shea, who faced a grilling from the media prior to the Greece game about who was actually in charge.
It was also reported that the Iceland native had opted to focus on more on player analysis through data software rather than attending club games in person in those early weeks, something that Doyle says needs to change.
"An important couple of games coming up," the RTÉ soccer analyst said ahead of today’s squad announcement for the Nations League clashes in Finland and Greece this month.
"You can give the manager a pass, new manager, three training sessions, all that stuff, but he’s had a chance now to really see what he has, see what the group is like, see their attitude, get to know players a bit better.
"Come into these games now, Finland, they’re no better than us, worse than us on paper. We have better players.
"(It’s) time to start turning things around, for the country, for everyone, for him as a manager; take charge of this thing and do what you’ve been hired for.
'Time to start turning things around' - Kevin Doyle and Shane Long look ahead to the upcoming international window, with Ireland facing into away games against Finland and Greece #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/wHo4BxjFWc
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) October 2, 2024
"Regarding not going to see players playing in the first few weeks – and I don't know what he’s doing at the moment – I remember Brian Kerr when he first took over when I first got in the team in England (Reading) and him coming to watch me, the boost that gave me as a young player to know the Ireland manager was watching me.
"I dropped him to the airport after the game and got picked in the next squad, so it worked in my favour.
"Giovanni Trapattoni coming to watch us play when he first took the Ireland job, the buzz of the Ireland manager is actually here, especially when you’re a young player.
"It’s different when you’re older, you’re near the second half of your career, it’s not the same, but when you’re younger and you know you have a chance of getting into an international team, the international manager is here, it’s gives you a buzz, it gives you confidence. The same with Steve Staunton, he came to watch me play.
"That to me would be important that he does go, especially watch those younger players, have a word with them.
"I don’t know if he is at the moment, but we do know he wasn’t initially. Hopefully he does."
While admitting that Hallgrimsson’s lack of visual presence at club games was "a strange decision", Shane Long was more understanding of the manager's decision to take a more hands-off approach in the early stages.
"Every manager is different," he said.
"I had a few good managers over the years that kind of sat in the back and only spoke when they needed to speak and they got a lot more respect because of that.
"He might have that approach to football, he probably trusts Josh(O’Shea) opinions as well, he knows the players inside out. I’m sure he won’t listen to everything Josh says and makes his own decisions, but when you have someone who knows the players as well as John does and knows football as well as John does you’d be a fool not to listen."
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