Heimir Hallgrimsson may have been talking about planning for the future, however, there is no doubt that his mind is very much on the here and now as he named his squad for the upcoming games against Finland and Greece.
The UEFA Nations League double header sees Ireland head to Helsinki next Thursday night, before moving on to Athens to complete the October road trip.
The new manager opted to take a backseat role for the September games, allowing coaching staff John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy to take the lead, but it appears that the Icelandic coach is set to take control of the reins heading into the upcoming fixtures.
Changes aplenty to the squad as Hallgrimsson prepares to offer opportunity for players to make their mark and claim a jersey in the team that he is attempting to build to close out the six-game Nations League stint before heading into next year’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
Hallgrimsson would not entertain talk of a relegation battle for the remaining four games as Ireland finish their Nations League in November with a home clash against Finland and an away day at Wembley Stadium, yet he acknowledged the reality that the players need to end the habit of losing games.
"Avoiding relegation; I don’t think we should be going with that mindset," said the manager, speaking to the media following the squad announcement.
"We go play in Finland, we try to get a good result against Finland. After that it’s another situation. Two wins for the group just makes this question a little bit silly.
"So like every other game, we just go for this Finland game first to win it and we try to do it the way we think we can win it."
"[Winning], it’s really important, because at some point we need to stop this bleeding.
"Losing becomes a habit like winning does, and we need to break that connection. It’s more likely we’ll get a good result with good performance.
"I think I know what we need to improve on the pitch. I’m going to focus on that rather than listen to what others think," he added, when asked his opinion of Glenn Whelan’s criticism of some players’ mindsets.
"Hopefully we can show on the pitch that we can get results. They’re different teams to us. Finland and Greece have been playing together for a long time, their average age of around 30, 30 plus so they’re individual understanding is much higher than ours. Their passing and decision-making is quicker. This is what we need to improve quickly."
Experienced Ireland players, however, like Matt Doherty (above), Alan Browne and Callum Robinson have been omitted from the squad, while Seamus Coleman is ruled out through injury, and the manager is challenging the next generation to come in a stake that claim for the jersey.
"Everybody comes to do their best and hopefully the players will stake their claim and say 'this is my spot’," he added.
"Don’t give it to someone else. ‘I’m here, I’m gonna take the position and hold it for the next 10 years’.
"We have a pretty young squad so now is the time to step up and be a leader. Stake your claim and own your position."
And regarding the players, Hallgrimsson may turn to the in-form Troy Parrott having left the young Dubliner on the bench for the entirety of the defeats to England and Greece.
Parrott is in flying form at new club AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch top flight and with six goals in recent weeks, there is every chance that he will be asked to play a role over the coming two games.
"I have seen the last two games he has played and he has been on fire for AZ, both in the Euro games and also in the league," said Hallgrimsson.
"He is different in a way. He is eager to make the runs in behind and we need that, similarly maybe to Sammie [Szmodics] who is willing to always make the run and spin off in behind.
"We need that kind of player and he is thirsty for goals, you can see that. He always wants to be in front of the goals, you can see that. I like him a lot as a striker."
Mark McGuinness and Jack Taylor are two more players that have caught the eye of Hallgrimsson in recent weeks, in action for Luton Town and Ipswich respectively.
Both assured on the ball and may also find themselves involved throughout the week-long trip around the outskirts of the continent.
"We should be pragmatic in our approach, especially on the ball," said Hallgrimsson, when asked about the duo. "That is something that I have been trying to implement from the beginning. To be quick finding the options.
"I am repeating myself, with a lot of rotations it is difficult to be a good possession team when we are rotating players and we don’t have many matches together.
"So, yeah, at this moment it is better for us to be more pragmatic, seeing the options early and it is good to have players with the vision to find it."
Another in-form striker of Irish interest is the son of former international Rory Delap, Liam (above), who is currently performing well in the Premier League with Ipswich, and while Hallgrimsson admitted interest in the young striker, he implied that it was ultimately the player who would have to make the decision.
"I just know his qualities," said Hallgrimsson. "It’s always the player who decides who he wants to play for and I’m not the right person to ask if he’s eligible or not. Someone else can probably answer that better. In the end it’s always up to the player himself.
"He knows that we are interested. He knows that. We talked about it before the last camp. John [O’Shea] has been in contact with him before. He has more connections to the player than me so no reason to have three, four guys doing the same."
Asked about his thoughts on the role so far and whether the job was tougher than he expected, Hallgrimsson said it was too early to tell, but did concede that he did not expect to lose the opening two games.
And looking to the future, the manager did offer his thoughts on what might prove a good week on the road, while also pondering the possibility of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
"I am looking for good performance, and normally from a good performance you would get points," said Hallgrimsson regarding the Finland and Greece games.
"I am not going to say a tally but I would really like to build on the Greece game where I felt that we were at least doing the basics and the principals better than against England. I hope we continue to build on that and if we do we will definitely get results."
"We need to see our group first before we do some evaluation," said the manager, regarding the World Cup qualifiers.
"We most likely will be in pot three so most likely two teams much higher than us in FIFA ranking."
