Cool, calm, composed; Heimir Hallgrimsson has consistently stayed in character throughout his time as Ireland manager.
Appointed in the summer of 2024, Hallgrimsson was thrown straight into competitive action as the Nations League campaign kicked off against England and Greece at Aviva Stadium.
Admittedly unfamiliar with all things relating to Irish football, Hallgrimsson opted for an Irish coaching team, John O'Shea and Paddy McCarthy, and was happy to take their lead for that first international window.
A more than interested observer for those first two games, the manager was happy to offer his thoughts on the national team and their current plight, on a "downward spiral" since qualifying for Euro 2016 – there was also a belief that the jersey was too heavy for the players.
Two opening defeats but Hallgrimsson started to show his hand in the second camp, enjoying a victory in his third game, beating Finland away, and while Ireland lost in Greece a few days later, there was marked improvement in the performance.
Hallgrimsson spoke about his desire to create a core group of players and employ a collective approach for the national team while making sure that every player knew exactly what was asked of them with clear and concise messaging.
The manager put a plan in place for every game, focusing on the strength of the opposition, while looking for ways to exploit even the top teams.
Beating Finland at home was another sign that things were moving in the right direction and then Hallgrimsson took the team to Wembley for the rematch with England.
After the Stephen Kenny years of aspirational football-first tactics that nearly but never materialised, Hallgrimsson was happy to talk about an alternative approach, such as being effective out of possession.
Ahead of the England game he believed that Ireland, without the ball, could dictate the areas of the pitch that the opposition would be forced to play, and it was also in this game that he tried the concept of Nathan Collins jumping in and out of midfield from defence.
Formations are fluid with Hallgrimsson both in and out of possession, and the first half performance in London showed that his side were able to compete with the elite.
The second half, not so much.
An early Liam Scales red card, followed by three soft goals, and it looked like Ireland were back to square one as they traipsed off the pitch, head down, humiliated by the old enemy on the back of a 5-0 final score.
The manager opted to say very little to his players after that performance, but rather, let them take it away with them ahead of a four-month break before international football returned in March.
The Nations League play-off was scheduled for that window as Ireland had to face Bulgaria home and away to secure their status in the second tier of the competition. Two victories would follow and then all paths led to the World Cup qualification campaign, which would have to wait until September, allowing for two summer friendlies that did not appear to either enhance nor damage preparations.
By the time September rolled around, there was a real buzz about the camp, confidence was sky high, and the players were showing real form at their clubs.
A squad full of leaders, Hallgrimsson would proclaim as Ireland set up for the opening game with Hungary followed by a trip to Armenia with hopes of getting the perfect start to the campaign.
Four points was the least that Ireland were expected to come out with but as things transpired the return was paltry.
It was a gutsy performance to fight back from a 2-0 deficit following the horror start against Hungary – two down after 15 minutes – but the defeat in Armenia threatened to throw the whole project into disarray.
The result was one thing in Yerevan, but the performance, the reaction, the lack of cohesion, the inability to explain what went wrong, it all let to severe criticism, with Hallgrimsson the target for most of the ire.
Such are the proximity of games, there was little appetite for immediate regime change and the manager was backed to finish out the campaign.
Back to the drawing board, and Hallgrimsson worked on a low block for the Lisbon game, playing an extra central defender, while the biggest call was bringing Seamus Coleman back into the squad.
Despite his lack of action at Everton, Coleman’s presence made an immediate impact as he visibly lifted morale and drove standards upon his return. The team were a different beast with the veteran defender in the side, and while Ireland were again beaten in Portugal, the performance was to be commended.
The narrow win over Armenia allowed Ireland to make a late claim for the play-off berth, but with Portugal and Hungary standing in their way, it still looked a very tall order.
What transpired over the past four days is beyond comprehension when compared with Ireland’s results over the past five years, and yet Hallgrimsson is now beginning the process of preparing for the World Cup play-offs.
The manager has been learning on the job throughout his tenure, while certain scenarios that may not have been planned have worked to his advantage.
Liam Scales was the villain in Wembley Stadium, and there was a sense that the Celtic man was just a squad player these days, and may have been scapegoated a touch for his London decision making.
But Hallgrimsson had no one to play the left wingback role against Portugal, and despite bringing in Kevin O’Toole from the MLS, the manager finally brought Scales back in from the cold and handed him a start.
Scales was brilliant against Portugal, both in defence and getting forward, while instrumental for the first goal. And that performance probably helped sway the manager’s decision to leave him on the pitch when he wanted to get Ryan Manning on to chase the game in Budapest.
Jake O’Brien was the player taken off as Scales was moved inside, and it perhaps proved the best decision of the day, as it was the former Shamrock Rovers man who was still fighting at the death to climb highest and flick the ball into the path of Troy Parrott for the all-important goal.
Hallgrimsson said after the game that it was, in hindsight, a good thing to concede so early against Hungary as it gave them time to regroup and fight back, and in terms of the overall group, perhaps now the manager will feel that there was something of benefit to be drawn from that horror show in Armenia as it proved a real turning point in his tenure and the team’s fortunes.
Remarkably, Hallgrimsson was meant to talk to the FAI about his future following the first round of World Cup games, but that was firmly shelved after the Yerevan shambles.
"If I would ask, they probably will now," jokes Hallgrimsson after the victory in Budapest, when suggested that the FAI could have offered him a new contract at the final whistle.
"I will finish my contract, let's do that first," he said, when asked if he was interested in staying on for a few more years.
"I've told you all the time from the beginning, I plan to stay here at least until after the World Cup. That is just in my head, it's still in my head, but I hope you'll start to believe that as well.
"The plan was to do that talk after the Armenia camp, and I said it would look bad for the FAI, because I was criticised a lot at that time, so we just said after the campaign we'll sit down and do some talk."
"That's yet to be decided," he added, when asked if that meant before or after the playoffs."
Hallgrimsson was also asked whether he had thought about the possibility of staying on until the Dublin-hosted Euro 2028 tournament.
"No, we focus on this now," he said. "Obviously, it's going to be a really proud moment for Irish football to have games at home and be playing in the Euros, but that's a long way still to go, let's focus on this one.
"Don't lose our focus on what we're trying to do and keep on improving the team. That's what we're thinking about today."
Watch the FIFA World Cup play-off draw on Thursday from 12pm on RTE Player and the RTÉ News Channel. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport
