New Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson gets €650,000-a-year deal – but only 17 months to turn things around

And Hallgrimsson has already set out his stall with a promise to go “back to basics” to turn around the fortunes of an Ireland side he says has “underperformed” in recent campaigns as he insists he has enough talent in a young squad to cope with the challenges which begin at home to England in eight weeks’ time.

“I think Ireland has underperformed a little for the recent years, a young and talented squad, but still with a lot of experience, international experience. They have games under their belt and I feel the future is here,” he said, having studied recent Ireland matches even when he was in his last job, with Jamaica.

Euro Review as Ireland gets a new boss and England slay the Dutch

“What has been done in the past with previous coaches has been really helpful. So learning from what they’ve been doing from a little bit more ball possession-type football, but I thought that John O’Shea took it a little bit back to more kind of basics – we should always start from basics and build on from there.”

The 57-year-old has his first official duties as Ireland boss with a press conference at the Aviva Stadium today, while his new employers are also likely to face questions over the timing of the announcement and the fact that Hallgrimsson’s event will clash with a press conference for Ireland’s women’s team ahead of their qualifier against England in Norwich tomorrow.

It’s believed that the FAI board sanctioned an increase in the pay package available to a new manager, a rise of €100,000 from the €550,000 deal which Kenny is believed to have been on, but with significant bonuses for 2026 World Cup qualification.

Hallgrimsson’s contract includes the Nations League campaign – which starts at home to England in September – and the 2026 World Cup qualifiers that end in November 2025, so Hallgrimsson will need to make rapid improvements to earn a longer-term deal.

His appointment was a major surprise as his name did not leak out during the FAI process, while in Iceland he had this week been linked with Ecuador after his time with Jamaica ended in disappointment after three defeats at the Copa America finals.

Hallgrimsson will have close to a free hand in picking his backroom team, though it had been hinted during the process that the FAI intended to find a role for O’Shea, who stood in as caretaker for the March and June internationals.

The Icelander had an exotic mix of staff with Jamaica with Swede John Wall as his assistant, ex-Iceland man Gudmundur Hreidarsson as goalkeeping coach and a German fitness coach (Sebastian Boxteitner) but the FAI would be keen for some roles to be made available to Irish coaches.

He says he’s confident his hard-working side can cope with challenges like facing England: “I think the Irish are hard-working but they are also proud people, proud of their heritage and who they are. You can always build a lot around hard-working people, proud people and if you can implement some other aspects then the team should represent those characteristics on the pitch.

“When I took over Jamaica, the first game was [after] five days and we played Argentina, so it was a similar thing. But it’s always good to play the top teams, they expose your weaknesses and it’s good to have a tough game as the first one.

“It will be a big test, hopefully we will have a full house to support the team and you never know in football. It’s good to have a tough game as the first one.”