John O’Shea is set to stay in his position within the national men’s team, having been announced as the assistant head coach to newly appointed manager Heimir Hallgrímsson. Hallgrímsson was announced as the Republic of Ireland’s head coach in early July as a successor to Stephen Kenny, who left the post in 2020.
O’Shea had a spell as the interim manager after Kenny departed, having led the team through several early year friendlies. The former Irish international had quite a varied run, notching up losses to Portugal and Switzerland, a goalless stalemate against Belgium, and tasted lone success against Hungary with a 2-1 win.
The FAI disclosed the composition of Hallgrímsson’s support team on Monday. O’Shea has assumed the role of assistant head coach, whereas Crystal Palace’s Paddy McCarthy has been named as the assistant coach. It is expected that McCarthy will retain his Premier League role and will join up with the Irish team during international breaks.
Hallgrímsson has also recruited his fellow Icelander, Gudmundur Hreidarsson as an assistant coach to oversee goalkeeping activities. Damien Doyle, the head of athletic performance, will retain his role as well.
The FAI also shared plans to hire a new performance analyst in the upcoming months.
“I am thrilled to have both John and Paddy on our coaching team, and I’m happy to welcome Gudmundur to Ireland,” Hallgrímsson expressed. “Making sure John was part of the team was a top priority for me upon joining the association. After a face-to-face meeting with him in Waterford, it was clear that our visions for the future were in sync, and I’m glad he accepted the assistant head coach role.”
He further added, “Paddy’s expertise will continue to be of immense value to the team as he has agreed to keep working with us. Gudmundur has always been integral to my coaching team throughout my career, and I am pleased he will join us again in Ireland. Our preparation with the team for the upcoming matches against England and Greece in September is well underway.”
Hallgrímsson is set to face his initial challenge with the forthcoming Uefa Nations League tournament, as Ireland is set to clash with England in Dublin, come September 7th. The Irish team also has Group B matches lined up, including a home game against Greece on the 10th of September, followed by an away match in Helsinki against Finland in October. The team will journey back to Greece for another match on October 13th. The Aviva stadium will play host to the Finland team on November 14th, with the group stage culmination happening at Wembley where they visit on November 17th.