CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Adam Idah and Heimir Halgrímsson sharing a laugh and a joke, the pride on Jimmy Dunne’s face after finally making a hard-earned debut, ‘Put em Under Pressure’ blaring from the PA – the vibes were undeniably quite positive after Ireland defeated Bulgaria and achieved safety in UEFA Nations League B on Sunday night. Yes, there wasn’t much buzz around town in the build-up to kick-off and it was a relatively low key affair, but this game mattered and winning always breeds positivity.
Four wins from the last six matches, technically proficient footballers leading the attack, and a decent draw for the World Cup 2026 qualifiers – maybe it’s too early to book tickets to North America, but it’s certainly an improvement on this time last year. After the March international break, Ireland had only managed one win – away against Gibraltar – from eight games played in 2023-2024, and still hadn’t acquired a new permanent manager.
It is in attack that the improvement feels most noticeable right now. It is mainly down to personnel, with the rise of Finn Azaz and the renaissance of Troy Parrott making a huge difference. Whether it’s Azaz as the 10 and Parrott as a 9, or a more attack-minded set-up that might allow Evan Ferguson or Adam Idah into the side, the prospect of the aforementioned duo playing together going forward is tantalising. They bring a combination of skill, bravery and verve not seen in the Irish attack in years.
Azaz made for sublime viewing over the course of the two games against Bulgaria, whilst Parrott truly arrived on the international scene after years spent threatening to do so. He didn’t get on the scoresheet in either game but his movement, link-up play and pressing were all impressive. Idah and Ferguson got the headlines on Sunday night, and deservedly so, but Parrott should have that number nine slot on lock for the time being.
Halgrímsson also deserves his credit here. The 3-2 rest defence structure behind them seems to be giving the attackers the security to express themselves. The ball is being moved forward quicker, and although the Icelander is pragmatic, he isn’t putting the shackles on his most skilful players.
He also isn’t afraid of a big call, dropping Ferguson for the first leg after a forgettable season at club level. There will be more decisions to be made in the near future as the attacking depth continues to grow. The returns of Chiedozie Ogbene, Sammie Szmodics and Festy Ebosele will be welcome and offer alternatives to Mikey Johnston.
Behind all of that, the excellent Caoimhín Kelleher continues to look über-composed in goal – some of his distribution to Parrott on Sunday night was exquisite and goals conceded are rarely his fault. He has depth behind him in Gavin Bazunu and Mark Travers, with both playing regularly at a good level nowadays.
The first choice back four of Matt Doherty, Nathan Collins, Darragh O’Shea and Robbie Brady is now supplemented by Jimmy Dunne, Jake O’Brien, Liam Scales and Ryan Manning. Capable performers such as Andrew Omabamidele, Callum O’Dowda and the hugely promising James Abankwah probably doesn’t even make a second choice back four right now. Halgrímsson’s 3-2-4-1 in-possession shape appears to suit most of the aforementioned, allowing an extra centre-back in build-up and giving our attack-minded left-backs the chance to bomb on.
There are, of course, some caveats to apply. Even though Halgrímsson and his side now have four competitive wins against reasonably challenging opposition, everyone was aware that Finland were a limited side and Bulgaria were significantly worse again.
Those four painful losses against Greece and England before Christmas still linger in the memory and on the pitch. We continue to concede first in almost every game, whilst the problem with concession of goals from just outside the box, exposed by the Greeks, again cropped up against Bulgaria. The fragility exposed by Liam Scales’ red card against England cropped up again against Bulgaria, arguably in both games.
The biggest concern is that the long-standing midfield issue shows no real signs of being solved. Halgrímsson’s hands are a bit tied here. The Jason Knight-Josh Cullen double pivot is very limited – as shown by the spells in both games against Bulgaria where Ireland lost their way – but the Icelander doesn’t have many alternatives. A look at the depth chart shows this.
Jack Taylor is surely worth a shot in the starting eleven in the next window but he has only started one league game all season for Ipswich Town. Andrew Moran would be an exciting upgrade in terms of skill but not physicality or athleticism, Will Smallbone continues to struggle with injury, and whilst Nathan Collins might be worth another go in there, the Leixlip man will never be a Paul McGrath for the modern era.
Midfield is the key area in most games and we must simply hope that some of our young prospects can make the grade. Improvement is needed on the hard-working slight and guileless Jason Knight in particular. The Cabinteely man is doing well in the Championship at Bristol City but has played 37 games for Ireland now and has failed to show that he can truly impose himself on the midfield battle at international level. He has an admirable work-rate, and as a squad player he is fine but his status as a first choice player limits what this side is capable of against decent opposition.
The question is, can John Patrick of Stade Reims or Bosun Lawal of Stoke City – the two most talented prospects in deep midfield areas – offer improvement in the near future? If not, can other less heralded or forgotten young midfielders, such as Joe Hodge, Killian Phillips, or Baba Adeeko step up to the mantle? Those three are currently playing for Huddersfield Town, Saint Mirren, and Wigan Athletic respectively. That list of clubs is far from glamorous but they have all shown promise at underage international level and are all younger than 23. Only time will tell but something fresh is badly needed in there.
Those questions around the midfield are pressing but we shouldn’t be afraid of some optimism now. Senegal at the Aviva and Luxembourg away in June will offer Halgrímsson his first friendlies as Ireland manager and hopefully an opportunity to blood youngsters. James Abankwah, Andrew Moran, Rocco Vata and Sinclair Armstrong are the most obvious options for increased game time, as the four talented youngsters sat on the bench for most if not all of this international break.
Beyond that, those qualifiers against Armenia and Hungary in September can now be looked forward to rather than dreaded. Those opponents have just suffered 9-1 and 6-1 aggregate losses to Georgia and Turkey respectively. Heimir Halgrímsson has his flaws and he probably won’t be the second coming of Big Jack but he has alleviated the gloom around the Ireland team. That in itself is an achievement.