FAI give vote of confidence to Heimir Hallgrímsson after disappointing results

Kenneth Fox

The FAI has given a vote of confidence to Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson.

The Icelandic coach is under pressure after a poor start to the World Cup qualifying campaign, with just one point from two games.

Ireland had a dramatic comeback in the Aviva to draw with Hungary 2-2, but were outplayed away from home against Armenia, where they lost 2-1.

FAI chief executive David Courell says they are "fully supportive" of their manager and that he'll remain in place for the upcoming matches in October and November.

Speaking to Newstalk, Mr Courell said: "So Heimier's contract was until the end of the campaign, be that in November, March or next summer.

"I have spoken with Heimir as expected, and we have agreed that we will see out the remainder of the campaign. Then from there we will see what the future holds."

Speaking after the Armenia game, he was asked if people were entitled to question him, with the Icelander telling RTÉ: “Yes of course, that’s the job of the coach. If they are not producing, then of course it’s always under question, and it’s understandable now.

“I’m not naive, that’s understandable now. After this performance, of course, I will take the blame for this.

“But the players are the same players we were happy with against Bulgaria, happy with in the second half against Hungary. It’s the same players, so like I say, off-day.”

For the ninth time in Hallgrimsson’s 10 competitive games to date, Ireland conceded the opening goal, but equally worryingly, created far too little to stand a chance of winning in Yerevan against a side ranked 105th in the world and with only five wins in the previous 32 outings.

Having conceded twice inside the opening 15 minutes against Hungary on Saturday, they made a significantly brighter start at the Republican Stadium but trailed 2-0 to Eduard Spertsyan’s penalty and a Grant-Leon Ranos strike either side of half-time.

Evan Ferguson, whose goal against the Hungarians had sparked a concerted fightback, repeated the feat with 57 minutes gone, but this time there was no great escape.

Asked if Ireland’s qualification hopes were over as a result, Hallgrimsson, who admitted “almost everything” had gone wrong, said: “Yes, it’s close to that.