Heimir Hallgrimsson responds to Brian Kerr's criticism of a key decision

Irish Daily Mirror

08-06-2025

Heimir Hallgrímsson has batted away criticism from Brian Kerr of Ireland's summer friendly opposition.
The Boys in Green impressed in Friday night's 1-1 draw with African giants Senegal, and on Tuesday they are away to Luxembourg.
Former Ireland boss Kerr was speaking back in March when he questioned the wisdom of playing both countries - particularly Senegal - ahead of the World Cup qualifiers later this year.
'I don't know what the point is of playing Senegal, given that we are going to be playing either Denmark or Portugal,' he said, ahead of Portugal's win over Denmark, which put them into Ireland's group.
'Our next matches are against Hungary, Denmark or Portugal and Armenia, so I don't really get that one.'
It should be noted that during Kerr's time as manager, Ireland played Australia, Canada, Brazil, Nigeria, Jamaica and China in friendlies around European and World Cup qualification games.
Hallgrímsson wasn't aware of this, but was quick to respond with an explanation for the choice of Senegal as summer friendly opponents.
'I'll answer this one and it's a really easy answer,' he said.
'First of all, it was difficult to find an opponent in this window because a lot of the teams are playing World Cup and others already decided who they would play in friendlies so there was not a lot of options.
'Senegal was playing England and that is a world-class opponent and we wanted a strong opponent.
'Like I said inside, we wanted to play a really strong team and that was probably the strongest we could get.
'It wouldn't have been the correct way to do it, to play maybe two teams below us in the FIFA rankings. It wouldn't be the same.
'To play different opponents is healthy and challenging for the players, with different kinds of threats and we can develop our game playing against opponents like these.
'And if we qualify for the World Cup, we need to play teams from Africa, Asia etc so it's a good preparation.
'There is not a lot of games we can have if we qualify to play these opponents.'
There were plenty of positives to take from Friday's game, including individual performances from players such as Ryan Manning, Will Smallbone and goalscorer Kasey McAteer.
On Southampton's Manning, who played in an advanced role ahead of Robbie Brady, often drifting inside to allow Brady space to attack, or dropping back to cover for the Preston man, Hallgrímsson was delighted with his display.
'He is growing in this role that we have given him, he is getting to start game after game now so you can see his understanding of the tactics,' said the former Iceland and Jamaica manager.
'He is a player who can create and is quick. For me also, when Robbie is higher he can drop in and be the left back so that is really a good positive thing, their cooperation has been really good.
'He is a genuine good player but the best thing for me is that he can play more than one position. That helps us a lot in how we want to play.
'We want players to take action and then (for others) to fill up and react to that position. Him and Robbie have done a good job playing together.'
As for fellow-Saints player Smallbone, he said: 'We haven't had a chance to work with Will a lot, so he was one we wanted to see in action. That is the purpose of giving players a chance.
'Everyone should come in with the thought 'I'm going to use this opportunity to my benefit and cement my name in the starting line-up or squad from now on.'