HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON has said that it will be Séamus Coleman’s call on his Ireland future.
The Everton man has been forced to withdraw from the Ireland squad for next month’s friendlies with Senegal and Luxembourg with a thigh problem.
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Hallgrimsson didn’t want to speak for Coleman as regards his future with Ireland
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The 36-year-old has earned 73 caps since making his debut in 2011
Now 36, he is set to sign a new deal at Everton that will likely combine some coaching. But Hallgrímsson insisted he has a future with Ireland – once he wants to continue.
Hallgrímsson said: “That’s for him to decide, not me.
“It’s his decision, but I’m hoping – and I know the Evertonians are hoping – he will continue playing.
“I know he’s going to be at Everton in whatever role, maybe a little bit more of a leadership role, but it’s for him to answer if he’s going to continue playing or not.
“He is a leader in this squad and you cannot have his experience in many players.
“His experience, his leadership skills are one thing, but his quality as a player is another thing as well.
“He’s been playing at the highest level for such a long time, so it’s a shame for me and, of course the national team, not to have him around.
“But hopefully there will come another time for him, hopefully it will be just the off-season and he’ll come fit and flying.”
Coleman’s thigh problem is not serious with Hallgrímsson saying he will recover in three weeks, though that ruled him out of the Ireland games.
And the Boys in Green gaffer has also lost Ipswich Town striker Sammie Szmodics as he suffered a minor setback on his return from ankle surgery.
Hallgrímsson said: “He played, I think, 10, 15 minutes in the last game for Ipswich, but the ankle got swollen afterwards.
“So we decided it’s not worth the risk to have him in our squad now. Hopefully he will have a good pre-season and come in flying in September.”
MORE MORAN
The two withdrawals have meant Hallgrímsson has called up midfielder Andrew Moran of Brighton.
He spent last season on loan at Stoke and saw just two minutes of action since March, though Hallgrímsson is confident that he is fit for the friendlies.
The Ireland boss continued: “I talked to him three or four days ago, he is fit, he’s just that kind of player, he is light and it’s not like he’s overweight if he’s not playing.
“He has been training really well and it’s less risk to bring in a player that stopped playing in early May as he’s young, he’s that kind of player, fit and light so he can come in.
“His playing time at Stoke got less and less, maybe because it was a loan but we know his qualities, we see him as a part of the squad in the future.
“He is still young but he has qualities to play more position than one, he made a good impression with the minutes he played against England when he came in. In a tough game, he really impressed us.”
Squad: Kelleher (Liverpool), O’Leary (Bristol City), Keeley (Leyton Orient, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Collins (Brentford), O’Shea (Ipswich Town), O’Brien (Everton), Omobamidele (Strasbourg, on loan from Nottingham Forest), Scales (Celtic), Brady (Preston North End), Honohan (Shamrock Rovers), Knight (Bristol City), Phillips (St. Mirren, on loan from Crystal Palace), Smallbone (Southampton), Taylor (Ipswich Town), Finn (Stade De Reims), Parrott (AZ Alkmaar), Moran (Brighton), Ferguson (West Ham United, on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion), Idah (Celtic), McAteer (Leicester City), Ebosele (Istanbul Basaksehir), Manning (Southampton)