HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON believes he can turn water into wine — because he has done it before.
With the club football season wrapping up in most countries, the Ireland boss has been able to take stock of the fortunes of his players over the course of the campaign.
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Hallgrimsson maintains Irish players have enough ability to make it to the 2026 World Cup
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Will Smallbone is one of the eight Irish players to suffer Premier League relegation
It does not make for great reading.
Earlier this week, SunSport shone a light on how Ireland are well short of the 35 players clocking up an average of 1,400 minutes of league football in one of the big five European leagues.
That was what LOI academy manager Will Clarke calculated is needed for the national team to be successful, based on studying the next ten best-performing countries after powerhouses England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
There are 16 spots available for European countries at the World Cup finals next summer and Hallgrimsson believes he can mould his meagre resources into a side that can be one of them.
Hallgrimsson — who steered his native Iceland to Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup — said: “Yes, I think we have the material to qualify, for sure.
“From experience, I have qualified with less talent than we have here. So that’s my take on this question. Obviously, we would like more players to play at a higher level.
“And I think more players will play at a higher level. They’re still not peaking in age and all of that. So I’m pretty confident that we will have more players playing more minutes in the top leagues.”
If that is to happen, it will have to be through the transfer market.
Half of the 16 Irish players who featured in the English Premier League this season suffered relegation, with just Josh Cullen and Alan Browne winning promotion to the top flight.
But Hallgrimsson is unconcerned and believes many of the players with sides which dropped down to the Championship had strong individual campaigns.
He said: “I think the players that got promoted, the likes of Josh Cullen will play more or less all the minutes for Burnley in the Prem.
“I think as well, the players who were in the teams that got relegated, it was not the players that were that bad, and some of the players were injured, like the likes of Sammie Szmodics. When he played, he played really well.
“Dara O’Shea played really well, Ryan Manning played well when he was playing for Southampton.
“So it’s not the players, Kasey McAteer is playing every minute now. So the quality is there for sure.”
Hallgrimsson had previously suggested that defender O’Shea would not be short of options after catching the eye for Ipswich.
And he added: “I think the teams going up will always recruit the most because they will always try to strengthen their squad.
“And just looking back to Nottingham Forest when they got promoted, they bought two times, three times a squad.
“So it will always be as well that some players will go to clubs and there are better players at that club.
“The general answer would be we like to have players playing at the highest level, but I would rather have players playing than be on the bench at the highest level. That’s the diplomatic answer.”
FIRE IN THE FRIENDLIES
The friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg will be an opportunity to shine for players who have had frustrating campaigns, such as Will Smallbone and Evan Ferguson, or have revitalised themselves with a loan move, as Andrew Omobamidele has done with Racing Strasbourg.
Hallgrimsson said: “That’s one of the reasons why we need to have camps where we can give players a chance to prove a point for us.
“Obviously, because of injuries and then not having the playing time, Will hasn’t kind of had the chance to show us what he can do.
“So that’s why it’s good to have a camp like this and give these players, the Andrews, the Wills, the chance to prove a point.
“Evan as well, normally when we have called him in, he has done pretty good for us. So we know the quality is there, but they haven’t been given the platform to show it.”
Ferguson’s loan move to West Ham was not successful in the way Omobamidele’s has been, with game time no easier to come by for the 20-year-old forward than it had been at Brighton.
It begs the question whether he is simply a victim of circumstances or if he was doing something — or not doing something — to contribute to his woes.
Hallgrimsson said: “I can only judge from the time he’s with us. He’s been good for us, he’s been efficient for us. In training, he looks good.
“So, whatever it is, it’s something we cannot control and now we haven’t seen him for a long time, so we just want to see him, speak to him and just evaluate where he is.”
JUNE BREAK
Given the various trials and tribulations at club level — but most of all because of the long gap since the Championship season ended — Hallgrimsson is relieved Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign is not starting in this window.
There would have qualifiers in June had they been drawn in a five-team group instead of one with four.
He said: “It would have been tough having a similar squad to Bulgaria when we played them, to have a lot of players who finished a month ago, keeping them fit for an important game.
“We couldn’t have done what we did, given them an extended holiday and off-season so they will be fit in September, so they will be rested when it comes to the new season, these guys we left out now.
“And that’s because the June window has not been successful for Ireland in the past, it’s been a tricky window, not playing for a month and then coming into the national team camp for a game that’s maybe on a higher level than you play on a regular basis.
“You are never 100 per cent physically fit or mentally focused after a holiday period.”
With Szmodics ruled out, Hallgrimsson has called in another player who spent the season in the Championship, Andy Moran, who was on loan to Stoke City from Brighton.
One of the others, Robbie Brady, is the only player to have been involved when Ireland last competed at a tournament, at Euro 2016, with Hallgrimsson keen to keep drawing on his experience.
He added: “I can only say from my experience, once you have smelled it, you know how big it is and you want to go again and again and again.
“They know that and we need them to spread that around the young players, just how massive it is and how fun it is — these are the moments you remember when you stop playing.
“To share that experience is so important. I have spoken about Robbie, how good he has been since I came in.
“In the absence of Séamus Coleman, him and Matt Doherty have needed to step up in the leadership role.”