LOI fans will love Hallgrimsson’s plan to create easier pathway to national team

NEW gaffer Heimir Hallgrimsson has revealed he wants January internationals to run the rule over League of Ireland players.

Former Iceland boss Hallgrimsson took charge last week and is tasked with leading Ireland to the 2026 World Cup.

But the FAI stressed that his appointment was also in line with their new player pathways plan.

And Hallgrimsson is keen on creating a route for domestic players into the Ireland set-up, citing how he did the same with Iceland, who played out-of-season internationals.

He said: “To have the possibility of going from the league to the national team will probably help the league.

“We did that in Iceland and we did it with Jamaica as well.

“What we did there, we played off Fifa windows for national team matches.

“For example, in January, we went to a camp in Asia or the US.

“That was to give the possibility of domestic players to play in these games and to recognise the best players.”

Hallgrimsson confirmed he had spoken to FAI Director of Football Marc Canham about his idea, which would require the agreement of clubs to release their players, as well as additional costs to the FAI.

But he stressed it was valuable for Iceland who, similar to Ireland, mostly select players who ply their trade abroad.

That was the case for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup when Hallgrimsson was in charge as there were no Iceland-based players in either squad.

Yet seven of the 23 selected in 2016 and five of the 23 picked in 2018 made their debuts when still playing at home.

And Hallgrimsson believes it could be the same for Ireland.

He said: “December or January would be perfect.

“They would be coming from their season and instead of taking a long break, they would have the possibility of going to the national team.

“Plus it would give us a chance to look at some younger players playing in academies and give them two or three young players.

“Even if it only gives us one player or two players for the next Fifa national team window, it is worth it.

“That has always been my philosophy on this one.”

ROVER TO DO IT?

Meanwhile, the Ireland manager backed Shamrock Rovers to beat Vikingur of Reykjavik in Tuesday’s Champions League second leg in Tallaght after a scoreless first leg.

He added: “I saw the first leg in Iceland.

“I thought Vikingur would win it because they have been quite good in Iceland and Shamrock Rovers are not on top of the league.

“But they were actually quite good and Shamrock Rovers probably should have scored.

“Given Vikingur are playing on an artificial surface back home, Shamrock Rovers are probably not used to it.

“Coming to Iceland and playing in front of their home ground is probably a different game.

“It is going to be an exciting one as Vikingur are a good team.

“They are by far the best team in Iceland over the last two years.

“They have been planning and preparing for the Champions League.

“It would be a huge blow for Vikingur but I know it is going to be the same for Shamrock Rovers if they don’t win.

“But I think Shamrock Rovers have the upper hand at the moment.

“They have the advantage of being in front of their home crowd.”