Stephen Bradley calls out FAI over ‘awful’ hunt for new Ireland manager

After a much-criticised process which saw the FAI miss two deadlines of February and April to have Stephen Kenny’s successor in place by, Iceland native Hallgrimsson was appointed Ireland boss last week on a deal lasting until the end of the 2026 World Cup campaign.

FAI director of football Marc Canham said at the unveiling last Thursday that after a “thorough process”, Hallgrimsson was decided as the number one candidate in March.

Bradley was in Iceland last week as Rovers took on Vikingur Reykjavik in Champions League qualifying, drawing their first leg 0-0, and while he said the locals have subsequently spoken highly of the 57-year-old, the Hoops boss made his feelings clear on the protracted search with Ireland’s opening Nations League clash against England just over seven weeks away.

“Everyone has said it, the process has been awful, there’s no getting away from it. They can’t pat themselves on the back and think, ‘We’ve done a good job here’. It’s been awful,” said Bradley, speaking ahead of Rovers’ Champions League first round second-leg tie against Vikingur this evening (8.0), with more than 6,000 tickets sold as of yesterday for the Tallaght Stadium clash.

“But hopefully he is what we think he is and everyone supports him and gets behind him. Let’s be clear, though, there’s no pats on the back here.

“How many days did it go on? And then to come out and say, ‘He was the first choice’. Honestly, you couldn’t write it. You’d have to question the timing of the whole thing as well [amid abuse allegations by former female footballers].

“But look, the man is in and let’s support him and get behind him.”

Asked if he believed the former Iceland boss was the FAI’s first choice, Bradley replied: “I’ll tell the jokes around here. No, I don’t think anyone believes that. I spoke to a few people in Iceland when I was over there.

“When I came home and he got appointed I asked their opinion and they really like him. They said he’d be very pragmatic, back to basics, he’d be all about winning. They said he’s a very good man, the Irish public will like him. From the feedback I got, it was all positive.”

Meanwhile, Vikingur boss Arnar Gunnlaugsson has labelled Hallgrimsson a “winner” and says he’s regarded as a “national hero” in their native Iceland.

The 51-year-old said he has a close relationship with the new Irish boss and the pair recently worked together as TV pundits for the 2022 World Cup.

With Hallgrimsson having co-led Iceland to a famous Euro 2016 round-of-16 win over England, before guiding them to a first World Cup two years later as sole manager, Gunnlaugsson promised the Irish public they are going to like their new national boss.

“He’s a national hero,” said Gunnlaugsson, a former winger for Feyenoord and Leicester City, as his side trained at Tallaght Stadium

“You’re getting a really good guy, a really good coach. I know him quite a bit. We were working on TV for the World Cup in Qatar together. He’s really knowledgeable and is just a winner, a clever guy as well, well educated, so you will like him, I promise you.

“He is intelligent enough to look at the players at his disposal. The Irish, like the Icelanders, are maybe not suited for tiki-taka football.

“But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring football, it’s just different football, a little bit more pragmatic, results-based, this is perfect for international football. Ireland has a lot of exciting talent coming through so it’s a good mixture.”