It’s now or never for Heimir’s Ireland to show they can deliver strong leadership

‘Does Heimir have the same real steel? 

He needs to show us that now’

GARY BREEN

12 Nov 2025 - Irish Independent

I read an interview with Ray Houghton last week where he was challenging the Ireland players to “seize the moment” and do something special against Portugal and Hungary this week.

His rallying cry has real gravitas considering his exploits in the Ireland jersey. Ray’s opinion is of value to me, like so many of my former teammates, and I’ve actually been sounding a few of them out to discover how they see this window playing out.

I was doing it to see if their unique experience offered a viewpoint that’s different to what the overwhelming feeling seems to be among Ireland supporters.

The general consensus among the lads I’ve spoken to is that we are short in terms of a definitive style of consistent play.

Simplistic

Which means we are hoping that the fans, the ‘12th man’ could somehow get us over the line tomorrow night.

Incredibly, we are still in the fight for a play-off place. That’s all we wanted ahead of the last window and we’re still alive. In fact, I was calling for a more simplistic style to bridge the gap and we have that now too.

And yet, there is still a despondent feel to it all. That has to disappear between now and kick-off tomorrow, as there is an opportunity still to do something incredible, however daunting that is.

To be honest, I can understand why there is some apathy amongst the fans. They’ve heard a lot of pre-match talk from players about the ‘power of Lansdowne’ and how they need just ‘one big result’.

It has never been delivered upon. Yet I still retain some hope that they can get this last window right.

My concern remains that we are relying on the law of averages or a moment of brilliance rather than a belief that tactical organisation can be the difference. We know it will be a back five and praying for set-pieces.

Talking about the excellent exploits of smaller Premier League sides like Brentford and Sunderland as a reference point that can offer inspiration is often too dismissive of the detailed tactical structures that are fine-tuned there and delivered on by the players.

From watching Ireland, there have been few attacking patterns that the Irish players can rely upon to hurt opposition or at the very least relieve pressure.

How can we rely on the players if they don’t have a structure to rely upon?

Our attacking threat has been limited to individual lung-busting runs from deep. That will have to change from Lisbon where we didn’t have a shot or even a corner to apply pressure on the home side.

The defensive low block does offer solid foundations but the next layer has to be attacking play that is more sophisticated than individual forays forward in the hope that something materialises.

There are ways in which I could see our back five being able to suck Portugal on and exploit opportunities to counter-attack but we must be drilled well enough to recognise those openings.

I do believe we could get enough ball at home with the atmosphere to get men forward and receive rehearsed quality ball to pin Portugal back for a while.

Trends

Look at the trends across Europe. There is plenty of evidence that elite defenders, for whatever reason, are struggling to deal with robust, direct play.

But sometimes people make the mistake of thinking that direct play is easy to execute. Just get it up there as quickly as possible.

At this level, the players need real clarity about how and when to do it. I felt that clarity was lacking in both of the home games against Hungary and Armenia before the red cards for the away sides that turned things in our favour.

I agree with John O’Shea’s assessment earlier this week that it’s possible to be much more attacking within the same formation.

Even without Evan Ferguson being available, there are options. Troy Parrott and Adam Idah are waiting for their turn and Johnny Kenny, who is full of energy and on goalscoring form, has earned his late call-up.

It hasn’t come as a massive surprise to me that it’s O’Shea out there banging the drum again.

Within a squad that has lacked leadership, he is trying to provide it and more besides. What has to happen now is the players showing leadership. Not in press conferences or in the training ground or the meeting or dressing room. It’s on the pitch and around the technical area that we need that presence.

Strong leadership isn’t throwing a

teapot around and bawling at players.

It’s about methodical, consistent messages that back up the work that has been on the training ground.

With limited time before Thursday, no minutes can be wasted. The message needs to be sharp.

And it’s incumbent on all of those involved to explore all marginal gains possible. There’s a balance with this, for sure.

I don’t think we need a manager on the sideline going absolutely crazy for the sake of it and giving everyone the hairdryer treatment.

But we don’t need a presence that is too nice and looks content to be everyone’s best friend. Eddie Howe has been hit with the ‘nice guy’ tag but he definitely has real steel. Does Heimir?

He needs to show us that now. Make demands of these players who, in turn, will make demands of themselves.

O’Shea has been there before. He was part of that Ireland side that mustered up that last big Lansdowne Road win against Germany.

“This group are more than capable without a doubt,” he said.

I hope he’s right. But I still have my doubts.