Heimir Halgrimsson hoping 'perfect recipe' can bring victories in Nations League campaign

Heimir Halgrimsson wants to start slow, he wants to keep things simple, and is happy to follow John O'Shea and Paddy McCarthy’s lead heading into his first competitive game against England next week.

However, after speaking with the press at Thursday's first squad announcement, it became abundantly clear that the new national team head coach has come with a plan to get Ireland back to winning ways.

It all starts with the Nations League clash against old foes, England, on Saturday week and in essence, it’s a free shot for the new man in charge, who is actually looking beyond that particular encounter as he readies the side to go head-to-head with Finland and Greece in a mini-group within their League B campaign.

Halgrimsson said it will take time, however, he is also happy to embrace this immediate run of games throughout September, October and November to get to know his team and to personally assess the current state of the nation’s game at the top level.

The manager's minimum requirement from this six-match shoot-out is to retain League B status, which is not necessarily a foregone conclusion, considering Ireland lost home and away to Greece in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, and similarly were beaten at home and in Finland during the Covid days of the Nations League in 2020.

But Halgrimsson puts all three teams on a par, while placing England out on their own as clear group favourites, and he appeared quietly confident that Ireland will improve their Nations League record and make their mark in the four-team competition.

"We have to see how both Greece and Finland will come to this campaign," said Halgrimsson.

"To stay in this group is the minimum for me. First of all, for the next Euros it’s important to have at least – if we