'We're not hiding' - Heimir Hallgrimsson promises to take winter stock

Heimir Hallgrimsson will put his feet up over Christmas and revisit the notes he's been jotting down since September.

It has, by his own admission, been a tough week. A 5-0 hammering at Wembley extinguished any spark of optimism the 1-0 home win against Finland had kindled.

In the immediate aftermath, Hallgrimsson didn't hold back in his assessment of a disastrous second half: "Lost our heads. Gave up."

He was in a more upbeat mood after yesterday's Nations League play-off draw pitted Ireland against Bulgaria, though he still referenced a "mental breakdown" that allowed England to run riot.

The Icelander has touched on the brittle confidence of the players a few times. Two weeks ago he said he'd like to bring in a sports psychologist to address what looks like a deep-rooted, collective insecurity.

"We had a good talk prior to the England camp, just who has access to things like these, in this area, and, yeah, I myself have used help in this area and it's really just one piece of the puzzle, that you can add to what we are doing," Hallgrimmsson further expanded as he looked ahead to 2025.

"A professional in this area, not even a professional, just someone you can share things and stuff with because psychology is just a bigger and bigger part of elite sports. In elite sport, it’s a bigger and bigger part of coaching."

"We lost a player, and we conceded a goal. A kind of mental breakdown, moments of madness."

And what of his own mind state in the wake of the English hammering?

"It's tough," Hallgrimmson admitted. "All coaches would say the same, losing with this number has been tough. And criticism, you cannot answer that in any way. You need to take it in. Because when you lose 5-0 you’ve definitely done something wrong.

"We’re not