John O'Shea adamant 'the boss is the boss' as he addresses Heimir Hallgrimsson no show
Hallgrimsson lost his opening game as Ireland manager but gets another shot when Ireland host Greece on Tuesday night
John O’Shea insists Heimir Hallgrimsson calls the shots as Ireland manager and declared today: ‘The boss is the boss’.
Hallgrimsson has been quick to delegate key tasks to assistant manager O’Shea and coach Paddy McCathy since taking over.
The ex-Iceland and Jamaica boss leaned heavily on former interim manager O’Shea when picking the squad - and also the team to play England on Saturday.
READ MORE: Ireland star Chiedozie Ogbene explains why the time for learning on the job is over
During a break in play in that match, TV cameras showed the Ireland players huddled together taking instruction from McCarthy while Hallgrimsson just looked on.
And today, O’Shea and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher fronted up for the pre-match press conference before tomorrow’s Greece clash.
That is a duty usually performed by the manager, but Hallgrimson was instead going straight to training at FAI headquarters.
Hallgrimsson wants time to bed into his new job and to gain an understanding of his players before making more of the big calls himself.
Asked why Hallgrimsson was not performing the press conference duties today, O’Shea said: “It's very simple, this plan was in place beforehand.
“It's obviously to give the boss as much time in terms of preparation, the quick turnaround in the games, that was always the case so there’s no change in anything.”
And O’Shea flatly denied that the optics of sharing the managerial duties could leave the Ireland players confused.
“No fear at all,” said O’Shea who was the manager for the four friendlies across March and June of this year.
“The boss is the boss and there are clear lines on that. As I mentioned, this is the plan that was in place beforehand and we felt there was no reason to change it.
“It’s clear, I’m the assistant. I don’t know why there has to be this constant …. the boss is the boss, it’s very simple. The players know that - you can ask Caoimhin about that.
“The meetings that were coming across, the plan’s in place. So I don’t know why you have to keep going on about that.
“For me personally, it’s clear from the staff’s point of view and the players point of view.
“Imagine if I had gone to Iceland and took a job over there, you would lean on the support of the staff behind you. It’s very simple.”
Addressing his own position, O’Shea continued: “It’s not a leading role, I’m the assistant. The leader is the boss and that is clear.”
Ireland are looking to bounce back from Saturday’s comprehensive 2-0 defeat to England when they host Greece tomorrow night.
But the Greeks - under a new manager after Gus Poyet’s exit - are a new thorn in Ireland’s side and beat Finland 3-0 in their Nations League opener at the weekend.
O’Shea added: “The manager wants to get across as clearly as he can, and as quickly as he can, what he is looking for.
“Good references and the references that we have to improve on, simple as that.
“You play against a team that has just been in the Euros final and you know you're going to be under plenty of pressure in a game like that.
“The fact that it was England too brings that extra bit of scrutiny. There’s clearly room for improvement, we know that.
“We know England were the best team on the day but thankfully we have another chance to put in a performance against Greece quite quickly.”
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