Richard Dunne doubles down on Heimir Hallgrimsson sack comments
The Boys in Green face Finland and Greece in the coming days
Richard Dunne has doubled down on comments he made earlier this week that Heimir Hallgrimsson could lose his job if Ireland do not record a win from their next two games.
The Boys in Green face Finland and Greece in the coming days after back-to-back 2-0 defeats to England and the Greeks at the Aviva Stadium last month.
And Dunne believes the FAI could look elsewhere if results don't turn positive. He told BetVictor: “I think Heimir Hallgrímsson is already feeling the pressure of the Ireland job. He has a bit of leeway after how long it took the FAI to find this manager but if they don’t win either of the upcoming Nations League games against Finland and Greece, then I do think there’s the potential that they will look to bring someone new in.
READ MORE:Finland v Ireland LIVE score updates from the UEFA Nations League clash
“I’d be shocked if John O’Shea isn’t ready to step in again when needed after how he handled himself when he took charge of the team before.
“He needs to put a side together that the fans respect and can be proud of. We still don’t look like a team, and it is the manager’s job to make sure we don’t look disjointed. The structure needs adding, it’s a big two games for Hallgrímsson.”
Responding to the former Ireland defender's comments ahead of Thursday's match, Hallgrimsson insisted that he doesn’t have the time to wade into a war of words with Dunne - as he is too busy coaching the team.
“That's the industry,” he said, dismissing Dunne’s sack warning. “Your job is trying to get subscribers, to listen to you, to buy your papers, whatever you write, whatever you need to get subscribers. And we need to respect your opinions.
“But to have an opinion on your opinion, if we need to do that all day long then probably we would not be coaching at all. We won't have time for that so whatever people's opinion is, that's their opinion and we need to respect it.”
However, Dunne stated on Virgin Media's UEFA Nations League coverage on Thursday that he does believe Hallgrimsson could be heading for the door if wins don't come.
He said: "I just think it's the nature of the beast. If he doesn't win games, there always going to be looking for people elsewhere to come in. I don't think his start has been impressive in terms of how he's handled them.
"I don't think he's been to games, that's been a bit of a problem. The first two results weren't great, the performances weren't there so we need to start seeing something. We need to start seeing some return on that."
He added: "You also need to see a reaction. Lee Carsley has better players, but you've seen a change in style of play in the way England play.
"You want to see a difference and we haven't seen it in those first two games and I know it is two games and hopefully tonight and Sunday we'll see two great performances and two great wins."
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