ROY Keane was the first name to spring to mind for Heimir Hallgrimsson when asked what footballer he’d transport into the current Irish team.
Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty had even widened the parameters to include any player ever – Irish blood or no.
Women’s head coach Carla Ward was also given the same ‘fantasy football’ question to end their interview on[/caption]
The Corkman finished up with the somewhat surprisingly low figure of 67 Ireland caps – largely due to his two-year exile after the Saipan saga[/caption]
Yet the Iceland native still went with the former midfield hardman straight away.
He replied: “Definitely we need a Roy Keane back (in the team). So I would bring him back.”
WNT boss Carla Ward opted for another great of a bygone era in all-time leading scorer for the Girls in Green Olivia O’Toole.
In August Hallgrimsson did say at an FAI season ticket holder Q&A session that this current vintage might be lacking ‘a b*****d’ so it tallies that Keano was his first choice.
There were more substantive moments earlier in the discussion too.
Kielty did bring up Stephen Bradley’s criticism over Hallgrimsson suggesting Shamrock Rovers players would be wise to use their European success to engineer moves abroad.
On the notion that he’d implied players needed to get out of the League of Ireland if they wanted to be considered for selection for the national team, the 57-year-old replied flatly: “I didn’t say that.
“But the League of Ireland is improving. Last year was really good for the LOI.
“I think it’s a positive spiral going on.”
The part-time dentist also revealed that he has named two Shamrock Rovers players in his preliminary squad for this month’s Nations League play-off against Bulgaria.
He added: “We have two that played with Shamrock Rovers in our preliminary squad.
“I’d contradict myself if I said you need to be somewhere else.
“Shamrock Rovers went a long way in the Conference League and I think that kind of creates a positive spiral.
“Teams here are probably looking at what they did well and it could help things get better here.
“We are always looking at League of Ireland players for the future.”
