IRISH fans have been savouring tales of an amusing pre-match pub ritual of Heimir Hallgrimsson‘s while in charge of Iceland.
Upon rising to the role of joint-manager in 2013 the team was at a low ebb with their fanbase having become quite disillusioned.
Clearly it wasn’t a million miles off the current sentiment towards The Boys in Green considering the apathetic scenes at Stephen Kenny’s final few games.
Interestingly, the 57-year-old came up with a novel way to reignite the connection between Iceland’s supporters and its team.
He got in the habit of making an appearance at a specified pub on matchdays a mere three hours or so before kick-off.
He’d then not only reveal the starting team to anyone who showed up but would also lay out how their tactical approach for the evening.
It became a rallying point for fans with that particular pub rammed on matchdays as the team became more and more successful.
Of course it was very reliant on people’s best nature.
To safeguard against leaks there was a strict no phones policy within the boozer.
But even if you consider it a bit naive, it’s hard to argue with the results as he and Lars Lagerbeck guided the nation of 400k inhabitants to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.
After taking sole charge the part-time dentist led them to the 2018 World Cup where they performed solidly – earning a 1-1 draw with Lionel Messi and Argentina.
The notion of him replicating such a move in Dublin has provided comic fodder for Irish folk who have speculated which tavern would be best suited for such a unique set-up.
The Second Captains podcast did just that after sharing the tale via guest Nick Ames of The Guardian.
Slattery’s, Searsons and Beggar’s Bush were all name-checked as the leading candidates due to their proximity to the Aviva Stadium.
As for what the man himself has said on potentially going to that well again?
At Thursday’s introductory press conference, he did acknowledge the scale of interest around the Irish team might not make it as feasible.
He said: “It’s different when you have three or four hundred, or 23,000 season ticket holders, so who should we meet? I don’t know.
“But I have always had a good relationship with the fans.
“It was really special in Iceland, because we started something. It started with nobody attending games.
“We were playing the Faroe Islands and I said to the guys that they should renew this old fan club.
“I think there were seven people at the first meeting and I came with the team meeting for the players, showed them the opponents and how we were going to play.
“Slowly it just grew, grew, grew, and it ended up with a few hundred people crowded in a pub.
“But the best thing about it is nothing leaked out, nothing on social media.
“You can imagine in the world today, having maybe six or seven hundred people in a pub drinking beer.
“And you are talking about how you are going to play the game, and nothing leaking out on social media. That is a unique relationship.
“Hopefully we can do something here. Maybe not this, I don’t think this will be repeated, but hopefully we can work with communicating with the fans here in Ireland.”
He also noted one similarity between Irish and Icelandic people.
“I have sometimes said it’s similar to Icelanders; happy people, proud people, hard-working people.
“When you have a pint you like to sing, like us. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two nations.
“This is why, when we come here, we feel at home, because we connect to the culture, to the personalities of Irish people, and they are really welcoming, I must say that.
“Whenever we have been here, it has really been welcoming.”