In the end, Eileen Gleeson’s time in charge of Ireland boiled down to a one-off test against a Wales team that was every bit as middling as hers.
Gleeson’s reign was defined not by the teams ranked well below them, each of whom Ireland put easily to the sword. Nor was it balanced on how they did against the elite nations, most of whom squished them like bugs, one glorious night in Cork against France aside.
No, the measure of progress under Gleeson was how Ireland would fare against a jury of their peers. Ireland are ranked 24th in the world, Wales are ranked 29th. The sides have met three times since February, two of them qualifiers for the Euros. Not only did Ireland fail to register a win in any of the games, they were never once ahead – despite two of the matches being at home. Wales are going to Switzerland, Ireland are not.
It’s not much more complicated than that, essentially. The eaten bread of all those Nations League wins against Northern Ireland, Hungary and Albania at the back end of 2023 is forgotten now. Those wins bought Ireland a play-off for the Euros, regardless of how qualifying turned out. Gleeson’s fate hinged coming through said play-off. She hasn’t been offered a new contract, so that’s that.
A harsh call? Possibly. After the psychodrama of last year’s World Cup fallout and the defenestration of Vera Pauw, Gleeson deserves huge credit for calming the waters. She took hold of a team that was suddenly in the public eye in a way it had never been throughout half a century of its existence. That was no straightforward task for anyone.
Particularly not for someone like Gleeson, whose discomfort in the public eye has always been obvious. Pauw had plenty of flaws as Ireland manager but she was an incredibly strong figurehead and spokesperson for her team. She could be overbearing and headline-grabbing to an extreme extent sometimes but she did at least understand that results are only a part of the gig. The Ireland manager has to be a salesperson too.
Gleeson never liked that side of the job. She wanted to coach the team, play the matches and let that be that. Which is fine, as long as you’re winning. The Nations League campaign threw up a string of handy fixtures to fill her spell as interim head coach between September and December last year, meaning she got the job full-time.
Regardless of how 2024 has turned out, Gleeson’s stewardship of what could have been a difficult post-World Cup period was pretty flawless. Rightly or wrongly, the players were seen in plenty of quarters as having forced Pauw out. She got them over their World Cup disappointment, got them smiling again and marshalled them into a string of fine performances.
Maybe that should have been enough to buy her more than a one-year warranty. This was always going to be a tough year for whoever was in charge. Getting drawn against France, England and Sweden in the Euros qualifiers was a hospital pass and coming away with a victory – albeit against a weakened French side in Páirc Uí Chaoimh – was no small achievement.
[ Karen Duggan: It would make sense to part ways with Eileen Gleeson nowOpens in new window ]
But whatever about the string of defeats, Ireland had stopped scoring entirely. They were in their seventh game of 2024 before anyone found the net – and even that was a 94th minute consolation against England.
After the dead rubber win against France, the home-and-away ties against Georgia were formalities. Wales was the test and Ireland failed. It’s reasonable for Gleeson to be held accountable on that score.
In terms of development, Ireland have evolved in fits and starts under her. Her final record reads Played 18 Won 9 Lost 7 Drew 2. She had to make the most of Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan by getting them playing further forward. The second life of Julie-Ann Russell has been an unexpected joy. Kyra Carusa looks like an established international striker too.
Caitlin Hayes and Anna Patten have been decent additions in defence, where Diane Caldwell and Louise Quinn were losing their battles against Father Time. Gleeson pointedly brought Tyler Toland back into the fold and has been unlucky that Jess Ziu has missed so much time with injury.
But when it came right down to it against Wales, Ireland’s best chances came from set pieces. For all the umbrage taken at opposition descriptions of Ireland as a physical team, that was what they fell back on to try to get back into the second leg in the Aviva after going 2-0 down. Long throws, corners, plenty of hassle and harry. You would be hard-pushed to pinpoint an Eileen Gleeson style of play.
By all accounts, she will stay on as an FAI employee in an as yet undefined role. Gleeson was never more uncomfortable in the Ireland manager’s job than when she was evading questions about whether her old role as Head of Women’s and Girl’s Football was being held open for her. It was filled in April by Welsh woman Hannah Dingley so it’s unclear what Gleeson’s job will be now.
You’d imagine it will be away from excessive public view, whatever it is. Gleeson has spent most of her career in football either as a number two or an administrator. She found herself in the Ireland job half by accident, as if she had been cattle-prodded onstage after the star turn fell out with the theatre owners. It wasn’t always clear that being Ireland manager was what she wanted out of life.
She had a go and it didn’t work out. Onwards.
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