It just keeps getting worse.
There had been hope under Heimir Hallgrimsson; he speaks well, seems to really care, and results had genuinely improved from the Stephen Kenny-era.
But such was the devastation of tonight’s loss to the 105th ranked Armenia, that all the good that has gone on during the Icelander’s reign seems to matter very little now.
There were no injury excuses Yerevan. No unlucky sending offs, or fluke goals to blame the defeat on. It was just a pitiful performance, lacking in so many areas, and has driven many fans to call for Hallgrimsson’s sacking.
Not only that, but there seems to already be a popular candidate among supporters.
Names like former Shelbourne boss Damien Duff, and Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley, have been bandied about, but it is the recently sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who is getting the most love.
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The former Man United striker and boss was fired from Besiktas after less than eight months in charge, following a run of poor form in Europe.
His managerial career has been patchy, but an international job could potentially make him tick.
After the game, Hallgrimsson said: “Everything needs to be perfect from now on and after this performance, it is difficult to be optimistic that we will go to Portugal and win those games with a performance like that.”
“Almost everything (went wrong). We were not solid defending like we normally are, we lost a lot of duals, in possession we made lots of mistakes and lost the ball in tough areas.
“Like we said before, Armenia can be quick on the counter and they have good individuals and they deservedly won tonight.”
