Heimir Hallgrimsson admits Republic’s World Cup qualification hopes look grim

Heimir Hallgrimsson admitted his job is under threat after the Republic of Ireland slumped to an embarrassing World Cup qualifying defeat in Armenia.

The 58-year-old head coach took the blame for a 2-1 Group F reverse at the Republican Stadium in Yerevan which left their qualification hopes hanging by the finest of threads ahead of next month’s trip to Portugal.

Hallgrimsson is contracted until the end of the campaign, but a return of just a single point from two games does not augur well for his hopes of earning an extension.

Asked if people were entitled to question him, the Icelander told RTE: “Yes of course, that’s the job of the coach. If they are not producing, then of course it’s always under question and it’s understandable now.

“I’m not naive, that’s understandable now. After this performance, of course I will take the blame for this.

“But the players are the same players we were happy with against Bulgaria, happy with in the second half against Hungary. It’s the same players, so like I say, off-day.”

For the ninth time in Hallgrimsson’s 10 competitive games to date, Ireland conceded the opening goal, but equally worryingly, created far too little to stand a chance of winning in Yerevan against a side ranked 105th in the world and with only five wins in the previous 32 outings.

Having conceded twice inside the opening 15 minutes against Hungary on Saturday, they made a significantly brighter start at the Republican Stadium but trailed 2-0 to Eduard Spertsyan’s penalty and a Grant-Leon Ranos strike either side of half-time.

Evan Ferguson, whose goal against the Hungarians had sparked a concerted fightback, repeated the feat with 57 minutes gone, but this time there was no great escape.

Asked if Ireland’s qualification hopes were over as a result, Hallgrimsson, who admitted “almost everything” had gone wrong, said: “Yes, it’s close to that.

“Everything needs to be perfect from now on and after this performance, it’s difficult to be optimistic that we will go to Portugal and beat them with a performance like we did today.”

Skipper Nathan Collins was equally perplexed as he surveyed the wreckage of a bad four days.

Collins said: “We have to beat Portugal, that’s the be all and end all. We have to go there and get a result. That’s all I can say.”

It was Collins whose challenge on Lucas Zelarayan led to the penalty from which Armenia took the lead and, while he disagreed with its award, he was not blaming that decision alone for the defeat.

He said: “The penalty, I don’t think it is personally, I think it’s harsh and then they build on that, so close to half-time.

“The second half, we wanted a reaction, we conceded again and it killed us, and then we scored the goal, but it wasn’t enough. But again, we just didn’t create enough and weren’t good enough defensively overall.”