Last August, when Heimir Hallgrimsson named his squad for the Republic of Ireland’s first two World Cup qualifiers, Séamus Coleman’s name was notably absent.
At the time, the Everton captain had hardly played for his club in 2024-25 and had yet to feature in the early part of the current Premier League campaign.
Hallgrimsson was at pains to underline how highly he valued what the Donegal man brings to Ireland camps.
But the Boys in Green boss would tell RTÉ soccer correspondent Tony O’Donoghue that it might constitute “a wrong example picking a player that hasn’t played for almost a year” for those September qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia.
Fast forward to this Thursday’s squad announcement for…