Even if Eileen Gleeson’s successor had been appointed by the weekend, s/he wouldn’t have had too many players to scout, just five of the squad picked for that Euro 2025 play-off calamity against Wales in action for their clubs. The rest got to put their feet up thanks to the off-season at home and in the United States, weather-enforced postponements in Britain and the winter break in Belgium and Switzerland.
There are less than six weeks to go before Ireland’s opening Nations League games against Turkey and Slovenia, but while the FAI said that the process to replace Gleeson would begin as soon as they opted not to offer her a new contract a month ago, it remains to be seen if an appointment will be made by then.
They will, presumably, want to avoid anything like a repeat of the saga surrounding the search for a successor to Stephen Kenny, but financial constraints will hardly help their efforts to hire an experienced manager of international standing.
Whoever that may be, they will have to make do without a mainstay of the side after Niamh Fahey announced her retirement last week. There will be doubts too about Ruesha Littlejohn’s future after she was left out of London City Lionesses’ squad for Sunday’s FA Cup win over Fulham. The 34-year-old used social media to say she would reveal all on Monday, fuelling rumours that she had been released by her club.
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Kyra Carusa and Marissa Sheva are also on the hunt for new employers after being placed on the NWSL’s free agents list by their clubs, while two of the younger Irish crew have swapped career paths, Ellen Molloy leaving Sheffield United to return home for “personal reasons”, the 20-year-old rejoining Wexford Youths who she left for the Championship side in September. Meanwhile, Irish under-19 captain Lia O’Leary has left Shamrock Rovers for Bristol City in the same division.
Up in Scotland, there’s been no little chat about Caitlin Hayes’ future at Celtic where her relationship with manager Elena Sadiku hasn’t appeared to be entirely smooth. “If her agent has something to do with the rumours then that’s up to them, but I have not heard anything,” said Sadiku of talk of the centre-half being a target for clubs in England, Spain and the States.
Hayes has kept shtum on it all, starting for Celtic in their 4-2 league win over Partick Thistle on Sunday, Saoirse Noonan scoring twice in that game to bring her tally to 22 in all competitions this season.
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