One young fan’s reaction to this Troy Parrott moment tells us how far Ireland have fallen

Richard Dunne’s comments on Heimir Hallgrímsson are on the opposite end of the scale, but are equally emblematic of Ireland’s football woes.

The dad of a football-mad youngster recently told me that his son celebrated the June friendly win against Hungary "like it was the World Cup final", such was the novelty of seeing Ireland win a match.

This reaction to Troy Parrott’s late winner brought home just how scarring it has been to follow the Boys in Green in recent years.

A generation knows nothing but misery. Defeat after defeat. 14 in the last 24 matches, and 11 in the last 16 competitive games.

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It has led to some extraordinary reactions, such as one child’s outpouring of joy at a win in a summer friendly against a team with one eye already on Euro 2024.

At the other end of the scale, pundits have been quick to sharpen their knives and point them in the direction of new manager Heimir Hallgrímsson.

This peaked on Tuesday when Richard Dunne suggested that the former Iceland manager’s reign could be over after just four games.

“I think Heimir Hallgrímsson is already feeling the pressure of the Ireland job,” said the former defender.

“He has a bit of leeway after how long it took the FAI to find this manager but if they don’t win either of the upcoming Nations League games against Finland and Greece, then I do think there’s the potential that they will look to bring someone new in.”

Firstly, the idea that the FAI would have the appetite for another managerial search so soon after the end of an eight-month hunt is beyond wild.

Hallgrímsson will get more than four games to prove himself capable of turning things around, regardless of the outcomes in Helsinki tonight and Athens on Sunday.

That's because most can see that Irish football is at a worryingly low ebb.

Currently 62nd and on a downward trajectory in the FIFA rankings, the prospect of slipping below the record low of 70 is very much on the cards right now.

And that would spell disaster for whatever slim hopes anyone might harbour about this side making it to the 2026 World Cup, as seedings will be determined by this metric.

By then, it will have been 10 years since Ireland last appeared in a major tournament.

Since Euro ‘88, the gap between tournament appearances has only been as large just once.

Otherwise, Irish fans have had something to look forward to in the summers of 1988, ‘90, ‘94, 2002, 2012 and 2016. At least there’s the possibility of automatic qualification when Euro 2028 comes to Dublin.

With this in mind, and the disastrous underfunding of player development in this country, it’s mad to think we are already back to a point where the conversation has reverted to a change in manager.

Fortunately, the general reaction to Dunne’s comments have been negative. He appears to be very much in the minority. For now, at least.

Hallgrímsson’s predecessor Stephen Kenny didn’t undertake a drastic overhaul of the senior Ireland squad for the craic.

The aforementioned neglect of player development meant that a generation was lost to the senior international side, so Kenny took over an ageing and deteriorating squad and had to introduce more youth than was good in the short-term.

Results suffered, as this new-look team struggled to hit the ground running, and he was gone at the end of his contract last November, sparking the long search that eventually led to Hallgrímsson’s arrival.

At least the new manager now has a group of youngsters with 20-plus caps each. They have experience at this level. Unfortunately, most of that experience comes with being on the losing side.

Nathan Collins, Ireland’s captain tonight, at just 23 years of age, is about to win his 23rd senior Ireland cap.

Just seven of his 22 games to date have ended in wins, and four of those were friendlies.

His last victory in a green jersey was against Gibraltar in June of last year. Seven of his last eight appearances since then have been defeats.

Collins admitted yesterday that he is sick of losing.

“Of course, we’re all Irish, we’re all footballers, we all want to win every game with Ireland,” he said, ahead of tonight’s clash in Helsinki.

“We’ve always said it’s a dream to play for Ireland. Well it’s a dream to qualify for tournaments, it’s a dream to push this team to the next level.

“So I think I said after the last game (against Greece) there was a lot of talk in the dressing room between the lads, it wasn’t nice, it was a tough chat as a group.

“We’ve been speaking this week as well about how much we want to win, how much we want to get over that line, get that good feeling back, back into the country, and you know as a group we are all sick of it, and we are all getting frustrated.”

He went even further.

“I don't think it is a lack of confidence. It is fairly frustrating, it is annoying, we are eager to make it right,” Collins said.

“I think there is a lot of frustration within the lads as we know, as a group, we are a good team, we have good players.

“We see the level of individuals at club level, and lots of players are flying at the minute. I think the frustration is over the fact that we can't get that result.”

Tonight they have another chance, this time against a team two places behind them in the FIFA rankings.

Imagine it, a first competitive win against a team that’s not called Gibraltar since September two years ago. For a generation of players and fans, it might just feel like the World Cup final.

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