Séamus Coleman Aims to Continue with Republic of Ireland

Séamus Coleman has told Heimir Hallgrimsson he wants to keep playing for the Republic of Ireland – but the veteran defender felt it would be “unfair” to take a place in the upcoming Nations League squad while still without a club.

Coleman’s 17-year stay at Everton ended in the summer, closing a remarkable chapter on Merseyside. A month out from his 38th birthday, the Donegal native is training alone and weighing up his next move, a situation mirrored by international team-mate Robbie Brady.

Both are currently unattached. Both have been left out of Ireland’s first four UEFA Nations League fixtures.

Coleman’s omission, though, is not a sign of the end.

“My intention, in whatever shape or form that will be, he will be with us in the future, hopefully as a player,” Hallgrimsson said at Thursday’s squad announcement. “His intention is to play, he is keeping fit but he hasn't been training with a club or with a team.

“We felt, together, it was more his decision that it was appropriate he would sit out this one. Mostly because he felt it was unfair to other players that he would be picked at this moment.”

Brady, also clubless, is in the same boat, with Hallgrimsson confirming both are actively searching for new teams.

Injuries bite, but November hope for Ferguson and Cullen

If Coleman’s absence was about principle, Nathan Collins’ was expected and purely physical. The Brentford defender, now captain under Hallgrimsson, misses this window with a calf injury picked up on club duty earlier this month.

The news from west London is at least encouraging.

Hallgrimsson expects Collins to be back in action for Brentford once the international break is over, a key reassurance with Ireland’s defensive options already stretched.

The bigger long-term concerns have been Evan Ferguson and Josh Cullen. Neither has pulled on a green shirt since November 2025, Ferguson sidelined by ankle problems and Cullen recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Now, at last, there is a glimmer of a return.

“They will probably start training on the grass with (their club teams) after the FIFA window sometime. So maybe next camp is their time,” Hallgrimsson said, offering the clearest indication yet that the pair could feature in November.

Lawal called in despite injury

One of the more intriguing names in the squad is Bosun Lawal. The versatile Stoke City man, capped once at senior level, has been selected despite carrying an injury.

Hallgrimsson did not hide how highly he rates the 21-year-old.

“He is injured at the moment, but we still rate him that highly,” he said. “We still want him in the camp, being with us and around us. I don't expect him to play much.

“But we are in collaboration with Stoke City, just to see how much he can do and will load him and hopefully he can take some part in the end of this camp.

“But we rate him that highly that we think it is necessary for him to be around the squad.”

Lawal, then, is there less for minutes and more for immersion – a clear sign of where Hallgrimsson sees his future in this team.

Kosovo, Israel and an uneasy agreement

On the pitch, Ireland open their Nations League campaign away to Kosovo in Pristina next Thursday. The second group game will be the first of two politically charged meetings with Israel, both moved to neutral venues in Hungary and Serbia.

The fixtures have provoked strong feelings. Hallgrimsson decided those conversations needed to be private, not played out in front of the group.

“I have spoken to all of them individually on that, because you shouldn't be doing this (in) a group talk,” he said.

“And obviously we have different opinions, different strength of opinion. I think it's best to say, without going into individual (situations), none of us feel comfortable playing these games.

“But once we have decided to play them, we all stick together and play as one, and we want to represent Ireland with the best games and performances that we can.

“So that's just that's the agreement between all of us. But obviously, we don't have to all share the same opinion, and that's just human nature.”

Unease off the pitch. A united front on it. That is the line Ireland’s players and staff have agreed to walk.

Momentum in a changing Nations League

All of this plays out against a shifting backdrop. UEFA’s restructure of the Nations League will reduce the competition from four tiers to three, removing automatic relegation from League B to League C.

The safety net doesn’t soften Hallgrimsson’s stance.

“(There are) lots of reasons why we want to do really well in these Nations League matches,” he said. “Again, the importance of this moment, these games, we are on a good run, we are on a positive spiral, we (would) like to keep that going, (and) have not lost in the last seven matches. Long may that continue.

“We are conceding less goals and all the metrics that we are using to kind of look at how our performance is improving.”

Seven games unbeaten. Fewer goals shipped. Data pointing upwards. Hallgrimsson wants this window to harden that trend, not test it.

Coleman, watching from the outside for now, plans to be part of that story again. The question is simple and unforgiving: when he finds a club and comes back into the fold, how different will this Ireland team look – and how far will that “positive spiral” have taken them?