Celtic legend's warning for Irish football fans and Heimir Hallgrimsson record

Irish Daily Mirror

21-06-2025

Former Celtic and Aston Villa legend Stiliyan Petrov notes Ireland's recent form under new management - four wins, four losses and two draws.But the former international star has warned against misplaced optimism about the 'win' column as his country accounts for two of those four.Bulgaria may have been to seven World Cups (finishing 4th in 1994) but they have not been to a major championship since Euro2004 and are practically uncompetitive at present.
Recent Bulgaria results include a five-goal defeat against Northern Ireland, four-goal defeats to Greece, Switzerland, a 2-5 reverse at home to Georgia, draws with Belarus twice, Cyprus, Luxembourg..."Bulgarian football is shadowed by corruption and match-fixing and people who depend on political support," says Petrov who made a record 105 appearances and scored eight goals for his country."And this makes it even harder for the younger players, for the coaches and for all the football ecosystem in Bulgarian football to flourish because we've been struggling for many, many years and it seems like we are still struggling."We used to play against teams, against Ireland, against the North, and expect to win, now you can see how far we are behind."We are a football nation and I think the fans and people around football want a change but it seems like people who run the carpentry, do the building, don't want to change and this is the biggest downfall for Bulgarian football."
Ranked no3 in the world in June 1995, Bulgaria currently languish at 71st."I'm not surprised they could not win against Ireland, I'm not surprised at all."I mean, our national team, our players, are really struggling to play in the big teams and the big leagues, to create leaders, which was a really big problem for Bulgarian football and this has been going on for the last 20 years."And it seems like there's more people who don't want to change then want to change something for good."
As it stands, Ireland have played 10 games since announcing Heimir Hallgrimsson as their new coach on July 10, 2024.
The Icelandic-born coach's previous job had been as the Jamaica coach but had tendered his resignation at the end June, 2024, following the Reggae Boyz' poor showing at the Copa America where they shipped three defeats in three pool games.Jamaica had been beaten 0-1 by Mexico in their opening game, 1-3 by Ecuador in their second outing and finished with a 0-3 loss to Venezuela.Hopes had been high in advance for a squad that carried English Premier players such as West Ham striker Michail Antonio, Fulham's Bobby de Cordova-Reid alongside another half-dozen Championship regulars, the then Clermont-based Shamar Nicholson and with another cohort of players across the USA.Hallgrimsson's Ireland regime started with a 0-2 reverse against England in Dublin followed by another 0-2 defeat in Dublin, this time to Greece.The next four games provided two wins and two losses, with Ireland completing an home and away double, single goal wins over Finland, but having previous form franked when suffering 0-2 in Greece and 0-5 in England.The next two matches, Nations League play-off games - and the ones the former Bulgaria captain Petrov was specifically referring to - were consecutive 2-1 victories over Bulgaria, firstly in Sofia and then Dublin and, remarkably, earned having gone behind in both matches.More recently there were early June, 2025, friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg, both of which finished as draws and garnered mixed reactions with former Ireland stars Gary Breen and Kevin Kilbane notably critical.Ireland's immediate programme features 2026 World cup Qualifiers, starting with Hungary at home and Armenia away in September followed by Portugal away and Armenia at home in October.That pool finishes with Portugal at home and Hungary away in November.
*Stiliyan Petrov will be featuring in a Premier League XI playing against Ayrfield Utd (founded 1977) at Blunden Drive, Coolock, Dublin, today.
The game is a fundraiser for Ayrfield Utd's new clubhouse, youth club and sensory room for neurodivergent children and adults within the community, i.e. people with autism, ADHD, Asperger syndrome.
And what a teeam it is! Premier League XI (courtesy LegendsXI/Tony Browne): David James; Stephen Carr, Ian Harte, Jaap Stam, Wes Browne; Karol Poborsky, Jason McAteer, Keith Gillespie; Jermaine Beckford, Yakubu - plus guests.