EILEEN GLEESON shared a cryptic quote to social media in the aftermath of Ireland’s chastening loss to Slovenia.
Carla Ward’s side were humiliated 4-0 in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday night, having fallen 3-0 down in a horror first-half.
It was a nightmare scenario for the new Ireland manager, who succeeded Eileen Gleeson following her departure last December.
Gleeson left the post – as did her assistant Colin Healy – after the FAI decided not to renew her contract following the Euro 2025 play-off defeat to Wales.
And in apparent reaction to Tuesday night’s loss, she quoted an excerpt from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) by Robert Pirsig.
The quote goes as follows: “If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory.
“If a revolution destroys a government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves…
“There’s so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.”
The hammering against a side ranked 14 places lower than them in the FIFA world rankings left many of the players in shock after the game.
This included captain Katie McCabe, who had a night to forget on her 95th cap for the national team.
She was asked to put the defeat into the words by RTE‘s Tony O’Donoghue following the final whistle.
And in the midst of articulating her thoughts, the Arsenal star accidentally dropped an F-bomb mid-interview.
She admitted: “Yeah of course (it’s going to be difficult to accept).
“Look, we’re at the start of our journey with Carla and the coaching staff coming in.
“With a change of system there’s going to be hiccups like this but it shouldn’t have obviously been that big of a losing margin.
“But we’ll pick ourselves up. We’re a great bunch of players and girls.
“I know the girls f***ing love…sorry, absolutely love playing for their country.
“And we won’t put in a performance like that again.”
‘HUGE LEARNING’
It was the Girls in Green’s heaviest competitive defeat since losing 5-0 to Sweden in 2008 with no such mauling in the 78 matches Ireland played in the intervening period.
But while the Swedes were the best in the world, this was a Slovenia team not among the game’s elite.
Ward said that she was to blame for the result as players adjust to her more attacking system that the more defensive tactics used in the last five years.
She admitted: “It’s on me. You can’t have a half of football like that and expect to win the game.
“It is a horrible night but it is a huge learning curve at the minute.
“It’s my job and it’s important that I take the pressure away from the players.”
