Seamus Coleman trained with Sheffield United in the summer, but he remains without a club since leaving Everton at the end of the season
Seamus Coleman
Seamus Coleman(Image: (Tiego Grenho/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
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Seamus Coleman has started his new hybrid role with the Republic of Ireland after admitting he is considering retiring from playing. Coleman has been without a club since ending a 17-year association with Everton at the end of last season.
The defender was left out of the Ireland squad for the September/October Nations League quadruple-header and was again not in Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad for this month’s games. However, Hallgrimsson last week made a point of revealing that Coleman would join up with the group for the game against Austria and Kosovo.
The Everton legend linked up with the Ireland squad on Monday and will work alongside the management group while also taking part in some of the team’s training schedule, leaving the door open to adding to his 81 international caps.
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“I can inform you that Seamus will be in some sort of a hybrid role in this camp. He is going to do the sessions with the players, but he is going to be in a leadership role and supportive role with us as coaches,” Hallgrimsson explained.
“Hopefully that will get him to start playing again. That’s our aim, to try to push him to continue playing.
“He has expressed that he wants to do that. We need to see where he is at. He hasn’t done team training for some period now, so we need to see where he is at.
“Obviously it’s tempting (to call him up) with how he did for us without playing much for Everton. It makes us believe that he can always play for the national team and do good. But we will have to wait and see.”
Coleman made 433 appearances for the Blues and was offered a coaching role by David Moyes before departing the club in the summer.
And while he recently stopped short of fully announcing his retirement, Coleman did admit he is 'edging towards' calling time on his playing career.
"I had hopes and ambitions of maybe possibly staying playing on," he said on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate.
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"The longer I've been off and the more I've been around the family, we've been back home for Halloween break with the kids, the more I'm content with what I'm doing at the minute."
Asked whether he was officially retiring from the sport, Coleman replied: "I don't want to completely draw a line in the sand, as I said I've been keeping fit. But it's edging towards that way - and happily as well.
"Regarding what's next, I've been enjoying family time. I'm doing this [punditry] now and seeing if I enjoy it and see how it goes."