Having fallen to England and Greece at home last month, former Iceland boss Hallgrimsson is hoping to avoid becoming the first Republic of Ireland manager to lose his first three games in charge.

In addition to Doherty and Robinson, Hallgrimsson also cut Everton defender Jake O’Brien and Sunderland midfielder Alan Browne from his squad while handing a first call-up to Luton Town defender Mark McGuinness.

And while O’Shea insists there remains an emphasis on delivering positive results, the desire to see “new combinations” was a factor in squad selection for this month’s window.

“We are fully focused on getting good results against Finland and Greece,” added the former Manchester United defender, who was interim boss for four games before Hallgrimsson’s appointment in July.

“You could say it is brave [to leave out established players] but it is a development in terms of what we’re looking for the group. We need to get a competitive, settled squad, but also knowing there is an option there to take it, can you take it?” O’Shea said.

“The balance needs to be struck over the next couple of games in particular. But then, when you see the [World Cup] draw, we know we have a healthy, competitive squad that leads to us being competitive in qualifying.”

Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje? It could have happened, or so Gaethje’s manager claims.

Ali Abdelaziz recently appeared on Submission Radio where he discussed a number of topics, including the possibility of a McGregor-Gaethje dream fight that may never happen. According to Abdelaziz, it’s McGregor who has been reluctant to accept the matchup.

“Let’s be real, Conor McGregor will never, will never, will never… he got offered this fight at least five times,” Abdelaziz said (transcription via Denis Shkuratov). “At least five. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess.”

Gaethje recently told a similar story to TMZ Sports, though he claimed it was actually six times that the McGregor fight was offered and not signed by his adversary. At the time, Gaethje said McGregor couldn’t risk fighting him because “How you lose to me is not how you can lose and continue to be Conor McGregor. That’s a big risk for him and he’s always saying something, trying to take the light away from people fighting in the cage.”

Abdelaziz has a different take on it, alleging that fighters are told not to feud with McGregor on social media if they want to be booked against him.

“The last five, six years we offered Justin Gaethje so many times,” Abdelaziz said. “Never once, never once, this man—Even the UFC, told me this, ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet.’ I promise you, he likes to be the one to start the talk and you retaliate.

“Why do you think [Michael] Chandler being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor. Conor has to start talking bad and he talk bad back. He’s a weak mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no-good, son of a bitch. This is what he is.”

The history between McGregor and Abdelaziz’s fighters dates back to McGregor’s ugly feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov. When the two fought at UFC 229, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor by fourth-round submission, but then exited the cage afterwards to initiate a brawl with McGregor’s teammates. McGregor, Nurmagomedov, and several of their associates were fined and suspended as a result of the incident.

Post-fight shenanigans aside, Abdelaziz believes the win was do definitive for Nurmagomedov that the outcome forever changed McGregor.

“It’s been six years since Conor lost his soul to Khabib,” Abdelaziz said. “Khabib took everything away from him. He took his manhood. He took his soul. He was never the same. He will never be the same. He took everything away from this man. This man, every time he look at himself in the mirror, he think about a Dagestani guy who wears a papakha, a wig. This is incredible. He ruined him.

“Khabib said, ‘I’m going to change your face. I’m going to change your mental.’ Remember that? The UFC lost so much money because of Khabib. But this is the game. You have to fight the best and Khabib was the best at the same time and Conor fought the best and he got whooped.”

JADE LEBOEUF stunned in the sun while on holiday in Morocco.

The daughter of Chelsea legend Frank is enjoying some time away with her mum.

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The pair visited the Ourika Valley in the Atlas Mountains region of Morocco.

Jade loved her trip and she dazzled in a low-cut top which helped her soak up the sun.

She flashed the camera a smile as she showed off her tattoos and slim figure.

Fans loved the look with one writing: “Too beautiful ❤️”

Another added: “Amazing 😍”

A third wrote: “Very classy Jade.”

And another commented: “Sublime photo 🤩”

Jade, 33, often dresses to impress and last month sent fans wild as she posed in black see-through lingerie.

That came just days after the model went braless as she showed off in a white top.

Jade has a big presence on social media with more than 240,000 Instagram followers.

She is married to French reality TV personality Stephane Rodrigues and the pair have a three-year-old son together.

Take a look inside Jade’s glamorous life…

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The issue with yellow cards pre-dates Maresca’s appointment in June.

Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke last season about how “silly” bookings were a problem and showed video clips to his players to try to rectify the issue.

The Blues were punished last season for not adapting to new Premier League rules for dissent.

Jackson picked up 10 bookings last season but only one was for a foul, the others were for dissent, not retreating quickly enough for a free-kick and entering the field of play when a substitute.

Other players fell foul in similar situations and captain Reece James received two red cards – including one for two yellows – despite playing just 421 minutes.

The immaturity of Chelsea’s young squad may be another factor and with centre-back Thiago Silva having departed in the summer the average age of the group has dropped further to 23.4, according to data from Transfermarkt.

The Blues also have the lowest average height in the league, according to Transfermarkt, averaging just over 5ft 8in, which was another issue Pochettino complained about when in charge.

It perhaps leads to a tendency for players to look at other ways to try and impart their physicality on matches.

And under both Pochettino and Maresca Chelsea are firmly a possession-based team, trying to implement various pressing styles. That pressing can lead to bookings in transition phases and there is a tendency for teams operating these tactics to produce tactical fouls to stop counter-attacks.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body which governs referees in England, has also changed the rules in recent years, with an automatic yellow card now expected to be brandished in several situations.

Netherlands legend Johan Neeskens has died at the age of 73, the Dutch football federation has confirmed.

The former midfielder was part of the Ajax and Netherlands teams credited with creating “total football” in the 1970s.

“With Johan Neeskens, the Dutch and international football world loses a legend,” the KNVB federation said in a statement.

Neeskens was capped 49 times for the Dutch and was part of the teams that finished runners up at the 1974 and 1978 World Cups.

At Ajax he helped them win the European Cup three times and their domestic league twice.

Neeskens also spent five seasons at Spanish giants Barcelona, winning the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup with them.

“His name is forever linked to European successes with clubs like Ajax and Barcelona and two World Cup finals for the Dutch national team,” the KNVB added.

“With his characteristic tackles, sublime insights and iconic penalties, [he] will forever remain one of the most prominent and beloved players to ever play for our country.”

After retiring as a player in 1991, Neeskens coached several clubs and was also an assistant coach with the Dutch national team from 1995 to 2000.