Heimir Hallgrimsson knows now that his challenge is to get Ireland to shed their old skin

Heimir Hallgrimsson has got a rapid education in the expectations of a small island on the edge of Europe where the football infrastructure is as dated as American optimism

Nobody expected the win in Helsinki to signal the return of the boom times in Irish football. But there was hope that a point could be scavenged in Athens, and four points on the road in a week would have been a fine thing.

Greece, unfortunately, were reading from a different script. They have become used to playing Ireland, and used to beating them. Home or away, it doesn't matter to them.

In Athens, club loyalties are often to the fore but the tragic passing of George Baldock saw many clasp the national team to their hearts. There was a feeling that a performance and a win was the demand, and Greece had a team in the mood to deliver.

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Greece got the win but put so much into the first hour that they gave Ireland hope as they chased an equaliser. But Ireland never turned that hope into something tangible.

When he holds all four games up to the light, Hallgrimsson will have learned plenty about his team over the last two international windows.

Irish mythology gives great store to the shape-changers - able to adapt and survive to every new challenge - and Hallgrimsson has quickly learned that this Ireland team needs to shed its old skin.

There had been a confidence deficit at the heart of the squad, an abdication of responsibility too. Some players had been willing to look for excuses rather than look in the mirror.

But successive managers had struggled to make anything like consistent progress. Instead, the only thing steady was decline.

Damien Duff is making his mark in management and it's clear that he has old school values. Back in his Ireland days, part of that old school attitude were regular sing-songs.

Duff had a party piece that was heard everywhere from hotel bars outside Tokyo, to airplane aisles, to victorious dressing-rooms while on Ireland duty.

When the noble call came, Duff would belt out 'Big Bad Leroy Brown'. There are a couple of lines from that song that resonate with Ireland over most of the past decade.

''When they pulled them from the floor,

Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle

With a couple of pieces gone."

Not a bad way to describe Ireland on so many miserable nights. A confused jumble. Shapeless and incomplete. A bit of a mess.

The hope was that the win in Helsinki would give the team the jolt similar to a shot of adrenaline.

During the end-game with Stephen Kenny, a banner turned up in the crowd at his last few matches. An image of Kenny celebrating a goal with a fist pump - alongside the slogan 'ní neart go cur le chéile'. There is no strength without unity.

Unity has often been hard to find during a fractious couple of decades for Irish soccer.

But there are plenty who are just weary to the bone of the crankiness and in-fighting. Hallgrimsson has got a rapid education in the expectations of a small island on the edge of Europe where the football infrastructure is as dated as American optimism.

Finland, the locals in Helsinki had told us, were ripe for the picking, so this was going to be a far bigger test.

Baldock's tragic passing last week had stunned his Greece teammates and, understanably, emotions were raw during the minute's silence before kick-off.

Once we got underway, it was clear that Greece were in business mode. They were bright and breezy, fast and forceful in the win over England at Wembley, and they took that attitude into this game too.

It was always going to be a game where much of Ireland's best work would have to be done without the ball.

Troy Parrott had been brought in to help Evan Ferguson up front when Ireland did break, and the latter had the chance of a snap shot but was off balance due to a hefty challenge.

Most of the action, though, was at the other end of the pitch, and Caoimhin Kelleher was kept busy. Far too busy.

Liam Scales did a reasonable impression of Richard Dunne's impression of an Iron Curtain in Moscow 13 years ago, but there was a feeling that Greece would eventually find a way.

In the end, the way they found was a familiar one. Ireland's Groundhog Day involves conceding goals from distance just after half-time. Greece captain Anastasios Bakasetas added his name to a list that is far too long. His strike deceieved Kelleher, thanks to a slight deflection off Scales.

Greece were coming forward in waves, players coming from all angles, Ireland far too often chasing shadows.

From all we know of Hallgrimsson, he is a pragmatic manager. A no frills operator and he definitely has a no frills squad to work with.

But Ireland need a bit of madness to their game too. Controlled aggression. Pass the ball, yes, but the bit of devil in the game is important too. Put a new spin on the old 'put 'em under pressure' template.

It's what everyone has been craving. There is a hunger for the power chords. Ireland need to make a bit of a racket, turn the amp up to 11, when they can.

Just 10 minutes into the second half, Festy Ebosele started warming up, readying himself to come in. He brought the madness in Helsinki, Ireland badly needed a dose of it now.

Jack Taylor of Ipswich Town got the nod too, a midfielder who is comfortable on the ball. In an area where they were being given the runaround, Ireland had an extra body now and Taylor went close to scoring with a header from a Josh Cullen cross. Close, but no cigar. And Greece made Ireland pay at the death.

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