Ward's new assistant Sorensen named Villa interim boss

Carla Ward's new Republic of Ireland assistant coach Brian Sorensen has been named interim boss of WSL side Aston Villa following the sacking of Natalia Arroyo.

Gary Cronin departed as Ward's backroom staff in August, leaving a vacancy that had to be filled with the Girls in Green heading towards a crucial World Cup play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan.

Former Everton manager Sorensen - who is currently a technical advisor at Villa - got the nod. However events at the Birmingham outfit today have increased his commitments at the club and raised questions about his availability for the upcoming Irish camp.

Sorensen will be in the dugout for Wednesday's Subway Players Cup tie against Newcastle. Villa then have a league game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the day before Ireland fly out to Astana for the first lef of the play-off.

Ward managed Villa for three years, stepping away from the job in 2024.

At her squad announcement press conference on Tuesday morning, she was effusive in her praise of the experienced Dane.

"I've known Brian (above) a long time," said Ward. "Interestingly enough, when the first (assistant coach appointment) process came around (before Cronin was appointed), I had spoken to Brian about a number of different candidates because we have a good relationship and I respect his opinion.

"I wanted to try and look at who can I bring in within my network that I know, that I trust, that understands high performance, that understands working with female athletes, elite female athletes, and Brian ticked all those boxes.

"So the idea was to come in for the next couple of windows. He will be an assistant coach, similar to Amber (Whiteley, who is also an assistant at Liverpool). They will both have similar roles and responsibilities, and then at the end of the year, we'll assess where we're at."

When asked why Cronin had moved on, Ward replied: "I think in life, in football, you make decisions that you hope are the right decisions, and sometimes things simply don't work out on both sides.

"It was just a decision that we had to move and move quickly on because I think there's probably strength in understanding that sometimes it doesn't work out the way you wish it had. We made that decision, we moved on, and yeah, we'll bring Brian in, and we look forward now."

Ward will be without Katie McCabe, Marissa Sheva (both suspended) and Saoirse Noonan (ankle) for the first leg in Kazakhstan. Denise O'Sullivan will be rested to manage her load, with Ward adding: "It's a long travel. It's an artificial pitch, and something we decided would be in the best interest of keeping her fit. She's played an awful lot of minutes, she’s recovering from a (knee) injury and she’s come back.

"I took the decision purely on player welfare and trying to have her ready for (the second leg in) Cork."

There is one new face in the squad: Crystal Palace midfielder Shanade Hopcroft (above) has received her first call-up. The England-born 28-year-old is eligible to represent Ireland through her granny, who hails from Tubbercurry, Co Sligo.

"I've been watching her for a couple of years," Ward said of the new recruit. "She's somebody that I think brings experience. She's playing WSL football.

"She's tenacious, she can get around the middle of the park. She's somebody that I think brings a bit of experience as well. She's played every minute of the WSL so far. We're excited to get her in."

Hopcroft's inclusion has nudged Ruesha Littlejohn out of the picture.

Littlejohn has long been a favourite of Ward's but has been without a club since May when she departed Palace.

"The door is well and truly open for Ruesha," said the head coach. "As you know, I’ve huge admiration for Ruesha. I had (her at) two clubs and now have the joy of working with her here.

"What she offers the group, we don’t have that, it’s unrivalled. She leads the leaders, she helps the younger players, and she’ll be a huge loss. I find it crazy that she doesn’t have a club, but we know nowadays it’s not all about what you do on the pitch.

"I hope she gets a club, and if she doesn’t, I’ll be knocking on the door of the senior bosses, saying we need to keep her in some capacity. What she can offer is massive.

"She is training with a Championship club. Let's hope that Championship club signs her, because I think they need her."

Ward also revealed she met with Republic of Ireland men's head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson (above) this morning.

The Icelander has endured a very rocky few days after his team's controversial Nations League game againt Israel in Debrecen.

Offering her support for Hallgrimsson, Ward added: "I reach out to him a lot. It has been (challenging). I had breakfast with him this morning and we talked honestly about the women and the position that we're in and everything that's coming up.

"Look, Heimir has my full support always. We have a really strong, close working relationship."

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