Emmet Malone talks to Kerr's trusted assistant Noel O'ReillyBrian's backroom boys
It was less than half an hour after Brian Kerr had heard the big news from back home that Noel O'Reilly gave the new Ireland manager the first piece of advice in this, the latest stage of their long and productive relationship.
The pair were in Abu Dhabi last week with the Irish under-20 team, who still had a match to play against France the next day, when Kerr came pounding on O'Reilly's room at the Millennium Hotel with the good news.
After 20 minutes of what O'Reilly describes as "joyous madness", at 2.40 a.m. local time on Friday, the former St Patrick's Athletic and Belvedere Boys coach was beginning to sense his long-time friend was on for setting about his new job immediately.
"He was sitting there at the end of the bed," smiles O'Reilly, "saying, 'Let's do this, let's do that . . . get out the calendar.' And I said to him, 'Brian, forget the calendar, we'll do all that tomorrow. How about we go to bed and get some sleep'."
That calming influence O'Reilly possesses on his old friend is often to be seen on match days or in their dealings with the many players that have passed their way over the years. His role now will be the same as it has always been and, as usual, the simple term "coach" hardly starts to do it justice.
"The bottom line, though, is that Brian is the manager," he says with his usual hint of a smile. "He will have the last word, if I can put it that way, but he is always looking for as much information as he can possibly lay his hands on from those around him, he never tires of talking to people that he feels he might get something out of, that's the way he operates and I suppose that's the idea of a team around the manager."
He admits to having been slightly surprised by the news Kerr had been chosen by the association over the other names on the shortlist, even though, he says: "I always thought he had a great shot at the job. I suppose I just didn't know enough about the process to really know how he would get on. But it's brilliant that it's happened."
Like Kerr, O'Reilly, who has been coaching full-time with the FAI since leaving his job at St Joseph's School for the Visually Impaired on Dublin's northside five years ago, has been inundated with messages of congratulations since news leaked out about his appointment over the weekend. His only regret is that some of those closest to him aren't here to enjoy the honour of it with him.
"A couple of years ago my ma died," he says quietly, "just around the time when we won all those trophies. Now you get news like this and the people you really want to tell aren't there."
The work, though, continues. This weekend the Dubliner will be out there as usual watching players, assessing their form. He looks amused when you ask whether it will make any difference that it will be at some vast Premier League stadium rather than a reserve or youths team game somewhere.
"It doesn't bother me one way or the other," he beams. "And anyway, if I'm supposed to look at a game over there on a Saturday afternoon I'll still try to get home here that night so I can get in my quota of two matches on Sunday morning followed by a game at a higher level and maybe a National League one in the afternoon.
"It's a huge workload," somebody says.
"Nah," he fires back, "it's a great workload."
Packie Bonner: Technical director/goalkeeping coach Born: May 24th, 1960, in Keadue, Co Donegal. Joined Celtic from Keadue Rovers in 1978 and two years later established himself as first-choice goalkeeper at the club, a status he retained for more than a decade. Won four championship medals and a variety of cup honours with the club. At international level, Bonner played 80 times for the Republic and remained the only goalkeeper to have played for the country in a major finals tournament until last summer. He will be best remembered for his penalty save against Romania's Daniel Timofte that sent the Republic of Ireland through to the quarter-finals of Italia'90.
Chris Hughton: Assistant manager. Born: December 11th, 1958, in London. An outstanding full back who played 53 times for the Republic. The highlight of his career with the Republic came in 1988 when he played in all three of Ireland's games at the European Championship finals in Germany. With the exception of the three-year spell at the start of the 1990s when he was at, first, West Ham and then Brentford (winning promotion with both), Hughton has been with Tottenham, winning two FA Cups and one UEFA Cup as a player, and went on to become first-team coach after Ossie Ardlies initially brought him back to look after the youths. Holds the prestigious UEFA Pro Coaching Licence.
