INTERNATIONAL SOCCER/News:  As he passed through airport security on the way home from a busman's holiday at the European Championships in 1996, Brian Kerr was asked his occupation by a policeman on the look-out for members of the IRA cell that had devastated the centre of Manchester only a couple of days previously.

The request posed a minor dilemma for the Dubliner, whose championship success with St Patrick's Athletic just a few weeks earlier was unlikely to have been the talk of the Met. He had a day job, too, but the phrase "lab technician" was likely to send the man with powers of lengthy detention into a dance of celebration usually reserved for celebrating a cup final-winning goal scored deep into injury time.

Kerr took his chances and replied "football manager" which earned him a sceptical look followed by welcome indifference.

Almost seven years later the security man at Glasgow became one of the first "non-nationals" to recognise the new Ireland boss on his travels. "Did you enjoy last night?" inquired the friendly Scot. "Only the last two minutes," replied Kerr, "when I knew we were going to win."

Back in Dublin it was all equally low key. With the players having gone directly back to their clubs, the Irish party's return home went almost unnoticed. There would be little rest for Kerr, who had a few things to get done before heading down to Dalymount for last night's under-19 game against Slovakia, but before he went on his way he took a few moments to reflect on his first game as senior team manager.

At Hampden Park the previous evening the 4,000 or so Irish fans had hailed him as enthusiastically as they had cursed their long-time hero, Roy Keane. Asked whether he had been conscious, with all that had been going on around him, that he was the subject of a song or two in the stands, he chuckled dismissively.

"Oh yeah," he said, "there was all sorts of mad stuff going on. They were singing lots of people's names, but that sort of stuff can very easily change, whose name is in what song and that sort of stuff."

The win, though, was a welcome end to a highly productive few days. Well, almost anyway. The real end had come later in the hotel where Kerr and Noel O'Reilly sat up late into the night chatting with Liam Tuohy and Chris Hughton.

"It was very special for me," remarked Kerr, who added that the FAI's decision to invite Tuohy to Glasgow had been "a lovely touch".

Pressed about the extent to which the performances of his players in Hampden will influence his selection for the much more important qualifying games against Georgia and Albania, he was non-committal.

"I wanted Steve Finnan to start this game, and then the day before the game found out that he had a cold and he wouldn't be able to take part. That was 24 hours before the kick-off, so there isn't really much point talking to you now about what my starting line-up might be in six weeks time."

Shay Given, he did say, would remain the team's first choice goalkeeper "as long as he maintains his form", but after that there were no clues as to his intentions, even if it hard to imagine that strong performances by the likes of John O'Shea, Steven Reid and Clinton Morrison won't have influenced his thinking.

Even setting aside the game, however, he expressed considerable satisfaction with the way his first trip in charge had gone.

"It was busy," he sighed, "with most of the few spare moments spent sleeping, but I've learnt a lot of about the players individually, collectively, ability-wise, their approach, how disciplined they are.

"They were probably a bit edgy with Chris and me, too, because it's not quite like it was before, a few things have changed, some of the pre-match stuff that they were used to. I'm aware of that. But I feel it went well and there was a lovely tension in the dressing-room beforehand that I liked."

He was pleased, too, with the reaction to his arrival. "I didn't doubt that there'd a be a response, though. You get that at clubs when a new manager comes in, but it does take a win for people to realise that (after some disappointing results) things are going to be a bit different, and hopefully we can build on that now because we're at the bottom of the table."