Brian Kerr has claimed that he didn't see a scenario where he returned to the Irish football setup occurring again.
Kerr is now back in the Ireland frame and was appointed as a temporary technical advisor to interim Ireland manager John O'Shea for the home friendlies against Belgium and Switzerland, but this wasn't his first stint with the Ireland football setup.
The Dublin native led the Republic of Ireland U16, U18, and U20 teams between 1997 and 2003. At the 1997 World Youth Championships, Ireland finished third, with Duff an integral part of the process.
The following year, Kerr guided two of the Irish underage sides to an unprecedented double by winning both the under-16 and under-18 European Championships.
The likes of former Ireland players Richard Dunne, John O'Shea, and Robbie Keane all went on to become fully-fledged stars in England and world football thanks to Kerr's guidance.
Shortly after his stint with the underage sides, Kerr took the Ireland senior job after Mick McCarthy. Ireland's 2004 European Championship qualification began with defeats, but they rebounded with victories against Georgia and Albania. However, Ireland did not make it to Euro 2024, and he was eventually replaced by Steve Staunton.
Kerr's stint with Ireland, like O'Shea's, is likely to end unless circumstances change in the next few weeks, but for an emotional Kerr, he claims to have really enjoyed his time with Ireland again.
When asked how much it meant to be back involved with the Irish national team, Kerr said, "It's been quite emotional, really. Going to the game, I didn't see myself in that situation that I was in on Saturday, going to the game on the team bus and going into the team entrance with the team.
"I didn't actually see that coming around in my time in football again. So, that part was quite emotional, as was being involved with the players and the staff. But, you know, this is not about me. It's about trying to help out when asked in a period of Irish football that has probably been a little bit difficult lately.
"You're looking at non-qualification for tournaments. I've aired my frustrations over the last few years and worked in the media on that.
"And now, I was offered the opportunity to try and help out for just this brief period of time to give John and the staff, and the association, and whatever knowledge or experience I have if it's a benefit to the lads, I'm more than thankful to be given the opportunity."
Adding on to what his week with Ireland was like, Kerr said he was unfamiliar with the faces in the squad; it's been interesting to see the evolution of how Ireland prepares for games.
"Well, it's been very, very interesting and very enjoyable from my point of view. I didn't know any of the players personally except for Jam Mcra, who spent some time at St. Patrick's Athletic in the past, and I met him a couple of times then. But other than that, it was completely new for me," he added.
"But the good news was that I knew a lot of the staff, many of whom had played on successful underage teams in the past, and some of them played on the senior international team.
"So, it was nice to meet them all again. But all the new people have also been very, very welcoming to me, and it's been really, really nice and very interesting to see the development of the structures around the international team close up and the use of technology and how much that's been integrated into the preparations for the games."
