"I'm the boss. I'm the gaffer. At the end of the day what I say goes. The buck stops with me."
Back in January 2006, Steve Staunton strode into the Mansion House in Dublin with Bobby Robson a few steps behind, stared down the press and delivered the message that he was the man in charge of the Republic of Ireland, not the man beside him who had won major honours in England, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Robson had joined Stan's ticket as 'international football consultant’ a very Linkedin way to describe what was essentially meant to be a steadying hand to a man whose first managerial role of note was the national team having been player-assistant manager with Walsall for half a season.
The intricacies of such partnerships are very hard to truly comprehend unless you are inside that particular bubble, but one thing’s for certain – the project didn’t work here, and Staunton and Robson's short reign left many fans befuddled about who actually was doing what.
Fast-forward 18 years and once again an Ireland press conference is causing some bewilderment as assistant coach John O’Shea, rather than recently-appointed head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, faced the media ahead on Monday ahead of this evening's UEFA Nations League B clash with Greece at the Aviva Stadium.
With Hallgrimsson already stressing that he was taking somewhat of a backseat for this window given his late surprise appointment, the balance is being scrutinised and it was the former interim manager and presumed possible full-time candidate O’Shea that had to face up the media scrum when pressed on it.
"The boss is the boss and there are clear lines on that," he responded when quizzed would it lead to confusion for the players in camp.
Not quite ‘the buck stops
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