Back in 2017, Glenn Whelan signed a two-year deal at Aston Villa to help the English midlands club in their quest to return to the Premier League.
Two years on, and in the final hours of that deal, Villa made it back to the promised land, beating Derby County in the play-off final to secure their top flight status ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Whelan took flight soon after, making the most of a few free days to take a well-earned break with his wife and kids ahead of meeting up with the Ireland squad for international duty ahead of this week’s double-header with Denmark and Gibraltar.
On return, the midfielder had two missed calls. One from a journalist to tell him he had been released and another from the manager asking him to give him a call.
It wouldn’t take a genius to work out what the manager wanted to talk about, and from the player’s perspective, he was not expecting a new deal with the newly promoted club.
But there was certainly a tinge of disappointment with the way that it transpired, following a fine stint playing in the famous claret and blue where the Dubliner made close to 70 appearances over two seasons.
"To be released wasn't a surprise," said Whelan, speaking at the Ireland press conference. "Obviously at what stage I'm at in my career and where Aston Villa want to go.
"There was only one disappointment. I went away on the Tuesday with the family and when I landed back, I had two missed calls, one from a journalist saying I'd been released and one from the manager."
But on reflection, that did not take away from a very enjoyable time at Villa Park, rounded off perfectly with the play-off victory at Wembley Stadium. And the midfielder has since spoken to Dean Smith about the way things were handled, so Whelan leaves with nothing but good memories.
"It was a great day, a great occasion. I signed two years at Aston Villa to get them back in the Premier League and I got them there, so for me, mission complete.
"We just congratulated each other, wished each other all the best and that was it. There were no hard feelings – I've been in the game too long to hold grudges.
"I want to wish Aston Villa all the best, thank them for my time there, thank the fans, everyone that was involved. We'd some good times."
So on to the next chapter for the 35-year-old who has no intentions of hanging up the boots, while also pondering being unemployed for the first time in 20-odd years.
There is nothing in the pipeline at the moment, despite Whelan joking that Real Madrid were on the phone, and the midfielder is looking no further than Copenhagen on Friday and the match with Gibraltar back in Dublin on Monday.
"I want to play as long as I can and as high as I can, I want to try to make an impact wherever I go.
"I don't want to go anywhere and be a cheerleader, I want to go and have a chance of playing. I'm willing to fight for a spot, but as long as there's a fair fight, then I'll go and do that.
"This is what I didn't want because we've got two big games for Ireland. It's okay for Aston Villa and them celebrating, but my season hasn't finished yet, so I'm concentrating on Denmark first and then hopefully Gibraltar after a good result."
Whelan came back into the international set-up having been "retired" by former manager Martin O’Neill, and he admits that he wants to complete this current mission as well, as Ireland attempt to qualify for Euro 2020.
Far from mission impossible, Whelan would be honoured to play a major tournament in his home town, but is taking that assignment on a game-by-game basis.
That starts at the Parken Stadium on Friday night as Ireland look to maintain their 100 per cent Group D record, and while Whelan expects a very tough test, he believes that Ireland are playing with a renewed confidence which will give them great hope of getting a result.
"The players they have, the teams they play for, you need to be wary of. But we’ve got a different manager now, hopefully a different style and we want to make an impact and improve on what we did against Georgia.
"We’ve got a little bit of confidence with two wins, we can use that as much as we can to go into Friday and really give them a game."
Ireland have played Denmark four times over the past 19 months, and while the 5-1 defeat is the most memorable, there was also three times when the teams could not be separated, which shows that the confidence is not misplaced.
And with the new manager and new tactics in place, Whelan admitted that these are the types of games that brought him back to prolong his boyhood dream, playing for his country.
"The way Mick wants his teams to play, he wants them to be aggressive and in their face. He doesn’t want to sit back and let the opposition play their nice stuff, he wants us getting after them.
"When I spoke to the manager for his reasons for bringing me back was maybe in games like this where the No.10 or their attacking player you need to be more wary of.
"The position I’ve been playing, defensive midfield, I like to think I can make an impact. But whatever team goes out on Friday, we’ll be more than wary of not just Eriksen but their other attacking options."
Whelan has had offers to play further afield but upon speaking to McCarthy in relation to the rest of the Euro 2020 campaign, the former Stoke City man believes that he is best served sticking around the English Championship.
And the midfielder sees age as no barrier to prolonging his career and enthuses about the thoughts of playing for a new club next year, while being first to admit that he will know when the time is right to bow out of the game.
"I’ve played with some lads who have gone on to play until they were 38, 39. I was at Manchester City at the time that Stuart Pearce was there and I think we was still playing top level at 39 or 40.
"I think for some reason, you get to a certain age and a lot of people just think: ‘Bosh, that’s you done,’ but that’s not for me.
"Listen, I won’t hang around. I won’t be like a bad smell.
"I’ll know that when I’m done, I’m done, but if I can make an impact, some sort of impact, I am more than happy to stick around.
"I feel fit, I’ve been lucky with injuries. I’ve never been quick enough to get a hamstring. I’m okay on that side of things."
Ireland sign off for the season with a home fixture in Dublin against Gibraltar, and having spent a year out of the national team, Whelan knows that a good result in Denmark can give the side and the crowd a real lift for the remainder of the campaign.
"It would be unbelievable [to qualify and play in Dublin]. It’s one of the reasons I came back. Playing for Ireland is a dream, always been my dream.
"To play for your country, especially at home, is unbelievable. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself for 2020. We’ve got off to a good start, let’s keep it going.
"I had 12 months out of the team, and then I was fan. When results don’t go a certain way, obviously there’s a backlash.
"I’m certainly wary of giving the fans something to cheer about when we are there, whether it’s a shot on target or a tackle, anything to get the crowd going.
"Hopefully, we’ve brought that back a little from performance and result against Georgia but we’re only one game away from things sliding. Listen there’s a little bit of confidence and boost that we have, try and use that to our advantage."
Ireland’s last game at home resulted in a victory over Georgia, possibly overshadowed by the tennis ball protest that took place during the game.
Of course, the delay in play happened just as Ireland were about to take a free-kick, which turned out to be the winning goal of the game.
More tennis balls greeted the celebrating players and Whelan memorably caught one and hurled it back into the crowd amidst the euphoria.
"I didn’t realise it until afterwards," recalled Whelan. "People were saying ‘great catch’ and I was like ‘What are you on about?’", he laughed.
"Monday night, bring your tennis balls and hopefully we’ll score a few more goals."
Follow Denmark v Ireland via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the News Now app. Watch the match live on RTÉ2 or listen to national radio commentary on RTÉ 2fm's Game On.
