Whether he's reflecting on the good times or the bad, Brian Gartland always speaks with a straight matter-of-factness.
Setbacks are part of the game. Success is fleeting. Never believe the hype.
These are principles that ripple through Dundalk's dressing room, feeding a culture of hunger and desire. It's why the Lilywhites have already put Monday's title triumph to the back of their minds. The biggest game of the campaign is still ahead of them
"There were great celebrations on Monday," Gartland told RTÉ Sport at the FIFA 20 League of Ireland Cover Launch. "Nothing over the top though; we went out, had a few beers and enjoyed ourselves but we were back in on Tuesday doing our cool-down recovery and a bit of work for the lads that didn't play.
"It's a massive game in Sligo now. That's where all eyes are on. We've parked the celebrations and all the plaudits until after then."
Dundalk have a lot of games behind them, a lot of minutes in the legs, but Vinny Perth has a squad equipped to deal with that. They have two trophies in the cabinet already - the league and the EA Sports Cup - and Gartland admits that completing the domestic treble is a scratch they need to itch.
Twice - in 2015 and in 2018 - they had opportunities to do it. Shock League Cup semi-final defeats to Galway United and Cobh Ramblers blew those ambitions off course. It still rankles.
"They were games we should have been winning to put ourselves in a position to win a treble," reflected Gartland.
"We look back on 2015 and on last year as two trebles we kind of left behind. That comes from the hunger of the team, the hunger for success.
"It's easier to keep going when you're winning but we're used to this... having two games a week for ten weeks, 12 weeks. The hard thing is to park celebrations.
"You're getting pats on the back, plaudits, and you need to park that because the league is won and you've got to look to the next thing. You put it behind you and at the end of the season you can celebrate it. If you go and lose on Sunday, it puts a sour taste in the mouth and it takes away from the accomplishments of the last few weeks.
"It would dampen it a bit. That's why this is massive - it's now our biggest game of the season."
Gartland, now 32, has been at the heart of Dundalk's golden period since 2014. He now has five league winner's medals to go with two FAI Cups and three League Cups, not to mention the memories of that incredible run to the Europa League group stages in 2016.
A mainstay for years, his role has been reduced the last couple of months with Perth spoiled for choice at centre-back. Daniel Cleary (below), Andy Boyle and Sean Hoare are all at his disposal, and Gartland has found himself kicking his heels.
"The last couple of months have been quite difficult for me. Up until the break in June, or the week after it, I'd played 17 league games out of 22 or 23. We have rotation and that's grand, I'm happy with that because it's for the good of the team.
"But I suppose the last couple of months I've had less of the domestic games - I've probably played a third instead of two thirds. I've played five or six games in the last month.
"I have to keep myself ready if I'm called upon to play. You can't be saying 'I want to be in the team' and then when you get your chance you don't do it, you cost your team a result. It's part and parcel of football.
"That lads who have been playing, any combination out of the four centre-halves in my position, they've been excellent. Selfishly you're frustrated, but you've got to think of the good of the team as well.
"People forget the first part of the season and how much I played. In my head, I know what I've contributed."
The man who guided Gartland to so much glory was in the stands to watch them seal their latest league triumph with victory over Shamrock Rovers.
Stephen Kenny moved on last autumn to take on the Republic of Ireland Under-21s job and, ultimately, the seniors. He remains close to Gartland, who messaged his former boss after his recent health scare in Sweden.
"I sent him a couple of texts last week. He's doing fine. I didn't get to talk to him (on Monday). I only heard during the game (he was there).
"Stephen is always congratulating us, wishing us the best of luck and stuff like that. Probably when the hustle and bustle of this season, and obviously his season, comes to a close I'll catch up with him for a coffee.
"A year ago you're reading in the papers, 'where are the next players coming from in this country? We're relying on England to produce them, there's nothing coming through, there's nothing coming through'. All of a sudden it's, 'this is the best generation of talent we've had'.
"That talent was there a year ago. It's just that it's been nurtured, given the confidence to go and play, given a platform to perform. That's Stephen's best quality. He gets the best out of people.
"The proof is there. What he's doing is working. I wish him every luck with it."
Perth has kept the good times rolling at Oriel Park and ensured their ruthless edge has not been blunted.
For that, says Gartland, he deserves huge credit. The more things change at Dundalk the more they stay the same; not that anyone there is taking things for granted.
"Football is funny. You can be top of the game one minute and straight down the bottom the next, whether you're a player, a team, a coach, it can flip in a minute.
"A lot of people win something and think, 'well that's the goal achieved'. Why not go on and do it again and again and again? That's what we have at the club. There's no point in turning up at our club if you're just happy to play or compete, or win once. You need to have the hunger and the drive to win everything you compete in.
"There's massive questions asked every year. When we lost Richie Towell, Ronan Finn, Andy Boyle, Daryl Horgan, the list goes on. Then your manager, who's arguably one of the best in the League of Ireland ever, he goes. When players leave, we get our backs up a little bit because that's questioning us.
"Vinny has stuck to the belief in what we're doing and it's shone through."
Follow Sligo Rovers v Dundalk (5pm) with our FAI Cup semi-final live blogs on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News Now App, watch live on RTÉ2 and listen live on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
