John O'Shea's brief initial stint as Ireland manager begins in a grand setting this Saturday as the Belgians come to Dublin.
He'll be flanked by his former international manager Brian Kerr, for a long time regarded as a kind of lost leader in exile by a cohort of Irish supporters.
There are surface level similarities with the infamous Steve Staunton-Bobby Robson ticket of the mid-2000s.
International centurion and celebrated defender takes the reins, drafting in a grand old man as influential advisor.
Though it's only promised to be short-term, hopefully things go smoother this time.
At the nadir of the Staunton regime following the 2-1 win over San Marino, Robson, who was recovering from cancer surgery at the time, was sent out to bat for his beleaguered manager on Liveline, where he had to listen patiently to Brush Shiels' thoughts on team selection and was repeatedly interrogated as to whether he had Stan's number "on speed dial".
Kerr's belated return to the international fold, however brief, has delighted those supporters who've always maintained he got a raw deal when ditched at the end of the 2006 qualifying campaign.
A few of his staunch critics have since repented - albeit not, we understand, the then CEO. Liam Brady, who bluntly called for his removal after the turgid goalless draw against Switzerland in November 2005, even touted him as Stephen Kenny's successor over Christmas, with Damien Duff and Stephen Bradley to be drafted in as assistants.
A loyal constituency have painted Kerr's removal as a historic wrong turn for the national team, though there were plenty of conflicting perspectives on that. Namely, that he failed to qualify - however, narrowly - with a team of decent quality and paid for his conservatism in the fatal games against Israel.
In his punditry on Virgin Media Sport, Kerr was a particularly vociferous critic of Kenny's. As a weary veteran of the role, he seemed a tad irritated by Kenny's cockeyed optimism early doors.
"I felt right from the beginning he underestimated how difficult it was going to be to win international matches," Kerr said in the wake of the 2-0 home loss to Greece, the game which confirmed beyond doubt that the manager was headed for the exit door.
"In the early interviews, I felt he cast aspersions on the style of football that previous managers played," Kerr said of Kenny later on. "There was a little bit of me going, 'was he thinking about me when he was saying that?' But I would say the managers after me certainly felt that."
The current managerial search has dragged on as long as the US Presidential primary race and been almost as undignified in places.
From the outside, it appeared the FAI have been confronted with a predicament familiar to dissatisfied heroines at the start of romcoms: they don't want the people who want the job, and the people they want don't want the job.
There is, for the most part, a healthy realism about the type of manager we can expect to attract, given the financial constraints.
God be with the days when the Irish managerial search used to be discussed on The Marian Finucane Show on a Sunday morning and one of the political heavy hitters would point out that Alex Ferguson had done a heck of a job at Manchester United and why hadn't the FAI asked him?
Neil Lennon, who was the most loudly enthusiastic about getting the job, said the FAI's feedback was that they wanted a manager with more international experience.
Big Sam Allardyce indicated on Second Captains that he wouldn't mind a crack at the role, though he expressed concern that the 'tippy-tappy football' fad had also taken root over here.
The purists, who have railed against every manager since Trapattoni, have had their coughs softened slightly by the failure of the Kenny project. The appointment of a throwback candidate like Allardyce would be too much of a red-line issue, however.
A reversion to route-one football doesn't chime with the current mood in Abbotstown, director of football Marc Canham said they didn't wish for "a huge departure" from the Kenny model but wanted a "more adaptable, more pragmatic" approach to games against high ranking opponents.
Kenny would argue, with some justice, that he was plenty pragmatic in games at home to France and against Portugal in the World Cup campaign - indeed, these games represented some of the finest performances during his reign. Ireland defended resiliently in those games while still retaining an attacking threat. Had they held out in Faro, it would undoubtedly have gone down in the Hall of Fame of great Irish victories. It wasn't to be.
So far in this race, a candidate emerging as bookies' favourite has usually been the immediate precursor to their name being ruled out altogether.
Chris Coleman, former Wales manager and son of a Dubliner, was briefly declared to be a shoo-in before being abruptly withdrawn from consideration.
Slaven Bilic and Willy Sagnol's names emerged from leftfield before cold water was thrown.
Gus Poyet, who was much taken with the enthusiasm of the Irish football public in contrast to the hard-pleased folk over in Athens, has been name-checked.
The fragments of information that have emerged from this most exhaustive managerial headhunt have led outside observers to engage in futile games of 'Guess Who?' as they try to piece things together.
The FAI have committed to an early April announcement and Canham said a fortnight ago that "existing contractual obligations means we are not in a position to announce any further details at this point."
This led many to assume that the FAI's longstanding target Lee Carsley was set to take over and they were just waiting until after the next U21 international window to make it official.
This, again, has been denied by his current employers, the FA. And Kerr told Ray D'Arcy it was his understanding that Carsley was out of the running.
"Though I could be wrong," he added.
At the end of it all, some might even be content at letting the O'Shea/Kerr combo run longer than two friendly games, despite the former's lack of managerial experience.
Eileen Gleeson was supposed to be interim gaffer until she wasn't.
Across the water, Gareth Southgate was hastily installed as interim manager in the wake of the Big Sam's fateful tete a tete with a fictitious Asian businessman. Until then, the most notable detail on his CV was getting relegated with Middlesbrough.
Asked at last week's press conference - by journalists ravenous for any hint of information - whether he'd spoken to the incoming permanent manager, O'Shea offered a curt reply.
"I've just been speaking to myself."
The window is a free hit for the interim regime. It's already brought good news in confirmation of Sammie Szmodics' commitment to the cause, the wild claims of Hungary's chastened gaffer being given short shrift in yesterday's press conference.
Unlike in Kerr's or Stan's term, they aren't burdened by lofty expectation. Anything outside of two defeats and they will probably emerge in credit.
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