John O'Shea’s main priority at the start of this international window was to set the tone with his assembled squad.
The players gathered at the team hotel in Castleknock over St Patrick’s weekend, and the interim manager kicked off proceedings with a meeting to discuss the ten-day camp and what was expected in the build-up to the two games with Belgium and Switzerland.
O’Shea asked the players to buy into his plans, aimed at creating a winning mentality within the squad, and one week on, the new manager has been delighted with the response that he has got from all involved.
The former Manchester United defender spoke about the importance of creating a connection with the players and believes that has been achieved, and the team will go into Saturday’s game expecting to cause Belgium problems.
With only a couple of weeks to appoint a back-room team, then scout and select 26 players for this international window, O’Shea felt that the real work in his new role really began with that initial team meeting, while it will step up once the whistle goes at 5pm on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.
"When you first get the players together and you are chatting to them for the first time, that is the key part, to set the tone for the week ahead," said O’Shea, speaking at the pre-match press conference.
"But ultimately, gametime is the crucial part," he added.
"And that’s where the preparation comes into it, the final details, which we will put in place today and then a switch off for the boys to relax and focus in on the kick-off tomorrow and the plan."
O’Shea has been in the dressing room for previous Ireland games as both a player and coach, however, this will be the first time that he will take centre stage, delivering a team-talk ahead of the game.
And while he has played under a number of managers with a wide range of personalities and styles to draw from, he said that he will be keeping things simple. He will ask Brian Kerr to address the squad at some point, while also allowing the players to offer valuable contributions ahead of kick-off.
"In terms of the team-talk beforehand, tomorrow will be straightforward in terms of what we will be looking for and what will be needed from the players, ultimately bringing it all together to get a big performance to win at the Aviva," said O’Shea.
"There’ll be a point where Brian [Kerr] will talk to the lads, whether that’s today in the hotel or whether that’s tomorrow.
"It will be myself talking to the players mainly [in the dressing room], the detail we will go into, in terms of when we get the [Belgium] team-sheet through, little pointers from the coaches, detail on that, and then it’s out for the warm-up, and then it will be everyone talking beforehand.
"The players, in general, lead a lot of it too which is brilliant to see. It’ll just be the finer details. There always has to be a part of that in an Irish dressing room. It’s a huge part."
O’Shea is adamant that the potential to win games is all about the players, and while those who have spoken to the media this week have been full of praise for the new man in charge, the interim boss believes it all comes down to connecting with the squad.
"I’ve worked under many managers that have played at different levels, and it’s just a case of you’re trying to get a connection as soon as you can with the players to make them feel relaxed," said O’Shea, when asked about players reacting to managers who have played at a high level.
"Because ultimately as I’ve stressed before, they’re the key to everything, they’re the key to performing, to winning matches and you just have to try and get that connection with the group and whatever team is selected, they’re backing each other up no matter what.
"It’s the type of game, the intensity that is going to be needed, we’ll be making changes at different stages that will, hopefully, maintain the strength of the team that will maximise what I’m talking about, that intensity for a full 90 plus as they say."
A baptism of fire for the manager who takes charge of his maiden match against the world’s fourth-ranked side, but O’Shea is happy to take on that challenge head on and believes that the squad can be competitive against their esteemed opponents.
"Look it’s a huge task, but one myself, the staff and the players have said 'what game would you want?’
"We’d want a big game, we’d want a tough task, and we have that with Belgium.
"But you have to have the belief, the plan, the structure hopefully that can cause Belgium problems.
"We fully respect they’ve good players all over Europe playing in top leagues and that will be a challenge when the team-sheet comes through and you see who you’re up against, but one ourselves and the players are relishing."
O’Shea said that he would inform the squad of the starting XI at some point on Friday, however, he was not offering any indication of who might be playing at the pre-match press conference.
Josh Cullen’s appearance alongside the manager on Friday would suggest he would start in midfield, otherwise O’Shea was keeping his cards close to his chest.
"Possibly yeah," said O’Shea, when asked were Sammie Szmodics’ 27 goals too hard to ignore.
"When you look on the bench in terms of options there are a couple of players in form for certain slots.
"It is a decision we will get to very quickly. It is the balance in the team to make sure we have enough to hurt Belgium and have enough to control them as well. That's the key one for me."
"Well the main thing will be supply and getting him in the box," said O’Shea, when asked about Evan Ferguson.
"If selected, the key thing is getting him in the box where he’s most dangerous. Getting supply to him and getting him to relax and enjoy his football.
"That’s the key thing for me because he’s got a bit of everything. He’s got a lot in the locker. If you get him closer to goal, in between the posts in the box shall we say, he’s going to be big danger to Belgium."
And the obligatory question about the goalkeeper scenario, however, O’Shea was non-committal and said that while it was a tough call, it was a case of wait and see.
"It’s a difficult decision in terms of we’ve three really good goalkeepers in the squad," said O’Shea.
"Caoimhin is playing now at a level that's very good, Gavin has been playing all season, consistently well. Mark started the season on loan at Stoke and is back now and played some cup games for Bournemouth.
"Look, when you see some of the training sessions that they’re doing, and the saves they make, it’s a really healthy department, but we’ll just see what decision we come up with tomorrow."
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