Familiarity may well breed contempt, however, in John O'Shea’s case it allowed him to hit the ground running when he took the reins of the national team last month.
Having previously worked with the Ireland Under-21s and the senior squad, O’Shea had an in-depth knowledge of the players at his disposal and those he would place his trust in for his perceived short stint at Ireland manager.
Since retiring from the playing side of things five years ago, O’Shea has been plotting his way towards becoming a manager, not just with the Ireland set up but from the end of his playing days at Reading, as well as at Stoke City and Birmingham City.
It all put O’Shea in a strong position to confidently and quickly assemble a squad and name a starting XI for his first game in charge; the scoreless draw with Belgium on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.
A familiar side but with the stamp of the new man in charge, and most notably in the centre of midfield where O’Shea opted to send Will Smallbone in to work hand in hand with Josh Cullen.
Cullen was the mainstay of the previous regime, tasked with sitting in front of the defence during the Stephen Kenny era, however, it could be argued that the Burnley man put in one of his most commanding performances against Belgium.
Named player of the match for his all-round play, Cullen was aided enormously by his fellow midfielder, Smallbone, who was equally impressive throughout.
The two moved about the pitch almost as if a ten-metre rope was attached to them throughout such was the symmetry in their performances around the middle of the park.
And it was very much part of the plan from the new manager who knows the two players very well, identifying a perfect partnership to anchor his side against the fancied Belgians.
"I know Josh very well and I know Will very well in terms of when he came into the 21s, I worked with him at Stoke as well," said O’Shea, when asked to comment on their partnership and performance.
"And a few times he has done it for Southampton too, that six position or lower pivots in midfield, that is the connection that we just felt was going to be key in terms of protecting the team," added the manager.
"But also a huge chance for us to exploit on the counterattack with their passing ability to connect the teams, either short passing, combining themselves, little angles to find the pockets of Sammie and Chieo, that was a key thing for me, that is what we were looking for.
"And I thought the two of them, because we knew, in terms of physicality, Belgium have some big boys in there too, that we knew we would have to go up against, battle away, nick the ball away, press when we could, and the two of them were really aggressive on that front too."
And speaking after the game, Smallbone felt that there was vital communication from the back three of Andrew Omobamidele, Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea, which allowed himself and Cullen to execute the midfield role that was asked of them.
"I think it was a very positive performance, from not just us, but from the whole team," said Smallbone, when asked about his pairing alongside Cullen.
"Going into the week, we all wanted positivity and a positive result, and on another day, I think we maybe win the game, and from playing against a top nation like Belgium, we really showed what we can do out there.
"We worked on things during the week in training and I think they came to the fore today, and we managed it really well, the lads behind us were excellent with their communication and that gave us the freedom to push on and then push the front lads on, and I think it was a very positive performance from us."
And looking beyond Tuesday’s game against Switzerland, and to the permanent manager who is set to be announced in April, Smallbone was asked how the players were coping with the uncertainty and whether it was a difficult time for the squad.
"When we come into the camp, it is the proudest honour for anyone to be playing for Ireland. It doesn’t matter who is in charge, we will give our all on the pitch," he said.
"I think John has been brilliant and the staff he has brought in have been brilliant, and I think we have had a real positive performance, so hopefully we can kick on to Tuesday and get a win."
