"Ask me again after Switzerland" is what John O'Shea said when asked would he take the Ireland job, if offered.
The assembled media in Dublin, however, were not prepared to wait another 24 hours until the culmination of the second game of the double header, and sure enough, the questions were lined up for the interim manager.
By the end of the 25-minute grilling, he was using cricketing parlance, using a "straight bat" to send the questions right back in the direction that they came.
However, in the meantime, it became abundantly clear that O’Shea has been bitten by the management bug, and he would not be overly impressed if all his hard work over the past month counted for nothing.
"Ifs, buts and maybes" was how he replied when a scenario was put to him about a change of heart from the FAI for this supposed permanent manager they have lined up for their April announcement.
Early on, O’Shea confirmed that there had been no change of the arrangement with the FAI’s director of football Marc Canham regarding his role post Switzerland, while the only thing that he was really certain about was spending the Easter holidays with his wife and kids.
If the FAI have yet to confirm whether or not they want O’Shea for the job, it transpires that his former Manchester United manager believes he is the right man for the job, according to one of the reporters who claimed that he had spoken to Alex Ferguson at Cheltenham.
"The manager would always have contact with me anytime I went into a different role at a club," replied O’Shea. "And what he said to me when I finished playing was, make sure you are involved in the coaching and management side of it now, because you have the temperament for it and the knowledge for it.
"Look, it’s been brilliant to have that backing and that advice, like I’ve always had from him.
"The big thing he said to me was to enjoy it, trust your instincts and you have to make big decisions; make them, stick to them and believe in them."
Speaking about the time in his new role, O'Shea offered good insight into his extra responsibilities when compared to his role as an assistant coach.
"The first one, is picking the team, final confirmation of the team," said O’Shea.
"Talking to your coaches about your approach to the game, and then speaking to the players; maybe they were thinking they might be in the team etc. Just to have that conversation and the reasons why certain players were picked to start ahead of them. In general, that would be the main thing.
"Then, talking to your good selves (the media) every couple of days, getting used to same questions in different ways, different angles, having that approach.
"I’d amazing experience and education in that sense at Champions League press conferences from an early age, dealing with that.
And then one more question from the floor.
"John, are you really okay with stepping aside?"
"I wouldn’t be really okay with it no," he replied.
"That’s my full focus on the two games, that was my idea right from the start, but ultimately when you get a taste of it, you really enjoy it and are motivated by it, why wouldn't you want more of it? That's what I’ve been planning for.
"But I know in my head what I signed up for at the start, and whatever happens after the Switzerland game will happen."
And as for the match itself, O’Shea is still craving that victory to get the team back on the road to recreating a winning mentality within the squad.
And the manager said that he has full faith in the squad and believes that they would have no problem finishing the job if they manage to take the lead against the Swiss.
"There’ll be no problem because I know the group of players, how they perform at their clubs, how brave they are in possession and aggression when it’s needed," said O’Shea when asked would their lack of wins have an effect if they scored first. "I don’t think that will be an issue."
And the fact that the team created plenty of chances against Belgium adds to the manager’s confidence, even if they missed several excellent opportunities to win on Saturday.
"The bigger worry would be, if chances weren’t getting created, that would be the key bit for me, but they are being created and there will be a time where you get those few goals and you do get across the line and win a match. It’s only a matter of time, it’s definitely approaching this team."
"I’m fully focused to get a win tomorrow against Switzerland, we know that will be a challenge as well but we are close," added O’Shea.
"We’ve mentioned it already, the chances we are creating, we’ve got to do that again tomorrow.
"But you’ve also got to have that respect for a strong Switzerland squad. I think the average age the other day [against Denmark] was 29 or 30, so they’re a very experienced European outfit, quality players all over Europe.
"Ultimately, we want a win, but we’ve got to execute our plans, our details and make sure we get it right because Switzerland have good players, good rotation, different formations, different ideas, different options to choose from.
"If we get a win, if we get that good result, we can talk about things afterwards.
"But I’m fully focused on Switzerland and whatever happens afterwards, we’ll have a discussion."
Follow a live blog on Republic of Ireland v Switzerland this Tuesday from 7.30pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on 2fm's Game On
