Back in February 2002, Walter Smith was looking to add some quality and steel to an Everton side struggling to peel away from the drop zone.
He turned to the three players: Swedish midfielder Tobias Linderoth, flamboyant winger David Ginola, and Lee Carsley.
Carsley was closing in on his 28th birthday having made his name with Derby County, Blackburn Rovers and a Coventry City side who had been relegated to the Championship the season before. Toffees fans groaned at the decision to bring in Carsley for £1.9m. Indeed the deal only went through after the player waived certain add-ons because he was so keen to get back to the Premier League.
It may not have been the most glamourous signing, but Carsley did well at Goodison Park.
His best seasons came under David Moyes, particularly an excellent 2004/05 campaign that saw Everton finish fourth. Regularly stationed beside another folically challenged terrier Thomas Gravesen, his physicality and honesty of effort endeared him to the Gwladys Street End.
He was an underdog, tirelessly nipping at heels and shins, dutifully doing the dirty work so others didn't have to.
But there was always more to Lee Carsley than hard running and meaty tackles. His footballing IQ was underrated, and it's a quality that's manifested since he transitioned to being a coach.
In the same way people were surprised by Mick McCarthy's willingness to get the ball down and play when he first stepped into management, Carsley has shattered any perceptions some may have held about him based on his playing career.
Technically and tactically, his teams are highly sophisticated.
He's been in the English FA's system for five years now having taken over the Under-20s and then the Under-21s, who he led to the European Championships in 2023. That was a great crop of players, and he had them so well tuned that their exploits have since become a dopamine hit for the purists - a TikTok reel of in-game rondos and hyper polished build-up play.
Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Harvey Elliott (Liverpool) and Levi Colwill (Chelsea) have since kicked on with the Premier League's big guns but it's interesting that Carsley - in his first squad as interim England head coach - has called up two lower profile players from that Under-21s side.
Lille's Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest get a chance to impress as Carsley leans into younger players he knows and trusts in what is essentially an audition to get the job full-time.
They're still sizing him up in England. Even though Carsley has a major tournament win on his CV, his profile is relatively low, and there's been plenty of chin-stroking across the water over the last month as they ponder what exactly the 50-year-old will do with this squad in this post-Gareth Southgate era.
Of course in Ireland, we know all about Lee Carsley. This is the man most expected to succeed Stephen Kenny, the FAI's No 1 candidate, the one who ticked all the boxes as we clumsily tried to strike a match in the gloom of another failed campaign.
Carsley never wanted the job. He reiterated that earlier this week when he said: "At the start of my career, someone's advice was that if someone wants to meet you, make sure you go and meet them and pay them that respect. So I was really aware going into the conversation (with the FAI) that I've got a really good job and I'm supported where I am."
He's been sitting tight with England knowing there was always a good chance he'd eventually get a shot at taking the reins from Southgate.
And this is his shot. Games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland should yield six points for England. That is what they'll expect and the English public will expect it to be achieved in style.
A 5pm kick-off on a Saturday at Lansdowne Road should make for a spicy atmosphere, and maybe Ireland - limited as they are - could surprise the beaten Euro 2024 finalists, who will travel without Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Ollie Watkins.
The home defeats to France and the Netherlands last year at least had spells where the illustrious visitors looked uncomfortable; the hope is that Heimir Hallgrimsson can catch the Three Lions cold as they transition to a new era after the disappointment of that Euros final defeat to Spain.
That's the hope. The reality is that even without some big stars England should have far too much at the Aviva.
Regardless of the result, it will be a strange night for Carsley, who was in Cork earlier this summer for a family reunion. His late grandmother was from Dunmanway, a market town in the valley of the Bandon River.
"It was a real proud part of my career," he said of his Ireland days, and anyone who saw him play in a green jersey would attest that he was never anything less than a fiercely committed servant to the cause.
There'll be intense attention on him over the next couple of weeks, but Carsley is a measured man who knows how to keep things in perspective.
When he was at Everton, he was the vice-president of the club's Disabled Supporters Association. He's also been a patron of the Down's Syndrome Support Group of Solihull for years, becoming involved after his second son Connor was born with Down's Syndrome in 1999.
He's a grounded, smart coach who has adroitly recognised that he has a huge opportunity with England while resisting the temptation to brazenly fling his hat into the ring, perhaps understanding that a brutally fickle media/fanbase will quickly make the decision for him - for better or for worse.
Watch Republic of Ireland v England in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
