The Republic of Ireland are about to launch into a very important international calendar year, which culminates with a World Cup qualifying campaign that runs from September to November.
Almost six months to prepare, yet just two international windows to assemble a squad capable of challenging for top spot in the four-team group that features Heimir Hallgrimsson's side, Hungary, Armenia and either Portugal or Denmark.
A tough task, no doubt, and on paper, the national team’s chances are at best aspirational to come through at the summit from the low-ranking start of third seed.
To emphasise the size of the task, this week’s focus is not completely on plotting a path to the United States, Canada and Mexico for the 2026 tournament, but rather saving face and sparing the country’s blushes by avoiding relegation to the third tier of European rankings competition, the UEFA Nations League.
Last year’s campaign was another short, sharp burst of games throughout those autumnal months, as Hallgrimsson was thrown straight into the fire of competitive action, made tougher by the fact that games against England bookended the campaign.
Two wins from six, when compared to recent editions of the competition, was not completely disheartening, as the hard-fought victories over Finland were coupled with two decent, albeit losing, performances against Greece.
The England games, however, were largely forgettable, and yet before Ireland can look forward to this vital year ahead, there is a lingering obligation to reflect on that last campaign, with a very strong focus on the second half in Wembley Stadium last November.
Ireland went to London with a plan, and there was a real sense of progress from that opening outing against England, and so it would transpire, as the well-organised, if defence-minded Ireland XI fought, foraged, and ultimately frustrated their esteemed hosts.
Six minutes into the second half, the gulf between the sides revealed itself, as Ireland were caught on the ball playing out of their own half and then torn asunder by a couple of magic moments and a driving Jude Bellingham burst into the penalty area.
Liam Scales was done by the marauding English attack and panicked a touch with a clumsy foul to concede a penalty, which was duly dispatched, but not before the Celtic man was sent to the touchline.
All of Ireland’s great work undone by a team with absolutely no business banging around the second tier of the competition, and the quality of play really had to be admired, accepted, and perhaps even applauded.
It is what happened next that really disappointed and proceeded to undo much of the progress made since the genial Icelander took the reins ahead of the September games.
Hallgrimsson, like most of an Irish inclination inside the stadium, was shell-shocked, and as a result a touch slow to react to the loss of Scales and that opening Harry Kane spot-kick.
Changes eventually arriving as Ireland looked to steady the ship, but the damage was already done following "six minutes of madness" as they found themselves three goals in arrears.
Certain aspects of play throughout the final 20 minutes were to be admired in such sickening circumstances, however, the concession of two further goals showed the effect the hammering was having on the players.
"We probably lost our heads at this moment, leading into a second goal and a third goal. And from there you can see, yeah, we maybe lost our head, gave up," said Hallgrimsson, before adding that giving up was perhaps a touch extreme.
"I said before we're struggling with confidence, and they clearly took away all confidence from what we did really well in the first half.
"You cannot explain things like this. It's just happened, a slap in the face and was difficult to come back from it.
"But look, excuses when you lose 5-0... it's kind of pathetic to be excusing or talking about positives. It's embarrassing to lose 5-0."
Four months on, it surely made for an interesting opening meeting as the squad gathered back in Dublin at the weekend.
"I think it is," said assistant head coach John O’Shea, when asked whether it was important to address the defeat before planning for the year ahead.
"Among the staff especially. Obviously, we debriefed it a lot, but you don’t want to dwell on it either because it is such a short week, in terms of getting the ideas across about Bulgaria, a tough away game to start, and then bringing them back to Dublin.
"There will be pointers, that will be mentioned over the next few days but ultimately not to dwell on it too much because a few days before that, you had a victory as well. So there is positives and always things to learn."
For all the hard work of getting to know his players, looking for leaders and attempting to build the spine of a side, only five of the starting eleven at Wembley have made it onto the flight to Plovdiv.
But it comes with the territory; international football will always throw up such challenges, and the onus is on the management team to have a routine to the window that allows players to become interchangeable parts.
Hallgrimsson’s ill-chosen words regarding Shamrock Rovers players resulted in last week’s squad announcement getting hijacked, to a certain extent, in relation to a perceived disconnect between the League of Ireland and the FAI.
As a result, there was little talk of either the Wembley debacle or the upcoming encounters, other than the fact that the manager is expecting a tough test against a defence-minded Bulgaria unit.
"Overall there is still a core group of Hallgrimsson regulars to make up the bones of the starting side for Thursday night."
But it is glaringly obvious that the current squad remains a work in progress, with the manager using the depleted numbers to take a look at some other options for the year ahead.
Players like James Abankwah, Sinclair Armstrong or Rocco Vata are unlikely to start, however, Hallgrimsson will be curious to see what they can offer in training and may be tempted to hand one or more a run off the bench.
Others like Jimmy Dunne will also struggle to break past what is already a solid defensive unit, however, the QPR man appears the type of player that Hallgrimsson would like in and around his squad with his personality and character bringing another dimension to the dressing room.
Overall there is still a core group of Hallgrimsson regulars to make up the bones of the starting side for Thursday night, however, with a strong focus on building a winning mentality for the year ahead, the manager may need to rethink his attacking strategy.
Evan Ferguson started the last four games in attack, however, even by Hallgrimsson’s admission, it will be a case of wait and see to assess whether the striker’s lack of game-time is blunting his sharpness on the training ground.
Troy Parrott and Adam Idah are leading the way on the club scene in that particular department and while things may change between now and September, Hallgrimsson will surely reward club form in a bid to boost the national team’s fortunes.
Watch Bulgaria v Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live commentary on an extended 2fm's Game On.
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