One of the striking aspects of Heimir Hallgrimsson's latest squad announcement was how bullish the Republic of Ireland manager was. But very much in a matter-of-fact way.
In his lengthy opening monologue, which is the habitual way he likes to open his press conferences - preempting some queries about selection decisions - the Icelandic native breezily gave a rationale for resting most of the contingent from the English Championship clubs, stating that it's best for players to take their holidays now because next summer will be blocked off: "We expect to come in straight from the season, into pre-season and going to the US in the World Cup."
For a nation that hasn't been to a men's FIFA World Cup since 2002, and would also have to bridge a decade-long major tournament drought, on the face of it pledging concrete plans to spend summer 2026 traipsing around venues across North America's vast expanse may sound a tad optimistic.
But it's a point he returned to when quizzed by daily reporters after the general press conference.
"I don't think differently. I plan for success. If you plan for success then you shouldn't talk differently," he said.
"I hope I'm not offending anyone but this is how we should all think, (that) we are going there.
"Everything can happen of course. We can be unlucky in games, with injuries or whatever but we plan for success."
Given that his own contract expires at the end of a quickfire World Cup qualifier campaign that has Ireland lodging in a group alongside Portugal, Hungary and Armenia, the point that qualification is a be-all-and-end-all was not lost on Hallgrimsson.
"Absolutely. We all know this is a game of results. We all know that. But we plan to go to the World Cup, end of story. We're not even thinking something else," he said, pointing out the condensed nature of the qualifiers via the September, October and November windows will give a clear answer to what next summer looks like in short order.
Whether the players fully believe they can make it to the World Cup is something only they can answer but Hallgrimsson is adamant that their collective confidence levels are "growing" visibly result by result - with the back-to-back 2-1 wins over Bulgaria in March "probably the best" camp in his eyes.
The bulk of the Championship contingent putting their feet up for the friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg on 6 and 10 June respectively, means the squad has a slightly different feel, especially with the addition of four uncapped players in the shape of Josh Honohan, Josh Keeley, Killian Phillips and John Patrick Finn.
The first three of those will be most familiar to supporters - Honohan because of his exploits with Shamrock Rovers, while Phillips and Keeley started their journeys in the League of Ireland before heading abroad - but Madrid-born Finn, who has been capped at Under-19 level, is an intriguing call-up in the sense that his journey has taken place further off the radar via Getafe and now Ligue 1's historic Stade Reims, where he has made about a dozen first-team appearances this season.
While he qualifies for Ireland through his Mayo-born father, the dynamic midfielder is also eligible for Spain, France and Cameroon.
When Hallgrimsson approached the 21-year-old face-to-face last month to gauge his interest, Finn's response back was that he needed a day to think about it.
However, the manager allayed concerns about that initial reply from the player and was left in no doubt that the Boys in Green was the only option under consideration for a youngster he deems "a really good kid".
"He just wanted to talk to his family," said Hallgrimsson.
"I kind of confronted him when I said, 'What if I will select you for June?' And it kind of made him take a decision and he said, 'I need to talk to my family'. But to be honest, he called me even before I went to bed that night. He had already talked to his family so it was not like he was getting offers from somebody else."
And while the manager does not have a settled starting XI in the back of his mind for September, he is hopeful that Ipswich winger Chiedozie Ogbene will have returned from the Achilles injury that ruined his Premier League season.
"(I) just spoke to him last week. He's starting to run and he wants to be ahead of the guys in pre-season," said Hallgrimsson.
"I think he is going to be really ready when it comes to pre-season. He wants to be the fittest when the others start, so he likes to be ahead of them.
"Hopefully we will have everyone available in September and there's nothing serious at least at this stage."
A three-day trip down to Ogbene's home county Cork - the "south capital" as he readily quipped - to watch Cork City and Cobh Ramblers training is among the next bullet points on Hallgrimsson's diary as he familiarises himself with Irish football.
And given the overview that the game in this country is fractured between different stakeholders, Hallgrimsson is hopeful that Iceland's experience in finding some unity by qualifying for the 2018 World Cup can be replicated here.
"I don't know how it is here, I thought it was brilliant how they did it in Iceland, before the qualifying, they said if we qualify, this amount of money will come into football in Iceland," he said.
"One third goes to the clubs, one third goes to the federation, one third goes to the bonuses and stuff for players and staff and all of that. Beforehand everybody was really cheering on because there was benefits to everyone if we were successful.
"I think it goes hand in hand and I've said it again and again, if the League of Ireland does well, it helps the national team. If the national team does well, I think it helps the League of Ireland and football in Ireland and that is how it should be."
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