Huge respect for O'Shea as he adds a brick or two to the rebuild

Saturday night was just the start of something for Sammie Szmodics. For John O’Shea it was … what exactly? A caretaker role and an ambition realised, obviously, but it was more than that again. It was an audition.

Tasked with holding the fort while the FAI procrastinates between the Kenny era and whatever new dawn comes with the announcement of his successor next month, O’Shea made a decent fist of maintaining the place while adding a brick or two of his own.

Ireland were solid and structured, the side looked balanced and the work ethic was impressive in the way they pressed a Belgian side that, truth be told, showed all the urgency of a sloth on a Sunday morning.

Put all that together and it doesn’t make for a cast-iron case for any prospective employers but something Szmodics said after his international debut caught the ear given the limited time in which the interim gaffer has had to work.

“John made it a really good, easy week with a lot of information,” said the new guy.

That’s no small thing in the international game. Managers making the switch from club to international football have often struggled to adapt to the different rhythms and constraints since time immemorial. Knowing what to work on and what to ignore is a skill in itself.

O’Shea was assistant manager when Will Smallbone won all of his U21 caps and part of the coaching staff at Stoke City when the Ireland midfielder spent a season on loan at Stoke City and was quick with his praise after the draw with Belgium.

“Everybody has a huge amount of respect for him. I can’t speak highly enough of him throughout my whole career, not just this past week but for everything he has done for me. He’s been brilliant and all the lads have got a huge amount of