THE SAYING that the first impression is the last impression was long since debunked by Ireland managers.
Whether it was Jack Charlton presiding over a 1-0 defeat to Wales in his first game or Steve Staunton overseeing a 3-0 win over Sweden in his, neither offered a guide of what was to follow.
Those two examples alone illustrate why we should be careful of rushing to judgement based on one sole result.
And listening to Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco come in and describe what we had witnessed as ‘more or less boring’ with ‘low rhythm, slow passes and no sharpness’ was probably no harm.
There is nothing quite like a cold dose of reality from an opponent when there is a danger of getting carried away with a scoreless draw.
Hey, it has been a tough few years.
But what we can say with a degree of certainty is that John O’Shea, and more importantly his team, looked the part.
It was Castore gear all the way for dress-down Friday — and all of the previous weekdays — but a smart suit and a BOSS quarter-zip for matchday.
It is a fine line to tread with your threads.
On Newstalk on Saturday, O’Shea’s former Ireland colleague David Connolly highlighted how current Reading boss Ruben Selles wasted no time in swapping a tracksuit for a turtle-neck top, slacks and blazer when he had been promoted from No 2 to the top man at Southampton.
He pointed out how that was likely to invite ridicule from professional footballers, second only to schoolkids given a substitute teacher to toy with when it comes to being unforgiving.
Maybe the players thought differently but it did not seem as though he was trying too hard to dress to impress.
Instead, he came across as someone as comfortable in his own skin as he was in his attire.
His willingness and ability to articulate his team’s approach without slipping into coaching jargon — know when you have overloaded on the term overload — most welcome.
There was no Belgian waffle.
A query as to whether he had slept OK on Friday was not dismissed as it might have been but invited the revelation that his assistant Glenn Whelan and Paddy McCarthy had asked him the same.
O’Shea said: “If I have a problem sleeping I’ll definitely be worried. I’ve always slept well thankfully.”
That suggests a man who felt nothing had been left to chance and anything that needed to be done had been.
And the key thing about Ireland on Saturday was that, as much as O’Shea’s clobber, it was tailored to suit both the opposition and the players at his disposal.
TOUGH GOING
Tedesco spoke with a degree of frustration about how, out of possession, Ireland retreated into a 5-4-1 formation.
And he then bemoaned how his players made it easy for them not to be dragged out of position by not moving the ball quickly.
They are, in football terms, first-world problems.
Stephen Kenny dared to dream that Ireland could beat such sides without taking a backward step.
Unfortunately, results did not match his conviction.
As a result, there is a renewed appetite to find a way just to stay in the game in such contests, with possession an optional extra rather than a means to an end.
But, even so, the most pleasing thing was there was an identifiable game-plan which, if you view not getting beaten by a better team as a victory, worked.
And Ireland could have won, even if everyone must accept that a Belgium at full tilt, and with Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku in their ranks, would have made life a lot more difficult.
When it came to defending during Belgium’s lengthy periods of possession in Ireland’s half, the home side were happy for their opponents to have the ball up to a point, beyond which they would be confronted by the footballing equivalent of a terrier dog.
SITTING BACK
It usually forced a minor retreat before they tried again with the pattern repeating itself time and again.
It was notable — or lamentable if you were Tedesco — that Caoimhín Kelleher was forced into only one noteworthy save across the 90 minutes.
Maybe that was why he chose to liven things up by waiting until Lois Openda was practically on top of him before casually dragging the ball back and laying it off to Nathan Collins.
O’Shea’s take?
He said: “Ooh that first one got me, I have to say. That first one got me.
“He did leave it just a bit too long but fair play to him and he’s in a confident mood.”
Josh Cullen and Will Smallbone linked up well with overloads in tight spaces giving Ireland an outlet to make the most of Sammie Szmodics’ ability to take the ball on the turn to drive forward or pick a pass, as well as Chiedozie Ogbene’s pace.
Both of the No 10s combined up for Ireland’s best chance of the game which saw Ogbene fire into the side-netting after Séamus Coleman rampaged forward with all the purpose of someone trying to catch the last bus back to Killybegs.
MISSED CHANCE
With some time to reflect, O’Shea was more forgiving than the Ireland captain in the heat of the moment about the Luton Town man’s call.
O’Shea said: “We’ll discuss that later on, but he’s an attacker and he wants to go for goal.
“We might do some extra training on that. But that’s what we spoke about and the stuff we went through during the week in terms of where we can get through and the options we have.
“That just comes down to the decision-making then. If an attacking player is in front of goal in that area, he is more than within his right to shoot.
“But sometimes if a fella is in a better position, then you’ll be arguing. That’s for sure.
“Chieo deserves everything he gets because of his attitude and his application. That’s the thing.
“He is not surprising anyone who has worked with him or been involved with him over the last couple of years because he does everything he can.
“He puts his body on the line for the team and he is a massive threat.”
DEBUT STAR
On Szmodics, he said: “I’ve seen him play loads of times over the last season and a half.
“With the position we were asking him to play, we knew the combinations he was going to get with Robbie Brady at times and also with Chieo and Evan Ferguson.
“He’s going to get in those positions, he’s in confident form and it was a shame he didn’t get on the scoresheet but I was really pleased with his debut.”
Equally, he could be happy with his own but the international calendar no longer allows any time for reflection — Ireland last had a stand-alone fixture six years ago, against Turkey.
He was still a player, then. Is he a manager now? Early days, but he looks — and sounds — like one.