Relying on Ferguson to be everything everywhere all at once is foolish

• Published date: 18 March 2023

My face lit up. 'You mean Lansdowne Road, Stefan?'

"F***ing horrendous place."

Music to my ears. We wanted the best teams to hate those windy, damp Dublin nights. First we'd smash into them, then we'd match them in the football stakes.

It's intangible what makes certain Republic of Ireland teams special. But the Aviva crowd and the players should give every football nation an occasion they never forgot.

Make sure Stefan Schwarz goes back to Fiorentina and tells Rui Costa all about his hellish experience.

When football ends one feeling can never be rediscovered. I miss it more than anything else. It's gone, but luckily I lived it more than most.

Saturday 5pm. Full-time whistle at the Stadium of Light or Goodison Park or Wigan's JJB and the race was on. Shower, change into going-out clothes, prearranged taxi to the nearest airport for a one-way flight to Dublin.

Get to team hotel, dump gear and hit the town. International squad gatherings, there was nothing else like them. I was desperate to be part of these weeks, especially that first night.

Social media has altered freedom of movement - Lillie's Bordello and Renards have gone the way of the Dodo - but landing in amongst the lads was an unforgettable buzz. We had an exceptional cast of characters. Massive personalities, a Manchester United captain and boys who could carry a tune.

Messers and lunatics

Sunday was a recovery session in more ways than one as those who missed the night out arrived in dribs and drabs. Stories were retold but come Monday morning messers and lunatics had transformed into professional footballers, switched on and hungry to catch Mick McCarthy's eye.

The tackles in that first session were vicious as we jockeyed for position in the pecking order.

Full-blooded stuff. Split heads as centre forward and centre half flung themselves at inswinging corners. Wingers looked to humiliate fullbacks. Midfielders laid down plenty of markers.

You want to party hard, grand, you better show up Monday, ready to perform. Swollen ankle, get Mick Byrne or Ciaran Murray to strap it up. Your club wants to pull you, get in the taxi anyway.

My first full campaign was the Euro 2000 qualifiers when we blew it in Macedonia. That result fuelled the fire to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

Look at the squad for that first game in Amsterdam. Stan Staunton and a young Damien Duff were on the bench as we struck a rare balance - Carr, Breen, Dunne, Harte; McAteer, Roy, Kinsella, me; Robbie and Quinn up top.

I...