PRESS CONFERENCE: So an interesting bend on the fascinating path which Brian Kerr's life has taken.Tom Humphries witnesses Brian Kerr's ability to charm and impress

When he stands on the sideline at Hampden Park listening to the Irish national anthem being played he's hardly likely to reflect on the afternoons he spent gazing out the window of a laboratory in Belfield half wishing for the fulfilment which another life might bring. Yet his journey has been more remarkable than anyone else's on either side of the touchline.

He was well on the wrong side of 40 by the time he liberated himself from his work at the university yet no UCD graduate of recent times has fast tracked to the top of a profession in quite the way Kerr has, however, and his reputation is such his that tonight is just a milestone rather than an arrival.

The broader football world may still be matching his face to his name but for those who know Kerr the expectation is he has yet to have his greatest days.

This week in Kilmarnock has been an odd one, the dissonance heightened only by the fact that of the town's two main hotels one is occupied by Kerr and his team and the other is occupied by the dregs of Johnny Adair's C company.

For all the flag waving that marks the Scottish fascination with the Irish troubles one suspects that even the most blue-nosed local finds the presence of the Free State footballers a little less alarming.

Yesterday's Roy Keane controversy notwithstanding, Kerr has been charm itself all week, his characteristic friendliness mystifying the large posse of English and Scottish journalists used to the belligerence of an Alex Ferguson or the gruffness of Bertie Vogts. Kerr's habit of inserting as much levity and as little mystery as possible into press conferences is a welcome change. Even when he is being tightlipped he is having fun.

"Have you decided on your central defence Brian?"

"I have Paul."

"And they are?"

"They are central defenders."

The smile was replaced briefly at tea-time yesterday when he returned to Kilmarnock from Hampden Park and faced the Keane controversy, declining to give a sit-down press conference but speaking off the cuff for three minutes before trying to draw a line under the subject. The hope he won't be asked to speak about Roy Keane again was perhaps unrealistic but one could understand his priorities have changed.

Before the faxes started whirring tonight's game was scarcely a test in the true sense of the word. It was preparation for a test of different dimensions. Groundwork.

Now Kerr goes into tonight's game without much breathing room. Ireland are the story once again. It was already tough enough.

Kerr steps into a vastly different landscape than any of his recent predecessors. Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy arrived in times of flux when there was scope and need for new faces to come into the squad. Part of that process involved the manager making the squad his own. Kerr, despite his underage experience, inherits a settled team nowhere near expiry date.

For his first trip McCarthy went to Prague and issued a handful of debuts, a policy which was to continue until almost the entire squad owed their debuts to him. Of the 26 players named by Kerr to come to Scotland only Gary Kelly, a die-hard McCarthy loyalist, didn't make his debut under McCarthy.

Kerr has very much inherited somebody else's squad and his challenge in the short term is to provide continuity and freshness rather than to make it his own.

Of the handful of players not here this week only Richie Partridge, on loan to Coventry from Liverpool, suggests himself as part of a Kerr blueprint for the future. The others, players like Phil Babb and Jason McAteer, are hardened pro's unlikely to automatically transfer huge loyalty to whoever the new incumbent happens to be.

Then there is the eternal business of Roy Keane. Yesterday's ending to the matter was messy but in time Kerr will see closure as a blessing. He knows now what he will bring to Georgia and Albania.

That trip will be more simple. Had Keane returned a massive media circus would have followed the players' every move. Fences would need mending, everyone would have walked on eggshells. Into this volatility throw a difficult away journey and a new management team and you got the flavour of what Kerr was facing.

He has lost a great player but gained a few certainties. He needs to soothe those players who privately doubt them, he needs to raise morale and stabilise it for the jolt on re-entry to competitive football.

His main work in Scotland has been done away from the training ground. He has instigated an endless series of team meetings but more than that the time in between has been filled with one-on-one sessions with players, subjecting each of them not just to the charm but to the ideas and the passion.

On that score you can see the wonder in players' faces. Yesterday Kerr sat down with Clinton Morrison for an informal press conference with the daily newspapers. Of those who are new to Kerr, Morrison is perhaps among those who are most remote, having bypassed Kerr's underage remit.

Yet Kerr recalled seeing Morrison play twice for Crystal Palace in the FA Youth Cup final against Leeds five years ago. Kerr was there to see the Leeds clutch of Irish players but he recalled the details of Morrison's contribution, the scorelines, where the games were played, and remembered making an inquiry about Morrison on the basis of his surname but being rebuffed by a Crystal Palace official whose name Kerr could recall but declined to divulge.

Morrison sat gaping as all this data was downloaded from Kerr's brain along with a detailed description of his performance against Bolton Wanderers a few weeks ago.

Whatever their personal feelings about the end of the McCarthy era and the manner of the succession race or the prospect of Keane's return after tonight no Irish player will leave Scotland under the impression that Kerr is anything less than deadly serious about this job.

"At worst," Kerr says, "When we finish the players will all be familiar with myself, Noel and Chris. We will have built up something. If there has been any damage to the morale over the time of the two defeats I would hope it will have been restored to some degree. I don't see anything else as being drastically different."

From Morrison comes another endorsement. Having gone to the World Cup and not played a minute he is looking forward to the opportunity which the changing of the guard brings.

"It's been good, been like normal. There are a few new rules, he has spoken about everyone being closer together, about getting on with each other more. For myself, I've been in a few times but haven't got a start really.

"Brian is here now and he says it is a new slate with him. It's whoever is going to play with Robbie (Keane) really. I'm good with my back to goal and Robbie likes to drop off and get the ball really. Hopefully I can learn a lot under Brian. Brian has talked about what he wants, we're up for it. It's a big boost him coming in. Everyone likes Brian."

And that is how it lies on the eve of battle in this grey city. Real work beginning.