Bryan Hamilton got straight down to work yesterday in his new role as adviser to the Football Association of Ireland on the appointment of its new senior team manager, describing his first day of sizing up the applicants for the vacant post as "very busy but very much the way I see it being for the next four to six weeks".
Hamilton, a former manager of the Northern Ireland team who was at one point appointed by the FAI as technical director only to withdraw from the job at the last minute, will provide initial assessments of the various candidates to president Milo Corcoran, acting general secretary Kevin Fahy and treasurer John Delaney.
"Bryan has a wealth of experience not just as a former international but he also has a great knowledge of the game," said Corcoran.
Hamilton said yesterday he sees his role as assessing the various candidates' strengths and weaknesses and then providing the association's three officers with a breakdown for each man being considered.
"I only heard from them (FAI) for the first time on Tuesday but from once we reached an agreement on how to proceed I felt it was best to get on with the job," he said. "I made a few phone calls last (Wednesday) night and it's been hectic today but I'm very honoured to have been asked to be involved in the process. I'm looking forward to playing a part in it and I'm impressed with the calibre of the candidates who have expressed an interest up to this point."
The former Ipswich player, who was capped 50 times and had stints in club management with Leicester, Tranmere and Swindon, said there was no set time-frame on his role but, he acknowledged, "I think it's clear they (the FAI's officers) want this thing sorted out sooner rather than later."
He insisted that the fact he has started talking with interested parties does not mean the deadline for applying has not effectively passed.
"Not at all," he remarked, "it's just a bit like when England got Jimmy Armfield to go and talk with people, it's a two-way process because you are talking with people who might be interested, about what might be involved and after that they are free to pursue the matter.
"The idea from my point of view would be to pass as much information as possible on to the association. I'm very familiar with all of the people who have expressed a firm interest so far but after talking to them I'll be in a better position to advise the FAI on them."
Asked about the Roy Keane situation, Hamilton strongly suggested he sees it as one of the first items on the agenda of the new man to find a way of reincorporating the Manchester United midfielder into the squad.
"One of the tasks involved in a job like this is to bring harmony to the squad and get the best out of the available players. I would have thought that it's in everybody's interests, not least the new manager's, if a way could be found to bring him back on board."
