Scotland v Republic of Ireland/Preview: Emmet Malone reports from Scotland
As the UDA's leaderless Johnny Adair faction were reported to be settling at a roadside hotel on Kilmarnock's outskirts, the town's other Irish visitors were always continuing to familiarise themselves yesterday with life after a major upheaval. A little uncertainty on the part of the Republic players was always to be expected as they gathered here for their first game of the post Mick McCarthy era but all the indications so far have been that they are making a better stab at adjusting to the transformed balance of power than the roaming northerners a few miles away.
Brian Kerr, of course, continues to carry himself like a man settling rather nicely into his new role and the Dubliner might even have marked his final pre-match press conference this week with the announcement of his first ever senior team.
Instead, the fact that Steve Finnan had come down suddenly with a cold, left him with a wait on his hands and he passed the time joking his way out of a series of questions aimed at gaining some insight into how the Kerr era will start to look this evening.
What is clear is that it will start to take shape without either Kenny Cunningham (whose departure for Birmingham in order to start treatment on what turned out to be a hamstring problem deprived Kerr of one of his intended starters this evening) or Rory Delap (whose sudden need to return home in order to be with his girlfriend and three-day old son will probably have made no serious impact on the manager's calculations).
With Ian Harte, long a vulnerable looking member of the national side, struggling at club level these days, perhaps Kerr's most pressing choice is whether to replace the 25-year-old at the outset in favour of taking a look at his options.
A fully fit Finnan might well have started his 22nd international in that position but if the Fulham player also ends up being removed from the equation, then Kerr may look to a player he knows better than most, John O'Shea, to provide greater dependability on the left side of what was the most problematic department for McCarthy through the final days of his reign.
In O'Shea and Andy O'Brien the manager has two defenders from the top four premiership clubs and it is unthinkable that he would follow his predecessor's lead by leaving them on the sidelines. Both will presumably start with the Manchester United player's starting position looking to be the main point of interest as well as - if Harte is omitted - who will fill the second central defensive slot.
The choice would be between Gary Breen and Richard Dunne, neither of whom can command regular first-team football with their clubs at present. But the fact that the latter has seen more action of late, has performed solidly of late and has certainly avoided anything close to the sort of nightmare endured by Breen in West Ham's humiliation by Manchester United last month, suggests that the more radical overhaul of the back four should be the preferred option.
Elsewhere, it is hard to see the pace of change being anything close to so dramatic. Breen's place may yet be saved by Kerr's desire to achieve some degree of continuity but the manager's objective is more likely to guide his hand in the shaping of a midfield that again looks likely to be built around the partnership of Mark Kinsella and Matt Holland which, after yesterday's announcement by Roy Keane, looks more likely to remain the first choice through much of the remainder of this qualifying campaign.
Colin Healy's relative inactivity at club level will probably mean that he starts the night on the bench while Steven Reid and Kevin Kilbane occupy the wide positions in a rather familiar looking line-up.
That there will be another opportunity for Clinton Morrison up front appears certain but it is much less clear whether it will be David Connolly or Gary Doherty that partners the Birmingham City striker in the absence of Robbie Keane.
Connolly's recent strike rate, albeit against First Division defences, combined with the fact that he is at least fractionally closer in style to Keane than the big Tottenham player, probably gives him the edge in the selection stakes, but either way both are likely to see action over the course of an evening in which Kerr will be allowed (but says he does not intend) to replace seven outfield players as well as his goalkeeper.
Kerr again stressed yesterday that he is looking more for a positive performance and signs that his ideas are getting through to the players than a win, although the latter should not be entirely beyond the Irish against a side that continues to endure some troubled times under Berti Vogts.
The German undoubtedly needs a victory much more than his counterpart with a combination of poor results and his ongoing knack for alienating both players and their managers with ill-considered public remarks contributing to a widespread perception that he has failed rather dismally to repay his first year's £1 million salary.
Vogts will be hoping that the return of Don Hutchison after an international lay-off of almost as long as Carr's will boost his team's fortunes and the Scots could certainly do with their top scorer's goals. Out of favour at West Ham, though, and struggling again with a minor injury, it is unclear how much of an impact the former Sunderland man can have on tonight's game - if indeed he passes a fitness test and actually plays - while the involvement of others like Barry Ferguson and his Rangers team mate Neil McCann will be limited by guarantees the manager has been obliged to provide to their clubs that they will play for no more than an hour.
Another of Kerr's objectives for this trip is to bolster morale in the Irish squad after a couple of poor results. A quick glance at the Scots will at least leave few of his players in any doubt that, however much they have been dragged back to earth in recent months, their plight could be a good deal worse.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS
SCOTLAND: Gallacher (Dundee United); Dailly (West Ham), Anderson (Aberdeen), Pressley (Hearts); Alexander (Preston), Lambert (Celtic), Ferguson (Rangers), Naysmith (Everton), McCann (Rangers); Crawford (Dunfermline Athletic), Hutchison (West Ham).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle Utd); Carr (Tottenham), O'Brien (Newcastle Utd), Dunne (Manchester City), O'Shea (Manchester Utd); Reid (Millwall), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kilbane (Sunderland); Connolly (Wimbledon), Morrison (Birmingham City).
Scotland v Rep of Ireland
On TV: Sky Sports 1, 8.0; (Highlights: Network 2, 10.50); On Radio: RTÉ 1 (MW, 7.30)
