John Toshack: Dodgy brown sandals, a dapper smile - made for television - and a sense of humour of desert dry proportions, John Toshack held court at Jury's Hotel yesterday.

Strange venue with Lansdowne Road just around the corner. Maybe other associations also get their long-term planning wrong.

But before the Welsh coach came into the "most narrow press room I've ever been in" (Toshack is a stream of one-liners), Ryan Giggs fielded some questions.

Giggs has always been a shy, refined, sensible young man. It's hard to comprehend he is actually 33 as the memory of a dashing teenager seems immortal. Forever young.

There is that Coronation Street soft Mancunian twang to his speech. Saying "really" at the end of most sentences the way some south Dublin folk use "like."

It has been a week for star turns. First, Roy Keane took aim at the FAI, Stan and the senior Irish players. Now, one of the most talented players of his generation was with us although the Giggs impact was some distance short of his former captain's presence.

"I can only speak from playing with Roy and obviously, (with) the standards he sets for himself, he expects other players around him to have them same standards. That's what he's like as a manager now. Roy will never change. He's a winner. It's as simple as that.

"He was our captain. A leader. We fully respected Roy and still do. He had that knack of getting the best out of players. He did that as a player and it looks like he is doing that as a manager."

What about the emotional aspect of such a grand occasion (a reference to how the Irish rugby team stumbled against France in the rugby opener at Croke Park). Could the Irish players be mentally suspect? "I hope so."

"It is a challenge associated with the high end of sport.

"I get more nervous now than when I was 18 or 19, without a doubt. As a young lad you just go out and play. I think as you get older you think a lot more about the consequences of getting beat. Or putting in a bad performance plays on your mind a little bit more. Saying that, you need to be nervous to perform at the highest level." Exit Giggs. Enter Toshack.

What did he make of today's surface? "It is a bit wider than this room. It's uneven to be honest but that is the same for both sides. There is a little work to do on it between now and tomorrow."

The Keane diatribe was revisited, much to Toshack's amusement, and he gave an interesting twist on the precarious nature of international management.

"In this profession we know what it's like. People going on about caretaker managers makes me laugh. We're all caretaker managers really. Some of us just take care of it a bit longer than others. I've been sacked four times in 29 years. I've been lucky because I've been sacked in Spain, Turkey and Spain again. But you know that when you go into it.

"International management is totally different. You only have about 10 matches a year."

Will the Irish players be under increased pressure, like their rugby counterparts against France, as it's the first match at Croke Park.

"I had no players involved that day. I was elsewhere." Eh? A wry smile. Has the American comedian Lenny Bruce risen from the dead? Granted, Toshack is devoid of Lenny's vulgar undertones.

Would he take a draw if offered it right now? "No, I wouldn't at the moment. No. Nobody's offered us a draw by the way." Could your team freeze tomorrow? "Maybe, but these days with the material they've got they keep pretty warm, you know, so I think we'll be okay."