When Stephen Kenny first took the Ireland job, he brought with him the type of enthusiasm that we have rarely seen from Ireland managers over the last couple of decades.
He spoke passionately about what was possible for football in this country, both in terms of the style and substance he hoped to bring on the pitch. Ireland supporters bought into that, leading to an unprecedented level of attendances at the Aviva Stadium since it reopened after the coronavirus pandemic.
As we now enter the final international window of 2023, there is a very different mood surrounding the team.
It is an unfortunate fact that the upcoming window will probably draw less interest from Irish fans than any other since the calamitous UEFA Nations League campaign in 2018, the one which ultimately cost Martin O'Neill his job.
It is expected that Stephen Kenny will take charge of the side for the final time later this month in a meaningless friendly against New Zealand, a fixture that seems unlikely to draw a huge crowd in the Aviva Stadium.
In many ways, it is a sad end for what was hoped to be a great revolution in Irish football.
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Stephen Kenny has set Ireland up for future success
Some of those who doubted the Stephen Kenny project from the start will be feeling smug at the moment. They claimed that he was never going to be up to the job and his ambition to get the team playing an exciting and modern brand of football was alway destined for failure.
That would not be a fair assessment.
The former Dundalk boss did a lot of things right as Ireland manager. He gave the team a much needed overhaul, handing debuts to a huge number of young players and attempting to play a style of football that would excite people. He made Republic of Ireland men's internationals an event for fans once again, even if results on the pitch were inconsistent.
Everyone wanted it to work. It is incredibly unfortunate that it hasn't.
We are now left in a situation where the team will go into two meaningless games to finish off the year. Much of the optimism that previously surrounded the side has been steadily eroded with each poor result over the last two years or so.
Still, whoever inherits this team moving forward will be in a stronger position because of the work done by Stephen Kenny.
He insists he will keep doing the job in front of him, even if others feel he is currently stuck in some sort of cruel footballing purgatory. In the end, he remains proud of much of what he and his coaching staff have achieved.
I don't view it as purgatory. I've asked the question (about his future), no decision has been made. I've asked the question...
I live in the real world. I'm a realist. I understand that.
I've been under pressure and so forth, of course, but at the same time I know we've done a lot of exceptional work as well, some of our performances have been exceptional. It's not like a club where you're in every day and can nurture. We've only ten games a year.
That squad, 20 of the 24-man squad (for November), we've given competitive debuts to. Matt [Doherty], Shane [Duffy], Callum [Robinson], and Alan Browne are the only players I haven't given competitive debuts to.
All of the other players, I've given them their competitive debut. We've other players behind that still, one or two that are injured, exciting players like Michael Obafemi and others.
I think it's a squad that has a lot of potential in the next few years. Whether I'm here to coach that, I may or may not be, but I think the Irish public can be excited by the team going forward.
The building blocks are clearly in place for this team to have success in the future.
The likes of Chiedozie Ogbene, Evan Ferguson, Jason Knight, Nathan Collins, and Gavin Bazunu are now proven operators at international level and will have long careers in an Ireland shirt ahead of them.
How many of those players would have been brought into the fold so quick under previous managers? Perhaps outside of the once in a generation talent in Ferguson, you get the sense that it wouldn't have been that many. Even then, the Brighton man was handed a debut as an 18-year old at a time when he had yet to make a real breakthrough at club level.
There were teething problems associated with that. The unfortunate thing is that they do not look like subsiding under the current manager. Now, another coach will bear the fruits of his labour.
While Stephen Kenny stopped short of suggesting that he will not be given the opportunity to reap the benefits of the work done over the last three years, he did say the team's progress was never going to be a linear one.
I don't really want to portray it like that but I think identifying talent, you've got to identify it, you can say, 'ah the players come through anyway'. That's not how it works, otherwise what happened in the previous eight years?
You identify talent, that's important and choose to play and nurture. There's been setbacks along the way. Young players have been injured for long periods. Players have lost their place at their clubs. It hasn't been straightforward, all of those things.
As they say, success is not linear and that's reality, but I think people look at the squad, the Irish public look at that squad and we feel they connect with it. The reason we know we connected, it's not coming from me, it's coming from people in the FAI.
What comes next for both Stephen Kenny and Ireland remains to be seen.
The manager has already been linked with a role elsewhere at Lincoln City, a prospect he is not considering at the moment. With a significant spell in international football now added to his CV, he will not be short of suitors.
As for the team itself, it is unclear who the next head coach of the side will be. Whoever is appointed, it must be ensured that they are willing to carry on the good work that has been done by Kenny.
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