Upon meeting the Lord, Roddy's first words are, "excuse me, but you're in my seat".

Roddy to some, The Lord Rod to others. Collins is a man whose selfesteem is matched only by his ability to court controversy.

Often referred to as 'a colourful character', he has burnt more bridges than the Israeli airforce.

There is no in-between with Roddy . . . you either love him or loathe him.

And, in return, he either likes you or else you'd better watch your back.

The man in the pinstripe suit readily admits to not being able to sing . . . "I'm more of a dancer", he claims . . . but that hasn't stopped him competing in RTE's Charity You're A Star alongside his tailor buddy Louis Copeland.

Whether it's ZZ Top's 'Sharp Dressed Man' or The Kinks' 'Dedicated Follower of Fashion' that Roddy sings, he will surely find time to be controversial, which, after all, is what he has made a career out of.

Born into a boxing family in August 1960, his natural sporting career path would have seen him enter the ring. His father and uncle were both Leinster champions, while his grandfather on his mother's side was the heavyweight champion of Ireland. Of his three brothers, two - Steve and Pascal . . .

were to forge careers in boxing, while numerous cousins have also followed the family tradition.

While the rest of the family were trading punches, however, Roddy was outside kicking football on the streets of Cabra. "They all thought I was a pansy because all I wanted to do was kick football", he says.

He impressed in schoolboy football and joined Fulham at the age of 17. He stayed there for half a season before moving to Arsenal, where he stayed just 12 weeks before returning to Dublin and to Bohemians.

A strong, if unspectacular, centre forward, Roddy went on to forge a career with various League of Ireland and lower league English outfits, acquiring more clubs than Tiger Woods along the way.

In 1988 he signed for Shamrock Rovers, but despite finishing the season as top scorer, he never endeared himself to the supporters. On one occasion, he had a heated exchange with a Rovers fan who verbally questioned Roddy's playing ability.

It was to be in management that Roddy would make his name, however. Following a brief spell as manager of Bangor, Roddy took over first team affairs with Bohemians at Dalymount Park in October 1998. His three-year tenure at the club was to prove eventful - almost relegated in his first season in charge, Bohs went on to record superb UEFA Cup victories against Aberdeen and Kaiserslautern, before Roddy crowned his reign with a league and cup double in 2001.

It was around this time that he first began to talk of his plans to manage Celtic and, later, Ireland. It was all part of Roddy's famous "five year plan".

However, events took a downturn. The Bohemians board of directors surprisingly reacted by sacking their manager.

The decision stunned Bohs fans, many of whom to this day practically carry photos of him in their wallets.

England beckoned for Roddy, and he assumed control of Carlisle United. It was during this time that he featured in the infamous RTE documentary The Rod Squad. "I regret making that programme", he says now.

"They showed all the funny bits, but they didn't show my coaching abilities and my managerial abilities. From a football perspective, I regret The Rod Squad. It made me look like a f**king eejit."

Roddy was sacked from Carlisle in April 2002 but reinstated three months later when his friend John Courtney bought the club. However, as has been his trademark, Roddy fell out with his boss, resulting in another sacking 13 months later. The two are no longer on speaking terms.

Roddy returned to Ireland, this time joining Dublin City. Despite claiming a friendship with City owner Ronan Seery, Roddy was only too happy to jump ship when a better offer came along in the form of relegation rivals Shamrock Rovers.

His spell at Rovers was to descend into farce. The club entered into examinership in order to restructure its finances and was eventually purchased by the 400 Club, a supporters' consortium. Financial realities ensured that cutbacks were the order of the day, but Roddy point-blank refused to co-operate with the new owners.

After an internal club investigation found him guilty of several discrepancies . . . including leaving a game early in order to attend a charity boxing event . . . he was sensationally suspended just days before the club's relegation play-off against Dublin City. Rovers were to lose the play-off, dropping a division for the first time in their history, and Roddy was to lose his job permanently.

And so, where did it all go wrong for Roddy? Late last year, around the time he had intended on being the boss of Celtic, he was managing St Joseph's Fairview GAA side in Division 7 of the football league. Taking the job, Roddy declared his ambition to win the Leinster club title, saying that, ultimately, he wanted to manage Dublin. His experimentation with GAA was to be shortlived, however, and he resigned after a few weeks.

His larger-than-life personality can cause problems in his working relationships. He has never left a manager's job on good terms, and his six soccer managerial spells have resulted in four sackings and two walk-outs. He has even fallen out with clubs he has never managed . . . last year he became involved in a physical confrontation with Shelbourne chief executive Ollie Byrne just minutes before Shels played Rovers.

Furthermore, although he achieved success with Bohs, it is perhaps telling that the last three clubs he has managed have all been relegated, even if the fate of one . . . Dublin City . . . had largely been decided by the time he took over.

While the debacle at Carlisle slowed down his path to glory, his spell in charge of Rovers appears to have derailed it permanently. His public bust-up with the new Rovers directors was his latest inglorious departure from Irish football.

In order to keep stocked up on his trademark pin-stripe suits, Roddy now co-runs Champion Events, an agency which runs corporate nights out at boxing events.

Banished from the football world, it seems that the pansy is finally returning to the family sporting fold.

C.V.

Name: Roddy Collins
Age: 45 Born: Cabra, north Dublin
Occupation: Football pundit
Married to: Caroline; five children: Sinead (24), Niamh (18), Rod (11), Padraig (6), Lauren (5)
In the news because: He's duetting with tailor Louis Copeland on RTE's Charity You're A Star