There were jobs as international manager of Malta, India and Jordan and then there were the club offers in Ireland, England, Scotland and Greece but I prefer not to mention any names because those same clubs conducted their business in a very professional manner and I want to do likewise.

But there was something that drew me towards the Director of Football role at St Pat's. It wasn't because of the club, in fact had things been the way they were a few years back I would have said no. But right now the club is in a rejuvenation period and the role I am in is not all that different from my time as Technical Director of the FAI.

The last couple of years have been tough at Richmond Park. I've kept a close eye on it all along and looking in from the outside I thought the wind was taken from people's sails with the whole registration row in the 2001/2002 season.

Sure, there were medals eventually awarded and a trophy presented late, but people lost their energy in all that and are only coming back now. They wasted a lot of time in their battle, and those that they were fighting will see the repercussions soon I believe.

Then last year there was all this talk about moving to Tallaght. That again took a lot of people's energy. The players, the staff, the supporters and sponsors didn't know what they were part of. It's one of the thing I want to ensure in my new role, that people know what the club is about, its tradition and its future. A lot of the people who would have grown up following the club now live in other areas but that doesn't mean they are that far away and that both them and their children can't keep following the club.

But as well as that there is a new community in Inchicore now, replacing those that have moved a little further from the city centre. I want to see them involved.

For instance I have worked closely with Sari (Sport Against Racism in Ireland) over the last few years and am very aware of the number of foreign nationals there are now. For many, they want to attach themselves to something to find an identity and I don't see why that can't be St Pat's for many.

Of course it's a long way from the hype and the media spotlight I faced with the international team but the media is one thing I never noticed. When we were having a small bit of success with the Irish underage teams the public took interest in results and performances because they were the only ones going well but the media never took any great notice.

When I took charge of the senior side, we had lost the opening two games in European Championship qualifying [under Mick McCarthy] - maybe the only reason I ever got the job - and people said we were gone. I took it down to the last game in that campaign and we only missed out but the media ignored that too. And then we took it down to the last kick of the last ball in World Cup qualifying. Of course I was disappointed then, bitterly, but that was how close we were.

I wanted to win and succeed for myself and not the media. So I never took any notice but unfortunately the same could not be said of my employers. I don't feel I've been vindicated with the way the national team is going now nor do I take any pleasure in the way they are going.

I would never do that because I am an Irish supporter but I do still feel I was unlucky and the word I hear most often since from people is 'shafted'.

Maybe that tells you something. But just because this project is now on a smaller scale doesn't make any difference to me. Everything I've ever done, I've always done in a professional manner and given it all my attention. This job excites me and I will do it with the same enthusiasm I've had for every other role I've committed myself to.