Former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr reflected on the positive working relationship he had with then Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson during his time at the helm of the national side.
Speaking to Off the Ball's Nathan Murphy, he said: "Yeah I had dealings going back to when I was manager of Pats - I remember speaking to him trying to get a loan of a player called Derek Brazil one time who was a youth player who played in their youth teams under Liam Touhy.
"And, I called Old Trafford - I didn't get him immediately but I was working in the lab at Ag Science in UCD and I got a call back...'Look, there's a bloke on the phone and he says he's Alex Ferguson but I'm not having it!'
"In fairness, he (Ferguson), checked it out and he (Brazil) has a hamstring injury and the last thing I need is a player with a hamstring injury - I'd four of them already!
Despite often seeing fractious relationship between international and club managers these days, Kerr had nothing but a positive working relationship with Ferguson when he was in charge of the international side.
"I had dealings with him as manager of Ireland and I have to say, once we had that initial discussion about Roy's availability and so on - it was easy for me to work with him.
"There was certainly respect on my part and I think he respected my job and the way I was trying to do it and to understand the pressure he was under.
"We got on fine. I found him very cooperative and understanding of the job I was trying to do and once we had that discussion and made your point.
"He was a fabulous manager and a fabulous person in the game - very helpful to a lot of people in the game. Let's hope he's still around to give that knowledge and assistance to so many coaches and so many players that played for him at Manchester United who have gone into management and he's been available to them to give them words of advice and lend them that experience he had and expertise he's had and we just hope he comes out of this situation.
