As the search begins for a new Irish National Team coach, both Joe Kinnear and John Toshack are the two candidates now in the frame, with the latter of the two the bookies hot favourite.
Toshack (born 22/03/49) made his name as a striker with his home-town club Cardiff City, signing professional forms for them on his 17th birthday in March 1966 and giving them fine service for over four years, during which he scored 75 League goals from 162 appearances.
Liverpool had tried to sign Frank Worthington from Huddersfield Town but the player failed a medical after the clubs had agreed a fee and Bill Shankly turned his attention instead to the young Welshman 'Toshack' with the growing reputation.
November 1970 saw Toshack arrive at Liverpool for £110,000 and although only scoring 5 times from the 21 League matches he was picked for in his debut season at Anfield, it was clear that his aerial power would be an important part of Liverpool's attack for some years to come.
He still contributed greatly to all the success enjoyed by the club during the early 1970's. He missed 20 League games in 1972-73 but still scored 13 vital goals as the title was won after a tense struggle with Leeds & Arsenal.
(19) 75-76 was Toshack's most productive and injury-free season on Merseyside. He only missed 7 League matches, played in 50 competitive matches for the club in four different competitions and again won League & UEFA cup winners' medals in the same season. At 27 years of age, he should have been approaching his peak as a player but injury meant that he missed the last part of the 1976-77 season and he could only watch and admire as his colleagues won the European cup for the first time.
After only making four appearances for Liverpool the next season, John decided to return to South Wales to become player-manager at Swansea City and enjoyed outstanding success there in the club's meteoric rise from the Fourth Division to the First.
Toshack had been a Welsh schoolboy international and was a member of his country's full international squad for many years, eventually finishing with 40 caps to add to the 3 he had won earlier at Under-23 level.
In 1984 he was named as the new manager of Sporting Lisbon. Although that post lasted less than a year, he later achieved success in Spain with both Real Sociedad and Real Madrid and is one of very few Britons to have won both League and cup competitions in another European country.
At the age of 51, with his appetite for the game as strong as ever, he was appointed manager of St. Etienne in France.
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