These have been a prosperous few weeks for the man known as Son of Jack. Impressive away draws against Holland and Portugal combined with Wednesday's home win over Estonia have left Mick McCarthy's reputation higher than it has been at any time since he succeeded Jack Charlton four years ago. It seems McCarthy has at last edged out of Jack's shadow.
These have been a less prosperous few weeks for the man who is the actual son of Jack. He, too, is in football management, and his team also plays in green and white. But it is at a reduced level from McCarthy, and no matter how successful he becomes, there will always be Jack's shadow.
At 41, John Charlton is just starting out in this notoriously tough profession. He is not doing so with any pretensions: this Charlton is manager of Blyth Spartans. Spartans play in the Unibond League - the one below the Vauxhall Conference. This is mining country and this is coalface football. Unfortunately, Blyth have yet to find a productive seam. While Son of Jack has been watching Republic players score five fine goals on manicured pitches, Charlton junior has just endured his new side going five matches - eight hours - without one. The Charlton name carries no weight if your two strikers are injured.
But last Sunday afternoon, as the rest of England came to terms with the deeds of another manager, Kevin Keegan, John Charlton at last saw his Spartans resist another goalless hour-and-a-half. It may only have been 1-1 against Hucknall Town, but it was a breakthrough of a kind and the relieved Spartans were applauded off their lumpy pitch by 303 of Blyth's townsfolk.
At the end Charlton held a team talk in the middle of the pitch, congratulated his players, then retired to the busy Spartans social club for a pint to discuss how and why he has ended up here. It is no straight story.
It is five years since Charlton jnr was last seen by your witness, pulling pints in the Baggott Inn in downtown Dublin. His father, meanwhile, was taking liquid recovery following his retirement from the Irish job in a backroom of the bar, which they then co-owned. That was meant to be the end of the family Charlton and the management game. The barman had other ideas. It may seem like a long way from pulling pints to picking players, yet John Charlton had grown up in football. He then played it semi-professionally for 16 years and has since taken all the necessary coaching examinations. He is therefore qualified to manage in his own right. He should be judged without prejudice.
That ignores the reality. John will always have the Charlton name, he knows he lives to be compared and, as he is quick to point out, any mention of comparison should be plural. "When you're the son of a famous person," he said in between gentle heckling, "no matter whether you deserve it, you're expected to live up to your father's reputation. I remember when Liam Botham, who plays rugby for Newcastle, when he was also playing cricket, straightaway the comparison was made between him and his father. I mean, Liam's his own man and that's the way it should be.
"Now from my point of view it's twice as bad. Not only do I have my dad to worry about, I've got my uncle Bobby as well. Between them they've won everything, including the World Cup. Now, if I'm better than one and not as good as the other . . . that's always going to be a situation. "But one of the things about going into coaching now is, because of the age I am it doesn't bother me. People can say what they like, they can make that comparison. It only affects you when you're 14, 15, 16, 17, when you're younger and impressionable. Now I say bollocks to them."
When John was younger the Charlton name was so overwhelming it was put to him that he should change it. In fact, Sheffield Wednesday suggested as much to the teenager they had on trial as centre half. It was meant to be a sympathetic act to let Charlton jnr be assessed as an individual. The legalities of player registration do not appear to have crossed Wednesday's mind. John wasn't too sure about the idea either.
He never joined the club his father was to manage and drifted into playing at the same standard he now coaches. He was 20, when at Christmas 1979, he received a call from a scout at Middlesbrough. The scout had been contacted by an Australian club looking for English players. "He thought I fitted the bill. I was there by the end of January. I stayed for 14 years."
"Then in 1994, I'd finished playing, and decided I wanted to go into coaching in a big way. So I started the coaching courses you have to do - I've just come back from one, it should give me a European licence. It means I could coach anywhere in Europe."
But the six missing years? "We bought the Baggott. Pubs are very time-consuming. I didn't get involved in coaching in Ireland as much as I would've liked. But we've sold that now and when this came up, they were looking for someone and I was looking for somewhere to complete my UEFA A licence. So it was of mutual benefit."
In typical Charlton fashion he has not signed a contract and said he shares a similar football philosophy to Jack, though he did not consult him about the Blyth job. He is ambitious - "Howard Wilkinson started in this league and he's England manager" - and League status is the ultimate aim.
Along the way fatherly help will be asked for if necessary. Jack has already been to a couple of Spartans' matches, but John said Jack will not interfere. "He knows I know the game inside out. He knows because I've had the best teacher."
