So, just how did Brian Kerr become the story in the week leading up to two vital World Cup qualifiers? Emmet Malone answers some of the questions at the heart of the story

Are the media making too much out of his contractual position?

Twice before the summer, and once last week, Kerr made public his concerns over the FAI's reluctance to commit to a new contract before his current one ends with the conclusion of Ireland's involvement in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Though the situation was widely known, comments by the manager to the effect that he was "endeavouring" to find out what was going on from chief executive John Delaney did much to push them up the agenda, given he had said the association's failure to sort out his position before the campaign ended would have the effect of leaving him "dangling" going into the last two group games. All of this is of genuine public interest.

Do the media want Brian Kerr out of the job?

A number of journalists have expressed the opinion that it is time for a change, while others feel Kerr deserves another contract. Most occupy the middle ground and report on the future of a man who has helped to bring a number of young players on and successfully secured Roy Keane's return, but who has not achieved the competitive results that would have been hoped for when he was appointed.

Kerr's overall record is 17 wins and 10 draws in 31 games, but results in competitive matches have been unconvincing: the team have yet to beat another ranked higher than Albania in a match in which anything is at stake.

Victory over Switzerland next week would change that, of course, while qualification for the World Cup would be recognised as a major achievement, which is why many journalists have conceded that the association may have adopted the right course by deciding to sit tight and see how the campaign pans out.

But the players at Kerr's disposal simply aren't good enough . . .

Well, they may not be world-beaters, but they're more or less the ones he must have expected to have when he took the job and set qualification for major tournaments as his goal.

They're also of much the same calibre (indeed, largely the same players) Mick McCarthy had to work with. His starting team here in Cyprus three years ago was: Given, Harte, Kelly, Cunningham, Breen, McAteer, Roy, Kinsella, Kilbane, Connolly and Robbie. They went on to qualify for the World Cup from a group that included Portugal and Holland.

In any case, the defeat by France last month is not generally seen as the problem; rather, it is the failure to beat Switzerland in three meetings since he took over and, in particular, the two draws with Israel.

Nine of the 11 players expected to start in Nicosia tomorrow night are pretty much automatic choices at their English Premiership clubs, while the other two see a good deal of first-team football even if they don't start every game.

Of the anticipated Swiss starting 11 against France, three play regularly in the domestic league, three in the Bundesliga, while one apiece play first team football in the French and Dutch leagues. Phillippe Senderos is on the sidelines at Arsenal, while Tranquillo Barnetta and Johann Vogel generally sit on the bench at Bayer Leverkusen and Milan, respectively.

Israel's plight is worse, with two players in England, one in Turkey and the rest back at home.

And with few potential stars due to come into the team over the next couple of years, things look set to become more bleak. If Kerr can't get this group of players to beat the Swiss or Israelis, both of whom were seeded beneath Ireland, what will his chances be next time around when the Republic will, as a result of its recent decline, almost certainly be among the fourth seeds?

Have the media turned against him because he is no longer as "friendly" to them as he used to be?

That is certainly the allegation from the Kerr camp, but most of the journalists who cover the Irish team would argue that, despite having almost universally supported him for the job, they never expected their relationship with the Dubliner to remain unchanged after he took over the senior team. They are, however, disappointed with the extent to which somebody who seemed so media savvy has become insular and, in many cases, unco-operative.

When assessing how the international team's press set-up should be run, the only other example viewed by FAI officials was that of England, where a notoriously difficult relationship between the association, players and the media has given rise to tension and heavily-restricted access. By this evening, though, Sven-Goran Eriksson will have done more media than Brian Kerr this week, with the Dubliner having done just one full press conference at the start of the week and another today.

Elsewhere, across Scandinavia, in the Netherlands and a whole string of European sides with comparable or higher rankings than Ireland, co-operation between the various parties is much wider and relations much better. For example, after arriving in Dublin next week, the Swiss will have what would be considered a standard open session with the media with all of their squad members available for interview for a fixed period of time. An attempt was made by the FAI to do something similar before a recent international and the players refused to take part.

Still, things have gotten out of hand over the last few days . . .

Almost certainly, but Kerr did not help things by cancelling a press briefing on Tuesday which left journalists with little to write about in the build-up to two very important matches.

He was not helped either by the fact that only one of the players who had been selected for interview that day had even the faintest chance of playing tomorrow.

The situation was compounded yesterday by the fact that, with Kerr again absenting himself from media duties (and at just short of €500,000 per annum, "duty" is what most journalists view them as) another two outsiders for places in his starting 11 were put forward.

The players themselves make the choices, with Kenny Cunningham now overseeing the system. But there is a feeling that Kerr might have done himself a favour by exerting some influence over the situation.

And there is complete exasperation that the FAI appear to be unable to address a system which often leaves their officials publicly embarrassed that leading players simply can't be bothered to address their supporters . . . the Irish public.

England, as it happens, this week put forward Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe, Jamie Carragher, Peter Crouch, Darren Bent and Steven Gerrard, with David Beckham expected to miss today's usual pre-match conference because one of his children is ill.

Eriksson's relationship with the media has long been beyond repair and everybody appears to operate on that basis. Even if Ireland do win their last two games and qualify for next summer's finals, it appears Kerr will have achieved his apparent goal of getting things to the same level here.