Group D / The Opposing Managers' Views: When Jürgen Klinsmann was asked yesterday how he thought Steve Staunton would do in the Ireland job it was hard to imagine that the German, who has no more experience in the management side of the game than the 37-year-old from Dundalk, would be anything other than upbeat.

Sure enough, the former Spurs striker spoke from personal experience about how hard it would have been for the Irishman to turn down the opportunity to manage his national team.

"When they ask you the question you know they might never ask it again so to grab the opportunity as we both did . . . now I am sure he will do a great job."

If Klinsmann is convinced then the Welsh jury is still out, for John Toshack was surprisingly frank about the unproven nature of the man sitting just feet away.

"People talk about what's the best way to start in football management," he observed, "but the fact is that you look at some players and think, 'this one will be a good manager,' and he doesn't turn out to be any good at all, while you look at another lad and think he'll never be any sort of manager but he turns out to be good.

"The fact is that there are no set rules. I started out in the fourth division and it certainly did me no harm, so if you ask me then maybe I'd say that getting into international management without any experience can be the wrong way, but on the other hand you just never know.

"What's for certain is that if you've played more than 100 times for your country you've got something to offer."

Toshack's tone was understated, good natured and honest, and Staunton appeared to take the comments in that spirit.

The Welshman, in any case, went on to recall how often he has been surprised by events in his career, though his response to a question about whether Wales can qualify for Euro 2008 seemed not entirely positive.

"I never thought," he said with considerable conviction, "that I'd play for Cardiff City in the football league when I was 16. I never though I'd win an FA Cup-winner's medal with Liverpool at Wembley. I never thought Swansea would (while he was manager) go from the fourth division to the top of the first in three and a half years. And I certainly never thought I would lead Real Madrid to the Spanish championship, breaking all records along the way.

"So I do think we'll qualify. Maybe it would be better if I didn't think so. Maybe then we would."

The former Liverpool striker said his side's chances of making an impact on the group would depend on him having his best players available at a time when he was attempting to transform the look of the side.

Transition, though, was something of a recurring theme at the press conference, Toshack pointing to Staunton's need to bring new talent into a team he clearly feels is not on a par with the one Jack Charlton managed.

"You only have to look at the players he (Charlton) had - the Lawrensons and Bradys, they were class acts. Now with the likes of (Roy) Keane having finished up too there isn't the depth in the current side and Steve will have to find his feet a bit."

Klinsmann admitted his own side is in the process of change but, he said, the introduction of many new faces since a poor showing at Euro 2004 had already started to pay dividends.

"We have a lot of good young players who have shown a willingness to work hard and who, I think, have a very good future.

"We saw some improvement at the Confederations Cup (where strong performances from the likes of Bastia Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski helped the Germans to third place) and now we will play a World Cup in our own country, which is a wonderful opportunity. I think the improvement will continue.

"I'm excited about the future of the team but we know qualifying from this group will be difficult.

"That's all right, though," he added with a grin. "Qualifying can be difficult for us but then we end up in first place. We'll settle for that again - to struggle in qualification but then win the competition."

The Czech manager, Karel Bruckner, meanwhile, joked: "If I could ask to switch Northern Ireland with the Republic then I would but sadly it's not possible."

For Cypriot coach Angelos Anastasiadis, however, there was a slightly more attainable goal in relation to the Irish.

"It's good that we will get to play Ireland so soon again," he remarked. "We hope our stadium will be full again when you visit although this time it would be nice if it was full of our fans."