If Noel King's appointment as Dundalk manager seemed to come out of left-field, it was also a "surprise" to the man himself.
And as the 67-year-old gets his feet under the table at Oriel Park, the former Republic of Ireland Under-21 and Shelbourne women's boss is under no illusion that he will have to win over some fans who are sceptical about whether he is the right person to try and turn a struggling team around.
King, who briefly served as the Boys in Green interim manager in 2013, has not managed in the League of Ireland Premier or First Divisions since a spell at Finn Harps 21 years ago but has now been tasked with being the permanent successor to Stephen O'Donnell, with the remit of attempting to lift the Lilywhites off the bottom of a top flight table that the club dominated during the latter half of the 2010s.
His elevation appears to owe much to a decades-long connection with Dundalk's current owner Brian Ainscough but nevertheless, the decision to appoint him represents a somewhat "strange" choice according to former Sheffield Wednesday, UCD and Shamrock Rovers midfielder Paul Corry, who was called up to the Ireland U21s by King in 2012.
"I would love to know the involvement of say somebody like Brian Gartland, who's gone in there and seems to have a pretty big role on the non-footballing side of things. And his role, did that involve appointing Noel King? I'd be very surprised if it did.
"It seems like a strange move. I'm not really too sure what I make of it. I think it's strange to replace Stevie (O'Donnell) and bring in somebody like Noel King and it will certainly be an interesting one to see how that meanders and how that works out over the next couple of weeks because it's been a long, long time since he's been involved (in the League)."
King will certainly have his work cut out with Dundalk winless from 11 games this season and eight points adrift of guaranteed safety.
"They're eight points behind Waterford and that's quite a gap already, considering that we're just over one round of games finished," said Corry.
"So this is not a situation where Noel King can afford for that gap between themselves and safety to open up too much more. They need to get results and they need to get them quick."
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