Every workplace needs positive characters to keep spirits up when the going gets tough.
And when those individuals have the talent and work-ethic to go along with their affable personality, you’re on to a winner.
That’s exactly how St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson feels about his second in command Diarmuid O’Carroll.
The pair have worked together at Motherwell, Morecambe and are now inching closer to steering the Buddies to the elusive top-six finish the club have craved for decades.
O’Carroll’s exploits on the training ground haven’t gone unnoticed, with Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill recruiting him to his backroom staff for their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign – which started over the last international break.
O’Carroll returned to Ralston in as cheerful a mood as ever, helping the Paisley club see off the Lions in a crucial clash to jump up to fifth spot in the table.
Saints manager Robinson feels O’Carroll has a huge future ahead of him, which will be boosted by his experience with Northern Ireland over the coming months.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Diarmuid has come back like a big time Charlie now!
“No, seriously it is fantastic for him to be part of the Northern Ireland coaching team and I am delighted for him.
“He is a really good guy and a fantastic coach. Michael O’Neill has recognised that and wants him to be part of their success going forward.
“I think they have a good person, first and foremost, and a good coach secondly.
“We will benefit from it too as you get more contacts at international level, you learn different tactics, different systems. What he can bring back to St Mirren is great for us.
“He is still so young but to have the experience he has now at 36 is incredible.
“Diarmuid has done a hell of a lot more than I had at his age. I was still working with the under-12s at 36.
“He has been an assistant manager for a number of years, he has done various jobs with the Irish association. He has worked at academy level and now the first team, so he has so much experience for a guy who is so young.
“Diarmuid is so bubbly though around the place and he lifts the spirits of everyone.
“He comes across as a nice guy, and he is, but he has a ruthless streak to him as well, which you need.
“He certainly takes no rubbish from anyone and that’s important.”
O’Carroll is travelling down a very similar road to Robinson, who also supported the Northern Ireland national team before taking his first step into management outright.
While jokingly warning his assistant boss not to step up to the hotseat, Robinson is confident O’Carroll will make a superb manager when the time comes.
When asked about the benefits of working with Northern Ireland, Robinson said: “I think tactically it made me a better manager.
“It is small percentages in games and at international level they are all good players.
“You learn small details and you are coming up against different threats to club level and it is about how you cope with that.
“It is also how you manage your time away is different. How you build up to games and the system has to be simplistic.
“Look at Steve Clarke with Scotland, he went 3-5-2 and stuck with it, even if it wasn’t really working. He stayed with it and you only have to see the rewards he has got from that.
“I think Diarmuid is crazy if he wants to be a manager though and I have told him that.
“He should stick to what he is doing and enjoy life without the madness of being a manager.
“Anyone who moves into management needs their head examined, and I include myself in that!
“But in terms of his talent, he is an ambitious guy and I think he is on a great career path and he could go on to big things.
“I have no doubts he will become a top manager when the time comes.”
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