TV View: Who knows what is entailed in the job specification for a co-commentator/expert analyst/pundit/studio guest on soccer, but we guess it helps when you used to be your country's leading striker (until a young whippersnapper from Tallaght elbowed in), have an image of being squeaky clean (only use Surf, to be sure to be sure) and have a command of the English language that, well, is better than that of the natives.
After all, you wouldn't hear Niall Quinn say things like "he said it in Spanish but the referee's Italian so he will understand what he said".
Which is the gem Graeme Le Saux produced when sitting beside John Motson in BBC's International Match of the Day in the midweek, fattening diet of friendly matches.
Le Saux's observation, a prime case of opening your mouth when it would have been better to stay silent, came when Uruguay's Diego Forlan was verbally lambasting the referee and not too long after Motson had shown the true art of commentary when his eagle eye - or perhaps that of his cameraman - spotted that Peter Crouch had number 21 on his shorts and jersey front but 12 on the back of his jersey.
All of which came long before Gary Lineker rounded off the presentation with "Crouch has proven he is no slouch." Ouch!
In soccer more than in other sports, it seems the route to becoming a studio analyst/
pundit/guest means you must first have spent some of your life getting paid for your deeds on the football pitch. Which, of course, is fair enough given that viewers want to hear the views of those who have been there, done that. Quinn has adapted to the role better than most.
He's likeable, and articulate. Not only did he have a successful career in the English leagues, but he enjoyed the rare auld times with the Republic; and the nice-guy image was embellished when he donated over €1.5 million to charity from his testimonial.
The man who will forever have the distinction of scoring the first goal at Sunderland's Stadium of Light - against Manchester City in 1997 - has since moved into the pundit's chair with consummate ease.
On Wednesday night, though, there was a feeling that, maybe, just maybe, Quinn was a little too close to the Irish set-up.
In his role as co-commentator to Rob Hawthorne on Sky Sports (live and exclusive and safe from terrestrial television) for the friendly international that gave a hint of what might have been if only the team had played with the same passion in the World Cup qualifiers, the former striker could hardly contain himself as Ireland outclassed Sweden.
Even studio anchor Paul Dempsey felt obliged to draw attention to how excited the Mighty Quinn was getting - and, at this stage, it was only a 1-0 half-time lead.
"He seemed to spend a lot of that first half off his seat," remarked Dempsey, with a huge grin.
If we were told once we were told a hundred times of this "new era" in Irish football - the buzz words throughout - with Quinn especially prone to the hyperbole.
"World class." "Unbelievable." "Wonderful." And this just after the first goal, from Damien Duff.
But then, Quinn is closely involved in the new Irish set-up and, given he soldiered so long and so hard with Staunton on the road over the years, it was perhaps understandable his emotions would come to the surface once Ireland started to outplay the Swedes.
Having played a role in landing Bobby Robson, making the initial phone call to the other half of the new management team, Quinn revealed the "little interesting story" of how Robson actually suffered an injury in training.
"He's that enthusiastic and working so hard with Kevin McDonald and Steve Staunton he actually pulled a calf muscle in training, at 73. Ha, ha, ha. It's great, he'll be so pleased with what he has seen so far. It's been really, really good."
To be sure, it was a good performance; and maybe with this game out of his system, Quinn will be a bit calmer about the "new era" next time round.
As a far less emotional Frank Stapleton observed in his role as studio guest, it was just a friendly. No need to lose the run of ourselves just yet.
