"In all my matches as manager, I never got as much pleasure from a victory as I did last Sunday.
The atmosphere was first class. We were in a packed Turner's Cross on a glorious afternoon against a side from that great footballing nation - Holland.
I have to compliment Johan Neeskens for being so gracious in defeat. And talking of managers I admire, one name was popping up in the papers on Monday - Jim McLaughlin.
It was in the context of his record as the most successful Irish manager in Europe, which had been overtaken with our victory against NEC Nijmegen.
I've been managed by some famous men and they allleave their mark. But it's funny that the reason I'll never forget Neeskens or Jim McLaughlin is because of one quality they both share and that's class.
Jim had a very profound effect on me. Let me tell you why. The story started when I was a young kid at Arsenal. I used to walk down to Finsbury Park to get the Irish papers. There was a train station there. It was 1986.
I read the papers and found news of who was going to be the next Irish team manager. I was looking for Liam Tuohy's name because he was the king in my eyes.
They were doing profiles of all the managers in the frame - Tuohy, Charlton and Paisley. And that's the first time I saw the name of Jim McLaughlin.
They listed the honours and what I noticed was he had won more honours than Bob Paisley.
I thought to myself, well he's not a real candidate - he's just a token. Why? Because he's involved in the League of Ireland. Something struck me that this was wrong. It stayed with me, as did his name.
Over the years our paths crossed and one day in April 1998 we were playing Dundalk. We needed to beat them, win our last game in Kilkenny and hope that Dundalk beat Shels too.
Dundalk gave us the fright of our lives. They took the lead twice but we ran out winners.
After the game Jim McLaughlin said to me 'do you know what Pat, I like you and I've always liked you, and I'll do you a favour next week'.
Words like that meant everything to me. And sure enough, we did our bit and beat Kilkenny - and he did his by beating Shels and St. Pat's were champions.
On the way back from Kilkenny at around midnight the phone rang and he simply said: 'Pat, I told you I'd do you a favour. I'm delighted for you. You deserve it.'
Jim didn't have to make the effort to make that call. but he did and I'll never forget it. And to be mentioned in the same breath as Jim McLaughlin means everything to me.
I never really knew how to say thank you to him for the help and advice he gave me but he knows I'll never forget him.
Johan Neeskens and Jim McLaughlin - class"
stolen from the SRFC Ultras site, where Passive was kind enough to type it all up :)
