As Ger said, one manager who was not too difficult to second guess was Big Jack Charlton.
The former Ireland boss used his tried and trusted 4-4-2 formation and direct approach in most matches, except in one match against Poland in 1991 where he changed tack.
Unfortunately, that switch would not pay off as the Boys in Green eventually failed to qualify for Euro 1992 - a tournament they could have had success at when you consider the talent levels and the fact that late entrants Denmark went on to win.
Liam Mackey of the Irish Examiner was in Poland for that 3-3 draw in the penultimate qualifying game and tonight on Off The Ball, he reminisced about a match which featured Ireland leading 3-1, Roy Keane's competitive debut, Paul McGrath in midfield and full-backs on the wings, with Tony Cascarino as the lone striker.
"Two acts of total self-destruction undid Ireland," said Mackey, of the goals which you can watch in the video below.
"I remember waiting in the lobby of the team hotel [after the game] to wait for the players to come down and a lot of Irish fans had gathered. It was kind of solemn. There was a sense that this was something new. We were used to moral victories and now we had a moral defeat.
"Finally Jack appeared and whatever doubts people had had or suspicions that people had had that a draw would be a perfect result, forget about it. You just took one look at his face and he looked like thunder. He started walking through the fans and then somebody quietly began singing a tune and it was picked up and amplified and they started singing 'Always look on the bright side of life' and I'm not kidding you, by the time he got to the door of the hotel, Charlton was cracking up."
Mackey also discussed the legacy of a match which helped Ireland from reaching the major tournament between Italia 90 and USA 94.
"You do think, could that have been the one where maybe Ireland could have gone further than a quarter-final that they reached in the World Cup. Could they have gone all the way?"
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