Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson cut an almost frustrated figure after fielding questions before Thursday's Nations League Group B3 game against Austria at Dublin's Aviva Stadium (19:45 BST).
The conversation would normally revolve around the opposition or his own team's preparation, but this has been no ordinary international window with the fall-out from Sunday's 3-0 win over Israel, plus the chaotic build-up to that game in Debrecen still dominating discourse.
On Saturday, players voted to fulfil the Israel fixtures following goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu's decision to make himself unavailable, with the issue continuing to hang over the Irish camp before Sunday's behind-closed-doors return in Serbia.
Protests have continued this week with the 'Stop The Game' campaign - organised by the pressure group Irish Sport for Palestine - issuing an open letter calling for a boycott of this Sunday's game in Backa Topola due to the Israel-Gaza war.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has come under fire for their handling of the saga, with board members appearing before the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) Sports Committee in Dublin on Wednesday, while Hallgrimsson reflected on a "challenging time for me as a leader".
"I would think the Association would learn from these events like I will learn from them," the Republic of Ireland boss said on Wednesday.
"I think we will all look back and be better afterwards, the same for the FAI. Probably, they will look back and think 'we should have done this or said this' but in real time, you tend to make some wrong decisions.
"We would like to look forward and we are in a pre-match press conference before a game against Austria and we haven't spoken about football."
Last week, the Israel Football Association accused Hallgrimsson of "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity" after the coach said, "we're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide".
The armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
Israel has repeatedly denied that it has committed genocide, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It says its military operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence and in accordance with international law.
"It's one thing to have a personal opinion and then it's another thing to be the leader of a group," he continued.
"We need to take everything into consideration when we pick a team, when we talk about a squad, talk about subjects.
"I have been drawn into a political venue and I'm not an expert in politics, so this is learning for me, learning as a coach, learning as a leader and as a human being.
"There is a lot we have gone through when we will reflect on when all of this is finished and that is why I'm trying to focus on football now as that's my job. Then I can reflect on how I am as a human being and a leader."
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