It's been three years since ex-Sligo Rovers, Sunderland and Royal Antwerp midfielder Richie Ryan left for the North American Soccer League and this season he could be about to taste championship glory with his current club Miami FC.
The NASL club managed by former Italy, AC Milan and Lazio legend Alessandro Nesta are into the NASL Playoff semi final against the current version of the storied New York Cosmos franchise on Sunday.
Tipperary native Ryan joined Joe Molloy and Kevin Kilbane on the Football Show last night as we caught up with him after three years away - firstly with Ottawa Fury and Jacksonville Armada - which has led to life in Florida.
"It's been brilliant since I've moved here. I moved here last May so can't complain. It's a great place to live," he said.
"And obviously playing under someone like Nesta, you're learning everyday. He's very intense on the training pitch and he wants you to have high standards. I don't want to sound bad but he's very temperamental. As you can imagine, he's coaching in the Second Division in North America so the standards are not of the level he's used to when he was playing, so he sort of loses his mind a little bit with that aspect."
Riccardo Silva, left, and Alessandro Nesta hold for a photo in Florida International University's newly renamed Ricardo Silva Stadium in Miami, Florida on April 3, 2017. MATIAS J. OCNER/PA Archive/PA Images
"But that's to be expected I think. But it's a good thing because he just wants you to have the highest standards possible which he makes sure he's on everybody's case every day to make sure you're as good as you can be."
Ryan also reminisced about his early days with Belvedere and then at Sunderland where he briefly played alongside Kevin.
He also recalled an unpleasant period at Boston United in 2006-07 when then manager Steve Evans rebuked him - having originally wanted to build the team around Ryan - for a stylistic point during a game.
Ryan said: "The manager just went absolutely AWOL at me for getting the ball off the goalkeeper. He said, 'I don't care where you've been, who you've played under, you do not do that at my club' and he wasn't very pleasant in the way he was saying it and I walked onto the pitch for the second half and [ex-Ireland international] Colin Healy said to me at the beginning of the second half, 'Was he screaming at you for getting the ball off the goalkeeper?' and I said, 'Yeah, that was it'".
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