Fresh from a brave performance in Portugal, Sporting Fingal manager Liam Buckley believes attacking football can bring Irish clubs to the next level in Europe.
Strolling out of a hotel conference room in Funchal last week, Liam Buckley's fake smile quickly faded when out of view of the Portuguese media.
The Sporting Fingal manager had done a relatively good job at hiding his displeasure at the suggestion from local journalists that his team's Europa League qualifier against CS Maritimo was a 'David versus Goliath' clash.
Buckley felt the comment had insulted his managerial background, the quality of his squad and the progression made by the Dublin club in such a short space of time.
However, it was a remark that shouldn't have surprised the 50-year-old as the League of Ireland has always been viewed as a lesser league when its clubs play in Europe.
Perhaps Buckley was so irked because the Portuguese media were looking down at this inferior Irish team without taking into account the league's rise up the Uefa co-efficient list to 30th place or club's impressive results achieved in recent years.
So when Glen Crowe headed the opening goal last Thursday at the Estadio da Madeira and the Maritimo crowd fell silent, Buckley could afford to crack a wry smile knowing how much a shock it was for the locals.
Of course, the dream debut in Europe wasn't to be for Sporting as the trail of breadcrumbs ran out and so did their luck as the team which finished fifth in Liga Sagres scored three second-half goals.
But the performance registered by Buckley's men as well as the home win for Bohemians over TNS earlier in the week and the disappointment of Shamrock Rovers only drawing with Bnei Yehuda suggests League of Ireland clubs are no longer prepared to go into European qualifiers guided by blind hope.
The standard of the domestic game has elevated to a level not seen since Johnny Giles was a Hoops regular, so no wonder expectations of European progression are at an all-time high. As clubs get stronger, they inch closer to the holy grail of reaching the group stages of the Champions League or Europa League. But that breakthrough will only happen when managers wipe the blackboard clean of negative tactics.
Buckley thinks there needs to be a drastic swing away from long-ball games as it hinders team's chances of competing against top European sides and doesn't entertain crowds that are needed.
"Certainly if the league is improving, it will help our chances of getting positive results in Europe," Buckley told the Sunday Tribune.
"But it will only improve from a European perspective if teams try to pass the ball. It doesn't always have to be entertaining football, but this direct stuff is gone out of date. You might get through the early phases playing like that, but as soon as you step up against top teams you get found out.
"They all have something about them technically and organisation-wise, the patterns of play that they develop and their patience. Ultimately, that is what we have to aspire to over the next season or two."
It hasn't all been smooth sailing for Irish clubs in Europe as Dundalk were thrashed 6-0 by Levski Sofia last week, but at least Ian Foster is trying to get his team to play attractively.
The 33-year-old is grouped together with the likes of Martin Russell at UCD and Paul Cook at Sligo Rovers in the new school of managers that prefer to play open, attacking football.
And Buckley reckons they are all picking up new ideas from their Uefa Pro Licence course. Buckley is due to complete his Pro Licence later this year and thinks it is imperative the FAI insist that managers need it to coach in the league.
"Martin Russell, Paul Cook and myself are all doing our Pro Licence this year and I'd like to think that we all try to get our teams to play good, passing football," he said.
"I definitely think it has an influence from preparation to organisation to how you see a game being played. I picked up an awful lot out of it, but ultimately it is going to come down to the managers.
"Some of the managers just have a 'get on and squeeze' approach and to a certain degree that works. But we need to look at why teams around Europe are so successful."
The progress report card for Irish clubs in Europe would read: Showing real signs of potential, needs to be more creative, but will only get the support when consistency leads to success.
With a positive change of approach, that could alter things significantly and the group stage breakthrough to the group stages may no longer be just a pipe dream. A lot done, more to do.