IT almost seems ordained. Tonight marks Brian Kerr's 10th anniversary as manager of St Patrick's Athletic and the sense of occasion could hardly be bettered. For starters it's a home game, secondly it's the visit of Bohemians and, perhaps most fittingly of all, situated in the adjoining dug-out will be Kerr's most enduring managerial foe of the last decade, Turlough O'Connor.

The respect each has for the other is mighty and utterly genuine. They've crossed swords many a time, but have always shaken hands afterwards.

Tonight's will be a very important game - especially for St Patrick's, seven points off the pace being set by Bohemians and Derry City. Yet O'Connor, who has always respected Kerr's ability to compete with sometimes inferior resources, as well as his organisational and motivational powers, readily acknowledges his counterpart's "terrific achievement".

"Ten years is an awful long time. Five or six years would be an achievement in itself but anything beyond that is a bonus. It's an indication of how highly Brian is regarded."

Kerr himself would prefer no fanfare and no fuss. Self-deprecatingly, he says it merely qualifies him for an award in "thickneckedness".

He'd rather look ahead, thanks all the same, but when pressed reflected yesterday. "I remember my first game (a 1-0 win over Galway on December 7th 1986) and an old classmate from school (St Michael's, Inchicore), Robert Norris standing beside the old dug-out and saying to me: `It's gas, I never thought I'd see you walking along here to the dug-out'.

"The other time I most remember seeing him was when we were in an open-top bus on the Emmett Road after winning the league in 1990 and he was standing there with a bunch of kids in St Pat's colours, balling his eyes out."

Much has changed alright. When Kerr took over at St Patrick's they were considered a homely little club, nice people and a cup of bovril at half-time, but with an essentially junior mentality. "There was a lack of respect because the pitch was poor, bumpy, and tight, and no grass. But I think that's changed. I think we re a respected league club now, for innovation and forward thinking; progressive on and off the pitch. That's down to a lot of other people - Dr (Pat) Dolan, Tim O'Flaherty, Phil Mooney and others."

He still hasn't lost it, that knot in the stomach when he wakes up on the mornings of games, something O'Connor said he missed when he was between positions as manager of Dundalk and Bohemians.

They'll both wake up this morning with that little knot.

After the decision of the FAI Appeals Commission to reject" Shelbourne's appeal against Pascal Vaudequin's eight-game suspension, the Frenchman's case will now be heard by a three-man tribunal of arbitration.

. Defiant Middlesbrough are ready to wage war with Barcelona over stay-away star Emerson.

Middlesbrough want the Football Association to request a FIFA investigation into a "hidden agenda" surrounding Emerson's bid to quit the club.

The £4 million midfielder, who signed a four-year contract in the summer, has gone AWOL three times this season and Boro are waiting for him to return from his, latest trip back to Brazil.

But Boro are pointing the finger at the Spanish giants, claiming they have orchestrated a campaign to lure the player away.