Stephen Bradley stopped just short of calling him, ‘Mr Shamrock Rovers’.
But you got the sense that’s where he was going, when he spoke about Ronan Finn and said of his captain: “He is someone who should be at this club long after I'm gone.”
You could draw parallels with the evolution of the 34-year-old and the changes that have taken place at the Tallaght Stadium club.
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It’s all change for Finn this past week.
He missed last Thursday’s 4-0 defeat to Ferencvaros through suspension, but that meant he was there for his partner Jamie Lee, who gave birth to their second daughter on Friday morning.
On Sunday he was back in action in Shamrock Rovers’ 3-0 top-of-the-table win over Dundalk.
And two days later he brought mother and baby Emmi home, before turning his focus to tonight’s second-leg against the Hungarian giants.
Finn, however, is taking it all in his stride. He has grown accustomed to change - and has seen plenty of it on and off the pitch since his return to Rovers nearly six years ago.
He also addressed the change that’s down the road for him, as at the age of 34 he considers what lies ahead when he hangs up his boots.
But first, the sudden change in his domestic life.
“It was a manic weekend,” he said, “in between a big game in Tallaght against Dundalk.
“It was a crazy weekend, but a good weekend. All is well with the baby and all is well on the pitch.”
Last week, manager Stephen Bradley speculated that Finn would not have travelled to Budapest for the first-leg even if he wasn’t suspended.
“I would have gone if I was fit and available,” countered the midfielder-turned-wing-back.
“The lads, I think, came home at 5am (on Friday morning) and we were due in the hospital at half-seven. So I would have made it home.
“But she (Jamie Lee) would have been absolutely up the walls.
“She was probably the only one who was happy that I was suspended.”
Next up, the change at Rovers - and his switch from one of the league’s best number 8s to his current right-wing-back role.
Bradley yesterday described Finn’s decision to leave Dundalk - just after their 2016 Europa League run - as a “massive leap” of faith.
He remarked how their Roadstone academy and training centre was “just a field” at the time - and that there was a sense of realism at what could be achieved on the pitch.
“When he signed, the conversation wasn’t ‘come here and next year we’ll win the league’,” said Bradley.
“For someone to come from the best team in the country at the time to that was a massive decision. He made that decision and hopefully he’s happy with it now.”
Finn seemed at ease with his choice as he fielded questions yesterday in a room dedicated to Rovers’ partnership with Ashfield College.
“They had a plan. Everyone has a plan. Sporting Fingal had one. It’s just so hard to follow through. It needs backing, it needs time,” he remarked.
“In fairness to Dundalk, they (had a plan and) were successful.
“There was patience (at Rovers) and a plan. It never got derailed.
“I think 2019, everybody began to realise that Shamrock Rovers were coming.
“We didn’t win the League but we won the Cup. That was massive for us, massive for the players.
“Look at facilities, if you’ve a lad coming back from the UK or a young lad at a schoolboy club and you want to show him and his parents the facilities, Ashfield College, what it has to offer.
“If I was kid I’d want to come here. Education is very important to me.
“I’d be saying to my parents, ‘This club wants me to play football but I can also go to private education’.
“They’re ticking so many boxes here. They’re thinking of the bigger picture.
“Then you see the on-field stuff.
“Revenues from winning leagues, winning Cups allows this all to continue.
“If we start to down tools on the pitch, it slows everything down.
“In fairness, it’s come from the plan but it’s also the players and management, the gaffer, Stephen McPhail, Glenn Cronin; they have been brilliant.
“As the first-team staff, they’ve got the results on the pitch which allows money to come in the door and everything to grow, really.”
A mark of the academy’s success has been the European debuts this year for Justin Ferizaj and Gideon Tetteh, two players that Finn once coached in the Under-15s.
“They realised at the club they were at that the manager was happy to bring in young lads,” said the veteran.
“They see Gavin (Bazunu) making his debut. A few years later he’s the Irish number one and he’s playing Premier League football.
“For young players and parents, looking at Shamrock Rovers as an option, is there a pathway? If there’s no pathway then what’s the point of me being here?
“There is a proven pathway here.”
That brings us to the next change in Finn’s life - when finally he brings the curtain down on his playing career.
He still has another season and a half on his contract and, according to Bradley: “He is someone who should be at this club long after I'm gone.
“I think he is everything that the club should be about - ourselves and the board have had many discussions about that and I think it's 18 months that he has left.
“We see him as part of the club. He is such an influence around the dressing room and young boys.
“He trained with the 19s on Wednesday and all the feedback was incredible, his attitude and how he behaved in training and demanding from everyone.
“That is the sort of character and leadership that we want around the club.”
Does Finn see himself as coaching material?
“No, not really,” he replied.
“You get a massive buzz as a player. You get a buzz in terms of the day before the game, everything, you think about the game positively, it can absorb you.
“Coaching didn't do it for me in that respect.
“I remember coaching the 15s with Joey and he'd be ringing that night and I'd be just… it wasn't for me in that respect.
“He loved it. I would rather the business side of it.
“I'm delighted I experienced it. It's not something I disliked completely but I wouldn't have that love other people would have for it.
“I'm not saying I won't when I get older, in a few years maybe, but I'm happy with my own sideshow I have going on.”
Meanwhile, Hoops boss Bradley has hailed Finn as his most important signing at Shamrock Rovers.
Bradley hailed Finn's imminent feat of making a record-equalling 54 European appearances, saying: “It’s an incredible achievement and he's still going strong.
“It would be a fantastic night for him and his family and it's testament to how he carries himself and how he looks after his body.
“At this age, that he's still playing to the level he is playing is all credit to him. It will be a proud night for him and his family.”
As for where Finn ranks in his list of arrivals, Bradley replied: “(He’s the) most important signing, definitely. I’ve said that quite a number of times.
“I know everyone has their own players, their own individuals, what they’ve brought.
“But Ronan – for that moment in time and what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it – was definitely my best signing.”
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