When Paul McGinley bounded triumphantly on to the stage, having been unveiled as Europe's new Ryder Cup captain on Tuesday night, you half expected to hear a thud and then see the backdrop of the platform tremble like a wonky set in Crossroads as the spurned Colin Montgomerie unleashed a brassed-off boot into the set.

He's had his thunderous, moody moments down the years, of course, but he's not that bad. On the contrary, the former European skipper was full of praise for "the best man for the job".

As it turned out, Monty's "dream" of reprising the captain's role he performed at Celtic Manor in 2010 was, well, a pipe dream. Instead of swearing in a Scot on Scottish soil for 2014, this week's committee meeting in Abu Dhabi ended in a resounding cry of Irish Ayes as Dubliner McGinley was thrust into office.

"I'm not at all disappointed," said Montgomerie yesterday. "It would have been a dream come true, but it has not happened. I was flattered even to be considered again. It meant a lot to me. The selection process was such that they appointed the best man for the job."

Amid the general maelstrom of the past couple of weeks, it's easy to forget that the Ryder Cup in Perthshire is still some 20 months away. Qualifying for the European team does not start until the last weekend in August this year but, such is the size of this biennial beast these days, the build-up becomes almost overwhelming.

Questions will inevitably arise shortly about the vice-captaincy and McGinley will be probed and cajoled on the issue of right-hand men. "I should have a good idea towards the end of the season where I'm going to go with that," was his early response on that front.

Having served as a meticulous vice-captain under Jose Maria Olazabal and Montgomerie in 2012 and 2010 respectively, McGinley will now have to decide who he wants to be his own deputies. Some may say that asking the egocentric Monty to serve as a second-in-command is a bit like asking The Queen to do the hoovering, but the man himself would no doubt relish the opportunity to be involved in some capacity.

Then again, having such an imposing, outspoken character careering about on his own stamping ground and looming large in the team room may just overshadow the stature of McGinley himself. And the Irishman may not be too keen on an assistant who categorically stated that 2010 would be his only stint as captain only to backtrack completely, salivate at the prospect of another two years in the limelight and threaten to ambush McGinley's own captaincy ambitions.

Will Monty ever be in the running again? "Only if we keep losing and I do a Tom Watson and come back," he said.