That’s life, that’s what all the people say, you’re ridin’ high in April, shot down in May…

Goals change games. Winning goals change perceptions.

A question for the world champions: Can we play you every week?

Since there’s nothing guaranteed to send shivers up the spine of a journalist more than the words “powerpoint presentation” — apart, possibly, from a sentence beginning, “Here, this expenses claim you submitted...” — the media savvy Declan Conroy would have known that there were bound to be more pleasant ways of spending a chunk of what was his combined birthday and wedding anniversary than by unveiling his League of Ireland review to a hic of hacks in a Dublin hotel on Tuesday morning.

For the Dunph’s “a good player, not a great player”, now read Fergie’s “a great player but not world class”.

Today, I beg the kind indulgence and understanding of my long-suffering readership as I take a first, nervous step into the world of confessional journalism.

Gibraltar versus Ireland in Faro last weekend was the first international I’ve attended where the pre-match traffic actually thinned out the closer you got to the ground.

You are witness to an unprecedented experiment in sports journalism here this morning — if not quite a match report written before the match then something not too far off it.

Ahead of the resumption of European Championship qualifying with the game against Gibraltar in Faro on Friday, the Irish team will get its first taste of its new training base when they commence preparations at Abbotstown on Monday morning.

In light of yesterday’s Champions League draw, there might be good reason for optimism English clubs will survive the marathon of the group stage but rather less grounds for confidence in the notion they will still be in the race for Milan when the sprint section turns into the final straight.