It wasn’t quite the last chopper out of Saigon but there was a strange feeling of sombreness as I left the media centre at Ireland’s training base in Gdynia, alone, and for the last time.

Today, you couldn’t escape the general feeling of despondency. And it was particularly notable when you went to the Irish team’s training camp.

It says an awful lot when the highlight of your evening comes hours before kick-off.

Here are the kind of high-jinx you get at an international tournament involving Ireland.

If you pick up a paper today, you will doubtlessly see a Euro 2012 player “slamming”, “insisting” or “declaring”. And, when these quotes appear, the impression is often that they’re given in relaxed, glamorous confines.

On Saturday evening, it was as if Slaven Bilic knew something everyone else didn’t.

Let’s, at the very least, try and focus on the positives.

As is well known, the modern footballer doesn’t always have the best relationship with the modern media. Both, after all, want very different things.

Not long before eight o’clock here, Dimitrios Salpigidis upset what would have been one of the biggest parties Poland has ever seen.

By now, you’ve probably all seen the video of the Irish fans greeting the English team’s coach in Krakow. It was hard to miss. And even harder not to laugh at, even if there’s something a little sad about how the English – by contrast – are so supportive of Ireland.