These are heady days for Aston Villa fans, that small but statistically significant section of society who are preparing for their first European semi-final since 1982.

Jim McGuinness is the living embodiment of George Bernard Shaw’s theory that “all progress depends on the unreasonable man”.

A 4.45pm kick-off, pretty close to Saturday tea-time sports primetime, all set to put on a show…and what do the blokes at the European Champions Cup do? Plonk the biggest club game in world rugby this year right on top of them.

The departure of CEO Jonathan Hill concludes another farcical FAI chapter.

The scramble for tickets for a Klopp Dublin farewell will be like if Taylor Swift was lining out for Mayo in an All-Ireland final.

Do we really want to go through a now familiar cycle with one of our most beloved football sons?

It’s not perfect but there are raw materials there and Barry/Sagnol/Renard/Bruce/Mattress Mick or whoever is next will be watching keenly to see if the interim gang can put some shape on them.

Caoimhín Kelleher has made it possible to enjoy that rare, rare thing – an Irishman on the world stage, mixing it with the best of them.

Is Kane some missionary of Spursiness, travelling to foreign shores to preach the good word about flopping under pressure?

Is there a point when the Limerick hurlers will become the proper bad guys like all those dynastic regimes before them?