We need break from old routine

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

Certainly, as he stepped into the Poznan press conference room on the eve of his team’s eventual evisceration of Ireland, the mood around the entire match changed.

And, as a result, the mood around Ireland’s entire tournament changed. After all the talk of replicating Greece 2004, Ireland now seem much likelier to follow Greece 2008: out in the first round.