KEN EARLY: Come clean Trap, time to be positive about your negativity

Last Saturday afternoon, the car carrying Giovanni Trapattoni made its way along the A50 motorway south of Stoke city centre and pulled up alongside the red-brick Britannia Stadium.

The Mister got out and looked around the ample car park set amidst curling service roads, motor showrooms and petrol stations. Maybe he stepped into the nearby Holiday Inn Express for a carvery and a pint. Maybe he didn’t.

Sometime around 3pm, Trapattoni sat down and maybe pulled his coat a little tighter. The Britannia has open corners that lets the wind whip across the exposed pitch and whistle through the stands. Stoke were about to play West Brom. The temperature was a couple of degrees above freezing. It was the day before his 74th birthday.