Events, dear boy, are built on small margins and Long shots

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

When Frankie warbled that one, he could hardly have guessed that his true target audience would be one composed of football managers and football players.

To be more specific, substitute Thursday for April and Sunday for May and you couldn’t get a more succinct summing up of the giddy highs and plunging lows of last week’s climax to Ireland’s European Championship group campaign.