Tommy Martin: Ireland will soon need someone else to take the blame

Worthy as they are, all the talk of structures and academies won’t butter any parsnips when the time comes for this Ireland team to go again.

TIME'S UP?: Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan; unless you are the Republic of Ireland football team, in which case your failures are the subject of a bitterly fought custody battle.

The final whistle had not yet blown on Ireland’s tea-time disaster in Yerevan on Tuesday when the call went out to round up the usual suspects. The manager, the players, the FAI, Brexit, globalisation, John Delaney, climate change and, as John Giles used to say on nights like these, kids these days with their personal stereos and pocket calculators.