Moving in ever decreasing circles

THERE has been much talk lately about the qualities required to be a successful Irish manager but, from my current vantage point here in grey and freezing Cardiff, not nearly enough about the importance of the new man having a decisive say in ensuring that a qualifying campaign concludes, if at all possible, in a balmy climate.

Never mind getting those tricky away games out of the road first and then hopefully finishing off with a couple of cast-iron bankers against the also-rans. That’s mere football talk that, and only of any use to anyone else if the minnows should happen to hail from somewhere a wee bit closer to the equator than Cwmbran town.

Oh yes, it’s all very well and good to talk about tactical nous, powers of motivation, vast experience and so on and so forth but, believe me, the dreaded meeja would forgive an awful lot from the man after Stan if we could just swap a few dark November days at home for some late summer sun and a pina colada or 10 somewhere warm and welcoming like, say, the paradise island of Cyprus. (I mean, what could possibly go wrong there?)