Lucky general gets luckier
Excessive loyalty to the old guard at Euro 2012, a toxic style of football, a patchy attendance record at Premier League grounds, conflicts and misunderstandings with Damien Duff, Kevin Foley, James McClean, Shane Long, Darron Gibson and Stephen Kelly suggested a pattern of cock-ups from Trap and his assistant Marco Tardelli that made for an open and shut prosecution case.
Last Friday’s catastrophic 6-1 defeat at home to Germany thinned the ice beneath the Italian duo still further. A loss, a draw or even a one-goal victory in Torshavn on Tuesday night would have left him fatally wounded, insiders are convinced.