Temperatures cool as Pauw future overshadows finale

Whether it’s by pure coincidence or not, FAI negotiations with Pauw’s Dublin-based agent Ciarán Medlar stalled in the same week as that July exposé.

NOT IMPRESSED: Manager Vera Pauw during a Republic of Ireland training session at Spencer Park in Brisbane, Australia, ahead of their final Group B match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, against Nigeria. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Welcome to the Irish version of a long goodbye in a flash of seven days.

Vera Pauw’s standing at the start of 2023 couldn’t have been higher.