Just another day in Abbotstown as Irish football controversies hold court again

It is easy to sympathise with the likes of Heimir Hallgrimsson and John O’Shea who find themselves caught unwittingly in the firing line through all this.

FIRING LINE: Assistant head coach John O'Shea during a Republic of Ireland media conference at the FAI Headquarters in Abbotstown. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

There will come a day again when an Irish coach or manager will feel confident of fronting a press conference at FAI headquarters in West Dublin that isn’t kidnapped by a controversy that is not in any way, shape or form of their own making.

This was not that day.