“I always say that, in addition to being a coach, I’m also a priest. I go to each player’s room and say who is playing and who isn’t. I talk and explain. It’s a little like confession.”

– Giovanni Trapattoni during Euro 2004 when he was manager of Italy. His players, he said, were so delicate and emotional he needed to spend time with them all individually, not least Alessandro Del Piero who was a broken man after the manager declared that Francesco Totti was Italy’s star. Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland will, then, have a shoulder to cry on . . . if they ever return.