So he’s off to Chelsea after all. He has “winner” stamped all over his CV but I was kind of hoping for Frank Rijkaard. But then Big Phil is Brasilian so I’m on his side and look forward to seeing what he brings to the Premiership.

I feel sorry for Switzerland, even if their elimination was a foregone conclusion before a ball was kicked. Unlike Japan and South Korea during the 2002 World Cup, they were never going to cause an upset. They’re not a bad team, but this was never going to be their year. It must sting to put so much effort into hosting a major tournament only to be knocked out in the first round. However, I hope that they can win their final group match and at least go out with some pride. (EDIT: Although they’re playing Portugal, so the likelihood of that happening is small)

I’m rooting for Germany, by the way.

Celtic have lost again, pretty much ending their chances of winning the league (yeah, like that was going to happen this season). I’m not calling for Gordon Strachan’s head: he has delivered silverware in previous years. I really don’t see where the club goes from here. It just doesn’t have the solidness of that which played under Martin O’Neill, despite some decent enough investment. Perhaps a new scouting structure is in order.

From a good post on That’s Ireland about the FAI’s general shoddiness when it comes to hiring for the top job:

God love him he tried his best. Unfortunately, he had neither the experience nor the expertise for a job he should not have been given in the first place.

So our brave boys in green have made a mess of things. The wave of optimism after the demolition of Denmark has crashed onto the shores of disappointment. Twenty offers an interesting multiple choice on the matter.

It’s a far cry from last week, when Stan Staunton and co were confident of four — perhaps even six — points from the games against Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Coming away with just one sucks donkey balls. Naive fool that I am I thought they’d beat Slovakia at least, but our great tradition of throwing a good result away by falling asleep in the final minutes reared its ugly head.

As the manager, Staunton has to take the fall (worth noting that before the matches he said losing was a “worst case scenario”). He was never the right man for the job, having no experience in management. While I applaud him for giving so many young players a chance to show what they can do at international level, but some of his selections have beggared belief. Why he has insisted on playing John O’Shea at right back and Steve Finnan (at most recently Steven Kelly) at left is nonsensical.

He’s got to go, even if ultimately the responsibility lies with the FAI for handing the job to someone unqualified. But as Eoghan asked while the travesty in Prague was played out, who do we replace him with?