Nearly 11 years ago when Steve Staunton was sacked as Republic of Ireland manager, the FAI CEO John Delaney noted that the deed had been done in a dignified fashion and not in “a Welsh rugby car park”, a reference to the abrupt dismissal at the time of the Wales coach Gareth Jenkins. The shambles of the Staunton era — thrashings, walkouts, fallouts — is back upon us. On Thursday night, Delaney should have found a quiet place, car park or otherwise, to tell Martin O’Neill that his services were no longer required and then driven off into the Cardiff sunset alongside him.

The blame for the 4-1 humiliation in Wales lies to some degree with the manager but Delaney and the FAI board are