Everyone loves a winner, something that is always clear as day when the Irish football team does well and the mood of the nation lifts. Home games quickly sell-out and the Ole Ole Oles ring out loud across the country. Everyone wants to talk about the Boys in Green then.
It is a different story when the team is not doing so well and the COYBIGs quickly fall silent.
Since Stephen Kenny took over as Irish manager the Irish soccer team has had what can most kindly be described as a poor run of form and an even poorer run of luck.
The team were knocked out of the Euro 2020s in a penalty shoot-out and have yet to win a game in the qualifying group stages for next year’s World Cup in Qatar having managed only two points out of a possible 15 so far.
Such statistics would be grim at any time but they are made even worse because the run of poor results includes a home loss against Luxembourg and a snatched-at-the-death draw against Azerbaijan.
But the table and the results don’t tell the full story.
The Irish team nearly beat Portugal, the team currently ranked eighth in the world and would most likely have done so had it not been for two late, late goals by Cristiano Ronaldo. They did well against Serbia at home and away and but for some dodgy refereeing could easily have won one or even both of those ties, instead of losing one and drawing one.
Then there is the team, full of young players and an adventurous spirit that Kenny has brought to the party.
So, are we on the cusp of something great or is the team and the nation doomed to spend the years ahead fighting for scraps off the football table and reliving past glories?
Football writer Ken Early is upbeat but realistic about what lies ahead.
In the News is presented by reporters Sorcha Pollak and Conor Pope.