A week into Euro 2012 and the abiding thought is that we, the media, pack so much into a very small space of time.
Those of us charged with the wonderful task of bringing this festival of football into the living rooms of not just Ireland, but the entire world, are the luckiest people on the planet.
We are asked to make sense of the spectacle unfolding before us, and it’s never less than a pleasure to do that.
Sure there are little hiccups along the way, but they pale into insignificance when set against the joys of actually being here to witness this competition. Our Polish hosts have been superb so far.
And, as always, there is an Irish connection.
Last night for example: Liam Nolan (producer), Brian Kerr (fellow commentator), Tim O’Flaherty (owner of Blooms Hotel in Poznan and a St Patrick’s Athletic fan) and I were in the Stary Rynek, or Old Square, in Poznan.
We’d had a couple of beers after the match between Italy and Croatia and we were wandering around taking in the atmosphere as many Croatians and a few Italians were winding down after their game earlier.
There were also a few Irish fans around that had not made the journey to Gdansk for our drubbing against Spain – more of that anon – and they were all delighted to meet and have their photographs taken with Brian.
His popularity amongst the Irish here is extraordinary. They see him as one of their own, a football man all his life, and someone that really understands Irish football.
But back to that Irish connection: the police were on every street corner. They had a watching brief. They were there to keep the madness of the fans down to manageable proportions. They were dressed all in black, head to toe, and looked like Robocops. Pretty fierce.
Passing a group of six standing in the recess of a pharmacy on the corner of the square, I couldn’t resist asking them how their day was going.
Low and behold, one of them spoke to us in an Irish-English accent. His name was James and he spent five years in Naas, had perfect English, and was delighted to make our acquaintance.
It was just a chance meeting but it spoke volumes about the intricate web of Polish-Irish connections that now exist between our two countries.
These Robocop lookalikes let us shake their hands and have photos taken – a most unusual occurrence. These guys tend to be very aloof and uncommunicative.
The atmosphere on the street was relaxed. It was good to know that they felt little threat from us or the throngs of fans wandering about the square.
This morning we got a taxi from our Novotel Centrum hotel in Poznan to Copernicus Airport.
Liam spoke in fluent Polish, or so it seemed to me, to the driver. It turned out that his daughter lived in Newbridge and was married to and Irishman called Kevin.
She has been in Ireland for many years and our taxi driver and his wife have been to visit a couple of times.
That got me thinking that it will not be long before we see Polish names in the Irish team.
And sure why not when you consider that Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, two of the German squad, were both born and raised in Poland.
Not to mention Denis Perquis and Ludovik Obraniak, both born in France, and playing for the Polish side.
As for Ireland and our performance last night, well when Liam and I were in a taxi from Warsaw Airport to our hotel in the city centre, our taxi driver, completely unsolicited by us, said that Giovanni Trapattoni should retire.
It’s clear from the performance by Ireland in their two games that our tactics are completely moribund.
How can players produce performances when the tactical system is more important than the players, when our management team only knows one way.
There are only two games between now and the start of the next campaign. Surely it is time for the younger players to get an opportunity.
Kieren Westwood, Stephen Kelly, James McClean and Shane Long, to name but four, should all start against Italy on Monday.
It’s time for the older brigade, players that have given their life to Ireland, to move on.
Next Monday, and the friendly international against Serbia in August, are the only two games where a fresh approach can be tried.
Otherwise, we will go into the next World Cup qualifying campaign with the same old players and the same old rigid tactics.
Against Germany, Sweden and Austria that would prove tactical suicide.
Ok, enough about football. It’s time to have a stroll through Warsaw and see what this capital city is all about.
