New boss rolling the rock but old flaws still present

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus angered the gods, and the devious tyrant was forced to roll a huge boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down every time it neared the top, repeating the action for eternity.

A myth of folklore, perhaps, yet one that really resonates with the Ireland national team's journey over the past four years.

Big performances, near misses, but inevitably this team have found themselves at the bottom of the hill, looking up, and with every subsequent attempt, their endeavours hampered by diminishing belief and confidence.

In September, Ireland failed to get beyond base camp in their first expedition, led by seasoned traveller Heimir Hallgrimsson who had been tasked to take over, and while they made a promising start to their second attempt, on home turf, they stumbled, and in the end, it proved pointless.

Arriving into Helsinki in October, the Nordic winter was yet to arrive, and despite the early uphill challenge, after the captain misread the terrain, the ascent proved much more manageable, allowing the team to dig in for a few days, the view much improved by their elevated position.

The Greek gods, however, were also fond of a sporting spectacular and it would appear they are enjoying the current form of their football team, so by half-time in Sunday night’s game, it became abundantly clear that the boulder was only likely to go in one direction.

Four games into the Nations League campaign and Ireland are exactly where they were predicted to be, battling Finland in their fight to remain a League B, tier-two country.

Granted, there were aspirations of being closer to Greece at this juncture, however, the Athens encounter showed that there is still quite the way to go before the national side can be