As pubs and bars around the world, decked out in green on St Patrick's Day,were expecting about 13 million pints of Guinness to be drunk across the globe - five million of them in the UK,the evening brought about a sobering thought for the Irish FA as Liverpool, Manchester City and Rangers were being 'dumped' out of the Europa Cup.
With the Republic of Ireland hosting a major European club final for the first time on Wednesday 18 May 2011 at the Dublin Arena, their new 50,000- seat stadium, it was hoped that one of these teams, possibly two, would make the final bringing with them a vast army of fans who would have brought much needed revenue to the economy. However the disappointment is felt also in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.
John Henry must have wondered why he had made the long trip to Liverpool on Thursday night, and more to the point had he been wise to sanction spending $56 million on a man who had a limited influence on a game that would have seen his team in the quarter finals of a competition they had high hopes of winning.
Similarly, Sheikh Mansour must question the judgement of his manager in signing such a problematical player for £24 million, one who struggles to dress himself, adding to the fortune already spent to win such trophies as this.
It has been a season that has given us such a mixture of unusual results that now sees Liverpool and Manchester City being replaced in next years competition by Birmingham City and either Bolton or Stoke City.
Money doesn't always bring happiness.
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