A blunder of Saipan levels, it was not. But still preparations for Ireland's last appearance at a major international tournament were not ideal.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Kevin Doyle told of how the wives and girlfriends of some players - including his, Darren O'Dea's and Stephen Hunt's - were accomodated above a strip club in the Polish town of Sopot.
It meant the players taking their focus off the game against Croatia at Euro 2012 while they found alternative accommodation for their families.
You have a little issue about changing hotels for your wives which becomes a big issue, the day before a game. They were posited over a lap-dancing club. It is not what you want when you are cooped up and under stress and bursting to get the first game out of the way and then all of a sudden this pops up.
According to O'Dea, it was a mistake which could have led to rumours to players visiting a brothel.
Under the guidance of Martin O'Neill, Doyle believes such mishaps will not happen come the summer.
It may be just an excuse, but we were so cooped up together for such a long time. I had no problem with that, but the last thing you want before your first game is trying to arrange another hotel for your family and stuff.
A lot of the lads who went to the last Euros will be in this squad this time around. It is teething problems like that which won’t happen again as the players and the people organising things now have that experience of going to a tournament. Everybody will be a little better prepared.
Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
