After Martin O'Neill revealed Ireland's lineup to face Austria in pivotal World Cup qualifier in Dublin on Sunday, all the talk was about the omission of Wes Hoolahan from the side.
Then, in the first 45 minutes, we saw why.
Ireland looked bereft of ideas and cumbersome on the ball in the first-half, as Austia took the lead from a corner routine that really should have been sniffed out.
The second half saw a shift to 4-4-2 and a lot more Irish pressure, but there was just no quality as decent chances in the Austrian area were wasted. Then along came Big Jon.
He buried his chance, and then it looked like we were going to push on and win it. We very nearly did through Shane Duffy, and we maybe should have had a penalty, but had we won that game we would all be sitting here wondering how.
Ireland vs Austria finished 1-1, and here's how we rated the Irish players.
Darren Randolph - 6
Had very little to do all day, but pulled off a big save when he needed to at 1-0.
Cyrus Christie - 6
Made himself available often on the right flank and continued his impressive run of form since taking over from Seamus Coleman. Decent today, not quite the Uruguay performance, but decent.
Kevin Long - 5
A solid performance, Long looked a lot more comfortable than his inexperience in International football would suggest. Would have been a higher rating if he was a bit sharper in the Austrian box.
Shane Duffy - 4
A wild performance, with moments of quality and moments of madness, but his rating is on the low end for his dreadful use of the ball while in possession. Leading with the arm also cost him a match-winning goal.
Stephen Ward - 4
Today was the Burnley man's worst performance for some time as he has been one of the biggest improvers over the past two years. Today he looked unsure from the first minute, lost his man for the Austria goal, and never threatened going forward. Still our best option at the position by a mile but today was not his day.
Glenn Whelan - 3
The worst thing about Whelan's performance today was that he made Eamon Dunphy look absolutely correct in his pre-match views:
Whelan does nothing, really. He effectively doesn't do what Arter does which is be sharp in the tackle, he never really looks for the ball.
Very poor.
Harry Arter - 7
Busy, aggressive, and eager to get us moving forward, the Bournemouth man is now our most important central midfielder. Was missing a bit quality when it came to the shot or final ball today but put in a good shift.
Jeff Hendrick - 4
Can we have the Jeff Hendrick from Euro 2016 back please? Another game in which everything seemed to pass him by, considering he is in the team ahead of Wes Hoolahan, he really needs to offer more. Didn't support Walters at all in the first half, just kind of drifted.
Robbie Brady - 5
A mixed bag from Brady, who had a poor first half but strangely looked more influential when he dropped back to left-back. His delivery was good, but wasn't creative enough to get a positive rating.
James McClean - 6
Another strong performance by the man who has been our standout player in this campaign so far. He never gives up, he rallies his teammates when they need a boost. Also actually created chances today, which is always nice. We love a good shoulder too.
Jon Walters - 7
Bless your heart you beautiful bastard. Given no help, having to battle with two massive centre-backs, and he comes up with a huge goal. What a servant for Ireland.
Sub: Daryl Murphy - 6
Gave the Austrians something else to worry about, missed a good chance that nearly resulted in an Austrian own goal, but remains a useful option from the bench.
Sub: Wes Hoolahan - 7
Look, it's not funny anymore, put Wes Hoolahan in the Ireland team. Made to look a world beater by how crap we were for 70 minutes, he was on the pitch for less than two minutes before he created a chance that should have been a goal. Our only actual baller.
Sub: Aiden McGeady - 5
Not enough impact for anything other than a five, was eager to get on the ball when he came on but it flew over his head for the most part.
And breathe...
