If it wasn't already actually Christmas time we'd be very, very excited about this Saturday's Euro 2016 group draw in Paris.
Ireland will find out the teams we'll be facing in France next summer at the European Championships, and we can start planning on ways to take down the best of the best.
Martin O'Neill will have to come up with various plans and systems if we are to make the most of our time on the continent. However, Irish fans hoping for performances like what we saw against Bosnia and Germany might be ever so slightly disappointed by his comments on Wednesday.
The Ireland boss picked up the Irish Sports Manager of the Year gong in a joint award with Northern Ireland's Michael O'Neill and, speaking to
Newstalk, admitted that the weather may play a role in how he sets his teams out next summer,
"Sometimes in tournament football when you're there, say the conditions are hot, in terms of pressing, that might be a wee bit more difficult to continue".
Ireland's tactics changed throughout our qualifying campaign, with our best performances coming in the latter end as younger players such as Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendricks pushed up on the opposition.
O Neill feels that his team may need to be more cautions at next year's feast of football.
"Pressing when we have to press, but maybe it might be less than we would be able to do at home in the Aviva."
