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The life of a journalist does have its perks and chief among them is travelling all around the world. And when you mention either of the two keys words of ‘journalist’ or ‘press’, you find that it unlocks doors and provides access to places you never even thought of enquiring about as it looked to be out of bounds.

Blame it on the money that has turned the beautiful game into a multi-million euro industry and thus influencing everyone connected with it. Although, the modern footballer shouldn’t get away that easy, especially when they produce the type of antics that wouldn’t be acceptable in a playground. So it’s time to call them out when they attempt to further damage football with their spoil tactics.

It may not have felt like it, but it has been a very good season for Republic of Ireland internationals in the Premier League. With both Shane Long and Jon Walters hitting double figures, Seamus Coleman, Ciaran Clark, James McCarthy and Darron Gibson enjoying their finest campaigns yet, and both John O’Shea and Joey O’Brien excelling for average teams, there has been plenty to celebrate.

For all of the nonsense in Scotland of deserving players being overlooked for end-of-season awards, it was a surprise that few people chirped up about Joe Shaughnessy being snubbed in the Young Player of the Year category. But he won’t remain in the shadows for much longer.

Sometimes a player must swallow a little bit of pride to accept what level matches their talent. For Andy Reid, that realisation came when he opted to return to his first club, Nottingham Forest, and it has proved to be one of the best decisions of his career.

It happens so often that Paddy Madden hardly pays any attention to it any more, but those who have questioned his ability have little to say these days after he finished as top scorer in League One. Not only that, but he has helped Yeovil Town into the Play-Off final and could be playing in the Championship next season. Not bad for a kid some said couldn’t hack it at this level!

It has been a very good year for Irishmen in the bottom tier of English football, but some have stood out more than others, like Plymouth Argyle’s Conor Hourihane. Tasked with stepping up to senior football at a club hit hard by financial problems and battling relegation, he not only developed into an important player, he became the team’s captain and helped to guide them to safety.

Whether Wigan Athletic secure Barclays Premier League survival or not, James McCarthy must ensure that he is returning to a new club upon finishing his holidays. The window of opportunity for the talented midfielder to maximise his potential at a bigger club grows smaller with each passing summer, so he better be planning to move on.

Everything appears to be changing for the better in the modern game, except for television punditry. The sight and sound of so-called experts, who give little insight or show that they have conducted proper research, reminds us that for every introduction of goal-line technology, there is still something else to fix.

Adapting to the modern game won’t come from playing under Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni, so it is hugely encouraging that some of the best Irish youngsters can get that education elsewhere, like in the NextGen Series.