If the players go Christmas shopping, it's not ideal preparation. It may sound silly, but having to fight off the crowds in a busy shopping centre or having people visit can be demanding.

At the end of the day, it's all about what's on the shelf at the end of the year.

It sounds blase but there is a certain amount of luck. We'd all like to take a certain amount of credit for Kevin Doyle... I can't really remember what it was I particularly liked about Kevin when I watched him in Ireland. I had five pints of Guinness in the afternoon and it was all a bit blurred.

I'm not going to make it a target, but it's something to aim for.

People talk about the prestige of beating records but prestige never bought me dinner in a restaurant. It's winning games that does that.