By creating more chances, there was, obviously, more chance of actually finding the back of the net. Even with that though, we still struggled to score.

The compromise was that our defence was made substantially weaker, and Ange's selection in that back three weakened it further.

Unless, like Chelsea, you have absolutely world class fullbacks available to you to convert into centrebacks, who are well-drilled in a back three formation through training time you can only get at club level, you really need three specialist centrebacks.

Ange toyed witha mix of fullbacks and centreback-slash-fullbacks, and relied on wingbacks with dubious defensive credentials to fill out part-time defensive duties on the flanks.

In the eight months since, Mathew Leckie especially has grown into his defensive role but initially it was an anathema to him. Behich is a dynamo on the opposite side, upfront and in defence...but it took us many games to get there.

Jurman and Sainsbury are now the core of the back line and while Bailey Wright fills out the three, we're still searching for the final piece of that jigsaw.

And for all the insane number of chances we're creating upfront, we're still struggling to score. All three goals against Honduras came from set pieces – and we still conceded.

There lay the problem – we weakened our defence, but still were not scoring any more goals...

And now we're here – qualifying for the World Cup by the longest possible route...and as soon as we do, Ange quits, after a month of will he-won't he speculation and debate.

For the past year, Ange has been nurturing a them-and-us mentality between himself and the media. He initially encouraged us to talk tactics with him but then when we started to disagree with him, he wasn't interested.

I like and respect Ange a huge amount, but the job has changed him. In 2013/14, he was approachable, humble and friendly. For the last year, he's... not.