The week after Juventus claimed the 1994-95 Serie A title, they were smashed 3-0 by Roma in the Stadio Olimpico. Marcelo Lippi greeted the result with a shrug - "It's only human. Our boys just weren't that into it."
They had even less excuse to rest on their stools that Dundalk had but down in Italia, no one batted an eyelid. There's a different moral code in operation up in Britain and Ireland.
After 400 games in the past three months, Stephen Kenny took the opportunity to rest some players for the trip to Richmond Park last night. It was only 48 hours after his side had won a third League title in a row. With more Europa League games and the FAI Cup Final still to come, he thought it an opportune moment to rest some of his overworked players.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, they were mauled 5-2. While this might be frustrating for those battling it out with St. Patrick's Athletic for whatever it is they're battling it out over (St. Pat's are 7th in the table so it's hardly that significant), many believed it understandable in the circumstances.
Sligo Rovers manager Dave Robertson was not inclined to see things from Stephen Kenny's point of view. The former British army commando lashed into the Dundalk manager on twitter after the match.
Kenny's team selection told Robertson that the Dundalk manager had "no integrity". That seems ludicrously harsh. It is not a hashtag many would have associated with Kenny.
When some protested at this severe judgement, Robertson softened his line, asserting that he had intended no insult but was just wishing for a more competitive finish to the season.
In the meantime, we would advise Dave Robertson never to think about managing in Italy. He'd be driven up the wall and he in turn would drive the locals up the wall. He'd have a worse time than Jimmy Greaves.
Over there, the idea of a team in Dundalk's position persisting in winning football matches would cause consternation. As John Foot has written, in Italy, "useless effort is frowned upon."
And before we get too moralistic about this, just remember we had reason to be grateful for this philosophy in France this summer.
