It was pretty obvious what would happen to Rangers’ favourite Italian son if Italy did not make the world cup. And it was highly likely they would fall short.

The surprise choice of Rino as national manager was always a gamble, even if his CV is strong. Rangers’ favourite Italian son has had credible spells with Napoli and his old stomping ground AC Milan, and has been long-touted as a future Rangers manager.

But he wasn’t even remotely ready for the national gig with his country, and certainly not when Italian football is in the state it’s in.

Long-gone are the heady days of Serie A being the league players wanted to be at. Long gone are the days of Sacchi, Ancelotti, Maldini, Gullit, Del Piero, Batistuta and Zanetti.

These days Italy is the poor 5th league. It’s still a top five league but barely, and it just doesn’t have the lure of old.

It has been completely surpassed by the other four, in England, Spain, France and Germany.

So the national team has also suffered.

That the most valuable player is Tonali, who is considerably less than half the value of the highest valued...