Six months out from Euro 2016, we’ve already stumbled upon a genius Shane Long flag

Shane Long could do with a pick-me-up right now.

The Tipperary native came off the Southampton bench, last night, but was he pretty much helpless as Liverpool ran riot. Having scored against Manchester City at the weekend, Long may have been hoping to keep his place in the starting line-up for the Capital One Cup quarter final. It was not to be and, even when he did get on, the Saints were annihilated 6-1. Long did not quite have the same super sub impact that he did for Ireland, against Germany, in October. His matchwinner against the world champions set Ireland on their way to their victorious playoff against Bosnia. The 28-year-old ensured his place in Irish footballing folklore and, fittingly, his exploits have been celebrated with this superb flag. We have reason to wave it high this morning, with news that Ireland have jumped 11 places in the FIFA rankings to 31st. https://twitter.com/locdgooner/status/672103667995156480 Euro 2016 is six months (and one week) away, but this flag will take some beating. Cheers to Rob Cullen for sending the tweet our way. If you would like to get in touch with SportsJOE email us at editorial@sportsjoe.ie or contact us via Facebook andTwitter.