A (very) senior person at FA HQ, and an old friend, tells me: "My views on this decision are unprintable. Watch this space!"

Are you saying there is hope after this shambolic decision?

All I know is what I said. An old friend who used to work in Manchester during Alty's great days and is now near the top of the FA HQ structure told me in a brief e.mail what I quoted: "My views on this are currently unprintable. Watch this space."

I think there's a little bit of hope there.