THERE

was one sliver of good news in the Declan Rice story. It surrounded a betting company making an utter fool of itself, revealing a thirst for cheap publicity that cannot be slaked. The company issued a press release announcing it had cut the odds on Rice being named in the England squad announced on Thursday. This was despite the fact that England could not pick Rice for their next games as it will take at least six weeks for FIFA to process a formal switch from Ireland.