Very little of Jake O’Brien’s season at Lyon has been straightforward, and yet that turmoil and chaos has been the making of him.
Particularly so when you consider where he is today – training with an Ireland squad managed by the centre-back he idolised as a kid, and on the cusp of a senior debut.
That’s the risk and reward return for a bold leap of faith last summer, with the Corkman completing a left-field move to France after leaving Crystal Palace.
But when Marseille fans hurled bricks through the windows of Lyon’s team bus in October, O’Brien – sitting down the back – might have wondered what he signed up for.
That said, he got a taste of ongoing tensions when Lyon’s fed up ‘Ultras’ had it out with players on the pitch after a 4-1 home defeat to PSG the month before.
At that stage, Lyon were rock bottom of Ligue 1 with a single point from four games, after which manager Laurent Blanc paid the price.
His replacement was Fabio Grosso, the former Italy international who suffered nasty facial injuries in that bus attack in Marseille.
But while Grosso handed O’Brien his debut at the start of October, he too was sacked as manager after securing just one win in seven games by the end of November.
Throw in some boardroom battles behind the scenes and Olympique Lyonnais have been a tinderbox waiting to ignite.