A very long duration project […] had taken a whole group of people through a painful waterfall development process.

She pushed her chair back scrapingly.

Capello mystifyingly left Ashley Young out despite a match-winning display in the Euro 2012 qualifier win in Wales in March and he only underlined the folly of the decision by emerging as substitute at half-time and striking a fine equaliser six minutes after coming on.

This rather leisurely journey, consuming almost six months, should be contrasted with Liu Tsung-yüan's trip into exile in 815- it took him a little more than three months to reach Liu-chou in Lingnan from Ch'ang-an.