I had the pleasure of being at Fratton Park on Saturday evening for Setanta's live game and arguably our best live match of the season.
With five minutes to go, I was preparing to ask Tony Adams about a triumphant night with his Portsmouth side 2-1 up and looking as though they had pulled a fantastic result out of the bag and granted their manager a stay of execution.
Two wins in 15 Premier League games meant Pompey were in relegation form and his job was on the line going into the Liverpool game. Rafa Benitez's bizarre team selection and a gutsy, spirited display from Portsmouth's players suggested a great win at a perfect time was on the cards.
But, just as Filippo Inzaghi denied Adams a famous victory over Milan only two months earlier, Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres did the same on Saturday and instead Adams had to once again stomach the disappointment.
I was the first journalist to interview Adams after the final whistle and, while he was understandably disappointed, he seemed heartened and encouraged by the fight his players had displayed after their wretched defeat at Fulham the previous weekend.
Adams had insisted in the week that he wasn't going to walk away from a challenge and resignation was not an option. He repeated that was the case and he intended to fight on.
It's not nice asking a manager whether his job is on the line and whether he feels he has the support of the chairman. When I asked him if he would be in place for the Manchester City game next weekend, he replied will you be there and said what a stupid and pathetic question.
Little did he know, 24 hours later, he would be relieved of his duties.
I spoke to Avram Grant this morning, one of the contenders for the job as he is a friend of Sacha Gaydamak, the owner. I rang Grant but he had no comment to make at this point although he indicated he may have later.
That suggests to me he is interested and certainly it would be no surprise if he was installed in place of Adams.
Gaydamak desperately wants to sell the club and relegation is not an option because it will be much harder to do that with a less attractive asset for any prospective purchaser. Hence the reason he was so ruthless with Adams.
Portsmouth had to sell to balance the books, they have suffered with the credit crunch and are not the same team that Harry Redknapp had. Adams hasn't had an easy job on his hands but the fact is the club could not afford relegation and it's forced the owner's hand.
It is no surprise Adams was sacked despite the gutsy and courageous performance against Liverpool. Had they won the game, he'd still be manager and there lies the cruelty of football.
This long winter has proved a particularly harsh one for Pompey. Their wait for a European campaign was a long one, but their interest in the Uefa Cup proved to be short-lived. Their grip on the FA Cup, so wonderfully won last season with victory over Cardiff at Wembley, proved fragile. They survived one round, but then came the season’s nadir, a wretched defeat to Swansea, at Fratton Park. The Welsh had gained their revenge.
I last spoke to Adams two weeks ago at Bristol City where Portsmouth did well to negotiate the potential banana-skin of an FA Cup third round replay in front of the Setanta cameras. He was already under mounting pressure then, but seemed calm, composed, and ready for the battle ahead.
Had they beaten Milan in the Uefa Cup, it would have been so different as that would have provided a massive boost. Instead, it knocked the stuffing out of them.
The same can be said for Saturday - had Peter Crouch not uncharacteristically made a mess out of that backpass, had Kuyt and Torres been properly marked, Adams would still be in a job.
It is cruel but small differences can change careers, fortune and fate. Careers hinge on such small things.