“(Liverpool manager) Jurgen Klopp has been very vocal on that, coming out and saying it’s not as simple as that, and I understand his point of view. When you’re manager of Liverpool you’re expected to do well in all competitions.

“The only reason I said it is because of what Leicester did. When they won the league they didn’t have any European football, so they could concentrate on the league matches and it worked in their favour.

“When you play in different tournaments you have to change your team around, while that season Leicester were consistent, consistent, consistent because they didn’t have to worry about the Champions League.

“This season (Manchester) City, I felt, their biggest intent was to win the Champions League - Pep Guardiola wasn’t brought in to just win the league, but to make them a superpower in Europe. That’s where his allegiance lay, even if he wouldn’t have told you that, and that’s what he wants to achieve, especially after being knocked out of the Champions League last year by Liverpool in the quarter-finals. He’ll want to do better than that this season.

“He’s got a better squad, it’s much stronger depth-wise and they’re playing really well - but from Liverpool’s point of view, not to win the league for 29 years is quite incredible.

“They’ve been close on two or three occasions when they’ve finished second, but this is a season where they’ve started so well, they’ve gotten themselves into a very good position and they’ve only lost the one league game so far.”

As the tension grows on Liverpool with the season approaching the business end, however, Houghton’s changed his mind.

“I lived close to the ground, about five miles as the crow flies, when I played. I don’t live in the city now, but when I go there for games you can feel the tension - very much so at the moment.

“I was up there for the Watford game recently, which they won, the Leicester game which they drew 1-1 - and this is where my thought processes have changed because I’ve gone from thinking Liverpool should be out of it to the other way around. The reason why is what happens when Liverpool have had a break.

“When Liverpool have had a break, like the loss to Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup, they had a break for the fourth round and the fifth round, no Premier League games - they came back after some winter training out in Dubai and played Leicester, and they were off the pace.

Then they had another break for the FA Cup and when they played West Ham they had another under-par performance where they didn’t look up to speed

“But when they play and there’s no break they look fitter, their decision-making is better, they get around the pitch - everything about them looks much stronger. So I hope they stay in the Champions League, because it has a positive effect on how they play.

“It’s going to be tough, though. I’ve worked it out that Liverpool could end up on 95 points, and that might not be enough, which is incredible. If you get to the nineties on points you’d normally win the league comfortably but this is an extraordinary season.”

As for international matters, Houghton’s old teammate Mick McCarthy at least has “a good start” ahead of him in his second incarnation as Ireland manager.

“It’s up to the players now to step up. Mick is coming in there now as an open book. He’s not got any favourites, he’s not looking at players and saying ‘you’re definitely in, you’re definitely in’. He’s looking at the lads and saying ‘here’s the pitch, I’ll give you the opportunity to show me why you should be in the team’.

“That’s how it should be. When a new manager comes in it’s not up to him to impress the players, it’s up to the players to impress him.

“Everyone thinks a new manager has to be doing all sorts of wizardry to impress his players, but I’ve always felt it was the other way around.

“The new manager comes in and you have to impress him as a player.

“Mick will obviously know the players, he’s managed in England, he’s seen them and so on, but they have to impress him. Training has to be of a high standard and they have to believe in what he’s doing tactically and to implement that in games.

“They have a good start, Gibraltar away and Georgia at home are two winnable games, and they’ll tell us a lot about the style Mick wants the team to play, the system he wants to go for.

“But ultimately they’re there to win matches. That’s what the fans want to see, the team winning games. That’s first and foremost. If you can play entertaining football along the way then it’s even happier times for the fans.”

Houghton was in Cork with the National Football Exhibition, which officially opened at St. Peter’s North Main Street, Cork last week in what is the second of seven countrywide stops on the road to Dublin hosting four UEFA European Championship Finals games in June 2020.

“This idea of bringing the Finals around to different countries, you really want to showcase what it’s all about,” said Houghton. “Coming to Ireland, people know what the hospitality is going to be like, the fans and supporters here love to bring them in and show them the country, we have beautiful places for visitors to see, to eat and drink and so on. I’m sure there are lots of countries which wanted matches, but we’ve got some, so we have to put on a bit of a show.”