Last night in Bari Irish fans witnessed a fantastic result for their national team as the Republic picked up a 1-1 draw with World Cup champions Italy, but was it really a good result?
Before the game a point away from home against Italy would be a great result for most nations but when the home side go down to 10 men early in the game (even though it was a ridiculous red card) then it gives you a chance and it’s a chance which should be taken.
Ireland dominated the game from the moment they kicked off after Italy’s goal, yet it took until the 87th minute again they got that much-deserved equaliser .
Everyone seemed happy with the result yet I couldn’t help but feel that we had missed a great chance to cause a real shock.
Don’t get me wrong, I know Ireland are nowhere near the level of Italy but any team with a man less will struggle and we had them on the back foot for at least 70 minutes, yet could only score until the final three minutes.
It’s disappointing in my view as we would have gone top of our World Cup Qualifying group and it would have given us a real chance of automatic qualification, never mind the play-offs.
However, the country was delighted today as we drew with the World Champions. So what? We could have won.
I would see this as two points lost but even Giovanni Trapattoni was happy. It seems things still haven’t changed since Roy Keane’s days in a green shirt.
The Corkman was always agitated by his fellow countrymen’s attitude of ‘we gave it a good effort and did well’.
‘Well’ was never good enough for the fiery midfielder and I echo his sentiments.
Last night proved that attitude still exists even though I thought the experienced Italian manager had filtered it out.
The Republic of Ireland football team have always seemed happy just to be there, to be in Italy playing the World Champions seemed good enough, just as it does every time we get to a World Cup.
With a 10 men Italy and us dominating the game with the majority of the possession, nothing but three points and moving to the top of the group should have been satisfying.
We saw what happened when Keane stood up against this mentality so I doubt anyone else will dare, let’s just hope the dropped points doesn’t hamper our qualification chances.
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Jealousy is a terrible thing
Last weekend saw one of Ireland’s greatest sporting achievements, as our rugby boys clinched a long-awaited Six Nations Grand Slam.
I don’t claim to be a huge rugby fan, however, I wouldn’t consider myself jumping on the bandwagon of our recent success as I remember watching, as a child in the early nineties, Ireland pick up their fair share of wooden spoons so I have been there for the bad times as well.
After one of the most tense sporting occasions I have witnessed in recent times, I felt proud of our rugby team and more importantly I felt proud for my country.
So your probably thinking where is this going? Well here’s my point, strangely the small shop around the corner from my flat stocks The Sunday World, an Irish Sunday tabloid newspaper that I always read back home (I live in Preston if you don’t know).
So on Sunday morning, bleary-eyed from the night before, I went to pick up the paper expecting celebration pictures, the match report from an undoubtedly ecstatic rugby correspondent and in-depth analysis from the experts.
All of which I did find but after being engrossed in the four or five pages of rugby I found myself through to the GAA pages (Gaelic Football and Hurling for our English readers) where I would expect them to report the sport that was in the shadow for that day.
What I did find shocked me and proved to me the amount of bitterness that lies in some quarters of the GAA world towards Ireland’s successful international sports.
Pat Spillane, a GAA pundit and schoolteacher, described in his weekly column how he felt that the skill and excitement of rugby played the day before was no better than a Junior League Gaelic Football match.
For those of you who don’t know the GAA system the level he was suggesting is roughly the standard of Sunday League football in England, maybe the lower levels of non-league if it was two top teams.
Spillane then went on to suggest that rugby has had an advantage of being a professional sport with money to hire coaches to come to schools where GAA is lacking.
Well, that is there own fault, first of all the GAA’s ignorance towards professional sport has left them behind on some fronts of development of young players. Secondly the GAA can afford to pay coaches to travel to schools to teach rugby, they just don’t want to cough up.
The pundit did mention that he was supporting the Irish team in their success but that he doesn’t see the appeal of rugby as a sport. I’m sorry but you won’t find many things as thrilling as a player having one kick that could either win the game or lose it, which is the position Wales’ Stephen Jones found himself in at the death last Saturday.
There’s also the charge Ireland made straight after the Welsh drop-goal, not exciting? Try telling that to the Irish fans that nearly took the roof off the Millennium Stadium when Ronan O’Gara returned Ireland’s lead with his drop-goal.
Nevermind the skill or the excitement, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, for a small nation with limited resources everyone should be proud of success whether it be rugby, soccer, GAA or even tiddlywinks.
The fact that Spillane would begrudge rugby their day before our summer is full of ‘his’ GAA is nothing short of disgraceful. Shame on him.
I don’t claim to be a huge rugby fan, however, I wouldn’t consider myself jumping on the bandwagon of our recent success as I remember watching, as a child in the early nineties, Ireland pick up their fair share of wooden spoons so I have been there for the bad times as well.
After one of the most tense sporting occasions I have witnessed in recent times, I felt proud of our rugby team and more importantly I felt proud for my country.
So your probably thinking where is this going? Well here’s my point, strangely the small shop around the corner from my flat stocks The Sunday World, an Irish Sunday tabloid newspaper that I always read back home (I live in Preston if you don’t know).
So on Sunday morning, bleary-eyed from the night before, I went to pick up the paper expecting celebration pictures, the match report from an undoubtedly ecstatic rugby correspondent and in-depth analysis from the experts.
All of which I did find but after being engrossed in the four or five pages of rugby I found myself through to the GAA pages (Gaelic Football and Hurling for our English readers) where I would expect them to report the sport that was in the shadow for that day.
What I did find shocked me and proved to me the amount of bitterness that lies in some quarters of the GAA world towards Ireland’s successful international sports.
Pat Spillane, a GAA pundit and schoolteacher, described in his weekly column how he felt that the skill and excitement of rugby played the day before was no better than a Junior League Gaelic Football match.
For those of you who don’t know the GAA system the level he was suggesting is roughly the standard of Sunday League football in England, maybe the lower levels of non-league if it was two top teams.
Spillane then went on to suggest that rugby has had an advantage of being a professional sport with money to hire coaches to come to schools where GAA is lacking.
Well, that is there own fault, first of all the GAA’s ignorance towards professional sport has left them behind on some fronts of development of young players. Secondly the GAA can afford to pay coaches to travel to schools to teach rugby, they just don’t want to cough up.
The pundit did mention that he was supporting the Irish team in their success but that he doesn’t see the appeal of rugby as a sport. I’m sorry but you won’t find many things as thrilling as a player having one kick that could either win the game or lose it, which is the position Wales’ Stephen Jones found himself in at the death last Saturday.
There’s also the charge Ireland made straight after the Welsh drop-goal, not exciting? Try telling that to the Irish fans that nearly took the roof off the Millennium Stadium when Ronan O’Gara returned Ireland’s lead with his drop-goal.
Nevermind the skill or the excitement, it doesn’t matter what sport it is, for a small nation with limited resources everyone should be proud of success whether it be rugby, soccer, GAA or even tiddlywinks.
The fact that Spillane would begrudge rugby their day before our summer is full of ‘his’ GAA is nothing short of disgraceful. Shame on him.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Why aren't you Cup for it?
Why Martin O’Neill decided not to bring a full-strength squad to Moscow last Thursday for Aston Villa’s UEFA Cup tie still confuses me.
Never before have I questioned the man’s decision making, I believe he is one of the best in the business but not going out there to win was a massive mistake.
O’Neill wanted to concentrate on the league and their push for a Champions League spot but surely the chance to win a European trophy would be something an ambitious manager like him would want to take on?
And the rest that their top players got hasn’t seemed to help in their bid for fourth spot, in fact it may even have hindered them as a disappointing draw against Stoke on Saturday was followed up by a 2-0 defeat away at Manchester City tonight, which has allowed Arsenal to narrow the gap between them.
Villa are even off away on a break this weekend with no Premier League action due to the FA Cup ties taking place, which they have been eliminated so this makes it even more mind boggling that they sacrificied their UEFA Cup campaign.
I have never understood the problem about playing two games in a week anyways yet managers and players constantly complain about fatigue, even at the beginning of the season.
It’s 180 minutes of playing football, if a player is tired then why not just give him a break from training the next day? Maybe footballers should try some of the more rigorous training that other athletes endure then they would know what it’s really like to be tired.
Fair enough, Aston Villa’s squad has not got the depth that maybe Manchester United’s or Chelsea’s does but, in my opinion, if you don’t want to play in Europe, don’t bother qualifying.
So say if Villa do finish in the top four and manage to get through to the last-16 of the Champions League next season, and they are in a similar position in the Premier League, will they just send their reserves out like they did last Thursday?
O’Neill’s decision didn’t go down well with the Villa fans that paid out to travel all the way to Russia only to see a weakened team crash out of the UEFA cup, it’s a tough enough time financially so you can understand their disappointment.
I think O’Neill’s attitude to the competition proves that there is a waning interest and importance of the UEFA Cup for clubs like Aston Villa who are chasing the big money-spinner that is the Champions League.
Next season the UEFA Cup will change its name to the UEFA Europa League next and the competition is also to be extended but more games is not the answer when clubs are complaining that there schedules are too hectic.
The only way I can see this competition being revived and becoming more attractive is to offer a Champions League spot for the winners or maybe even both finalists.
Hopefully the spot in Europe’s most coveted competition and the extra financial incentive would make UEFA Europa League more attractive for the likes of Aston Villa as it is a good competition for the smaller teams who can’t match the financial powerhouses in England and on the continent but will the governing body realise this?
Never before have I questioned the man’s decision making, I believe he is one of the best in the business but not going out there to win was a massive mistake.
O’Neill wanted to concentrate on the league and their push for a Champions League spot but surely the chance to win a European trophy would be something an ambitious manager like him would want to take on?
And the rest that their top players got hasn’t seemed to help in their bid for fourth spot, in fact it may even have hindered them as a disappointing draw against Stoke on Saturday was followed up by a 2-0 defeat away at Manchester City tonight, which has allowed Arsenal to narrow the gap between them.
Villa are even off away on a break this weekend with no Premier League action due to the FA Cup ties taking place, which they have been eliminated so this makes it even more mind boggling that they sacrificied their UEFA Cup campaign.
I have never understood the problem about playing two games in a week anyways yet managers and players constantly complain about fatigue, even at the beginning of the season.
It’s 180 minutes of playing football, if a player is tired then why not just give him a break from training the next day? Maybe footballers should try some of the more rigorous training that other athletes endure then they would know what it’s really like to be tired.
Fair enough, Aston Villa’s squad has not got the depth that maybe Manchester United’s or Chelsea’s does but, in my opinion, if you don’t want to play in Europe, don’t bother qualifying.
So say if Villa do finish in the top four and manage to get through to the last-16 of the Champions League next season, and they are in a similar position in the Premier League, will they just send their reserves out like they did last Thursday?
O’Neill’s decision didn’t go down well with the Villa fans that paid out to travel all the way to Russia only to see a weakened team crash out of the UEFA cup, it’s a tough enough time financially so you can understand their disappointment.
I think O’Neill’s attitude to the competition proves that there is a waning interest and importance of the UEFA Cup for clubs like Aston Villa who are chasing the big money-spinner that is the Champions League.
Next season the UEFA Cup will change its name to the UEFA Europa League next and the competition is also to be extended but more games is not the answer when clubs are complaining that there schedules are too hectic.
The only way I can see this competition being revived and becoming more attractive is to offer a Champions League spot for the winners or maybe even both finalists.
Hopefully the spot in Europe’s most coveted competition and the extra financial incentive would make UEFA Europa League more attractive for the likes of Aston Villa as it is a good competition for the smaller teams who can’t match the financial powerhouses in England and on the continent but will the governing body realise this?
Saturday, January 24, 2009
If it ain't broke don't fix it
The British Amateur Boxing Association's (BABA) first major decision after being set up to improve Britain’s Olympic boxing team was to sack head coach Terry Edwards just months after he trained the most successful Olympic team to date.
In an unbelievable move they have decided to get rid of the experienced coach who has been involved with the British team for the last decade and has been officially at the helm for the last two years which has seen England and Britain win their first World Championship gold medal in 2007, when Frankie Gavin made his name, and their first European gold medal since 1961 when hot prospect Luke Matthews won on home turf in 2008.
Of course their was James DeGale’s gold medal as well as David Price’s and Tony Jeffries’ bronze medal wins in Beijing. It was starting to look like Britain could be overtake Cuba as the world’s best amateur country.
However, BABA chief Derek Mapp decided to axe Edwards as they apparently look to further improve on their success. He said in a statement:
"Terry Edwards has made a huge contribution to British Boxing resulting in a record success of medal haul in Beijing. However we now need to further improve upon that and, as importantly, work to create a legacy of success demonstrated by the development of our boxers, coaches and support team for generations to come."
Have they ever heard of the saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? Did British Cycling axe their head coach? Would Manchester United have sacked Sir Alex Ferguson after they won the treble in 1999 just cause they wanted someone younger? No because even if we ignore the fact of how unfair it would be, it also doesn’t make sense to sack somebody who has just brought such a massive success.
Edwards was even more shocked, having just spoken to the new chief about the future of British boxing a few days before, he would have expected to be preparing for the World Championships this year but now he may move, like his medal winners, to the professional game as Frank Warren seems interested in getting him to coach some fighters.
Something stinks with this issue, whether it be a bitterness from rival trainers or people within this new organisation or his, in my opinion, correct decision to send Frankie Gavin home from Beijing, it’s an absolute disgrace and this upheaval can only upset the mood in the camp.
They probably thought they would be clever and wait until all the talk about Beijing died down but the people that it will affect the most are the young boxers with dreams of stepping into the ring at the London Olympics in 2012 and they will know their chances have been reduced unless BABA have an exceptional replacement. However, the best man for the job will now be either earning big money coaching the pros or enjoying his retirement.
A ridiculous decision that will could set British boxing back a few years, lets just hope it doesn’t effect the many impressive talents that are coming through the ranks and that Britain can emulate the Beijing team in 2012.
In an unbelievable move they have decided to get rid of the experienced coach who has been involved with the British team for the last decade and has been officially at the helm for the last two years which has seen England and Britain win their first World Championship gold medal in 2007, when Frankie Gavin made his name, and their first European gold medal since 1961 when hot prospect Luke Matthews won on home turf in 2008.
Of course their was James DeGale’s gold medal as well as David Price’s and Tony Jeffries’ bronze medal wins in Beijing. It was starting to look like Britain could be overtake Cuba as the world’s best amateur country.
However, BABA chief Derek Mapp decided to axe Edwards as they apparently look to further improve on their success. He said in a statement:
"Terry Edwards has made a huge contribution to British Boxing resulting in a record success of medal haul in Beijing. However we now need to further improve upon that and, as importantly, work to create a legacy of success demonstrated by the development of our boxers, coaches and support team for generations to come."
Have they ever heard of the saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? Did British Cycling axe their head coach? Would Manchester United have sacked Sir Alex Ferguson after they won the treble in 1999 just cause they wanted someone younger? No because even if we ignore the fact of how unfair it would be, it also doesn’t make sense to sack somebody who has just brought such a massive success.
Edwards was even more shocked, having just spoken to the new chief about the future of British boxing a few days before, he would have expected to be preparing for the World Championships this year but now he may move, like his medal winners, to the professional game as Frank Warren seems interested in getting him to coach some fighters.
Something stinks with this issue, whether it be a bitterness from rival trainers or people within this new organisation or his, in my opinion, correct decision to send Frankie Gavin home from Beijing, it’s an absolute disgrace and this upheaval can only upset the mood in the camp.
They probably thought they would be clever and wait until all the talk about Beijing died down but the people that it will affect the most are the young boxers with dreams of stepping into the ring at the London Olympics in 2012 and they will know their chances have been reduced unless BABA have an exceptional replacement. However, the best man for the job will now be either earning big money coaching the pros or enjoying his retirement.
A ridiculous decision that will could set British boxing back a few years, lets just hope it doesn’t effect the many impressive talents that are coming through the ranks and that Britain can emulate the Beijing team in 2012.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Rafa's Raging Ridiculous
So Rafa Benitez likes to talk about ‘facts’ (yes we heard you the first time mate) and he used his press conference today to launch what was a pathetic attack on Sir Alex Ferguson, well here is my take on this silly move.
Benitez believes that Alex Ferguson is the only manager who is never punished for stepping out of line, right but in November the United boss was reprimanded by the FA, given a two-game touchline ban and fined £10,000. If that is nothing then I would hate to see what is something.
The puzzling point is that Benitez points this out but then contradicts himself by saying Ferguson is the only manager who is never punished. Maybe Rafa was on the San Miguel when he was writing his little ‘fact’ sheet.
Nobody can argue the point that Ferguson does step out of line with his comments from time to time but he is always pulled up on it by the FA when it is thought to bring the game into disrepute, look at the amount of times he has been fined if you don‘t believe it.
However, every manager is entitled to their opinion and many do comment on the referee’s performance after games so I don’t know why Benitez has picked out Ferguson.
The Liverpool manager is complaining that Ferguson does not get punished by the FA for his comments, but surely saying this is questioning the FA himself isn’t he? Maybe they should have a word with the Spaniard for his ‘facts’.
Another ’fact’ is that Benitez says that Manchester United played “42 or 44” hours later than his team when United faced Middlesbrough on December 29 after Liverpool had beaten Newcastle the day before.
So Benitez said he wanted to speak only about ‘facts’ and not get involved in mind-games, but the so-called ‘cool’ Spaniard must not be good at maths or his calculator is faulty because Liverpool kicked off at 12noon and then United played at 8pm the following day, correct me if I am wrong Rafa but that is 32 hours, you wanted to be factual get it right then.
It is rich of Benitez to criticise another manager for complaining about fixtures, he must have a short memory because if we look back to last season and a quote from the Spaniard himself:
“I would like to ask the Premier League why is it that Liverpool always play the most fixtures away from home in an early kick-off, following an international break?" he said. "We had more than the top clubs last season and we have four already to prepare for this season.“ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2319584/Rafael-Benitez-turns-on-the-Premier-League.html
Sorry Rafa, you seemed like you fancied doing the fixtures yourself last year. But I see this season your doing ok and your boss’ are not on your back because your top of the league, so no need to complain then is there. No you will wait until the pressure goes up a notch and you will try and blame something else so you have a back-up if you fail yet again to bring silverware back to Anfield.
Overall I think Benitez’s planned attack, he was asked about the comment from Ferguson about getting nervous with no mention of fixtures or refereeing decisions just in case you haven’t seen it, is a sign that Ferguson has riled him.
Benitez says he doesn’t want to get into mind games so early, well in this press conference he threw himself in the deep end.
He has jumped into dangerous waters and while I don’t think Ferguson’s bite is as bad as a shark anymore, the Scot’s experience of handling mind-games in title run-ins will mean he can smell fear from a long way.
If Benitez wanted to stay out of it and focus on his team’s next game, then don’t say anything about it, simple isn’t it?
Obviously not for the Liverpool boss, who is clearly feeling the pressure early on which isn’t a good sign for his team’s title prospects. Now that is a real fact Rafa.
Benitez believes that Alex Ferguson is the only manager who is never punished for stepping out of line, right but in November the United boss was reprimanded by the FA, given a two-game touchline ban and fined £10,000. If that is nothing then I would hate to see what is something.
The puzzling point is that Benitez points this out but then contradicts himself by saying Ferguson is the only manager who is never punished. Maybe Rafa was on the San Miguel when he was writing his little ‘fact’ sheet.
Nobody can argue the point that Ferguson does step out of line with his comments from time to time but he is always pulled up on it by the FA when it is thought to bring the game into disrepute, look at the amount of times he has been fined if you don‘t believe it.
However, every manager is entitled to their opinion and many do comment on the referee’s performance after games so I don’t know why Benitez has picked out Ferguson.
The Liverpool manager is complaining that Ferguson does not get punished by the FA for his comments, but surely saying this is questioning the FA himself isn’t he? Maybe they should have a word with the Spaniard for his ‘facts’.
Another ’fact’ is that Benitez says that Manchester United played “42 or 44” hours later than his team when United faced Middlesbrough on December 29 after Liverpool had beaten Newcastle the day before.
So Benitez said he wanted to speak only about ‘facts’ and not get involved in mind-games, but the so-called ‘cool’ Spaniard must not be good at maths or his calculator is faulty because Liverpool kicked off at 12noon and then United played at 8pm the following day, correct me if I am wrong Rafa but that is 32 hours, you wanted to be factual get it right then.
It is rich of Benitez to criticise another manager for complaining about fixtures, he must have a short memory because if we look back to last season and a quote from the Spaniard himself:
“I would like to ask the Premier League why is it that Liverpool always play the most fixtures away from home in an early kick-off, following an international break?" he said. "We had more than the top clubs last season and we have four already to prepare for this season.“ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2319584/Rafael-Benitez-turns-on-the-Premier-League.html
Sorry Rafa, you seemed like you fancied doing the fixtures yourself last year. But I see this season your doing ok and your boss’ are not on your back because your top of the league, so no need to complain then is there. No you will wait until the pressure goes up a notch and you will try and blame something else so you have a back-up if you fail yet again to bring silverware back to Anfield.
Overall I think Benitez’s planned attack, he was asked about the comment from Ferguson about getting nervous with no mention of fixtures or refereeing decisions just in case you haven’t seen it, is a sign that Ferguson has riled him.
Benitez says he doesn’t want to get into mind games so early, well in this press conference he threw himself in the deep end.
He has jumped into dangerous waters and while I don’t think Ferguson’s bite is as bad as a shark anymore, the Scot’s experience of handling mind-games in title run-ins will mean he can smell fear from a long way.
If Benitez wanted to stay out of it and focus on his team’s next game, then don’t say anything about it, simple isn’t it?
Obviously not for the Liverpool boss, who is clearly feeling the pressure early on which isn’t a good sign for his team’s title prospects. Now that is a real fact Rafa.
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