Desperation in which corner?
If you take it that, at the time of typing, the soccer season – at club level – still has one assignment to hand in, the Champions League Final between Arsenal and Paris Saint German – it’s a bit difficult to quantify that, in the formative stages of the off-season, the transfer market is already abuzz.
With Barcelona’s apparent annexation of the services of Anthony Gordon the headline act. But does the rapidity with which (a) Barcelona are moving in the market and (b) Newcastle United appear willing to part company with their prized asset not whiff of a bit of desperation?
While it wouldn’t take Hawking to calculate that all may not by rosy in the Spanish football garden – one need only note the lack of white whingers in the Spain squad for the forthcoming World Cup – but even more so, you have to wonder what class of signal it sends to Magpies fans, players and even manager Eddie Howe himself that the club’s best and ergo most important player is being allowed waltz out of the club?
Irish Rugby’s Blue Summer
There was a temptation to begin this segment by opining that Irish rugby was at something of a crossroads, but it would be more accurate to say it’s heading into a hairpin bend. One which will require very careful negotiation if the good ship Irish Rugby is not to run aground.
Where to begin? Well, uncomfortable though it undoubtedly will be for some to ingest, the fact that Leinster’s stock on the ‘club’ scene has fallen considerably since their halcyon days of utter domination. To the extent that the narrative now is that they will have to win the URC to ‘salvage’ their season. Which to me seems decidedly harsh given the amount the core of this Leinster side have achieved over the years.
You do wonder, though, is there a lack of leadership somewhere along the food chain because there have definitely been occurrences within camp blue of late which certainly wouldn’t have been even countenanced just a very short time ago. Namely, the apparent freezing out of Sam Prendergast and the manner in which the likes of Jerry Cahir and Ciaran Frawley and, most significantly, Ross Byrne, were allowed leave the blue corner.
Indeed, one couldn’t but feel sorry for the latter who, you suspect, was sold a pup in terms of the opportunities at Gloucester because, he that was was replaced by his brother as the blue No. 10, has become about as popular as Bibi Netenyahu or Vladimir Putin would be at the Nobel Peace Prize gig in Cheltenham country.
That said, for all that Leo Cullen’s team might been going through a sticky spot, they are nowhere near the sad basket case currently playing out in Munster. It’s hard to know where to start – that the province is nearly financially destitute, what seems to be a haphazard recruitment policy, the shortcomings on the actual pitch or the inescapable feeling that the Brains Trust within the sport consider the province to be the shit on Andy Farrell’s shoe.
Now, having said all of the above, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that, in relative terms, both Connacht and Ulster have made genuine and commendable progress. For the country to continue to punch above its weight in rugby as has been the case for the past decade or so, all four provinces
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