Tag: SOCCER
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Put the word ‘Cup’ in the description and excitement is guaranteed
Life is predicated on a never ending cycle of swings and roundabouts. Sporting or otherwise. For example, if the appointment of Harry Whelehan hadn’t brought down Albert Reynolds’s Government, John Bruton never would have been Taoiseach. If the Irish World Cup squad of 2002 had had the balls to stand behind their captain instead of the…
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Gilesy might have hogged the duvet but Joanne would send you to sleep
I’m not sure if Apres Match is even still a thing anymore, but, when they were in their pomp, the triumvirate of Risteard Cooper, Gary Cooke and Barry Murphy were part of the staple diet of RTE’s coverage of any major soccer tournament. Indeed, if the old remember box is working, they even strayed into…
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Milner one of a nearly extinct breed
James Milner brought the curtain down on a highly commendable career in professional football today. One of almost two and a half decades. Modern football speak might term the 40-year-old a journeyman pro, but to box him off in that category would do him a great disservice. Therein belong media-driven spoofers like Gary Neville and…
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Pointless friendlies and dirty point scoring
Only days ago in this space, mention was afforded to the fact that, at the time of typing, there’s still one game of the club soccer season still to be played – the Champions League Final – yet other clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United are already engaging in prep work for next term with…
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From the sublime to the ridiculous to the downright dodgy
What’s probably a scary number of years ago now, I keyboarded a piece pertaining to the beginning of a Premier League season. The title over the post was Almost Time To Take Down The Tent. The implication being that the Transfer Window in the lead up to the big kick off resembled a circus. Much…
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Too much money at stake to be penny pinching
Where do you stand in relation to the Play Offs in English league football? The process whereby, though the top two in any of the three divisions under the Premier League get automatically promoted, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th placed sides play off in a series of matches – commensurate to the concluding stages…
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Help! I agree with Gary Neville
Do not adjust your sets. This is not a drill. But nor does it change the fact that he was one of the biggest imposters to ever milk a living out of Old Trafford. Just as he is currently doing with Sky Sports. In a playing sense, such were his underwhelming contributions, that my late…
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No longer a derisory destination
At the outset here, it will be willingly admitted yours truly has no idea where the phrase originated but that to “Send somebody to Coventry” was a derisory term which meant to get rid of somebody or to send them to somewhere wholly unpleasant. However, for as long as I can recall at least, in…
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From Kobe to Dowman, go with what you see before someone else cops it
On the first Sunday of December in 1997, Dunboyne and Summerhill drew 0-07 apiece in the Meath U-21 FC Final. Typically putrid winter dross wherein the only bit of excitement was yours truly taking exception to Mattie Kerrigan taking exception to one of our lads after their full back Barry Fagan had earned them the…
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Propaganda riders need reins thrown on their neck
There are some tasks, perhaps in life but most definitely in sport, which, to those taking them on are an absolute hiding to nothing. Replacing Alex Ferguson or becoming Manchester United manager at any stage while the great man is still on this big old ball will probably take some trumping in terms of topping…