Tag: SOCCER
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The oddities of football management in England
A New Year’s Day family gathering – at which there are three televisions on duty – spanning World Championship Darts, a Premier League match and one in the English Championship – is not where you’d expect one of the greatest legends ever to grace the GAA to enter your mind. Now read on… But here…
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Danish Tasty evokes memories of battles past
MANCHESTER UNITED…1 NEWCASTLE UNITED…0 Several times over the years in this space, mention has been made of the fact that yours truly was in the very fortunate position of having Sky Sports in at home before it became commonplace for that to be the case. Prior to that, being carried up the stairs in Mulvany’s…
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Slot is obviously short a few coins or has already cashed them in
The first time I recall seeing Jim McGuinness – the Donegal incarnation of same as distinct from our ‘Boots’ – was when he was centre forward on a star-laden I.T. Tralee ensemble which also included Meath’s Mark O’Reilly and a trio of Galway luminaries, Padraic Joyce and the Donnellan brothers, Michael and John. From memory,…
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Bridges burnt or is it still worth trying to bolt them back together?
I can still well remember getting the call. “They’ve dumped him again”. Why, FFS? “(named individual)’s mammy wasn’t happy with the way he was interacting with her Johnny” (not the other lad’s real name). For the love of Jazus and all that is Holy. These were grown men, who exchanged a few digs during a…
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One man can make the difference for one team but not the other
Rep. Of Ireland… 3 Hungary… 2 You hardly need reminding that to say yours truly an animal lover would be the understatement of this or any century. Outside of livestock and bloodstock, one would very much be a canine person rather than feline. Yet there were always cats around the place too when I was…
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Heimir’s hot air baloon
Rep. Of Ireland… 1 Armenia… 2 There’s an episode of The Simpsons in which, as punishment for floating a hot air baloon sporting an image of Principal Skinner mooning, the long suffering headmaster made the miscrient, mischief making spikey head accompany him on a night engaging in his favourite passtime – astrology. Lo and behold,…
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Nothing bubbling yet but the glass is half full
Rep. Of Ireland… 2 Hungary… 2 Analysis of anything needs context. For example, if you just saw the above scoreline without having seeing the match or any details thereof, you might consider it a poor result. Indeed, were it not for a heroic stop from Caoimhin Kelleher shortly before the break, whatever morsels of positivity…
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Coleman and Keeley overlooked as latest Irish squad revealed
Captain and spiritual leader Seamus Coleman and burgeoning young goalkeeper Josh Keeley are among the notable absentees from the Republic Of Ireland squad announced by manager Heimir Halgrimsson ahead of forthcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia. Icelandic gaffer Halgrimsson said “No, it’s always tough to leave Seamus out, no matter what, and there’s…
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Rolling Down Memory Lane – The Audiobook
March 2020, by way of maintaining some degree of sanity during the lockdowns necessitated by the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, I wrote and published my second book, Rolling Down Memory Lane though for a thousand reasons and yet, we never got it distributed to anywhere near the levels which would have been intended or…
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Eze to forget about loyalty or is it common sense?
No matter how many straws one attempts to clutch at, sometimes you’ll never find the one you’re looking for. Or the one you’re hoping might be there somewhere, buried in a stockpile. Go back to a piece on these pages within the last week, and you will find reference to the fact that Dermot McCabe…