Sport

[Denis Cromie]

WEll done Katie and Cuala.

[jabra]

Great win for Spurs against the mighty Real Madrid last night The glory glory days are back for a while anyway

[Rocker]

Great win for Spurs against the mighty Real Madrid last night The glory glory days are back for a while anyway

Well done Spurs. I haven't followed them for years but when we were children it was a MUST to have a team and because I liked Danny Blanchflower I followed ~Spurs. Years later a pal of mine starred in a film The Glory Glory Days which was great fun and a very well made film. It might be on You tube ...worth a watch if only for the madness of teenagers in the 60's and of course my pal who played Toni.

[Denis Cromie]

It was a great win and fully deserved,by far the better team. I must admit that I thought Real who win but they ain't as good as I thought and the Spurs showed real class.

[Sinead]

Didn't Cuala do well in the All Stars this evening!
Con O'Callaghan was certainly very modest in
his acceptance of the Young Footballer award.

Sinéad

[keeper]

Well done Cuala boys on their awards and another great win yesterday
It was brought home to me yesterday how far down the pecking order domestic soccer is, I caught the early evening radio news and sport on Sunshine Radio, all the Premiership matches got full reports first, FAI cup final last and just the bare details at that, and, NO mention of the Women's FAI cup final

[Toss]

FAI cup final last and just the bare details at that, and, NO mention of the Women's FAI cup final

I agree with you Keeper, the LoI games are never given a good spot in the news.... but they only have themselves to blame. Soccer here is and always has been poorly run and allowed to limp along so long as the top brass got looked after. All you have to do is look at the way its structured ... the Premier Division is dropping from 12 to 10 teams next year and no imagination is used to develop the game and broaden its fanbase.

I remember talking to a LoI man at a Rovers game in the 90s and I suggested that the game needed a complete restructuring as there were too many teams in Dublin and none in some counties. I suggested that the GAA inter county model could be used as it would attract bigger crowds and they could look at shared grounds in the future ... he laughed and basically told me that the top brass woud never go down that road for fear of losing indentity and power. These myopic leaders of the game have driven it down a cul de sac and missed a great opportunity to see an Irish county team develop into a compeditive unit that would attract bigger crowds and in doing so, would almost certainly attract bigger sponsorship as it grew. Can you imagine an Irish county team making it to the Champions League, imagine the extra support a county team attracts .... fans would have inter county Soccer in the winter and GAA in summer.

As an example, I would suggest Bray Wanderers would not be in their current malaise if they were to have become Wicklow FC and moved to say Arklow and attracted supporters from all over the county as opposed to sitting on the outskirts of Dublin struggling to get by. Alas nobody at the top table is willing to look beyond their own self importance and do something that would bring the LoI football to the forefront, it needs major changes to enable it continue or we will be looking at a 6 team league in ten years.

[keeper]

True for you Toss, may not even have a league in 10 years !

[Toss]

Graet result for the egg chasers today, but SA are not the team they used to be.

As for the Denmark game .... the less said the better.

[Sinead]

Toss, I am sure you are right, I know a little of 'Rugger' but nothing
of soccer. Having said that I was of the opinion the point of the
game was to score goals, there would be a lot of hungry players
if they were paid on goals scored.

Sinéad

[Denis Cromie]

Yeah South Africa were weak,not near as good as they use to be but as they say a win is a win is a win. I wish I could say that about the soccer, watching it was dire. Even the simple things like heading the ball to a team mate seems to be beyond them.

[Strum]

As for the Denmark game .... the less said the better.

Two deadly saves in a row near the start. That was more or less it.

[Toss]

Hard luck Northern Ireland, they really gave it their best and can hold their heads up high. Yet again, a controversial decision has cost the Irish ..... video evidence needs to come in right now.

As for Tuesday night's play off home leg, I think the 0-0 suited Denmark more that us .... they have the incentive to attack and get an away goal. I can't imagine the game can be as bad as the first leg... can it

[Rocker]

Have to admit I am not a sportsperson!! more a couch potato but I am blown away with the programme Irelands fittest family. Great fit young families working and exercising together. Oh, I wish my family had had the time and resources to involve us in sport or even in the outdoors we were all so busy with our heads down grafting for coppers. Well done the great new families of Ireland

[Strum]

Great show Rocker.

[Toss]

I wish I could say that about the soccer, watching it was dire. Even the simple things like heading the ball to a team mate seems to be beyond them.

Sad to say, but we finally got what we deserved.

Martin O'Neill can be as belligerent as he likes in his interviews, but it was his tactics and his team .... and both were wrong for such an important game. His view of how the game should be played is never going to progress, they will get 1-0 wins and scrap for every ball ... but once they concede, its game over as they have no plan B and suddenly they need to out score the opposition. As for Roy the tea boy, I have no idea what he brings to the party other than his scowl.... easy money.

[keeper]

Yes Toss ! You have summed it up perfectly, it was a tactical disaster to say the least, when we tried to play an open game we were shown up by lack of class and taking Myler off at half time was stupid. I can't see any player with a bit of flair getting a game under O'Neill, time to blood any youngsters we may have before the Euros commence

[jabra]

Yes Toss your right Roy the tea boy does'nt seem to do a lot he said a couple of days before the match he did'nt know howJeff Hendricks
injury was as he had not spoken to him about it but that he would probably be ok thats some statement for a an assistant manager on
big bucks. O'Neill got his tactics all wrong shades of Trappatoni I think.

[Harjoe]

I have to say everything wrong,the tactics were all wrong ,we went a goal ahead too early and nearly got a couple more and then we tried to match them giving them too much space and they took us asunder,what happened the back four who looked so good in Denmark ,they must have thought they were world beaters after Saturday ,Christe was brutal, Ward and Clark were like schoolboy players only Duffy showed anything midfield was very poor Arter ,Brady and Hendrick were they playing,Long and Holahan should have been in from the start Denmark were just too good .
I have to say standing in the centre of the pitch the singing of the National Antham was the loudest I have ever heard well done to all the fans if the players played with the same heart as the singing we would have walked the match

[Denis Cromie]

I have reluctantly come to the inclusion that O' Neill was being a little spiteful when he replaced Arter and Meyler, 2 defensive midfielders, with Mc Geady and Houlihan both in their 30's, and certainly in Mc Geady's case a long way beyond his best years just to shut up the critics who have continuously insisted that Houlihan should be always in the team. Maybe I'm being a little harsh but there is no other way I can understand such replacements at half time and we were only 2-1 down. Certainly take Arter off but Meyler as well, just makes no sense. Maybe he panicked because that seems to be the way the team play when they are at home. There is far too much fear in the team and that can only come from the manager. I know that we'll never be world beaters and we don't have many good players but lets play those we have in a way that football people can enjoy. Time for O' Neill/ Keane to go.

[Toss]

The problem is not O'Neills or Keanes, they are just employees of an organisation that has no desire to do anyhing other than look after themselves first.

[Micheál]

I don't know anything about "the beautiful game" but . . . .

surely the fundamental problem for Ireland was, not what happened in the Aviva, but their failure to score in the first leg? It amazes me how fans who were interviewed after the first leg professed themselves pleased at a 0-0 result and looked forward to the qualifying party taking place on home soil. But by then the Danes just had to score ONCE in Dublin to win (an unfortunate stumble in the box would see to that if all else failed). It was humanly inevitable that when they did score, the Irish bubble would simply burst, heads would drop etc.

M.

[keeper]

I've been noticing a few things involving Irish stars in the premiership and the championship. Firstly the much ridiculed Glenn Whelan, since he was pushed by Stoke they have gone pearshaped and are struggling badly with out him whereas Aston Villa are doing well in the championship with him. Since a new boss arrived at Preston the Dundalk lads are twiddling their feet in the reserves with very little gametime Another, Richie Towell is on loan from Brighton to Rotherham and not getting a run of gametime there either, methinks they'll home sooner rather than later.

[Rocker]

I was nodding off in front of the telly last night watching Ray DArcy show when he introduced Richie Sadlier. I sat up straight and listened to the calm, charismatic young man. I had seen him doing punditry on the telly but knew nothing about his life. What a refreshing man. He spoke about the course he is giving in his old school in Kilmacud and I rooted out an old article giving the gist of what he does..

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-sty ... -1.3222291

[Micheál]

Cuala Hurlers back in the All Ireland Club finals on Paddys Day. Going for 2-in-a-row.
Opposition will be Limerick's Na Piarsaigh.

M.