Dion Fanning
For a moment, it seemed as if Zlatan Ibrahimovic was going to be humble. He walked into the press conference room at the Stade de France and started speaking like a man who wasn’t Zlatan, a man who looked a little like Zlatan, but spoke as you would expect any other player to speak on […]
10 years ago
“Last season, it was Keane blasts this and Keane blasts that. I don’t blast anything” – Roy Keane, Saipan, May 2002. “You’re the reason I’m driving up and down the f*****g country to find another player, you’re not f*****g good enough. Your attitude is shit. You’re not good enough. Next week we’ve got our last […]
10 years ago
International football may not be the highest level of the game any more, but nothing matches its intensity. On Thursday morning, as we waited for news about Jonathan Walters, a couple of journalists discussed his fitness. Would a Stoke fan be worried if it was reported that Walters hadn’t trained on a Tuesday ahead of, […]
10 years ago
If the week when Martin O’Neill named his final squad for the European Championships could have represented the heralding of the summer to come, it also told us how little Ireland has moved on from the past. When O’Neill arrived in Dublin to be unveiled as Ireland’s manager in November 2013, he talked about rejuvenating […]
10 years ago
Those who think sport and politics don’t mix have never paid much attention to the life of Muhammad Ali. Those who feel that sport is nothing but a triviality have never observed the difference Muhammad Ali made to the lives of those he touched. Equally, those who try to deny that sport – and life […]
10 years ago
If any member of the Ireland squad selected for the European Championships on Tuesday night felt like sharing their joy with Roy Keane, they might have quickly discovered it was a bad idea. On Wednesday, Keane met the media and provided some insight into why Martin O’Neill values his contribution to the management team. Keane […]
10 years ago
Ireland’s game against Belarus was a lovely occasion played in beautiful sunshine in front of a committed Cork crowd. Ireland lost 2-1 and afterwards the squad walked around the pitch to thank the 7,000 supporters for their backing. They chanted for their local hero Roy Keane and the players waved and went down the tunnel. […]
10 years ago
When Martin O’Neill drew up his plans for the European Championships, this week in Cork was going to be the time for a bit of squad bonding, a game of golf and the relaxed preparation that is the manager’s way. On Monday night, it didn’t seem that relaxed. Harry Arter may well be out of […]
10 years ago
On the day before the Champions League final, the main story on Uefa’s website featured Jose Mourinho. Last week, it was hard to believe a football match could take place, that anything could take place, without Jose Mourinho’s imprint. His image and his name itself had become part of the negotiations during the long week […]
10 years ago
When Shane Long hears people talk about this season being a turning point, he might be tempted to look back to when things truly changed. He might note where he stands in his career this summer as some of the biggest clubs in Europe pay attention to him, compare it to other stages of his […]
10 years ago
Shane Long’s most important contribution wasn’t to score Ireland’s only goal against Netherlands at the Aviva on Friday night. His most important contribution was to get up again after Jeffrey Bruma had wrapped his leg around him earlier in the half. There might have been something in this game for those like Harry Arter, Stephen […]
10 years ago
After Chelsea had lost at home to Liverpool last October, Jose Mourinho held a meeting with his coaching staff in the centre circle at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho had refused to answer questions in his post-match TV interview. “I have nothing to say,” he repeated for most of the 55 seconds on camera, before heading off […]
10 years ago
There was a moment during the pre-match press conference at Abbotstown on Thursday when John O’Shea was asked to recall how it felt in 2002 to be a young player who could have been a contender for Ireland’s World Cup squad, only to be left at home. Could he offer a guiding hand for the […]
10 years ago
There is no good way of telling a player who thinks he is going to a major tournament that he isn’t going to a major tournament. Alan McLoughlin tells a story about his call-up in 1990. He pulled up in a taxi at the Ireland hotel in Malta and walked in to meet up with […]
10 years ago
From the moment Brendan Rodgers arrived in Glasgow on Monday, it was hard not to feel that his union with Celtic could be a perfect match. On Monday afternoon, Celtic tweeted a picture of Rodgers in the people carrier taking him to Celtic Park, and there was already the sense that everything was going to […]
10 years ago
By Saturday evening the FA Cup was an irrelevance once again. It had been pushed to the margins by the return of Jose Mourinho, who was minding his own business ringside at the David Haye fight in London when the news came through that he is expected to take over at Old Trafford on Tuesday. […]
10 years ago
On his LinkedIn page, Chris Reid says he received his education at “the University of Life and hard knocks”. Reid is the owner of Security Search Management & Solutions (SSMS), the firm whose approach to security search management and its solutions provided the latest embarrassment for Manchester United last weekend. United couldn’t be blamed for […]
10 years ago
For a man who believes that nothing will be achieved without relentless industry, Jurgen Klopp might have been happy with the shortcut victory in the Europa League would have provided for his Liverpool side. But there are no shortcuts for the kind of football Klopp believes in, and there were none for Liverpool who were […]
10 years ago
When Joe Fagan was appointed Liverpool’s manager in 1983, one reporter described Fagan’s job as “the most daunting in English football”. His challenge, the reporter said, “is as terrifying as it is tempting”. Another said that “Fagan’s task is even more awesome than that which faced his predecessor in the summer of 1974”. In his […]
10 years ago
After England were knocked out of the World Cup in Brazil, Roy Hodgson reflected on the manner of his side’s exit from the tournament. England had lost to Italy in their opening game, and had then been torn apart by the genius of Luis Suarez when they played Uruguay. “All of a sudden,” Hodgson said, […]
10 years ago
We live in an age of direct action. People are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore. Often the direct action they take is no more direct than a like or a retweet, but there are some places where they understand the power of protest, some places where they believe in […]
10 years ago
There for the taking
10 years ago
As preliminary squad announcements before a reduction in that squad ahead of friendly matches in the run-up to a major tournament go, Martin O’Neill’s media appearance on Thursday in Dublin was pretty exciting. O’Neill followed his customary path and named a large panel – 35 – for the game against Netherlands, but almost immediately announced that […]
10 years ago
The way Steve Guppy tells it, the players he goes to watch on behalf of Ireland become more than just a brief. When they start doing well, they can become his players. Guppy joined up with the Ireland management team in the summer of 2014 and has spent a lot of time watching Bournemouth this […]
10 years ago
The weekend stories that Ryan Giggs will consider leaving Manchester United if Jose Mourinho is appointed manager in the summer should present the club with an opportunity, not a problem. “The dilemma for Giggs,” one report stated, “is that he knows he will only get one shot at managing United and if he leaves now […]
10 years ago
Before the second leg of Bayern Munich’s tie against Atletico Madrid last week, Pep Guardiola reflected on his time at the club. He was halfway through his seventh successive Champions League semi-final as a coach, but Pep knew that it could be seen only one way if Bayern didn’t make it, and he expanded on […]
10 years ago
Play the game, not the occasion is the wise advice from seasoned old pros, but at Anfield on Thursday night there was never any chance of that happening. Why would Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp do that when the occasion is the best thing they have? If you were to suggest to Klopp that he played […]
10 years ago
As he left the podium after Liverpool’s pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp turned to the club’s press officer and asked, “What’s next?” What’s next is the questions that preoccupies every manager at every football club, but maybe more so at Liverpool where there is always the expectation that more is to come and […]
10 years ago
‘They have shown us that anything is possible’
10 years ago
Rafa Benitez usually has an answer for everything, but during his first few weeks with Newcastle United, he may have been tempted to throw his hands up, look around the room and ask, “This one is beyond me. Anyone got any ideas?” It took him five games to record his first win at Newcastle United’s […]
10 years ago
The truth was always there, that was the strange thing. It took 27 years for the families to achieve justice, but those who were at Hillsborough on the 15th April, 1989 knew what had happened. They knew that Liverpool fans had been let down by the police and other authorities, and they knew who was […]
10 years ago
Michael Conlan doesn’t feel the pressure when people come to him and say they expect him to return from Rio with an Olympic gold medal. The truth is he likes it. He likes the expectation because he’s not thinking about doing anything else. “If somebody was to say to me. ‘You’re not going to win […]
10 years ago
Ronny Deila’s departure from Celtic at the end of the season has allowed Ireland to do one of the things it does best: consider the most suitable role for Roy Keane. Keane plays a more muted part in the national conversation at the moment, but that is always capable of changing in an instant, even […]
10 years ago
Tribalism clouding judgement
10 years ago
Everton’s season became so wretched on Wednesday night that Roberto Martinez had to sound miserable. “Highlighting negatives doesn’t get you anywhere,” Martinez said a couple of years ago and it is a philosophy he has always clung to, even if the referees regularly criticised by him might disagree. As Everton were torn apart by Jürgen […]
10 years ago
At the Emirates on Thursday night, the stadium will once again fill with the ranks of the disaffected and the despondent. The disaffected and the despondent will stay away as well, with some expecting as many as ten thousand empty seats. Arsenal have key games remaining in their season, but they are not the key […]
10 years ago
If Conor McGregor’s retirement is the Saipan for the new generation, then those hoping his tweet on Tuesday night will bring an end to the phenomenon are probably going to be disappointed. A few days after Roy Keane had left the Pacific Island, some believed the story was at an end and went in search […]
10 years ago
Sunday was a better day for Lionel Messi. In the Camp Nou, he scored his 500th career goal, an achievement which his coach Luis Enrique said was from “another galaxy”. It had been, by Messi’s standards, a long time coming. Between February 14th and March 16th, Messi scored 13 goals for Barcelona. His goal on […]
10 years ago
Perhaps it would be best phrased as one of those slightly conspiratorial questions that hints at unacknowledged influence. Louis Van Gaal’s time at Manchester United, as well as the equally compelling saga of who will take over, could be framed in terms of a breathless question: “Who really runs Manchester United?” Sensible types are always […]
10 years ago
An important acquisition
10 years ago
When Liverpool lost to Crystal Palace last November, Jürgen Klopp commented on the exodus of home supporters after Scott Dann had scored for Alan Pardew’s side in the 82nd minute. He talked about feeling alone as he watched the fans leave the ground. He reminded fans who had become fatalistic that anything can happen in […]
10 years ago
All that matters for Jeff Hendrick now is to get fit. His family and friends have put in requests for tickets for the summer, qualification has been achieved and now he simply has to start playing again. Hendrick missed the last Ireland games with a dislocated shoulder, but when he returned to training at Derby […]
10 years ago
“Nobody is only one person.” – Jürgen Klopp. The First Day When Jürgen Klopp arrived in England last October, it was very easy to see him as only one person, and not even one person, but merely a caricature. In his first press conference at Liverpool, he provided the soundbite – ‘The Normal One’ – and things […]
10 years ago
The Theatre of Dreams
10 years ago
There was a time when Arsene Wenger could sit in the boardroom before a London derby and feel confident about all that was going to happen when his team played. “I think they know what to do,” he replied when somebody once asked him before Arsenal played Spurs if, as it was now getting close […]
10 years ago
On January 31st, 2012, Tottenham Hotspur beat Wigan Athletic at White Hart Lane. It was the last day of the January transfer window and the feverish rumours that always seemed to surround the club suggested they would sign the Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega, possibly at half-time. Tottenham won the game 2-0 and manager Harry Redknapp […]
10 years ago
When the two clubs built by petro-dollar empires meet in the quarter-final of the Champions League, most people probably wouldn’t expect the game to be shaped by a moment of staggering incompetence. If Fernando’s mistake was the most glaring error, PSG looked inept at times too, comically in the seconds leading up to City’s second […]
10 years ago
Some people called Dr Max Jacobson the “bat wing and chicken blood doctor”. He had worked in hospitals in World War One before going on to complete his medical qualifications. He became fascinated by methamphetamine – speed – and when he set up a practice in New York, he mixed it with vitamins, enzymes, animal […]
10 years ago
When Aston Villa fans endured the desperate tortures of recent years, they could never have imagined they would see a week like this one. When they watched their side go ten hours without scoring a goal – or even consider creating the conditions where they would have the opportunity to score a goal – they […]
10 years ago
When St Kevin’s Boys Club from Dublin beat FC Barcelona Under-13s last weekend, the coaches of the Catalan club reflected on the loss. They may have been representing Barcelona, but that didn’t mean they believed they could never lose. What had surprised them was the way they had been beaten. Barcelona had certain expectations when […]
10 years ago