"Hmmm, not bad... Not bad, not bad at all."
Martin O'Neill was ready for Tony O'Donoghue last night. First hint of critique in the RTE reporter's line of questioning and he pounced.
O'Donoghue has the job many folks would love - watching an Ireland international game and getting to ask the manager about it all afterwards.
Some of the stuff will be his own musings. Other times he gets the nod from his producer - here's what the lads are saying in the studio; this is what fans are saying online.
If he did not ask the obvious questions, we'd lash into him. Sometimes he does not and we are left frustrated. Most of the time, he is on the money.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/785367078203187200
He had a good query last night - and we are paraphrasing - 'Why are we coughing up leads?'. The second obvious question was, 'Why are we dropping Wes Hoolahan, ever?' but nobody is perfect.
Bang, O'Neill was on him. We're talking about France here. And Moldova, yes. And Serbia, of course. But we were away all those times.
We don't give up leads at home that much. The Germans can attest to that. The Dutch, Scots, Slovakia? Not so much.
O'Neill rarely gives anything away and is often at his spikiest when his team has not played well but managed to get a result. The players must respect him for not giving an inch. The public? Tony is our voice of reason.
https://twitter.com/eoghanandonly/status/785224137111404544
https://twitter.com/TheHutch23/status/785224193235357697
https://twitter.com/dabourke1/status/785224318221422592
https://twitter.com/DavidSSport/status/785180583005655040
Not everybody was convinced O'Neill and Ireland had a case to answer
https://twitter.com/danmcgin/status/785225164334268416
There's only one thing for it...
https://twitter.com/PaddyMcKenna/status/785224308729798656
Keep ploughing ahead Tony. Keep asking the awkward questions and taking the hits for our viewing pleasure.
These interviews are becoming more interesting than the games themselves.
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