Mikey Stafford
Outside of Tottenham fans and Nottingham Forest supporters, surely nobody wants Leicester City to pull off the impossible less than the bookies. The turf accountants of the UK and Ireland were offering punters odds of 5,000/1 on the Foxes winning the Premier League at the start of the season, and you can’t imagine it was an […]
10 years ago
When Zlatan Ibrahimovic suggested he would remain at Paris Saint-Germain if they replaced the Eiffel Tower with a statue of his ponytailedness we all laughed. Clearly this was Zlatan’s way of saying he had “done” France and was ready for the next leg of his pan-European football adventure. The thing is, ignoring the fact that […]
10 years ago
Jurgen Klopp is going back to the Westfalen, where he is adored. The former Dortmund manager will be welcomed like a hero by the yellow wall, while German TV intends to train a camera on the Liverpool boss for the entire 90 minutes of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg. Fans of histrionics and melodrama should be […]
10 years ago
No flies on the GAA president, he was ready for the question. “Just borrowing (a phrase) from the commercial world, there’s no anchor tenant on it. The anchor tenants are the 2,000 GAA clubs and the 32 counties,” said Aogan O Fearghail. The association’s figurehead was out in Abbotstown for the official opening of the GAA’s […]
10 years ago
You have got to have balance. So when Jack Wilshere raised eyebrows and Arsenal hopes with (truthful) April Fools’ Day reports he was back in training, the midfielder made sure to do something regrettable as soon as possible. So, less than two days after the world heard he was back in training for the first time […]
10 years ago
Nothing says progress quite like the cutting of a ribbon and, this Monday, the future will be looking very rosy indeed for the GAA. The Association’s new 30-acre national development centre in Abbotstown opens for business next week and there is no doubt some stars of tomorrow will be nurtured on the four sand-based, floodlit pitches. Wonderful as […]
10 years ago
Call it experimentation, call it indecision, call it whatever you like, but it is working. Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has failed to select the same defence in consecutive games for over a year but it has little impact on performances. The 2-2 draw with Slovakia on Tuesday was only the second time in almost […]
10 years ago
When are three World Cup wins worth less than repeated second round exits? When you the the US women’s football team comparing yourselves to your male counterparts. Well, five of the all-conquering US women’s soccer team have taken the decision to sue their national federation in pursuit of equal pay. Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan […]
10 years ago
Is AJ MacGinty leaving for the good of his health? It was announced on Thursday that the 26-year-old United States out-half is to join Sale during the summer, the former Blackrock student signed to replace the departing Danny Cipriani at the Premiership club. MacGinty, like all Connacht’s fly-halves, is currently injured and, announcing his team for […]
10 years ago
This one hurts more than Rob Elliot
10 years ago
Down need Mayo tails up like they need a hole in the head. Already relegated after six defeats from six Allianz Football League Division 1 matches this Spring, the Mournemen, to keep themselves out of the record books, must avoid a heavy defeat in McHale Park against a Mayo buoyed by their derby win over Roscommon. […]
10 years ago
Confirmation of Rob Elliot’s terrible misfortune. A rare bright spot in Newcastle’s awful season, the goalkeeper was enjoying some just desserts with a call-up for the Republic of Ireland that would likely cement his place in Martin O’Neil’s Euro 2016 squad. However in the 15th minute of Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Slovakia the 29 year […]
10 years ago
At 8pm on Tuesday night Newcastle United’s hopes of Premier League survival took a potentially fatal blow. As Miroslav Stoch’s firmly struck right-footer hit the net the first thoughts of the 30,000 in the Aviva Stadium were to a clean sheet gone and then, as goalkeeper Rob Elliot stayed down in some distress, their thoughts turned to […]
10 years ago
If the losers of Tuesday night’s draw with Slovakia were easy to identify, the winners weren’t exactly hiding their lights under a bushel either. Martin O’Neill feared Rob Elliot’s season could have been ended by a knee ligament injury, while Paul McShane – with one own goal and one Slovakian assist to his name – […]
10 years ago
If he decides to hitchhike he won’t be short of a hard shoulder. Mayo will be without Tom Cunniffe this summer after the defender took the decision to go travelling. The Mayo News are reporting the Castlebar Mitchels man is planning to head away in the coming months, and has declined Stephen Rochford’s invite to link up with the […]
10 years ago
What do you think?
10 years ago
The final countdown is very much on. After tonight’s friendly with Slovakia, Martin O’Neill will have only one more opportunity to look at potential tournament players before selecting his squad for Euro 2016. The Republic of Ireland manager will name his 23-man squad on the day after the May 27th friendly with Holland. The match against […]
10 years ago
Martin O’Neill changed his formation to have a look at the front two on Friday night but it ended up being the defensive duo that caught his eye. If this friendly’s purpose was to sift through the Euro 2016 hopefuls (and its purpose definitely wasn’t to entertain) then Shane Duffy and Ciaran Clark can be very […]
10 years ago
But only in the stadium
10 years ago
Move over Marie Antoinette, there are some new queens of Versailles. Like poor old Marie Antoinette, Wales manager Chris Coleman has lost his head… over the issue of wives and girlfriends – banning the partners of his players from their Euro 216 base at Dinard. That includes his own wife, Sky Sports News presenter Charlotte.. “We […]
10 years ago
Can I play you every week?
10 years ago
How was it for you? Ireland’s encouraging finale to the Six Nations has added a very thin layer of gloss to the Championship but how about the fare on offer in general? Matt Williams – a long-time critic of the style of play in the Six Nations – said on Second Captains this week that […]
10 years ago
Well, colour us surprised. In the most predictable GAA development since Congress voted against qualifier replays, Kerry and Donegal have indicated they intend to appeal the fines handed out following their bad-tempered Allianz Football League encounter in Tralee. As well as imposing a one-match ban on Donegal full-back Neil McGee, the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) slapped €7,500 […]
10 years ago
Kildare fans: set your sat navs for Thurles Tipperary Town Clonmel. Definitely Clonmel. Definitely, maybe. The novel and potentially pivotal Allianz Football League Division 3 fixture between Tipperary and Kildare has been epic so far, and it doesn’t even throw in until 2pm on Saturday. Table toppers Kildare are looking for a fifth win from six […]
10 years ago
“Unharmed but shaken.” That is how Norwich City have described their on-loan striker Dieumerci Mbokani after he was caught up in this morning’s terrorist attack at Zaventem Airport in Brussels. At least 11 people were killed at the airport this morning when a suspected suicide bomber detonated in the terminal, while possibly another 15 were killed in an attack […]
10 years ago
The Connacht SFC will still take two-and-a-half months to play six games, but this is a start. Club players have been stewing in their own frustration ever since Congress earlier this month failed to implement any real reforms to the GAA calendar. The motions calling for the abolition of qualifier replays and the All-Ireland finals to […]
10 years ago
Did anyone think he was going to get his badges? We can’t see Joe Allen on the Match of the Day couch pontificating about the weekend action, or taking the Liverpool U19 teams. The Welsh midfielder definitely marches to the beat of his own drum and perhaps he will not feel a desperate need to stay […]
10 years ago
What do you think of this?
10 years ago
TJ Ryan was too mad with the referee, so it was left to Davy Fitzgerald to have a moan. Despite his Clare side dragging themselves out of Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League, Fitzgerald has called for the “whole structure to be changed”. Again. It was Limerick who missed out in 2012 when, having […]
10 years ago
Three English, two Irish, two Welsh, two Scots, two French and one Italian… No, it’s not some pan-continental Stephen Jones’ Lions selection but the nominees for this season’s Six Nations Player of the Championship. The public have until 11.59pm on Tuesday to vote for who they think was the outstanding player in this year’s tournament. Selected by […]
10 years ago
Few know better than him how badly wrong it can go. On Sunday night Jonathan Walters, predictably enough, picked up the FAI’s International Player of the Year following a 2015 that saw him score five goals in seven Euro 2016 qualifiers. The Stoke attacker – who scored one and made one at the weekend – is one Euro 2012 […]
10 years ago
The future was blindingly bright back on July 14th, 2013. Not only were Cork soundly beaten as Limerick claimed a first Munster SHC title in 18 years, but a week earlier Kilkenny had been eliminated from the Championship by Tipperary. Limerick had already defeated the Premier County themselves in Munster, so the form lines were encouraging. The […]
10 years ago
Not a single win from nine matches. That is Manchester City’s record against the other five teams in the Premier League top six. The top six being Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham. Three draws is all Manuel Pellegrini’s side have managed nine matches against their closest competitors. Three away draws […]
10 years ago
May Day could be very tasty. The home side will not want for motivation when Offaly and Kerry meet in Tullamore for the opening fixture of the Leinster SHC qualifier round. The Kingdom beat the Faithful County by 2-18 to 2-17 in Birr – undoubtedly a chastening defeat on their hosts. It will have been a […]
10 years ago
Putting your life on the line for Joe Schmidt now is a little like the fight put up by the Scots when the game was lost. The result is beyond doubt and there is nothing to lose – particularly when you’ve been right all along. In his Sunday Independent column Neil Francis has a good cut […]
10 years ago
What do you mean it’s not a team of CJ Standers? The Six Nations is over, we’re a week out from celebrating the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and it’s less than a fortnight till the clocks go forward, so obviously it is time to pick the 2017 Lions squad. Stephen Jones has had a go […]
10 years ago
Complete the sequence: Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, Monaco and ________. If you said “Barcelona” then congratulations, give yourself a pat on the back and a free subscription to Arsenal Fan TV. For the SIXTH season in a row the Gunners have departed the UEFA Champions League at the last-16 stage. It is […]
10 years ago
At this stage Arsene Wenger would probably take a moral victory. Following the first leg chasing they took from Barcelona, Arsenal went on a chastening run of results that all but put paid to their season. Premier League defeats at the hands of Manchester United and Swansea – not to mention the death of their three-in-a-row FA Cup dream at […]
10 years ago
Maybe this was why he started bringing the brown bread with him. Everyone has to start somewhere and before he became a feared Ireland and Lions flanker, and burger salesman extraordinaire, Sean O’Brien was like anybody else – nervous on his first day at work and keen to make an impression. Maybe a little bit […]
10 years ago
How fitting this week began with a celebration of Richie Bennis. Limerick’s score-getter extraordinaire hit 10 points in the 1973 All-Ireland final as a dominant Kilkenny team were vanquished. Remarkably that represents the last final victory at Croke Park for a senior team from the Treaty County – a run of 9 defeats that Limerick and Munster […]
10 years ago
Once Duffer jumped the fence we knew the jig was up. Ireland’s most reticent and media shy footballer has done a “Paul Scholes” in recent weeks and become a glorious source of top class interviews and almost enthusiastic punditry. On Tuesday we learned that one of the few heroes of the Republic of Ireland’s 2002 World Cup […]
10 years ago
It’s a long drive to the Glens of Antrim. It’s a long drive from pretty much everywhere, but once you pass Ballymena you are in for a treat. Narrow, undulating roads take you through Glenariff Forest Park and suddenly the view opens up in front of you. There is the large, other-world;y mass of Ballyeamon on your […]
10 years ago
Connacht have no intention of being one-season wonders. The men of the west may be losing Robbie Henshaw and Rodney Ah You to domestic raiders this summer, but Pat Lam’s men are recruiting in a manner befitting PRO12 leaders. On Monday they announced the signing of Springbok fly-half Marnitz Boshoff on a two-year deal. AJ MacGinty […]
10 years ago
How many apologies will George be making at this much-anticipated meeting? It was only Friday night when a contrite George Hook went on The Late, Late Show and vowed to say sorry to Johnny Sexton for threatening to sue the Ireland fly-half. The solicitor’s letter was sent following an interview in which Sexton reacted to Hook’s repeated […]
10 years ago
From friends to foes. It has taken Vern Cotter a little time to get his Scottish team up to speed but they finally look like a group that can bring the Kiwi a little satisfaction against his former assistant. Cotter and Joe Schmidt were the dynamic duo at Clermont before the latter upped sticks for Dublin […]
10 years ago
A look and a smile said it all. For surely the first time in their long, proud history the province of Connacht had five representatives on an Ireland team at the final whistle of a Test match. Starter Robbie Henshaw and replacements Ultan Dillane, Kieran Marmion, Nathan White and debutant Finlay Bealham made history for the […]
10 years ago
Maybe it’s not too late to back out, Con. While it is being reported as fact in some quarters, Conor O’Shea’s appointment as the next coach Italy is yet to be confirmed by the former Ireland full-back or the FIR. That might be a blessing in disguise for the man who is leaving his position […]
10 years ago
Joe Schmidt has had his doubts, the Ireland coach has questioned his own approach. Nine tries, 58 points on the board and a much-needed morale boost – Schmidt had every right to feel vindicated. However he accepted the scrutiny he has been under and admitted to asking questions of himself also. For the first time […]
10 years ago
Italy may have been brutal, but there was no mistaking the swagger in the step of these Irish players. The insubstantial Azzurri were the perfect opposition for an Ireland side that could no longer ignore the doubters and naysayers. Too conservative, too risk averse and too try-shy, Joe Schmidt’s men needed to open a can […]
10 years ago
Who’s up for an Easter rising? Martin O’Neill has named his 40-man squad for the upcoming friendlies with Switzerland and Slovakia. The Republic of Ireland play the Swiss at the Aviva on March 25th, Good Friday, before welcoming Slovakia to Lansdowne Road on the following Tuesday, March 29th. As expected O’Neill has named a large […]
10 years ago