It’s official – John Giles will sit out RTÉ’s coverage of Ireland versus Scotland this Saturday.
While it is not the first time the 74-year-old has been spared the rigours of a three-and-a-half-hour live broadcast, Giles’ absence for a game of this significance may well mark the beginning of the end.
Former Millwall and Ireland forward Richie Sadlier will join the panel for the Euro 2016 qualifier at the Aviva.
We asked two of our finest footballing brains [whoever was scheduled in this morning] to argue for and against the RTÉ decision.
AGAINST – Pat McCarry
Eamon Dunphy, Liam Brady, Johnny Giles and the late Bill O’Herlihy (right) in 2013.Let me start off by admitting that I have often bemoaned the current panel. On many occasions, the lads seem to be phoning it in when it comes to in-depth analysis.
They often prefer to go with their prejudicial gut and can tell viewers next to nothing about a player that does not earn his wages in the Premier League [or La Liga – Eamon Dunphy, having watched a game on Sky Sports, is the go-to guy on that].
Discussions often descend into character assassinations and rants about the lack of quality in the Premier League or why Brendan Rodgers should be sacked, even if the show is actually on a Champions League match between Porto and Juventus.
All that being said, I will tune into the match on Saturday, and the post-match analysis. The show, I know, will be the poorer for Giles’ absence.
A criticism of Giles is that he is not up to date with all the top young talent coming through. That is a moot point as Giles has been blithely ignorant of upstarts for at least 50 years.
GILES ON GEORGE BEST: I played two games in the reserves with George before I left Manchester United to go to Leeds. George was only 17 – only a young lad.
But the two matches I played in, he wasn’t the George Best I saw 12 months later. So I didn’t think that much of him. I thought he was okay, but by Christmas he was in the first team.
With the RTÉ panel, Giles, Dunphy and Brady are, more often than not, the show. Many fans will watch an Ireland or Champions League match on a rival station but tune in to RTÉ for the post-match discussions and arguments.
The lads, now marshalled, and goaded, by Darragh Maloney are an institution. They are much like The Late Late Show.
Keep an eye on Twitter and Facebook on the night of a big match and you will see the boys’ names mentioned frequently in your stream.
Giles is often the peacemaker and the man who talk Dunphy back from the brink.
Without Giles, too, who will regale us with stories about Nat Lofthouse carrying his boots 186 miles to training after falling asleep on a bus to Brighton or about Billy Bremner swinging for a Jersey cow after a crazy weekend at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?
As for Richie Sadlier, he takes little crap and argues his points well, but can he hold a tune?
FOR – Robert Redmond
Firstly, I still enjoy watching Giles, Dunphy and Brady, and hope to see Giles back on screen for future Ireland games. However, some change is needed and Sadlier is an ideal counter balance to his more senior colleagues. Sadlier is intelligent and, most importantly, objective. He doesn’t rant, or reference great players from the 1940s, and is capable of offering an clear, cohesive argument on any number of topics.
Giles repeatedly says stuff like: ‘there’s no such thing as five formations, there’s only one formation, playing your best players in their best positions.’ With the greatest of respect John, that’s just not true. Giles may still possess a keen eye for dissecting a game and players, but such redundancy regarding tactical matters is evident of a pundit a little out of touch.
It’s also true that games can be over-analysed, that we can place too much importance on formations and tactics, but doing the opposite, and completely dismissing them, doesn’t wash with viewers who expect more than just saying the best players will win.
If managers merely put their best players in their best positions, the team with the best players would always win.
Sadlier, despite an undistinguished and injury inflicted playing career, is capable of offering insight, but goes against football pack mentality, showing that playing football at a high level isn’t a necessary requirement for analysing it.
He also seems to annoy Brady, who can be dismissive of Sadlier’s views, probably because of his undistinguished playing career, which makes for great television.
Sadlier acts as the voice of reason alongside the more established pundits, and although there’s still a place for Giles, Brady and Dunphy, a younger, more progressive view is needed.
Sadlier doesn’t provide soundbites like Dunphy, isn’t as respected for his playing career as Giles and isn’t as cranky as Brady, but he’s intelligent and objective and a welcome balance to RTE’s coverage.
Do you think RTÉ should keep Giles on the main panel?
