Eamon Dunphy comes in for strong criticism following outrageous claim about Lionel Messi

Eamon Dunphy doesn't seem to be the most popular of football pundits among Irish viewers.

The RTE football analyst was a professional for Millwall, Reading and Shamrock Rovers, played 23 times for the Republic of Ireland and has been a journalist for almost 40 years. His diary Only a Game, is one of the best books about football you're ever likely to read, and he was a ghost-writer for Roy Keane on his first autobiography. Dunphy's been good value over the years in the RTE studio, shooting from the hip and never afraid to voice an opinion, or row back on one he made earlier. So, while most seem to dismiss the 71-year-old, and call for him to be retired from the RTE panel, this writer still finds him amusing. Dunphy's spiel is a break from the proper football men and boring, recently retired players (we all know who they are) that populate British football punditry. However, you can't make a claim like this and not expect to be taken to task over it. Just before Barcelona and Manchester City came out for the second-half of their Champions League tie at the Nou Camp, with the home side leading 1-0 thanks a goal from Lionel Messi, Dunphy made a bold claim about best player in the world and the Catalan club. "I think the Barcelona project is in decline," Dunphy said.

"I don't think they are the team they were. (Andreas) Iniesta is 32, (Sergio) Busquets is having a really poor time. And I think Messi is beginning to show signs of decline."

Barcelona went on to win 4-0 and Messi scored a hat-trick. https://twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/788836092762021890 He also won a penalty for Neymar, which the Brazilian missed, and made a mockery of Dunphy's claim. The pundit also predicted Messi would get a hat-trick, and admitted his error as soon as the full-time analysis began, but Twitter was unforgiving. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/788829566659883008 https://twitter.com/mheno2020/status/788829588398956546 https://twitter.com/AllOuttaAle/status/788829750190039040 https://twitter.com/fionndavenport/status/788829900119666688 https://twitter.com/TheEricHickey/status/788829860286369792 https://twitter.com/TadhgHickey/status/788830036942004224 https://twitter.com/XxRachelKx/status/788831058666123264 https://twitter.com/AndyLeeBoxing/status/788836537119178752 https://twitter.com/DavidONeillRDS/status/788840965339488257 https://twitter.com/Razor_LFCDT/status/788840519531126785 https://twitter.com/BonnerEnda/status/788840487776030720 Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live