Martin O’Neill got the bad news out of the way early on here in Bordeaux.
Jon Walters is definitely out, but, we already knew that. He has his concerns about the pitch on which the Republic of Ireland will face Belgium on Saturday afternoon and he had no comment on the rumours of divisions in the Belgian camp.
With the housekeeping out of the way, the Ireland boss was able to relax and crack a few gags – saving his best for when a Belgian journalist enquired about the theory that the management team are less ‘good cop-bad cop’ and more ‘bad cop-worse cop’.
Who do you want to see come in? https://t.co/hphWWA27B1
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 17, 2016
O’Neill, whose attempts at humour can sometimes fall flat, fired off a couple of zingers – assuring everyone that his assistant is well.
“He’s fine. We locked him up about 25 minutes ago and I don’t think we’re going to allow him to come here. He’s caged in at this minute as his beard gets longer and uglier.
“But he is good. In fact he has been very good,” said O’Neill, before referring to Keane as ‘The werewolf of Manchester’.
This Belgium training incident will give Irish fans great confidence #COYBIG https://t.co/Cf5OM0mtf4
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 17, 2016
Sat beside O’Neill, Keane’s former team-mate at Manchester United, John O’Shea could hardly contain his laughter. Until he was asked by O’Neill if the Corkman was indeed well.
“I Agree,” said a smiling O’Shea to much laughter. “The beard is definitely getting a bit longer.”
He did add a professional compliment after that, in case Keane watches the press conference later.
“Since they worked together and come in it has been a fantastic combination. Hopefully it will keep getting better and better.”
