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KieranDecember 05 Mr. Keane (November 10th 2008)Sunderland have now lost three games in succession since their much flouted derby victory over Newcastle United. That was their first victory against their bitter rivals at home since 1980 and they haven't looked like winning a game since. In the build up to their next game against Stoke City, Roy Keane spoke about guarding against complacency and he said he would be looking out for signs at training such as players walking on to the training pitch or having their socks down. The players obviously fooled him because they did get beaten at the Brittania Stadium with a very tame performance. Keane said after this game that he could see from the start that certain players were going to let him down and he should have made substitutions early in the first half. Keane left his players with the ominous warning that next time he would be braver and sure enough he rang in the changes even before the game had started making five changes for the visit to the visit to Stamford Bridge. One of those changes was the inclusion of youth team striker Martin Waghorn whose only previous start for Sunderland came in the 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford last season. Needless to say Waghorn hardly got a kick in either game. Whether it was a warning to his players or a ploy to confuse Chelsea, Waghorn inexplicably started this game in place of more established strikers like Cisse, Diouf and Daryl Murphy. That list gets even longer if you include David Healy and Anthony Stokes. Keane also started Kenyne Jones who was just returning from injury and didn't look fit at all. So Keane took his side to Chelsea playing two out and out strikers, one plucked from the obscurity of youth team football and the other just back from a six month lay-off. In Sunderland's previous encounter against a top four side, the home game against Arsenal Keane played a more responsible 4-5-1 with Cisse leading the attack. Sunderland came away with a 1-1 and were desperately unlucky not to win the game. They attacked Arsenal on the counter attack using Cisse's pace to break through the Arsenal defence. They also crowded midfield not allowing Fabregas and Walcott the space to impose their talents. They got beaten 5-0 by Chelsea and it could have been 10. They only have Chelsea's benevolence to thank for keeping the scoreline in single digits. They'd scored the 5th by the 58th minute and after that they just toyed with Sunderland without inflicting any further damage. They didn't trouble the Chelsea goal at all and who'd bet against Chelsea beating their previous unbeaten home record if visiting teams were to play like that every week at the Bridge. In fact the only time Sunderland looked menacing at all in that game was when Roy Keane got sent to the stand for berating the referee at half time. Roy Keane is not the type of person to bask in the glory of his success. We all know that. Mind you I would have thought after beating Newcastle United, he might have encouraged his players to use that result as a springboard from which to kick on this season. Instead he immediately put the players on the backfoot warning them about their demeanour at training. The Stoke game came four days after the derby victory and to me they looked tired and lethargic that night. Did they train too hard between those games? Was too much demanded of the players in this period when they would have been wiser to have spent a day or two winding down from the highs of the Newcastle game before building themselves up again for a difficult game at Stoke. Instead the players went into training after the Newcastle in fear of being dropped for percieved complacency after achieving what no other Sunderland team had in twenty eight years. Keane is famous for raging against complacency and mediocrity. Footballers like every one else need time to settle and to develop. The trouble is Roy Keane is not like everyone else. He signs, replaces and drops players at will particularly midfielders and centre forwards. Since he has come to Sunderland he has played the following centre forwards; Connolly, Rada Prica, Anthony Stokes, John Stead, Cisse, Diouf, Murphy, Healy, Kevin Kyle, Chris Brown, Jones, Chopra, Roy O'Donovan. That's 13 players and the midfield is almost as bad. Leadbitter, Whitehead, Edwards, Reid, Wallace, Tainio, Malbranque, Richardson, Jordan Henderson, Liam Miller, Dwight Yorke, Dickson Etuhu. It's very difficult to develop an understanding between players who don't play together regularly and it's even more difficult to play freely and establish decent form when you're immediately facing the axe every time you're selected. Sunderland players don't know who is going to be playing beside team or in front of them from one game to the next. Even against Chelsea, despite having Andy Reid on the bench, Keane chose to bring on Jordan Henderson another youth team player at half time leaving Reid and other far more experienced players on the bench. If Keane is trying to make the point that reputations count for nothing then he is doing so at the expense of his player's confidence and the continuity of the team. Andy Reid and Daryl Murphy have been key players for Sunderland and they have been helping the team to good results ever since they linked up on Reid's debut for Murphy to score one of the goals of the season against Wigan. Murphy even set up the late winner at White Hart Lane this season though he has hardly played since. Keane brought both back into the side to play Portsmouth yesterday. It had the feeling of a measure of last resort to stop the rot and it seemed to work as Sunderland were one up at half time with Reid providing the assist. True to form, Roy hauled Murphy off at half time replacing him with Diouf who duly gave away a last minute penalty by which time Reid had been taken off as well. The reason for Keane's indecision could be that he demands the same standards from the players as he did of himself and if they are not reached then he tries out someone else. No one will ever reach Keane's standards, certainly not the players he has at Sunderland but equally they will not become the solid premier league players they have the potential to be if they get thrown in every five games or so and then dropped right back to the bench again. Roy needs to stop playing mind games with his players and either give them a chance to prove themselves or get rid of them. Roy of course has his own demons to wrestle. He still hasn't signed a new contract and the exasperation he feels at managing players who will never be as good as him is obvious in his team selections, his prolific transfer dealings and the sideline frustration he almost always keeps under wraps. Keane might well walk away from Sunderland, just as he did with Ireland and Manchester United because he seeks perfection and he's just not going to find it at Sunderland. RefereesIt seems that every losing manager nowadays has a ready made foolproof excuse for his teams defeat. It definitely wasn’t his fault of his players for that matter. Oh no, it was the referee stupid. The referee cost us the game, isn’t it obvious. The manager outlines the referee’s mistakes in the post match interview which are then analysed in minute detail by pundits in the sky or BBC studios. This was brought to a head on Sunday night by th einclusion of former Premier League referee Paul Durcan as a pundit on BBC’s Match of the Day 2. Durkan had nothing of substance to say on the quality or otherwise of the featured games and one even got the impression that this was because he didn’t know what to say. “It was a great game- very exciting” was about the height of his insight. At least it allowed Lee Dixon to stand out like a proper expert for a change. Instead Durkan and Adrian Chiles analysed different decisions over the weekend to say whether they were good or bad. A viewer doesn’t need to be told the glaringly obvious when viewed in the comfort of a TV studio with the benefit of slow motion replays and different angles. A referees job is difficult, boardering on the impossible. The referee ahs to make a decision on every single action during a game, whether to blow his whistle or not. In making these split seccond decisions a referee has to contend with thousands of partisan fans screaming at him, players unashamedly feigning injury and the sheer speed at which incidents at the top level of sport occur. It’s a given that referees are going to make mistakes and that they will be many and terrible. Everyone involed in sport at any level is aware of this before they ever take the pitch. They should also be aware that generally referees do not favour one team over another. They sometimes display incompetence but rarely bias. Bad refereeing decisions blance out over the course of a season. They are not responsible for teams being relegated or promoted. They don’t cause strikers to miss sitters nor are they to blame for the howlers of defenders and goalkeepers. There is no doubt that bad decisions affect teams that are struggling more but this is because their opponents usually have so much of the ball that they will simply be given fewer decisions and they will invariably give away more free kicks, thereby suffering from a higher percentage of the referee’s mistakes. We don’t need goal line technology or instant replays. It will only slow down the game and cause it to lose some of it’s sponteneity. Bad refereeing decisions are as much a part of the game as profligate strikers and tardy defenders. The difference is that a bad referee makes mistakes for both teams. Bad players are picked and played by the managers who try to lay th eblame for defeat at any door but their own. The ref is the easiest target. It’s not in the interests of either the BBC or Sky to be too harsh in their criticism of either players or the teams their viewers support. You won’t offend anyone by pinning it on the ref. Goalline technology and instant replays would increase footballs reliance on television making it an integral part of the game as opposed to a mere observer. Of course it would also make more time for advertising but I’m sure this doesn’t form part of anyone’s thinking. Respect for the finality of a referee’s decision goes hand in hand with the integrity of th egame. Teams will do anything to gain an advantage and undermining the referee only encourages gamesmanship and more frivilous appeals. Bad decisions made by referees in good faith and in split second need to be protected and kept because they are part of what makes sport so exciting and immediate. Referees should be trained to the highest possible standards and it’s their training and experience which should be the benchmark of their competency, not how leniently they treated the England skipper. Once a well trained and experienced referee steps onto the pitch, they need to be given the freedom to make mistakes without it being a hanging offence just as it is with players, managers, pundits and everyone else. In Defence of TrapThere was a time we were all in this together. The fortunes of the Irish football team actually meant something, the same thing, to everyone. We won and lost as one. As a team and a nation. We also travelled to away games together, the players and the team sitting next to each other on the same plane. It wasn’t perfect but that’s how it was and while I was only young at the time, I do remember it being a happy time. Yes we questioned leaving out Dave O’Leary and Chippy but ultimately there was an acceptance that Jack was in charge, that he’d won the World Cup and that he obviously knew the game a whole lot more than any of us Paddy’s.
That’s not really the case anymore is it? Since the intrusion of Sky and the British media into this country we’ve all become experts. The English football team have been getting the treatment for years. Right back to Ron Greenwood being sacked, they called for Bobby Robson’s head and gave him a torrid time until at the last minute, they decided that being defeated on penalties to Germany in the World Cup Semi Final was a noble way to exit the stage so they conferred the status of national treasure on him. Graham Taylor was made to look like a turnip, Terry Venables a dodgy businessman, Glenn Hoddle a spacer and prejudiced against the disabled. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
There’s a lot you could have said about Big Jack but not a lot of journalists did. Then the British Media came over and started asking why the national team wasn’t being analysed and questioned a bit more. Cue opening of the floodgates of derision and outrage. Roy Keane was booed in Lansdowne Road on the promptings of Cathal Dervan, the then Sports Editor of Ireland on Sunday. Mick McCarthy was booed after the defeat to Switzerland in 2002 in spite of the fact that he had taken our small island nation to within a whisper of toppling Spain in the World Cup just a few short months earlier. Steve Staunton was booed in Croke following the draw against Cyrpus which signalled the end of his reign.
One might say that there was justification for these reactions but the bigger issue is that booing the national team at all has become acceptable. A constant bombardment of criticism from the media has brainwashed the Irish public into thinking that they are entitled to the unattainable high standard demanded by the press pack. Stan was a muppet so The Irish Sun sent around Kermit and Miss Piggy to the Irish squad training session. Everything Brian Kerr did was questioned and scrutinised with the qualification being that Brian Kerr is inexperienced at Senior level so it is only right that his suitability be tested at every turn.
The media in this country need to be more broadly supportive of the national football team because they have a greater responsibility than the media in larger nations. If there are to be criticisms, they should be made in a measured constructive fashion rather than the kind of sensationalist punditry and analysis designed purely to sell newspapers, advertisements and whatever else.
The players and their families actually need to be protecting from irresponsible reporting regardless of how true the stories might be. While the early and unfortunate retirements from International football are not exclusively the fault of the media in this country, they more than played their part. Following on from the reaction to the 5-2 defeat against Cyprus, it’s a wonder why any of the players ever bothered to come back and play for Ireland again.
Of course, the brainwashed viewing public were baying for blood but after years of watching Sky Sports and the RTE panel that is what they are conditioned to do. You’re team is supposed to win every time and if it doesn’t then you must demand an explanation and just to help you out Sky will analyse every facet of the play finding fault and apportioning blame. The English can do this if they want, it’s not our problem but it becomes our problem when players no longer enjoy playing for Ireland because of the stress that accompanys it.
There was an accusation some years ago that the players and the press were all cozied up together. They all stayed in the same hotel. The press turned a blind eye to a few drinks being taken here and there and people were given a positive, even heroic portrait of the Irish team. People said this was all a bit too cosy and only Eamon Dunphy was telling it like it is.
The effect of all this nonsense now is that it is discouraging the players from wanting to play for Ireland. There are few enough reasons as it is for players to play internationals. They might get injured and lose their place on their club team, their form might dip as a result of too many games, they don’t get paid any extra for coming over for the games and it might end up costing them money if their club form suffers in any way as a result. The international campaigns themselves are tiresome and arduous with no guarantees of success. I’m sure if it wasn’t for the honour of representing your country that they’d prefer to be doing other things than travelling to the likes of Georgia and Bulgaria to play away matches. They’re not there for the sightseeing. Those trips alone will make it difficult to be prepared for the following club game. It’s the players performances at club level which will determine their contracts so theoretically or rationally that’s where their loyalties should lie.
That is starting to become more and more the case. The players are not interested in coming over here to be criticised and just used as cannon fodder for the local press to sell papers. There was a time when not playing for your country was unheard of. It was the greatest honour you could be given in the game. Now it has clearly become a burden for the players. They are not applauded because they play for Ireland, they are criticised because their results are not good enough. I don’t blame the players for the attitude being adopted. It’s inevitable by the shift in emphasis from the big media organisations away from the international game and into the Premier League and the Champions League.
I do feel sorry for the Irish supporters though. The Irish team is the closest we have to a local top class club team and they receive phenomenal support. The Irish football team have probably done more to raise the spirits of the Irish people in the last 25 years than any other event or organisation. This phenomenon of early retirements and the unyielding expectation is making the return of the glory days less likely than ever and more difficult to achieve. Therein lies the responsibility of the media.
Players have to be made feel welcome in the press. They should be encouraged and supported at all times. Criticism is necessary but it shouldn’t be sensationalised or personal and it is the responsibility of the Irish newspapers to ensure that this is the case. Reporting of the Irish football team needs to be broadly supportive of the Irish and the positives must always be emphasised even if they will sell fewer papers. The point is the welfare of the Irish team is more important than circulation figures.
Let’s go back to Dunphy again for a second. On a given international game, he gets to voice his opinion for about half an hour before the game, 15 minutes at half time and maybe 15 minutes again at the end. For one full hour, the whole country is being told what to think about the Irish team. He is being given this platform to set the agenda. All the players get is 90 minutes to do their best on the pitch under pressure from the opposition and to get a result. They don’t get the opportunity to justify what they’re doing but Eamon Dunphy is one man getting the bones of an hour to nit pick and criticise the players and their performance. Sometimes I wonder if these shows are more about the famous panel than the actual game itself because it occasionally feels like more of a sideline feature than the analysis.
The RTE panel have upset many ex-managers and players down through the years. This has been well documented. The views expressed on the panel are often sweeping generalisations and those making the comments are rarely taken to task. No one on the RTE panel has the guts to manage a football team so they are hardly in a position to analyse the performances of those who do. How do they know what it takes? Giles, Souness and Ronnie Whelan are failed managers, the rest of them haven’t even tried. We actually beat Cyprus a few weeks ago yet Dunphy & Co. spent the entire post match analysis criticising the team, the performance and the manager.They are not impartial themselves because they are making a career out of tearing Irish teams apart. An editorial decision needs to be taken in RTE that the analysis be more balanced. It’s not a question of protecting free speech because only the panelists are allowed to talk.
There is no doubt that the criticisms of the RTE panel and the Irish papers have made life more difficult for the Irish team. There is no longer any honour in simply being selected to play for your country. To my mind that privilege alone is worthy of respect and admiration whatever the result. Their families no doubt are offended by the comments of the public who know nothing more about football than what they are told on TV or in the papers. It all filters through to the protagonists. A positive slant on the Irish team even if things aren’t going well would at least keep everyone onside and keep the players coming over. Journo’s who say they have to report the truth are being disengenuous themselves because the champions league and the premier league are mostly uncompetitive and boring yet these competitions are worshipped and adored unquestionably by every media organisation in the world.
The Irish media need to be more patriotic because we are a small country and we need every player available to be willing and able to play for us. It’s the only way to maximise our chances of qualifying for a major tournament. If this means toning down the criticism a bit and bigging up the praise, then it’s a small price to pay. It’s time to change the agenda.
The Irish team is less of a laugh now than it was 20 years ago and when it stops being a laugh, then no one is going to have any interest in turning up. July 11 Back homeI'm enjoying it for the moment though and last Saturday night I went to see my beloved limerick hurlers take on Galway in a Championship game in the city. It was a beautiful evening but since there wasn't all that much to play for on the night the game itself was panning out to be something of a humdrum affair, the players seemed more content basking in the sunshine rather than breaking hurleys off each other or even themselves in a blood-thirsty and obsessive pursuit of victory.
Mid-way through the second half the game was turned on it's head when some guy in the stand decided to take off all his clothes and run onto the pitch.
I was going to say that "thankfully all we saw his arse" but since this could be open to misinterpretation I'll just say that at least he kept his balls covered and it wasn't long (about 5 minutes) before he was spotted by the police and they quickly overpowdered the naaked man who had made a brave and valient attempt to run away. The streaker as defenseless (and naked) as the day he was born didn't stand a chance against the might of the Irish coppers.
The Limerick supporters were none too impressed by the whole exhibition. The main talking point after the game was whether or not he could be charged for indecent exposure because he kept his hands over his balls the whole but I suppose all these questions will be dealt with in time by the Limerick district court.
The Limerick hurlers on the other hand still have plenty of question marks over their own on-field antics and will have to find themselves a free taker and tighten up in the full back line if they're going to have any chance of springing a surprise on Kilkenny in the next round.
Such is life back in Ireland....and you thought China was crazy! June 28 Xi'anI was in Xi'an last weekend to see the Terracotta Warriors and some more of China before I return to the land of knives and forks. Getting there invovled sitting on a train for 19 hours and arriving into the pouring rain at 5 in the morning. It hadn't rained in Xi'an for weeks and I was surprised as I was wet. From there it was on to a hostel with no hot water and cockroaches in the bathroom. Apart from that it was fine. The friendly staff even offered to help us get our return tickets but I'm not taking all these Chinese lessons for nothing so i assured them that I would go to the train station and buy the tickets myself. I had to go anyway because Nicky's train was arriving later than mine and I had to meet her. Our efforts to buy the tickets proved fruitless because touts in Xi'an had just bought up all the tickets to Shanghai so if we wanted tickets we would have to give them an extra hundred Yuan. We weren't happy about but what could we do, it's a communist country and everyone gets their share. The soldiers are the main attraction in Xi'an but it's good to see it just as a provincial Chinese city. The authorities, latching on to the fact that tourists were coming to see the Terracotta army have scrubbed up and repaired the city walls, have given all the old Chinese Ming Dynesty buildings a good lick of paint and put a MaccyDs on every corner just in case we get homesick. There is a muslim quarter, which is interesting if only because it's one of the few times in China that you see religion of any kind being openly practised and there are some seriously good noodle shops down around there too. The restaurants aren't the cleanest but if you let things like that bother you over here, you'd never eat. We left all that stuff for later though and decided to dive in at the deep end and go straight to see the Terracotta Army. I thought there would be more of them to be honest. The 6000 soldiers the lonely Planet promised turned out to be little more than a couple of hundred which when displayed in a room the size of an airplane hanger doesn't exactly blow the mind. Maybe Lonely Planet meant the army were in 6,000 pieces because quite a lot of them were decapitated and missing limbs, while there were a lot of heads, arms and legs scattered about the ground but then Lonely Planet also told us the hostel would have hot water and failed to mention the cockroaches at all. Beside the site of the Terracotta Army, someone built a pyrimad and sphinx just like in Egypt. Actually they did it better because they made the sphinx a part of the pyrimad so you don't have to go through the whole silly buisness of walking between the two and it was very well finished too not like that bloody mess in Cairo but i'm afriad time wasn't on our side last weekend so we had to forego the pleasure of paying it a visit but should any of you ever visit China, may I suggest that it be your first port of call...and would someone please inform Lonely Planet. I don't know how they miss these things. The city of Xi'an is kind of cool and very hot. The city walls are about 15km round and while it's well worth renting the bikes and cycling round them, I don't advise doing it in the middle of the day....but I'll be ok really as soon as I get my visa for Greenland sorted out. Nicky told me that there was a breeze but i think that's just because I was cycling so fast to get finished, so I could give the bike back and sit in the shade for the rest of the day.
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