It seems it has only been in the wake of Giovanni Trapatonni’s departure, that Irish football has begun some serious soul-searching. The Italian’s time in charge has polarised the debate on whether the manager was to blame for the senior team’s ills, or as many are grappling with; ‘We just don’t have the players’. And yet, is John Delaney, Irish soccer’s kingmaker, ignoring the opportunity to change the strategy?
Shamrock Rovers fans had an impressive display at the Showgrounds last weekend. The Battle of the Rovers in the FAI Cup semi-finals saw a large travelling support for the Hoops. Out west, there’s only one Roves however, with the Dublin side known as Shams in Sligo, a fact that was played up by the supporters of the Tallaght Stadium outfit. Unfortunately for them, they went down 3-0 as Sligo reached a fourth final in five years.
Former British sprint champion Linford Christie may have unwittingly revealed the new Arsenal Puma kit for next season. The former Olympic gold medallist tweeted a picture of Thierry Henry wearing a Puma shirt along with current stars Bacary Sagna and Olivier Giroud before subsequently deleting the image.
“It’s a football match. Every kid, every adult, you go to a football match and you try to win the game. That’s all I know and that’s my mission: to try and win the game”
– Interim coach Noel King has impressed since taking temporary charge of the Irish team.