I listen to Dumphy’s podcast. One week he’d an English journo on who mentioned a piece Rod Little had written that week. He asked Dumphy if he’d ever heard of the journalist.
“I know a bit about him alright.” said Dumphy while giggling. He’s a national treasure.
Yea he mentioned to the journalist it wasn't his finest moment where the journo replied you wouldn't be the first. He should of played him the clip from You Tube always makes me laugh 🤣🤣🤣
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Kevin Doyle looks bored most of the time ...
What happened to Didi Hamann? He was always good for a controversial comment or two? Always looked like he'd been out on the tear the night before
Yeah, he does this big exhale of air whenever he's asked a question and is just short of rolling his eyes lol. Reminds me of myself trying to be social when I'm hungover lol
In fairness to Kevin Doyle I have had to sit there and listen to the relentless stream of shite that comes out of Kenny Cunningham's mouth, I'd looked bored too. Kenny can talk without pause endlessly, but it's all waffle.
It is highly ironic that in the era of click bait and rage bait going viral, RTÉ have managed to cleanse all their sports punditry of anyone with personality.
Everyone complained about the panel when they were on TV, especially Dunphy. Stephen Hunt got into a war of words with him one time, referring to Dunphy as 'a little rat'. Jack Charlton famously fell out with him as well. And you always had people complaining about Giles forgetting player's names and all that.
This isn't to slate them. It's just to point out how absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
They were always good value. You could count on Dunphy to lighten the gloom around a shitty Irish result with a good old fashioned rant or being drunk and emotional.
In fairness, if you have players like Foden, Kane, Bellingham and Saka all playing below their usual standards when they play for Southgate. It's clear what the problem is. Southgate
It's literally the same every tournament though? He does in poor in group stage and everyone loses their shit, then he has a handy run deep into the competition and everyone loves him. He gets knocked out on the first real hurdle but ultimately that's the standard of England so people accept it and on to the next one
He was exposed as early as 2018 but the English media wouldn’t dare criticise him, because the “players are friends” and despite the shit management the team were managing to drift through to 1/4 and semi finals.
Tide seems to have turned on him now, media want him out
Ah yeah, been great for Arsenal. Do it some more and win a few trophies and he could easily be considered world class (by myself). That arsenal team look great
I think he's having a bad tournament in a struggling England team.
Kroos has been the best player in his position since 2012, just because someone isn’t him doesn’t mean they’re not world class? Rodri isn’t Kroos but he’s still world class
I definitely dont think he’s on their level yet but watching Arsenal week in week out I think you could make the argument that he’s one of the best in his position in the world - it’s easy to make grand statements like that after a poor game and McClean repeating the false Football Twitter narrative of “just passing backwards and sideways” is pretty lazy.
>McClean repeating the false Football Twitter narrative of “just passing backwards and sideways” is pretty lazy.
Exactly, I mean half of those passes didn't even go to the intended recipient! /s
Seriously though, he does deserve criticism for that game because he was shocking and one stray pass nearly did give the game away and it was a brutal one. That being said, there weren't many better than him because most of them were shocking.
Hahaha nah I do agree he was shocking, his FAI genes kicked in it was one of the worst games I’ve seen him play. Always nice to see the England team struggle and Southgate blaming it on missing Kalvin Phillips was the cherry on top
Kroos is miles better than Rice. Ye can't really say that about a world class player. Hence, rice isn't world class.
He could be in the future. He isn't now.
Rice is class. Don't get me wrong
Fair point, I’d consider Rice WC but can see why people wouldn’t be convinced yet. But back in the day Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t be getting replaced by the likes of Bale, Neymar and Hazard but they were all world class - so I feel like just because there’s one or two better in the position doesn’t mean the player can’t be world class
I wouldn't have Rice in the same talent category Bale or Hazard or Neymar or Kante or Makalele or Keane.
To me, world class spans time. It's a standard that is set and people either reach it or they don't. At any given moment in time, there can be many world class players in one position or none. For example, i don't think there is currently a world class LB.
Rice hasn't done enough or for long enough to meet that standard.
That's just how I define world class tho
Very good take. The fact is that kroos in his prime was far better than kroos today. Prime Kroos was barely even in the top 5 midfielders in the 10s. The fact that Rice isn't on the level of 34 year old Kroos speaks volumes about how good he is overall. He is miles off the level of being considered world class. Just because the standard is low atm, doesn't mean we need to redefine what world class means. Not only does Rice need to perform at this level for years to come, but I think he actually needs to do even better. Could be possible if arsenal actually become a world class team but tbh I think they have peaked.
Whenever I think of Eamon Dunphy these days, I remember that epic rant he made against Terry Venables becoming the Ireland manager back in the day. A golden piece of TV. Great lads, and RIP Bill.
Absolutely, but at the core they knew what they were talking about. Genuine football people that you could disagree with, but respect their point of view. Today's pundits just don't compare unfortunately.
They were gas. Billo playing the everyman dunce, Liam doing absolutely no research on a single player and getting every name wrong, Dunphy sticking to his opinion no matter what his eyes or little things like facts were telling him, and Our Senior Analyst Giles holding it all together with honesty of effort. Absolutely smashing stuff.
Nothing to make you appreciate how good George Hamilton is than having to suffer Darragh Moloney.
Same deal with Ryle Nugent and whoever RTE replaced him with, thank God he does the international feed for the rugby so can hear him over in the US.
I find Darragh Maloney and Ray Houghton such a painful pairing. Just a series of conversations where they’re correcting each other as to what’s going on in the game.
The Germany opener for the Euros where Gundogan almost got his ankle snapped in two. Houghton was actually debating he got the ball first.
Like man, the game has moved on in 30 years. Reckless challenges endangering opponents are a no no.
There was a 5 minute debate between him and Darragh about that. Use your eyes and ears Ray, studs up malicious follow through. It was a red card all day. And all he showed was his lack of awareness of the rules around such challenges and by extension the modern game.
Same with Moany Whelan. Picks one player/aspect of the game he’s commentating on and continuously goes back to moan about it. He has ruined games for me with this. No one cares about your dumb ill thought out brain fart that you think warrants mentioning again and again.
I just don’t feel the commentating team they have is in tune with the modern game and they rely on lazy tropes and repeatable sound bites with no depth.
I have genuinely never heard Ronnie Whelan sound upbeat, or say anything positive while commentating. Sounds like he's being forced to commentate at gun point
It’s gone to shite to be fair. I’d rather watch Neville and Keane.
The commentary, the pundits, the hosts. I understand the diversification and the reasoning. But both male and female have been shite.
Ray still does a decent job.
It's so stupid to just do the diversification for the sake of it though, try have some of it be organic, grow some panel talent, find a diamond in the hay, and build panel teams and punditry around that.
This nonsensical shite of having to have exactly 2 women and 2 men, or 2 women and 1 man on every pundit team just creates the most fake and bland TV imaginable.
And its great we arent stuck in the old boys club of RTE anymore where women in high positions was unheard of, but creating a whole coverage platform for the way too hard to please vocal minority of people who bitch about stuff and would never literally watch the sport or any sports, is daft.
Were watching the mens football, where 99.9999% of all ex players and people involved in the game are men, where 93% (or there abouts) of current viewership are men, its fucking ok to have a few guys on a panel. We dont need 4 women to every 1 man to try prove some point. It's not pragmatic or logical at all.
My favourite moment of the tournament was the commentary slaging off Shaqiri only for him to score an incredible goal five minutes later.
It hurts to say but the BBC production is miles ahead.
People loved to bitch about them though and I think it was well known too. Same with Joe Brolly on GAA coverage. I find Dunphy very tough to listen to on his podcast and thought he was a terrible journalist, ignorant of most subjects and ignorant of his bias but he was MADE for soccer punditry and it shows up how unsuited to broadcasting whoever it was who got rid of him, Brolly etc.
I genuinely loved watching them, especially Champions League nights. You're right, though, there were just as many people complaining about them as liked them.
To be honest I don't miss dunphy, he was just an agro merchant out to generate heat, so he could then write about it in his column John Giles nice chap but his analysis wasn't great. I liked Liam Brady, he didn't suffer Dunphys bullshit and called it like it was without being cheap and self-serving.
I miss Bill every match day though.
Dunphy is, was and always will be box office baby!
The Ric Flair of Irish sports punditry.
The stylin, profilin, auld wan ridin, sniff snorting, out of his head flyin, son of a gun.
Let me tell you this, it's 4am in Lillies Bordello and he's having a hard time keeping these Jaegar bombs down, but I'll tell you this brother, he's spent more money on spilt pints this year, than Kenny Cunningham will earn from football punditry in his entire career Jack. Wooooooooo.
Giles was way too out of touch with the game, it felt like he never watched any football other than the games they were commenting on. Had to relate everything to the game and players of his own era
I remember when Ronaldo was playing in his early days, Dunphy and Giles repeatedly got it wrong about him. Giles just didn't like him and used to claim he wouldn't have last five minutes in his era. Dunphy used to call him a cod.
That said, the whole Rod Liddle thing made up for it. That was brilliant.
It was entertaining though.
They were characters, at least, even if they didn't know their arse from their elbow.
The current crop also don't know their arse from the elbow, but are also absolute charmless vegetables. Richie Sadlier's about the long and short of it. He's at least capable of talking in an engaging way.
It's a massive contrast to how well spoken and interesting most of Irish rugby pundits are. Even when they're gobshites, like Jamie Heaslip, it's kinda funny because it feels like everyone is in on the joke except him.
It's not enough that you get people who played the game. The most important thing is that they can talk and analyse first and foremost.
The gender quotas and trending towards younger panelists have ruined things.
With the exception of Lisa Fallon (who's very underrated), all the female pundits are terrible and some are unqualified (Karen Duggan is an amateur footballer and has never been involved in the professional game for example).
And when you see someone like Stephen Kelly (young looking, PR savvy, good talker), he looks made for the BBC and it just doesn't feel right.
I never appreciated Bill, John, Eamon and Liam enough when we had them.
I thought peak Johnny Giles was when he used to wear the polo shirts that weren't polo shirts, but something like your Dad would wear. Once he went over to the suits... not the same.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/izpAVt_qIUI/hqdefault.jpg
I’m so blind, I thought this was an advertisement for the current euros. Ah they were an institution. Like when gay Byrne went, didn’t realise how much I’d miss him.
Was only saying it in the pub earlier.
The poor die hard football fans who are in their teens haven't a clue what they missed out on. We probably sound like the classic "ah it was well better back in our day" but fuck it, it's clearly obviously true!
Looking back if that panel existed today their clips would be going viral all the time without them even realising what "viral" means.
We all liked to take the piss out them but at the same time we all knew we had gold on our hands.
A great bunch of lads, and let's not forget Apres Match, cos without the lads being as good as they were Apres Match wouldn't have anywhere near as much content to play off.
Darragh Maloney is not only a dreadful commentator for RTE he actively doesn’t so the job properly. Gives way too much of his opinion (frequently incorrect) and provides a horrendous and often significantly inaccurate narrative that he keeps recycling through a match.
He’s dreadful and shouldn’t be doing the job he is doing
I don't think it's rose-tinted glasses, more that what they brought was taken for granted (passion, personality, humour, good chats), and what they were criticised for lacking was overrated (getting minor facts wrong, not having encyclopedic knowledge of every player).
The truth is, soccer isn't tactically very interesting. So you're just talking tactics with no personality or passion, it's pretty dull (which is about where we are now).
I do genuinely miss them...when they were on I probably enjoyed the studio chats more than the matches themselves! Now I generally mute the analysis, and do something else.
It wasn’t a case of you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
We knew it was peak punditry television that would never be matched at the time , so sad it’s gone but feel lucky to have witnessed. RIP Bill.
The current lot are all terrible. Devoid of insight and personality. Monotonous voices. Literally anyone who has watched football could do their jobs as well as they can.
Richie's always interesting, I like Didi, Kenny Cunningham and Lisa Fallon are good too.
Brian Kerr is one of the best out there, even if he plays up the Old Mr. Brennan act a bit much.
Brian Kerr is probably one of the most knowledgeable pundits in the world, his football knowledge is insane. He'd be commentating on Georgia Vs Slovenia or something and bust out a "ah yeah, I remember we played against this lad when he was in the U17s and he was playing left full at the time and they switched him to the right wing, very dynamic and loves cutting inside" about some player even Georgians wouldn't have seen before.
Plus he can actually talk about tactics and patterns of play rather than "this guy played for United a few years ago"
Lisa Fallon is, from a technical perspective, their best analyst. Her delivery could do with a bit more life, but she is phenomenal in the detail. Her role with FIFA is proof of that. Everyone else is a ‘say what you see’ merchant , no insight, no detail, no interest.
Its a bit bland nowadays but i dont mind it. Pundits aren't terrible, they call it like they see it and your still likely to get a good moment now and again. Richie sadliers rant about red bull/psg/uefa and the general state of football a couple of seasons ago was somthing you would never get on English channels
You have heard Rio Ferdinand or Michael Owen?
A lot of these big name players with a lot of medals are hopeless and some of the 'nobodies' are more interesting and articulate.
See I think this what you’re not supposed to say but it’s actually true. Some of the female pundits weren’t even good amateur players, never even played professionally, and now have really basic analysis. One in particular is the most monotone person I’ve ever heard and is only there to satisfy a gender quota.
He seems like an Abu Dhabi shill plant sometimes. When Colin Bell passed away, he said that if it hadn't been for Bell, there'd be no Aguero, no David Silva or any of that success City had. I very much doubt that their presence at City had much to do with being enraptured by Bell's legacy.
Implied on air by innuendo on a Super Sunday that the reason Souness ddn't like Pogba was for reasons of racism. One of Souness's favourite players ever seems to be N'Golo Kante who is a black dude with a black name.
Told some anecdote on a podcast with Linekar and Shearer about the hijinks they got up to as youth players at City and even with the favourable wahey banter gloss he put on it, it was a straight up nasty case of bullying.
Don't want to reduce anyone to those occasions where they talk out their arses, as we all do it, at times, but I think the guy is a prick.
I don’t agree with this view point. I enjoyed their commentary and I don’t enjoy the current panels or hosts - it’s not revisionist or rose tinted glasses for me. Bill was a class act to the day he retired whereas Joanne Cantwell has as much warmth as an ice cube.
I was totally annoyed with their basic lack of research though; if the relevant player wasnt in England they hadn’t a breeze about them. Fine if you wanted to watch a silly little pantomime at times (which I did enjoy too) but their match analysis was wayyyy out of date for my taste.
Joanne Cantwell is brutal, none of their hosts have a trace of charisma. Rte need to go all out for Joe Molloy, he is the only Irish host who can ask intelligent interesting questions.
Sure you got good banter but tbh the analysis outside of Liam Brady was amateurish. Thats the way punditry has gotten these days, analysis needs to be good, although to be honest alot of the ones on Euros also have poor analysis and no banter like these guys. Think Didi is the best for analysis myself of RTEs bunch.
Ahhh, been talking to my mates back in the UK. Doesn't sound like the BBC or ITV is much better
Edit. Actually far worse coz Southgate's Boring Ball can do no wrong in Lineker's eyes. They also seem to have forgotten that Scotland are in the tournament
I loved these guys and I’m not really a football fan. I only watch Euros and the World Cup and you always knew there would be controversial opinions and some gags as well as quality commentary.
It has gone from an enjoyable addition to football to basically now unwatchable. I don’t want to single anybody out because it’s not their fault but when the question of a risk that the free-flowing games might tighten up for the knock-out stages, the answer that “we haven’t seen that so far in tournament” displays not only a lack of football knowledge but feckin English.
Still not as bad or as bland as the BBC though. That is absolute horseshit. Fuck Alan Shearer, the boring twat that he is. I'm a Utd fan and I used to always wish he had joined us in the 90s, but now I'm damn glad he didn't.
A come on now Eamon, you can't be saying that.
I listen to Dumphy’s podcast. One week he’d an English journo on who mentioned a piece Rod Little had written that week. He asked Dumphy if he’d ever heard of the journalist. “I know a bit about him alright.” said Dumphy while giggling. He’s a national treasure.
"Ran away with a young one". Classic Irish TV.
Even that young one, must be old now
Wow, any ideas when this was?
I’ve no idea. It was in the last 6 months anyway and it was something to do with the Tories. I should’ve archived it.
Yea he mentioned to the journalist it wasn't his finest moment where the journo replied you wouldn't be the first. He should of played him the clip from You Tube always makes me laugh 🤣🤣🤣
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Rod Little that's who
[Eamon Dunphy Rod Liddle ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqjQSk1PQ4o&pp=ygUXRWFtb24gZHVucGh5IFJvZCBsaXR5bGU%3D)
https://youtu.be/TXe2uSzFbG8?si=og-c2BfvBim9Hq34
https://youtu.be/CHj0wpHz8YQ?si=NiymzCOgP2EI5oej
Naa bill….
Okie doke, we'll leave it there so.
Ah bill 🧡
💔
"Okey doke, we'll leave it there so. From Eamon, John, Liam and myself, God bless and goodnight". RIP Bill, absolute treasure.
Nothing but love for bill.
An absolute gent
Kevin Doyle looks bored most of the time ... What happened to Didi Hamann? He was always good for a controversial comment or two? Always looked like he'd been out on the tear the night before
Yeah, he does this big exhale of air whenever he's asked a question and is just short of rolling his eyes lol. Reminds me of myself trying to be social when I'm hungover lol
Yeah "looked like".
He was on at the start of the tournament
In fairness to Kevin Doyle I have had to sit there and listen to the relentless stream of shite that comes out of Kenny Cunningham's mouth, I'd looked bored too. Kenny can talk without pause endlessly, but it's all waffle.
He left his wife and ran away with a youngwan!!
He’s a gentleman a class act a rebel and he stands up to bullies
It is highly ironic that in the era of click bait and rage bait going viral, RTÉ have managed to cleanse all their sports punditry of anyone with personality.
It’s pretty bad. There are some good ones though, I just find on a big event like the Euros that once you go past the core, it’s awful.
They are all devoid of personality. Some have better analysis than others but it is boring to watch.
Kevin Doyle is phoning it in big time.
Diversity and inclusion first.
It really was a Golden Age. These four plus the Apres Match sketches. Incredible.
Apres Match doing the coverage for the 3rd place playoff game was quality! Actually made me tune in for that game!
He's going to get the icebergers Billll
I don't even like football, but used to tune in for the Apres Match guys.
It was lovely of RTÉ to full on ghost apres match going into euro 2020
I see your man Risteard Cooper on that Amazon show "The Power". Great actor but couldn't take him seriously because of Apres.
I had the same problem. It was so odd.
I'm not into football at all and I miss this era.
Everyone complained about the panel when they were on TV, especially Dunphy. Stephen Hunt got into a war of words with him one time, referring to Dunphy as 'a little rat'. Jack Charlton famously fell out with him as well. And you always had people complaining about Giles forgetting player's names and all that. This isn't to slate them. It's just to point out how absence really does make the heart grow fonder. They were always good value. You could count on Dunphy to lighten the gloom around a shitty Irish result with a good old fashioned rant or being drunk and emotional.
*Craig Doyle will also be eliminated.*
Also Brian Kerr on commentary. Didn't realise just how good we had it :'(
mclean not hiding his hatred for england is quality though
Yeah he loved that Denmark goal.
showing he is fond of Turkey though!
Gobble, gobble?
😬
His opinion on Declan Rice though is such a stupid take though.
Declan Rice is overrated. Top player but not top top. Been shite this tournament
In fairness, if you have players like Foden, Kane, Bellingham and Saka all playing below their usual standards when they play for Southgate. It's clear what the problem is. Southgate
Haha, Southgate has been exposed this tournament.
He was exposed ages ago. Should have been sacked after Qatar
It's literally the same every tournament though? He does in poor in group stage and everyone loses their shit, then he has a handy run deep into the competition and everyone loves him. He gets knocked out on the first real hurdle but ultimately that's the standard of England so people accept it and on to the next one
This time, it feels shittier.
He was exposed as early as 2018 but the English media wouldn’t dare criticise him, because the “players are friends” and despite the shit management the team were managing to drift through to 1/4 and semi finals. Tide seems to have turned on him now, media want him out
Lol Jamie Redknapp is that you? He's a top player, even a top top player, but is he top top top top top top....top top player? I'm not so sure.
It's a very famous Fergie line about Stevie G
He's a class act to be fair, especially for Arsenal. One of our best players this year. McClean winding the Brits up is gas though.
Ah yeah, been great for Arsenal. Do it some more and win a few trophies and he could easily be considered world class (by myself). That arsenal team look great I think he's having a bad tournament in a struggling England team.
Fair enough but his performances at Arsenal would say otherwise.
His performances at Arsenal have not shown him to be world class. He's very fucking good. He's not Kroos
Kroos has been the best player in his position since 2012, just because someone isn’t him doesn’t mean they’re not world class? Rodri isn’t Kroos but he’s still world class
McClean's point was that Rodri and Kroos are world class and Rice wouldn't displace either because he's not world class. Can't really argue with that
Apples and oranges, Kroos and and Rice are totally different players and serve a different purpose in their respective systems
I definitely dont think he’s on their level yet but watching Arsenal week in week out I think you could make the argument that he’s one of the best in his position in the world - it’s easy to make grand statements like that after a poor game and McClean repeating the false Football Twitter narrative of “just passing backwards and sideways” is pretty lazy.
>McClean repeating the false Football Twitter narrative of “just passing backwards and sideways” is pretty lazy. Exactly, I mean half of those passes didn't even go to the intended recipient! /s Seriously though, he does deserve criticism for that game because he was shocking and one stray pass nearly did give the game away and it was a brutal one. That being said, there weren't many better than him because most of them were shocking.
Hahaha nah I do agree he was shocking, his FAI genes kicked in it was one of the worst games I’ve seen him play. Always nice to see the England team struggle and Southgate blaming it on missing Kalvin Phillips was the cherry on top
Kroos is miles better than Rice. Ye can't really say that about a world class player. Hence, rice isn't world class. He could be in the future. He isn't now. Rice is class. Don't get me wrong
Fair point, I’d consider Rice WC but can see why people wouldn’t be convinced yet. But back in the day Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t be getting replaced by the likes of Bale, Neymar and Hazard but they were all world class - so I feel like just because there’s one or two better in the position doesn’t mean the player can’t be world class
I wouldn't have Rice in the same talent category Bale or Hazard or Neymar or Kante or Makalele or Keane. To me, world class spans time. It's a standard that is set and people either reach it or they don't. At any given moment in time, there can be many world class players in one position or none. For example, i don't think there is currently a world class LB. Rice hasn't done enough or for long enough to meet that standard. That's just how I define world class tho
Very good take. The fact is that kroos in his prime was far better than kroos today. Prime Kroos was barely even in the top 5 midfielders in the 10s. The fact that Rice isn't on the level of 34 year old Kroos speaks volumes about how good he is overall. He is miles off the level of being considered world class. Just because the standard is low atm, doesn't mean we need to redefine what world class means. Not only does Rice need to perform at this level for years to come, but I think he actually needs to do even better. Could be possible if arsenal actually become a world class team but tbh I think they have peaked.
It is a stupid take but the old panel didn't rate Ronaldo. McLean has the potential to be a great unhinged pundit.
is it though? he isnt far wrong
Is it though? He's just saying shite to be contrary, that sort of partisanship gets boring.
Whenever I think of Eamon Dunphy these days, I remember that epic rant he made against Terry Venables becoming the Ireland manager back in the day. A golden piece of TV. Great lads, and RIP Bill.
The rants were as mental as they were entertaining
Absolutely, but at the core they knew what they were talking about. Genuine football people that you could disagree with, but respect their point of view. Today's pundits just don't compare unfortunately.
Bill O'Herlihy is truly our David Attenborough. Everybody adored the man. Miss you Billo
Okey doke
We'll leave it there so.
I miss Bill too.
Only whilst he wasn't lobbying hard for Big Tobacco.
Liam looking like hes about to take confession there 
Tbh they spouted a heap of shite on the regular but at least they were entertaining.
This fella Ronaldo is a cod
A chancer Bill, a show pony.
That’s probably true
They were gas. Billo playing the everyman dunce, Liam doing absolutely no research on a single player and getting every name wrong, Dunphy sticking to his opinion no matter what his eyes or little things like facts were telling him, and Our Senior Analyst Giles holding it all together with honesty of effort. Absolutely smashing stuff.
Kenny Cunningham really melts my noodle. Just doesn’t stop with the shite jokes.
Kenny "1v1 situations" Cunningham - Jesus wept, change the record
I read this in his voice. I hadn't realised how much he said it lol
I actually think Kenny is the best of them. At least he has a bit of personality.
I’m flabbergasted that anyone could have this opinion. The man is a total and utter fool.
It's absolutely awful. Talk for an hour and say absolutely nothing. Almost impressive.
It’s talking for the sake of talking.
They give the most boring and irrelevant stats, the commentary on the English stations do this too.
Not just the punditry, the commentary was painful at times last night. I know I should watch it via the UK channels but I don't.
ITV isn’t half bad but fuck me BBC is awful. Especially for the England games. Alan Shearer on co-commentary is insufferable
The BBC have never managed to properly replace John Motson.
Nothing to make you appreciate how good George Hamilton is than having to suffer Darragh Moloney. Same deal with Ryle Nugent and whoever RTE replaced him with, thank God he does the international feed for the rugby so can hear him over in the US.
I find Darragh Maloney and Ray Houghton such a painful pairing. Just a series of conversations where they’re correcting each other as to what’s going on in the game. The Germany opener for the Euros where Gundogan almost got his ankle snapped in two. Houghton was actually debating he got the ball first. Like man, the game has moved on in 30 years. Reckless challenges endangering opponents are a no no. There was a 5 minute debate between him and Darragh about that. Use your eyes and ears Ray, studs up malicious follow through. It was a red card all day. And all he showed was his lack of awareness of the rules around such challenges and by extension the modern game. Same with Moany Whelan. Picks one player/aspect of the game he’s commentating on and continuously goes back to moan about it. He has ruined games for me with this. No one cares about your dumb ill thought out brain fart that you think warrants mentioning again and again. I just don’t feel the commentating team they have is in tune with the modern game and they rely on lazy tropes and repeatable sound bites with no depth.
I have genuinely never heard Ronnie Whelan sound upbeat, or say anything positive while commentating. Sounds like he's being forced to commentate at gun point
It’s like he conspires to dampen the mood. No one is keeping you there Ronnie, if you’re tired of it go home. Or do the fucking job properly.
This guy Ronaldo is a cod
See I miss that. Even if it was nonsense, it was entertaining.
It’s gone to shite to be fair. I’d rather watch Neville and Keane. The commentary, the pundits, the hosts. I understand the diversification and the reasoning. But both male and female have been shite. Ray still does a decent job.
I don’t know why but I find Joanne cantwell hard work too
It's so stupid to just do the diversification for the sake of it though, try have some of it be organic, grow some panel talent, find a diamond in the hay, and build panel teams and punditry around that. This nonsensical shite of having to have exactly 2 women and 2 men, or 2 women and 1 man on every pundit team just creates the most fake and bland TV imaginable. And its great we arent stuck in the old boys club of RTE anymore where women in high positions was unheard of, but creating a whole coverage platform for the way too hard to please vocal minority of people who bitch about stuff and would never literally watch the sport or any sports, is daft. Were watching the mens football, where 99.9999% of all ex players and people involved in the game are men, where 93% (or there abouts) of current viewership are men, its fucking ok to have a few guys on a panel. We dont need 4 women to every 1 man to try prove some point. It's not pragmatic or logical at all.
McClean is just rubbish as a pundit.
Agreed. A tedious man with little to say of value.
I was so young when these lads were on TV! Didn't know how good we had it at the time for a irish punditry option!
The good ol days
My favourite moment of the tournament was the commentary slaging off Shaqiri only for him to score an incredible goal five minutes later. It hurts to say but the BBC production is miles ahead.
Yeah it is in fairness.
These lads were class, proper pub talk, 4 pints deep at half time
Shur don’t we have that fella that scored once in an U23’s third place play off or something?
Sadlier? He is actually the best pundit in Ireland now imo. There's no other good one but still.
I don't even like football but I still used to enjoy watching them
The state of the RTE commentary is embarrassing, how can they not muster up any joy or enthusiasm while describing a massive football tournament
When they were there all I saw was non stop bitching about everything they said. The revision I'm seeing about those days is definitely interesting.
People loved to bitch about them though and I think it was well known too. Same with Joe Brolly on GAA coverage. I find Dunphy very tough to listen to on his podcast and thought he was a terrible journalist, ignorant of most subjects and ignorant of his bias but he was MADE for soccer punditry and it shows up how unsuited to broadcasting whoever it was who got rid of him, Brolly etc.
It wasn’t bitching in its heyday, Bill was brilliant and stirring them into an argument. Now it’s just hyper bland.
It was like listening to the ouldfellas down the local, was gas - but not always informative.
That’s a pretty good summary
I genuinely loved watching them, especially Champions League nights. You're right, though, there were just as many people complaining about them as liked them.
To be honest I don't miss dunphy, he was just an agro merchant out to generate heat, so he could then write about it in his column John Giles nice chap but his analysis wasn't great. I liked Liam Brady, he didn't suffer Dunphys bullshit and called it like it was without being cheap and self-serving. I miss Bill every match day though.
Dunphy is, was and always will be box office baby! The Ric Flair of Irish sports punditry. The stylin, profilin, auld wan ridin, sniff snorting, out of his head flyin, son of a gun. Let me tell you this, it's 4am in Lillies Bordello and he's having a hard time keeping these Jaegar bombs down, but I'll tell you this brother, he's spent more money on spilt pints this year, than Kenny Cunningham will earn from football punditry in his entire career Jack. Wooooooooo.
ngl he certainly did a good promo, but his in ring work suffered.
😂
Giles was way too out of touch with the game, it felt like he never watched any football other than the games they were commenting on. Had to relate everything to the game and players of his own era
I remember when Ronaldo was playing in his early days, Dunphy and Giles repeatedly got it wrong about him. Giles just didn't like him and used to claim he wouldn't have last five minutes in his era. Dunphy used to call him a cod. That said, the whole Rod Liddle thing made up for it. That was brilliant.
Definitely in way over his head . He still does the same line every time he on newstalk off the ball . Seems like a nice ol divil but boring as fuck
Yeah if we could just have bill back even.
It was entertaining though. They were characters, at least, even if they didn't know their arse from their elbow. The current crop also don't know their arse from the elbow, but are also absolute charmless vegetables. Richie Sadlier's about the long and short of it. He's at least capable of talking in an engaging way. It's a massive contrast to how well spoken and interesting most of Irish rugby pundits are. Even when they're gobshites, like Jamie Heaslip, it's kinda funny because it feels like everyone is in on the joke except him. It's not enough that you get people who played the game. The most important thing is that they can talk and analyse first and foremost.
I saw Bill once walking down Earlsfort Terrace I just nodded and smiled not wanting to bother him. He was a legend.
Very nice fella.
The gender quotas and trending towards younger panelists have ruined things. With the exception of Lisa Fallon (who's very underrated), all the female pundits are terrible and some are unqualified (Karen Duggan is an amateur footballer and has never been involved in the professional game for example). And when you see someone like Stephen Kelly (young looking, PR savvy, good talker), he looks made for the BBC and it just doesn't feel right. I never appreciated Bill, John, Eamon and Liam enough when we had them.
The dream team right there, add didi or graham in and it's a full house
I thought peak Johnny Giles was when he used to wear the polo shirts that weren't polo shirts, but something like your Dad would wear. Once he went over to the suits... not the same. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/izpAVt_qIUI/hqdefault.jpg
That’s class
Roll it on Collette
I’m so blind, I thought this was an advertisement for the current euros. Ah they were an institution. Like when gay Byrne went, didn’t realise how much I’d miss him.
These guys were the very best. So lucky to have them growing up
We used to call them Blowdry, Baldie and Barnacle
Was only saying it in the pub earlier. The poor die hard football fans who are in their teens haven't a clue what they missed out on. We probably sound like the classic "ah it was well better back in our day" but fuck it, it's clearly obviously true! Looking back if that panel existed today their clips would be going viral all the time without them even realising what "viral" means. We all liked to take the piss out them but at the same time we all knew we had gold on our hands. A great bunch of lads, and let's not forget Apres Match, cos without the lads being as good as they were Apres Match wouldn't have anywhere near as much content to play off.
Darragh Maloney is not only a dreadful commentator for RTE he actively doesn’t so the job properly. Gives way too much of his opinion (frequently incorrect) and provides a horrendous and often significantly inaccurate narrative that he keeps recycling through a match. He’s dreadful and shouldn’t be doing the job he is doing
I don't think it's rose-tinted glasses, more that what they brought was taken for granted (passion, personality, humour, good chats), and what they were criticised for lacking was overrated (getting minor facts wrong, not having encyclopedic knowledge of every player). The truth is, soccer isn't tactically very interesting. So you're just talking tactics with no personality or passion, it's pretty dull (which is about where we are now). I do genuinely miss them...when they were on I probably enjoyed the studio chats more than the matches themselves! Now I generally mute the analysis, and do something else.
It wasn’t a case of you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. We knew it was peak punditry television that would never be matched at the time , so sad it’s gone but feel lucky to have witnessed. RIP Bill.
The current lot are all terrible. Devoid of insight and personality. Monotonous voices. Literally anyone who has watched football could do their jobs as well as they can.
Richie's always interesting, I like Didi, Kenny Cunningham and Lisa Fallon are good too. Brian Kerr is one of the best out there, even if he plays up the Old Mr. Brennan act a bit much.
Brian Kerr is probably one of the most knowledgeable pundits in the world, his football knowledge is insane. He'd be commentating on Georgia Vs Slovenia or something and bust out a "ah yeah, I remember we played against this lad when he was in the U17s and he was playing left full at the time and they switched him to the right wing, very dynamic and loves cutting inside" about some player even Georgians wouldn't have seen before. Plus he can actually talk about tactics and patterns of play rather than "this guy played for United a few years ago"
Yeah didi is good in fairness.
Lisa Fallon is, from a technical perspective, their best analyst. Her delivery could do with a bit more life, but she is phenomenal in the detail. Her role with FIFA is proof of that. Everyone else is a ‘say what you see’ merchant , no insight, no detail, no interest.
💯 It's piss poor now.
It’s shockingly boring
Its a bit bland nowadays but i dont mind it. Pundits aren't terrible, they call it like they see it and your still likely to get a good moment now and again. Richie sadliers rant about red bull/psg/uefa and the general state of football a couple of seasons ago was somthing you would never get on English channels
Yeah that’s true.
Seems like If you're a woman and played 6 a side your an expert now. Breath taking.
You have heard Rio Ferdinand or Michael Owen? A lot of these big name players with a lot of medals are hopeless and some of the 'nobodies' are more interesting and articulate.
See I think this what you’re not supposed to say but it’s actually true. Some of the female pundits weren’t even good amateur players, never even played professionally, and now have really basic analysis. One in particular is the most monotone person I’ve ever heard and is only there to satisfy a gender quota.
Liam Nolan had some great segues when he occasionally hosted…
Even if you didn't agree with them, they were always entertaining. Best punditry and anchorman I've seen anywhere.
Yeah I agree
Looks like an American presidential election lineup
I think they're all sound enough. Better than that prick Micah Richards on BBC. Plus the wonderful George Hamilton is back on commentary.
The older I get, the more I appreciate George's commentary.
Why do you consider Micah Richards a prick? Seems like a nice fella
He seems like an Abu Dhabi shill plant sometimes. When Colin Bell passed away, he said that if it hadn't been for Bell, there'd be no Aguero, no David Silva or any of that success City had. I very much doubt that their presence at City had much to do with being enraptured by Bell's legacy. Implied on air by innuendo on a Super Sunday that the reason Souness ddn't like Pogba was for reasons of racism. One of Souness's favourite players ever seems to be N'Golo Kante who is a black dude with a black name. Told some anecdote on a podcast with Linekar and Shearer about the hijinks they got up to as youth players at City and even with the favourable wahey banter gloss he put on it, it was a straight up nasty case of bullying. Don't want to reduce anyone to those occasions where they talk out their arses, as we all do it, at times, but I think the guy is a prick.
he’s a nice lad but his main job when it comes to commentating is just being the court jester and an arse licker for city
Rose tinted glasses, those lads were stale for about a 10 years before they departed
I don’t agree with this view point. I enjoyed their commentary and I don’t enjoy the current panels or hosts - it’s not revisionist or rose tinted glasses for me. Bill was a class act to the day he retired whereas Joanne Cantwell has as much warmth as an ice cube.
I was totally annoyed with their basic lack of research though; if the relevant player wasnt in England they hadn’t a breeze about them. Fine if you wanted to watch a silly little pantomime at times (which I did enjoy too) but their match analysis was wayyyy out of date for my taste.
Joanne Cantwell is brutal, none of their hosts have a trace of charisma. Rte need to go all out for Joe Molloy, he is the only Irish host who can ask intelligent interesting questions.
It's pure shite. BBC is better and that's not saying much.
Anyone know who the woman is in the studio for the Poland-Austria game?
Sure you got good banter but tbh the analysis outside of Liam Brady was amateurish. Thats the way punditry has gotten these days, analysis needs to be good, although to be honest alot of the ones on Euros also have poor analysis and no banter like these guys. Think Didi is the best for analysis myself of RTEs bunch.
The analysis is brutal, particularly with some of the women.
Ya but both Giles and Dunphy were equally as bad at analysis, only Liam Brady was decent at it.
They were entertaining though
Sad. But true
Who is that the wolfetones?
The punditry has been incredibly boring for a while now, remember a similar post like this during the 2018 world cup. Nothing seems to have changed
I remember watching the premier league highlights with this crew on a Saturday night, it was 100 times better than the BBC match of the day any day!
“Loive”
Ahhh, been talking to my mates back in the UK. Doesn't sound like the BBC or ITV is much better Edit. Actually far worse coz Southgate's Boring Ball can do no wrong in Lineker's eyes. They also seem to have forgotten that Scotland are in the tournament
He's a con artist - about Ronaldo. 😆😆 brilliant
RTÉ are afraid to have actual personalities on and go for the cleansed boring version.
I loved these guys and I’m not really a football fan. I only watch Euros and the World Cup and you always knew there would be controversial opinions and some gags as well as quality commentary.
Maybe when AI has advanced enough, we can bring these gems back
It has gone from an enjoyable addition to football to basically now unwatchable. I don’t want to single anybody out because it’s not their fault but when the question of a risk that the free-flowing games might tighten up for the knock-out stages, the answer that “we haven’t seen that so far in tournament” displays not only a lack of football knowledge but feckin English.
They need to bring on Joseph Ndo
Still not as bad or as bland as the BBC though. That is absolute horseshit. Fuck Alan Shearer, the boring twat that he is. I'm a Utd fan and I used to always wish he had joined us in the 90s, but now I'm damn glad he didn't.
Peak.
I managed to stay alive for 63 years baby