There 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.
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