England Outwitted As Usual

Admittedly I only saw two of England's matches in the U21 European Championships, the Final and the Semi-Final. It was funny (in hindsight) listening to Alan Smith's comments when England were 3-0 up. He was talking about the English players pushing on and trying to get their names on the score and that Sweden should at least try to win the second half and restore a bit of pride in the jersey.

England's first half performance was even poor in itself. The goals came from 3 corners which were very badly defended by the Swedes. In fact the goals owed a lot more to disastrous Swedish defending than any ingenuity from the English team. There is always hype surrounding English teams at any tournament. For me, it's strange because I know all the players, feel compelled to watch them and yet I always want them to lose.

There is no reason for that except that I'm Irish and I can't help. It doesn't mean I enjoy watching England any less than anyone else. I just can't say I thought they were all that impressive in either of the two matches.

The England U-21 team were very industrious, hard working but they had little craft. They were very strong and they had some pace but there was little else to admire about their team. In itself there is nothing wrong with this except that reading about them you'd swear they were reinventing the way football is played.

For all the talk about the quality of the Premier League and the quality of these players there was very little sign of it in this tournament. Take Theo Walcott for example. I wouldn't like to criticise the guy because he works hard and he obviously has some talent but I have to point out that he doesn't seem to be able to kick the ball. He is full of pace and has one or two tricks but he kicks the ball like a 5 year old.

I don't know how many balls dribbled in the hands of the opposing goalkeepers from Walcott's many tame efforts. Like so many England players down through the years the guy looks totally overrated.

It is now being said that James Milner is one of the few players to come out of the Tournament with an enhanced reputation. Just because James Milner runs around a lot doesn't necessarily make him a good player. He is no more worth 12 million pounds than Micah Richards is worth 30. England sent a team of workhorses to Sweden and had their arses handed to them by the players with the skills and creativity which are dismissed as laziness in the English game.

Marcus Berg might not have been back helping out his full backs but he still managed to score 2 goals just be being in the right place at the right time. England had no such predator nor had they anyone with the wit of Ozil who opened up their defence at will in the final.

The perceived lazy of this world tend to survive on their wits rather than hard graft or maybe they just view the world differently to the British Islanders. Maybe they didn't rote learn at school, they just waxed lyrical in exams and failed but the only score that counts in football is the final one.

With industry, often comes stupidity but the industrious think their hard work will win through in the end. The England team worked hard and picked up yellow cards like they were bonuses. Stupid yellow cards which in the end left them badly understrength for the final. They weren't helped by Stuart Pearce's attitude on the sideline. He was like a madman which is perfectly if you're playing full back but it's a bit unbecoming of a manager. Passion is one thing but Pearce's hot-headedness simply gives the impression that he doesn't know what he's doing.

Pearce of course is typical of the witless professional to have worn the 3 Lions while players like Matt Le Tissier and Robbie Fowler were so often overlooked and criticised. England got what they deserved in this tournament but as a nation they need to change their approach and mentality in major tournaments or they will continue to be outsmarted by the cleverer nations (which seems to be all of them).

Time for the GPA to get Tough

A good place to start would be if the Government stopped the Grants being handed out to GAA players. That is the very first step to be taken before any other player welfare issues can be looked at. It is quite incredible when you think about it that the Irish Government would give money to a select few of it's citizens because they happen to play a particular sport. I wouldn't mind but it's actually a sport that people pay in to watch, sport that generates it's own revenue and not an insignificant one at that.

Any dispute which may exist between the GAA and the GPA has nothing to do with the Government and while it is not at all surprising that they would in the thick of it considering the complete mess they've made of everything else, it is something they should at least have the decency to extricate themselves from immediately.

The GAA somehow thought the problem was solved by the introduction of the grants last year. It says a lot indeed about the Irish press that these kinds can of decisions can be made at the highest levels of Government without been given any scrutiny whatsoever.

Amateurism in the GAA is a ridiculous concept in modern day sport. The GAA Championships come complete with Corporate boxes, Corporate Sponsors (albeit that most of those are now broke banks and defunct semi-state bodies), ticket prices to rival and in many cases surpass any professional sport (I paid €12 to watch the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night).

While the players fight rather limply it must be said for their cut of the takings from the summer of high drama and top notch entertainment they provide each year, I can only assume that Christy Cooney, Joe Brolly, all the committees and other officials who benefit from their efforts come together in October to do a big count, take their cut and have a good laugh at the intercounty players who sweated blood and tears.

Christy Cooney for example is a high ranking official with pillar of State organisations FAS. Now if you haven't fallen off your chair with laughter, I can tell you that that this guy was elected President of the GAA this year. He earned €150,000 a year while "working" with FAS. I put that in inverted commas because one would think that if you earn €150,000 a year you might have some idea about what actually goes on in the organisation which squandered millions on junkets for it's officials.

Could there possibly be a culture of cronyism and jobs for the boys in the Emerald Isle, surely not? Why have one of the World's strongest economies which could only have been built on hard work, good government and the best people attaining top management positions. The Presidency of the GAA is a full time job but Christy will keep his salary when he takes over the position as head of the countries largest voluntary organisation. It's just that the GAA will pay it, not the State or are they the same thing?

You could pay a lot of players grants (about 100 actually) with this sort of a salary. Not that I begrudge the man for being smart enough to work his way up the ladder. The GAA as a professional organisation has to run itself properly and be seen to do so. They do an awful lot of things right, such as making a fortune off their ginormous stadium which is full about twice a year. That's no mean feat. They are no doubt a shining example for other organisations on how to do business but to be fully professional they have to start giving the players a cut.

They can't continue to pull the wool of their eyes by regaling them with tales of the good old days, pride in the jersey, tradition and the love of the game. That stuff starts to ware when the lads preaching it don't subscribe to it themselves.

The GPA should withdraw completely until they get what they want because without them there is no championship, there is no game. They are not asking for much because relative to other sports in other countries there isn't that much there. Anything they do ask for can only be a percentage of whatever is generated in any given year in any case which might be even less than one might expect but whatever it is the Gaelic Players are entitled to it, deserve it and it's time they demanded it.

Goodbye Setanta, More Of The Same To Come.

The fall of Setanta Sports has been met with much glee by the British Media or maybe I should stop reading the BBC website and the Guardian. Scratch that, I should definitely stop reading the BBC website and the Guardian. If they had their way there would be no enterprise, success or failure, just living off the State safe in the knowledge that nothing ever changes.

The real culprit in all of this is the European Commission who in their bureaucratic wisdom decided that Sky Sports had an unfair monopoly over Premier League football and a competitor was needed in the market. This simply meant that instead of subscribing to one sports channel, you had to subscribe to two if you wanted to see all the games you would otherwise have seen on Sky anyway.

There were already controls over what Sky could charge for Premier League games. This was dependent on the demand of the consumer (if you charge too much they simply won't buy it) and the quality of the product (if it gets too boring they mightn't buy it). The introduction of Setanta through no fault of theirs only meant that the average football fan either missed key matches or had to fork out more to watch them.

Setanta failed because they didn't do their sums properly, though this process was hampered by the relatively unforeseen collapse of the world economy (let's just say it as it is). Their coverage was excellent by and large and their staff or their production can't be faulted. Interviewing Sam Allerdyce during Blackburn's FA Cup game against Blythe Spartans was both hilarious and brilliant, while having camera's in the dressing room and grabbing a player for an impromptu comment after he just scored a goal is exactly what I expect from a subscription Sports Channel. If there is anywhere Sky have fallen down it is in not being intrusive enough but then they probably don't want to spoil the mystique.

Setanta's problem was that much of this great coverage involved SPL and Blue Square league games that presumably absolutely no one wanted to watch. Of course you could nit pick over the coverage if you wanted to. Like there was absolutely no difference between Setanta Sports News and Sky Sports News except that it just wasn't quite as good. Maybe a Euronews type news feed would have worked better, it would have given an alternative at least as opposed to more of the same.

I can only assume that Setanta failed either because they overvalued the games they bought or they didn't sell enough subscriptions but their demise changes nothing for the consumer. The European Union of Socialist Republics will be happy to know that ESPN are entering the market to provide competition and rock bottom prices.

The Premier League doesn't need competition from different channels. If it is too expensive you will go to your friends house to watch the game, maybe split the price of the package or just watch something else like reruns of Scrubs. You might go to the pub and sip away on a bottle of lucozade. The Premier League can only generate so much money and this is determined by demand which dictates the size of the bid Sky or whoever makes for the rights.

It is surely up to the Premier League alone how they wish to sell their product. If it's more profitable for them to sell it all as one package then so be it. This is equally true for the FA and the SPL. Football is a business and not the opiate of the people it once was. Football needs to stay popular to keep it profitable and it can only do this by giving people what they want at a price they are willing to pay for it.

Introducing more channels showing the same thing for an extra charge benefits no one. Choosing one over the other isn't really an option because it's no good wanting to watch all the games if 2/3's of them are on Sky and the rest are on Setanta.

It will be interesting to see how ESPN do. They will simply have to reevaluate and pay less for the games because I doubt there will be any major increase in subscriptions or what people are willing to pay for them.

Either way Setanta's demise changes nothing except the logo at the top of the screen. If it means less money goes to Conference clubs or the SPL then so be it because in this game you have to make an impact to justify your existence.

Waterford 0-25 Limerick 0-17 Analysis

No Stopping John Mullane

Following the Limerick hurlers in the Championship is a bit like New Years. It's really hyped up and filled with expectation but is ultimately a bit disappointing and anti-climatic. At least it's only the one day a year. Last Saturday evening against Waterford was another one of those days. To be beaten 8 points by a Waterford team who lost last year's All-Ireland Final by 8 goals is a sad indictment on Limerick hurling.

The worst thing is that generally when Limerick lose these games it is their own doing. On Saturday, they again missed free after free while gifting Waterford chances by needlessly fouling them in easy positions for a player of Eoin Kelly's calibre.

Would it have killed the Limerick management to have out more time into practicing frees. A reliable free taker is vital in a hurling match. In the glory days of the Clare team in the nineties Seanie McMahon was worth about four points a game for his ability to score long range frees. A free is a great opportunity to get a score being as it is a free shot at the goals. Limerick would have won the game easily the first day had they a decent free taker. It's most disappointing because all it takes is practice which obviously wasn't done.

Limerick missed frees at vital times and every time they did it was as if Waterford just went back up the field and put away a similar chance. Just before half time with the game still finely poised Niall Moran missed a very scoreable free only for Eoin Kelly to score from a free awarded on the Waterford puck out.

There were many instances of Limerick conceding frees which were totally unnecessary. At least make them work for their scores. Eoin Kelly had scored over 10 points from frees by the end of the game. I'd much rather see a player score from player having been put under serious pressure than giving away a free and giving them a free shot.

John Mullane was top notch again on Saturday making his exclusion from the All-Star team last year all the more incredible. He has been criticised at times for being a bit of a thug but it's time people started giving him credit for being the great player that he is. Like the Limerick team of the 90's it is unfortunate that this Waterford team never won an All-Ireland, all the more so for a player of Mullane's ability.

Limerick didn't know how to deal with him last Sunday. I think they made too much of his impact really. Kelly's frees aside (a good few of which came from Mullane) he is Waterford's only scoring threat. Damien Reale is a very good man marker and while he mightn't have done fantastically well against Mullane on Saturday, I would have left him there. Mullane is only one player and Reale was sure to win a certain amount of ball from him. Denis Moloney did OK for a time but Mullane quickly got the better of him. Bringing on Tom Condon to rough him up was a complete disaster. The ploy was so obvious that it quickly got the referee on Mullane's side (and rightly so). He was awarded a couple of fairly innocuous frees after that as the ref gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Limerick's focus on Mullane, in particular Mark Foley's (he was lucky to be on the pitch at the end as was Condon) freed up the other Waterford forwards and totally unsettled the Limerick backs. They should have done their best to halt the supply to Mullane and hoped Reale could sort him out after that. There isn't a whole lot else you can do.

Waterford's fielding of the ball was significantly better than Limerick's as well. It looked ominous when Shane O Sullivan grabbed a ball over Seamus Hickey's head to score a great point from Midfield in the second half. Tony Browne, Seamus Prendergast and even Big Dan were also out catching the Limerick lads all day.

It is easy to see why people from other counties love Limerick hurling so much. It's always exciting and because of their graft, Limerick are really a team a neutral can admire. This doesn't make it any less frustrating for their own supporters. There is nothing worse than dropping a shot short into the goalkeeper and Clinton Hennessy saw way too much of the ball on Saturday.

The wrong decisions were made on the line as well although it's easy to be 20/20 after the event. Moving Seamus Hickey from midfield seemed to knock the wind out of the Limerick sails and Donal O'Grady was just starting to come into the game when he was called ashore. O'Grady is probably one of Limerick's fittest players and while he might not be the most natural of hurlers, he is certainly a good man to have on the for the last ten minutes of a tight game.

It didn't seem to matter in the end. Limerick didn't have a free taker of Eoin Kelly's ability or a forward of Mullanes. Andrew O Shaughnessy is starting to look every inch a Limerick hurler and not in a good way.

Limerick have a big test ahead of them against Wexford. Still if they clean up their act, get a free taker and stop giving away stupid frees, there is no reason they won't go at least as far as Waterford in the Championship. Kieran Breen, Padraig Browne and James Ryan all look like good hurlers, it's just that the last thing Limerick need is another season in transition.

As for Waterford, defeat last Saturday would probably have knocked them on their arses for ten years. They will go into the Munster Final against Tipp without anything to fear and if they can get past Tipp, who's to say another All-Ireland appearance is beyond them. I suspect that with Waterford, it could go any which way.

Harry Kewell's Still Got It.

Whatever you might think of Australians, you have to take your hat off to Harry Kewell. No matter how many times he has been written off, he just keeps coming back. Like so many great players, it is unfortunate that his career was plagued by injury. It's almost like every time he was about to explode onto the scene, he would get another injury. At least he had the early days at Leeds up the end of the Dave O'Leary era which probably represented the peak of his career.

He didn't have the happiest of times at Liverpool where the Anfield faithful happy only when they see some jackass running aimlessly around the place. They had plenty such players in Kewell's time there. His lowest point came during the Champions League in Istanbul when he was taken off with an injury before half time, an injury some Liverpool fans claimed he faked because he couldn't hack the pressure of the occasion. It says a lot about his character that he was able to come back the following season to be one of Liverpool's best players in what was probably the best Liverpool have played this decade.

That might not be saying much but Kewell was still outstanding that year as he finally started to reproduce the form that made him famous. Liverpool had such a decent squad that year full of what John Giles might call proper players. There was a choice of Crouch, Fowler, Cisse or Morientes upfront. Sissoko looked like a prospect and it was the year Alonso scored from the half way line against Luton. They had better players than the Champions League winning team but the same spirit epitomised by the way they beat West Ham in the FA Cup Final. I'm sure I wasn't the only one pacing the garden outside wondering how they had managed to lose to the Hammers when Gerard banged home the equaliser in injury time.

That was as good as it got for Kewell at Liverpool he left the club at the end of the 07/08 season after two more injury stricken seasons at the club. There weren't too many effigies of Hicks and Gillett burned outside Anfield at the decision to allow Harry Kewell to leave the club.

It was a surprise that he chose to go to Galatasary of all places. Usually when a player of Kewell's age goes to a place like Turkey, it's usually in search of one last big pay check before he rides off into the sunset. Harry Kewell it seems has gone there to play football and he has been getting rave reviews for his performances in Turkey.

I wouldn't say he was instrumental in the Australians qualifying for the World Cup because even by his own admission that was a formality but he also claims to be in the best shape of his career and a fit Harry Kewell would be a great addition to the World Cup.

He has shown fierce determination to come back and by all accounts is playing as well as he ever has. It might be slightly worrying that he has been used as an emergency centre half for Galatasary and given a more defensive role for the Aussies but he doesn't seem to mind.

"We have had a lot of stick over these qualifying rounds over the way we have
performed, but sometimes it's all about just getting the job done. Once you are
there you can concentrate on the World Cup. If we go out on the weekend and play
with a solid defence and get that scrappy goal, we will take that now."

He still has the attacking instinct though as this goal for Galatasary against Bordeaux in the UEFA Cup shows. It would be nice to see him have another season in back in England or we'll just have to wait until next summer to find out for sure if he's still got it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_JazU0zLE

It is heartening in a way to see the return of a player like Harry Kewell who had been written off across the board. I guess it just goes to show that no matter what setbacks you incur, with the right attitude the best guys will always make it back to the top.

State Sponsored Sport

A Picture of Smugness

It is becoming increasingly difficult to watch sport on RTE especially the GAA. I am a fan of the GAA and hurling in particular but it appears that the near bankrupt state broadcaster is pumping money into its championship coverage on which it can't possibly be getting a return. Ireland is the North Korea of sport. It is becoming increasingly galling to see the smug part time teachers (but then aren't they all part time?) they call analysts pontificate to the nation on the need for more committee's and a greater acceptance of the decisions of the Disputes Resolution Committee.

The coverage of the Championship on the RTE website is wall-to-wall and in many ways excellent. The problem is that the state should not be spending taxpayers money on sport. But what about all the fatties, surely encouraging them off their arses is good for society you cry? Firstly I don't think so and secondly even if it was then driving the GAA gravy train is certainly not the way to do it.

The only ones who don't benefit are the players but then most of them are students or teachers so I suppose they do actually benefit through being paid for getting the summer off to do nothing except play GAA.

Kevin Myers was slaughtered recently for commenting that RTE shouldn't be showing events like the Confederations Cup match between Spain and New Zealand. The Communications Director of RTE wrote the smuggest letter of all time to the Independent boasting of the viewer numbers this match got and saying that they didn't even have to pay for the rights because they came as part of the World Cup rights deal.

I would love to see the correlation between the amount of money RTE spends on it's sports coverage relative to the advertising revenue it brings in. Even if they broke even it still wouldn't justify their profligacy. Big Championship matches, Soccer internationals and the Champions League draw such a crowd anyway that just by having the rights to these matches is worth a large amount of advertising revenue anyway but if TV3 owned the rights, they would have to use their commercial success in this area to subsidise other areas. Maybe RTE do this too but they use the taxpayers money.

It's absurd to think that Ireland with a population of about 4 million can expect to run a BBC style broadcaster. The licence fee should be abolished and RTE sold off. Championship games would still be shown if the demand was there and if it ended up that you had to pay for them then it would only be because you wanted to see them not because the Government decided you should.

It's hard to write about this subject without sounding bitter and twisted but in an age when businesses are closing down on a daily basis the effects of the wasted millions poured into the GAA and other sporting organisations are becoming more and more apparent.

It's not just empty stadiums being renovated all over the country (the Gaelic Grounds one of the worst offenders) or the couple dozen reporters and pundits making a fortune off the back of RTE's coverage, it is the whole attitude which pervades this cosy cartel between RTE and the GAA, the idea that both organisations are somehow holier than thou, above question and as honest as the day is long.

Watch Out World, Here Come North Korea

Watch out world, the totally justified qualification of Australia for next years Word Cup in South Africa has been followed by another footballing powerhouse, the People's Republic of North Korea securing their place at the tournament. It's good to see the big nations book their tickets early on while the minnows of Europe battle it out for a few months yet. Australia and North Korea will need plenty of time to rest up as they prepare of the long tournament which awaits them.

It won't be easy but I'm sure at least one of them will manage to spoil their way through to the second or possibly even a quarter final. I really can't wait to see North Korea battle their way to their third successive valiant but utterly boring 0-0 having stretched the rules of the game to breaking point in a bid to keep the game scoreless. The North Korean's secured qualification with a hard earned 0-0 against Saudi Arabia.

The presence of so many poor teams in the World Cup really diminishes it overall. The European Championship is a much more exciting and difficult competition. Every game is like a final in itself. The group stages of the World Cup has about as much bite as a diplomatic gathering of the United Nations. Teams like North Korea, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago et al should have to earn the right to play in the World Cup in the very same ways as teams from Europe are tested so vigorously before being deemed worthy to qualify.

In Ireland's case, even finishing 2nd in a group with Italy, Bulgaria Montenegro, Georgia and Cyprus only qualifies them for a 2 leg playoff against another European team. I can assure you that qualification means a lot more per capita to Irish people than to Australians who qualified with two games to go or the North Koreans for whom a draw against the Saudi's was as tough as it got.

If FIFA were able to stretch the limits of their imaginations to include Israel, Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are part of Europe then I'm sure they can come up with a more equitable process of qualification for the World Cup. Since the fall of the Soviet Union there are now far more countries in Europe and it is also the case that more and more nations from other parts of the world are becoming more competitive yet the qualification process has remained unchanged. Travel has become much easier and there are now foreign players playing in leagues all over the world.

World football has changed dramatically and continues to evolve but FIFA have not kept up except by giving free tickets to the World Cup to countries who have everything to prove while the rest of us soldier on through groups of death in the hope of maybe getting into a playoff.

John Barnes Brought It Up

Racism in football always makes one feel a bit shifty in your seat. You start to wonder to yourself how you can be less racist or worse, whether you have been the victim of racism yourself or if it's only black people who can be victims of racism or is prejudice something different? Is there anything I can do to further stamp out racism, a T-shirts I can wear, car stickers to display, just tell me and I'll do it.

It's difficult to write about racism without feeling like either a racist or victim of racism. If you're not a victim of racism and you write about racism, you'll probably be accused of being a racist by someone. It's not a subject to be joked about or over-analysed for fear some deep rooted prejudice from your tortured youth will emerge and you will be forever ostracised from the game you love so well.

On the various websites I peruse like the Guardian or the BBC, there is no one blogging or writing about this issue probably because they are afraid of saying something which could be misinterpreted and they will be out on their ear so again it is safer just to brush it under the carpet. What can you say anyway? Barnes can't prove any of what he is says and he did get a chance at Celtic (albeit with Kenny Daglaish overseeing him).

Racism doesn't seem to be a problem so much on the playing side of things. The game is so fiercely competitive that the best players play no matter what, unless the manager wants to lose his job or the game. There is the obvious issue of players being abused from the terraces but then football fans abuse everyone from calling for players wives to die of cancer to paedophiles, rapists and so on.

The racism from the terraces is something different to what John Barnes spoke of yesterday at his unveiling as Tranmere Rovers Manager. John Barnes says that the reason he didn't get a job since he was relieved of his duties as Celtic coach was because of a reluctancy within the game to hire black managers because of doubts over their competency.

Paul Davis said something similar a couple of years ago when the best he could do was end up as Gazza's assistant as Kettering despite having coached at Arsenal and having a distinguished career for club and country behind him. Paul Ince found it equally difficult and ended up starting at Macclesfield unlike any numbers of his contemporaries who were given opportunities higher up the ladder.

I think Mick McCarthy was a better choice than Ince for the Wolves job. Mick has a proven record of getting teams promoted and managed in the Premier League and at a World Cup. One could equally point to Terry Butcher or Paul Lambert as managers who have found it difficult to escape the clutches of the lower leagues despite their successes as players.

I suppose the point is that any racism which might be practised in the appointment of football managers is of the passive variety and therefore very difficult to prove but there again when people of the calibre of Ince, Paul Davis, John Barnes and Iffy Onoura complain about it, you'd have to think it's more than just being a bit of a sore loser.

I heard an argument once that chairmen don't mind black players but they don't want black managers because managers are the face of the club and a black manager would turn off sponsors and scare away supporters. In other words, a black manager would be bad for business. I don't know how credible this argument is and I'm sure football clubs and their sponsors would balk at any such suggestion. There again for all their talk, I don't see too many black people on the board of the FA or visibly employed by them.

John Barnes might well be right but he was given the opportunity at Celtic which he didn't take. He was shrewd enough to sign Stilian Petrov and Henrik Larsson's injury was a big blow so maybe he does deserve another chance.

The problem for Barnes & Co. is that the racism they speak of can't really be stamped out. All club chairmen are white which doesn't make them racist but it is clear that off the pitch progression for black players into management or the board room is rare be it down to tradition or maybe there is some ingrained subconscious racism in the English (and other nation's) psyche which can be denied through any number of anti-racism campaigns so long as you're not asked to practice what you preach.

I wouldn't agree with affirmative action in football. It's a notorious difficult game to make it and prejudice exists over any number of characteristics. Sam Allerdyce thinks his image doesn't suit the big clubs, Brian Kerr was never trusted because he didn't play at the highest level but in football you are judged on results. John Barnes has his chance now with Tranmere, just like Paul Ince took his with Macclesfield and MK Dons.

The game is all about over coming challenges and proving people wrong can be the greatest motivation of all.

Limerick vs Waterford-Minute by Minute-Analysis

Full minute by minute coverage of Limerick vs. Waterford in the Semi Final of the Munster Hurling Championship is right here on The Greatest Sports Show on Earth starting at 4 pm Irish time all the way from Thurlas, County Tipperary via Brisbane Australia. It's going to be awesome.

Waterford will be out to restore some pride having had their arses handed to them in last September's All-Ireland Hurling Final. New Limerick manager Justin McCarthy will be looking for nothing more than revenge. Unless he sees Waterford's thrashing and Dan Shanahan's season as poetic justice in itself. In any case, a place in the Munster Final is at stake and in a sense both team's season hangs on this result.

The Minute by Minute reports didn't work out mainly because I ended up going on the lash shortly after this photo was taken and didn't get back in time. I think I made the right decision. I am just sitting down to watch the 1st half now having seen the 2nd half last night.

It was a typical gutsy comeback from Limerick but unfortunately there is still nothing to suggest they can challenge Tipperary or Kilkenny down the line. It even feels a bit stupid to be talking about this Limerick team as contenders at all.

Limerick just don't have the forwards. Waterford are the team on the way down and were there for the taking last night but to score only 3 points in the first half and 1-8 altogether isn't going to win you too many Championship matches.

It was still a game Limerick should have won and I'm sure they Will be disappointed with some great chances that went a begging. With the notable exception of John Mullane, Waterford are but a shadow of the team they once were. Not even Dan Shanahan coming off the bench was able to improve them. Although the fact that Dan Shanahan was on the bench is evidence enough that Waterford don't exactly have their house in order. When he did finally win possession, he caught the ball three times which is inexcusable at this level.

Andrew Shaughnessy is having his own problems for Limerick but in fairness to Shaughnessy, he doesn't really get the supply to do damage. Maybe he would have more success further out the field. The Limerick full forward line can be a barren wasteland and having all that time to think about how much ball he isn't getting probably isn't helping either.

There were some positives for Limerick to take from the game. They will carry a lot momentum into the game next week. For Waterford it will surely feel like a defeat despite what Davy Fitz said in the post match interview about being the happier of the two teams because they were lucky to be still in the tie.

Yesterday's game will have answered some questions for Justin which could only have been solved in the cold heat of Championship. Donie Ryan isn't good enough for starters or should I say, as a starter. I think he still (perhaps only ever) has something to offer coming off the bench. Ryan's big moment came midway through the first half when he picked up the ball after Niall Moran blocked down Eoin Murphy's clearance. Donie chose to shoot for a point when James Ryan was free inside him. Donie's shot went wide and the groans from the Limerick crowd were audible in Australia. He was taken off shortly afterwards.

It was a tough debut for Steven Walsh but Justin has to take some responsibility here. Mullane is arguably the best forward in Munster and Damian Reale was the obvious man to mark him. When the change was made in the second half, Mullane didn't puck a ball. Surely Reale should have been marking him from the start.

It was good to see Denis Moloney coming on. He has been on the sidelines for a while now and if he can stay injury free, he'll be a welcome addition. Again though Justin could have been a bit more astute here and put someone a bit taller on Dan Shanahan when he came on. It's just common sense and Shanahan could have caused serious problems had he been on form but then again I suppose there wasn't much chance of that.

Brian Geary was outstanding but Ken McGrath's performance was as poor as the All-Ireland. It's sad to see a player of McGrath's stature as poor as that. The problem could be that he is unsettled having played in so many positions under Davy Fitz. I'd be inclined just to leave him at centre back. He seems to be most comfortable there.

Seamus Hickey looked good at midfield. It was frustrating to see him and other Limerick player miss very easy chances throughout the game but in general play Hickey was top class. His point in the first half was Ciaran Carey like. Hickey is the future of Limerick hurling and he needs to be played where he will see most of the ball.

James Ryan looks like a real find at Wing Forward. He stepped up to the plate big time in the second half when someone needed to do it. He made a great run to set up the goal for Breen and it was refreshing to see someone other than Ollie Moran dragging Limerick out of another 1st half shambles. Donncha Sheahan can't seem to hack it at inter county but it's worth persevering with him because he's bound to come good at some stage. I think he just needs a break.

The game will do David Breen a lot of good. I think he is studying in Scotland and he will have needed a game like that to get up to the pace. He took the goal very well and the Waterford full back line struggled to handle his physicality. He was guilty of dropping a shot into the keepers hand shortly after half time. Come on David, give it a bit of welly for God's sake man.

Limerick need to be more confident in attack. It's like they are surprised when they score. Niall Moran wasn't good enough on the frees. There was almost an expectancy among the Limerick they will miss when they shoot. They score some great points, such as Shaughnessy's just before he was taken off.

They are fine as long as they don't have time to think about it. I think Justin should bring in a sports psychologist to focus their minds. Their confidence is shot. Free taking is more about nerve than accuracy really. Any inter county player can take frees but to score them when you're the focus of the entire stadium can be unnerving. I'd give the frees to Ollie Moran. He has the character and his confidence wouldn't be as effected as Niall or Shaughs if he missed a couple.

Limerick will always play with a lot of heart but they are not going to win anything unless they can score more. A lack of forwards has always been their Achilles heel. They should beat Waterford next weekend. The fear factor will be gone for a lot of the Limerick players and Waterford will have more doubts about their prospects than ever before. The extra game won't do any harm for either team, that's for sure.

Madrid looking Good in Attack.

It might not have come as any great surprise in the end but then again any day a new world record transfer is set is a always going to raise the eyebrows. Cristiano Ronaldo has finally gotten his dream move to Madrid. He probably won't be too happy that he will have to share the limelight with Kaka and possibly Ribery or Villa. Is there any way to fix that and make Ronaldo's dreams come through exactly as he imagined they would?

Last season Madrid did have Schneider, Robben, Raul, Huntelaar, Van Nistelrooy, Van der Vaart, Drenthe which isn't such a bad attack. It needs strengthening for sure but having Ronaldo and Kaka in the bag with the possibility of one more Galactico arriving, one wonders if they will have any cash leftover to reinforce their defence. Probably not but then the great thing about Spanish football is that no one will really care either. Real Madrid will have a great team with Kaka and Ronaldo who should provide exciting and winning performances almost every week.

That might be little little consolation at the end of the season when they've still been knocked out of the Champions League after getting well beaten by one of the English clubs or are 2nd in La Liga. I would say that all great teams are built around a solid defensive formation but then didn't Barcelona expose the folly of this theory with their mesmerising performance in the Champions League Final?

I'm not so sure because besides the fact that Manchester United could have been two goals up before Barcelona's first attack (and consequent goal), United's performance on the night was so impotent that in the cold light of day it is difficult to say for sure whether the result was due to Barcelona's best or United's worst ever performance.

Would Iniesta and Xavi have been given the Freedom to Rome had Darren Fletcher played instead of Anderson? Would Ronaldo have made more of an impact if he played on the wing to exploit Sylvinho and Berbatov played upfront? We'll never know for sure except that I think it's safe to say that Chelsea exposed some holes in the Barcelona defence in the semi-final even if they couldn't exploit them.

Historically and traditionally, the backbone of most successful teams have been built around a solid defence making the Galactico's strategy look like a risky one. It has been tried before with mixed results. At least this time they have signed players of real quality and it would seem far more likely that the era of Ronaldo and Kaka will be more reminiscent of that of Figo and Zidane that the football shambles but commercial success of Beckham's tenure. Maybe Madrid have learned the lessons of the past and are now trying to get the best of both worlds.

Frank Lampard- The Real Player of the Year

Imagine if there was an award in English football for the best player in a given season and not some inside union job picked in mid-August or March at the very latest given to Ryan Giggs instead of a gold watch or Steven Gerard instead of a real trophy. The season being over now and having taken some time for reflection, I think that such an award if it existed would be given to Frank Lampard for the 2008/09 season.

Lampard deserves it for simply being the best footballer over the course of the season. It's a pity that he only has the FA Cup to show for his efforts but unfortunately it looks like this Chelsea team are turning into football's nearly men and by implication Lampard too looks like he might be overlooked when people look back on the truly great players of this generation.

Frank Lampard possesses all the characteristics the world admires in English. He is of course honest and hard working but he also plays every game without fuss. He seems to fully appreciate how great it must be to be a professional footballer and he plays every game as if it's just what professional footballers do. It's a shame you can't say that about all of them.

He is also the scorer of great goals usually numbering about 20 a season which isn't bad going for a midfielder. In some ways his reputation has fallen victim to the general dislike of the English fans and media (who brainwashed who I wonder?) for players who don't spend the 90 minutes running around after the ball as though the professional game were the equivalent of an under 10's game.

Lampard has been Bergkampesque this season and deserves his place among the greats of the modern game. He has been outstanding when it counted in particular against Liverpool in the Champions League but then maybe that's always the way Lampard has been.

For a blue blood of football's royalty, Frank hasn't always had the easiest of times. We've all called him Fat Frank at one time or another or said that he was useless and overrated. He survived the sweeping changes of the Abromovich era when it looked like an entirely new Chelsea squad of superstars would be assembled. If anything Lampard's importance to Chelsea has grown in the last 5 years. He and John Terry set the tone for new arrivals. They are the examples whose lead must be followed to maintain the standards set at the club.

He became an better player under Jose Mourinho and not in the way that Damien Duff became a more "rounded" better player i.e. a left full, he simply improved while retaining position and his strengths. He is a supporter of the Conservative Party which I presume means he can think for himself while his performance on the radio recently tearing some talk show host a new one (not me unfortunately) over interference with his personal affairs showed a man you would follow into battle.

Lampard is a leader and has consistently shown himself to be a great player. He is the rightful Player of the Year this season (at least Chelsea fan's acknowledged it) and who knows maybe next season he'll get the Champions League and a World Cup to go along with it. I certainly wouldn't begrudge him.

Robbie Keane Needs to Loosen Up

Robbie Keane struck quite the forlorn figure as he sauntered off the pitch with 20 minutes to go in Sofia last Saturday evening. As soon as his number went up the speculation was rife that he was unhappy that Trap would dare to take him off and that there was some kind of rift developing between the two. The decision was also heralded as a sign of Trap's strength and power over the squad that he could afford to substitute Keane without having a full blown mutiny on his hands as Brian Kerr did the last time Robbie was substituted at this level.

That decision arguably cost Kerr is job although he probably would have been fired anyway. That day we needed a goal against the Swiss at home to qualify for the World Cup and Kerr made the fatal error of deciding that Gary Doherty represented a better prospect of getting us a goal than our record goal scorer. Although it should be added in mitigation that Keane was in and out of the Spurs team at the time and he didn't look at all fit.

Against Bulgaria, I can only imagine that Trap read the situation the same as anyone else who was watching. Keane just wasn't doing enough to justify keeping him on the pitch. Ireland were battered by the Bulgarians in the second with no respite coming when we did manage a clearance because our strikers get on the ball.

Keane was virtually anonymous against Bulgaria but it would be unfair to judge him in such a difficult defensive game at the end of a very long season for him and one which I'm sure for the most part, he will be glad to see the back of.

His posturing upon being substituted or when sitting on the bench is not the kind of thing that will endear him to his managers and I doubt it would be tolerated if he wasn't such an important player as Rafa so ruthlessly proved when getting rid of the headache it was causing him by simply selling Keane back to Spurs. That is part of the deal with Robbie though. He likes to be the big fish regardless of the size of the pond. That is probably why he is such a hit for Spurs and with Ireland but despite his class couldn't quite hack it at Inter or Liverpool. Robbie likes to do things like keeping Coventry in the Premiership or rescuing Ireland from defeat singlehandedly.

Overall he is still having an excellent qualifying campaign. He has scored incredibly important goals when we needed them the most in particular the two against Georgia and the equaliser in Bari. They might not have been the most spectacular goals he'll ever score but Robbie is the only player in the current Irish squad with the nous and the quality to have scored them. Being in the right place at the right time is an ability in itself.

The problem is that Robbie doesn't seem to get involved in general play as he once did. I'm thinking about his performance against Argentina in his Ireland debut as a 17 year old. Everyone came to watch Ariel Ortega (whoever he is) and came away talking about Robbie Keane. Robbie had only played a few games for Wolves in the First Division at the time but he looked by far the best player on the pitch. He was full of tricks and energy, constantly looking to get on the ball and never afraid to take players on.

They'll say he is more mature now and he doesn't give the ball away as much as he used to. Apparently that's a key component to surviving in the Premier League. Not being too clever in possession, holding on the ball and waiting for a chance to present itself. It could be said that Robbie is a much more disciplined player now too. He holds his position rather than taking chances. Unfortunately it all has the effect of looking like he's either not getting involved or he's not that interested. He certainly doesn't play for Ireland with the same freedom that he so often displayed for Spurs under Martin Jol.

His performances for Ireland have been criticised but only because we all know he is capable of so much more in a green shirt. We saw it in the 2002 World Cup and we've seen him do it for Spurs. I think Robbie needs to take a chance and risk making mistakes or incurring Trappatoni's wrath than playing the percentages and hoping the chances will come to him because that's just not what Robbie Keane is about. Or at least, it wasn't always that way.

All Too Easy For Australia.

ALL TOO EASY FOR THE AUSSIES

However difficult Ireland's qualifying campaign might be, the Australian national team or the Socceroo's as they so humorously refer to themselves are having no such difficulties. With two games to go in Group 1 of the Asian qualifiers, the Aussies have already booked their place for South Africa having picked up the clinching but hard fought point they needed with a scoreless draw last Sunday night in that toughest of tough places to go to... er, away to Qatar.

I watched some of the game on the old television. The crowd looked more like a gathering at the OPEC AGM than football fans. It couldn't have been further from 100,000 Iranians screaming for your head in Tehran as the Irish team experienced a few years back. Anyway I guess for Australia, away to Bahrain is what passes for a crucial World Cup Qualifier these days. It's hardly the equivalent of travelling to Sofia at the end of a long season.

Australia being the great nation of sporting competitors that they are obviously decided somewhere along the line that they couldn't compete in the old season and so they campaigned to be put in to the Asian qualifiers even though technically they are in Oceania and not in fact Asia at all. If they were so unhappy, why not throw them in with Europe, that's where all their players play anyway. Maybe then, it could be said that they would have qualified on merit.

Previously they played in the Oceania section where they dominated before going to a play off against one of the South American teams. They beat Uruguay rather controversially to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 or as the Uruguayans would say, they cheated their way through the play-off helped in no small part by FIFA's desire to promote football in, of all places Oceania.

The Uruguayans got up to a few tricks themselves in that one, making sure the game started at the worst possible time for the Aussie but then that's what football is about. Fiercely competitive games between two teams looking for an edge any way they can get it.

If that experience proved too unnerving for the Aussies, they have no such stresses nowadays. Games against Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Japan the only other footballing powerhouses they had to negotiate on their way to footballs most prestigious tournament.

The Australians qualifying so easily wouldn't bother me so much if they were actually any good but their team contains players like Josh Kennedy who scored a whole two goals all season in the Bundesliga for relegated Karlsruhe. They are captained by the mercenary Lucas Neill, the man who chose West Ham over Liverpool and stalwarts include Colchester United's Chris Coyne and Scott Chipperfield from FC Basel.

They do have some good players such as a well past it Harry Kewell and I'm sure they will be relieved to see the return of Mark Viduka just as soon as he discovers a process to reverse the effects of aging. It's just that Australia shouldn't be allowed such a free ride into these tournaments while European teams have to fight tooth and nail to even achieve a play off place.

There is no honour in getting to a World Cup the way Australia have. Their most important player was whoever they sent to twist FIFA's arm to get them such an easy passage to the final. It's time FIFA had a good look at the qualifying process in it's entirety now. With so many international players playing in Europe and so much travel involved for the average player, maybe it's time to look at a fairer world wide qualifying system. Giving below average teams like Australia a free ride to the finals only devalues the competition as a whole as well as lowering the standard of the tournament.

It's not going to do much for the promotion of the game when Chris Coyne and Josh Kennedy are strutting their stuff in South Africa while Dimitar Berbatov or Robbie Keane are sitting at home watching it on the telly.

Still A Long Way To Go in Group 9

I don't know why everyone thinks Ireland have secured 2nd place in Group 9 with the draw in Sofia on Saturday. It is a typically hysterical reaction from the Irish media who write off our chances when we draw at home to Bulgaria but subsequently deem us virtually qualified with the exact same result away from home. 

The reality is that thus far our results have been almost identical to the Bulgarians. The only reason we are ahead of Bulgaria at the moment is because we beat Georgia on neutral ground in Germany while the Bulgarians could only get a draw in Tbilisi a month later. I'm quite sure if the good fortune we received as a result of the Russian invasion of Georgia had been Bulgaria's, then we are the ones who would have drawn and Bulgaria would be two points better off. We were exceptionally lucky to beat Georgia at home and we have shown no conviction or desire to take the three points in any of our away games since that victory in Mainz. 

Italy have been criticised as being nothing special but to suggest that Ireland can somehow prize top spot from them is laughable. The Italians have already won in Montenegro and Nicosia and will go four points clear of Ireland if they win their game in hand. By beating Montenegro away, it meant that the Italians could afford to draw with Ireland in Bari and still be strong favourites to top the group. 

The Irish team is painfully average and we will have punched well above our weight to have finish above Bulgaria in the group. We have been outplayed by Bulgaria in both matches and it is very premature to suggest that their hopes of qualifying are over. 

The next round of games in Group 9 are to be played on September 5th. Ireland travel to Nicosia to play Cyprus while the Bulgarians play Montenegro at home in another must win game, which presumably they will win. Bearing in mind that Ireland got hammered 5-2 the last time they travelled to Cyprus, it wouldn't be a major surprise if we only came away from that game with a point. Even the Italians struggled in this fixture and were very lucky to win (a 2-1 victory with a very late winner) but then they are the World Champions. Ireland are far from world beaters of any description. 

If those results come to pass that will leave Bulgaria only 3 points behind Ireland with a game in hand. That game is against Italy which presumably they'll draw although who wouldn't put a win past them with the quality have in their ranks. Berbatov and the two Petrovs are bound to come good at some stage. Ireland too can only expect to draw at best with Italy at home which means that if Bulgaria and Ireland beat Georgia and Montenegro respectively at home in their last game, they will both finish the group on level points. Ireland currently have a goal difference of +3, Bulgaria's is +2. 

7 points from the last 3 games are the absolute minimum Ireland must achieve to be be sure of second place. The positives are that at least we are in contention going into the final three games this time round unlike our shambolic last campaign. So far we have picked up the results that were necessary to keep us on track and there is no reason to suggest we won't keep eeking out these results between now and the end of the group. 

In a sense we have laboured our way through every game. We were lucky to beat Georgia at home, made hard work of it in Mainz and against Cyprus at home. We could have beaten Bulgaria twice but for some very careless defending from Kevin Kilbane in particular. It's a pity we didn't because for all their quality, they were there for the taking on both occasions but having scored early in both games we sat back allowing the Bulgarians to dictate proceedings, daring them to equalise which they duly did. 

Trapatonni won't mind that too much because we could afford to draw those games but not to lose. Rightly with such average players, Trapatonni is playing the percentages and not asking more from his players than is absolutely necessary. There have been no kamikaze attempts to win games when a point will do. He is to be admired for introducing Caleb Folan in particular but also Best and St. Ledger, thereby freshening up a bench which had become all too comfortable with just being in the squad. For the first time in many years there is genuine competition for places in the Irish team and even Robbie Keane must now be feeling the pressure. 

He is it seems a luxury player for the Republic now, left on only in the hope that a chance presents itself as it did in Bari. The introduction of Folan has breathed new life into the Irish attack. He may be uncompromising and unfashionable but he has been very effective in our last two group games. It's a real pity Aiden McGeady can't shoot or we might well have beaten the Bulgarians twice but his battle with Stephen Hunt for a place on the left wing is sure to bring out the best in both players. 

The centre of midfield and left back look to be our biggest weaknesses at the moment but it would be unfair to criticise Whelan and Andrews too much. They are undoubtedly protecting the back four effectively and playing a disciplined role within Trapatonni's system. All the same, I'm sure Trap will feel a lot happier when Steven Reid returns from injury but unfortunately he is so injury prone that his return should be put in the same 'hopeful but unlikely bracket' as Stephen Ireland's. 

I can't see any change being made at left back even if the evidence suggests that one is necessary. Neither Kevin Foley nor Damien Delaney have managed to stake a notable claim for the position and no doubt Trapatonni values Kilbane's experience in a reasonably inexperienced and previously very shaky defence. 

Group 9 is still very much wide open and I would say that second place is only about 25% secure at this stage. Still when all is said and done it is a marvellous achievement by Trap and the management team that we go into the last three games in the group knowing that 9 points could well put us on a direct flight to South Africa next summer. After the shambles under Stauton, that's all we can ask for.