Atlético Madrid defender has been suspended for 10 weeks but it is possible that he has done nothing or very little wrongEighteen years ago, shortly after Mick McCarthy had lost his job as the Republic of Ireland manager for the first time, some friends and I became privy to some inside information regarding the likely identity of his successor. It was so long ago I can’t remember how or where we learned the Football Association of Ireland mulling over a left-field appointment and ready to replace McCarthy with Philippe Troussier, a Parisian whose CV read more like that of a French foreign legion recruit than that of a jobbing manager.A 20-year career that had begun in France had taken Troussier...
Powerful documentary depicts how the man who won the World Cup with England and then transformed Ireland on and off the pitch squared up to dementiaYou may think there is nothing more that needs to be said about Jack Charlton given all the tributes, stories and retrospectives that followed his death in July but there is plenty more to say and, thanks to Finding Jack Charlton, a powerful documentary, there will soon be more to see.“The trailer [to be released on Tuesday] says: ‘He conquered the world, he transformed a nation, then he faced his greatest challenge,’” says Gabriel Clarke, one of the film’s directors. “Jack and the family showed great courage in enabling us to document it and celebrate...
The Irish bestsellers chart is deservedly dominated by an examination of the incredible financial shenanigans at the Football Association of IrelandDespite grabbing public interest with such force it is currently keeping even the mighty Midas that is Richard Osman off the top of the Irish bestsellers list, on the face of it there is no earthly reason why a book written on the deathly dull subject of football administration should be of particular interest to any right-thinking human being. And yet, here we are.Little more than a fortnight after its release, Champagne Football: The Rise and Fall of John Delaney and the Football Association of Ireland bestrides the literary charts, already heading for its third print run due to the...
News of the World Cup winner’s death led me down an unexpected and moving path that captured the joys of footballIt’s Saturday at 8.45am. I’m sitting three metres away from my TalkSport co-presenter, Charlie Baker, who is in turn sitting three metres away from our producer, Joe. We are trying to come up with a vaguely amusing text subject for our show that starts in 15 minutes. We settle on village cricket anecdotes – back after months, it’s a goldmine of funny stories.I tweet out a question and the answers start rolling in – a guy whose mum insisted he wear a bike helmet while fielding, a model aircraft crash-landing into the umpire’s leg and a team with five volunteer...
Aaron Ramsey return to Wales after a year out, Naby Keïta must step up for Guinea and Iceland will face a frosty reception The build-up to Wales’s remaining qualifiers has been dominated by the dismay that Gareth Bale’s call-up has caused at Real Madrid, where the forward has been on the sidelines for a month nursing a calf injury. Bale’s late winner against Azerbaijan in September proved how influential the forward can be in swinging matches Wales’ way but the returning Aaron Ramsey may be just as important for Ryan Giggs. The Juventus midfielder has been absent for Wales for a year so his return now, with two must-win games ahead, could not be better timed. Having just returned to...