Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Roy Keane said it and in the Ireland of 2016, that’s gospel. Keane and Martin O’Neill take their Irish team to France for the European Championships and, once we can find a way out of Group E, anything is possible. If you are one of the thousands of Irish […]

10 years ago

“Gutted”

10 years ago

No Jorginho, no Bonaventura but the defence looks solid

10 years ago

If you walk past Diego Maradona minding your own business, you deserve everything you get. 55 years of age and still taking the absolute piss. Maradona is a decent man with a football at his feet but passers-by might not appreciate it as much as one poor woman fell victim to the Argentine’s wizadry in […]

10 years ago

Glenn Whelan on the bench!? Outrageous! In fairness, it is hard to see how the Republic of Ireland mainstay could break into Murphy’s All-Stars, the Euro 2016 dream team selected by 2012 All-Ireland winning captain Michael Murphy. As you can see, the Donegal powerhouse has selected a ridiculously attack-minded team, which features Premier League Golden Boot winner […]

10 years ago

With 19 minutes gone Grand Slam champions Wales had a 17-point lead and Nigel Carolan’s Wolfpuppies were on the ropes. There were four uncapped players in the Ireland starting XV for this World U20 Championship opener in Manchester and it seemed like a chastening experience was on the cards for these debutants. Wales lead Ireland […]

10 years ago

Nice try

10 years ago

Eva Carneiro has reached a settlement with Chelsea in her constructive dismissal case against the club. Jose Mourinho will not now have to testify at the employment tribunal. While the settlement is confidential, the court heard on Monday that the former team doctor had already rejected a settlement of £1.2million, it is assumed she will receive a sum […]

10 years ago

It’s finally here… After what seems like an interminable wait Euro 2016 is just days away. Actually it’s just hours away with the tournament starting in Paris on Friday night when hosts France take on Romania. The wait will be a little longer for Ireland’s opener against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Co next Monday evening at 5pm, […]

10 years ago

It’s been a rough few days for Ariel Helwani. The MMA journalist and his colleagues, Esther Lin and E. Casey Leydon, were escorted from UFC 199 and was told he is ‘banned for life’ from the organisation’s events. COMMENT: UFC sets dangerous precedent as journalist Ariel Helwani reportedly receives life ban https://t.co/6O2ypLPghj — SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 5, […]

10 years ago

You there. You. No, you. The boy with the bloody hair. It’s been a mad build up to Euro 2016. Belgium are missing their two starting centre halves and, ahead of their second group clash with Ireland on June 18, a number of wobbles in the backline are providing hope for us 150/1 shots. WATCH: […]

10 years ago

Controversy

10 years ago

If he’s fat, we’ve no hope

10 years ago

Back to full fitness

10 years ago

Shane Long and hurling. They go together like Shane Long and match-winning goals against the world champions. The Irish striker’s GAA background – and his decision to turn to football at a relatively late age – were often been cited as the reason for the rawness he often displayed at Reading in the early part of his […]

10 years ago

Muhammad Ali has died at the age of 74, his family have confirmed. Ali had been admitted to hospital on Thursday evening with respiratory problems though this was initially described as a precaution. He was placed on life support on and his family confirmed that he died late on Friday evening in hospital in Phoenix, […]

10 years ago

Rematches, grudge matches and two belts on the line. UFC 199 may just be the best card of the year. MMA writers’ 2016 records Darragh The Quizmaster Murphy: 51-25 Bourbon Ben Kiely: 47-29 Luke Rockhold (15-2) vs. Michael Bisping (28-7) DM: Let’s look at this logically. Luke Rockhold obliterated Bisping in the second round in 2014 when ‘The Count’ […]

10 years ago

Will he be tempted?

10 years ago

Bold move

10 years ago

Ronda Rousey might not feature at all in 2016. The bantamweight legend has not been in the octagon since that historic loss to Holly Holm back in November and there are fears now she won’t be fighting until January. After four first-round finishes in succession, Rousey lost for the first time in her mixed martial […]

10 years ago

Never go full Ramsey

10 years ago

Neil Collins and Roscommon face Sligo in a Connacht SFC semi-final in less than a fortnight. An uncertain finish to the Allianz League was followed by an alarming one-point win in New York and a less than convincing derby triumph over Leitrim, which means they’ll face the Yeats County with perhaps less confidence than some […]

10 years ago

A gamble that doesn’t often pay off

10 years ago

The Premier League champions will be wearing all red next season. Leicester City have launched their away kit for the 2016/17 season, and they’ve opted for all red, instead of last season’s white and black kits. Leicester City 2016-17 Puma Away Kit Revealed  https://t.co/caYOR2bKGu pic.twitter.com/rDrPQr1wDW — TheKitman.co.uk (@TheKitmanUK) May 30, 2016 Manufactured by Puma, and […]

10 years ago

Leave Robbie at home? Sacrilege!

10 years ago

A poor effort

10 years ago

Fresh off the back of scoring 2-2 in an Ulster SFC quarter-final, we gave Ronan O’Neill a proper challenge. Tyrone found it all too easy against Derry in Celtic Park on Sunday, but the lethal corner-forward had a tougher time of it this week when he met up with SportsJOE. We challenged him to choose […]

10 years ago

Decisions, decisions. Ask an intercounty footballer to name his dream team and he might struggle. Ask him to name his dream 7s team and watch his head implode. We put it to Colm O’Neill and the Rebel forward had to mull it over for quite some time. In the end he went for a team […]

10 years ago

“This one broke my heart back in the day”

10 years ago

Irish Rugby and Vodafone Ireland have just joined forces for the next four years. To mark this announcement they’re unveiling a giant version of the new Ireland kit in the Aviva and you can watch a live stream of it right here. This morning Vodafone will be giving away 50 prizes on Twitter including jerseys, match tickets, Vodafone Smart […]

10 years ago

Congratulations

10 years ago

Let the battle of the bantamweight sleepers commence! MMA writers’ 2016 records Darragh The Quizmaster Murphy: 49-21 Bourbon Ben Kiely: 44-26 Thomas Almeida (21-0) vs. Cody Garbrandt (8-0) DM: At 24 years old, both Tommy Almeida and Cody Garbrandt are two of the most dangerous strikers at 135 lbs. There are definitely still some holes in both their games, […]

10 years ago

No flowers. Donations to Dessie Farrell (GPA). Derry GAA: 1888 – 2016. There have been some dark championship days for Derry Gaels in recent years. A lot of the agony though was down to the fact that they actually had a fantastic team throughout the last decade but failed to show that in success. Men […]

10 years ago

Shane Long’s form for Southampton and Ireland over the past year has attracted the attention of some of the biggest clubs in European football. Sources close to Long have told SportsJOE that Juventus are among those to have expressed an interest in signing the 29-year-old striker. While Southampton are eager to offer Long a new deal […]

10 years ago

Big news from France and Liverpool

10 years ago

Olympic qualifiers getting closer

10 years ago

Time for Martin and Roy to make their minds up. After Ireland took a point from two qualifiers against Scotland you might have been forgiven for thinking a pre-Euro 2016 friendly between the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands would see the Dutch preparing for France. Instead Danny Blind and his team, who shockingly failed to […]

10 years ago

That’s that then

10 years ago

Eyes on the prize

10 years ago

‘The Derry Pele’

10 years ago

We can all dream

10 years ago

In the second of his Euro 2016 Blog Network instalments, Anton Boström of Eurosport Sweden details how the only thing up for debate in Erik Hamrén’s squad is Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s next employer. Let’s not kid ourselves. The fact that the Swedish players have arrived in Stockholm to start preparations for the European Championships was overshadowed by the news that Zlatan […]

10 years ago

Kellie’s a hero. Kellie Harrington is on the brink of becoming the second woman to represent Ireland in boxing at the Olympic Games after the Glasnevin fighter beat Zarina Tsoloyeva to guarantee at least a bronze medal at the AIBA World Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Astana. Harrington also becomes Ireland’s second female medallist ever at the […]

10 years ago

Manchester United will not make their announcement until 1pm, but the word is out that Louis van Gaal has left Manchester United. Ed Woodward dropped the hammer Monday morning at the club’s Carrington training ground, but reports are the pill was sweetened somewhat for the Dutchman. He has been a dead man walking since he failed […]

10 years ago

In the second of our Italian Euro 2016 Blog Network instalments, Aaron Pires Mammoliti of Forza Italian Football explains how Antonio Conte’s last-minute tinkering may lead to the Azzurri heading to France under familiar clouds of uncertainty and controversy. The European Championships are set to kick off in just three weeks and for the Italian national team, Antonio Conte’s training camp has […]

10 years ago

He knew, we knew. Hell, even Ed Woodward knew. It was Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman who delivered the news to Louis van Gaal on Monday morning, informing him that his services were no longer required – less than 48 hours after winning the FA Cup. The Daily Mail are reporting that Ryan Giggs’ future is still up […]

10 years ago

We hope he’ll be OK

10 years ago

This would be some coup

10 years ago

Unseemly

10 years ago

The Championship starts in earnest this weekend, with big beasts like the Tyrone footballers, Tipperary hurlers and Leitrim footballers making their seasonal bows. Many people have already tied up Sam Maguire in a sky blue ribbon, expecting Dublin to successfully defend their crowd, while lots of pundits think a Spring of shaping from Clare and […]

10 years ago