Good. But not quite good enough. Ireland did loads of good things in the Aviva Stadium on Monday night. Enda Stevens was brilliant. So was Matt Doherty. Shane Duffy hit everything that moved. McGoldrick is as clever a player as you’ll find. But it just wasn’t enough. The good play didn’t lead to enough chances. […]

6 years ago

Let’s not kid ourselves. Let’s not get carried away here. Mick McCarthy is stubborn as a held-up boulder. Plans are plans and formulas are formulas. He has his and he won’t be budging soon, certainly not by Monday. Three days to go until Denmark, the Republic of Ireland manager will have had his mind made […]

6 years ago

Ireland 3-1 New Zealand Jack Byrne wants the ball. He’s mad for the ball. He stretches the arms wide and lets out a roar. You don’t have an option really. You just have to give it to him because he’s already sizing you up. He’s already angling towards the goals. They say the best players […]

6 years ago

Dessie Hutchinson has seen both sides of it. Just five years ago, he was a Premier League hopeful with stars in his eyes. Brighton and Hove Albion were a club on the rise and the Waterford youngster was highly rated. The sky was the limit. He had high hopes. Hutchinson was on the cusp of […]

6 years ago

Aaron Connolly expects to score goals. He’s not interested in moral victories. He’s not here to ease himself into international football. Ireland were fairly poor for 80-odd minutes in Tbilisi on Saturday afternoon. From the word go, the team were flat as the lively Georgians controlled the game and created a whole host of chances. […]

7 years ago