The lads done well… Liam Brady is the latest ex-Irish international to show that talking a good game can be very lucrative after hanging up the boots.

Mark Kinsella feels history will repeat itself over the next 12 months when it comes to revamping Ireland’s international squad.

Peter Schmeichel all but scoffs when asked how the current Ireland and Denmark squads compare to his day when the teams drew twice in the qualifying rounds for the 1994 World Cup.

Say what you like about Enda Kenny but he never found himself embroiled in a row with LCD Soundsystem, writes Colm O’Regan. 

Newly-filed accounts for media firms owned by former Irish soccer players-turned-pundits Liam Brady, Mark Lawrenson and Andy Townsend show they are all prospering.

The Republic of Ireland travels to France this week with a squad of 23 players who will be looking to make history and take Ireland out of the group stage for the first time in the Euros.

Fourteen years on from the World Cup finals in Japan and Korea, when he scored for Ireland against Saudi Arabia, Gary Breen is still being followed around the place by one of the daftest and most memorable of the Green Army’s all-time greatest hits.

Retired Irish international soccer stars who are working as pundits continue to prosper from the ‘beautiful game.’

The cry ‘consistency’ has become an unlikely clarion call in recent years.

Andy Townsend might struggle to remember Ireland’s 3-3 draw away to Poland in 1991 – the last competitive meeting between the two countries – but it’s a game which is lodged firmly in your humble correspondent’s memory banks.

After the rugby heroics on Saturday, Martin O’Neill last night admitted that his Irish team have "a lot to live up to" as they begin a week of preparations ahead of the meeting with Poland next Sunday.

For many years, England worried about squeezing Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard into the same midfield. Now America frets about getting them into the same league, writes Larry Ryan.

Here's the sporting year in [guff] quotes.

Martin O’Neill says he never detected any sense Roy Keane had fallen out of love with football before asking him to be his assistant as Ireland manager.

John Giles is yet to be convinced that James McCarthy can impose himself as a commanding midfield presence for Ireland. And he believes West Ham’s Mark Noble, should he declare for the Republic, might be good enough to go straight into Martin O’Neill’s European Championship qualifying team.

Your spoiler-free guide to what's on the box tonight.

New figures show Irish TV soccer pundits are scoring for fun when it comes to being financially rewarded for offering their views on the game.

Troubling times — a new international superstar and nobody’s sure what to call him.

ROY’S REWARD — ENGLAND STILL ON COURSE FOR 2022

Andy Townsend not up to speed: “The players are always greeted with such velocity here at Old Trafford.”

“Suarez has gone down like he’s been crucified.”

United have been looking for heroes in unfamiliar places lately.

Standing on the sideline of a training pitch fielding questions from the dreaded meeja will never be high up on Roy Keane’s list of ‘Things I Like To Do’.

I was very fortunate to be invited to the annual Nordoff Robbins Football Extravaganza at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on Tuesday evening.

The World Cup qualifying groups may be over but the Premier League provides a mini World Cup of its own this weekend as internationals from around the globe re-convene on foreign soil; and the ever-intensifying debate over whether that is good for football should have resonance in Dublin as well as London.

On the radio, David Pleat reminded us why we had waited so long for neighbours to reconnect.

Before kick-off, ITV gave us a montage of high beam gymnastics.

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry claims referee Howard Webb told him he did not get a good view of Glenn Whelan’s controversial tackle on Javi Garcia on Saturday.

A QUESTION: has an Irish team ever gone into a game as bigger outsiders than the one Giovanni Trapattoni will send into action against Spain here in Gdansk tonight?

What channel to watch? Who has hired the bluffers and who has the gems? Des O’Driscoll tunes television viewers into Euro 2012

When it comes to ranking my shameful confessions, this one doesn’t quite make it to the top spot.

Giovanni Trapattoni has hit back at criticism of Aiden McGeady by Roy Keane and Andy Townsend, questioning whether the former Irish internationals-turned-pundits always played well through their careers.

Trying to find the hidden messages behind today’s clash at the Aviva Stadium.

Aiden McGeady has delivered a stinging riposte to Roy Keane and others who continue to criticise his performances for the Republic of Ireland.

IT WAS fitting that Robbie Keane spent most of Wednesday with his head in the clouds as he made his way back to his American dream after finally realising a European one.

THE charge sheet is eerily familiar: the manager is too rigid in his thinking.

BARCELONA led Real Madrid 3-2 on Wednesday night in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup final. The teams had drawn 2-2 in the first leg. Both were thrillers.

IT WAS a mixed week for still impressionable thirtysomethings. In front of a Bologna police station and inside a hall in Dundalk, two 90s heroes made a little news.

ITV have made a crunching tackle in the battle for ratings tonight by signing Roy Keane to their punditry team for the final.

Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane has warned pretenders to his throne that he has no intention of quitting international football just yet.