Are our youngsters coached right? Should they play less competitive football? Or more? Is the cross-channel route to the top of the game viable any longer? And can the League of Ireland provide a feasible alternative? In the second part of his look at our supply line of footballers, Larry Ryan canvasses more opinion from around the Irish game.

Irish parents have been urged to play traditional games with their children to help combat the obesity crisis among children.

Soccer analyst Johnny Giles has revealed how RTÉ was reluctant to sign him up as a pundit because he had a reputation for not saying much.

For those who do get to live the dream, how much harder then must it be to have to let it go and wake up to grim reality, asks Liam Mackey.

No injuries, no panic.

How tricky is it for these managers to deal with players from a different generation, asks Michael Moynihan.

New figures show that outspoken soccer pundit, Eamon Dunphy, who turned 70 last year, still has massive earning power.

Alan Kelly has said dealing with water charges was “very, very difficult” and that he still fears for his personal safety.

Alan Kelly has said dealing with water charges was “very, very difficult” and he still fears for his personal safety.

One Labour Minister has a star supporter who has been helping him score a few goals against the opposition this morning.

The usual presumption about an intermediate or junior game – particularly when it’s timed to warm up the crowd for a senior decider – is that the execution can be some way behind the endeavour.

THE punditry boom in the GAA keeps getting boomier.

I have to say that Twitter comes into its own on sad occasions such as the passing of the great Ray Treacy and I’m sure it must come as some considerable consolation to his nearest and dearest to see the outpouring of affection and admiration on the internet which has shown no sign of drying up since the shocking news of his death emerged.

Massimo Cellino does not hang around. The chain-smoking, aviator-wearing Italian sacked Darko Milanic on Saturday, just 32 days after making him his fourth Leeds manager in eight months.

RTÉ may consider it sacrilegious. It is the campaign, which starts here, for RTÉ to call full-time on the panel of Eamon Dunphy, Johnny Giles and Liam Brady.

“It’s Trapattoni with a Derry accent, that’s all it is.”

If you want to see the ultimate in cringe inducing grandad dancing, check out acclaimed football pundits, Eamon Dunphy and Johnny Giles on Youtube.

Leeds great Johnny Giles has told club owner Massimo Cellino to put himself in charge of the team after the man known as the ’manager eater’ struck again.

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.

Sports stars, politicians, pundits and broadcasters joined forces to wish the Irish women's rugby team good luck in the World Cup.

Galway looked dead and buried before a remarkable finale to the Leinster SHC semi-final saw them live to fight another day.

Keeping things in perspective is what Fran Gavin does. Charged with running the SSE Airtricity League, he has mastered the art of standing back and looking at the big picture.

The sensation was strange at first. Unfamiliar.

Brian O’Driscoll has brought high emotion to Lansdowne Road over the past 14 years and we can expect more of the same today

It hardly carried the glamour or gravitas of an induction into Cooperstown or Springfield, it wasn’t like there was a Larry Bird to welcome his Magic Johnson into this particular Hall of Fame, but there was something particularly pleasing about seeing Ronnie Whelan being honoured at the FAI International Awards on Sunday.

Des MacHale is right (Letters, Nov 18). A single team could represent Ireland North and South in soccer.

An all-Ireland soccer team should take on England every two years to raise money for children, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said.

Now most of the Irish sports media, and top commentators such as Eamon Dunphy and, to some extent, Johnny Giles, can gloat over the departure of Ireland soccer manager Giovanni Trapattoni, a very costly national football coach for the last five years, following pressure from all sides, primarily from the fans.

The backdrop to last night’s events in Dublin had been a negative one, despite the Stockholm result, focused as it was on past defeats to Austria who have found encounters with Ireland, more often than not, to their liking.

It might not be the biggest parade in the world but Dublin is surely one of the best spots to be for the St Patrick’s Day bash.

Diarmaid Ferriter’s new book on Ireland in the Seventies highlights the sporting influence on the nation’s culture, writes Michael Moynihan

The man who made the fateful phone call that resulted in Eric Cantona joining Manchester United 20 years ago today insists he would do exactly the same again.

As a retired public servant, I find it troubling that RTÉ, who in these difficult times cover such topics as unemployment and emigration in their programming, yet have no difficulty in retaining the same broadcasters for decades — some are now in their 70s and predominantly male.

It’s a little-known fact but before there was an All-Ireland club championship at any grade in the modern era there was a Munster equivalent, with Glen Rovers of Cork beating Mount Sion of Waterford in a replay in 1964 to become the first champions.

Spain’s 4-0 win over Ireland convinced a previously wavering Madrid media that La Roja were on track to win Euro 2012.

Organisers of this year's St. Patrick's day parade in Dublin City Centre are describing the event as a "huge success".

I WAS once under the misguided impression that the best English was spoken in London.

FOOTBALL legend Johnny Giles was forced to defend his Walk of Dreams charity event after the lack of drinking water, toilet facilities and overpriced food led to claims it turned into a nightmare.

FOOTBALL legend Johnny Giles was forced to defend his Walk of Dreams charity event after the lack of drinking water, toilet facilities and overpriced food led to claims it turned into a nightmare.

THIS reviewer’s introduction to Ol’ Blue Eyes came, strangely, via the pages of a 1970s soccer magazine.