Angry fans

OUR football correspondent LIAM MACKEY is back in top form and full of energy.

SOMEONE’S got to say it, so I am going to. Roy Keane is entirely right

with his comments on Ireland’s performance in the two matches against France.

It is typical of him to rake up 2002 again, but that doesn’t change the validity

of his analysis of how we performed in Dublin and Paris. Too conservative at home,

it was only when we needed to attack that we demonstrated we could get at the

French who are mentally brittle. We had at least four good chances to put the

game beyond doubt on Wednesday night and squandered them. We didn’t defend

the free-kick at all well, never mind the handball and the offside. The only part

of Keane’s comments that really jarred was his implied criticism of Shay

Given. Is it a Cork/Donegal thing?

Tony Murphy, Cork, by email

YOU might think that Roy Keane would have more to say about one win in 17 games

for Ipswich than he has about dancing on the grave of Ireland’s World Cup

ambitions.

Anthony O’Reilly, Galway, by email

LET’S

not get too high-minded about Henry's hand ball. Not so long ago Keane's tackle

on Overmars was voted by Irish fans to be one of the great sporting moments to

have taken place in the old Lansdowne Road. Roy had no intention of playing the

ball, he deliberately broke the rules and, by doing so, gained a psychological

advantage over a very dangerous opponent.Was that cheating? So let’s forget

about a replay and just praise the players for producing what was surely the best

ever performance by an Irish football team.

Mike from Cork, by email

WHY did Thierry Henry not release his statement that “a replay would be fairest”

before FIFA had already ruled that option out? And why did he wait until the end

of the match before acknowledging that he had handled the ball? I remember a few

weeks ago Andriy Arshavin owning up immediately when a penalty was wrongly awarded

in his favour. It didn’t change the referee’s decision, but it was a

dignified response to a mistake.

Liam Burke, Dublin, by email

THIERRY Henry missed a wonderful opportunity to cement his reputation as one of

the world’s great footballers forever on Wednesday night had he been able

to summon up the sportsmanship to do so. Instead he seemed to find this suggestion

funny when it was put to him by a French journalist. Now he will simply go down

in history as a fine talent with, like Maradona, no scruples.

Anthony

O’Callaghan, West Cork, by email

IT DIDN’T take long for

rugby supporters to clamber up the moral high ground did it? I turned on Sky on

Thursday morning to hear someone saying that this incident was typical of the

corrupt principles of soccer. Obviously they have never heard of “Bloodgate”

and have forgotten the All Blacks spear tackle on Brian O’Driscoll. Hypocrites!

Red Devil, Limerick, by email

NEITHER FIFA nor UEFA are interested

in video technology because it will constrain their ability to create the most

marketable event (Manchester United v Barcelona, Spain v France etc). That’s

the real reason why they will go with the idea of yet more match officials who

can be hand-picked.

Lee Martin, Kildare, by email

“IN

2005, the Bureau of the Fifa World Cup organising committee reached a decision

to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan

and Bahrain on the basis of a 'technical error by the referee of the match.”

That’s on FIFA’s official website. Can you explain why they can’t

make the same decision for this game Liam?

Dolan O’Shea, Cork,

by email

NO replays and quite right too. What happened was disappointing

but bullshit happens a lot and in the grand scheme of where the world is at the

moment, let’s face it, it’s trivial. What's done is done and its time

to move on. We’re a nation, not a soccer field.

Billy Flanagan,

Dublin, by email

I SEEM to recall Richard Dunne describing Chelsea

as “cry babies” (or something equally dismissive) when they were denied

a place in the Champions League Final by the actions of a thoroughly incompetent

referee. What’s that famous old Cork saying? “What goes round, comes

round.”

Cork Blue, by email

THE mismatch between what

supporters think of the handball incident, and what professionals have to say

(Gary Neville and Roy Keane to cite just two) indicates that fans still have an

idealised view of the game. I prefer what supporters think should happen rather

than the hard-bitten approach displayed by world-weary and cynical old sweats.

No wonder this is mimicked at all junior levels of football.

Liam

Moore, Dublin, by email

WHY did John Delaney have to respond to Roy

Keane’s comments by telling him to “move on” and to “learn

from the past.” You just know that there’s a whole new act of 'I, Keano'

waiting to be written as a consequence of this psycho-babble. Over to you, Roy.

Declan ó Conghaile, West Cork, by email

OUR SHOUT: I

hardly need to say that this is but a tiny portion of the massive response we

have had to the 'Hand Of Gaul'. And, at the end of it all, I'm left with only

one question: who the hell are we not going to cheer for if France and England

meet in South Africa!?! Meantime, in an unprecedented break with tradition, this

week's Red Card goes not to a fan but a footballer. Can you guess who it might

be, children?

CAN Tottenham be reported to the Court of Human Rights

for “cruel and unusual punishment?”

Rob Robinson, Dublin,

by email

REMIND me Liam, it was Wigan who beat Chelsea 3-1 earlier

this season, wasn’t it? Has the Premier League decided that 2009/10 should

be un homage to surrealism?

Patrick Kane, Waterford, by email

OUR SHOUT: Shame on Wigan. Paul Scharner blatantly handled in scoring their

goal and they haven't had the common decency to offer Spurs a rematch.

WATCHING Arsenal stumble to defeat at Sunderland with players like Arshavin, Fabregas,

and Rosicky in the side, I wondered what happened to the idea that Arsène

Wenger liked to sign big, strong athletes in the mould of Patrick Vieira and Nicolas

Anelka. Sure, he’s got Diaby and Song, but neither are good enough, or resolute

enough. When you look at Chelsea this weekend with brick outhouses like Mikel,

and that new giant Serbian player Matic, and with lumps like Lampard and Ballack

not even on the field, or at United with Darren Fletcher crashing around midfield,

or Liverpool with the likes of Gerrrard and Mascherano, you wonder whether it

would be that much of a compromise of Wenger’s principles to sign a couple

of players who are better versed in the dark arts. I really can’t see Arsenal

winning anything until he becomes more pragmatic. Someone has to do the spade

work, or be the water carrier. Now, who is that player who was so irritating for

France last week. Oh, yes. Lassana Diarra. What about him?

Pat Gleeson,

Limerick, by email

OUR SHOUT: I take it you mean the "other"

player who was so irritating for France. Also, I'm not sure that Liverpool are

the right model for Arsenal just at the moment.

ANYONE else bored with

David Moyes saying he “expects better from Everton?” Another traditional

capitulation at Old Trafford at the weekend. So this is “Fergie’s favoured

successor” according to Match of the Day. If so, let United fans prepare

for another 25 years without a major trophy.

Limerick Red, by email

OUR SHOUT: Yeah, like any manager in football these days is going to get

a quarter of a century to get things right.

WHEN Mark Hughes said that

Manchester City’s ability to get a 2-2 draw at Anfield was “a sign of

how far City have come” wouldn’t it have been more accurate to say that

it was a sign of how far Liverpool have fallen away?

Simon Clarke,

Dublin, by email

OUR SHOUT: Correct. Have our Letter of the

Week prize for this week's right answer.

ANCELOTTI, Arnesen, now Hiddink?

How many managers do Chelsea want all at the same time?

Alan Doyle,

Wexford, by email

OUR SHOUT: Always nice to hear from Fergie.