Belief all but lost in the cult of Trapattoni

There is a good rule of thumb that the worse the Ireland team is at any given moment, the better the post-match analysis on RTÉ.

Friday evening’s face-off between Richard Sadlier and Liam Brady was compelling enough to suggest Ireland might now be as bad as they were when Eamon Dunphy demanded to know whether Bill would let Steve Staunton drive the train to Cork.

Listeners to Off The Ball on Newstalk frequently complain that Brady should not be on the panel any more because he is too close to Giovanni Trapattoni to give unbiased perspective. That is missing the point. Brady knows Trapattoni better than anyone in Irish football and it enhances the coverage to include a pundit who is well equipped to argue things from the manager’s point of view.