Menton, Lyons try to fathom bid failure

A COPY of Machiavelli’s political epic The Prince and an intimate knowledge of television game show The Weakest Link appear to be the prerequisites for any future bid by Ireland and Scotland to stage the European Championships.

Or at least, that was the impression gained by listening to bid members Brendan Menton and Simon Lyons yesterday as they tried to fathom their dismal showing in Thursday's voting by UEFA's Executive Committee to stage Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.

Both men, former FAI General Secretary Menton and bid marketing director Lyons, admitted they had failed to account for the geopolitical sway in favour of countries from the eastern side of the continent after a succession of tournaments held on the western seaboard, and then conceded they had been mistaken in concentrating their voting strategy by assuming they would reach the last two or three bids.