Heimir's first dance | Ireland v England and Greece review | Dundalk situation | RTÉ Soccer Podcast

[Music] all right welcome along to the RT soccer podcast ra G here you can watch or listen in every week on rt. YouTube Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast I'm joined today by former St Pat Str and shelburn manager Johnny mcdonell and R Sports Connor Neville and it'll be a pair of two-nil defeats for Ireland in this new era that will be the headline act for us we we'll also talk about the situation at dund do and uh build up to the weekend's Fai cup water finals and League of Ireland action as well now hope you're both keeping well and I suppose broad brush first before we go into the intricate detail of the two games against England and Greece this we're in a situation now on this Wednesday morning where we're coming off the back of four competitive defeats home defeats in a row Johnny um conceded another goal from long distance and of course the opposition Greece it's only 11 months ago we lost them by the exact same score line in the exact same venue just in a different uh competition Broad rush so far um your first impressions of the himer har Grimson era those first two games uh The Good the Bad and perhaps the ugly as well well you know starting off you know bringing him in h he hadn't got much T obviously with the England game I think the English were fantastic on the night I have to say you know were we organized enough probably not you know could we done much much more against England probably more I because I looked at Finland last night they looked a lot more organized than we did in the two the feat you know England could have beat us five or six n i I think they took the foot off the pedal H did he know the players did you know what system he was going to play I I I kind of don't I kind of don't take down on Bard off I kind of think you know you get in you're in charge you're kind of going this way we're going to play whether you know Johnny mcdal whatever you know you say this the system we're going to play and you're gonna have to play it you can ask John OA of py McCarthy of their ideas on who the players are but the the ingame management for me was disappointing against England you know not to not to get organized earlier it's always same don't know the p and I'm GNA sit back and have a look at this you when you're on the side of the pitch you're com of down whether you're assistant or whether you're the manager this is not working we need to correct this we've 10v 10 on the pitch I need to change players around so that's your in-house management I think there should have been more done done with that in relation to you know the game against England because they they they WIP the flawless I mean they absolutely we the flers we were on different planet ER so coming into the next game against Greece I watched the the the Greeks on on on whatever was Sunday Saturday and uh watched them against Finland thought they were so well organized played well he had a structure they had a game plan about them took loads of notes in relation to the way they played they played high enough Lin we played down the left hand side through Simas which they done against us a fair bit and we didn't deal with that early on in the game so look it's two games no goal scored I think two shots on goals in in the two games similar similar stuff you know we kind of the malumi chance against England where it was brought back small bound it would Tau on okay into two games pull the ball back you know malumi stuck on Over the Bar under no pressure Brown on the exact same was nearly the exact same move so yeah we didn't we didn't take our chances when we had them you know was one against Greece but I caugh the game last night just so even just looked so even they were there to take him and obviously we were there as well but H he needs to get a grip on it now like I mean I'm not saying you know it's two games but he needs to put a stamp on it and say look we need to be hard to beat which I think he tried to do last night but the players are making individual not mistakes but individual decisions bad decisions on the pitch I don't think the manager can be responsible totally for that these players are playing at a high level yeah we'll get to the decision making on the pitch there's a couple of screen grabs I think will be interesting for people to see later on in terms of the goals conceded against Greece course two-nil defeat yanis uh with a long range strike on 50 minutes and then Solace with the goal at the end of a counter attack uh with three minutes to go of normal time and before that of course Connor you were at the Aviva last night and of course for the uh England game on Saturday as well and you know if you're trying to build a nightmare scenario in terms of who were going to be the two goal scorers Alfred Hitchcock probably couldn't have written it any better in terms of the fact it was uh Dean rice and Jack relish but the atmosphere in the the stadium in the buildup to both games and then just how that shifted in your own view while sitting there um yeah well there was I suppose there was a bit of a gung-ho Vibe prior to the England game I think people were probably uh sort of there was a bit of tribal passion there which ignited something at the start and there was obviously the uh you know the the Irish fans were very imposed by the the opposition they were playing and leaning on ancient history and so forth but that I mean we we we we got brought down to reality pretty quickly and I think this the sort of the energy that was in the crowd really fizzled out by before halftime and even then did the um the determination to bock and R's every touch um waned as the game went on partially because he had so many of them and you know by the end I think there was an acceptance of where we're at and I think last night I mean I'm hearing there was there's a lot of talk about the booing in the crowd I didn't I know Matt dty was booed at when he came on I didn't actually hear that really I think I might have been a conversation with someone and someone pointed out that I think Matt Dy was booed there um which uh I I there D I think there's a kind of a sort of languid hang dog Vibe he gives off with think I think which incites people particularly when things aren't going well and his defending isn't always the most diligent as we saw at the end last night uh I don't know was the atmosphere poisonous so more than it was sort of it was resigned I would describe it as there's a kind of an air of hopelessness I think enveloped the stadium last night and when the second goal went in I there was a kind of stampede for the exits of um of which I was part I have to say but uh yeah there was there was that ER and from from the states of conversations I would have been party to and would have heard I think the discussion was more about sort of macro issues rather than just the minutia of what went wrong in the game or what's wrong with the current team I think there's a there's a growing acceptance that in the short term it's very hard to see it get any better and people are people are thinking in lot big picture terms at the minute I mean after eight after eight defeats in 10 competitive games or whatever since the start of last year that's bound to happen particularly when the only two exceptions are against jalter so yeah it's it's it's it's as bad as it ever been and there was an air of hopelessness and people are wondering will Irish football ever get in a better place or how it can do that yeah and perhaps it's healthy that those are the questions actually being asked as well because of course there are a lot of structural issues within the game here let's listen to himer hson because he talks a lot about confidence you're talking about confidence ebbing away among the you know among the supporters in the stadium in a sense of resignation that lack of confidence seems to be at play Within the Irish Squad in terms of their performances and that's what the New Ireland manager discussed with Tonio donu postmatch like I said before the game it's winning is a habit but unfortunately losing is to H and you you can kind of sense it that there's there's a lack of confidence in this team um and yeah we we only needed to give them a sniff of a chance and they they were one zero up I think it was kind of the the first chance at goal and they scored from that and that is kind of what happens to a team without confidence they they concede in this this manner um you will have seen though from watching Ireland games in the past that that goal from outside the area has happened time and time again yeah for us it's within our principles pressing the player in this space he he was is to to First of first always was to open but um we should press him instead of dropping off him and give him a chance to shoot we we will for sure improve in these areas as time goes on um on the other hand I'm I'm I'm having these two games uh I I was really pleased half time we showed structure we we nullified what the Greeks were doing ER and you know we said don't give them a chance to to score because they are that kind of a team they're like a snake they will bite you if you give give them give them a chance and that's that's what they did and once a a Greek team is winning one Zer is difficult to play against them and then we we got a little bit or unorganized and maybe rushed too much and lost it open conceded the second goal and then it's pretty difficult to come back you were very vocal yourself on the on the sideline this evening were you were you angry at times of what you were seeing no I was just reminding trying to remind them of their positions in organization Etc is difficult of course to to remotely control them from from outside when the people is is is supporting and cheering Etc so heyar looking at that second goal and you were right in front of me uh irand were in possession ball went out for a throw into the opposition and boom boom and we were done again yeah exactly the the worst thing about that moment is that we were we were in a good moment we already put in two Strikers so we wanted the ball up front and losing it then in in this manner and then um they have they have yeah we could have stopped it probably three four times before they scored it looks like such a big job to rejuvenate Irish football do you need longer than 18 months to do this no nobody said it was easy I know it's going to be tough but I I I definitely saw Improvement maybe not as good opponent as as England but I definitely saw improvements especially in structure and when we were in good shape shape and in good structure we would we look really good uh both off the ball but also on the ball so I think we just need to to find this relationship between players um like we've said before when you when you haven't played uh maybe the system plus you haven't played a lot with the players around you this uncertainty comes in you in in your head you know should I pass should I step will my teammate cover me Etc so we need to to find the team find the players as quickly as we can and then play them consistently okay next month will be huge thank you thank you sir so that is the Ireland manager hmer H Grimson speaking to Tonio dun who after the match and so he's talking about two types of confidence there obviously the confidence that uh goes up or down based on results and that kind of psychological side then the other where he's uh discussing the confidence of your teammates and sense of knowing where they're going to be and that only comes through cohesion so Johnny you know from a coach's perspective how do you instill that confidence into a team like Ireland who are struggling badly and maybe play with uh you know shifting formations and um changing systems and maybe a lack of cohesion there you know well for me you know when when the international team comes in for the camps you know sometimes you wi and you don't have that much time so you've got to utilize your time to exactly do what you want to do and sometimes they spend a lot of time I'm not saying this team but teams and they them drilled and it's all nice and trying to get a bit of bit of Team SP together but you've got so so little time that you need to walk with your 11 V1 you know you have 22 players you need to walk systems he talks about structure at the very end structure so the structure of the team so you need to be able to say from the first minute that you come in say we're on the training pitch we're out here we're doing a warm up and we're going straight into 11b 11 this is the way we're going to play in possession this is the way we play out in the back this the way we play in the Midfield this the way we play up to the front this the way we play up to the right players it doesn't have to be at high intensity you can walk through this it can be quite boring but it's clear and concise and You' this is where the way you need to spend the time you don't need to spend time doing lovely fancy drills and that the players can do that so the structure is about your 11v 11 when you're in possession when the transition happens when you lose possession when we get the ball in in the center half position left side or right side who does he play to who's available when it goes into Midfield where's the next move when we lose possession who who deals with that I listen to Nathan Collins last night talking about but counterattacking is part of the game counterattacking when when when you're attacking you've got to be ready for their counter attack so you've got to counter their Counterattack so we we got done on the Counterattack last night yeah we're in good possession but you need to be have to say we're going to lose this ball we need to sit some in front like a malumi sit there don't move stay with me and I'll sh or organized will delay the attack so I I'm just trying to get me point across about you know that builds that builds confidence that builds relationship because it's clear he's talking about lad's not know when to go in when to go out when did he drop off when should he push up you do that the trainer pitch dra you have to do it it's not nice players don't like doing it because it's boring but it's so so important that you do it and then you say to them you when it happens on the pitch they go well don't this and training it's a rehearsal you know you know you don't go to a show and the b g theer they don't just AR up on the night and put on the performance they rehears they rehears be rehearsing and it's not nice fellas are kind here we go again here we go again and I know I'm sounding a bit boring or whatever but that's just the way has the big and then everyone knows that's what happens when we lose it there that's what happens when we win it there that's what happens when we win a back here and we don't play it blindly up the pitch because the center forward knows my two Defenders going to win this I need to be in that or need to be informed wherever it might be but it's clear and consise yeah and three changes were made Connor um from the England game in terms of the starting lineups to the Greece game and that was Jason Knight and um Brown coming in to add more bodies in Midfield which was an area they got swamped against England both tactically and I suppose in Personnel terms and then amadell um who comes in to play right back dty goes out Coleman injured of course so unavailable and then Adam also dropped and Sami playing up front it seems in the first half though there were you know whatever about the lack of confidence but they did actually seem to play a good bit of football in that first half before and we'll talk about it later the second half sort of turns into a bit of a disaster yeah it felt encouraging the first half certainly I mean they they their pressing game seem to be more effective it seemed to be more um organized and more more of a collective effort I would have said really than it was against England now they're obviously playing a much in an inferior team and and griefs were very ragged in the first step there was a lot of um sort of loose passing Under Pressure I think there was at least a few occasions where they passed the ball directly out of play um and so of that I mean there was some decent earland play I mean they didn't create too many chances but there obviously there was the AG moment which most people in the stadium thought thought was a goal initially obviously and and there was a delayed reaction then to the offside flag but there was there was other I mean I thought one of the best passages was down the right flank and involving I think uh it started with SMX then small bone and a Ben and it ended with a really great chance horrible Sky shot from from Allan Brown on the edge of the on the edge of the Penalty Box which you know he should I mean he that was a great I mean it it wasn't that much it was a sort of similar type of chance to the one Greece had in the second and they converted I suppose that's the H the manager was talking about that hesitancy Ireland have and there was he was leaning back when he took the shot there is there is a kind of Jumpy hesitancy about Ireland when they get into attacking moments that they can't seize them I mean even in the second half and I know small bone got man of the match and that that provoked its own reaction in the crowd which I think is primarily about Irish players getting man of the match in these circumstances but there was a couple of times when small bone I I think once he got the ball in the in the box and had ample space and didn't appear to realize and sort of turn back out again and then there was a similar moment when he played a one-w with ag instead of turning when there was there was spacing behind the the the ball back out to AG I mean he was just crossing very near the end line and it was clearly had he turned there was an opportunity but there's no awareness of that in the team and you know there's they're they're kind of stuck in these rigid patterns when they go forward it's very slow it's quite predictable and it's easy to defend against and yeah and then we're we're caught on the counter at the end and we see other teams I mean you were talking about how encouraging the first half was and it was but then there's a kind of ruthlessness to other teams and an efficiency that is just sorely lacking at our end and Greece were able to to capitalize on on errors on our side yeah and Johnny did you like what you saw on the first half in terms of the the structure on and off the ball um in terms of how how they kind of set it up because it seemed like it was almost like a box of a press with small bone right up beside smodic and then behind them uh a up two of the midfielders sort of high in support and then you have the other kind of box sitting in front of the defense and they seem to weirdly enough they were playing football in a sense when you know coming into this window there was an expectation of it a being a little bit more direct although that might be a product of Samy smodic leading the line and not being a massively physical presence I agree with Connor there was a fair bit of pressing done but but the detail of the pressing was really really important when we pressed with the two if you watch the game again Gree mostly started attacks out to the RO full rout he didn't start too high up the pitch the distances between the back four Simas was nearly in the Ireland half on the other side of the pitch and there was big big spaces between them when we pressed with the two they seemed to be able to get back out across the pitch and that's what they wanted to do because there was times when Ai and Obama Deli W in this in this was in the incision between who' go and who wouldn't go and they wanted to play down that to and when they did engage one of the Midfield down run into space and behind they got in behind us in the first half five or six times down the left hand side with C Cast they got good good opportunity we did sorted out as the manager said they did get sorted out but to answer your question we were better when we pressed with the tree R what you're saying was small bone and you know smage and it was either KN or Benny but when we press with the tree you see ear on the game he pinned them right back so that's the first part of the plan so we pinned them right back and we win it back so what do we do then after we win it back so again it's going to take him time he's he's trying to get them structures in place but I think pressing with the three was better than pressing with the two yet we we did play obviously a lot better than we did against England because we didn't have the ball against England again I was taking notes regain possession kept the one two three four passes in England retain or we kick it back to them but you know against grece we obviously maintained it I think the game was 5050 in regards possession you know they took charge at some stage we took charge other stages but uh there was there was a good opportunity on the pressing side yeah and I think the plan was there we also had a plan of the big direct switch the big diagonal ball because they played quite quite high and quite narrow sometimes and they' done the same against Finland and malum played some couple of lovely balls out to Al on the right hand side and we nearly got them down the right hand side so there was a plan to that you could see the structure and and the plan to that but with with the pressing it was when we won it back the distan between the two Center house were huge and we could have got in there so look it's something to build on and I agree the pressing was good but it's the next part of that it's the drilling down into what happens next who presses when do be press and who supports and when do we attack and who sits and how do we stop their Counterattack yeah I think the possession start was 5248 in Greece's favor so yeah pretty much more or less yeah very very very close and you mentioned football teams right both teams had had times in the game where they looked as if they were in control you know so there was it was there was nothing between both the teams except with the with the with the quality of the finishing you know in Aris with the goals he got and even the other night against Finland you know as a Defender you know I would have been saying you need to keep an eye on this fell he's legal he only needs one opportunity as Conor said is the difference up that end the pitch and we just didn't have that and just on that I just t s he just gone off a I just thought Troy par has being playing regular I thought Troy should have got a bit of a goal e Fon looked a bit he he didn't look fit he looked a bit puffy to me he didn't look he was he was fit he wasn't being running around the way smic was it's just a just something that Comm head didn't ramble off there but look yeah um you mentioned Nathan Collins earlier in terms of what he spoke about in terms of the two goals conceder so let's just listen to him because he was also speaking to ton Odon who about that um I think need to see it again but I think we just lost our shape a little bit uh listen it's a good finish but I think there's a lot of things we could have changed you know I thought we come out second half kind of sharp as well we were on top and I think that took a lot out of us unfortunately yeah and then the confidence drops and it's so difficult to regain that confidence in isn't it uh yeah of course you know and against a team like Greece who are one up they're going to they're going to defend with their lives again but yeah it's just real frustration going for The Equalizer then just a few minutes to go and then the Cession of that second goal I mean I mean none of you will want to enjoy looking at that back I'm sure no but listen that's football you know counterattacks happen but we we we were on top we need to When We're Gone forward there we need to find an equalizer we're at home we need to chase it we need to get back into the game counterattacks happen there's things we could have stopped again but it's more the first go really frustrated about right so that is Nathan Collins there and that is in regards to Yo Nas's long range goal and then also the solace's uh second one in the Counterattack now just on the long range goal first I'm just going to pull up a so this is for anybody watching on YouTube you'll be able to see this it's just a screen grab at the positioning um for that long range goal first and um you know Johnny you were talking about I suppose it's it's a great finish by Yan Edis he still has a lot to still has a lot to do but as you can see it there it's uh this player here um the Greek player the Greek player basically just has one ball inside he Edis and he can cut out the entire Midfield as you can see in the structure the back four are sort of all together and then you have four um you the four midfielders barck Ben all clustered together um is that just is what's the structural issue and problem behind that well if you walk from the back where Al Benny and Obama Deli Obama Deli actually is telling Benny you don't worry about him we deal with him and you wor about the fell in behind me so so that's the force bit of that that's down on the left hand picture the two Center halves is the player is in between them and out in front of them okay so if one of them the ball comes in on the right hand side and I think that's nice Who's down the line of the ball because the ball doesn't come centrally it comes in from the right hand side and if you see illan his position there where he is he actually does brilliantly because he this the midfielder and fairness is doing a good job because initially he would have been stopping the g into his feet in front of the two Center half so alenas comes out but then he comes out again if you when you let that roll on again he his position there is right behind I think it's Knight on the right hand side he actually steps out again so it means he's down he's not down the the player is not down the line see he comes deeper again where the ball has coming to his feet he he actually started to the left of that he comes out again so he takes the Midfield or out play his first touch takes him into the direction he wants to go a two Center halves are too far off the first op first option that they took was to step back this option was to touch in front them set himself for second torch Tor torch was a finish so I I think his mman you've got to give the credit for this midman but one of the one of the center halves initially Collins had him he initially Collins had him engaged and he went across but he didn't go all the way so he was in between the two Center HS but one of them should have engaged absolutely one of them should have engaged but I thought to Center forward him brilliantly because he got out in front of the midfielder as well so the ball could get him so his first touch took him back into where he came out second touch set him up and his T touch finished but he should have engaged him absolutely should have engaged him I I I thought his movement was brilliant and I keep saying it because I rewound it and I rewound it and I said his initial starting position he did move he came out again so your two movements three movements he won across Collins the second movement was to the RO and his third movement was to the RO at the midfielder so he could get the ball into his feet yeah it still should have engaged something yeah do you feel also maybe there was a danger that the Midfield like the entire Midfield bar beny there got very attracted to the ball and maybe malumi should have been covering that space a little bit because he's the closest to Yas what happens is when it's start high up the pitch fellas get attracted the ball sometimes if you're close enough to win the ball that's fine but if you're not close enough to win the ball that's somebody else's job you need to pass that on and that comes down to communication you know that comes down to talking to player stay there don't move stay down the line the ball sometimes you need a player to mark space and also to Mark the player so the ball is not coming into Center forwards feet or it's not coming down through channels and then you can get to the ball as the ball is being played I don't know it's I'm explaining that properly but that's the terminology of it amering space and amking the player that you're doing two jobs so I still think you can say well the M the first the first point the defense was missed the second point of Defense shouldn't have been missed yeah and it should have been a step forward instead of a step back they should have closed the ball down and just narrowed in a little bit brilliant finish I have to say brilliant finish you know I'm listening to Nathan and I've said it counterattacks happen he said that's the exact words he said counterattacks happen but you've got to be ready for the counterattacks for the other goal other goal as well you know so he's on young lad he's learning but he's playing at a really really high level the same against England they didn't go in after how came they didn't go in after greish you know there's only 10v 10 on the pitch outdo Outfield players 11v 11 including the keepers you know so the communication is vital from the players and again the manager spoke about that will come but them players have been playing a bit together they play at a high level they should identify situations on the pitch where there's danger and the danger is usually the last four of the pitch yeah and uh speaking of the manager speaking or not speaking of course Connor in the buildup to uh this second game um there was a lot of focus and I think there was a little bit of it also because we spoke about ke Tracy last week before the before the England game as well and just in terms of the manager's role and the dynamic with John O'Shea now John OA took the press conference on Monday which usually the manager would take now is it I don't know you know we both work in the media so maybe it's a very media Centric story and something maybe we would focus on more than say a lot of supporters who may feel that it's not necessarily that important who sits in on a press conference and talks to the media but there was that little thing of uh unlike in the Steve Stanton era where he was talking about I'm the gaffer um in this case John OA was saying I'm not the gaffer so there's a little bit of a harbringer back to that but there was also the thing of like Roy Keane took a lot of press during Martin O'Neil's time like what did you make of that I suppose as someone who works in the media Conor in terms of the how that narrative built up in the media beforehand a very unwelcome call back to the to the Steve ston area no I my my impression was it probably was a bit of a media fixation I mean it's partly uh in response to the performance against England and kind of everything is is magnified and hopped on in that light but my impression was that H Grimson took uh heavy criticism after the England game or at least his kind of the sort of standoffish nature of his role or what people perceived as that um was um heavily analyzed and poured over and raked over particularly the the set piece where Patty McCarthy seemed to be giving the pep talk and H Grimson was a uh bystander really uh so that got that got fixated on my impression from the feedback was that a lot of supporter or readers or fans were inclined to give him a break given that it was his first game and a terrible first game really to get landed with and you know how much can he really affect in in that time frame now others would have said he had a couple of months since the since he was appointed but I don't know how how often would players be International Players be meeting it can't be that often so you know other other Ireland managers have had longer lead in times I mean I ideally and it obviously it should have it should should have been the case that he had the few friendlies earlier in the year I mean that presumably would be what friendlies were organized for U in the early part of 2024 to give the new manager a lead in time I mean that that that's what they should have been used for but he he didn't have that so we're essentially starting again we've seen it with other Ireland managers I mean back in the day MC McCarthy lost seven six of his seven of his first eight games I think as Ireland manager all of them friendly so we wasn't particularly um damaging in that respect and by the time the tournament's down you know or the I believe it was the qualifiers he gets a r and Ireland are able to to they're they're in the groove to a certain extent whereas this was totally absent here he was dropped into an impossible situation from the start uh and the England game there seemed to be I I wonder was there a conscious effort to write it off nearly given that there was from his perspective given that he would have probably deduced that there was little chance of getting a result out of the game and so maybe that was part of the Optics to distance himself from it to give himself a bit of leeway and the Greece game might have been the first one as the first realistic chance to to to Showcase an improvement which in in parts there was so that could have been part of it we're hoping I mean I I to be I thought his communication after the game was pretty good you know I mean he he communicates very well in English and his stuff about confidence and the hesitancy of the players I thought rank true so in that respect I think he is probably if he's diagnosed the problems which are you know abundant if he's diagnosed them well then you know he can start to deal with them so I I I'm interested to see how whether there will be further Improvement in the next window um albe it I mean we're going to be scrapping with Finland who don't who I Johnny watched them play greason they lost 3-0 so they they they can't be too hot so but um you know we'd be scrapping with that for to avoid the the fourth place even even though there is a school of thought that maybe League C is where we we should be headed at this stage yeah that's a great selling point for October now but Johnny just in terms of the you know that communication side of it you your own experience as a manager and assistant and particularly Match Day minus one does it matter to you that HR H Grimson wasn't taking the press conference on the on the Monday uh before this the Greece game from you know as you said earlier you know the question Conor like you that that's your end of the business for my end of the business I don't you maybe from the leadership side of it you'd say yeah he's he's in front he's front house or whatever you want to call it h probably just focused on what he was trying to do watching matches you know watching players yeah you know I I think I agree with Connor I like his attit I like I like the way he talks I like the way he communicates he's nice and calm I'm sure he's clear as I said could s about what he does he's nice and relaxed he deals with the media really well that could have been a tricky one last night to dealway and I think he's very open and he's very honest and sometimes when you're honest it ends a question sometimes you know people just want to keep going with a question and a question and sometimes you's just like what what I've seen him he's nice and calm nice and relaxed and look for him to come out look I don't know it's part I think it's part of of your duties to and do it he's the manager you know maybe the FAO should have said look we needed to do it h and I think he could have done it maybe it was just one of them things John and you just St with that because I'm I'm busy here I need say was pre it might have been simple simple as that yeah as they said I think John shade said it had been pre-arranged for quite some time so that it from their view wasn't a last minute decision the final point I suppose in terms of the Ireland Senior Team and this is uh something that came up in the press conference last night which uh him har did take part in and he was speaking to my own colleague and myself and Connor's colleague Ed leh he and also um Ken early from second captains they were kind of asking questions in and around you know the the structure and the you know building trying to build a coherent core of players Johnny and if you were picking from the from what you've seen in those first two games and even from Stephen Kenny's era what's the spine of the team what's the what are the who are the maybe six or seven that should be starting all the time in your view well you know you usually pick your squad and you six or seven Defenders whatever six or seven eight midfielders four or five six forwards or three goalkeepers you know and and I heard him saying that he'd like to get a bit of cohesion he'd like to get a group together that this is his group that he's g a play he didn't want he spoke about rotation didn't he r that he said he didn't want to be rotating too many players he wanted to get a bit of cohesion in I mean Jo and Collins for me are two top young players I mean they they're on the up I think you know F Shamus com and he got injured here night you know you probably seen Shamus better days and he's been fantastic servant uh probably struggle on the left hand side we might need something in on the left hand side where the L scales can play in in a Tre or four I like The Madness of muman Midfield right but he needs to be in there with someone with a bit of calmness you know and someone thought like he made him mistake last night on stage and he went off chasing the ball and he lost shape so we need someone with a bit of experience in there you know whether small bound is ready for that at the moment you know Alan Brown might be a fell that could bridge that Gap until they get somebody coming through in the Center Midfield he's experiened H I like Jason night because when we when when we're up against the top teams and we need to get possession back Jason's a good player on it and can keep it and keep possession you know whether we you know just keep it for five or six or 10 passes just to C the game down you go back into the game you know he options up front with with Evan either smic Robson can come in and play left he can play Anywhere Left Right Central you know so Troy parot I spoke about him earlier so he's a fair few options to play with you know was you know as you say the SPO SPO of the team you know the goalkeeping team is is good there for them as well so look he just needs to find the right balance and looking at games over the last few days I I just find the best teams play with four at the back they just play with four at the back and they can step a center H in the midfield if they need to they can drop one of the two up front back in the Midfield they can 4 four 4141 or 442 or 43 three most but most of the teams in whatever shape they play I think the best teams are structured to play for at the back you know with two Center halves who don't care whe they're on 2v2 or 1 V one and a hold the midfielder that can pick up the second phase of attack and set up the next phase or protect the back to or protect protect the back forward you know so I I just feel that I for me shape and structure for me I feel the for the for is is especially for a team like us I'm keep talking about this word confidence Sean's mentioned in here now us here the manager saying it and N Collins mentioned a bit of confidence so to be Str and have to forward the back be harder to be it just gives you that bit of confidence it's going to take a little bit of time and we can build from there so I hope that answers the question best so you'd be you'd be dumping the uh back five into the dust spin of History forever if it was you just get pin back you just get pin back because your two Wing backs then are back and you're in a five and then when you win it back your hold the midfielders are back in front of you and then you might have one up front and then the distances sometimes are too big when you get ball up to the front front to get to them so I'll be find with the forward it's a bit easier your Midfield the people in front of you then you know you might have a plan that we win it down the left will then used to go and support the front player so you have a bit more time it's quicker to get up to the front player maybe get the ball up and hold it there and build your attacks from there I just find it I find a b AG when your wing backs are paying back you they're up and down all day they eventually just run out St and we don't when I I find when the back there we just don't ask like even in the England game G was a great player when we asked him the questions a couple of times and we got down the right hand side I think it was on bny got down the right hand side and it was a that got a bit support him Connor Galler was late getting back into the into the game but they enough players you know they were set up in the way that they could offend but we asked them a couple small questions you need to ask the opposition questions I mean you're 70 yards right goal you don't do that Gambit here just thrown out there and this may be harking back to the way uh Paul we shouldn't be harking back to Italian 9 or whatever but the way Paul mcra was used I mean this might be left fielder a bit off the wall or flawed but I just wonder what Johnny thinks would Nathan Collins be fit for that anchoring Midfield role potentially given we have so many options at Center back would he would he be suited there because he is very he does seem very posed on the ball and and elegant in possession and it depends what what what what what you want them to do with so if you need somebody in there John Stones does are some points for Man City doesn't he yeah goes from Center half in the Midfield and he can play that role what you're talking about Connor and it can be very effective because it helps the overload the midfield for them as well or you know if he's going to play there as a holding midfielder and then you're pushing your other two if you're playing with 433 with with one holding for you and the other two the two out of three Midfield supporting the attack so if that's his job he doesn't get forward there's no rotation there's no he's not going into the attack but he just sits there and it look at Conor it's it's an option he definitely you know he can defend he can get on the ball he can pass his range of pass can be decent enough and that allows the other two midfielders to maybe go and support a one and a half one further up the pitch and one just so you you've three put it going forward it's it's options but again I get back to what I said earlier that's on the training pitch Conor that's where you need to go you know you can go in there and do that sometimes you you'll say they in you go but he has to be confident to do that if it's a plan your plan and the player is not 100% confident to do you've got to find a right player and the right balance to do that but it's it's options and you've got to try them yeah um but anyway the the senior team won't be reconvening again until October so um we'll try all try and get our confidence levels back before that for the under 21s though um they they got a really great result uh over in Turkey in the uh in their European Championship qualifier Sam Curtis running onto a Joe Hodge pass like Prime cfu almost and uh finishing it off uh for one- nil win but then last night or yesterday evening just before the Ireland senior game in tala um Ireland drew two all with ltia disappointing result and uh there are two games remaining now so they play Norway and cork uh next month and then they play Italy away in Trieste um as well and yeah and Johnny I mean looking at the group situation it really does feel you know the the turkey result was great but that lfia game it just feels like that is going to be the costly one in terms of any hope of getting the automatic qualification spot well we we've got the game in hand on Italy you know so we're four points off them so I I think you need to win the group don't you you need to be up there you know we goal difference is very similar with Norway Norway are two points behind us with eight games played as well I think we've only plus one on them so the two games are obviously vital I mean looking at the can we go and win the two games I would say yeah I would say absolutely uh to go to go be to Lafia game is the two points drop I'd say Jim would probably say yes you know at least he got something out the game it keeps them it keeps them in it but if if they they got the got the win to put them right up there with Italy and put the pressure on Italy um look Jim's done a brilliant job here you know I be he B about his 21s for Jim and in the last campaign wasn't against Israel we didn't get the players that we should have got we should got Troy part we should have Jim should have been given all the players that were eligible to play in that 21s and we would have beat Israel and we would have qualify that 20 mons that last 20 mons is that and we right have to say that that was the it was the play isra the Israelis brought our players back from the senior team to play against us yeah incling I think a from Celtic I think was brought back um to play for I think back to that and to qualify for them tournaments all one 21 level is huge and I just think Jim got knocked back there I think he should have been given the players this is my personal opinion he should have been given the players the time him and we qualified it could have been nothing but positive for the FAO at the time and for qualifications but F to get them back to where they are now I think Jim has done a fantastic job and I really hope he gets it over with the line he's got some really good young players coming through and again you know players that are coming through the senior manager needs to talk to the under 21 manager about players coming out to the 21s and not just about their ability about their character about how they are how they are under pressure and I know there's a step from the 21s into the senior team but you know that cohesion needs to happen as well but Jim for me he's done a great job and I hope he really gets them over the line yeah so those next set nor the Norway game I mean I think if they can nailed down a playoff spot have CRA they really should have beaten as Johnny said they really should have beaten Israel that time I mean even even with the players they had they should have won at home and well but Connor it should have been nailed on we should have left no room for error we should have been given the players to get them through you know and that hopefully won't happen again if they do get to a playoff and you know you Conor maybe could should have beat Israel but look louer up make sure we get through the trick was to get through to the finals there yeah now in the Women's Champions League pount United were in action last week and the qualifiers and this was in the first kind of sort of group situation for it and they fac belarus's Den Old BG ufk in the round one semifinal on the Champions path in Croatia uh that was last Wednesday and they got a really creditable result with uh krie letman scoring an extra time winner for p Mountain what was also 26 degrees heat so having to deal with the conditions on top of it as well unfortunately their Journey ended on Saturday against oek of Croatia and uh that was despite taking the lead through Lum native Dera burn and they ended up losing two1 Le um I have to I have to get that in I'll be asking you Longford related question later on like you know I'm I'm quite generous on that front but and either way also on the on the Wednesday of last week Ireland International SI shunan also scored a hat-trick for Celtic in their opening qualifier against finland's uh kups uh that was again last Wednesday and then domestically in terms of the results on Saturday Wexford and gallway Drew one all Aton beat Cork City 4-0 uh sliger Rovers lost 4-0 at home to DLR way shammer rovers are starting to get themselves back into form and it was a big derby win beating BS 5-1 and then shelburn got came out on top against treaty United 4-2 Kate money scoring a first half brace for shells there what it does to the table is atlon are still top two points clear shells and Aton have a game in hand as well gallway are also closing in and they are three points behind shells with a game in hand and five points off the top as well there now in the league of Ireland sham Rover versus sler Rovers will be live on rt2 and the RT play this Friday at half s and it's the first of a slate of live league and Cup fixtures on RT over the coming weeks der City against shammer Rovers next Friday on the 20th September will also be one of our live games but we're going to talk about the dun do situation before we chat about any fi cup uh action as well where we will have a live game and dund do manager John Daly on Friday of last week said the players and staff had not been paid that week it came amid reports that owner Brian anff was considering his future just nine months since his takeover the club is outstanding debts of over over1 million euro now Dy whose family live in Scotland said we spoke to the owner and he has told us that we will be paid a little bit late so we just need to take his word for it and hope that it follows through uh this is new to me in terms of how to deal with this and and it becomes difficult when you're living away from your family as well and you're on your own and Brian anuff then on Monday so just a couple of days ago elaborated on the situation and admitted the difficulties of the club are and will face at the moment so in his statement he said there are a lot of reports out there that the club is experiencing financial difficulties un Ely those reports are true I was hoping to secure investment in August but for various reasons that did not come true I'm working hard to keep it going but my immediate concern now is that the club can carry on for the remainder of the Season I'm actively seeking investment and I'm exploring all possibilities about the ownership of the club to ensure that happens I will continue to speak to any interested parties and I remain fully positive that we can secure the injection of cash that we need to keep us going regarding wages I can confirmed that there was a delay in paying the wages last week I'm aware of the distress this that this has caused our players and staff and I would like to assure them that this was a temporary issue which will be resolved in the coming days I want to thank our players staff supporters and The Wider Community for their support and patience at this time and want to let them know that we are working extremely hard to turn this situation around and then on top of that a supporters group at dund do has launched a go fund me to help the club and try and pay wages in the interim and Johnny I suppose the human toll of that I mean it harks back to some of the you know some of the dark times the league has faced where clubs either came very close to going to the wall or actually went out of business but the human toll on the players and the staff dealing with um issues in and around salaries just how difficult can that be um especially when they're fighting relegation at the same time on the pitch well look as you said R look this is 20 years ago stuff I mean how's this allowed to happen you know how's this allowed to happen with your league you know if someone comes in to take over a club you know the investment should be there there should be they should say heav enough money to look after this for for the season I mean I I don't know how this is have to happen I mean when I hear things like trying to secure investment and in investment of cash that doesn't sound good R like I mean you know and down to the players like we're trying to run we're trying to get a league on now that's you know professional League it's a proper League you know it's the structures are proper behind at that you know this this this just smacks of and it'll just be for people to go oh here we go again the league of Oreland five or six years ago seven years ago when Stephen Kenny was doing great whatever it was with they were taking in millions like like how did this happen like how does it go to we've no wages for the staff like this is wrong this is completely wrong this shouldn't be allowed to happen in this day and age I mean it shouldn't you know we need to run this industry as a proper industry and it's been done really well you know up to now I mean now we've got you know Steve mcginness with the pfao the union coming in and all that and all this stuff comes in but people have to be paid rough it's a job it's like we we're trying to build this industry up where you know the next step is where players are paying in Pension funds and all this the way it is in England it needs to be a proper industry and this just knocks a back yeah and graem gartland he was a part of our coverage for the Ireland under 21s game he was speaking to Marie crow about this before the the game kicked off and this is just a clip of him discussing the the structural issues within the league and also at a time when also salaries are um and spend on wages is going up there's no Revenue sources other than the fans coming in the door and that's where I think the league needs to really have a look at itself and go yeah we are getting better crowds in and it's brilliant and we all love it and it's grown but it's it's just on the edge of it where I always felt this season with the wages that were being put out and not I'm not begrudging any player any wages I never have that's that's their enement to get it but it start was starting to creep back into the old days where you thought there's a worry here if this doesn't work that is gr gardland of course a regular guest on this podcast as well discussing um an aspect of the situation at dund do but it does sort of uh lead you back to the I suppose the structural issues within the league particularly you know as he as he pointed out there the one Revenue source that clubs tend to have are the gates but if the stadia are not necessarily fit for for purpose and I think there's always been a focus on orial park in that sense as well you're not going to be able to um mine the full potential of the fan base that is there yeah I me I mean there was a lot of I mean I suppose it's particularly seral given where dund do came from in the middle of the last decade and how much you know European success is touted as a Panacea often in in the league here and no one had more had a more lucrative run in Europe than doc I mean they even managed to to win a game and accumulate points in the group stages of the Europa League the Europa League proper not even the conference league so to see them to see them plummet in in in the year since is um it's very um disheartening um I know there was and there has been a lot of talk about the stadium I might have been some development there not there often but it's it U it obviously looks like one of the most there was always some in congruity there that it was they were they were the strongest team in the 2010s and they had the most Ram shot stadium in the league possibly or close to it um and but that that that would probably take a lot of Finance there seems to been a lot of um chaos in terms of the background in terms of the ownership I know they had American ownership for a while and now ancop has come in you know the lot of back and forth there and the whatever happened I mean as Johnny said I mean there should have been some due diligence done and how how much investment could be secured and they've obviously got in over their heads I know gra Graeme Garland was also talking about the amount he was talking about the amount of wages the players are taking in now and it was kind of leaning back towards that midn era when famously Shel bur and sheld out a lot on wages and then got into terrible trouble even even after their own European success so there are some parallels there but uh yeah it's and it as regards this season I mean it's it's um it's a terrible situation I mean you would have to say now they're probably favorites to go down in light of this going on in the background I mean I know at the start of the Season there was a perception that they they were possibly going to dig themselves out or the team on on paper was too good and they would nose ahead of dra or whoever but with all this going on in the background it's very hard to see how they can keep their head above water I know I I know sh has won the league back in 06 when they hadn't been paid for for a couple of months Johnny Johnny might remember that but they only crawled over the they only crawled over the line I think having been well ahead so it's a very difficult thing to to cope with might be similar this year I think sh might just crawl off the line as well yeah yeah but um also the journalist James Rogers who uh covers uh covers dun do particularly um he was on Mor Ireland yesterday as well and he was discussing the potential buyers there are there and what will happen if the investment that they're looking for doesn't come true between now and the end of the season I think the the major concern now is probably you know there can be maybe postmortem of how we got here later but just can resolutions be found to to sort those people out as best as possible any interested buyers there has been talks with around about 8 to 10 different parties a lot of them sort of just explorative um obviously when your debts are are that great it's probably doesn't make a lot of financial sense from a business perspective to go in there you you're really looking for maybe a white KN and if that doesn't emerge you're probably looking at the more realistic uh scenario of possible examinership which look is ideal for anyone it it affects obviously the existing staff there it affects potentially you know so a lot of the creditors who are owed money because you know they'll be burnt on us and it's not an ideal scenario at all that is James Rogers there um obviously you know I think everyone feels for the for the players and staff at dund do and yeah I do I do I do find it hard to believe I maybe this is naivity or optimism I do find it h to believe dund do could go out of business given the nature of D do as a football town I mean it's inconceivable but then maybe that's too up maybe in the late 60s people said the same about drum kandra I don't I don't know I mean but yeah it's uh seems impossible yeah we'll see how that transpires of course they're going to be in League action this Friday they're playing Waterford away from home sham Rover as we said live on rt2 and the RT player hosting sliger Rovers at Talis stadium and then sham rovers are in action again on Monday when they play gway United at am DC Park but there's a full round quarterfinal action in the FI cup as well we're going to have DER C against shelburn live on rt2 and the RT player on Saturday the kickoff is at 5:45 or yeah on on on Saturday and the the first matches first quarterfinals are on Friday and that's UCD against BS Aton against R United Wexford against treaty United and then of course the the big game uh Johnny I mean Derry shells is probably the one where the like you know the I suppose the favorites for the competition are probably going to come out of that game but there's a huge opportunity there for the likes of Bose andrada even for a giant killer of sorts from the first division from the from the club's remaining it's what just answer your question a minute wford and 3 isn't it is that's the last game yeah Westford and 3 yeah you know that's for one of them to get through into the semi-finals GNA be huge for them it looks like shells and D seem to be playing one another every three or four weeks now but be toght game the games have been quite being very tight between them been couple players sent off for matches as well um BS of a great opportunity to get to a semi-final and uh at can they they the good win as well so look it's it the cup takes a bit of pressure off teams and uh it opens doors for other teams as well I think D shels will be so focused on just stumbling over the line over the next few weeks to to to to win the league so maybe D might just have the advantage psychologically on that but shells are shells the hard to beat d goes out the TR in every game whe people think it's nice not sexy or whatever you want to call it but they're there every week you give 100% but uh good opportunity for both of them whoever gets true to go on maybe win a double this year so could be an opportunity for a double to be won this year with Del Andel yeah so a lot of play for for both of those clubs of course as well so live on rt2 and the RT there on Saturday evening and Cork City promoted after 1- nil win over UCD cursy of Malik dyes steel last Friday but uh Johnny in terms of their hopes of this time not be not yo-yoing uh when it comes to uh next season how well are they set up in terms of the longer term in terms of the squad that they have and the you know obviously they have Tim Clancy in charge and the potential to to build on what they've done this season well you know you know Tim has been there before so we know knows that he knows the league it's not like you take the manager into the Premier League he know that he know what's required in the league he knows standard the standard of players that he has in the fourth division that he will be able to make the step up so it's it's it's good for them that the opportunity now to have time to go and seek players and go and Scout players you know and uh I think I think cark City are in in a good place at the moment you know compared that to where D doer and I think that the league need cark City back in fans wise and and stuff like that but te will have a bit of walk today you know there might be a few players floting around you know teams that have big squads but he need to do goway or he need to do a Warford where they get off to a good start you know in next season and make sure they maintain the position in the league and try and build on that over the next the next year or two so I think Tim's experience of being in the league you know from previous definitely stand to him and the CK City yeah and Cork City play now of course they're whatever happens now they're they're promoted and won the first division yeah but they H yeah they play Bray next um and lur and Fitzgerald has Ste back from first team coaching Judy at Bray wanders due to work and family commitments uh with six games to go though they are in the final playoff spot Four Points clear of fin Harps uh what you make of the situation at Bray Johnny and then in terms of the the the playoff race now and obviously UCD are second and you know I think as Connor has often said it's a it's probably easier to get promote or you know easier to make the playoffs than anything else in in this division but watch you make it the how things are balanced in that division at the moment look you know I agree with Connor like you can be just knocking around then you come on a bit of a run at the end of the season to get you into the playoffs I think wford might be up there that long to be in around the playoffs it's difficult I mean I remember being with shels and Longford W in the four division always at shels and we were like 16 17 points clear to goway and they beat us in the playoffs so and then goway went up and with Tommy Guns team and but it's it's teams like w already ready we're talking about C you need to be ready to go up UCD won't be ready to work they're used to it they know they know what's required they know the structures they know the finances of it they know how to to do it the L of wford going up and at or someone going up like that of a playoff I think I think the team in the Premier League is just that L too far ahead play the team in in that game in the playoff game so uh you know car car coming up you have a chance of coming up in the playoffs yeah and obviously in that division Conor just to finish off as Wells Longford Town um bottom bottom but just two points behind carry now you did tell me in the office uh um on last Friday that it's not a historically Bad season for long for despite how bad bad things have been um this season to tell you that yeah the7 998 season was worth they they won two matches both away from home as I can tell you as someone who was at almost every home game that year both of them were from home but yeah they know they good one nil win over Bray last week and following up they needed uh took a Shan Maguire injury time goal for cork to beat them the previous week so knows I mean Terry have to watch their back in the covered ninth ninth position position there in the first division really don't they yeah well I suppose there is something to fight for there in the six remaining games for them but anyway that is it for uh this week the podcast will be back on Monday when there will be reaction to the weekend's domestic action and also what happens in the Premier League and also this new look Champions League with the uh sort of convoluted format it'll be kicking off very soon as well we're going to have live coverage on Wednesdays of those games as well so Johnny McDonald thanks very much for coming on this week and Conor Neville as well cheers ra cheers Connor Thank you [Music]