DURING THE WEEK, Sepp Blatter rejected an offer from the BBC and Sky to take part in a live television debate ahead of Fifaโs presidential election and Anthony speculated as to the reason why:
โMaybe Seppโs invite to take part didnโt come in a brown envelope.โ
Any hopes Martin OโNeill had of persuading Harry Kane to play for Ireland were dashed this week as the Tottenham striker was named in Hodgsonโs latest England squad but John Connors insists we have enough firepower already:
โWeโve got Connor Sammon anyway we donโt need him.โ
It was Schoolโs Cup finals week and Ronan OโGara tweeted a brilliant picture of his Pres Cork Senior Cup winning team from 20 years ago. There were plenty of familiar faces but some struggled to recognise a former Ireland international:
โStringer just doesnโt look right with hair.โ
U2 made an unexpected appearance in Monaco on Tuesday as the French side knocked Arsenal out of the Champions League. Bono didnโt look overly pleased to be there.
โBono isnโt depressed by the result, heโs pissed off the young fella leaned over him to get Larryโs autograph.โ
Jamie Carragher revealed he was asked by Mick McCarthy to declare for Ireland but reader โDesheenโ insists the Liverpool great was no great loss for the Boys in Green:
โWell heโs no Gary Breen but still would probably have made a useful contribution.โ
It was a busy week for Fifa as the governing body confirmed the dates for the 2022 World Cup with the final taking place on 18 December in Qatar. The timing of the tournament will disrupt the usual festivities as Paul Tuohy points out:
โTis gonna play havoc with peopleโs 12 pubs plans.โ
Irelandโs World Cup campaign came to an end at the weekend as defeat to Pakistan send the Boys in Green home. Their performances on the world stage captured the publicโs imagination although reader Mick sums up how most people were feeling whilst watching the cricket:
โI didnโt understand most of the above but good luck Ireland. Always good to see an Irish team doing well on the international stage.โ
We had Paul Ince in The42 office during the week and naturally Roy Keane came up in conversation with โThe Guvโnorโ insisting he would take his former United team mate down in a scrap.
Oisรญn OโConnor was quick off the mark to point out it would be an uneven fight given the weight difference:
โIโm afraid youโre in a different weight class now Incey.โ
Ah lads, one of my comments finally makes the comments of the week and you donโt quote my name :-(