THE RTÉ PANEL were in a positive mood after seeing Ireland beat Wales to secure a place in the play-offs.
Martin O’Neill had previously been criticised for his omission of Wes Hoolahan, though the panel acknowledged the Irish coach had been vindicated to a degree following tonight’s excellent result in Cardiff.
Eamon Dunphy was full of praise for Jeff Hendrick and his tenacity in winning the ball back for the goal, calling the moment “sport at its finest”.
Dunphy also admitted he would have left Hendrick out for the match had he been in O’Neill’s position.
“When you’re an analyst, you have a view, and it’s a view that should be honest,” he said.
“That would have been my choice, maybe we would have won the game another way.”
While praising the Irish players’ courage and character, Dunphy also revealed he still had reservations about O’Neill’s approach.
“I don’t like his style of football, it’s not personal. But he delivered tonight.
“He delivered in the European Championships and I can live with it, because everyone in Ireland is happy tonight.”
Later, the veteran analyst while laughing, remarked self-deprecatingly: “I’ve got my obituary for Martin here (pointing to a sheet of paper) It’s going in the bin.”
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I don’t care what anyone says O Neil he had a game plan and it worked tonight.. Wales for all the possession they had never tested our keeper apart from one header.. Also they haven’t lost a game at home for 4 years but ok they they were without Bale but we were missing 3 starters also. I don’t care for our style of football on nights like tonight. I’m more annoyed with O Neil when we play games we should be dominating but his mindset is not to lose instead of win..
As much as I like Hoolihan, I can’t bear Eamon b*tching and moaning for an hour about him not being in the team before every game.
@Daire O’Reilly: I couldn’t agree more. Wes has been a fantastic player since he was a Shels. Why didn’t Dunphy fancy him back then? oh yeah he was playing loi. RTE panel are just a bunch of negative bluffers.
If ever proof was needed tonight was the night. A bitter and twisted oul goat who used the first half hour of coverage to have 3 goes at Keane. Zero positivity and then as usual tries to crawl back when we get the result. Should buy himself an inflatable “wes” doll and shag off to france with it..
At least Eamon has always had the courage to call it as he sees it and to admit if he gets it wrong. Would you rather listen to the bland crap on British tv? They say nothing! Even those of you who slate Dunphy will miss him when he’s gone. I know I will!
When was dunphy actually appreciative of an ireland manager? Punditry does not mean finding points to criticise
Dunphy just doing his job , personally I think we should never have been in the position we were , having to go and win . We are left in a cup final . We won’t lie down
@Tricksy: totally right, this group should’ve been done and dusted, especially after the earlier games we won. Still, at this stage, i’ll take it. Fingers crossed.
Unfortunately a player of Liam Bradys class has gone the same route as Dunphy sad to see
The RTE panel need to understand and accept that when Craig Bellamy makes more sense that it does, it’s time to leave the stage.
Says it all really that he had an obituary written he was only praying for a failure.
He is completely negative towards the management with his disparaging comments about MON and RK, they have given an average team great believe and a chance to kick on.
Ireland certainly played with great heart. O’Neill is definitely a lucky manager (and that’s not a criticism).
First Bale gets injured–crucial, that Welsh forward line lacked a striker.
Second, the little Welsh midfielder gets done by McClean. Should have have been a yellow card. The lad’s replacement was quite good, but they definitely played worse after losing their man.