LIFE FOR Keith Treacy is simple enough these days.
In addition to a role as a pundit with RTÉ and Virgin Media among others that he started last August and coaching St Patrick’s Athletic’s U17s team, three days a week, the former Ireland international works as a landscape gardener.
The riches he earned from his years as a footballer may be gone, though regardless, he is in a good place both figuratively and literally.
“I love doing the bit of gardening,” he tells The42. “I wouldn’t say it keeps me grounded. I don’t live a very extravagant lifestyle anymore.
“But it gives me a headspace. It’s only out in Dollymount, it’s a Jesuit retreat. So most of the people that are out there are actually on a silent retreat. There’s very little interaction. I go off and I maintain the plants and I cut the grass. Although you’re still in Dublin, you wouldn’t realise if you were to be dropped into this place. It’s just lovely open fields, trees and squirrels, badgers, foxes running around, it’s a little bit of heaven for me and I get to go out there and maintain the place.”
Treacy’s career encompassed a short stint as a Premier League player as well as over 100 Championship appearances.
He also won six Ireland caps. They were, in chronological order: a 1-0 loss to an Argentina team that included Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria among other famous names, a 3-2 defeat by Uruguay, respective 5-0 and 1-0 wins over Northern Ireland and Scotland in the short-lived Nations Cup, a 2-0 victory over then-world champions Italy and a 0-0 draw with Croatia.
It’s just over 11 years since Treacy helped Ireland beat Scotland, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Robbie Keane, and he will be back at the Aviva Stadium this weekend to see the Boys in Green play the same opponents in his role as a pundit.
“Scott Brown played in midfield for them. I got shot off and I think he left a bit of an elbow in my back and I just remember thinking, that’s exactly what I expected from him.
“I don’t remember a lot. If you know my history, there’s an awful lot of alcohol between then and now, so the memory has been ever so slightly affected.
“But we were a lot stronger than we are now. And I think maybe the roles are reversed at the minute. The Scots are slightly stronger than us.”
The Northern Ireland match, which took place five days before the Scottish clash, was Treacy’s only start for Ireland, but he cites the Argentina fixture as the highlight.
“The biggest thing for me was being able to take the jersey off my back [from the Argentina game] and give it to me granddad, it was more of a personal thing. At the time, you think you’re going to be a footballer forever. I was extremely young and naive. I didn’t realise then it was probably the pinnacle of my career. And in hindsight, I wish I took it in and enjoyed it a little bit more.”
Treacy feels he should have won more Ireland caps, but for a variety of reasons, had to settle for six.
“I don’t want to come across as big-headed, but I believe that the talent was there. I had a lot of issues off the pitch that ultimately finished me. At the time, I was playing for Preston and I became a really important player during a relegation battle. I was 20-21. Managers were dictating to me: ‘You looked tired in the last game, maybe you shouldn’t go with Ireland. That groin doesn’t look right, your hamstring, you said it was sore. I let a lot of managers dictate to me and tell me I wasn’t going to meet up with the Irish team.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But I wish I would have been a bit stronger and told certain managers that I am going to go and just pushed a little bit more and maybe I could have [reached] that 10-20 cap mark.”
Treacy was just 26 when he returned to Ireland to sign for Drogheda United. It felt like a dramatic fall for a player frequently touted as one of the country’s top prospects at underage level. The fact that he was a young Irish winger playing at Blackburn rendered Damien Duff comparisons inevitable, but his talent was such that for a while, they did not seem entirely far-fetched.
Yet off the pitch, Treacy’s life was gradually unravelling and he has spoken of playing games drunk at times.
12 top-flight appearances for Blackburn during the 2008-09 season were as good as it got at club level. There were also short loan stints at Stockport as well as Sheffields United and Wednesday, and further spells at Preston, Burnley and Barnsley.
For all the obvious benefits that go with it, Treacy says the life of a footballer can be a lonely one.
“I was a professional footballer for 12 years, and I probably have one friend in football that I would still talk to – Ross Wallace [who I met] at Burnley.
“We use this term in football: when another player comes in, it’s just a ship in the night. You don’t know if they’re going to be there tomorrow if a new manager comes in and doesn’t like them, or they get a bad injury. Although you’re nice to each other’s face, you’re in competition with these people so there’s never really that much of a friendship.
“And in my career, I ended up going on loan and moving around to a few different clubs. So you think you have friends in the dressing room, and then you go on loan, and you don’t hear from people, you don’t see them for six months. You quickly realise that the relationship wasn’t as strong as maybe you thought it was and I found that out quite a few times in my career.
“I don’t know if it was a type of shield to keep people out or whatever it was, but I developed this type of ego around football that really wasn’t right for me, and it brought so much more with it.
“I don’t think a lot of people wanted to keep in contact with me. And I think it was probably best for me to steer clear of that type of world. And it’s nothing against footballers per se, it’s more the glitz and the glamour around it that can bring me down.”
Treacy has not played since 2016, having briefly lined out with St Patrick’s Athletic after his year in Drogheda.
Still only 33, the Irish star had hoped to make a return to football until relatively recently but is officially retired now.
“I had surgery in 2019 to fix a disc in my back and afterwards, the surgeon told me the disc on top of the disc they had operated on, I don’t know the technical term, but it was knackered. I had no symptoms so he said: ‘Listen, you could break down tomorrow or you could go on for the rest of your life and never feel it. It’s wear and tear, so you might be okay and you might not.’
“Not being associated with a club anymore, if I was to break down as I go through the rungs of the ladder to get fit, you’re talking thousands for another back operation, and it’s not money I have at my disposal anymore — life and family get in the way.”
It has changed to a degree since Treacy’s time as a player, with more athletes speaking out about issues relating to mental health, but he was of an era where such problems were seldom discussed. The recurring fear of many footballers was that seeking help would be perceived as weakness in this habitually macho, male environment.
“That’s exactly what players think. And I’ve had managers in the past — in particular, Eddie Howe, the Newcastle coach now, he came to me when we were at Burnley together and asked me to go to Tony Adams’ clinic down in the south of England. It’s called ‘Sporting Chance.’ He wanted me to go down there for gambling as well, but mainly for alcohol.
“I wasn’t in a place [to do it]. I thought if I go and get help for this, I’m admitting I have a problem. And if I admit I have a problem, then the left-winger who’s next in line will play ahead of me.
“So you keep things in your head and you don’t want to let them out. It’s really difficult if you’re a current player to come out and say these things because with the likes of social media as well, very rarely do people pull any punches. You get these keyboard warriors who will say whatever they want to whoever they want.
“But you’ve just got to worry about yourself and getting yourself right, and the main thing is just getting it out and talking about it.”
In many cases, elite footballers’ struggles tend to intensify after they retire. However, in a sense, the opposite was the case for Treacy.
“I’m quite unique,” he explains. “I needed to get away from football with the heavy drinking I was doing in England and everything else that was happening to me in life at the time. I was going to therapy and coming away from football actually helped me.
“And I was in a place where I wasn’t thinking too far ahead because I was literally trying to get through the next hour without having a drink and stuff like that.
“I was working on fixing myself and dealing with my addictions at the time. So I got through with my head down and didn’t realise what I was doing and then all of a sudden… I’ll be six years sober this November.
“It just sort of happened and for me, with the drinking and being in a football environment, you develop a bit of an ego and a really thick skin. You don’t listen to a lot of people because of all the outside noise.
“I was in such a dark place and I just managed to somehow get through it with my head down.”
Statistics have suggested as many as one in three former footballers will suffer a mental illness.
And Treacy believes elite athletes are particularly prone to issues such as addiction and depression.
“I can only talk about my own experiences. I don’t believe I was born addicted to porn, sex or gambling, or any of that sort of stuff. I believe the money I was earning, the low hours of work I was doing per day, and being alone in England an awful lot with all of my family being in Dublin [were contributing factors].
“So I think a little cocktail was made in and around me, and it was just the perfect storm. From the age of 17, I was earning £1200 a week. And I had a Range Rover. If you pluck any young lad out of Dublin at 15… I went over at 15 and at 17, I had my own apartment. You’re going to work from 10am to 12pm most of the time, and you’re going to have so much downtime. I think the majority of people will get into trouble.
“I got bored and ended up in Paddy Power bookmakers making a silly amount of bets, but it’s all relative. I was betting money that I had, so it didn’t seem like much of a problem. When you look back, it’s really alarming.
“And it’s so easy to place a bet now on the phone, with no money actually physically leaving your hand, it’s very hard to grasp how much you’re actually betting, especially when you’re earning £10,000 a week, or whatever it might be.
“I’m doing this interview over the phone, but this is actually my wife’s phone. I don’t have a phone myself, I don’t have any social media. I feel it’s better just for my own mental well-being. And with so many addictions, it’s so easy to place a bet these days, so I find it’s better for me just to stay away from it completely.”
The height of the lockdown was a tough time for everyone but the boredom and the constant hours at home were a challenge in particular for addicts. Treacy says he managed to cope relatively well under the circumstances.
“I had my little boy, Teddy, just before lockdown. And my life became so mundane. As I said I don’t have a phone, so where I’m supposed to be, I am supposed to be, and I very rarely deviate. I leave here, I go to work, I come back to do a bit of analysis or I might watch a bit of football. So my life day to day didn’t really change. I just stayed at home with the kids and concentrated on myself. It wasn’t too bad.
“I was lucky because I was training with Sligo at the time. I was going back and forth as an essential worker to try and get myself fit. So I got little pockets of a break during the lockdown. And with me being a gardener as well, I was working outside. So I managed to still work every now and then.”
Nonetheless, for all his recent success in managing these issues, Treacy understands there is no room for complacency.
“I still wake up in the morning an alcoholic and I wake up with the same addictions I had years ago. So although I’m doing well, you can never get too carried away with yourself. Because disaster for me is only ever a pint away.
“You need to keep level and grounded with it, just take things day by day, as they say, and try to not look too far forward.”
Family and the decision to open up to his wife Leanne in particular played a key role in Treacy’s recovery.
“I’ve got three little girls and a little boy, but having a sex addiction and gambling addiction, and the nature of the stuff I was doing, I couldn’t really open up to the kids too much.
“But my wife was outstanding, she really is a diamond. And a big part of it was all the stuff that was inside me and the voices in my head, these things that were bogging me down. I thought: ‘I can never tell anybody these things because they’ll think I’m some sort of lunatic, a monster.’ And when I managed to actually physically bring the words out and voice them to my wife, she didn’t recoil and she understood. And she suggested we get some help.
“It just made me feel human again. The way she dealt with it was just brilliant. And anybody struggling with any sort of mental health issues or addictions, the number one thing to do is to get it out and talk to somebody about it. Let them know how you’re feeling and then the helping can happen.
“When you start developing these things, and they manifest inside, you start thinking that you’re unique, and nobody has ever gone through these problems. Nobody’s ever been an alcoholic before. Nobody’s ever woken up and wanted to go straight to the pub and couldn’t leave the pub unless they were blind drunk.
“Yet, the more people talk about it, I wouldn’t say it normalises it, but it just makes the person who is affected by it feel like there are other people out here and people have gone through this before.
“Not seeing an awful lot of light at the end of the tunnel, and then all of a sudden, somebody pats you on the back and says: ‘I’ve been there, and look where I am now, I’m through it.’
“It just makes you feel there’s a bit of hope here and I’m not the monster that I’m building myself up to be in my head. Sometimes in life, you just need that little bit of hope, and people talking about it can give it to you.”
Treacy believes it is deeply beneficial to discuss these issues publicly, as he seeks to help others suffering from similar problems.
“I do enjoy talking about it. It is therapeutic. But it took me a long time to get here. It was just over four years of therapy. And it’s still almost two years past that now. So it took a long time to get me to a place where I was happy to talk about it.
“I just hate the feeling that somebody might be in the same way of thinking that I was so many years ago, in a dark place and thinking: ‘Nobody’s been here and come out of it.’ So if anybody in any walk of life looks at this and thinks: ‘Jesus, if he can pick himself up from where he was and move forward with his life, maybe I can do that.’ And even that gives me hope as well, thinking maybe I could help somebody in the future.”
And does he have a message for people who are currently struggling?
“The first thing I would say is if they want to have some sort of one-to-one, I’m sure they could get in touch with yourselves and we could arrange for my contact details to be given across.
“If there’s anybody who feels they would like to talk to me and really get down to the nitty-gritty of things, it’s therapeutic for me, and if they want to unload some stuff onto me and I can help them in any way possible, that would make me feel great.
“It’s not all about them coming to me, I get a lot out of the interaction as well. So if anybody wants to talk to me, I’m open to that. If you’re not ready, and not in a place where you feel you can talk, just know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and you will get into a place where things will get easier. You just need to hang on until they do.
“But I would urge people to talk to somebody close to them even if it’s not me or your doctor, just unload to a friend or to somebody and things will start getting better.”
You can watch live coverage of England v Italy on Virgin Media Three tonight from 7pm, as well as Nations League highlights from 10pm.
Need help? Support is available:
- Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.ie
- Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
- Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm)
- Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
- Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)
Why does John Delaney get paid €430,000 a year?
Because he’s the head of a football association that works tirelessly to maintain top quality and entertaining domestic leagues…..oh sh!t hold on a sec…
Its combination all the same ingredients..a lad with a chip on his shoulder…and a lad with a steady logic…a potential master stroke….lets see what happens…well done to all involoved…
Idiots are the best paid people in Ireland….Simple.
Because he wont make many phone calls
Id love to be an idiot.
Tubirdy would never have the guts to ask him that or else he would have to try in vain to justify his own ridiculously bloated salary.
Funny how people are disliking your comment. What has he actually done that’s worth that amount of money. He doesnt even discuss the LOI problems
its the curse of the irish,we wont put you in power or elect you unless your a complete corrupt incompetent leech with gombeen tendencies !!!
Look at that…two grossly overpaid, underperforming tw@ts having a chat..and it’s apparently called entertainment…
DANGER DANGER*****Moan alert****DANGER DANGER
Absolute muppet. The man doesn’t give a shit about the league of Ireland. Stood by as clubs like Kilkenny and Kildare went under. Not to mention the joke that was sporting fingal
Appetite for League of Ireland football simply isn’t there beyond Rovers, Sligo and at a push Derry and Cork. Club football will never compete with rugby and gaelic games on this island, for an island of only 6million people something has to lag behind.
And as long as we have that English league to gawk at across the water where Irish people descend on in their thousands each week, LOI will go nowhere..
Still isn’t an excuse for the head of football in this country to let the league fall to pieces.
And dublin city
Fair enough. Sadly the majority on this island don’t care about the league, its always been the same (since I was growing up) and if something doesn’t drastically change then it will be always be the same.
Monaghan, Various cork and Galway teams… The list goes on
Ye I’m aware of that. My point is that thick Delaney should do more for the league. If he doesn’t care then let it be independently run again because since the FAI took over it hasn’t done much at all
Cork and Galway? The clubs with the debts? They brought their demise about themselves. Situation in Galway is a joke though.
Winners of the LOI receive €100,000. What chance do clubs have in developing and keeping talented young players when they don’t have 2 pennies to rub together. Sad state of affairs when players leave for League 2 or non league football in England instead of premier league football here. Serious investment is needed in each county.
The appetite not being there surely should highlight his pay packet being slashed
Winners of the league only get 100k? And he gets 430k. What an absolute joke. The new management team are getting what 2 million a year. How much is o brien contributing?
We live in a capitalist country; if teams can’t survive and if the game can’t attract sponsors John is not totally to blame. If he can turn two failed managers living on past glory into a dream team that’ll rake in €€€s while getting someone else to pay for it; job done.
Why did my comment get deleted?
Agreed. Blaming the FAI for clubs who get into debt is misguided!!
David. Yet another gem from you. How can clubs not be in debt when the league winners get 100k in prize money. You are some peach.
Cork City was run into the ground by false ownership. A bunch of nameless gangsters and subsequently another gangster called Tom Coughlan. Which is precisely where the FAI should have been stepping in to stop these kind of lads from ruining clubs. I’ll give you Galway United. Run by local business men who were raking it in during the boom times and left when it went sour.
GAA ruined it for us! Imaging where we could have been if we had no armature shite like that
Did you ever notice how plonkers like that are usually also illiterate?
Anyone remember Thurles town
Delaneys salary is 4 times higher than the prize money for League of Ireland.
So John Delaneys basic salary is 4 times what the league winners receive God knows what he puts on his FAI credit card.This guy is so overpaid it makes my blood boil.
Seriously how is the league meant to develop when that cretin gets paid over four times what the winner gets. You should see the prize money on offer to each club, it is absolute pittance, so of course there are going to money issues. Delaneys legacy of the Irish football league in the last decade has seen Kildare County, Kilkenny, Dublin City, Sporting Fingal, Monaghan, Galway and Cobh all go under and Cork City, Shelbourne and Derry City relegated because they nearly went under. Add in Shamrock Rovers, Drogheda, Bohemians and Dundalk amongst others that have had serious financial difficulties and you realise how precarious life is as a senior football club in Ireland.
Obviously some of these problems have being the fault of the clubs only but the FAI just do not seem to care, and have let clubs go under without saying a word. Compare this to when there were problems with Portsmouth, and the reactions of the FA to the crisis and you really understand how pathetic the FAI are in their dealings with their national league. This is Delaney’s legacy of senior football in our country. It was sickening to watch that interview last night, we are at our lowest world rankings ever and our last campaign was our most abysmal I can ever remember yet the way Tubridy and Delaney were acting you would swear Irish football is in a great place. Here’s hoping Roy and Martin can turn it around but with Delaney in charge the Irish league is never going to develop.
Couldn’t of put it better myself.
MarkMurph1 – That a lazy attitude.
They’re lots of countries with a similar population to Ireland that have allot more professional sports to contend with be-it netball, basketball, winter sports, etc & still manage to have clubs participating in the europa & chapions league.
In essence their are only 3 professional clubs in Irl Leinster, Munster, connacth & to a certain extant ulster!
Snug-clown who hasn’t the balls to sign in his own name!! What about the teams that have gone in to receivership? The league is not their mammy and daddy!! They have a responsibility to run themselves properly and with proper financial planning behind whatever they do!! Blame the FAI on clubs going bankrupt?? That’s rich!! Even if the prize money was more than 100k do remember only one team can win it!! So then the bottom clubs get nothing and still go into receivership? You are an absolute clown!! So why not do everyone a favour and let the adults speak little boy!!
In fairness, he comes across as a genuinely nice fella and people who have met and interacted with him have said the same.. But there is no justification for the mans salary and some of the decisions he has made as chief of the FAI.. What I will say though, he and the association (with the helping hand of a certain fella) have delivered this time round with what I hope turns out to be a quality management setup for our senior side!
Keane was dead right about Saipan, not sure if he did the right thing though
prepared to be corrected on this , but I think he wanted to retract and Mick wouldn’t let him back …
I have the height of respect for both men by the way ; true warriors ; they were bound to fall out ; shame it was just before we had the best chance of ever winning a world cup …. and if you don’t believe me look at Roy Keane in the semi-final of the champions league .
He would have killed Spain in the last sixteen and then the rest would have just went home !
I think Keane regrets Saipan deep down. He knows he blew a once in a lifetime chance there by going home. Plus he could easily have apologised to the squad and gone back out but he was too stubborn. I reckon if he has his time all over again he would have done it differently.
but I thought he did look to get back and they said no that the paperwork was done the replacement was called in ……
It was more confusing than the seanad abolition at the time….
Come of it, we were never going to win that World Cup
Keano,keano, keano! Can’t stand Delaney, my skin crawls when I see or hear him uggh!
Roy Keane is now a parody, he has become what he hated so much in football a has been who rolls around the media circus and is always ready to drop a quote to the same media he despised when he was younger. I wonder also is this managerial selection a plot by Dermot Desmond to give his today fm gift grub team enough ideas for the next 30 years ?
wow ; well done Mr. Delaney , you have gone up in my estimation …
not that my estimation counts for a hill of beans but fair play !
To be honest dermot. Even the wife said earlier, “you hate john delaney” but this quote made me view him in a different light. But his wages are massively still too high.
I am exactly with you on that Leslie …… in every sense !
Shall we question Sepp Blatter and go into bungs? ……….. Nah , to hell with it John Delaney is Irish and most of us would jump at 400,000 ; wouldn’t myself personally but there you have it !
Of course we’d love that money. But don’t be putting him too far from blatter
Minions ; still tonight he is good, so …………….vive la diifference !
Keano is gonna get ya John lol
John Delaney – who?
ROY KEANE = LEGEND!
….end of discussion….
Legend is his own lunch time.
anyone that questions Roy keane as a sportsman or a man is braver than that misguided idiot who thought he could insult Zinedine Zidanes mother just because the world was watching ; we know how that happened ; Zidane walked off the pitch as the greatest man to ever play football in a world cup final !
Respect your right to type it though !
Hi Dermot!
Well, I’ll always question Keane as a man because he turned his back on his team. Whatever about the timing of when he did it, or if you think he was pushed out – fact is Roy Keane decided that Roy Keane would not play for Ireland in the 2002 World Cup. Nobody else made that decision. For that reason I’ll never respect him as a man.
To compare Keane to Zidane is gas. Zidane is known worldwide to have been one of the best ever players, while Keane is well known (and not exactly universally loved) just in Ireland and the UK – the rest of the world doesn’t care about Roy Keane.
Still hope the new Irish management brings the best out of this team though.
@Roy
1999 juventus vs United – a very young Roy Keane played zidane and Davids off the pitch, the golf in class between them isnt as big as you suggest.
I was only 5 years old do I didn’t watch it live but I watched lots of documentaries about it on YouTube. Im an arsenal fan and Keane isnt exactly loved by us but even we can see he was a world class player, probably best ever to play for Ireland
Get real Dermot!! Keane v Zidane? You on drugs? Zidane I do love but in no way is he better than Maradona!! Really…. You were having a laugh right?? Right??
That’s the worst bullsh*t comment I’ve seen in a long long time, what happened at Saipan was simple, McCarthy and a click of the senior players were delighted that they got to one more major tournament, keane got them there and that was enough they felt they didn’t need him anymore, his performances against Portugal and holland were the best Ireland will ever see, so they were happy wit ther lot and jealousy of keanes success was a lot to do wit accusing him of faking injury and signalling him out as an individual? Keane being the warrior he is wouldn’t lie down and they got there way, he had a change of heart and he was told too late?? Ppl come on giving out about Roy then, ppl who don’t really understand football and have an ignorance about there attitude, keano was the best in the world at his job, a general on the field, minding his back four as well as driving the team forward, chipping in wit plenty of importand goals hard tackling, had the boldness to go in to the backyard of European giants like juve inter barca bayern and hurt them, scholes giggs beckham Neville’s and more relied on keanes unbelievable drive and belief and he is known worldwide and many top European managers and players have pointed him out as the player they wud like to have in there team, juve in 1999 was probably his finest hour or holland in 2001, Irish ppl are so bitter about keane, most of them anti-united, well keanes is Ireland’s most successful player and will never be surpassed
PAF – I’m not denying Keane was a fantastic player, he was brilliant at what he did, the best in the world in his day. I just don’t think he was in the same league as Zidane.
For me it’ll always come back to this: Who decided Roy Keane wasn’t gonna play that World Cup? If your answer isn’t Roy Keane, I think you’re wrong.
What makes you think I’m ignorant about football? Because my opinion opposes yours? Nah I’m not that ignorant to be honest and im sure you’re not either.
Materazzi didn’t seem misguided? He intended to get Zidane sent off which he achieved.
Well said PAF, well said..
Whatever you think of Keane, the fact is he was SENT home from Saipan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/rep_of_ireland/newsid_2003000/2003681.stm
Wasn’t Delaney just the treasurer of the FAI during Saipan? What business would he had ringing Keane during the whole thing?
Who was the CEO in 2002? My understanding is that Delaney was acting as ‘front of house’… There’s a gap between Bernard O’Byrne stepping down (2001) and Fran Rooney stepping up (2003) that I cannot figure out.
I want an Irish team to go to a European championships and do a Denmark ; have a really good time , play a few games of football and then see what happens !
I also want 10 Roy Keanes on the team so my ultimate combination of soccer dreams can never happen……. woe is me for me dreaming !
Roy Keane against Portugal in Landsdowne Road ; had the pleasure of treating my eyes to that one live ! Never any greater commitment; unquestionable and talent sublime.
Anyone but into the theory that Alex Ferguson destroyed POTENTIALLY one of Ireland’s greatest ever attacking midfielders by giving Roy the defensive mid-field role ; He was awesome at Forest when given the run of the pitch by Clough !
there are 2 options witht he theory above yes one can but into it or they can if they wish buy into it ….for a free fee !
Eh dermot. Keane only scored 22 in 114 for Forest. And the reason he played deeper at united from 95? Paul scholes. Only one of the most ingenious attacking midfielders in the history of world football. Could scholes have played deep? No. So it had to be keane.
He does seem like a likeable person. Whatever happens, it would appear that the overly generous salaries of the Celtic tiger period have yet to be dealt with. The fans have taken a big hit. It’s time the executives did too.
Did you see that the Bondholders have upped their interest in Iris sport they told Enda and co. to up the rates on Landsdowne Road ! extra million or something ….
Try as I might, I can’t decipher your response.
Oh yeah blame enda and the bondholders. It’s all their fault.
Alot more than an extra million, over 500% rates increase according to the sindo… Jeez if we thought they were broke before they are screwed now… Wonder if DOB will pick up the tab for that too?
…what?
*probably
In fairness to John Delaney you could be quite sure that Keane would’ve told Delaney to &%#^ himself & hung up if he had rang him.
That sap is on 400’000 a year…..
So what? It’s a business and profitable!! Not his fault we have a lack of talent!! Football is cyclical!!
David what are you on about? The FAI are haemorrhaging money year after year and need Denis o Brien to help pay the wages. Cop on to yourself.
It’s profitable you fool!! Look at its p&l for FY11/12!! Don’t speak before you know what the hell you are on about you twit!!
I know you….don,t I
That’s right David profitable if you count the contribution that Denis O’Brien has made and that they are only paying interest on debt owing to their main bankers Danske.
In other words, profitable but not profitable enough and relying on the support of their banker.
In case you think I’m supporting your view David.. I’m not…
Have a look at the accounts again – https://www.fai.ie/images/FAI_AR_2012.pdf
Correct the FAI recorded a small surplus of 25k after handing out grant monies etc. The balance sheet tells a different story. The FAI actually has no cash on the Balance Sheet, if wound up in the morning would not be able to meet its short term liabilities and INCREASED its long term indebtedness during the year! The financial statements of the FAI are in rag order.
The Irish Times also provides a nice synopsis – http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/2020-vision-makes-fai-figures-look-all-the-more-daunting-1.1454757
I read elsewhere that the FAI have been paying interest only on debt since 2010 – http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/article1329962.ece
All the while, John Delaney is on massive bucks whilst presiding over the scariest looking balance sheet I’ve seen in a long time. It’s a national embarrassment.
That guy gets paid more than both the head of the Spanish FA and the Italian FA combined, and you think that’s justifiable? There are kids all around the country getting changed on the side of a pitch in the pissing rain with no showers or toilets because of lack of funding from the FAI..Cop on to yourself!
David…anybody seen or heard from David?hes gone quiet for some reason
Oh and I forgot about this gem… http://www.independent.ie/sport/uefa-give-fai-advanced-payment-to-help-with-aviva-stadium-debt-29331829.html
The IRFU must be pulling their hair out however it’s not as if they don’t have their own problems (http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irfus-ticket-sales-26m-below-target-29435047.html). They appear to be acting more prudent however.
Mind if the worst case scenario comes to pass (i.e Default), what’s half a stadium worth on ground owned by the IRFU? The hilarious thing is that it could actually play in the FAI’s favour.
What’s the difference between Denis O and a sponsorship? Nothing. So the books are profitable!! Yes ?? Yes!!
Easy knowing you haven’t a clue how to read a set of company accounts.
I struggle to put into words the hatred I have for this man, gets paid more than the head of the Italian FA & the head of the Spanish FA & Ireland has one of the poorest leagues in Europe. How he can he justify his wage is beyond me.
i would do that job for €419,000
The League of Ireland should be re-invented with just ten teams, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway, Athlone, Dundalk, Sligo, Derry and two Dublin teams and the involvement in European competitions that would come with them..
Organise the amateur leagues around them as feeders rather being in competition with them.
Develop further the Under 19 competitions, to give decent players a showcase.
Make deeper links with continental clubs to improve their skills, dumping them into the lower levels of the premiership, never mind the rubbish level of championship and Scottish football destroys good players.
So two of Bohs, Shels, Pats, Rovers and Ucd would always be in a lower league. Genius. Unbelievable.
Roy Keane should tog out himself and leave that other Keane lad sitting on the sideline..Or throw in Bernard Brogan for the Latvia Game to give him a run..
If Roy was right about you Sapian ( which i believe he was) but if you u believe that all ur credibility is gone which questions why are you still in ur job?
He’s a very slimy creature altogether, one of Ireland’s biggest “yes men”, he’d sell his own mother down the river
It’s soccer a sport for brain dead idiots
Football*
Y U NO SPIK INGLES!
He never cheats he never lies
John delaney hes a lovely guy
The FAI are like the MaFFia ,when bertie was in comand.
Refreshing to see someone being paid a lot of money to do f##k all admitting he is a tool.
The FAI is a shambles. John Delaney earning €430, 000 , and for what exactly? ?? Better investing that money in the clubs around the country to benefit youngsters who play football. If we want an Irish team to advance in the future there needs to be more emphasis on club level soccer & not on the wages of management.
You can appoint whoever you want to manage Ireland, but at the end of the day it’s the players that win the matches and Ireland just doesn’t have the players
They have some good players, and if the new management builds a system around those players then who knows, maybe they’ll be a decent team.
Trapattoni had one system in mind and forced it, hoping the players would be good enough. Didn’t work, and that’s why we are where we are now.
I’m excited for the next few games. We have everybody riiiiiiiiiiight where we want them. We’ll come good yet. All goin to heaven lads waaaaaaayy
It’s all getting a bit too much for me.
The man is a parasite, he has more interest in lining his pockets than improving Irish football. The national team and domestic league will never get better as long as he’s in charge.
I’m delighted with the new Management team but I feel for Mick McCarthy – I reckon he feels very betrayed
Love him or hate him. It takes a lot to admit you are wrong , unlike that egotistical butch in the revenue.
It suits him to admit he was ‘wrong’… Delaney would have never given Roy the mgrs job. Even so, it must have been a fair kick in the teeth when he heard his main man wanted to bring in Roy as assistant…
I agree he is overpaid but the league of Ireland is a weak excuse. The support and interest just isn’t there and never will be with the level we need when you have the premiership across the pond and when it’s on all TV stations. Don’t believe the media all the time as it might surprise you John Delaney is the most successful CEO in their history.