Sack o' Sullivan and The Goons that extended his Contract

Endurance Man · 23-09-2007 9:10pm

kvN-Paris wrote:

Skip it !

Unfortunately, there is brainless in France !

That's why I prefere support Ireland, people are more respectful !

But be careful, all french are not like that !

Watch who you call brainless ;o.

kvN-Paris · 23-09-2007 9:12pm

Endurance Man wrote:

Watch who you call brainless ;o.

Of course !

kvN-Paris · 23-09-2007 9:19pm

Diamondmaker wrote:

Oh I know all French not like that. Had a great time, I really liked the French, spent mopre time tlaking rugby to French randomers practcing my French than I rish. I like to get in local culture whan abroad and not get stuck into an Irish bar. The whole Basque area, Bordeaux and Nantes were lvely and met great people over the 2 weeks
My only experience of Paris was apres les Crunch!!

Not a fair measure, love the place have to say

Great !

For the moment, I only go in Irish pub in Paris !

But I'll go in Ireland to enjoy Six nations in 2008 ! Hurry Hurry !

All my friends who went to Ireland was fulfilled !

At least, you visited few cities and not just Paris, because mentalities change according where you are in France !

Diamondmaker · 23-09-2007 9:31pm

Thats funny.

On way into Bordeaux - lost looking for hotel - a car pulled up beside me.
( I was driving my own car, so right hand drive and you can tell by the plates ) and a guy pulls up beside to tell me how much he loves Ireland, he lived in Carlow for a few years. As we were so close to each other with LH drive and RH drive we chatted for quite a while as we drove, I met him later again as he was going into the Irish pub, the Connemara, for the "Craic" the night before the Namibia game.

Met a few other great guys and girls too,

one guy was so confused that we were pissed off after the Georgia game:

" But you Irish dont care?! you still like to have a party"

Gas I guess our expectations have changed over the last few years !!

Im gonna start a thread on the trip to France later actually see what other people thought, frankly I loved it and will deffo holiday there again

as I speak the language and there are no visa worries it becomes a real alternative in the futire, how I could settle into the Basque life style:)

kvN-Paris · 23-09-2007 9:46pm

Diamondmaker wrote:

Thats funny.

On way into Bordeaux - lost looking for hotel - a car pulled up beside me.
( I was driving my own car, so right hand drive and you can tell by the plates ) and a guy pulls up beside to tell me how much he loves Ireland, he lived in Carlow for a few years. As we were so close to each other with LH drive and RH drive we chatted for quite a while as we drove, I met him later again as he was going into the Irish pub, the Connemara, for the "Craic" the night before the Namibia game.

Met a few other great guys and girls too,

one guy was so confused that we were pissed off after the Georgia game:

" But you Irish dont care?! you still like to have a party"

Gas I guess our expectations have changed over the last few years !!

Im gonna start a thread on the trip to France later actually see what other people thought, frankly I loved it and will deffo holiday there again as I speak the language and there are no visa worries it becomes a real alternative in the futire, how I could settle into the Basque life style:)

The advantage in Bordeaux, not far there is beaches !

In Paris it's more complicated !

That's nice that you enjoyed your stay in France !

Me, I'm waiting the Six nations to go to Ireland !

Ireland / Scotland or Ireland / Wales

I'll see !

So now, I'm going to bed ! :cool:

See you perhaps tomorrows !

Have a nice night !

curiosity · 24-09-2007 12:08am

Here's my uninformed viewpoint....

The France game.....comparing Friday to our last few performances away to France it was markedly poorer, while we lost in 2004 and 2006 we at least showed some sembleance of good play. France were no great shakes on Friday, but all they had to do is hold us at arms length and take their penalties. They only gave us one shot at goal all night, I think I'm right in saying.

Can we win against Argentina, getting the four tries and preventing them getting the bonus point? It's possible. Nine days gives all concerned in the Irish camp to cop on and produce one performance in this tournament to be proud of. Will it happen though?............No way. We built our reputation on beating Scotland, Italy, Wales and England regularly over the last few years. France have always had our number, and we only beat weak South Afican and Australian sides in the autumn. Too many players walked onto the team with no-one to dispute the jersey with them.

There's been lots of polarised talk about the Argies, "Argentina aren't that great, they caught France on the hop, we'll turn it on against them", contrasted with "Flipping 'eck Argentina are brill, they'll beat us off the park and might be a good bet for the final". Then people wonder about their mental approach for the Ireland game.

Well I think these Argentina lads are on a mission. They feel they have had to contend with being the black sheep of rugby's top table. They got a brute of a draw getting the hosts and us, the two top teams in Europe. But they got on with it, stood up to France and got the win. They did what they had to against Namibia and Georgia. They know us plenty well enough by now. Remember how we were against them in 2003 RWC? All fired up for revenge for Lens 1999? You can bet Argentina will want revenge for 2003. Doctor Contepomi will mark their cards about our backline.

They most likely won't faff about thinking "ah, as long as we get the bonus point for losing by les than 7 we're grand". They will probably front up to us from kick off, draw any sting we have in the first 20 minutes, wrap up the game early in the 2nd half and unload the bench, thus resting a few starters for the quarter final. If they go out and do a professional job on Ireland they're looking at playing Scotland (likely) or Italy (unlikely, given their form so far) for a place in the semi-final. Mess about, and they'll be going home (short trip back to their French clubs!) or playing the All-Blacks sooner than they'd hoped.

To summarise, we're coming home on Monday week. Though if we manage to dig it out and get the result required, fair dues, we'd deserve a shot at the All Blacks (though that prospect puts "the fear of God" into me.:eek: )

Quarters will then most likely be a North vs South match-up (if England and Wales can keep it together) with a good chance of all four 6N sides being dumped out. Though it may not happen, it would be great to see Argentina go all the way (or the saffies, or the Ozzies, anyone except those insufferable All Blacks!!)

As a little tangent, are there any chances of some of our players who may not be around for the next four years taking the foreign shilling and going to France/England? The likes of O'Driscoll and a few others in their late 20's might feel it's not worth spending their last few years at the top being contracted to the IRFU.

jimd2 · 24-09-2007 1:19pm

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 1:36pm

jimd2 wrote:

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

Of all the multitude of valid reasons that are out there to critize O'Sullivan you picked this one? I won't defend him on too many points but, exactly where are all these magnificent young outhalves that he has been neglecting in recent years?

dub_skav · 24-09-2007 1:44pm

Of all the multitude of valid reasons that are out there to critize O'Sullivan you picked this one? I won't defend him on too many points but, exactly where are all these magnificent young outhalves that he has been neglecting in recent years?

They don't have to be young. I'm sure I'll be laughed at for this.

Eddie could have tried harder to convince Humphreys to go 1 more time. Paul Burke, Barry Everitt - not pleasant alternatives, but alternatives nonetheless.

Truth is Paddy Wallace is there purely for injury purposes, he was never given a chance to settle in at the position, neither were those mentined above.
RO'G has for a long time been the 1st choice, but when he's not playing well, you need an alternative, if only to give him a rest.
Paul Burke looked pretty good for Leicester last week.

redmca · 24-09-2007 1:51pm

jimd2 wrote:

Is Wallace a viable alternative to O'Gara. Was it not reasonable to have expected EOS to have identified and suitably prepared an alternative at one of the most pivotal positions on a rugby pitch?

That question is a valid one, but about a year too late. Once Humphries opted out, its been obvious that PW was going to be the back-up out half. I would have thought that the IRFU and EOS would have had sufficient clout to insist that Ulster play PW at out half all throughout last season.

If I am wrong then its simply a pity, if I'm right then they want shooting for not doing so.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 2:00pm

redmca wrote:

I would have thought that the IRFU and EOS would have had sufficient clout to insist that Ulster play PW at out half all throughout last season.

If I am wrong then its simply a pity, if I'm right then they want shooting for not doing so.

Unfortunatly I don't think that IRFU have the power to command this of Ulster. I do seem to remember Wales making the Osperys play Henson at full back once the week before a six nations game. But this was for one game. It would also be very unfair on Ulster to do this over the course of a half a season, as HEC qualification depends on their ML position.

I would not drop O'Gara for PW. Nothing against PW is is a decent footballer but the simple fact is thay nobody even knows if he can really play outhalf or not, he has had such little game time there for Ulster.

nacho libre · 24-09-2007 2:25pm

So no matter how crap O'Gara has been so far he still gets to play. A great state of affairs for team morale.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 2:37pm

nacho libre wrote:

So no matter how crap O'Gara has been so far he still gets to play. A great state of affairs for team morale.

Unfortunately that just about sums it up

.

Anyone know if P. Wallace has ever even played a HEC match at outhalf for Ulster?

SpAcEd OuT · 24-09-2007 3:07pm

My somewhat crazy team selection,

1. Young/Best
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. Quinlan
5. MOK
6. Best
7. Wallace
8. Leamy
9. Redden
10. Murphy
11. Hickie
12. Wallace
13. BOD
14.Horgan
15. Dempsey

Subs. D'Arcy, carney, boss, Easterby, Horan, POC, O'Callaghan

Flame away

aidan24326 · 24-09-2007 4:14pm

DaMooseDog wrote:

I sometimes get so pissed off at the unrealistic expectations and negativity of the Irish media and public, particularly towards our most successful products in any arena...while we're all entitled to our opinions, I don't believe that whining about how ****e the team is isn't going to achieve anything positive at this stage!

So what should we do, clap them on the back and tell them they're great? This Irish team has been well hyped and considered themselves contenders to actually win the thing. Bottom line is they're not good enough. Like others have said this Irish team built it's reputation on beating poor Scotland and Wales teams, England aswell. Couldn't even win a sub-standard 6 nations.

There is no chance of Ireland beating the Argies with 4 tries. Not a hope. We'd nearly be as well off, as NZ would destroy us. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in dreamland.

EOS has been exposed as a spoofer. Listen to his interviews, the guy is in cuckoo land. Stan the second. The team currently lacks any direction and the buck stops with O'Sullivan. He's an arrogant man (I used to know him personally) and would be the first to congratulate himself if it all went well.

He should be turfed out after this fiasco, but the geniuses in the IRFU have put themselves in the awkward situation where they'd have to pay him a large sum to get rid. Not gonna happen.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 4:17pm

SpAcEd OuT wrote:

My somewhat crazy team selection,

1. Young/Best
2. Flannery
3. Hayes
4. Quinlan
5. MOK
6. Best
7. Wallace
8. Leamy
9. Redden
10. Murphy
11. Hickie
12. Wallace
13. BOD
14.Horgan
15. Dempsey

Subs. D'Arcy, carney, boss, Easterby, Horan, POC, O'Callaghan

Flame away

I was thinking about it, but I don't care enough anymore to flame

. I would have a substitute hooker on the bench mind

.

the_syco · 24-09-2007 4:22pm

obl wrote:

I'm gonna go with: 1 miracle

I don't think so. I say the 2nd coming may just abou help, but nothing less.

marco_polo · 24-09-2007 4:44pm

the_syco wrote:

I don't think so. I say the 2nd coming may just abou help, but nothing less.

Maybe if EOS offered to cook the Argies a nice Lasagne a lá Spurs on Saturday night as a sign of friendship.

Also didn't the South Africans win the 1995 RWC with similar tactics? (*cough* allegedly)

SpAcEd OuT · 24-09-2007 6:02pm

marco_polo wrote:

I was thinking about it, but I don't care enough anymore to flame . I would have a substitute hooker on the bench mind .

the way I see it on the current form of the Irish 15 MOK, Quinlan, Best, Wallace, Murphy all deserve a run out. We are going out anyways EOS might as well mix things up a bit, personally I'd like to see Wallace play for Ireland in his normal position I would be interested to see how he does and Murphy at 10 would be interesting to the say the least it could either be an absolute disaster [likely] or an a stroke of genius either way O'Gara doesn't deserve his spot.

Scrummaging against Argentina would be a great experience for Young our future prop.

Like I said it probably wouldn't win the game but it would be adventurous might let us exit the WC with a bit of flair and style.

dixiefly · 25-09-2007 1:28pm

I still think that Eddie has not shown the necessary bravery in today's selection to give confidence that he is the person to lead the team in the years forward.
He had to make some changes and Hickie in for Trimble was almost guaranteed. We will never know if he would have picked Murphy ahead of Dempsey or given him a starting position elsewhere had Dempsey been fit.

He should have given the lineout a bit of a shakeup.

All in alll, I still hope he is given the boot after this tournament.

chicoben · 25-09-2007 9:00pm

brianw wrote:

and as for that bandwagon jumpin bunch of jester hat wearin oireland knobs in stade de france. sittin in some bistro enjoyin the wine by now

oireland knobs? at least i went to the match and supported the team, even after we were getting trounced. stereotyping all the supporters that went to the match? I was one of 4 people from coolock at the match, we do not say oirland, or roysh nor can we afford to eat in french bistros.

I wonder what goes through eddies mind before these press conferences, i mean you can actually predict what he's gonna say. terrible.

jimd2 · 27-09-2007 1:07pm

chicoben wrote:

oireland knobs? at least i went to the match and supported the team, even after we were getting trounced. stereotyping all the supporters that went to the match? I was one of 4 people from coolock at the match, we do not say oirland, or roysh nor can we afford to eat in french bistros.

I wonder what goes through eddies mind before these press conferences, i mean you can actually predict what he's gonna say. terrible.

Eddie seems to have lost the confidence of the players and doesnt seem to be able to handle the pressure of the world cup.

Unless there is a miracle over the next few weeks he should go.

dixiefly · 30-09-2007 7:58pm

The time for Eddie to go is now. There is no way he will do the honourable thing and resign - it would cost him too much. They say that a leopard wont change his spots and Eddie wont change his approach. Under him we might get the odd triple crown but he has proven that he cannot a very talented team to the next level so why persist with him?

Red Alert · 01-10-2007 11:20am

Eddie O'Sullivan needs to stop behaving like a spoilt child. His preferred targets seem to be referees and increasingly the media. It doesn't seem to occur to him that we just did a bad job. Players played bad rugby - simple as that. Simple fitness in yesterday's game wasn't inspirational - we were being milled in every tackle by the argentinians.

Seen as the rumors about some players pre-Bordeaux are a no-go here, all I will say is that O'Sullivan should have removed anybody from the squad whose mind wasn't 100% focused on the game at hand for whatever reason. Giving an interview to the press like O'Gara did in the wake of their awful games in Bordeaux should have earned him a boot from the squad - for time wasting and distraction. We have a lame duck manager who won't do this to his pets. O'Gara was no asset to us in the past few games and should have been sent home to cool off. However he seemingly is in EOS's good books so that won't happen.

George Hook made a pretty convincing argument for EOS to be shown the door I thought on Newstalk yesterday post-game.

bill_ashmount · 01-10-2007 11:34am

Both players and management are an embarrassment.

kevpants · 01-10-2007 11:50am

I know so many are taking the moral highground here and saying these "rumours" are scandalous and we should concentrate on rugby but I'm sorry. We fans financed this whole expedition and they're playing as representatives of Ireland so I want to know what went on here. Someone compared this to Brazil's performance in the 98 Football World cup final.

I'm not a curtain twitcher or a gossip but I simply want an explanation. If anyone says once more that we "forced the game" or "you can't legislate for individual errors" I'll farking kill them.

EOS needs to be held accountable for not managing these players correctly, if there were fallings out and if certain people were distracted or mentally not right it was up to the boss to manage this situation.

For christ sake he just had no answers when the wheels started to come off. He still doesn't. I want honesty here I don't want any more spin. He doesn't have to go into the sordid details but if he admitted ROG has personal problems at least that would explain that. I think we deserve an explanation and if he's not willing to give one I think we would be right to call for his head.

Stev_o · 01-10-2007 5:26pm

Red Alert wrote:

George Hook made a pretty convincing argument for EOS to be shown the door I thought on Newstalk yesterday post-game.

SOLUTION TO THE IRISH TEAMS PROBLEM AND HOW TO SOLVE IT!!!

We get George Hook to say what to change and then do the exact opposite so therefor its bound to work!

Sack o' Sullivan and The Goons that extended his Contract

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