George Hook on EOS...

Junior

Lads,

While watching the coverage the weekend it struck me as odd for the Hooky Monster to come out with the line 'Eddie O'Sullivan must be the luckiest Irish manager ever' - he seemed to think any manager could get the results he was getting and that he does f - all bar talk to the media ...

Is this just Hooky being Hooky, a grumpy old b'stard or is he really under estimating EOS ?

Ghost Train

I thought when he said that, it was just in the context of england beating france, which wasn't expected, and now ireland had a chance to win the 6N.

If EOS was really lucky the french wouldn't have scored that last minute try in croke park.

funky penguin

I remember watching the pregame analysis for England v France.... Not a Hook in sight... I dared hope that he was absent until.......

God he annoys me.

walshb

He's a twat who is never happy unless we are struggling to win.
Lucky, my arse lucky. You make your own luck and that's why Ireland are and always will be a great sporting nation

Sangre

He might have been referring to the calibre of players on offer. Can't really remember the comment though.

zAbbo

was this not in reference to England beating France, which is luck, and good luck for Eddie.

Don't think it's fair to pull a comment out of context and then lambast the man as a twat.

He's entertaining, outspoken, and forthright in his views, he balances out the panel, although himself and Pope don't really add anything to the show.

Now if you had a decent straightman (not McGuirk) and Fitzgerald, O'Shea and someone else, that would be good.

Junior

He had said in on saturday again ... I just can't remember the comment exactly. He said something along the lines of Eddie is the luckiest Irish manager, he's had all the lucky breaks all the way up and that team of players as well. Which is why I thought I'd bring it up, I think the best managers make the best players look good, i.e. that there's no managing to them they [the players] know what to do and do it well. And as someone ssaid you make your own luck, how often have you seen top teams get that lucky break ?

They get that lucky break because they put themselves in that position of being able to take advantage of it.They have the calibre to finish off a mistake by the other team to their advantage, this I think is professional team showing their ability. You know you've seen it often enough the underdog gets that chance and the ball doesn't go to hand, or get's knocked on, where as when they make a mistake the other team goes down under the sticks.

I just think Hooky is being very disengenious to EOS and what he's done with that team. Hooky seems to think it's the team that's winning everything and it's EOS's fault when they don't do well.

I do like the panel on the show, they are a helluva lot more lively than anything on the BBC although McGurk could really do with a good kicking every so often.

LostinBlanch

Well I hope that it is true and that EOS's luck gets even better for the world cup!

Linford

Junior wrote:

Lads,

While watching the coverage the weekend it struck me as odd for the Hooky Monster to come out with the line 'Eddie O'Sullivan must be the luckiest Irish manager ever' - he seemed to think any manager could get the results he was getting and that he does f - all bar talk to the media ...

Is this just Hooky being Hooky, a grumpy old b'stard or is he really under estimating EOS ?

In two of the last three wins against England (05 and 06), Ireland have been lucky. There have been a number of other last minute wins too, notably against Wales, you can even say we were lucky against Scotland (a couple of late penalties and Scotlands inability to hold onto their lead). The France match was the first time that we actually got unlucky. Eddie is also lucky that he has such a professional set up, that any former manager could only have dreamed of, added to that he has some of the best irish players ever to play the game at his disposal. I think they add up to him being a little lucky...

Trojan

EOS has made some extremely questionable decisions that I think he's been lucky to get away with... but! Don't forget that Hook is paid to be controversial... simple as that.

Eoin

Junior wrote:

Is this just Hooky being Hooky, a grumpy old b'stard or is he really under estimating EOS ?

Hook probably knows O'Sullivan better and longer than any of the rugby experts on the telly. They worked together as coaches / managers for a good while, including a stint living together in the States when they were setting up coaching camps or something like that. While O'Sullivan doesn't admit it, Hook had a lot to do with O'Sullivan's progress.

Also, as recently as this championship, Hooke said that he reckoned O'Sullivan is the best coach in world rugby.

On this one I agree with him; EOS is very lucky to be in with a shout of the championship after the team has put in one comprehensive performance this season.

Rosita

walshb wrote:

He's a twat who is never happy unless we are struggling to win.
Lucky, my arse lucky. You make your own luck and that's why Ireland are and always will be a great sporting nation

According to the Oxford English Dictionary "luck" is "chance considered as a force causing success or failure". The same book defines "chance" as "the occurence of events in the absence of any obvious design". (my italics)

Taking those definitions into account, surely the cliché in sporting circles that you "make your own luck" is nonsense. Luck is chance, random, somthing you cannot control. The best, it seems to me, that you can do is try to be in a position to take the opportunites that luck presents, and to try to limit the damage it can cause when it goes against you.

But to claim that the luck element itself is in the hands of mere mortals and that you "make your own luck" simply doesn't hold water. As the Americans say one say you're the windshield and another day you're the bug. Them's the breaks.

funky penguin

What was it Hook said aboot EOS after the English match? Something about Eddie being genetically created to coach this Irish team? I cannae remember. Twas quite funny. Then he went on to talk about ROG; "behind that baby face is a killer assassin". As much as I dislike Hook, I tuned into all the six nation matches early to hear his commentary.