Time for Hook to be pensioned off..? *mod warning post 82*

Silvio.Dante

George's begrudging at the final whistle was his lowest point in his panel career.

Insinuating that the Irish team aren't skillful in his weasel words just makes him and RTE look ridiculous.

I used to be glued to him when he was the pantomime villain at the Munster matches but this level of hatred for BOD, Deccie and the boys is an embarrassment...

Thoughts..?

Bearcat

Ya know I thought the same myself....a grump of epic proportions. I for one didn't give Ireland a chance and Am estatic at the win......grumpy in the meantime pours distain at anything said by Frankie Sheehan. Even in complimentary mode which is rare his face would stop a clock.

Grumpy needs happy pills as he is an embarrassment on national tv with his moods.

Auvers

I used to like Hook but in recent years he has become an insufferable arse of epic proportions

risteard7

I actually think hook is spot on most of the time.if you were to take your green goggles off he is right what he said today.I bet we will struggle against italy

Silvio.Dante

risteard7 wrote: »

I actually think hook is spot on most of the time.if you were to take your green goggles off he is right what he said today.I bet we will struggle against italy

He all but said Ireland aren't skillful.

Deccie and the lads fooled us all into believing the wheels had come off the wagon. I can happily take it on the chin while Hook foams at the mouth in jealousy...

n32

in fairness to him he doesnt hate o driscoll like some poster said already. he constantly praises o driscoll and says he s one of the all time greats. his comment about the skill difference between the 2 teams was pretty much on te money. we re not as skillful as the southern hemisphere teams when it comes to ball handling and offloads. the other point he made this morning about the scrum and lineout being so important to rugby was spot on aswell.

risteard7

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

He all but said Ireland aren't skillful.

Deccie and the lads fooled us all into believing the wheels had come off the wagon. I can happily take it on the chin while Hook foams at the mouth in jealousy...

I dont think a one off result makes things rosy if ireland get to the final i will apologise

Chucky the tree

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

He all but said Ireland aren't skillful.

Deccie and the lads fooled us all into believing the wheels had come off the wagon. I can happily take it on the chin while Hook foams at the mouth in jealousy...

I suppose it depends what your definition of skill is though. Not many people would consider defending like trojans and playing with huge intensity as being "skillful" a. In terms of excellent attacking skill we didn't show much today at all.

Fizman

I had to flick over to Setanta/ITV. Myself and my old man said the same thing, he's just a sad old man.

Listening to him would make you feel as if we just lost the game by an embarrassing margin. The other channels were almost ecstatic (particularly ITV) with the result.

Miserable man though, and I shall be doing the same for the other Irish games.

Silvio.Dante

risteard7 wrote: »

I dont think a one off result makes things rosy if ireland get to the final i will apologise

No one is saying we're going to the final. This thread is a bout the leading rugby pundit in this country not being able to hide his hatred of Deccie, BOD and the Irish set up... Unprofessional to say the least in my view...

Silvio.Dante

Fizman wrote: »

I had to flick over to Setanta/ITV. Myself and my old man said the same thing, he's just a sad old man.

Listening to him would make you feel as if we just lost the game by an embarrassing margin. The other channels were almost ecstatic (particularly ITV) with the result.

Miserable man though, and I shall be doing the same for the other Irish games.

How was Matt Williams this morning. I love that lad but coulnd't watch him as I was in an 'RTE house'...

Silvio.Dante

He can blub like a baby when Ireland beat England in Cricket but then again none of the Irish Cricketing coaching staff or players have called him out on his ravings down the years so no personal axe to grind...

Fizman

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

How was Matt Williams this morning. I love that lad but coulnd't watch him as I was in an 'RTE house'...

Tbh I didn't see a whole lot of him as I was enjoying the ITV coverage with Lynagh, Dempsey and particularly Pienaar.

risteard7

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

No one is saying we're going to the final. This thread is a bout the leading rugby pundit in this country not being able to hide his hatred of Deccie, BOD and the Irish set up... Unprofessional to say the least in my view...

Its not hatred in fairness hes right we are not as skillfull as aus.He said he was happy we won.just because he isnt getting on the bandwagon hes the bad one.If we go on to the semi or final and are beaten playing well the he will be wrong but until then hes right

2smiggy

i watched on ITV with girvin dempesy , francois pienaar and michael lynagh. it was a breath of fresh air really compared to the bile been spouted by hook.

we are far from the best team in the competition, so why does he constantly have to have such negative comments. i will start watching rte again once they get rid of him. thankfully there are plenty of options these days which channels to watch the games on.

Buceph

risteard7 wrote: »

Its not hatred in fairness hes right we are not as skillfull as aus.He said he was happy we won.just because he isnt getting on the bandwagon hes the bad one.If we go on to the semi or final and are beaten playing well the he will be wrong but until then hes right

Look at either Pope or O'Shea. Both far better analysts than Hook. They keep their emotions in check while being positive and outlining what Ireland are capable of. And yet they're constantly shouted down by that muppet (or is it Zig or Zag with the big flappy jowls?) to give his illeducated, moaning opinion.

gernon

put him and Eamon Dunphy into a locked dungeon and let them torture each other to death by just talking

Fight_Night

gernon wrote: »

put him and Eamon Dunphy into a locked dungeon and let them torture each other to death by just talking

Dunphy is much better than Hook, still doesn't know what he's talking about either but still much more pleasant .

glimmerman123

He looked like he was disappointed Australia lost and also i'm sure his disappointed he didn't get another chance to slate the Irish team. Jesus looking at his mug anyone would think Ireland lost the match by about 50 or 60 points. What a grumpy old man.

MungBean

Buceph wrote: »

Look at either Pope or O'Shea. Both far better analysts than Hook. They keep their emotions in check while being positive and outlining what Ireland are capable of. And yet they're constantly shouted down by that muppet (or is it Zig or Zag with the big flappy jowls?) to give his illeducated, moaning opinion.

Exactly, thats how to do it. Constant moaning and whinging isnt what people want to see on TV. It does nothing only helps to push people off supporting the team. There was no hype for this world cup, there was no drive to get people behind the team and Hook did all in his power to achieve that. If Hook had his way he'd have us all booing and throwing rotten fruit at the team for not winning every match no matter who they play.

And he's more of a Podge n Rodge type thing.

irishh_bob

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

George's begrudging at the final whistle was his lowest point in his panel career.

Insinuating that the Irish team aren't skillful in his weasel words just makes him and RTE look ridiculous.

I used to be glued to him when he was the pantomime villain at the Munster matches but this level of hatred for BOD, Deccie and the boys is an embarrassment...

Thoughts..?

i agree mate , i agree

ironingbored

To be honest I didn't see anything wrong with Hook's punditry.

The panel make their judgements and form their opinions from what they see.

The fact that Pocock and Moore were missing was a significant blow to Australia and the SH teams are more skilfull than NH (bar France) teams. There's no controversy here.

I have never heard anything but praise for BOD from Hook in the last 4 years (Grand Slam, Heineken Cups, etc.). He is right that BOD is not quite fit again supported by the evidence on front of us.

My beef is with Frankie Sheehan.

McGuirk asked him to explain the reasoning behind holding up the tackler and Frankie couldn't explain it. At every opportunity he calls for ROG to be sprung from the bench as early as possible (despite Sexton playing quite well and Ireland on top).

Buceph

Frankie should not be there at all, and he shouldn't be commentating on Pro12 games or Heineken Cup games either. He is a press agent for some of the players in those matches and is in no way neutral. Nevermind the fact that he's crap.

Burgo

Buceph wrote: »

Frankie should not be there at all, and he shouldn't be commentating on Pro12 games or Heineken Cup games either. He is a press agent for some of the players in those matches and is in no way neutral. Nevermind the fact that he's crap.

In fairness, how was he not neutral today? he only seems to bring out the bias when munster are playing, having heard his commentary for Ireland and other games (not involving munster) he does a decent job. He just wouldn't shut up about healy today :pac:

Buceph

Burgo wrote: »

In fairness, how was he not neutral today? he only seems to bring out the bias when munster are playing, having heard his commentary for Ireland and other games (not involving munster) he does a decent job. He just wouldn't shut up about healy today :pac:

It doesn't matter what he says or doesn't say. He actively represents the players and the potential players in those teams. That's a conflict of interest and not one that RTE should allow, I feel.

Silvio.Dante

risteard7 wrote: »

If we go on to the semi or final and are beaten playing well the he will be wrong but until then hes right

Huh..?

Are you saying we didn't play well today..?

risteard7

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

Huh..?

Are you saying we didn't play well today..?

Yes we played well but its only the second game bod or poc didnt seem as excited as every one on here does

MungBean

ironingbored wrote: »

To be honest I didn't see anything wrong with Hook's punditry.

The panel make their judgements and form their opinions from what they see.

The fact that Pocock and Moore were missing was a significant blow to Australia and the SH teams are more skilfull than NH (bar France) teams. There's no controversy here.

I have never heard anything but praise for BOD from Hook in the last 4 years (Grand Slam, Heineken Cups, etc.). He is right that BOD is not quite fit again supported by the evidence on front of us.

My beef is with Frankie Sheehan.

McGuirk asked him to explain the reasoning behind holding up the tackler and Frankie couldn't explain it. At every opportunity he calls for ROG to be sprung from the bench as early as possible (despite Sexton playing quite well and Ireland on top).

He explained it grand, said it was a choke tackle to hold it up the player and turn it into a maul. Unless you wanted him to describe what a maul is then I dont understand what else ya wanted from him. He called for ROG because he felt kicks were going to be the difference and he felt ROG had the edge in that department and Sexton having missed a few he reiterated his concern. And he wasnt wrong either. Kicks were the difference.

Whatever about other times but today he was grand. He even stood up to Hook and his bilge and kept a bit of optimism and enjoyment in the discussion.

ironingbored

Skunkle wrote: »

And he wasnt wrong either. Kicks were the difference.

Sexton missed one very kickable kick, hit the post with one and missed a difficult one.

Both ROG's kicks were in the quite easy category.

Having said that, I wouldn't have a problem with ROG starting.

Piliger

I thought Hook and Sheehan were excellent today. An excellent balance to the hysteria of the moment.
O'Connell was also very cautious, referring to it as only one match. And the truth is that Hook spoke the 100% truth when he talked about rugby being about passion and intensity and courage even more than skill.

Any neutral observer could see that Australia's back line were technically miles ahead of our now impotent back line. But they never got a chance because our passion and intensity and courage, mixed with our scrummaging and mauling skills completely smothered them.

It was a fantastic victory but getting completely carried away is a useless exercise. As I stated in another thread today:

The big question after this brilliant victory is .. is this another one off like England ?

Let's face it that is our pattern over the last few years and patterns like that very very rarely ever change.

MungBean

ironingbored wrote: »

Sexton missed one very kickable kick, hit the post with one and missed a difficult one.

Both ROG's kicks were in the quite easy category.

Having said that, I wouldn't have a problem with ROG starting.

I wouldnt say anything bad about Sexton he played well and I know if ROG was on he wasnt 100% to get the kicks that Sexton missed, they were difficult. But I dont think Frankie was being biased in arguing for ROG to come on if he thought ROG was a better kicker and the kicking was that important.

Plenty of people would argue the same.

crazygeryy

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

He all but said Ireland aren't skillful.

Deccie and the lads fooled us all into believing the wheels had come off the wagon. I can happily take it on the chin while Hook foams at the mouth in jealousy...

fooled us?they did in their hole fool us.they were complete ****e in the last five games plain and simple and no one it seems can explain why.while the game this morning was incredible and a great result(and george hook really let himself down) they still have a long long way to go.

Mr.SlumDuck

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

George's begrudging at the final whistle was his lowest point in his panel career.

Insinuating that the Irish team aren't skillful in his weasel words just makes him and RTE look ridiculous.

I used to be glued to him when he was the pantomime villain at the Munster matches but this level of hatred for BOD, Deccie and the boys is an embarrassment...

Thoughts..?

I think you are wrong here. What did he say that isnt true? He said the Aussies are more skillfull a team. They are.

He was quite complimentary to the team in terms of their grit, work ethic and gutso!

What did he say about BOD that wasnt true? He was fearful that he is injured, which to many he appeared to be.

He has just concerns, shared by most on here about DK's failures as a coach.

Can you be more specific as to what exactly he said that you didnt agree with?

Brain Stroking

Piliger wrote: »

Let's face it that is our pattern over the last few years and patterns like that very very rarely ever change.

I disagree. Team sport is about belief. A country/club/county/province that generally flatters to deceive can become winners with good organisation and good players. Ireland have good players who werent playing well but they now have excellent coaches and a shrewd operator in Kidney at the helm.
This Ireland team fits the definition of a "confidence team" so with regards to your argument that "once inconsistent always inconsistent" may not wash now that this team has beaten the Tri-Nations Champions.
They may not end up being good enough to win it or get to the Final but today we announced ourselves to the world as serious contenders. Who would fancy playing us after today?

Bearcat

He comes across as a man with manic depression......maybe he's full of the pipe on the inside but by god the scowl on his face is worth zoning in on when others on the panel speak......cheer up George it's only rugby and give us a smile:). We actually won today against a top team sir.

mdfire

I think Georges problem is that he wants to be seen as a Rugby guru and likes to self indulge talking about the technicalities of the game. Fine on most days but this wasnt most days.

Today made you feel proud to be Irish (not something many of us have felt much of the past 3 years) and the scenes at the end brought a lump to the throat. Then George pours cold water over the whole thing by being negative and over analysing the detail points. The majority of Irish viewers today would never have played the game (myself included) and dont care much about the technicalities. They are only interested in supporting their national team and take great pride when they pull off a result of this magnitude. George would do well to remember that his job is to entertain the viewers not indulge his own views.

thebman

Chucky the tree wrote: »

I suppose it depends what your definition of skill is though. Not many people would consider defending like trojans and playing with huge intensity as being "skillful" a. In terms of excellent attacking skill we didn't show much today at all.

It takes a great deal of skill to defend hard in any sport.

What most people mean when they say such things is that it wasn't entertaining to watch, well boohoo, it is a valid game tactic and it takes skill to pull off in any sport. The same crap was being said of the Donegal GAA football team and it is said about other teams in other sports all the time including our soccer team.

If Ireland had poor defensive skills, we'd have lost that game. We didn't and we won it. No problem with saying it wasn't pretty but it sure as hell took skill to win the game. It is kind of annoying that an organised and capable defense is portrayed as to require no skill.

Trotter

From watching in the o2 today, and some of the highlights packages this week, I think Shane Horgan has done extremely well in the hotseat.

In the o2 this morning Horgan was particularly scathing of Hook's commentary but that might be tinged by the fact that Horgan is only a recent ommission from the Irish setup and doubtless Hook's brand of criticism doesn't go down well with them.

woodoo

He is a dose of the highest order. How he got on radio with a voice like that i'll never know. As for TV.... well????

Silvio.Dante

Mr.SlumDuck wrote: »

I think you are wrong here. What did he say that isnt true? He said the Aussies are more skillfull a team. They are.

He was quite complimentary to the team in terms of their grit, work ethic and gutso!

What did he say about BOD that wasnt true? He was fearful that he is injured, which to many he appeared to be.

He has just concerns, shared by most on here about DK's failures as a coach.

Can you be more specific as to what exactly he said that you didnt agree with?

He let his personal agendas against BOD and Deccie taint his analysis. He gave a backhanded compliment at the end and delivered it with through gritted teeth, ecrying Ireland's lack of skill.

he's turning into a bitterold man...:(

seanhynes

RTE Should put Kurt Mcquilkan on the panel. Hes very good on the radio and inciteful

Mr.SlumDuck

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

He let his personal agendas against BOD and Deccie taint his analysis. He gave a backhanded compliment at the end and delivered it with through gritted teeth, ecrying Ireland's lack of skill.

he's turning into a bitterold man...:(

Again can you be more specific?

As far as I can see he has nothing but respect and admiration for BOD. He regularly goes on about how important he is to us and that he is the best player of all time etc. Can you point out where he has something against BOD?

Today he just highlighted how he appeared to be injured and not able to tackle with his normal ferocity. This is pretty much fact from anyone looking at the game.

He is entitled to an opinion on our national coach and is certainly not alone in it. Make no mistake, Deccie did not win this match for us, the players did and I would argue that Joe Schmidt has had a more positive effect than Deccie. But thats my opinion. Point is Hook is paid for his and I am trying to show its not a radical opinion at all. Would you rather he say how great DK is?? maybe for our lack of a tried back up centre? or for not playing reddan/sexton together once before the biggest match of his career? or his lack of a bench today in the form of Ryan and Leamy? None of this is new criticisms, pick up any newspaper and read pretty much what Hook says in most journos articles.

His delivery is maybe tactless at times but he is actually rarely wrong.

astonaidan

ironingbored wrote: »

Sexton missed one very kickable kick, hit the post with one and missed a difficult one.

Both ROG's kicks were in the quite easy category.

Having said that, I wouldn't have a problem with ROG starting.

Have to disagree, Jonny Missed 3 easy kicks, Hitting the pos=miss

dtpc191991

I don't think it's just the Irish setup he dislikes. Hook hates the idea of Rugby being a professional sport and constantly harp's on about the lack of passion and drive when money is involved etc. His criticism towards Ireland is driven, in my opinion, by a thirst to prove that the amateur days he was part of were the true glory days in Irish and all rugby.

Mr.SlumDuck

dtpc191991 wrote: »

I don't think it's just the Irish setup he dislikes. Hook hates the idea of Rugby being a professional sport and constantly harp's on about the lack of passion and drive when money is involved etc. His criticism towards Ireland is driven, in my opinion, by a thirst to prove that the amateur days he was part of were the true glory days in Irish and all rugby.

Jez lads, Im not a massive Hook fan but some of the stuff written here is so far off.

Hook praised Ireland today specifically for their passion, drive!

Piliger

Brain Stroking wrote: »

This Ireland team fits the definition of a "confidence team" so with regards to your argument that "once inconsistent always inconsistent" may not wash now that this team has beaten the Tri-Nations Champions.

An argument that has trouble dealing with our massive destruction of England in the 6N..... ?

dobsy89

I think everything that hook said was true. The Aussies possess more attacking skill in my opinion and i think it is evident that BOD seems slightly injured at times and he simply said he was worried that was the case and never said anything disparaging towards BOD as a player. He stated he was very happy and also stated that skill was not as important as courage,passion and commitment and that the Irish possessed more of that than the Aussies.

Personally i found Frankie very biased towards munster. His first thought at half time was to bring O'Gara on straight away which i could understand as Sexton wasn't having a great game ( even though i feel it was right to leave Sexton on as kicking percentages have been poor throughout the tournament and its not) but i'm nearly sure i remember him mentioning Leamy and Ryan as the other possible replacements (correct me if I'm wrong as might have been mentioned after match) which didn't make any sense to me as we were outplaying them up front! I just tought he took any chance possible to mention Munster players and wasnt very neutral. That is just my opinion though.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Did Hook have some sort of run in with the IRFU or something to make him have such a chip on his shoulder? You just know he's sitting there in the studio hoping they'll lose so he can publicly slate them for his own pleasure.

seachto7

I think the fact Frankie is probably mates with a lot of these guys he won't knock them. Bit of a Jamie Redknapp syndrome with him. I wouldn't say he has a Munster bias though.
He claimed Sexton was "world class". Totally disagree. Sexton is far from world class....

irishbucsfan

seachto7 wrote: »

I think the fact Frankie is probably mates with a lot of these guys he won't knock them. Bit of a Jamie Redknapp syndrome with him. I wouldn't say he has a Munster bias though.
He claimed Sexton was "world class". Totally disagree. Sexton is far from world class....

Could also be the fact that they employ him

handsomecake

i think hook is a clown but agree wityh the sentiment he tried to get across today.
ireland out gutsed,out fought,out "hearted" australia today.
but one swallow doesnt make a summer.
ireland didnt score a try. its not as if it was enterprising mercurial rugby at its best.
australia are the more skilful side.hook was right on the money.
matt williams even said on newstalk this week if it rained heavy australia are bolloxed.
on a dry track it could be a different story.
but thats not irelands fault. ireland played the conditions and manshamed australia -no arguments.

but i still think they will struggle to put italy to the sword.
our centres dont break the line.
sexton was profligate with the boot.


ireland were ****ing awsome today but in typical irish style everyone is getting ahead of themselves