Not forgetting "my Kevin" :D
"it is true, is it not" that.....
John thought Leeds finishing 3rd would get them promoted. Eamon told him it only gets them to the playoffs. Eamon glosses over it in a very kind way so that it took the focus off of John's faux-pas. It's really shocking how John didn't know about the play-offs and how promotion works in England. Perhaps it's the beginning of dementia? It left me feeling a bit shocked, but ultimately sad. I really like John, and I even like Eamon.
John is still very sharp for his age when he knows what he is talking about, problem is he's still depending on knowledge from 20 years ago and whatever he reads in that mornings paper. He doesn't do any research and barely watches any games.
He’s 83. He’s just old. That’s just what eventually happens to all of us if we live that long.
Eamons taking a grand old break over the xmas break, wouldnt begrudge him it though, looking forward to his next football podcast with Gilsey
Yes a well earned break. His output has been quite high all year.
Not strictly to do with the Stand but a nice get together of the 3 lads for Liams recent book launch on OTB. Very poignant seeing them together again. We should be grateful to still have them to enjoy.
https://youtu.be/6VfY5DlNKec?si=DrELsV0lTVjRIMv7
Very lucky to have them, Eamon seems to get very emotional at times these days. He sounds & looks the most unwell out of all of them. Hopefully they're around for at least a few more years still
He does look somewhat unwell there. Hopefully just a result of festive overindulgence. Although he's younger than John, by his own admission he would have partied a lot more over the years and it may be catching up on him now.
i think the clip is from October. Dunphy looks like he had to climb 10 flights of stairs seconds before the show started. Red faced and out of breath.
Didn't realise it was October. Hopefully he's ok.
He was/is a heavy smoker for most of his life. That’s probably done far more harm than his monthly benders.
He suffers from Emphysema. I think they caught him on a bad day as he hasn't sounded like that on podcasts since. He almost sounded emotional at times but I think it was just the his condition.
I'm well familiar with the condition. My grandmother developed it after decades of heavy smoking and it blighted the final few years of her life. Eamon's appearance, breathing and speaking are giving me flashbacks... I hope he was coming off the back of a cold or something, rather than this being a sign of how things have deteriorated. It also explains why Tomás Ryan's Dr Death shtick scared the living daylights out of Eamon when Covid was still a thing. I remember him continuing to contribute to other radio shows over the phone for some time. This was when other journalists had started coming into studios again.
Yes that’s actually a really that’s a good observation. I always wondered why Eamonn bought wholesale all of Tomas Ryan’s scary covid predictions and general pessimism.
Hope Eamon is alright, he’s been off nearly a month now, there’s Xmas breaks and then there’s Xmas breaks. Wonder will they try and limit the amount of episodes he does this year as he did a shedload last year for a man of his age
I was thinking the same thing. But hopefully it's just an extended break. I thought the same previously and he reappeared and picked up where he left off.
Could be at his villa in France I suppose😂. Would be good to see more of Peter Oborne, Elovsky, Simon Kuper & Johnny O'Reilly in the new year
I'd forgotten he had a property out there. If that's where he is I'd tell him to stay there until February at least and come back rejuvenated.
Yes they are all interesting contributers. I'd add John Kampfner as well for his views from Germany.
I have a relative with a similar condition to Eamonn. This time of year in Ireland is very difficult with the cold, damp air around constantly.
For his own sake I hope he can spend these weeks in France where he might have a bit more opportunity to be out and about.
Was wondering that myself. They are still reposting old episodes on January 18. Hopefully just a winter break to go with his usual August break.
Panic over, Eamon is back tomorrow!
Stand back and stand by
I vividly remember downloading an OTB podcast while living abroad in 2012 that featured Giles. I had been out of touch with Irish punditry for a few years and remember thinking that Giles was really on his last legs in terms of keeping up with the game at that stage, amazing he is still going 12 years later! Even if it is just on podcasts.
Giles does a fair bit of waffling on modern football but he is still great to listen to when the topic suits.
He had an interesting story on newstalk the day Franz Beckenbauer died. They had played against each other in a European cup final in which John thought, and still thinks, the referee was compromised! They ran in to each other years later before a match where both were doing analysis. Beckenbauer made some comment on a bad tackle by one of the Leeds players. John came straight back about an incident where Beckenbauer should have been sent off himself. As he put it, they didn't leave on good terms!
He's not the best with the current stuff, but his memory of his own career is actually unreal. Feels like he remembers every match
I heard John tell that story. Some people give out about him talking about the old days too much but I think its a privilege to listen to him retelling things with such detail. He knew and saw the Busby babes playing at old Trafford. He attended the 66 and 70 World cup finals, played with and against Bobby Charlton, played against Maradona in Dublin. Part of the best ever Leeds team. He's an amazing link to the past and he's still giving his opinions when he could have retired years ago.
Yeah they should just stop talking about modern football. It's toss anyway. Stories about their careers and life as pundits in the early days would be way better.
There are so many podcasts and radio shows covering modern day football, would anybody miss this if they dropped it? I find those chats where they talk about bygone times more interesting. It was such a different era and it's fascinating to hear the insights of those guys. Especially now that many of the people they're talking about have died and can't sue.
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