February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Offaly have called up a man named Bond to try to restore morale in their hurling team. No, not 007 James Bond, but Michael Bond, a 50-year-old school principal from Loughrea, Co. Galway. A strong disciplinarian, Bond coached the Galway under-21 team in the 1980s, but he has not been involved with any intercounty team in recent years and was certainly a surprise choice in the Faithful County.
Meanwhile, Babs Keating, who quit after a public row with the players, says he felt “betrayed” by Johnny Pilkington’s public criticism of him in the Irish Independent. Keating made his comments in his column in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times.
Shelbourne home at Prenton Park
The Dublin club Shelbourne will play the home leg of its European Cup game against Glasgow Rangers at Prenton Park, home of English first division club Tranmere Rovers, tonight (July 22). After consultations with the Gardai and the FAI, Shelbourne reluctantly decided not to go ahead with the game at their own Tolka Park ground in Dublin. It was feared that alleged supporters intent on creating trouble had planned to travel from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland to Dublin.
It’s tough on the Shelbourne supporters, but the people of Dublin will be happy after witnessing the damage caused when Rangers last visited Dublin for a European game against Bohemians in September 1984.
Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s Athletic play Glasgow Celtic at Parkhead in the first leg of their European Cup qualifying game tonight. The Saints will play the second leg on July 29 at Shelbourne’s Tolka Park as their own Richmond Park ground does not have the seating required under UEFA rules.
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Keane comeback expected
Roy Keane is expected to make his comeback with Manchester United in a preseason friendly against Birmingham City on Saturday, July 25.
“Roy returned to training four days earlier than the rest of the squad and we have been very happy with his work,” United manager Alex Ferguson said. “After training hard early in the summer, he took a six-week break and now he is looking fresh and strong.”
Maher wins 2 golds
Seventeen-year-old Kilkenny runner Emily Maher won two gold medals at the inaugural World Youth Olympics in Moscow last week. The win sparked a row between Olympic Council President Pat Hickey and Minister for Sport Jim McDaid. Hickey claimed the minister did not allocate adequate funding for a full team, but the minister said his offer of _50,000 was refused.
Whelan to manage in Greece
Former Irish international Ronnie Whelan is back in management. Ronnie has moved to Greece where he will manage F.C. Panionios. After a distinguished playing career with Liverpool, Whelan has a go at club management in England with Southend, but he was sacked after just a year in the job. Whelan has already taken Portadown striker Gary Haylock on trial to the Greek club.
Brady gets Arsenal post
The is good news for another former Irish star, Liam Brady, who made a successful debut as a television analyst with RTE during the World Cup. He has earned a four-year contract as head of Youth Development at Arsenal. After unsuccessful stints as manager of both Celtic and Brighton, Brady has found his niche looking after the young players at the club where he began his professional career.
Carlow eye Talty
Former Galway star Brian Talty is one of the names being mentioned as a likely replacement to take over from Paddy Morrissey as manager of the Carlow senior footballers. Talty, a teacher in Dublin, is currently in charge of Dublin club St. Sylvester’s. In the past he has been a minor selector with Dublin and is the man who is credited with discovering Jason Sherlock.
Lads drop one spot
The Republic of Ireland has dropped one place from 46th to 47th in the latest FIFA rankings released just after the World Cup final. The table is conducted on a points table and does not really reflect current form. World champions France have moved up 15 places, but they are still placed second behind Brazil, who were so disappointing in the final.
The Pool name Frenchman
Liverpool, who have big support in Ireland, have been out of big time in recent years. Now The Pool have appointed former French manager Gerard Houllier as joint manager with Roy Evans. Evans says he is happy to work with the Frenchman, but after a few poor seasons by Liverpool’s standards, he probably didn’t have any other choice.