2024 Nations League B - Gameweek 1 - Ireland v England & Greece

[Arthur]

Damien Richardson

[Watchyourtoes]

Why is Stephen Kelly dressed up like Columbo?

[Arthur]

Very classist undercurrent to this discussion

[Massive_Attack]

Sorry there pal…it needs calling. Their treatment of Caoimhín has been wretched.

[Feech_La_Manna]

The lads on the Irish team these days are practically getting paid for doing nothing over in England. Compared to the talent we had in the '90s, these guys are joke shop.

Absolute shitzzz.

[Cheasty]

@Arthur

Damien Richardson

He would have been a great man to write the programme notes tonight.

As I wrote last year:

@Cheasty

The only exception to all this is the singular figure of Damien Richardson, who sounds like a working class lad from Dublin who was hothoused by Betty Ann Norton and then the Smurfit Business School before doing a certificate at DBS in The History Of Ancient Greece.

@fingal_raven

Quotes
As well as his talents as a player and manager Richardson is noted for his eloquence. Despite a certain cavalier attitude to the English language, whereby he coins words and phrases as he likes, there is a certain zen in his observations on soccer, and life in general:

“Whether one is blessed with a prodigious flair for articulacy or merely entrusted with a basic monosyllabic uttering of contentment, the relevance of this coming season will stimulate in every green and white heart at least a temporary escalation in embellished eloquence, so as to allow all an opportunity to express the most wondrous sense of anticipation and excitement that lies within.” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers

“If the remnants of my classical education at the sometimes not-so tender hands of the Christian Brothers of Donore Avenue and Drimnagh Castle serve me correctly, it was that Greek playmaker of old, Epicurus, who stated that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.”

“There was a lack of interdepartmental choreography between midfield and attack.”

“I felt there was a lack of definable objectivity about both teams.”

“Whether one possesses the stoical stature of an empirical philosopher or a more mundane propensity for self-gratification, the cataclysmic effect of ones removal from pole-position in the most senior league in the country could be most injurious.”

“My first manager’s page for Shamrock Rovers, and my, shall I say, reasonably extensive vocabulary is still too confined to express how delighted I feel.” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v St.Johnstone, 14/7/99.

“There is inherent in every true football supporter a reservoir of natural optimism. This inner holding pond of hope springs eternal, and is the safety valve that regulates the emotional turbulence synonymous with professional football. It molifies the annual agitation and sooths the savage beast of frustration. Without this optimistic dimension the personality of the authentic fan is incomplete.” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v Finn Harps, 22/8/99.

“Astrology informs us that we are entering the Age of Aquarius, a sustained period of harmony and understanding” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v Cork City, 17/10/99.
“This is one of the most alluring weekends of the domestic season. The FAI Cup 1st Round has a magical dimension all of its own. Unlike proceeding rounds this particular juncture has an unspoiled, almost virginal quality. This air of innocence is induced by one of the most charismatic aspects of professional football, the spirit of adventure” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v Cork City, 9/1/00.
“It’s always the same sometimes” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v Waterford United, 27/2/00.
“Unfortunately I encountered a plethora of personal predictions in the early part of this week that required immediate and urgent action. As a result my football career was placed in a state of suspended animation while these pressing matters were attended to” Damien Richardson, Shamrock Rovers v Cork City, 9/4/00.
“Modern football is akin to a turbulent sea. Changes come fast and furious. One may be riding the crest of great waves before being engulfed in enormous crescendos of confusion. Sometimes is can be like surfboarding in the South Atlantic. You do the best you can to stay afloat while all the time fully understanding the fact that things can come crashing down around you. If you worry about the consequences you miss the thrill of the ride.” D. Richardson, City Edition Vol 22 Issue 1 p.7
“The fundamental inability to grasp the fact that real leadership is accepting that you are merely another cog in the wheel has derailed many careers and deranged many managers.” D. Richardson, City Edition Vol 22 Issue 3 p.5
“Football … is a ballet of wondrous beauty choreographed by highly skilled performers, dramatising the conflict between good and evil that takes place in every heart. And, at the same time it reflects the impatient immediacy of modern society in that success breeds immortality, while the procurement of second place begets anonymity.” D. Richardson, City Edition Vol 22 Issue 12 p.

[Jimmy_Mc_Nulty]

Joe Kinnear

Joe Kinnear - YOU'RE A C**T! Rant at press Conference

[Cheasty]

Another product of England and English football.

[Jimmy_Mc_Nulty]

Kevin Moran then.

[myboyblue]

Thanks bida fuck he’s not alive to see us now

[ChairmanDan]

A graduate of Bill Nicholson‘s famed Tottenham Hotspur academy.

[Aertel220]

Apologies for going all Derek McGrath “87% of these guys attended 3rd level” on it. Was just thinking of Cheasty’s theme from the other day where he mentioned the rugby schools having specialist coaches and nutritionists from the age of 13. Nothing like that in association football unless the Shamrock Rovers school takes off. Attracts a lot of students for TY. Even in GAA there’s real Mecca’s of sporting excellence like St Kierans, Ard Scóil Rís, St Pats of Navan and so on. No such system exists for our teenage soccer prospects. Wexford CBS seems to be the strongest soccer school in Ireland of late.

[Arthur]

What intellectual types has English football produced?

[flattythehurdler]

Robbie Fowler

[flattythehurdler]

Frank Stapleton is an intelligent and engaging man.

[peddlerscross]

Aren’t Rovers Private Schooling all their younglads in Ashfield?

[Arthur]

Jesus Stephen Kelly lambasted Matt Doherty after. Absolutely proper order too. I know it’s been done to absolute death here but by jaysus he is some lazy looking cunt

[neilld]

Glenn Hoddle

[neilld]

If buying a load of ex-council houses makes you an intellectual, then he is right up there

[flattythehurdler]

It’s one IQ point per council house according to the mensa adjustment table.
He’s a genius.