Embarrassing interview with him on the radio this morning after our Under 19 side were beaten by Germany yesterday. Newstalk presenter on the sports news just introduced the item by saying McCaffrey was unhappy with the abuse suffered by Irish players from their German counterparts.
Then we were treated to this fool:
"One of the lads was abused by their coloured fellow who was wearing number 2. He said something about one of the guyâs mother, not sure what it was, and she actually passed away 8 months ago so thatâs not on and obviously the lads were upset.
âTo be honest I havenât liked the Germans at all this week. Iâve never liked them, theyâre arrogant. When they came here before I didnât like them and we had to go to Germany before and I didnât like it. Theyâre arrogant people and I suppose you can see that when you look at their history.â
What a first class fool. âColoured fellowâ and references to German history are the ramblings and wafflings of a gobshite living in the past. There is no way in the world that any of the Germans knew that one of our playersâ mother had died during the year. Thatâs not to say it wouldnât have annoyed the Irish guy but for McCaffrey to bring it up after the game and start criticising the German nation is pathetic.
Match report below anyway - I see Sheridan came on at half time:
Irish hopes take a pounding
Emmet Malone at Dalymount Park
European Under-19 Championship Elite qualifying phase/ Republic of Ireland 0 Germany 1 : Irelandâs hopes of earning a place at this summerâs European Youth Championships were severely dented at Dalymount Park, where, despite dominating their second qualifying game of the week, they lost to a deeply controversial first-half penalty.
Late on the Germans had their goalkeeper, Martin Maennel, to thank for preserving their lead as Ireland pressed for an equaliser against 10 and, momentarily, nine men, but the breakthrough just wouldnât come for Sean McCaffreyâs side, who now have to beat Hungary on Saturday and hope Bulgaria take at least a point from the group leaders if they are to progress to Julyâs finals.
âIâm very disappointed,â said the clearly upset Ireland manager immediately afterwards. "We created stacks of chances. We must have had 15 corners and 70 per cent of the possession.
âAnd it wasnât a penalty,â he said of the spot kick fired home by Anis Ben-Hatira and awarded after the referee adjudged Simon Madden to have taken Sebastien Tyrala inside the area. âIâve seen the replay and there was a foul (by Alan Power on Ben-Hatira) after which he played advantage but what he then gave it for definitely wasnât a penalty.â
His side retains, he acknowledged, a chance of qualifying, but the Germans now control their own fate: âThe problem is that the likes of Hungary and Bulgaria tend to be afraid of Germany. We werenât tonight but we still lost.â
True, the Irish took the game to Germany but they certainly found life much more difficult than against Bulgaria. Neither Adam Rooney nor Anthony Stokes was given as much time on the ball as on Monday, and the wide men struggled to provide the service early on they had managed at United Park.
Still, there was a steady stream of chances for the Irish before and particularly after the German goal 17 minutes in - the best a Shane Lowry shot that clattered the outside of the right-hand post after Stokes had chested down Keith Treacyâs corner.
Stokes was again influential, carving out opportunities for himself - as when he sidestepped two challenges before powering narrowly wide from 25 yards - and others and working hard to bring Rooney, Alan Power and Jimmy Ryan into attacking moves.
Ryan had a fierce shot blocked just short of the line late in the first half while Power might have tested Maennel with a similar effort in the second half but for the intervention of a defender.
By then the visitors were down to 10 men, their imposing skipper Alexander Eberlien having been dismissed for a challenge on the Irish substitute Cillian Sheridan as he pursued a long Alan Judge ball towards the box.
Predictably the pattern of the game shifted further in favour of the Republic and scoring chances multiplied. But Maennel excelled with outstanding saves from Judge, Stokes and Power.
Things almost boiled over as Ben-Hatira was dismissed seconds before the final whistle. One consolation for the Irish is that two of Germanyâs best players will miss Saturdayâs game.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND : Henderson (Aston Villa); Madden (Leeds United), Spillane (Norwich City), Lowry (Aston Villa), Nolan (Blackburn Rovers); Judge (Blackburn Rovers), Ryan (Liverpool), Power (Nottingham Forest), Treacy (Blackburn Rovers), Rooney (Stoke City), Stokes (Sunderland). Subs : Sheridan (Celtic) for Treacy (half-time), Cassidy (Bolton Wanderers) for Ryan (75 mins), Downes (Everton) for Rooney (81 mins).
GERMANY : Maennel; Boateng, Eberlein, Howedes, Feick; Konrad, Sauter, Ben-Hatira, Sam; Brosinski, Tyrala. Subs : Kruse for Sam (half-time), Schmiedebach for Brosinski (57 mins), Falkenberg for Tyrala (71 mins).