may 29th
11.05 – The farce that is Ireland’s World Cup reached new heights/lows yesterday. Niall Quinn gave a press conference in which he seemed to completely contradict Mick McCarthy’s version of events, much to the puzzlement of Mick, his assistant Ian Evans, and FAI officials, who walked out hurridly. The players prepared a statement yesterday, which was released too early by the FAI, and left everyone with egg on their faces.
Either way, Roy Keane issued a statement himself to say he won’t be going to Japan and hopefully this will end the furore for the time being and let the team concentrate on all things football.
The Sun reckons Mick McCarthy is set to quit once the World Cup is finished. With the tide of public opinion turning against him, the squad in disarray, the amateursish preparations and the consistently sub-standard management shown on this trip, I don’t think he has much choice. Adios Mick.
I have emailed the FAI again about the World Cup diary story but they won’t answer my emails. I shall keep trying.
And there’s a smattering of Arsenal news today as well. Again in The Sun, they say that Ray Parlour is going to join Leeds (£7m) to replace Lee Bowyer who is signing for Liverpool any day. As well as that, it seems Marc Van Bommel and Kevin Hofland are set to sign for the Gunners. Nice.
