P.McGrath

thebaz

As a depressed current Irish supporter .. i was just wondering whatever happened to one of our true legends .. Paul McGrath .. along with Roy Keane and Liam Brady one of the greatest players to wear the green . I know he had a problem with the drink . but all the other exes . townsend, bonner, brady, giles, stan , keane , beglin, lawrenson are still in the media limelight ... whats happened to the greatest of them all ?

Rollo Tamasi

last known sighting...Director of Football @ Waterford Utd iirc
about 18 months ago?

he never got into the role and left after about a month i think

Andrew 83

He had a column in the Irish Times about a year ago, maybe a bit less, on Saturdays. Don't think he's doing it anymore but don't know for sure. From what he's said in the past I don't think he was too comfortable doiing the media work.

I walked past him going into the Ireland v Chile match back in June and he looked in very good shape.

MrJoeSoap

He has done some work with local clubs in my area, not sure what his main "job" is these days though.

On a not-too-unrelated note I bumped into Terry "That Face" Phelan on Monday. My life is now complete.

The Rooster

Yeah, Big Paul isnt suited to TV work.

It is good to see so many Irish in the media limelight. Although even though he still gets plenty of work in the Irish media (TV3, and Irish Times) presumably Lawrenson has changed his nationality back to being English. During the England-Andorra match, he referred to England as "we" more than once.

~Rebel~

Ive always had an image that if i ever bumped into terry phelan at lunch, he'd ask me if i was done with my sandwich, then scurry back to his table to nibble on the crusts...

MrJoeSoap

~Rebel~ wrote:

Ive always had an image that if i ever bumped into terry phelan at lunch, he'd ask me if i was done with my sandwich, then scurry back to his table to nibble on the crusts...

Well keep an eye out for him, he could be coming to a Starbucks near you soon.

sundula

I think mcgrath lives in wexford now

applehunter

Oh Ah, Where's McGrath
Hes drinking in the bar!

Tasteless chant at the RSC 2 season ago.

JPA

The most natural Irish footballer ever, a genius.

johnos

The Rooster wrote:

presumably Lawrenson has changed his nationality back to being English. During the England-Andorra match, he referred to England as "we" more than once.

I've heard J. Giles do that. :eek:

KdjaCL

JPA wrote:

The most natural Irish footballer ever, a genius.

Funny that when with us back in the day he never stood out to me as something that special, excellent player then but i never thought he was Man Utd great, guess i will never be a talent spotter for man utd

Dolan tried to sign him towards the end of his playing career wanted him and Hawkins together, pubs in Inchicore rejoiced........


kdjac

Villain

He's got a new book coming out, there will be an interview in this months 4-4-2 magazine with him done by a Villa supporter.

I'm not sure if people realise this but McGrath is still referred to as "GOD" by almost all Villa fans, they regard him as one of the best players if the the best player to have played for Villa.

I had the pleasure of meeting him about 2 years ago and he was the nicest person you could ever meet, pure gent.

The Rooster

KdjaCL wrote:

Funny that when with us back in the day he never stood out to me as something that special, excellent player then but i never thought he was Man Utd great, guess i will never be a talent spotter for man utd

Did you not see or have you forgotten the 1985 FA Cup final?

McGrath was magnificent and deservedly won the man of the match award.

gosplan

Think it was Roddy Doyle who said:

'We are privilaged, those of us who shared a nationality and a generation with this man'

Anyway, bang on for me. I will never ever ever forget Mcgrath in the giants stadium.

cournioni

One of the greats, and a true gent. Met him once... In a pub. Need I say any more?

eirebhoy

The Rooster wrote:

Did you not see or have you forgotten the 1985 FA Cup final?

McGrath was magnificent and deservedly won the man of the match award.

I think he's talking about his Pats days. He's saying didn't stick out that much at Pats for the "most natural Irish footballer ever".

He's one of 3 Irish players to win the PFA player of the year award which says a lot being a defender.

AthAnRi

Sharpey said in his autobiography that while McGrath was with UTD he was part of a massive drinking culture, along with Robson, Whiteside and Stapleton. He said that Fergie used to go crazy with McGrath in particular because he knew how much potential he had. Sharpey said that all the rest of the guys were able to get on with it, in particular Robson, but McGrath used to let the beer seriously effect his performances.

What a legend he turned out to be in the end. Imagine what he could have been like minus the beer and dodgy knees.

thebaz

Looking back, I actually think he was the greatest Irish player ever .
While not having the guile of Brady, or the agression/leadership of Keane , he had amazing positional sense, amazing tackler, and in all the times i saw him play , i don't think i ever saw him give the ball away !
He just always seemed to do the right thing, and he seemed equally comfortable at the back or midfield.
He was outstanding in Italia '90 , outstanding in Windsor park in 93 ,and outstanding against Holland and Italy in '94 .

God indeed, when you watch some of the current squad , you wonder are they really worthy of wearing the same jersey worn by a real legend.
I too had the pleasure of buying him a drink, and surprisingly or not it was just plain old coke.

finnpark

irish1 wrote:

He's got a new book coming out, there will be an interview in this months 4-4-2 magazine with him done by a Villa supporter.

I'm not sure if people realise this but McGrath is still referred to as "GOD" by almost all Villa fans, they regard him as one of the best players if the the best player to have played for Villa.

I had the pleasure of meeting him about 2 years ago and he was the nicest person you could ever meet, pure gent.

St Pats also regard him as one of the best, not the best though, Charles Mzabi Livingstone was the best

emc2

He made Phil Babb Look Like a Good Player.

[Jackass]

"Met" him once i.e stood beside him, but my bro was telling me he (or maybe it was mates of his) met him in a bar on his own and he sat and drank with them for a good half hour.

The lad is a genius, it's a shame about the drink, but that seems to be the downfall of many genius', most notably George Best aswell, but certainly top 3 of best player ever to wear an Irish jersey.

How we could use him now

fade2black

emc2 wrote:

He made Phil Babb Look Like a Good Player.

I think you're just trying to get a reaction Pal.

PAul had knees like myself...told some managers near the end that he'd be no good to them in training but come match day he'd put it all in. Some player though.

redspider

Accolades have been written about this man and should be written about him.

I think I echo the thoughts of all of us in that it would be great to see Paul doing really well for himself. The demon drink has hampered his life but he has done really well to battle it and realises it is a daily and ongoing battle.

Has he ever written or had someone ghost-write his autobiography? (I didnt look it up). If not, it would be worth writing that and it should provide some income.

I think he could do a lot of work with kids, appearance stuff and the like, and the corporate scene would have been good for him but the temptation to stray in that environment has proven too much in the past, so better to stay away perhaps.

Maybe one idea is for Paul to get involved in Charity work. That can be a very rewarding area. Its not a necessity for Paul to have a public life, as much perhaps as football followers would want it, in fact, that was one area that he always stayed away from.

Paul, drop in here, say hello to us. And I'm sure the boards.ie team could do with a coach !

Redspider

thebaz

fade2black wrote:

I think you're just trying to get a reaction Pal.

Babb was decent eneogh in USA '94 , but with big Paul beside him , he didn't have to do much -- without McGrath , Babb was better at playing cops and robbers on leeson st. At least McGrath could play, even though he drank, the likes of Babb, let the celebrity thing get to them, and couldn't play .. i think thats the problem with the current lot -- get one cap , you become an Irish celebrity, and Lillies becomes more important than diggin in for your country .

fade2black

Ah right, I misunderstood what you meant. Apologies.

EDIT: You didn't say it in the first place...I better go back to bed.

Andrew 83

redspider wrote:

Has he ever written or had someone ghost-write his autobiography? (I didnt look it up). If not, it would be worth writing that and it should provide some income.

I think that's what this book he has coming out next month is.

CountryWise

He's living in Wexford, i have seen him in the local nightclub a few times