John Giles to be dropped by RTE

Coat22

About 5 years too late IMO.

Don't get me wrong, great player, decent manager, terrific analyst in his day and met him recently and he seems a genuinely nice man but his time had come a long time ago in terms of broadcasting. Him and Dunphy should have gone when Bill retired after the last World Cup at the latest and whereas Bill could have gone on for years these 2 have been irrelevant since Brian Kerrs time.

Jayop

More like 15 years too late imo.

The old boy RTE panel are a farce as are most of their co-commentators/ The sooner the main games are covered by people who have a relevant view on the modern game who can actually offer some analysis the better.

ebbsy

Terrible move. Having to listen to nonsense from the likes of Richard Sadlier pollutes my ears. People saying things for the sake of it.

Its like the time Clive Everton was dropped from the snooker and Ken Doherty was brought in.

Coat22

Jayop wrote: »

More like 15 years too late imo.

The old boy RTE panel are a farce as are most of their co-commentators/ The sooner the main games are covered by people who have a relevant view on the modern game who can actually offer some analysis the better.

You're right but I was being polite - but like I said should have around about the time of Kerrs reign - 10/12 years ago.

Brady I have no issue with. Talks sense, is involved at Arsenal, played at the highest level in Italy but Giles & Dunphy belong to the Ole Ole time of the 90s

murpho999

Still the most entertaining panel on TV who say what they feel rather than bland UK analysts.

They get plenty of criticism but Giles was a breath of fresh air in his day and brought analysis to a new level.

Either way, I have yet to hear of one analyst, pundit or co-commentator that people here don't complain about.

Moist Bread

Personally I will miss him. I don't really care about in-depth analysis or relevant views on the modern game, I just like to watch the lads give out about stuff.

I can completely understand people not thinking the same as me mind.

Cookiemunster

murpho999 wrote: »

Still the most entertaining panel on TV who say what they feel rather than bland UK analysts.

They get plenty of criticism but Giles was a breath of fresh air in his day and brought analysis to a new level.

Either way, I have yet to hear of one analyst, pundit or co-commentator that people here don't complain about.

His day was a long time ago and all he does now is compare modern footballers and the modern game to what it was like 40 years ago when he played.

Coat22

murpho999 wrote: »

Still the most entertaining panel on TV who say what they feel rather than bland UK analysts.

They get plenty of criticism but Giles was a breath of fresh air in his day and brought analysis to a new level.

Either way, I have yet to hear of one analyst, pundit or co-commentator that people here don't complain about.

He was great - in his day but his day has long passed.

I'm not sure there's better out there either (Souness being the exception) but its well past time RTE put an end to the carry on in its soccer analysis where Dunphy has nothing to say and spends and hour fawning over Giles in an attempt to cover up his actual lack of an analysis.

keano_afc

He'll probably blame it on Ozil.

BoJack Horseman

ebbsy wrote: »

Terrible move. Having to listen to nonsense from the likes of Richard Sadlier pollutes my ears

I like Richie as a pundit.

I think he does a good job.... though he is better on podcast than tv

RedemptionZ

I understand the whole 'says what he feels' point of view to a degree but he put absolutely no effort into his analysis. Every CL game if a non English team are playing he's never heard of the players on the other team if their name isn't Messi or Ronaldo. It's just not good enough. When I know more about the team than he does (and I'm far from an expert) it just shows a complete apathy from him. We might as well get three comedians that like football if all we want is entertainment.

Still though he seems like a lovely guy and I'd wish him all the best.

Coat22

I think the other thing to bear in mind when talking about how bland the UK analysts are is the situation they're in.

Souness once commented that he loved doing RTE because he could say whatever he wanted and couldn't on Sky. The reason? Sky have a 24 hour news channel to keep going so rely on the good relationships with the clubs to keep the content coming and hence their analysis is toned down. BBC to a lesser extent the same. That's why Roy is on ITV - he'd be too explosive for Sky.

In fairness to RTE they've been good at identifying analysts over the years. ITs just that in typical Irish fashion they latched onto the Giles & Dunphy show and kept it going way too long

Jayop

Anyone who says it's a bad decision or that they'll miss him seems to be of the opinion that football analysis in itself should be entertainment. I feel it should be informative. I don't think Giles and Dunphy rehashing the same old bollocks over and over for year on end regardless of what's happened on the pitch or even who was playing is entertaining anyway.

Rhys Essien

Ya I think both John and Eamonn are great and I agree that they both should have went when Bill went.Go out with a bit of grace.John is 75 now and Eamonn is 70.Imagine all the gang doing this in everyday jobs depriving the young gang of a job.

runnerholic

Still the best analyst and reader of a game on TV. I will sorely miss him.

Jayop

runnerholic wrote: »

Still the best analyst and reader of a game on TV. I will sorely miss him.

Really? I honestly think in terms of actual analysis he's been hopeless for 15 odd years. All "honesty of effort" and "not being afraid to get on the ball". He's got a few go to catchphrases that he said after every game regardless of what happened.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Jayop wrote: »

Really? I honestly think in terms of actual analysis he's been hopeless for 15 odd years. All "honesty of effort" and "not being afraid to get on the ball". He's got a few go to catchphrases that he said after every game regardless of what happened.

"Moral Courage" being another on of one of his great catchphrases aswell.

keano_afc

Jayop wrote: »

Really? I honestly think in terms of actual analysis he's been hopeless for 15 odd years. All "honesty of effort" and "not being afraid to get on the ball". He's got a few go to catchphrases that he said after every game regardless of what happened.

"Take it on its merits"

MisterAnarchy

Sad news ,the RTE panel was by far the best in these isles.
They may have gone a bit stale and off tangent in some discussions lately but they are still miles ahead of BBC's and ITV's sterile coverage .
You know exactly what you are going to hear when you listen to these channels ,the same politically correct,non critical analysis aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Sky and BT are improving ,well BT's European coverage isnt bad ,their Premiership stuff is cringe worthy though.

How Ryle Nugent managed to worm his way into head of RTE Sport is baffling.
Bit by bit he is going to destroy that department ,losing rights for key events and bringing in his drinking buddies to present shows.

Corholio

Jayop wrote: »

Anyone who says it's a bad decision or that they'll miss him seems to be of the opinion that football analysis in itself should be entertainment. I feel it should be informative. I don't think Giles and Dunphy rehashing the same old bollocks over and over for year on end regardless of what's happened on the pitch or even who was playing is entertaining anyway.

The thing is, and it happened less frequent over the past few years, but Giles was really good at analysing midfield play when he got the chance to do it. I can't remember exactly what game it was, but some Chelsea game in the Champions League last year and he was on at half time talking about how Chelsea's positions off the ball were poor and fairly individual pieces of analysis, not just 'he should have been picking up him'. Unfortunately a lot of stuff that gets said on there is very general praise/criticism rather than more individual things. The 'analysis' that some people are criticising him for, a lot of it rightly, is not the same analysis I mean.

TheCitizen

Let the ball do the work is my favourite one of his. At least I think he said. He was a very good analyst.

That RTE panel was great entertainment at one time, but they've been breaking it up bit by bit over the last few years anyway. The chair of the panel now should be Eoin McDevitt I reckon.

TheCitizen

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Sad news ,the RTE panel was by far the best in these isles.
They may have gone a bit stale and off tangent in some discussions lately but they are still miles ahead of BBC's and ITV's sterile coverage .
You know exactly what you are going to hear when you listen to these channels ,the same politically correct,non critical analysis aimed at the lowest common denominator.

Sky and BT are improving ,well BT's European coverage isnt bad ,their Premiership stuff is cringe worthy though.

How Ryle Nugent managed to worm his way into head of RTE Sport is baffling.
Bit by bit he is going to destroy that department ,losing rights for key events and bringing in his drinking buddies to present shows.

Isn't he related to Ryan Tubridy and that weird comedian who is on RTE as well, the one related to the Fianna Fail Andrews family.

He went through a big phase of players "getting to the pitch of the ball".

Richard Hillman

He was very conservative and very out of touch with the game. I dont prescribe to this thought of that he was a great reader of the game either (as a pundit).

Giles was held up as some sort of Jesus figure to a lot of middle-aged to older Schoolboy coaches. His crazed conservatism would have filtered down to the coaches and to coaching. Wanting to see wingers turned to full-backs, full-backs turned to Centre-backs etc. If he got his hands on a young Ronaldo, he would have been playing as a hybrid full back/winger. Zlatan would have been turned to Dirk Kuyt.

He was also a very in-favour of kicking characters out of the game. Everybody needed to say nothing, do nothing and "concentrate on their football". He wanted drones that kept their mouths shut. It was amazing how uncomfortable David Beckham made him.

I really disliked him and that is before we get to his unproffessionalism of turning up to work and barely knowing who is playing.

MisterAnarchy

TheCitizen wrote: »

Isn't he related to Ryan Tubridy and that weird comedian who is on RTE as well, the one related to the Fianna Fail Andrews family.

That would explain alot ,they are all cousins and nephews of the Andrews who was the first head of RTE.
Strange how they seemed to land soft jobs in RTE...

I remember Nugent starting out on The Grip ,he was a bumbling buffoon.
He hadnt a clue about sport and was a nervous wreck.

Isnt it a lovely country ,where people are forced to pay a licence each year so the members of a small few families can reward themselves for simply being born.
Nepotism is alive and well in Ireland ,jobs for the boys.

Is he gone now, or not until after Euro 2016?

EDIT: after the Euros.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2016/0324/777118-john-giles/

runnerholic

Richard Hillman wrote: »

He was very conservative and very out of touch with the game. I dont prescribe to this thought of that he was a great reader of the game either (as a pundit).

Giles was held up as some sort of Jesus figure to a lot of middle-aged to older Schoolboy coaches. He crazed conservatism would have filtered down to the coaches and to coaching. Wanting to see wingers turned to full-backs, full-backs turned to Centre-backs etc. If he got his hands on a young Ronaldo, he would have been playing as a hybrid full back/winger. Zlatan would have been turned to Dirk Kuyt.

He was also a very in-favour of kicking characters out of the game. Everybody needed to say nothing, do nothing and "concentrate on their football". He wanted drones that kept their mouths shut. It was amazing how uncomfortable David Beckham made him.

I really disliked him and that is before we get to his unproffessionalism of turning up to work and barely knowing who is playing.

Unbelievable!

Strumms

Probably about time. He has no real understanding of modern European football which is maybe not surprising for a guy his age really. On the panel he doesn't seem to say much unless he is asked a direct question its like he really can't be bothered getting into it with or shouting over Dunphy and Sadlier or Brady.

To be fair though I actually really like his contribution to Off The Ball, he usually just talks about the Premier League and I get the impression he revels in the fact that it's his own slot and he doesn't have to compete with two other people who are rather fond of their own voice. He talks a lot of sence.

As regards the panel I'd like a revamp starting with getting rid of Darragh Maloney and replacing him with Eoin McDevitt or Joe Molloy. I'd get rid of Brady also but hang on to Dunphy maybe for the comedy value.

TheCitizen

Richard Hillman wrote: »

He was very conservative and very out of touch with the game. I dont prescribe to this thought of that he was a great reader of the game either (as a pundit).

Giles was held up as some sort of Jesus figure to a lot of middle-aged to older Schoolboy coaches. He crazed conservatism would have filtered down to the coaches and to coaching. Wanting to see wingers turned to full-backs, full-backs turned to Centre-backs etc. If he got his hands on a young Ronaldo, he would have been playing as a hybrid full back/winger. Zlatan would have been turned to Dirk Kuyt.

He was also a very in-favour of kicking characters out of the game. Everybody needed to say nothing, do nothing and "concentrate on their football". He wanted drones that kept their mouths shut. It was amazing how uncomfortable David Beckham made him.

I really disliked him and that is before we get to his unproffessionalism of turning up to work and barely knowing who is playing.

Nonsense

GreNoLi

Sad but expected.

Say Your Number

I know people give out about him because of lack research, but that never bothered me because he is the best at breaking down a segment of play and explaining what went wrong, I remember 2010 he a did a brilliant piece as to why Lampard and Gerrard don't fit in the same team.

Nevile has been good, but Gilesy didn't need the fancy toys to get his point across.


The part of this on Football IQ (From about halfway on) is as insightful as any pundit has been.

www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/Football_with_John_Giles/122787/Plain_kits_Footballing_IQ_positional_play

Richard Hillman

Richard Hillman wrote: »

He wanted drones that kept their mouths shut. It was amazing how uncomfortable David Beckham made him.

David Beckham opening his mouth makes me uncomfortable.

He's just not good at the whole speaking/forming sentences thing. He shouldda listened to Gilesy.

briany

I only really follow the Ireland games, but I could understand a person's chagrin with the lads if they follow the club football as well. I just know that in the wake of a disappointing Irish result, my spirits aren't going to be raised by any amount of insightful analysis, but I would at least get a bit of a laugh out of a drunken Eamonn Dunphy leading the charge into a row, and then becoming slightly weepy for no apparent reason. The lads are like a holdover - the only one, I think - from a bygone age of RTE where you could say what you like and it lead to some car-crash TV moments. They're like that un-PC grandparent who can get away with saying stuff that makes the other members of the family tut-tut, outwardly, but are secretly refreshed by their candor.

gormdubhgorm

OP I remember sending an email to RTE complaining about the lack of research by the panelists during the 2010 world cup. I think it was between Germany and Australia the panel was actually laughing and making a joke about their lack of knowledge of the teams. In particular John Giles.
I asked was it that difficult for someone else to do the research so they can give an insight to the viewers and educate them about the main threats at least?

RTE replied and said they were not being smart but were UTV and BBC any better?

Giles phrases seem to range from "Moral Courage", "Graft", "not being afraid to play" and "doing the simple things well".

GreNoLi

Say Your Number wrote: »

I know people give out about him because of lack research, but that never bothered me because he is the best at breaking down a segment of play and explaining what went wrong, I remember 2010 he a did a brilliant piece as to why Lampard and Gerrard don't fit in the same team.

Nevile has been good, but Gilesy didn't need the fancy toys to get his point across.


The part of this on Football IQ (From about halfway on) is as insightful as any pundit has been.

www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/Football_with_John_Giles/122787/Plain_kits_Footballing_IQ_positional_play

'Beckenbauer would give you 2 choices, a bad one and a terrible one'.

murpho999

Cookiemunster wrote: »

His day was a long time ago and all he does now is compare modern footballers and the modern game to what it was like 40 years ago when he played.

In all fairness he does a lot more than that.

Very easy swipe to take at him. It's completely normal that he would compare the game to when he played it.
Football was still a skillful game then you know, fitness and training levels are the big difference.

Coat22 wrote: »

He was great - in his day but his day has long passed.

I'm not sure there's better out there either (Souness being the exception) but its well past time RTE put an end to the carry on in its soccer analysis where Dunphy has nothing to say and spends and hour fawning over Giles in an attempt to cover up his actual lack of an analysis.

As I said he was a breath of fresh air when he arrived.

No need for this analysis of analysis to just tear him down.

~Rebel~

He can be an awfully negative fecker sometimes, but at the same time, it's kind of nice to have a counterpoint to the perennially childish excitement that everyone has about everything these days - everything current being the best most exciting thing ever. It's nice to have someone to just calm things down a bit.

Being quite gracious about the whole thing on Off The Ball at the moment anyway.

parasite

For me, he's as close to a wise guru as you can get in football punditry, ignoring the superficial to apply and reinforce the fundamental truths. Any gobshíte can learn the names of players, that's just trivia not wisdom

Great guy but is very much an old chap, he's a bit doddery, he seems to ramble a bit and gives the impression a marble or two has rolled away.

liam7831

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

I like Richie as a pundit.

I think he does a good job.... though he is better on podcast than tv

Richie never had a career so I cant see how he can analyse anything..... Fair enough he has his opinion but i like my analysts to be talking from career experience

runnerholic

liam7831 wrote: »

Richie never had a career so I cant see how he can analyse anything..... Fair enough he has his opinion but i like my analysts to be talking from career experience

You don't need to have been a great player to be a top analyst. Even in management some of the great players don't succeed as managers. Sadler is an above average analyst despite not having had a great career. Ruud Gullit, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry were all top players but are crap analysts.

glued

TheCitizen wrote: »

Let the ball do the work is my favourite one of his. At least I think he said. He was a very good analyst.

That RTE panel was great entertainment at one time, but they've been breaking it up bit by bit over the last few years anyway. The chair of the panel now should be Eoin McDevitt I reckon.

McDevitt is too interested in his own opinion to ever be a viable option for RTE. He's more suited to radio but he's a fantastic interviewer and really should do more sports interviews.

liam7831

runnerholic wrote: »

You don't need to have been a great player to be a top analyst. Even in management some of the great players don't succeed as managers. Sadler is an above average analyst despite not having had a great career. Ruud Gullit, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry were all top players but are crap analysts.

Above average

RedemptionZ

parasite wrote: »

For me, he's as close to a wise guru as you can get in football punditry, ignoring the superficial to apply and reinforce the fundamental truths. Any gobshíte can learn the names of players, that's just trivia not wisdom

"Who do you think will win this match John?"

If he doesn't know who the players are in the other team, how will he know who is good, what role they play, where are they weak etc then he can't give an informed opinion of who he think will win a match he's being paid to cover and he's not doing his job simple as that. It's not just learning off players surnames, I wouldn't expect him to rattle off the starting XI of every team in the competition but he doesn't have a clue about most of them as players.

Andersonisgod

When I was younger I loved watching the RTE panel, it was worlds apart from the very grey punditry that Sky were offering at the time. I'd go as far as to say watching RTE's coverage of the World Cup 2006 or Euro 2008 on a daily basis are probably some of my favourite football memories. Like anything though, things move on, things change, things evolve.

Gradually, the way football is covered on these isles has changed. The rising importance of things like Opta Stats was one thing, and then you had football journalists like Michael Cox who was breaking down the game in a way that was completely different to how football matches were usually reported. Suddenly punditry cliches like "they didn't want it enough" or "they were outplayed" weren't enough, people wanted more, people wanted in depth, detailed reasons as to why their team lost the other day. Viewing habits changed too, foreign leagues had never been so readily available to football fans in Ireland and the average fan had a pretty decent knowledge of European teams, simply saying "Jan Koller is a handful" wasn't enough to pass as "extensive knowledge of the European game."

The last few years have been tough for the RTE lads, I can safely say I follow a few accounts on Twitter that are far more knowledgeable of the modern game than the RTE main event team. When that happens, you know you've got an issue. I don't think it's so much that football has passed the RTE team by, it's that football punditry and football journalism as a whole has passed them by. Today fans demand that the pundits which they pay to watch have at least a more extensive knowledge of the product than they do, that they deliver meaningful content and if they are mildly entertaining too then all the better! Pundits like Raphael Honigstein, James Horncastle, Sid Lowe and Gary Neville are the standard that is expected today. Let's be fair, the RTE panel are a product of their time, and for their time they were a fantastic punditry team that delivered many a happy memory to young and old football fans the length and breadth of this country. It's time to go but that shouldn't diminish the happy memories they leave behind.

liam7831

If only RTE had got a RTE pad for Johnny to do the interactive analysis

Mr.Nice Guy

It does feel like it's time for Giles. I liked him back in the day.

As regards Sadlier, I have to say I find him to be massively overrated and a pain to the ears. In my view the only reason he gained a following was because he was very critical of Trap and he tapped into the hostility that was around a few years ago. His views are actually just as bland as anything on Sky. He's an Irish Jamie Redknapp basically.

I also hate his tendency to begin sentences really loudly. He's like the opposite of Liam Brady in that sense.

'Tell us about Sweden, Richie.'

'WELL WHEN IT COMES TO SWEDEN, Dara...'

My idea of a nightmare road trip would be Sadlier and Ronnie Whelan in the back seat warbling away, with me in the passenger seat and Kenny Cunningham at the wheel, his eyebrows moving wildly up and down as he watches the road.

callaway92

"I don't believe in tactics Ger"

"Do you remember when Rogers went 3 at the back Ger, do you?"

Enjoy his section on Off The Ball weekly but he spouts some tripe sometimes too.

wandatowell

The Off The Ball lads be creaming themselves over Giles.
He's grand on TV but radio is too fast for him.

gormdubhgorm

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Being quite gracious about the whole thing on Off The Ball at the moment anyway.

I heard that interview he gave when it he was surprisingly dropped from the RTE panel for a week, he sounded heartbroken and hurt.
In fairness to the guy he does talk more common sense then most, he is old school and consistent in his views.

gormdubhgorm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Cunningham at the wheel, his eyebrows moving wildly up and down as he watches the road.

Telling you to drive higher up the pitch road, at this particular moment in time.

It would be safer drink driving rather then listening to that!:D