Gary Breen [Archive]

tommyspurr

09/07/2009, 1:13 PM

johnnyc

09/07/2009, 1:53 PM

"We all dream of a team..."

back of the net

09/07/2009, 2:01 PM

Appointed as assistant manager with Barnet. He will continue to play aswell. I have a feeling Gary Breen may turn into a class manager one day. Strikes me as a clever individual and the sort that wouldnt take any crap from anyone! Good luck Gary!

i wouldnt disagree with u tommy , delighted to see him get a break into management. Hopefully he will work is way up the ladder.

Always loved his detemination,pride and passion he showed when he wore the green

the best of luck to the guy

Thommo

09/07/2009, 4:45 PM

Concur superb for Ireland down the years, best of luck to him.

OwlsFan

10/07/2009, 9:07 AM

Den Perry

10/07/2009, 11:58 AM

Wouldn't go as far as to say superb but couldn't fault his application. I note from Wikipedia that Breen holds the distinction of being relegated with three different Premier League teams (Coventry, West Ham, Sunderland).

Hopefully his managerial career will be a success.

I agree.Could never fault his committment, but to refer to him as superb is way off mark. He had a very good tournament in 2002, but quite often seemed to lose concentration at critical times during his career

SkStu

11/07/2009, 1:38 AM

he was always good for a mistake in every game. Loved him though.

Mr Maroon

11/07/2009, 2:26 AM

I prefer the one with 2 R's.

ofjames

11/07/2009, 5:39 PM

Irish_Praha

11/07/2009, 7:01 PM

gary seems like a grand chap alright and certainly did his best for ireland. but i have to say i lost some respect for him as a professional when he turned down 1 year deals at barcelona and inter milan after wc2002 for a longer deal at west ham (where all he did ws sit on the bench)

typical lack of ambition as shown by many irish footballers

Is it really true that he was given those offers from the continent?
He was a without a club and it could have been just his agent spreading rumours to get other clubs interested.

If I remember correctly he got his chance at the start of the 2002-2003 season with West Ham but they conceded a lot of soft goals where he was considered one of the main the culprits. Although the whole team was a bit of a shambles under Roeder.

I'd really like to see him do well in management because if he makes it to the top I think he would be the type of guy that would love to manage the Irish team and would stay there as long as he was successfull. Not the type to run away for the first offer from a top flight club like Sanchez or McLeish.

MeathDrog

12/07/2009, 12:31 AM

I'll never forget when he was playing for Sunderland and he thought he heard a whistle and picked the ball up. Got a straight red. What a plank. :)

Lionel Ritchie

12/07/2009, 9:08 AM

I'd really like to see him do well in management because if he makes it to the top I think he would be the type of guy that would love to manage the Irish team and would stay there as long as he was successfull. Not the type to run away for the first offer from a top flight club like Sanchez or McLeish.

Like yourself I hope to see a team of Gary Breens one day as well.

I do think you're being a tad harsh on McLeish and Sanchez though. International football can be even more fickle and precarious than club football. I daresay you're never more than a short run of poor results from the sack -regardless of your contract or current good-standing with supporters and your FA.

More importantly, and maybe Ealing Green or one of the other northern lads on here will confirm ....I think Sanchez was on (relatively) pish money for managing Northern Ireland -something in the region of STG 75 grand. It was a pity the way things ended for him and NI. Though Fulhams behaviour in the whole business disgusted me.

As for Alex McLeish -I heard McLeishs take home pay jumped tenfold when he swapped Scotland for Birmingham.

elroy

12/07/2009, 3:29 PM

[QUOTE=Irish_Praha;1190273]

If I remember correctly he got his chance at the start of the 2002-2003 season with West Ham but they conceded a lot of soft goals where he was considered one of the main the culprits. Although the whole team was a bit of a shambles under Roeder.

QUOTE]

Correct and right, he was in the first team for the first few games, but made some shocking errors and never really got his way back in.

ofjames

12/07/2009, 3:55 PM

Is it really true that he was given those offers from the continent?
He was a without a club and it could have been just his agent spreading rumours to get other clubs interested.

Yeah as far as i remember there was, following his quality showing at the world cup there was a deal on the table from inter and genuine interest from barca. Remember seeing an interview with him on sky where he said he turned those advances down in favour of the hammers as he wanted to play 1st team football... which he didnt end up doing anyway!

where would u rather sit on the bench? upton pk or camp nou/san siro!?

irishfan86

12/07/2009, 6:28 PM

Yeah as far as i remember there was, following his quality showing at the world cup there was a deal on the table from inter and genuine interest from barca. Remember seeing an interview with him on sky where he said he turned those advances down in favour of the hammers as he wanted to play 1st team football... which he didnt end up doing anyway!

where would u rather sit on the bench? upton pk or camp nou/san siro!?

He was a player near the end of his top-flight career, and I'm sure he wasn't given the options of "on the bench at Barca, or on the bench at Upton Park."

He thought he'd get a chance with the Hammers, and he did, even though things didn't turn out well. In contrast, he may never have got a chance at Barca or Inter.

The Legend

14/07/2009, 5:54 PM

Concur superb for Ireland down the years, best of luck to him.

"superb"? i hope u meant his commitment.

Scram

15/07/2009, 8:48 AM

"superb"? i hope u meant his commitment.

He scored one of our best ever goals, I forget who it was against.

endabob1

15/07/2009, 9:01 AM

Yeah as far as i remember there was, following his quality showing at the world cup there was a deal on the table from inter and genuine interest from barca. Remember seeing an interview with him on sky where he said he turned those advances down in favour of the hammers as he wanted to play 1st team football... which he didnt end up doing anyway!

where would u rather sit on the bench? upton pk or camp nou/san siro!?

the memory is a wee bit fuzzy but I seem to recall Parma had a deal set up and ready to go when West Ham came in at the last minute. It might have been Parma were in financial trouble and were looking mainly at free transfers

elroy

15/07/2009, 10:14 AM

He scored one of our best ever goals, I forget who it was against.

Presumably against S Arabia in the WC.

Stuttgart88

15/07/2009, 10:30 AM

S. Arabia was his most famous goal.

One I liked was a goal at home to Malta where he was one-on-one with the keeper, he dummied, sent the keeper down and took it around him before passing into the net. Very John Aldridge.

Not bad for a centre-back.

St. Ledger reminds me of Breen, just a more assertive version and probably a better reader of a game. He's tall and an elegant player rather than a stopper.

Junior

15/07/2009, 10:47 AM

Stutts - I have to say your memory is remarkable!!

I have probably seen the goal, was probably at the game but cant quite recall at the moment. You however always seem to recall these things from way back, be it good or bad play from a certain individual in a certain game.

Id say you'd give Jimmy Magee (sp?) a run for his money.

Either that or the gargle has severly dimmed me brain as the lyrics go in a famous song.........

eirebhoy

15/07/2009, 11:26 AM

I genuinely have to rely on previous posts on this forum to jog my memory, even from the last campaign or 2. If there's an incident that I haven't talked about once since it happened then I probably won't remember it. My memory is terrible. :(

elroy

15/07/2009, 12:30 PM

One I liked was a goal at home to Malta where he was one-on-one with the keeper, he dummied, sent the keeper down and took it around him before passing into the net. Very John Aldridge.

I remember this game well but not G Breen's goal, remember the feeling of desperation and then sheer relief as Stan slotted home a free kick for us to sneak the win. Unable to find footage of the game so far.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/1999/0909/soccer.html

Thommo

15/07/2009, 1:13 PM

Supreme feet

15/07/2009, 2:18 PM

I remember this game well but not G Breen's goal, remember the feeling of desperation and then sheer relief as Stan slotted home a free kick for us to sneak the win.

Breen scored in both games against Malta - he got our last in a 5-0 win at Lansdowne - that's the goal Stutts is on about, where he rounded their keeper. The one he got to put us 2-0 up in Valletta (very nervy 3-2 win in the end) was a straightforward header.

Junior

15/07/2009, 2:33 PM

If a young lad(at the time) by the name of O'Neill(Keith) had of tracked back for a last minute corner in the next match v Macedonia we would have qualified automatically for that European Championships, oh well.

Now that incident I remember only too well. The sickest Ive ever felt after a result. From 1st place to 3rd in the blink of an eye.

Stuttgart88

16/07/2009, 8:19 AM

we snook second place - a nervy last couple of minutes in the other game saw us through to a play off against Turkey.

Junior

16/07/2009, 8:47 AM

we snook second place - a nervy last couple of minutes in the other game saw us through to a play off against Turkey.

So we did!! I was in Macedonia for the final game of the group and in Bursa for the playoff.

Hence, Ive just proved my own point. My memory is no more.........

For some reason I thought the scenario was even worse than a playoff spot and that we ended up with nothing (probably the nervy ending to the Croatia/Yugoslavia game). The delight of the Macedonia fans that night was unbelieveable, you would have thought they had just won Euro200. In my defence, it is just too painful to go back and try and relive those events:D

Stuttgart88

16/07/2009, 1:31 PM

Yeah, one of the lowest points ever as an Irish fan alright.

It still has implications today I reckon, just with regard to confidence, status and possibly seeding / ranking, though I think our demise since no.1 seeding in 2004 would have been unaffected, and an easier group for 2002 wouldn't have mattered anyway. But if we'd have had a decent 2000 tournament we wouldn't have had the underdog status we had in 2002.

Totally random ramble.

My memory amazes me too and even gets me into trouble. I can't understand why other people don't remember the same things I do.

DeLorean

16/07/2009, 3:45 PM

Yeah, one of the lowest points ever as an Irish fan alright.

Compounded by the dismal playoff performance in Turkey. That match was a huge disappointment. I don't think I've ever seen a team that needed to score not create one chance in 90mins against a team of similar capabilities. The only time they threatened the Turks goal was a cross from a free kick that nearly fluked it's way in.

I think the writing may have been on the wall after Davor Suker's goal in Zagreb.

Scram

16/07/2009, 4:08 PM

Yeah, one of the lowest points ever as an Irish fan alright.

My memory amazes me too and even gets me into trouble. I can't understand why other people don't remember the same things I do.

Yeah, I'm the same EireBhoy. I was just saying to someone the other night how clearly I remember Phil Babb's goal against Italy in the 1995 World Cup Finals in Berlin and the celebrations afterward, he couldn't remember a thing :eek:

Anyway, back on topic, I do like the away strip but they might consider this if we do qualify for the World Cup Finals in South America in 2012:

http://www.sinnfeinbookshop.com/catalog/images/newshirtweb.jpg

Irish_Praha

16/07/2009, 10:30 PM

I don't think I've ever seen a team that needed to score not create one chance in 90mins against a team of similar capabilities.

Don't forget against switzerland in 2005.

DeLorean

16/07/2009, 10:55 PM

Don't forget against switzerland in 2005.

Didn't Ian Harte miss a sitter of a header in the first few minutes of that one though. Still a poor showing though you're right.

ArdeeBhoy

16/07/2009, 11:16 PM

Mr.Breen's relative intelligence (albeit 20 years ago) is doubted by some of his peers who were at a very prominent (at the time) Irish Catholic school in N.London, by his, er, maverick tendency to, amongst other foibles, wear Rangers shorts, just to annoy them....

Which didn't make him overly popular.

However, will forgive that transgression and wish him the best in his relative managerial career!

theworm2345

16/07/2009, 11:37 PM

Didn't Ian Harte miss a sitter of a header in the first few minutes of that one though. Still a poor showing though you're right.

I don't think it was a sitter, as I recall it was a header off a corner from near the penalty spot in the 6th (maybe?) minute. Should've at least hit the target though.

DeLorean

17/07/2009, 9:28 AM

I don't think it was a sitter, as I recall it was a header off a corner from near the penalty spot in the 6th (maybe?) minute. Should've at least hit the target though.

Maybe. Don't think I've seen it since. I just remember it was early on and I think it was a totally free header right in the middle of the goals.

Thommo

17/07/2009, 9:33 AM

Playoff v Turkey at home in '99 I remember we were 1-0 up and Turkey got a really soft penalty when the ball hit Lee Carsley hands while he was on the ground we were actually coasting.
I remember the second leg in Turkey there was riot police on the pitch at the end and I think Cascarino got a belt.
Re Gary Breen when I say "superb" I mean in service to Ireland the lad would swim the Irish sea to play for Ireland he was no McGrath but always gave 100%.
I remember away to Cyprus in the '02 campaign he was walking off the pitch at half time and Roy was in his here giving him a bollicking I think we were about 3-0 up, but that was Roy.:)

Thommo

17/07/2009, 9:35 AM

"in his ear" sorry terrible spelling.:)

DeLorean

17/07/2009, 10:00 AM

I remember away to Cyprus in the '02 campaign he was walking off the pitch at half time and Roy was in his ear giving him a bollicking I think we were about 3-0 up, but that was Roy.:)

He was right, we were only 2-0 up:D

Thommo

17/07/2009, 10:20 AM

Very Good.:D

KK77

17/07/2009, 10:21 AM

I'll never forget when he was playing for Sunderland and he thought he heard a whistle and picked the ball up. Got a straight red. What a plank. :)

A plank who's made a nice living out of the game;)

AlaskaFox

31/07/2011, 9:26 AM

Gary's got a new job:
http://www.strachanfootballfoundation.co.uk/?p=642

CraftyToePoke

04/06/2013, 1:07 PM

Made first team coach at Peterborough Utd. Has been very impressive in his time there so far it seems.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22758956

paul_oshea

04/06/2013, 2:22 PM

I thought you were going to say he has been called up to the Squad in place of Richard Keogh.

Ya the agent his happy with him anyway.

DannyInvincible

09/06/2017, 9:18 PM

According to Gary Breen (who was on 'Off the Ball' from Vicar Street last Wednesday), his potential move to Inter Milan after the 2002 World Cup collapsed due to an "idiot" doctor: http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Off_The_Ball/The_Football_Show_on_Off_The_Ball/195261/OTBVicarSt_Breen_Kev__Andrews_on_2002_2012__Roots

Breen had agreed a deal with Inter prior to the game against Spain, but failed the medical when he eventually flew to Milan from Dublin after we were knocked out of the competition.