Richard Dunne

[Olé Olé]

And probably earns 5 times more in a year that most of us would dream of earning in 10.

[tetsujin1979]

For a brief period in the late nineties, he was in the boyband 5ive

[BonnieShels]

For a brief period in the late nineties, he was in the boyband 5ive

Giving them six band members...

[back of the net]

Also, Ferdinand has a magazine called 5 and sells a baseball cap embroidered with #5

http://balls.ie/football/video-rio-ferdinand-wants-to-get-intimate-with-richard-dunne-to-make-up-for-taking-jersey/

[DannyInvincible]

It is thought that Rio Ferdinand can count as far as five.

[Fixer82]

And probably earns 5 times more in a year that most of us would dream of earning in 10.

'Beware of false prophets'

.....'it's not all about profits mate'. - David Brent, 2001

[gastric]

A Villa fan's assessment of Villa's best top ten central defenders ever. Dunners makes it as do two other Irish players. I love his number one choice!

http://avillafan.com/site/14212/villas-top-ten-centre-backs/

[paul_oshea]

I was expecting to read Deckydeees:

"featuring pre-seaon" when opening this thread....

[BonnieShels]

A Villa fan's assessment of Villa's best top ten central defenders ever. Dunners makes it as do two other Irish players. I love his number one choice!

http://avillafan.com/site/14212/villas-top-ten-centre-backs/

There was only ever going to be him at the top of the list. His reference to "God" is priceless. Made the hairs on my neck stand up thinking of him in his pomp.

Great to see Shaun Teale mentioned. I always had a soft spot for him and that side. That moustache though...

[CraftyToePoke]

Great to see Shaun Teale mentioned. I always had a soft spot for him and that side. That moustache though...

That and the one of the fattest arses in professional football. Oil rigs could turn quicker than that man. Honest and always put in a shift though.

[Deckydee]

I was expecting to read Deckydeees:

"featuring pre-seaon" when opening this thread....

He is featuring pre-season :p ;)

[tetsujin1979]

Announced his retirement from international football - https://www.facebook.com/FAIOfficial/photos/a.242684135750340.68027.239295259422561/836629406355807

[Razors left peg]

Genuinely upset that he has retired from International football.I dont think its a total shock but Dunne is up there alongside Roy and Duffer as my favorite Irish players of all time. We will miss the big man massively

[Stuttgart88]

That elevates Richard Keogh up the order :)

[back of the net]

Forever A boy in Green - Thank you Richard Dunne - Immense

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSbIVoy3XWw

[SwanVsDalton]

Well that's the 1-4-2 formation out the window. It's likely the other three defenders will have to turn up for a change.

Best Irish centre-half since Paul McGrath, an all-time great and producer of one of the best ever Irish performances. Moscow 2011, never forgotten.

It was a privilege to watch, Richard.

[paul_oshea]

I reckon arry must have had a word with him because everything before the summer sounded like he was still up for it....

sad but now hopefully Duffy or someone can step up.

[Razors left peg]

The big worry is that the summer friendlies showed up exactly how poor the replacements are for him. I am a lot more worried about the qualifers now than I was.

[jbyrne]

for your superb last min goal saving tackle v holland in 2000 that salvaged a hard fought draw alone... thank you richard.

[pineapple stu]

Preferred the game in Moscow myself.

Russia v Richie Dunne. With Shay Given popping up every now and again. One of the greatest performances I've ever seen, and I count McGrath v Italy in that.

Christ, we are depressingly ordinary now. It's Robbie Keane plus ten nobodies. And probably eleven nobodies from the next campaign. :(

Edit - poor quality, but here's the highlights of that game.

h46VMBWrELY

[Stuttgart88]

Fitting tribute on UEFA.com

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/qualifiers/news/newsid=2129440.html?rss=2129440+Richard+Dunne+call s+time+on+Ireland+career

[Crosby87]

Chaps who is Ian Rush? I met him in the suite section of the city vs poolie game last night. He seems like a fine bloke.

[Razors left peg]

Chaps who is Ian Rush? I met him in the suite section of the city vs poolie game last night. He seems like a fine bloke.
I never know with you Crosby!
2135

[geysir]

The first time I saw him was in the 1998 Euro u18 finals in Cyprus, it was all downhill after that :)
I had a hope he would carry on, even when last week a lesser mortal like Lahm retired at the age of 30, I thought Dunne would never willingly hang his boots up, but I suppose it happens to the best of players and Dunne is one of our best, one of the chosen few who became a legend in a green shirt.

I still can't figure out that goal line block in Moscow, how he made the contact not only to keep the ball out but to keep it in the safety zone with a bit of a back spin for Duff, who nonchalantly made the clearance without a backward glance, as if that miracle hadn't happened. That stroke couldn't even be done on the snooker table.

[Crosby87]

No I really never heard of him. I just had a chance to go on wiki. I guess he was there as poolie ambassador.

[Crosby87]

Sorry to hear Dunne is out.

[Razors left peg]

No I really never heard of him. I just had a chance to go on wiki. I guess he was there as poolie ambassador.

Not having a go at you but Im curious to know your age? I had just assumed that even young fellas today would know who he is..... either that or you are still taking the pi$$ and Ive fallen for it hook line and sinker :)

[gastric]

An absolute legend! I could never understand the hype after seeing him play u18s and he had the weirdest body shape ever, the cookie monster he certainly was. I gained respect for Kevin Keegan when he showed belief in Dunne when it looked like his career was up the gurgler. What emerged was a player who then truly showed us his potential.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Preferred the game in Moscow myself.

Russia v Richie Dunne. With Shay Given popping up every now and again. One of the greatest performances I've ever seen, and I count McGrath v Italy in that.

Christ, we are depressingly ordinary now. It's Robbie Keane plus ten nobodies. And probably eleven nobodies from the next campaign. :(

Edit - poor quality, but here's the highlights of that game.

h46VMBWrELY

Coleman is a nobody? McCarthy is a nobody? Long is a nobody? Gibson is a nobody? McGeady? Brady?

Sad to see symbols like Dunne and Duff go but what we lack in their distinguished class, we have a gaggle of young defenders like Hoban, O'Brien, Egan, Duffy, Long and Kiernan who could make a breakthrough and O'Shea, Wilson and Delaney performing well in the PL. St Ledger too - if he gets his career back on track - has rarely let Ireland down. McClean, Pilkington, Brady and McGeady are all better than some of the alternatives we had for Duff back in the day and Coleman could also be a wildcard in that position.

*cowers* I don't know what kind of impact people expect Keane to have against Germany and Poland. I mean I can picture him scoring goals against Gibraltar and Georgia but it's Scotland, Poland and Germany we are in competition with and if we can't beat the minnows with/without Keane then competing is a moot point.

Glad to be/if proven wrong though!

[harry crumb]

Big player for Ireland.

Right time to go.

[BonnieShels]

The first time I saw him was in the 1998 Euro u18 finals in Cyprus, it was all downhill after that :)
I had a hope he would carry on, even when last week a lesser mortal like Lahm retired at the age of 30, I thought Dunne would never willingly hang his boots up, but I suppose it happens to the best of players and Dunne is one of our best, one of the chosen few who became a legend in a green shirt.

I still can't figure out that goal line block in Moscow, how he made the contact not only to keep the ball out but to keep it in the safety zone with a bit of a back spin for Duff, who nonchalantly made the clearance without a backward glance, as if that miracle hadn't happened. That stroke couldn't even be done on the snooker table.

Whenever I think of Richie I think of that stop. Whenever I think of Moscow I think of that stop.

From minute one he was immense. And then he went and head-butted the ground.

Thanks Dickie.


One of the greats.

[pineapple stu]

Coleman is a nobody? McCarthy is a nobody? Long is a nobody? Gibson is a nobody? McGeady? Brady?
Coleman is the only one of those I might grant.

There's no point bigging the others up just because they happen to be Irish and we're familiar with them. If that's the core of our national team, we're fourth seeds on merit.

[DannyInvincible]

What a great servant over the years. In spite of shaky beginnings and a proneness to the odd lapse here and there, he matured into a true leader who generally provided solidity and assurance at the back. He'll be missed, hugely. I think Moscow was the game that rubber-stamped his legendary status, if ever confirmation were needed. I'm delighted he had his stand-out or iconic moment. It's a performance we can all look back on and admire for how it perfectly encapsulated what he was all about. It was like Italy in 1994 for Paul McGrath.

Found some footage of his debut:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW_5-DhV1gE

The likeness really is uncanny.


The big worry is that the summer friendlies showed up exactly how poor the replacements are for him. I am a lot more worried about the qualifers now than I was.

He's had injury problems, so I'm not sure for how much longer he might have featured had he stuck around. Not that I'm saying he won't be missed big-time, but the qualifiers will be a different ball-game completely from the end-of-season friendlies. Hopefully, the numbness and lethargy from the Trap era will well and truly have evaporated by the time the squad regroups for competitive football.

[Colbert Report]

Fair play to Richard Dunne, I have many good memories of him playing for Ireland.

I do wonder about the circumstances regarding the timing of his announcement. He played in 41 league matches for QPR last season. Who are likely to be to the center back pairing for QPR this season? Steven Caulker and Rio Ferdinand? Onuoha, Dunne and Clint Hill there as cover?

[DannyInvincible]

Not having a go at you but Im curious to know your age? I had just assumed that even young fellas today would know who he is..... either that or you are still taking the pi$$ and Ive fallen for it hook line and sinker :)

Crosby must be 26 or 27 if the "87" in his name refers to his year of birth. I can see how he might never have heard of Ian Rush though. He does live in Cloud Cuckoo Land, after all. :)

[pineapple stu]

he matured into a true leader who generally provided solidity and assurance
That's what we're missing now. I don't see that we have a natural enforcer at all in the squad. Before Dunne, we had Keane, McCarthy, McGrath, Moran. We have nobody like that now. For all his plus points (and there are many - 62 I can think of for starters), he doesn't strike me a natural captain (few forwards are in fairness). I don't see anyone coming through who could really take a game by the scruff of the neck like those I've previously mentioned. That's a big loss.

[DeLorean]

Yeah I'd echo the reaction of Razor and PS, in particular, on this one. I got a bit of a shock when I got a text with the news. I really thought we'd scrape one last campaign out of him. Maybe not playing every game but ideally some of the bigger ones. It would have been invaluable to have him around the squad as well with some many international novices (TOWK has the list :)) now fighting it out to partner O'Shea.

We could really do with Shane Duffy fulfilling some of that potential and quickly, as I think the rest are either bog standard or too raw*. Massive season for Clark as well.


*Assuming Wilson reverts to the left back role but it's looking increasingly unlikely.

[the doc]

Christ, we are depressingly ordinary now. It's Robbie Keane plus ten nobodies. And probably eleven nobodies from the next campaign. :(



Nobodies??????

We are Irish, we never have or never will be nobodies!

Footballs changing, look at England, average at best.

As for Richie, one word "Class"

[Jovial Rambler]

Legend. Power goal v Estonia c2001 sticks in the memory.

[pineapple stu]

We are Irish, we never have or never will be nobodies!
Jingoistic nonsense.


Footballs changing, look at England, average at best.
Indeed. Thank God we don't rely on England for most of our players.

Oh, wait...

Interestingly, I've read suggestions that a problem with the national team is the relative dominance of the club game; many people are club fans first, and national team fans a distant second. There's an apathy about the national team, which feeds into the players to an extent (because they're just people, after all)

We're the same, except it's another country's clubs that dominate. We can see the growing apathy of the national team in crowds at Lansdowne Road, and it's not as if people are putting their money into the domestic game to help produce the stars of the future.

It'll be a long, long time before we're at a World Cup again, I fear.

[DannyInvincible]

Jingoistic nonsense.

The doc is a cliché machine.

[OwlsFan]

Jingoistic nonsense.


Indeed. Thank God we don't rely on England for most of our players.

Oh, wait...

Interestingly, I've read suggestions that a problem with the national team is the relative dominance of the club game; many people are club fans first, and national team fans a distant second. There's an apathy about the national team, which feeds into the players to an extent (because they're just people, after all)

We're the same, except it's another country's clubs that dominate. We can see the growing apathy of the national team in crowds at Lansdowne Road, and it's not as if people are putting their money into the domestic game to help produce the stars of the future.

It'll be a long, long time before we're at a World Cup again, I fear.

It depends on the draw. In our current group we have a reasonable chance of competing with Scotland/Poland who wouldn't be world beaters either. A similar draw for the World Cup and we would have a chance although we have of course slipped down the rankings but some good results and that might change. Good management and luck and we can qualify. Never say never.

There were the same numbers attending games when Jack took over. Was it 14k at the Welsh game? Success with the "dream team" will bring back the Play Station/Sky generation.

[Stuttgart88]

Our expectations are different to England's. If their game is so rotten how come they qualify with ease almost every time?

I can't see Ireland ever being in contention to win a group again but I still see no reason whatsoever to think that second place should never be a realistic goal. Sometimes only one result can be the difference between 2nd and 4th. We lost our nerve to Austria at home. We fluffed our lines against Sweden too. Remember Long not setting up Keane for a tap in? We could have won in Sweden with more conviction.

I think Stu is confusing actually doing something at a finals and getting there. It's really throwing in the towel to think getting there isn't realistic, especially in a season where there are extra places.

I'm still not convinced by O'Neill but he has yet to field his best XI and I do believe he will adopt a more contemporary high, pressing game that will suit us. I think the woeful home results from Trap's reign will improve. We may need a bit of luck to get things moving along but we're not immune to a bit of luck.

[paul_oshea]

Crosby must be 26 or 27 if the "87" in his name refers to his year of birth. I can see how he might never have heard of Ian Rush though. He does live in Cloud Cuckoo Land, after all. :)

my guess is he is in or around 34 or 35 and you are way off with theb87 that's player related too I'd guess.

[paul_oshea]

Do people really think Ian Rush would be known in new york or america generally?not a chance.you'd be living in Cloud Cuckoo Land to think they would :D

[pineapple stu]

It depends on the draw. In our current group we have a reasonableThere were the same numbers attending games when Jack took over. Was it 14k at the Welsh game? Success with the "dream team" will bring back the Play Station/Sky generation.


It's really throwing in the towel to think getting there isn't realistic, especially in a season where there are extra places.
I was talking about the World Cup for the record; Euros, with twice as many places, does give us a chance. Second place isn't even enough to qualify for the World Cup; still a play-off to negotiate (and we'd probably be unseeded at that)

Martin O'Neill is a good manager alright, and that's a big plus for us at the moment.


There were the same numbers attending games when Jack took over. Was it 14k at the Welsh game? Success with the "dream team" will bring back the Play Station/Sky generation.
I don't doubt that at all. I just wonder have we gotten to a chicken and egg situation? I think most will agree that we can't rely on England to produce our players the way it did back in the day. Getting rid of the three-foreigner rule has done for that.


Our expectations are different to England's. If their game is so rotten how come they qualify with ease almost every time?
I think England have sheer strength in numbers that we don't have. They still suffer the same structural problems as we do (as our games are so intertwined). Give us ten times the number of players and the odds are we'd produce a few great players.

It of course helps that they're top seeds and don't have to face Germany/Holland/Spain and so on. Even when they weren't top seeds, didn't they get Russia?

I hope I'm wrong obviously, and I'll still be supporting come Tbilisi in September. But the spine that got us to the World Cup playoffs in 2010, that stumbled over the line for Euro 2012 and that had prior major tournament experience (in 2002) is now almost all gone. Given, Dunne, Duff, Keane. O'Shea too, though he didn't make the 2002 squad. We've nothing like those kind of players coming through.

[Stuttgart88]

There were the same numbers attending games when Jack took over. Was it 14k at the Welsh game? Success with the "dream team" will bring back the Play Station/Sky generation.
Even after Italia 90 the first two friendlies (USA and Switzerland?) were badly attended, and these games came with the carrot of getting on the FAI's block booking list.

[paul_oshea]

I was thinking about that block, and spin behind the post to Duff. He was so outstreched that it hit the underside and he rolled on top of it under his foot making it go back. The block was incredible but the spin back behind to duff was definitely not intentional.

Yipes was 38 captaining Colombia, I think Richard could have stayed on a bit longer.

[Crosby87]

I was born the year elvis died lads. I could be his reincarnation like stutts is herman gorings. didnt watch a soccer game until the 94 wc was in my backyard.

Anyway im depressed about ireland. We might have a better team with peeps that dont play for us. Ireland, dunne, s reid, gibson, duff, given. Etc....

[BonnieShels]

Crosby must be 26 or 27 if the "87" in his name refers to his year of birth. I can see how he might never have heard of Ian Rush though. He does live in Cloud Cuckoo Land, after all. :)


my guess is he is in or around 34 or 35 and you are way off with theb87 that's player related too I'd guess.

This is the why...

http://www.thatsmyquarterback.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sidney-Crosby-3.jpeg



I was born the year elvis died lads. I could be his reincarnation like stutts is herman gorings. didnt watch a soccer game until the 94 wc was in my backyard.

Anyway im depressed about ireland. We might have a better team with peeps that dont play for us. Ireland, dunne, s reid, gibson, duff, given. Etc....

..and Giles and Brdy and Lawrenson and McGrath.