Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane

[Crosby87]

Its tough to read the NY Times on stuff like this. I mean, is Temple Bar a place you would go to? Do any of you go there? Stu the only thing i heard about Crackbird that was negative was that you smell like chicken when you leave. (Which i suppose could be a good thing depending on the person).
I think we need POSH to weigh in on this.

[Charlie Darwin]

Well you make it easy by being anonymous, Chuck.
Where are you?

If you are in Dubs as I have heard, I would like to know: How is Crackbird? Too touristy? Is it good?
Sigh, Am i spelling it right, with the CApitals?
I'm serious. I know its a 'touristy spot' but all you Dubliners out there, starting with (I would imagine) Charlie here...
Crackbird? Review?

Crackbird isn't touristy, it's hipstery. As far as I know, the only way to get a table is to tweet them and if they can fit you in they will. I wouldn't know how it is, I don't eat chicken.

[SkStu]

Crackbird isn't touristy, it's hipstery. As far as I know, the only way to get a table is to tweet them and if they can fit you in they will. I wouldn't know how it is, I don't eat chicken.

Hipsters? Not at all. Tweet reservations? We walked in both times once as a group of 10. Unless something's changed... It's a small enough venue though.

Temple Bar is good for locals and tourists Crosby. I was a town drinker 90% of the time.

[Charlie Darwin]

Ah OK, the tweeting thing was because they give some people free dinners for it.

[tetsujin1979]

Its tough to read the NY Times on stuff like this. I mean, is Temple Bar a place you would go to? Do any of you go there? Stu the only thing i heard about Crackbird that was negative was that you smell like chicken when you leave. (Which i suppose could be a good thing depending on the person).
I think we need POSH to weigh in on this.

wouldnt normally drink in Temple Bar, apart from The Foggy Dew

[Serb]

Weird thing to be debating on a thread about Martin O'Neil and Roy Keane, but Crackbird is excellent. It's basically premium chicken in a bucket. Tastes great, sides are a bit weak (potatoe salad is nice as long as you're ok with it being cold). Sauces go from mild to super spicy (I'm a fan of spice so would go for the habanero side myself). It's not touristy at all (although tourists will of course end up there due to it's proximity to Temple Bar) and you don't have to book a table via Twitter or any other means — just walk in. It is hipstery, but who cares, you're getting delicious chicken.

So... Roy Keane, eh?

[paul_oshea]

Do CrackBird do prawn buckets as well? IS premium, like VIP chicken?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Oh, the irony...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/dec/09/roy-keane-alex-ferguson-massive-ego?CMP=fb_ot

[SkStu]

Weird thing to be debating on a thread about Martin O'Neil and Roy Keane, but Crackbird is excellent. It's basically premium chicken in a bucket. Tastes great, sides are a bit weak (potatoe salad is nice as long as you're ok with it being cold). Sauces go from mild to super spicy (I'm a fan of spice so would go for the habanero side myself). It's not touristy at all (although tourists will of course end up there due to it's proximity to Temple Bar) and you don't have to book a table via Twitter or any other means — just walk in. It is hipstery, but who cares, you're getting delicious chicken.

the potato croquettes are good.

[DannyInvincible]

Did anyone watch Keane and Viera: Best of Enemies last night? It's available to watch on ITV Player at the minute and I understand RTÉ will also be broadcasting it on the 18th: https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/keane-...est-of-enemies

I certainly enjoyed it and I think taking Roy less seriously than I once might have aided that; it's bravado really. Obviously, I was more concerned with the Keane side of the documentary as it offered a captivating insight into his competitive and resolute character. I sense his tough exterior is ultimately driven by an internal insecurity and an inner need to "maintain face". Indeed, he goes as far as admitting that he is and always was driven by fear.

It is clear he felt stung by the falling out with Alex Ferguson and evidently still harbours so much bitterness that he found it nigh impossible to utter positive words for his former manager. Ferguson's biggest weakness, according to Keane, is his lack of loyalty. No doubt, that opinion was coloured by personal experiences later in his career. When asked to identify Ferguson's greatest strength, he almost scoffs with derision as the best he can offer is what he perceives to be Ferguson's ruthlessness. He even said he felt insulted by the words Ferguson used to praise his towering performance away to Juventus in 1999; his outright rejection of the compliment just seemed like petty overcompensation to me, in case he'd be seen to be "letting his guard down" or "going soft" with the grudge. When actually asked who the best manager under whom he played was, there was a contrived silence before he answered simply, "Brian Clough". That just seemed rather disingenuous, as if to suggest that Ferguson, under whom he'd won virtually everything there was to play for at the top of the English game time and time again, wasn't even worth consideration.

In fairness to Roy, he did admit to crying after his time at Old Trafford came to a sudden end. However, just in case you thought this might be an indication of weakness, he assures that it was merely a few tears shed for only two minutes in the car before getting on with his life.

And he does regret not having played in the 2002 World Cup, after all:

When asked if there was one thing he would again in his career, he exhibited maturity in hindsight by answering: "Play in the [2002] World Cup. It would have been nice to play", before adding, "Mick did say to me that 'Well if you don’t respect me, how can you play for me?' What I should have said was that I wasn’t playing for him. I was playing for my country."

Interestingly, he'd also held otherwise-agreeable talks with Bayern Munich and Juventus when his United contract was running out but was happy at United at the time and never felt strongly enough to go. Looking back now, he said he partially regretted not having experienced playing beyond Ireland and the UK.

[geysir]

I watched it to the end and enjoyed it. I was all prepared for the worst and expected me to last 5 or 10 minute watching it. But that Vieira chap was just so charming

2 bits stood out for me that Charlie Danny has already highlighted. When asked what his preparation or motivation or something would be for an upcoming Man U Arsenal fixture, Keane said 'fear', 'fear of losing' that's what kept him in focus.
And 'fear of what', the 'what' was understood to mean something really hellish, in the dark pits of Roy's dungeons.
The other bit was regret about the World Cup, which he virtually said that he should have separated his dispute with McCarthy from himself as captain playing for his country. Which I think most everybody can agree on.

[shakermaker1982]

I enjoyed it. Better than the football that preceded it as well.

Keane clearly rated Irwin as well when they were debating who should slot in as LB for a combined Man Utd/Arsenal 11. Irwin was bloody fantastic for United. Solid every game.

Keane/Fergie fall out is like a marriage that goes sour, they will now only focus on the bits that went wrong in the relationship whenever asked. A great partnership that ended in tears.........

[back of the net]

The other bit was regret about the World Cup, which he virtually said that he should have separated his dispute with McCarthy from himself as captain playing for his country. Which I think most everybody can agree on.

Very much agree with the above.

You could see the massive regret he had on his face when he spoke about it IMO on doing what he did back then and not waiting till post tournament to express his discontent at whatever issues he felt needed to be addressed.

Overall it was a good show - although at times i thought it was called "Keane & Ferguson - Best of enimies" as it seemed a bit keane central imo and too much of alex fergusons book was brought into it, it was meant to be about 2 of the greatest club captains of a generation and their individual and team battles with each other.

Wasnt sure about some of roys picks for his best team - some of his picks seemed more like he was picking them because they also felt out with ferguson rather than picking them for their ability

[DannyInvincible]

I have a feeling ITV Player won't work outside of the UK, but the documentary is also on YouTube now split into five parts:

Excuse my misspelling of Vieira's name above, by the way. I'm blaming the ITV website, from where I copied and pasted the title. You'd think they'd have gotten the name of one of the central protagonists correct...

2 bits stood out for me that Charlie has already highlighted.

Charlie?!

[geysir]

Charlie?!

Sorry about that John, but did you really have to inflict the ?! on us?