Anyone else finding it hard to give a damn about the sport since the incident?

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 3:53 PM

Not as much as you like the racing benno, not even close

**SuperDave** · 07/12/2009, 3:59 PM

Originally Posted by Schumi

Don't forget the denial phase: a replay, 33rd team, etc.

Yeah we are long past that stage and most are past the anger as well (not all, right enough). The replay and 33rd team calls are part of the bargaining stage, which is kind of related to the blame of others stage, before the blame of self / depression stage.

It's not really all that clear cut and to some degree the stages model of grief handling has been discredited but it is clear there is some degree of movement from event ---> acceptance and not many of us have made the whole way to complete acceptance yet.

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 4:21 PM

Is this cancer related lads?! Or is that aids

?!

**ger121** · 07/12/2009, 4:31 PM

I'm over it now and looking forward to the new LOI season. Where I can get my weekly football fix.

**Stuttgart88** · 07/12/2009, 9:56 PM

Originally Posted by superfrank

anyone see Hreidarsson at the weekend?

Anyone see cheating diving cnut Steven Gerrard at it YET AGAIN this weekend in a piece of diving as calculated and crass as you'll ever see, and yet not a mention of it on TV, in the papers or anywhere?

**elroy** · 07/12/2009, 10:08 PM

Am still feeling the pain of it all, plus all the coverage of the WC draw and associated previews and qualifying campaign reviews (on the bbc site for example) make it all the worse. Not to mention the draw and the fact that we wouldve got a group we realistically could win and to go a step further, when you look at the teams likely to finish 2nd in group B.......oh god.

The hardest part is that we dont have any tangible to look forward till Feb, once we get the draw perhaps it'll be easier to move on then. For the moment we are just in a vacuum. Back to following the progress of our players with particular interest in the up and coming players eg Wilson, Coleman, Gibson and co in the last few weeks.

**paul_oshea** · 07/12/2009, 10:12 PM

YOu know someone said to me earlier on last week i think, that the world cup is crap,just look at the teams. He said winning or doing well in the euros is a far better acheivement given the teams and competitive nature of the groups. I am actually beleiving him at this stage. the african teams and the all the others bar brazil and argentina, possibly uruguay are nothing special. ITs a bloody joke that there are not more european teams at it.

**irishfan86** · 07/12/2009, 10:14 PM

I agree that team for team the Euros is a better tournament, but football will not improve worldwide if all corners of the globe are not given a fair representation at the World Cup. I mean from a selfish perspective I'd love for there to be more European spots, but having a tournament called the World Cup with half of the teams from Europe, it can be a bit of a joke.

**Riddickcule** · 07/12/2009, 10:58 PM

Yeah i fell like this sometimes, why do i bother? It's brought so much more pain than relief in my life, should i just quit?

Of course not.

**Mad Moose** · 07/12/2009, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I think people who were harping on about get over it etc etc were quite objective but only because they aren't as close to the team as the rest of us/don't understand fully how much it means to the rest of us, possibly not as patriotic as the rest of us.

My god I have read some absolute rubbish on here since our exit from the World Cup Qualifying campaign and some of it, and some of the actions, undertaken in the name of Irish football have been embarrassing but this is getting no better. Just how self conceited is that statement?. Sorry Paul but you are no closer, nor were any closer, to the team than I or any of the 12,000 Irish fans were there that night, nor have you been closer since. Unless I'm missing something?. Perhaps you are or were Lee Carsley's hairstylist, Keane's confidant, the kit man, Trappatoni's personal aide or Paul McShane's brain. I'm just not sure how much football you actually see but let me tell you injustice and poor and costly decision making, rightly or wongly (sometimes, just sometimes it actually goes our way i.e we beat Georgia this way) is part of the fabric of the game. Perhaps its your first time to experience such pain but let me tell you in following football as long as I have done I've seen a hell of a lot more injustice and costly decision making. Yes I have seen Alan Kelly ref a game!!!

Now Henry's blatant cheating hurt that night but you know what its done and as patriotic as I am of been Irish I now smile and shrug it off. Some of it to hide embarrassment at where we actually decided we should take this. I listened in horror at the annoucement of a planned march (through the cyber anti-christ that is facebook!!!) on the French Embassy live on the Joe Duffy show (I usually do listen in horror to Joe's show). Nothing any of us can say or do will change anything. Boycotting coverage of the World Cup will not even register a blink of an eye nor will suffering a few more shaving sores in finding an alternative to Gillette. Lets move on and concentrate on the fact that we are back in decent shape in the world of International football.

I was disappointed that night but proud. Proud of what we had achieved. The fact we overturned a home defeat when the eyes of the world were upon us and went to Paris and beat them in normal time. Proud of the noise we made and the support we gave. I'm proud, despite the headache, of my contribution and I'm proud it meant so much, as it generally always does, to the players. I was as proud an Irishman the following day as I was the day of the game and I'm as proud n Irishman since. Life goes on and we have the next campaign to look forward to.

Sorry about the above and perhaps you do actually have a valid and justifiable reason to declare that your closer to the Irish team than the rest of us.

**OneRedArmy** · 08/12/2009, 12:37 PM

I don't like watching the replay's of the incident, and I still haven't watched the whole match back again (and doubt I will), but as many above have said, these things happen all the time in football. Watching my club go bust at the same time also put a bit of additional perspective on it.

Life goes on, football goes on, its still the same (imperfect) game it was before the France game, and there were a lot of positives to take from this campaign. Actually, when I think about, I'm a hell of a lot more positive than during the Staunton era when I went to games out of duty, with no real sense of excitement, more a feeling of boredom/dread.

Onwards and upwards....

**Weatherman** · 08/12/2009, 2:24 PM

I actually got so annoyed when i was watching the world cup draw that i had to turn it off and even the other day in work i had to stop reading the Richie Dunne piece in the paper about Henry cheating because i got so angry and annoyed!!! my blood is still boiling! i would never fall out wit the sport tho! i just hope that some irish player comes up against barcelona in the champions league soon!!!

**tiktok** · 08/12/2009, 3:53 PM

Originally Posted by Weatherman

........even the other day in work i had to stop reading the Richie Dunne piece in the paper about Henry cheating because i got so angry and annoyed!

Wow, that's extreme, I'd find it hard to imagine something getting me so angry that I'd stop dodging work.

**Scram** · 08/12/2009, 5:04 PM

I find it hard to look at EPL games, I would always have interest where Irish palyers are involved but now it's like "so what??" They won't be playing for us anytime soon.

But I do hope to see Stephen Ireland doing very badly and I also hope Ipswich lose tonight and Keane loses his job, bitter moments like that keep me going

**Razors left peg** · 08/12/2009, 6:02 PM

I havent watched a full game of football since. I must admit I did enjoy the rugby against South Africa the other week but every time I try watch a bit of football I see another refereeing error, like the penalty that was given to Portsmouth at the weekend, and I just get p1ssed off with the game all over again. Seeing the highlights of Seamie Coleman and Darron Gibson at the weekend did perk me up a bit and I did get a little hit of excitement for the Euro Championships when I seen pics of Trap and Tardelli scouting at the weekend, but I still couldnt give a toss about the weeks Champions League games.Maybe if the League of Ireland season was still going I would have got a bit of a buzz back by now but I think this apathy is gonna last a while yet

**EastTerracer** · 09/12/2009, 2:36 AM

Originally Posted by Razors left peg

...but I still couldnt give a toss about the weeks Champions League games.

To be fair, most of the Champions League games are difficult to watch in this phase. The whole competition needs a revamp to make it interesting before the knock-out rounds.

I'm slowly getting over the Paris disappointment but France's draw last Friday did prompt a surge of bile to rise in my throat. A French lad at work ran in to tell me about France's draw and I reacted with some vitriol.

It seems like many of us are at different stages of the healing process but I think I'm established in "acceptance" now.

"The 5 stages of the loss process?
Stage 1: Denial
Stage 2: Bargaining
Stage 3: Anger
Stage 4: Despair
Stage 5: Acceptance"

**OneRedArmy** · 09/12/2009, 7:59 AM

Originally Posted by Scram

I find it hard to look at EPL games

Me too, but not because of Thierry Henry or France. Its one small step removed from WWE.

I surprised at the amount of damascene conversions in this thread. Football administration and governance was inherently grubby and corrupt long before we played France.

No al calcio moderno.

**EastTerracer** · 09/12/2009, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

I surprised at the amount of damascene conversions in this thread. Football administration and governance was inherently grubby and corrupt long before we played France.

No al calcio moderno.

100% with you here. Ireland were burned enough times in the 70s and early-80s to know what this feels like and we've seen it happen to many other countries since then. That's why boycotts, 33rd teams and replays were never realistic propositions.

It hurts but we'll get over it.

**jbyrne** · 09/12/2009, 3:34 PM

Originally Posted by BYCTWD

100%.

I'm still in love with the beautiful game and looking forward to a WC free of Ole ole based muppetry and having to suffer comment from clowns who have never been to a game in their lives. Unfortunate that we had the worst of both worlds after our draw in Paris, no WC and inane prattle from new age football 'fans', but they are onto the next fad, leaving a month of me watching football in peace.

I'm cheering for France, just to see the Joe Duffy-esque drama queens on here's heads explode. Allez les blues!

why post in this section if you think we are better off without Ireland in the WC? sad, very sad really

**jbyrne** · 09/12/2009, 3:51 PM

Originally Posted by BYCTWD

Not at all, I see ole ole muppets crawling out of the woodwork as a tax on our world cup participation - a manageable pain. Unfortunatly they did so anyway over Henry and we have the worst of both worlds.

But now we are not there, these so called fans will not be clogging up the national media and bars with their inane prattle, so the rest of us can get on with watching the football.

its only a sport at the end of the day. cheer up!