Worst ever Ireland Player ?

[superfrank]

Has anyone mentioned Gary Doherty yet?

I'm too tired to search five pages for his name!!

[OwlsFan]

Alan Kernaghan gets my vote, he was crap crap crap.

Were you in Copenhagen when Kernaghan played out of his skin to hold a very good Danish side 0-0 and I think Eddie McGoldrick was a full back also that day ? Far from "crap crap" he was. McGoldrick was also fouled by Nigel Worthington for the free kick that led to Alan McLoughlin's equaliser in Belfast - a day on which Kernaghan in particular was subject to foul abuse from the Norn Iron supporters. He mightn't have been a Paul McGrath or a Kevin Moran but he did ok most of the time.

[davey]

Without re-opening the same old can of worms;there's at least 1-2 contenders who'll be out on the park,Saturday.

And these are whom? I don't think any of our current team deserve to be on a list of worst players ever

[Lionel Ritchie]

Off on a bit of a tangent, I watched Charlton's Years for the first time in ages last night. I'm especially interested in the 1996 qualifying campaign, Charlton's last, since reading Niall Quinn's biography. That was by far the easiest group that we've ever had ever since I've been watching football (circa 1988) and we blew it most likely through too much alcohol and not enough players giving a sh!t. I suppose, the end of an era is rarely pretty.

If even half the reports of what went on during that campaign are true several of those involved should've finished their careers 20-odd caps short of their final tallies.

A bit of background first -we'd dropped two points in Dublin against a weak Northern Ireland in March -then seemed to get back on track with a credible 1-0 win over Portugal in April.

None of us could've known at that stage we'd just watched the last decent performance by a Jack Charlton team.

The team stayed in Limerick after they were disgraced by Liechtenstein (0-0 in Vaduz -Liechtenstein nearly nicked it late on actually).

I can't even write some of the things our players were up to while they were here because I'll be banned and the Admin could be sued (and may have to sue me) as I can't substantiate the allegations -other than to say they are made by Ireland supporters like myself who have no desire to see the players in trouble and only want to see the team do well and who just happened to bear witness to their carry on.

The stories are out there anyway -and whatever you've heard is probably true. They were a disgrace to themselves, their jerseys and their country while they were here.

With this "preparation" they went into the game against Austria in Dublin and got the s h i t kicked out of them 3-1 by an Austria team who were frankly fcuking useless. (The North stuck 5 past them the following autumn!!!)

The following september they went to vienna and managed to lose 3-1 again.

Our team staggered over the line into a the play offs when we could've ****ed the group at one stage. In fact we lost 3-0 in Portugal and only finished ahead of the North and Austria on goal difference.

The team the dutch massacred at Anfield in the play-off was pitiful.

The following summer during Euro 96 -which of course we hadn't qualified for and which probably represented our best chance in a generation of winning a trophy - I happened to meet the lass who became Mrs. Ritchie.

First time visiting her home town up in County Monaghan all I was hearing was stories of what these gobsh1tes were up to when they were supposed to be preparing for competetive international matches (for a long time the team base was the Nuremore Hotel outside Carrickmacross).

It'd be strong to say they were despised up that way but I'm not pushing the envelope at all in saying they weren't liked and were considered a fcuking nuisance about the place.

I'm pretty sure of this -it aint for the scenery that their kept out in the Airport hotel these days anyway.

[Conor H]

...DAVID CONOLLY !!!!!

[pineapple stu]

Our team staggered over the line into a the play offs when we could've ****ed the group at one stage. In fact we lost 3-0 in Portugal and only finished ahead of the North and Austria on goal difference.

Actually, we were one point ahead of Austria. NI were level on points with us but had a better goal difference - we actually only finished second on that silly head-to-head rule!

[Donal81]

Even more background, from one of the horses' mouths, Niall Quinn's biog:

"Ireland brought relief, as usual. We were at the end of an era and we behaved that way. Mick (McCarthy) had retired and Jack didn't have an in-house enforcer. He hadn't the will to bark at us and bollock us any more, either; or if he did, we hadn't the legs to respond. We were an old team and people had sussed our little bag of tricks.

Not long after I came back from Lisbon, we played two European Championship qualifying games. We were declining, but qualification was in our grasp. We drew with Liechtenstein on 3 June 1995. I remember the day for being the last I saw of Jack's wrath. I played badly and my only excuse was that I wasn't alone. We were to play Austria eight days later.

We came back from Liechtenstein and headed to Limerick where Jack was basing the team as a thank you for having been given an honorary degree by the local university...Jack allowed us free rein for a while in Limerick. We were allowed out the first couple of nights. Then Jack headed off up country on one of his famous earners, and to watch Northern Ireland play. The trouble with the team at that stage was that it wasn't just two or three sneaking out for a drink, it was most of us.

One day after training, I realised how lax some of us had become. Our drinking was so bad that even I couldn't take any more and I decided that I'd better go for a game of golf or I'd be in the pub all day again. I came back and had a shower and went around the hotel but I couldn't get a four ball together. Everyone was gone. So I said sod that for a good intention, took a taxi to the Henry Cecil pub at three in the afternoon and got sharp words for being late.

People knock that trip but we were like that for years to some extent or other. We always got by and mostly we felt it bonded us like a club team. Against Austria we weren't too bad for eighty minutes; we just ran out of juice in the last ten...By two in the afternoon, we're showered, lunched, changed and milling around the lobby dressed like we're heading for a nightclub, which we will be eventually. We're waiting on a fleet of taxis when John Charlton (Jack's son, helped with the team) comes down and makes a half-hearted attempt to keep us sane.

'Look lads,' he pleads, 'try not to have more than six points.' There's a big cheer and off we tear...Was it professional? No. Do I regret it? Not really."

I really liked Quinn when he played for us and his book is great. This is the one part of it where the whole culture of the team really annoyed me. To explain away three-day drinking benders as just bonding exercises when you've got people paying money into Lansdowne to watch you play is b0ll0cks, frankly.

[Fergie's Son]

Good grief. Some great posts by Lionel and others.

I remember that match against Austria. I watch all the games I don't attend with my ornery Grandad in Raheny. Around 60 minutes into the match he said Ireland looked very tired and were losing it in the midfield (he reffed league of Ireland for years). Then Polsten (sp) popped up and put two past us. He was 47 years old at the time and had a pony tail (Polsten that is, not the old lad). He might have been 43 but he still had a pony tail.

Regardless, those stories really tick me off.

As for the England match in '95, Sheidan also had a little shimmy to get away from his man before slotting the ball to Kelly. John Sheridan was class and was a highly underrated player...as was McGoldrick!!!

[Slash/ED]

Was it professional? No. Do I regret it? Not really."

Jesus christ

[zinedineontour]

...DAVID CONOLLY !!!!!

yeah started thread of mentioning connolly glad someone agrees ...

[dunne12]

Austin Hayes

[Dotsy]

Off on a bit of a tangent, I watched Charlton's Years for the first time in ages last night. I'm especially interested in the 1996 qualifying campaign, Charlton's last, since reading Niall Quinn's biography. That was by far the easiest group that we've ever had ever since I've been watching football (circa 1988) and we blew it most likely through too much alcohol and not enough players giving a sh!t. I suppose, the end of an era is rarely pretty.

Couldn't agree more. I lived in Riga for 3 years around that time and went to all Latvia's home matches for that campaign. They were pretty poor at that time. I remember seeing them beat Austria 3:2 in between Ireland's two defeats to Austria and I just couldn't fathom how we lost 3:1 in Dublin (and went on to loose 3:1 in Austria).