The Corrigan Brothers (Gerard, Brian and Donncha if you must know) made an indent into the world’s brow, when they popped up at Barack Obama’s inauguration with their song ‘There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama.’ Well now they’re back back back, with a jaunty tune aimed at propelling the Irish into the 2010 World Cup.
Watch out for the reference to John O’Shea and Eamon Dunphy (after the latter described him as “not good enough” ahead of a United match) as well as the tremendous verse, “Sometimes we lack skill, Sometimes we lack speed. Who needs Stephen Ireland, Bring back Andy Reid.”
Thespoiler is a huge fan, and demand that if the Irish make it through, ‘Here’s to Trapatonni’ becomes the official FAI song. Altogether now - “Let’s take it to the French. Here’s to Trapatonni.”
Thespoiler is nothing if not topical. Hence we’re bringing you live coverage of the play-off draw for the European Qualifiers. Matches will be played on the 14th and 18th of November - countries listed first are at home
Here is the French right-back Rod Fanni, who in a vain attempt to take attention away from his surname, throws himself to the ground in a ludicrous manner.
French captain doesn’t hate manager as much as we thought
French daily Le Parisienthis week claimedThierry Henry stood up during a French team meeting on Friday and berated Raymond Domenech, labelling his training sessions as boring and complaining that the team didn’t know what to do on the pitch. However, the Barcelona star has now denied the quotes and the apparent rift between the French national team and its manager.
Henry appeared on French station TV1 clear up the situation:
“No. Nothing happened on Friday.”
“We had a discussion, as often happens between a team and their coach, but it was a rather constructive discussion.
“I’ve been saying for some time now. But when you do not win the game it is much more complicated to get this message across. There is a great atmosphere in this squad. I can say I see it every day.”
We have little doubt that the original quotes in le Parisien were fabricated - this could represent the first time a newspaper has been found to make something up since the last time The Sun published a transfer rumour - but judging by the contemptuous glare in the picture above, there’s clearly no love lost between Henry and Domenech.
Titi lays into his national manager in front of whole French squad
After helping France reach last place in their group at Euro 2008 - an embarrassment that was compounded by an awfully-timed post-match marriage proposal - it it highly surprising that Raymond Domenech has managed to cling onto his job. The pressure on the national team coach has intensified once more, as Les Bleus’ disappointing 1-1 draw with Romania on Saturday was preceded by a barrage of criticism from team captain Thierry Henry.
In a press conference last Friday, Henry raised a few eyebrows when he claimed the team have “always had problems” during Domenech’s reign. According to a report in French paper le Parisien, Domenech then gathered the players and staff into a meeting room, where he offered the following:
“I hope today you’ll be better in training. So far, I have not seen guys who wanted, who were fully prepared for the important meeting on Saturday.”
After an awkward silence, the tense atmosphere is said to have been broken by captain Thierry Henry, who replied:
“Coach, we too have something to say. I speak for the entire squad.
“We are getting bored during your training sessions.
Despite openly proclaiming that he was a cheat who dived to win penalties, David Ginola was a much-loved cult figure of the Premier League during the 1990s. The skillful Frenchman, however, may soon face time in the slammer, as he has failed to use any of his L’Oréal commercial money to service child maintenance payments for a love child he had with a mistress. The Times report:
The case was brought by Joelle Pinquier, who says she had an affair with the footballer-turned-actor in the early 1990s and gave birth to Joy, his daughter, now aged 17.
Ginola, 42, who denies the allegations, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if found guilty. He is accused of failing to pay the full child maintenance of 450 euros a month set by a French court in 2006.
The trial has been postponed until December so that Madame Pinquier can submit evidence proving his paternity. Ginola’s lawyer dismissed the proceedings as “hot air”, probably while nonchalantly shrugging.
Shortly after he guided the France to last place in Group C and a humiliating early exit from Euro 2008, national team manager Raymond Domenech performed a spectacularly mistimed marriage proposal live during a press conference. The focus of his request was Estelle Denis, the popular French sports TV presenter with whom he has two children.
Despite their lengthy relationship and shared offspring, the 32-year-old journalist said no. Ouch.
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