Even before the week had wiped the dust from its feet we had decided the time was right to honour Andy O'Brien for his part in Newcastle's first-half-of-the-season heroics and audaciously predict that he would land himself a starring role in the Republic's rearguard next summer.
Then? Bobby Robson dropped him for the games against Manchester United and Crystal Palace so we had to press our delete button and put our eulogy on hold.
No such problems with goal-crazy, net-bustin', onion-bag-rippin' Richard Sadlier (or Ree-chaard Sad-lee-eh, as Francophiles Sky News persist in calling Belvedere's old boy) who has scored eight goals in his last eight games for Millwall, his 15th and 16th of the season coming against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup on Saturday. Japan via the New Den? And why not But, our man of the week? 'Ooh aah, Kavanagh', as the Ninian Park faithful know him, or Graham as his beloveds back home in Dublin prefer to call him. Damn fine equaliser for Cardiff against Leeds yesterday by the man who once earned his keep at Home Farm, Middlesbrough and Stoke - and damn fine supporting role by his midfield partner and Ennis native William 'Willie' Boland.
Right team, wrong time
No flies on Football 365. Last week they analysed Vinnie Jones' appearance on ITV's Frank Skinner Show and deduced that Vincent had either (a) lost the plot or (b) was unfamiliar with reality. While chatting idly about Eric Cantona our Vinnie revealed that the pair "went out dancing to late-night blues clubs and then went straight to training in the morning with Leeds United and still won the league". Grand. Except? Well, as 365 pointed out, Jones left Leeds a whole year before Cantona arrived. Hello?
Pull the other one Trigger
Niall Quinn admitted last week that a bitta 'banter' had taken place between an unnamed Republic of Ireland player and two Dutch lads in the course of the recent Sunderland-Chelsea game. In a post-match 'dispute' in the tunnel one of the Sunderland players politely pointed out to Chelsea's Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and/or Mario Melchiot that "at least we're going to Hong Kong next summer and you're not". "I broke my heart laughing," said Quinn, who's evidently a smidgeon more geographically aware than his team-mate. And who was said team-mate? Can't say, but wasn't Jason McAteer's (left) winning goal against Holland in Dublin last September triffic?
Songs of the week
"Here we go and here we go and here we go-oo, With Belabed, and with Zero-oo, Here we go-ooo, Moroccan all over the world."
- Aberdeen's tribute to their two Moroccans, Rachid Belabed and Hicham Zerouali, to the tune of 'Rocking all over the World'.
"Knowing me, knowing you... Paha-aaars."
- Southampton's wacky jingle in praise of wonder-boy Marian Pahars (yes, to the tune of Abba's 'Knowing me, knowing you'), as spotted in the Guardian.
Website of the week
www.IHadAMacedonia.com
A big thank you to David Mervyn for pointing us in the direction of the website he edits with Brian Ball, a cyber-football-feast of all things Irish, home and abroad. We were particularly taken with the website's current campaign to find a song to mark the Republic's trip to the World Cup, one that will replace the excruciating Hey Ireland as the official supporters' anthem.
First offering? As submitted by 'Billy in the bowel', to the tune of the 'Irish Rover': "There was David Connolly from the banks of the Lee, there was Given from County Donegal, there was Harte and Kelly, the uncle and the niece, and a man from the Bann called Finnan.
"There was Robbie Keane and Quinn, who liked to bang goals in, there was fighting Steve Carr from Dublin, and yer man Roy Keane, who's not from Skibereen, was the skipper of the Irish Rover." Hmm. Maybe we'll give Hey Ireland one more chance.
Quotes of the week
Terry Venables: "It's either a penalty or it's not a penalty." Des Lynam: "Sometimes it can be neither." Venables: "Exactly." - Razor-sharp, incisive football analysis, as heard by Football 365 on ITV's The Premiership.
"I want the West Ham fans to know that before I finish my career we are going to win something - otherwise I'll kill myself."
- Paolo Di Canio, precisely a year ago. If he joins Manchester United tomorrow the Hammers will expect him to do the honourable thing.
"I'm wondering is it an agenda against Alan Smith. When they (referees) all get together - having their swimming exercises, their running exercises, their beauty exercises - I wonder what the chat is with them." - David O'Leary after Alan Smith was sent off during Leeds' 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cardiff City yesterday.
"Duberry's Hell Is Over." - The Daily Mirror revealing that "Michael Duberry will end his Leeds United torment with a £3 million move to Leicester City", the day before Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale revealed the defender had signed a new five-year deal at the club. The nightmare goes on, then.
Digging the hole deeper
Cheeks at the ready, prepare to blush. With trumpets blaring and hooters honking the BBC proudly announced that Sky Sport's Andy Gray and Capital Radio's Jonathan Pearce would be joining Radio 5 to cover next summer's World Cup finals. On hearing the news Graeme Reid-Davies, executive editor of BBC Sports News, attempted to send Gordon Turnbull, head of BBC Radio Sport, an email, the gist of which was: "I think they're both crap". Problem? According to the Observer, Reid-Davies accidentally sent the message to all 500 BBC sports staff including Gray and Pearce. Foolishly enough he attempted to dig himself out of the hole by sending another email - "Apologies - having just had a long chat with Gordon about the good news regarding Andy Gray and Jonathan Pearce, I sent a joke email to him - and the rest of you. Just a private joke with the wrong keyboard key hit - sense of humour and all that" - at which point the hole got deeper and deeper and deeper and.
