Newspaper criticism of Staunton following the narrow win over San Marino
RTÉ soccer pundit Richie Sadlier has revealed that the then Ireland manager Steve Staunton squared up to him in Dublin night club Copper Face Jack’s in 2008 following criticism from Sadlier of the Irish team’s style of play.
Speaking to the Second Captain’s on the Irish Times, Sadlier told host Ken Early that the incident was sparked by an article he penned for the Sunday Independent in which he was critical of Ireland following a 2-1 win over San Marino. Staunton’s side needed a last-minute Stephen Ireland goal to claim all three points again the minnows.
Sadlier said: “Stan came out and said things like ‘Well, we won the game. You cannot do more in a football game than win it and we won it. What are you on about?’
“I remember all these journalists and RTÉ, and whoever was showing it, saying surely that’s not good enough, it’s a disastrous night, this is a little embarrassing for everyone. And [Staunton] was like ‘no, we won the game, what are ye on about?’
“So I kind of wrote about that at the weekend, which was hard to do at the time but I was thinking ‘This is my job’. In a scenario like this, anything else than being honest [was necessary] and being honest, in this example, was being critical.”
Sadlier got his “comeuppance” in the Harcourt Street nightclub shortly after though having played in a testimonial match for Bohemians player Kevin Hunt in Dalymount Park alongside Staunton.
“We ended up in Copper Face Jack’s that night. Stories generally don’t end that well that begin with ‘We ended up in Copper Face Jack’s’. [Staunton] just approached me, and I was standing at the bar with my cousin. He just came up to me and came right up to my face, just eyeballed me, and said ‘Well, you’re on the other side of the fence now, aren’t ya?’
“I just looked back at him and, I went, I didn’t know what to say and he said something like ‘You couldn’t even look me in the eye’. I hadn’t spoken to him that day [of the testimonial] and he took that as I was avoiding him.”
Sadlier explained that he had not talked to many of his teammates that day as he had been out the night before and was feeling “sheepish”. The former Millwall forward was, however, not about to back down to the Ireland manager.
He continued: “We were looking at each other, eyeball to eyeball, and I said ‘Well, I’m looking at you now. What’s your point?’ Things started getting a little bit heated and then Gary McAllister actually came over, and Neil Lennon was there. They came over and calmed things down.”
You can listen to the full interview on Second Captains here.
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