RTÉ Soccer Podcast: Moose on the loose, Clancy's Cork exit, Emily Whelan chat and boot issues
Richie Towell, Paul Corry and Shelbourne's Rachel Graham join Raf Diallo this week to talk League of Ireland, Heimir Hallgrimsson's next squad and footwear issues for women's footballers, while Anthony Pyne chats in depth to Ireland and Glasgow City striker Emily Whelan.
TIMESTAMPS
01:00 Paul and Richie discuss Heimir Hallgrimsson's squad selection as the Republic of Ireland manager prepares to name his squad early for the June friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg.
05:40 Richie and Paul review the weekend's SSE Airtricity League action including Shamrock Rovers going top, Tim Clancy parting ways with Cork City, Lys Mousset finding the net as Bohemians scored yet another late goal and John Coleman making an impact since taking charge at Waterford, among other topics.
51:00 Rachel chats about Saturday's Women's Premier Division matches including her own visionary assist for Shelbourne's winner against Galway United
01:50.30 With the skort issue making headlines in camogie, Rachel discusses football boots and why they have been a long-standing issue in the women's soccer.
01:12.00 Emily Whelan talks about her time at Glasgow City, her hopes of getting back into the Ireland squad and the legacy of retiring veterans with Anthony.
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RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
What the chasing pack must do to give us a proper LOI title race
Ten years ago, the Conroy Report was delivered to look into the development of the League of Ireland. Although there was much discussion around its findings at the time, it has largely been forgotten about by now. Fair enough, fans prefer to remember goals, games, players and managers. But it is interesting to look at a key recommendation from it which was adopted: the 10-team Premier Division. The decision was made to switch from 12 to 10 for the 2018 season and that has been stuck with ever since with no indication of a future change. While it was not a new concept, the two previous moves to 10 were never given the chance to get off the ground, lasting only three seasons from 2002 to 2004 and 2009 to 2011. The main aims were to have more games between the top clubs and to produce a tighter league. In terms of having a more exciting title race, it did not get off to a good start coming in during a phase of Dundalk dominance and their quick replacement by Shamrock Rovers. The average gap from first to second from 2018 to 2023 was 13 points (if you double Shamrock Rovers lead for the 18-game 2020 season). In the first three years the average gap from second to third was 17, though this dropped to 10 by the end of 2023. But 2024 brought the tightest league in a long time with the gap from first to eighth (21 points) closer than the gap from first to third (22 points) in the last 12-team season. One season is too small of a sample size to predict a future of close title races but 2025 started along promising lines. However, Shamrock Rovers five-game winning streak through May took them ahead of the chasing pack. It was their longest winning sequence since May 2023 and something only two teams (Shelbourne in early 2024 and St Pat's in late 2024) have done since the 2022. That gives the Hoops a six-point lead heading into a pivotal weekend where they and the other three clubs in European competition (Shelbourne, St Pat's and Drogheda United) clash twice in four days. Friday sees St Pat's v Drogheda and Shelbourne v Shamrock Rovers with St Pat's v Shelbourne and Drogheda v Shamrock Rovers on Monday. If results go the way of Stephen Bradley's side, they could come away with a nine-point lead. But a worst-case scenario would mean no longer have any lead. So, what is needed from the other three sides to mount a title challenge this weekend and beyond? Let's take a look. Shelbourne – Defensive improvement Shelbourne won last year's league title on the back of the stingiest defence in the division. Their 27 conceded goals were the fewest and only two teams had a better record since 2019. But Shels goals conceded per game has gone up this year from 0.75 to 1.05. Their eight 1-0 wins was the most in 10 years with a total of 16 clean sheets. They are on pace for just half that in 2025 with four so far. This drop in defensive performance has impacted their ability to hold onto leads. In 2024, they scored first 18 times and converted 89% of those into wins. That's the highest percentage for a team scoring first at least that many times since Dundalk in 2019. This year their conversion rate has dropped to 57%. It must be concerning that they have conceded within three minutes of scoring three times this year, something that didn't happen once under eight minutes last year. 2024's underlying numbers showed they exceeded expectations. Their 27 conceded came from an xG against of 41.48 (fifth best). They have returned much closer to the norm this year with 20 allowed from 21.5 xG against. Some of their other numbers have actually shown small improvements with shots against down and defensive duel success rate up. They will hope the returns of some key parts of last year's defense help as Sean Gannon, Paddy Barrett and Tyreke Wilson have a combined 19 starts in 2025. St Pat's – Away form Part of Stephen Kenny's revitalisation of St Pat's after his appointment in May last year was having the best away record in the league from that point to the end of the season. That included a run of five straight wins to the finish line which was their longest winning sequence since their 2013 title-winning team. That form has not continued into 2025 with their 10 points won away only leaving them ahead of basement dwellers Sligo Rovers and Cork City. They did win their last game on the road at Sligo Rovers, but it is just one of three this year, all against the league's bottom three. The victory ended a run of four consecutive losses which was their worst in seven years. The Saints have been unable to replicate their home form where they have the league's highest points per game (2.11) and their most since 2014. Central to their inability to pick up away points has been scoring just eight goals, the fewest in the league. Their rate is 0.80 per game. Eight of the last 18 teams who have had this low of a goal return over a full season were relegated. St Pat's were last this low over a full season in 2009 when they ended seventh. The issue has not been creating chances but taking them. At home, they outperform their xG (18 from 14.38) but away they have scored just eight from a 12.7 xG. Although they are taking 1.4 more shots per game at home, they are hitting the target better away so end up with the same number of shots on target per game - 4.4. Nearly half of their overall goals have come from strikers Aidan Keena and Mason Melia (12 of 26) but just 25% of that duo's goals have been away from Richmond Park. They will need to start carrying that form with them, as Keena did with his match-winning penalty in Sligo last time out. Drogheda United – Big-match wins Drogheda are in a different position to the others in that they are already outperforming their 2024 season. They're just four points shy of last season's total of 34. But despite their good run to end 2024 they didn't get a win over either Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne or St Pat's. Galway United were the only other team they failed to beat. This has largely continued into 2025 though with some improvement. They did get a win earlier in the season at Shelbourne but have failed to get any more since over last year's top three and didn't come away with any goals in the last three. The issue is worst against Monday's opponents Shamrock Rovers who they trail by six points. The Hoops have taken 15 points from games against the other European qualifiers compared to Drogheda's seven. United have taken just one point from 21 available in the last seven meetings with Shamrock Rovers. The aggregate score from those fixtures is 18-2. They will first need to correct the flow of goals against them. In the first nine this season, Drogheda allowed just 0.55 per game but in the 10 since that is well up to 1.4. This is especially key against a Shamrock Rovers side scoring 2.27 since Jack Byrne entered the starting lineup 11 games ago. A lot has and can change in a league with a lot of big games packed into a short amount of time. At the end of April, more than half the league had legitimate thoughts of a title contest. But Shamrock Rovers' impressive run through May has cast doubts on that. With this weekend's big double-header and Europe on the horizon, more swings could be seen. Shamrock Rovers showed an ability to improve by leaning on proven stars like Byrne, Graham Burke, Arron Greene and Rory Gaffney. The teams below can all clearly make improvements, but time is quickly becoming of the essence if they are to be genuine title contenders.
RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Heimir Hallgrimsson wants quick start to fuel World Cup dream
Heimir Hallgrimsson is targeting at least four points from the Republic of Ireland's opening World Cup qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia. The Icelander spent his 58th birthday watching his team secure a laboured 0-0 friendly draw in Luxembourg, which he later admitted was "boring" at times, in what was their final fixture before the competitive games start in September. A much-changed Ireland were far from at their best at the Stade de Luxembourg just four days after a creditable display in a 1-1 draw with Senegal, but Hallgrimsson knows the stakes will be raised significantly when the squad next meet up. Asked if they needed four points from the first two games, Hallgrimsson replied: "Yes. Four points would be good; six points would be better." He added: "I give myself that you would say we get a draw against Hungary and win in Armenia - probably it would be worse if it was the opposite. "Four points would be OK, a good start. Six is what we aim for." "It's the only sport in the world where a third division team can win against a first division team." Hallgrimsson will mark 12 months in his new job next month having presided over a modest improvement in Ireland's on-pitch fortunes - they have won four and drawn two of his 10 games to date, a return which had given him cause for optimism. Tuesday night's events came as something of a disappointment, as he admitted when asked where his team are compared to where he hoped they might be at this stage shortly after the final whistle in Luxembourg. He replied: "I would have been 100% confident two hours ago, but this is also football. "You can be a much better team and still lose a match. That's why everybody loves this game. It's because sometimes even with a good performance you can lose a game. That's why everybody loves it. "It's the only sport in the world where a third division team can win against a first division team. You can look at all other sports, it doesn't happen. "We didn't play well, we kept a clean sheet. If it had been a group stage, we would have had a point and OK, let's call that growth." Ireland did hit the woodwork twice through Nathan Collins and substitute Jack Taylor either side of half-time, but were indebted to debutant goalkeeper Max O'Leary for saves from Danel Sinani and Vincent Thill, and Hallgrimsson was particularly unimpressed with the opening 45 minutes. He said: "We were really disappointed with the first half. It was actually just boring, there was nothing happening in the first half. "We didn't play well, but we played away and didn't concede a goal, so even though we are not playing our best, if we can get points and maybe wins, that's a good sign."
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Irish Times
Tame friendly draws showed us why Ireland aren't expected to reach World Cup
Results throughout the 2020s clearly explain why the Republic of Ireland is ranked 60th in the world by Fifa . Sandwiched between Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the lowly position in the global game comes after non-starter campaigns to qualify for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. An undeniable trend is evident. Ireland have lost their opening two matches in the previous four campaigns, having also crumbled at the start of the Nations League groups in 2022 and 2024. It leaves manager Heimir Hallgrimsson with an enormous task to get at least a draw with Hungary on September 6th in Dublin and a victory over Armenia in Yerevan three days later to have any chance of reaching a play-off to feature at the 2026 World Cup in North America. Portugal, the newly crowned Nations League champions, are expected to top Group F. READ MORE Another false dawn would place Hallgrimsson in the same category as his predecessor Stephen Kenny despite an unbeaten run so far in 2025. Two victories against Bulgaria in a Nations League relegation play-off in March were followed by underwhelming draws with Senegal and Luxembourg on Tuesday night . 'I cannot lie, we are obviously not happy with the performance and how we wanted to end this week,' Hallgrimsson explained. 'We took, maybe not a step backwards, but we didn't take the next step. It would have been nice to have a good performance [against Luxembourg on Tuesday].' Nathan Collins, the captain at Stade de Luxembourg, was also unable to hide his disappointment following the 0-0 draw. 'We were passive,' said Collins, 'but still dug out a clean sheet. We all know that was nowhere near our best. We have so much more to give.' Besides the encouraging creativity of Finn Azaz against Bulgaria and the club form of Troy Parrott in the Netherlands and Collins at Brentford, there is little evidence to suggest that Hungary, led by Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, can be contained at the Aviva Stadium, never mind in Budapest in November. It was actually just boring, there was nothing happening — Heimir Hallgrimsson There are some positives to cling to. Hallgrimsson clearly has a plan to guide Ireland to their first major tournament since Euro 2016. He has bedded in a structure built around sling-shotting the 33-year-old Robbie Brady up and down the left wing. Eighteen minutes into Tuesday's scoreless affair, Brady's calf tightened. The veteran played 85 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Senegal the previous Friday. Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson with John Joe Patrick Finn after Tuesday's 0-0 draw in Luxembourg. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Ryan Manning filled the gap with enthusiasm. The Southampton fullback was decent against Senegal in the inside left midfield slot that the Ireland manager has earmarked for the currently injured Sammie Szmodics. There are no individual stars in a Hallgrimsson team. Not when he guided Iceland to Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, nor when he brought Jamaica to the 2024 Copa America. The system trumps the individual. Historically, that approach has suited Irish players. 'We were really disappointed with the first half,' the manager continued. 'It was actually just boring, there was nothing happening. We talked at half-time. It was not about tactics. It was not about formations. It was more about attitude. 'Are you willing to do the work that's necessary? The basics that are necessary in a football game? No matter who you play, no matter whether it's a competitive or a friendly game, you need to do the basics. You need to deliver all the work that's necessary. That was just missing, the basics. 'Credit to the players, that changed in the second half, there was more momentum, more power, more energy. Still, we were not happy but we didn't lose at least.' That about sums up the state of the senior men's team. At least they didn't lose to a country ranked 91st in the world. The FAI must be concerned about the dip in interest as several media outlets did not see the value of sending journalists to Luxembourg. The players that were made available in the post-match mixed-zone backed up that editorial decision. Even RTÉ, the broadcast right holders, did not send their commentary team nor was there a studio panel during the live coverage. So, 10 months into Hallgrimsson's 18-month contract, how is it going? 'You're maybe two hours too late to ask this question,' he replied late on Tuesday night. 'I would have answered it really positively two hours ago but now, again, I'm not going to take too much from this because we have had a steady growth. 'Probably tomorrow, when I look at it, I will be happier with many things. If we are going to qualify we need to do better than we did now. Four points would be ok [against Hungary and Armenia], a good start. Six is what we aim for.'
