While Irish soccer supporters would have been wishing for a modicum of misfortune to befall the French ahead of the World Cup, surely nobody could have forecast just how disastrous a summer it would prove to be for Les Bleus.
Yesterday, new coach Laurent Blanc added insult to injury for the 23 players already considered a national embarrassment in their own country by suspending each and every one of them for his first game in charge, an upcoming friendly against Finland.
‘French Fiasco’ shouts the Irish Times, which carries a photo of the squad in happier times before the World Cup.
‘Blanc wields the axe’ goes the headline in the Star, who report that the decision to axe the revolting players, led by captain Patrice Evra, was taken by Blanc and supported by the French Football Federation.
There is better news regarding Evra’s team mate Nemanja Vidic, after the hardy Serb agreed a new contract at Manchester United amid fears that he was about to leave for the sunnier climes of Real Madrid.
Under the headline, Vidic to stay, today’s Irish Sun report that, despite having two years to run on his current contract, the 28 year old has agreed a two year extension in an improved deal which will earn the defender a cool €105,000 a week.
It’s nearly the end of July and that means that the GAA season is fast approaching the business end with the last round of the qualifiers in football and the quarter finals in hurling taking place this weekend.
Two weeks after the most controversial of defeats to Meath in the Leinster Final, Louth return to Croke Park to face the Dubs, who have built a bit of momentum following defeats of Tipperary and Armagh in the qualifiers.
Under-fire Dublin boss Pat Gilroy has been firing platitudes in the direction of the Wee County, who have attracted widespread sympathy given the cruel manner of their loss to the Royal County a fortnight back.
“We are playing the real champions of Leinster,†reads the back page headline in today’s Irish Daily Mirror with Gilroy adding: “Without doubt Louth have been the strongest team in Leinster this year, they were very unlucky obviously in the Leinster final but they’ve been the most consistent team.
“They’re the form team and they wouldn’t need to be afraid of anyone, given the way they’ve played so far.â€
