Dan, I suppose, as I said 11 hours ago, we got here and we were expecting the Irish press conference to start at 10.15. Of course, as people will know now, we were told 50 minutes before there was a delay to the afternoon.

Yeah, I'm just going to say for me, this is where we're recording this.

I think we should timestamp this.

We're recording this around 8.38 p.m. local time in Hungary.

That's 7.38 at home.

And I think it's possible while we're recording this, some people are watching us, some people are listening.

We might get a statement from Gavin Bozzini.

Yeah, go on.

on Friday to discuss how they will proceed around the formalities around that game um but Dan I suppose on the pitch that was not a good night for Ireland at all

yeah and look it's not a good night at all and like it's hard to avoid like I mean the questions afterwards even for Hamer it's a sense of well do you think um what's going on around this is a is a distraction and I made the point in my written piece it feels like whatever happened tonight was going to be would have been a rapture round the bigger picture if Ireland win it would have been this is the bonding the unity this team has been galvanised by this and then if it's a defeat it's like well is this the reason and I think maybe that's too simplistic a way of looking at it.

I think it's probably veering into excuse territory because we are led to believe that the focus has been on the game this week.

Now look, I've no doubt that it's weighing heavily on some players.

I know I see there's a lot of grief aimed at Fenerbahce.

I feel a little bit like he is probably one player who must have a lot going on in his head this week.

I would make that point.

They look drained to me and I think they're going now to Hungary to try and put to bed, see how they're going to handle the next couple of days because there is another storm coming their way.

Pats beat them on Friday.

Yeah, they beat them well.

And this is the thing, like how has this opened up? We probably, I think maybe we would have spoken about, we definitely did speak about the, the Rovers exit from Europe.

And there would have been sort of a, like you always maybe can over-diagnose these things, but you're like, "Well, what, what does this mean about the league? What does this mean about the club?" What-- And, and in some ways, like it was, it was so bad at the end, in particular like the, how they played in Albania.

It was so bad.

There was that sense of, Jesus, it would have been deflating if they'd come back out at us and they suddenly just started, you know, d-d-dismissing everyone at home.

And it didn't look like that.

And what's the biggest issue with Rovers' form, in your opinion?

Yeah, I think it's a bit of that.

Yeah, no, I...

No, I am...

I think a lot of people acknowledged last week, I think, in the commentary around it, that this was almost like a testimonial to Katie, a thank you for Katie.

I still remember the judge's verdict in London in 2012.

I was living in an apartment in town on my own at the time and almost been down on... on my knees on the floor and the window was open to hear cheers from other apartments and stuff.

So it was a thank you for the national moment.

So, I mean, if you're, you know, what a strange time if you're Ireland, you're like, oh my God, we've just, can we leave the ethnic cleansing genocide thing? And then you go and your home game is in Serbia of all countries.

I presume the FAI are extremely confident that one, the game goes ahead as planned, but secondly, the vast, vast majority of Irish players are going to play or are you hearing there may be some withdrawals?

Yeah, a little bit of an unknown around that second part now.

I think privately, probably players, a lot of players would have hoped that it, they wouldn't have faced what's coming now.

And it's inevitable.

It was always inevitable.

Unfortunately, once we reach September, that it will start coming to the players and maybe players, and I don't know, I don't want to generalise and there's a tendency of footballers and put them under the same, but there's a real difference of backgrounds with a lot of members of this Ireland squad.

Some who've, you know, who are from Ireland, as in they've lived all their life here and will be acutely aware of the feelings.

Yeah, that'd

Yeah

... and France.

Yeah.

Interesting, Declan Rice also played against France, uh, for Ireland in, in 2018.

And, look, the parallels are, are there to an extent.

Obviously, there's different, uh, geographical situations [laughs] and, uh, not, not g- bogged down in that.

But the parallels are in the sense that he is someone who's been capped at senior level, um, you know, by one, by one team, and there's a situation where another...

Yeah.

What's the right question about Rovers? Are they having a, a little dip? Is this, um, something more prolonged? What's g- what's your read on it?

Yeah.

Uh, there's a couple of things.

There's definitely a couple of nuances about it.

Um- There, there has been a, a feeling all year that they've been vulnerable.

They're there to be shot in the league, and the reason that they're in control of the league is not because they've been good, it's that, that others have been bad.

Like, you know, Derry's been chaotic.

Yeah.

Absolutely

... o- operation.

And, um, so as a result, I mean, and listen, I know this from my dealings, you know, often you will have a player who's with a certain agency, and you might know the agency, and you will, you would chat to people around, and it's a way of getting to him.

Bellingham's always existed as an i- as an island through his dad, who I think at times has, you know, he's been quite forthright, as I said, in resisting attempts to build any relationship with him and has taken offense and issue with things that have been said.

Now, there's other he said, she said elements to some of it that I can't speak about 'cause I don't, I don't know about the, the truth of them.

But certainly, that seems to be a big part of his and why he maybe wouldn't be as, you know, sometimes players w- can be protected by the agency relationships that, that they have.

And maybe Bellingham is just a little bit more out there, and the, the, the vibe that seems to sometimes exist around him is, seems to exist because of, yeah, the, some spikiness in his camp.

Ancelotti

Like, football is so good at the moment.

Yeah.

No, I think obviously the hydration breaks have been unpopular and terrible, and we know the cynical reasons why they're there, but some of the other rules have made it better.

Like, it's moved quicker.

There hasn't been as much sort of time wasting and it's been like that's helped.

I also think as well that international football i- is, at the tournament level, is getting better because in a way the, the high end of the club game is so good now, but it's so well scouted and managed and arranged that there's something...

I know we're ta- there's sometimes a little bit more chaotic about the international game in a way.

Yeah.

Is Dan McDonnell, uh, give me, uh, out of five stars, how much are you enjoying this World Cup 2026 experience, Daniel?

Um, I, I am enjoying it.

I'm enjoying [laughs] it a lot, actually.

Um, now I kinda wonder how much was that influenced.

I mean, I probably, I'd imagine it's heavily influenced by the fact that the, the Pico story, which was probably circled earlier on, um, it was, it was an obvious thing to do in the first week.

I dunno how you, you couldn't really do that in the first week, you know, to have sort of the ultimate sort of the Irish football angle in it.

But I mean, and I, and I, I mentioned this in a sort of a YouTube video I was doing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But in the past, like, it would've been sort of a main revenue driver for the as- the association.

They would've, when, when all the stuff was happening with the sort of Anthem Club and all of that, they would've been trying to advance some of that money, you know, to give them, you know, to sort of keep the show on the road somewhat.

Um, so, but, like, I mean, I did see the Simon Harris clip.

I haven't seen the full interview for context, but I, I saw some of the clips going around.

I do think a lot the, the government stuff on this has been pretty pathetic, um, because, like, as much as the, the government stance now appears to be that, uh, this is on the FAI to decide, we've had Patrick or Jonathan commenting on this, um, a couple of months back around the time of the draw.

And the FAI actually, when explaining why they were gonna proceed with the game, they were actually leaning heavily on their interactions with government.

But do you have any sense, will, will players start pulling out of this game? Are you, what are you hearing on that front, or is it too early for that?

What's your understanding of where they are in this? Do they feel they've largely weathered the storm? Are they braced for more? Are they loath to even talk about it off the record?

Ah, they're br- they're braced for more.

They know, they know it's coming.

I think it's just something that'sIt's, it's in the distance, but it's obviously getting even closer and, and the World Cup isn't happening for Ireland, so maybe it's a little bit closer.

I think it's, I think it's a sleeping story at the moment, but I don't think it's gonna sleep.

I mean, I say it's a sleeping story.

You're reading out a story, you know, reading out developments that have happened this week.

Do you mean any fans or away fans or?

Yeah

... it's been a dramatic overreaction, um, partly because just racing has lost its confidence, and the Grand National has become the focal point for that.

Like, the, the modern changes, and there's been changes at various times.

Like 2012, it, it was a really difficult year where like Synchronized...

There was two horses, but in particular Synchronized, who was the Gold Cup winner, who before the race was quite distressed.

And you could see Synchronized was quite distressed.

Just got loose or, you know, was certainly...

Big time.

Yeah.

They'd had, like, uh, two players leave the camp and all sorts of stuff going on.

I, I just think on their formation stuff and Hamer, like, I, I think, you know, wing backs are very important, and I think that one of the problems that we have, and just at the time that Gary was playing, like, you know, you list all the Irish full backs of that.

You know, there was, uh, you know, what was that famously with Steven Kelly? About 100 Premier League appearances or something before he even got a cap.

I think that's part of the problem now.

You talk about the Seamus Coleman situation.

Like, I, I would often think that, like, it's obviously a very demanding role, wing back, and that can often influence, you know, your, your attacking aspect or not.

Yeah.

Dan, I suppose there's plenty of talking points to pick out of the game, but I think the overwhelming, the overwhelming sense this evening, Heimir said it himself, is just pure and utter pain.

Yeah.

I just feel really sad.

[chuckles] Like, like more than anything, I, I do feel sad, and obviously, look, you know, that is the i-immediate feeling, and I think it's, it, it was very hard to probably to, to cover this game and not get swept up in some ways, as much as you want to be cool-headed, to not get swept up in, like, the symbolism of it, the, the emotion of it, the, uh, the montages, you know, and, and all this sense of what the World Cup means, this sort of distant dream.

Um, so I, like I just, I just, I feel like, I feel sad because unfortunately, like I've lived through a lot of, a lot of playoff defeats, and I find this one particularly sickening because, uh, uh, you know, even on your introdu- in, in your introdu- intro there, that's a very normal thing to say, you know? It's sort of, it's been dashed by, by Czechia, yet I-I'm sort of coming away from the stadium feeling like I don't feel like Ireland have been beaten by, by, by the Czechs, you know? It doesn't feel like it's one of these things where, you know, Denmark, you were, you were completely overpowered by a, a stronger side.

Yeah.

Um, France, I think there was that sense of anger and injustice that sort of probably got people through it.

This one just feels like an Irish story, you know? And, and, and look, obviously in the, the Czech press, it'll be full of how they turned it around and maybe the changes they made, and I'm sure there's gonna be an angle to that, um, from their perspective.

They just want a headline.

Yeah.

At the end of a very soundbite heavy headline grabbing appearance of his own, it must be said.

But I just, I suppose what I'd step back from that is where I would find the inconsistency of what he's saying.

And I know that he might be subsequently asked.

I think it's an important clarification.

When they're saying that they want, that they feel that the game should go ahead, Are they saying the game should go ahead with away supporters? Because that's sort of, that wasn't, it's the question that's probably crying out to be asked, and I'm sure, I think he's doing an event at some stage in the next 24 hours, but I'm sure that will be asked.

Am I staring down the barrel of a Shamrock Rovers procession?

Stephen Kenny called it

tactical tactics.

tactical is a nice way of putting it and they were both like oh like you know kenny in particular you know it's great to have and like it was the guy i mean i was writing about it today and i got there you know sort of an hour an hour and a half before kickoff and they had the scarves and all this and it was like these kids getting their dads or parents or guardians whatever to like buy them scarves and to feel a part of it i was just like this justifies it like 17 000 more people went to this game than would have if it would just been on friday night and yeah There isn't chances for people who want to go maybe to Dublin derbies to necessarily try it and bring their kids and stuff.

So, look, I still think it was well worth doing.

And I actually wouldn't just say, as some people have, well, maybe it was because it was in the stadium, it was flat.

Like, they have form for being...

Like, Bows don't have a striker at the moment, fit.

So they're going to play four in a row and then switch?

Is he just going to be getting... orange bastard sung at him for the forthcoming season now is this because it's funny there's a quote I know you talked to him two three weeks ago and like he said here in England it's genuine hatred I still think I'm going to get abused but it'll just be people trying to wind me up and he sounds very sanguine about it there whereas his reaction on social media about being called an orange bastard maybe is this going to be kind of a running thing throughout the season

Yeah, I would say that he wasn't that social media person.

I wouldn't say he was raging about it, but it's part of what Johnny was saying there.

You think about it, he's come through probably the richest time to be a footballer possible.

And at times in his career, he would have been on really, really good money.

And for someone like, now it's sad, it's depressing, like he's born in the 80s.

Like how many players now, outfield players that were born in the 80s are now actively playing at a level? Like not too many.

Oh God,

been on holidays sorry I have not been on holidays but I'll be

honest it's my suspicion always been they'll keep him there for the season but they have signed you know Malin and Vaz and the one thing I will say he played 90 minutes last night but they're not eligible for the Europa League at the moment they will be able to they've changed the rules that they will be later on so it means that next Thursday he'll probably get 90 minutes again maybe Panathinaikos they play they have Milan on Sunday Yeah, and you kind of feel like, well, he's played 90 minutes on Thursday.

He looked to be hobbling a bit at the end.

They'll need him for 90 minutes potentially next week because Dobrik is injured as well at the moment too.

But yeah, I was flicking between a couple of games last night because I was watching Jack Moylan did great for Lincoln, who's a player who's on the way up.

So I was going to torn between the two.

And Evan did fine, but a bit like a lot of these Roma games where you watch them, you get frustrated because... at times it's asking him to do things that it's not necessarily his skill set.

I

the fall was it very apparent that it was serious no

no no it was a no it was a bit of a pile up at the last you know it was downhill to the last and turn us and um but again it is one of these things that like it passes in a moment and you just you go on with your day like everyone does you close your screen you close your phone you turn it off you know you go on to the next one like a lot of people and then he let's move on to the next race in sedgefield now or something you know um until you just pick up this sense of unfolding horror you know in terms of the um just the coverage and the tone and what was coming out of the track and racing being abandoned and you just have this sort of eerie feeling and i like i remember obviously back in the 2000s kieran kelly passed away sean um sean cleary and i remember the kieran kelly one like it was kelbegan but again it was sort of pre pre-internet i guess you know in terms of this and like to me he's just a math he was just i was watching that fall and then we was oh my god didn't show replays and then you're thinking i think the replay was sort of you know paul was like oh no this is happening and then Yeah, I know he didn't pass away instantly, but obviously it was very, it was very grave from, from the start.

So yeah, like the moment is, is, is Cheltenham because like Michael O'Sullivan would have been, I say known, like even when he passed away, the pictures that would have been used were, were him riding this horse called Marine National, winning the Supreme at Cheltenham.

I think it might have been two years previously.

And he rode two winners at Chatham that day and he was this young, rising, you know, this young, rising jockey star.

He rode Marine National in the first race and then he rode this horse called Jazzy Matty later on in the day.

So on the Wednesday at Cheltenham this year, now look, I mean, racing is often a very unsentimental game.

Yeah,

Dan, what are you hearing from either players or management on that front?

Yeah, I see Shells is the first time doing it, so we'll see.

Rovers, yeah, it's a constant slug.

I thought they were quite poor last night, really.

You know, in the sense that, not poor, but they won the game, but they were off it.

And you could sense, and look, I think there was an element of, you could see Stephen Bradley-Alfreds knew that as well, that they just hadn't been...

They hadn't been at it and you were looking at it going, wow, this is your 55th game of season.

Like, if you're holding Bradley to account, that's a bad one.

It's precipitous fall from seven and eight.

Yeah, it's mad because I've watched all the games.

I don't know, the Hearts game last Sunday was mad because the crowd during the game had that antsiness that you have when a regime is nearing the end.

You know that thing where there's no give, where there's no understanding.

If a pass is under hit, it's like, oh, you know.

And it's almost that type of mood you have in a stadium when things are rancorous.

Now, look, it's not really about the manager.

But enough to like run the club.

this past week is how unexpected it's been, you know? Like, it's only 10 weeks since Yerevan.

I mean, it is.

And Yerevan was as low, I think, as it has been, you know? I always talk about this, like, I suppose my perspective is very, through the eyes of always being at the games, like always being at the trips and always going through the airport and seeing a lot of the same faces at this stage.

I've met that point before, you know? It's like, it's a national team, but actually, And it's everyone's team, as we've seen from the reaction to Sunday.

And it's heartening as a reminder.

It's a very important reminder of that.

But at the same time, there is probably just people you see all the time.

It suggests, though, how Grimson has done something extraordinarily impressive, doesn't it?

what was it like in the stadium when all this was kicking off like it was just such on TV it was hilarious and Ronaldo is often his own like ecosystem black hole the game can be a subplot to him those five minutes were just like comical and then when he goes over to Hamer it's like it's this weird like it's just weird watching these two people interact like it's like Jerry Seinfeld walked into Central Perk or something it just it was all just a blur of hilarity

I'll be honest, I was walking to the stadium and I saw these half and half scarves outside.

It was half Ireland scarf and half Ronaldo's face and Portugal scarf.

I was just getting annoyed by it.

I was like, I mean, here we go.

But I was getting messages and it's someone else's story to tell, not a journalist in a group, but they were like... talking about someone like two people who've gone to the game who had no interest in football, but just wanted to see Ronaldo.

And I was like, here we go.

How are you feeling about it or what do you want to say about it?

play?

Yeah, because it's left wing back.

I mean, Scales hasn't played that in a while.

He did play it when he was at Rovers.

Now, is there other options they could look at to sort of compromise in that position? Jazz? Yeah, I need to...

Yeah, I think scales to me strikes me as the obvious one.

But, you know, there are probably players who've been versatile at times in their career.

His decision has been vindicated.