THOSE WHO TUNED into last night’s Champions League coverage on TV3 will have witnessed Richard Dunne follow up his recent punditry debut with a second appearance on Irish television screens.
After 17 years in professional football with Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa and QPR, the former Ireland stalwart made no fuss as he called time on an outstanding playing career when his contract with the Rs expired last summer.
We had heard little from the 36-year-old Dubliner until it was announced that he would be joining ex-team-mate Kevin Kilbane and his old manager Brian Kerr alongside presenter Tommy Martin on the panel for Man City’s quarter-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.
And, as Dunne openly admits, the move into media work wasn’t exactly planned.
“I think most players have ended up in it having thought all along that it’s not something that they would do,” Dunne said, speaking at TV3 studios yesterday.
“It just happens. I’ve been asked a few times and I’ve been sat at home for the last ten or 11 months so it was the right time to come out and try something.
“The last time I did it here I really enjoyed it. It’s nice to see people again and speak about football. I’d be watching the match at home anyway so I might as well come out and watch it.
“I’m surprised I’ve gone into it and whether I do it long term or not I don’t know but for now it’s good.”
Quotes in Ireland’s match-day programme for the Euro 2016 play-off home leg against Bosnia-Herzegovina back in November revealed that Dunne and his family had relocated to France as he weighed up the idea of retirement.
The Tallaght native went into more detail in a recent interview with a number of the national newspapers by explaining that they had settled in Monaco, and says they don’t intend to leave any time soon.
We moved over last May and it’s just been an extended holiday,” tells Dunne. “We put the kids in school and they loved it so we decided to stay.
“I always thought when I retired that I would go away and stay away for a bit. So far we’ve really enjoyed it and there are no immediate plans to return.”
While peers such as Damien Duff, Stephen McPhail, Mark Kinsella and Kenny Cunningham have all agreed to pass on their wealth of experience by helping out with Ireland’s underage teams after an FAI announcement this month, coaching isn’t a route that appeals to Dunne.
“I’ve never gone about doing the badges so it has never been a plan,” he says. “I don’t think it’s something that I will pursue in the future.
“I’d love to help young lads coming through, but in terms of going through badges and that, it’s not for me.”
Despite taking a step away from football, it hasn’t been a clean break and he is involved in regular five-a-sides in his new home, while he gets his fix of English top flight action by tuning into the BBC’s flagship highlights programme after France’s Ligue Un failed to fill the void.
“We watch Match of The Day every week and we’ve got all the games live over there so it’s grand,” says Dunne. “My son loves football. He loves Man City and the Premier League as it’s something he has grown up on.
“I’ve watched some of the French league and it’s boring so it’s nice to get out and watch some proper football.
“We went to see Monaco play Bordeaux a couple of weeks ago but it was so boring.
“Someone was saying that in England all the fans know the players names but over there all the players know the fans names as there is so few of them!
“The atmosphere isn’t the same and the football is a lot slower. It doesn’t help when Paris have the league wrapped up by 30 points a long time out.”
Having enjoyed his initial experiences as a TV analyst, Dunne looks set to cover Ireland’s Group E matches for ITV at the Euro 2016 finals this summer.
“I was hoping to maybe go to a couple of matches but I think I’m going to do some work for ITV and do the Ireland matches.
It’ll be nice that I’ll be there and around the crowd and that so I’d imagine it will be a good atmosphere.”
A significant number of ex-players try their hand at punditry but very few make good analysts, so how does Dunne see the role?
“Just to tell it the way you see it,” he answers. “There’s no need to be over-critical. If people see a mistake, they will see a mistake and the player will know. There’s no point going on and hammering them.
“It’s more about finding out where else it went wrong. If someone makes a massive mistake there is nothing you can do but usually when there’s goals scored it involves two or three errors in the build-up.
“It’s interesting to watch goals from further back to where they end up. As long as you’re honest, I don’t think people can have any criticism of it.”
We shouldn’t expect him to be controversial for the sake of it then?
“I’m not just going to say something because I don’t like someone,” he laughs. “You want to be honest, when I used to play I wouldn’t like if someone said something just because they didn’t like me.
“If you’re truthful then you will get respect. It’s the right way to do it. There are so many people who want to make a name for themselves doing punditry and I think people at home can see through that.”
“Everyone is different and everyone has their own opinions, like every fan in the pub. There will be arguments and disagreements and this is just my take on how I see things.
“I’m sure people will agree or disagree. You have to be honest, if you try to be someone else then it won’t work.”
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