RICHIE SADLIER HAS revealed that then-Ireland manager Steve Staunton squared up to him in Copper Face Jack’s in 2008 following criticism from the RTÉ pundit of the national team’s style of play.
In an interview on the Second Captain’s podcast, Sadlier told host Ken Early that the incident was sparked by an article he penned for the SundayIndependent 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.”
A selection of newspaper stories after Ireland’s narrow win in 2008. (©INPHO/Lorainne O’Sullivan)
Sadlier remarked that his “comeuppance” eventually, in a popular Harcourt Street, Dublin, nightclub. Having played in a testimonial match — for Bohemians player Kevin Hunt — in Dalymount Park, with Staunton as a teammate in a best of Irish select XI, the pair’s paths met later that night. Sadlier continued:
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.”
He added, “That’s the risk you run. It’s not, generally speaking, you don’t sit there and soften your comments because you risk meeting people in Copper Face Jack’s.”
With Staunton relieved of his scouting duties at Sunderland last week, the Dundalk native may seek to pursue a career in football punditry. Perhaps Second Captains would have a slot for him.
