Martin O'Neill has responded to the RTÉ panel's and in particular Eamon Dunphy's criticism of Ireland's approach to the European Championship qualifier against Germany last month. Dunphy felt that Ireland could have had a more attacking approach to the game.
Here's what O'Neill had to say.
I don't take what Eamon says seriously, absolutely not for 25 years now. I have to tell you this, I'm going to say this to you, I couldn't care less, I really could not, genuinely couldn't care. It's people's jobs to do it, it's my job to be the manager and it's just that I have to . . . I have to seem to justify everything. I'm not here to justify selection. My justification is to try and get results somewhere along the way.
Brazil didn't even play a beautiful game against Germany. Brazil were incapable, that particular team was incapable of playing the beautiful game. Seriously, Eamon? Seriously, you must be kidding! Seriously!
He also had a little dig at Dunphy's playing career.
Eamon wrote a great book on football and a lovely diary and the reason I thought it was a great little book was because it was around my time and when he talks about Nottingham Forest being a good side, but not that good - absolutely spot on. We were all in the second division at that time, where Eamon never came out of.
Ouch.
