Dear Ryle,
Firstly, sorry that RTE were outbid for the Six Nations. Winter will not be the same without you saying Wesley Fofana. We would like to extend an open invitation to you for 2018 to come to the Balls.ie offices to revoice the TV3 highlights. In the very least, let us mic you up during the Ireland games, David Coldrick style.
But on to more pressing matters. Bosnia come to the Aviva Monday night. Qualification for Euro 2016 can be attained with a win or nil-all draw. We've got our ear to ground here at Balls.ie, and we know the conditions that create the success of Ireland in international football games.
We could not help but notice that, lately, Ireland have vastly different results depending on who is doing co-commentary with George Hamilton.
Let's begin with the Germany game. Nobody gave Ireland a chance, but we beat the world champions. Jim Beglin was on co-comms.
But then a few days later, Ireland played Poland. We were all riding a wave of euphoria after the Germany game and we expected the win or 2-2 draw that would have seen us qualify automatically. Instead we lost 2-1 and, to be frank, it could have been worse. Who was on co-comms for RTE in Warsaw? Not Jim Beglin.
And of course, Zenica. We were delighted to hear that Beglin was in Bosnia, though he was quick to clarify that his presence at Ireland games does not affect our results.
@vincentbennett1 @ballsdotie I'm afraid that my attendance has nothing to do with what happens on the pitch!
— Jim Beglin (@jimbeglin) November 13, 2015
And we believed him...that is until a once-in-a-lifetime fog blew through Zenica after halftime yesterday and created just enough chaos for Ireland to get a vital away goal. It was the kind of freakish, perfectly-timed weather event that only someone who can control the powers of nature would produce.
Now Monday looms. Qualifying is very possible though there are so many ways it can go wrong. We need everything to come together. We need Shane Long back. We need Jon Walters at his gnarliest. We need Stephen Ward to miss the bus remember the spirit of the Germany game. And we definitely need Jim Beglin in the commentary box doing whatever mystical result-controlling thing he has been doing these past few weeks.
But it seems Jim Beglin isn't scheduled to be in the commentary booth Monday night. Ryle, this is potentially very damaging for Ireland.
@vincentbennett1 @ballsdotie I'm not on duty.
— Jim Beglin (@jimbeglin) November 14, 2015
We're not here to tell you how to do your job but we need to urgently impress upon you the need to get Mr Beglin into the commentary booth one way or another Monday night. You're in charge there. Ireland's qualification for Euro 2016 depends on it.
