After a weekend of stewing over the incident, and a presumed epiphany where he realised he had betrayed his shtick by speaking sense on national television, Eamon Dunphy has 'cooled down' and asked that we forgive Neil Taylor for breaking Séamus Coleman's leg in two places.
Dunphy, like most of the rest of us, was incensed by the lunge which felled Ireland's captain on Friday night, going as far as to suggest Taylor's actions bore no relation to the niggly incidents which preceded it.
"As regards to the Taylor tackle, it was filthy," Dunphy said on RTÉ.
The Taylor tackle on Seamus Coleman was vicious and nasty. He deserved a red card. The referee didn't hesitate and everyone in this stadium winced when they saw it. That bore no relationship to what went on before. You need to make that separation, you don't see tackles like that every week.
Eamon Dunphy labels Neil Taylor's tackle on Seamus Coleman 'filthy' #RTEsoccer #IRLvWAL pic.twitter.com/QK6ezmrp62
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 24, 2017
Writing in his Star column this morning, however, Eamo has pulled a complete u-ey.
My initial response was one of outrage and I was angry with Taylor," he wrote.
But, when I cooled down and thought about it, I had more sympathy for the Welshman. It wasn't a premeditated or calculated assault on Coleman.
Taylor was desperate to get the ball, and intended to go in hard. But that's not unusual. Players look to go in hard in challenges all the time.
It was a lunge by Taylor, Coleman, as usual, was going full pelt. He was unlucky enough to have his foot on the ground when Taylor came over the top and has paid a heavy price.
Taylor needs to be cut some slack. What happened to Coleman was one of the worst things I have seen on a football pitch. But, if you watch football regularly, it's just pure luck that this doesn't happen more often.
I'm sure Taylor is full of remorse and feels terrible about what happened. Some have dredged up a couple of incidents from his part to try and hammer him. But he's a 28-year-old defender who's been playing professionally for a decade. What defender with that service hasn't been involved in a couple of flashpoints?
Give Taylor a break.
Happy Monday.
[Irish Daily Star]
