Richie Sadlier will take John Giles place on the RTÉ panel for Ireland's crucial clash with Scotland on Saturday, but tonight. That much has been clear for a few days now. However, despite some rumours of discontent, we were not quite sure if this was a story being blown out of all proportion or if there were moves afoot to edge Giles out as it were.
The 74 year old has now spoken about it publicly for the first time on Off The Ball, and he's not happy. Not only that, it seems as though the switch may be a permanent one.
Initially RTÉ claimed that a scheduling conflict and a Rafa Benitez-style rotation system was the reason for Giles' absence, but the man himself now rejected that explanation saying he was ready and willing to take his place on the panel, and even claimed that he would have done it for free.
So what exactly is going on?
Giles explained that he is under contract with the national broadcaster until August but that he has already completed his quota of matches for the year. However, that has happened previously and Giles was still given additional games. During the interview there was quite a bit of finger pointing aimed at RTE Head of Sport, Ryle Nugent.
"I can't go along with the reason of the contractual situation." John says he's available, and at no cost to RTE #offtheball
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) June 11, 2015
"I've never spoken to the Head of Sport directly about this" "I would have like to get a call from the Head of Sport about this" #offtheball
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) June 11, 2015
"I'm not actually contracted for the rest of the campaign" - John's not sure what the future holds in terms of the RTE panel #offtheball
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) June 11, 2015
"I can't see any reason at the moment with the figures the panel are getting..." #offtheball
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) June 11, 2015
He went on to continue that he doesn't feel his age has anything to do with it, and as long as he is able to do it he wishes to continue, you can listen to the interview below:
So have RTÉ begun the process of phasing Giles out?
It certainly seems that way. Giles did indicate that Dunphy had lobbied for him to be included in the panel for the Scotland match, however, it looks increasingly likely that we may not see the holy trinity of Irish football punditry on our screens again.
