Ireland play Greece on Friday night at the Aviva Stadium in a Euro 2024 qualifier. Anticipation for the match has been muted after a poor run of results for Stephen Kenny's team, but tensions between the Irish and Greek management teams became palpable on Thursday evening, as Greece manager Guy Poyet hit back at spying claims suggested by Ireland assistant Keith Andrews this week.
Caught in the middle of it all is 37-year-old Irish coach Gary Dicker, who currently works at Brighton & Hove Albion and attended a Greece training session before Greece's drubbing of Ireland this past summer.
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What spying accusations did Keith Andrews make?
The Ireland assistant briefed the media on Tuesday afternoon. Andrews was naturally asked about Greece's 2-1 win over Ireland in Athens on Bloomsday, one of the most disappointing results of the Kenny era. Andrews chose to issue cryptic remarks suggesting that Poyet might be employing Irish coaches in the UK to assist with his preparation for Friday's game.
"In terms of this game coming up, I’m not going to say anything here that’s going to jeopardise anything, because I am sure he [Poyet] will be reading, and possibly getting some Irish staff from clubs around England to come in and watch his training session and have an opinion or view of sorts that will maybe help in his game plan."
"He is quite cute, very experienced in his preparation. He said certain things post-game, where he alluded to, he has done his homework...
"It is out there, it is not me coming up with it, there was a text off my phone. It is out there, so I am sure you will have a look into it."
Andrews was also asked if he thought Ireland had a spying issue to deal with this week.
"I don’t know, I don’t know, it’s not my game. I like to sleep well at night so I don’t know. We’ll find out post-camp I’m sure."
How did Gus Poyet respond to Keith Andrews's comments?
Poyet hit back hard Andrews's remarks on Thursday evening, calling them 'sad' and 'cheap'. He denied any suggestions that any coach had assisted his preparations for the game last June.
The Uruguayan did confirm that Dicker had attended a Greece training session and the Euro qualifier in Athens but said nothing untoward occurred.
Gary is one of the most intelligent players I had in my time at Brighton. He is proper Irish. Proper.
"And I promise you – this is one thing that is important – we talked more about how good Brighton play than the Republic of Ireland.
"Definitely Gary had nothing to do with that. He was in Greece, yes he was. He went to the game and the day he came [to training], we did nothing to show him in case he told the Republic of Ireland.
"Gary is a very honest man, he is a top bloke. It was a cheap accusation, very cheap."
Who is Gary Dicker?
Gary Dicker is a product of Cherry Orchard, who was capped four times for Ireland at U21 level. Dicker was a central midfielder who played with UCD in the League of Ireland before joining Stockpot County. In 2009, Dicker signed with League One side Brighton, who were managed that season by Poyet. Dicker played at Brighton until the 2013 season and he made over 150 appearances with the club.
After Brighton, Dicker played for the likes of Rochdale and Crawley Town, and later joined Kilmarnock, where made over 150 appearances and got his first taste of coaching. Dicker returned to Brighton ahead of the 2021-22 season, where he became U23s coach as well as an overage player in the Premier League 2.
His full title is Under-21s Professional Development Phase Coach.
In his few years coaching at Brighton, he would have worked with talented young Irish players like Evan Ferguson and Andrew Moran.
Has Gary Dicker made any comment regarding this matter?
Not yet, but Dicker did retweet the following clip of Poyet's interview from this evening.
Greece International football Manager Gus Poyet believes Keith Andrews' accusation that Greece got Gary Dicker to come into training as "cheap" and says "he's lying and disappointed" with Andrews.
🗣 @OCowzer#COYBIG #GusPoyet #KeithAndrews #IrelandGreece #Irelandfootball… pic.twitter.com/kce6anpM62— Irish Football Fan TV (@irishfantv) October 12, 2023
Has Stephen Kenny made comment on this issue?
Other than the following (hilarious) remark made on Thursday, no.
I had Theo Zagorakis in the hotel in Castleknock earlier. He's coming down and we'll see how he is.
