JOHN Giles spoke for football fans of all ages when detailing how the relentlessly expanding season is part of the reason he’s opted to retire from punditry.
On Thursday the 84-year-old made his final appearance on Newstalk’s Off the Ball programme – ending a 23-year run at the radio station.
Last night Balon d’Or holder Rodri made his first start since suffering an ACL tear[/caption]
When asked if it had been a difficult decision to settle on, he succinctly summed up the growing disillusion he and fans the world over are feeling thanks to the non-stop greed of administrators.
The Ireland icon reflected: “I always enjoyed doing it. But what I’ve found lately is that there’s do many matches in all different competitions that if I had to look at them all.
“And really to do this job well you have to really watch all of the matches, you can’t make it up as you go long.
“So I think I was getting to the stage where it was getting a bit stale trying to watch as many matches as I could.
“It became hard work and like, football has never been hard work to me. I’ve always loved it but there’s so many matches – even in the summer now with this Club World Cup over in America.
“But I’ve had a good run of it. I’m nearly 85, I loved playing football, fell into working on the television then which I had no intentions of doing. So no complaints whatsoever from me.”
The ongoing Club World Cup is the most glaring example of a money-grab tournament being added to the calendar at a time when players are supposed to be recuperating during their off-seasons.
But even the Premier League’s expansion into having fixtures on Friday evenings and more mid-week slots means there’s fewer and fewer days off for players and supporters alike.
Throw in giants like Man United now going on “post-season tours” rather than pre-season ones and it’s hard not to sympathise with elite players regardless of how well-paid they are.
Thursday evenings will certainly be worse off without Giles’ voice beaming out across the Irish airwaves.
Amid the countless tributes that came his way after yesterday’s announcement, Ger Gilroy emphasized his importance across the Irish football landscape over the past half-century.
OTB’s Managing Director hailed: “John Giles, Senior Analyst, is a titan of Irish sport. His weekly explanation of football truth on Off The Ball helped deepen what the country knows about football.
“His ability to see through bulls*** and his love of the game
shone through in every contribution.
“Off The Ball has been blessed to call John a mentor, colleague and friend for over 20 years, he set the bar for what’s expected every Thursday night and we can only hope to live up to his legacy.
“We have truly been standing on the shoulders of a giant.”
RTE EXIT
The Dubliner departed RTE after Euro 2016 when his contract with the national broadcaster was allowed to run out.
Unlike his exit from Newstalk, it was a somewhat acrimonious parting as the Leeds United great told the Irish Sun in 2017.
The former Ireland player-manager stated at the time that he would be open to a return to the RTE panel – if an offer ever came his way.
He said: “I don’t think that’s possible, an offer coming in. If it did, I would consider it, but I wouldn’t be dashing in, strange as that may seem, I don’t miss it.
“I wasn’t disappointed with how it ended with RTE, I had 30 good years at RTE.
“It took them that long to find me out! That was their business to do it, I would have continued but I wasn’t broken-hearted about it, I had a great run.”
