{"id":241825,"date":"2026-01-13T02:03:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/241825\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T02:03:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:03:14","slug":"after-wins-against-the-odds-were-going-to-party-like-its-a-nintendo-64-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/241825\/","title":{"rendered":"After wins against the odds, we\u2019re going to party like it\u2019s a Nintendo 64 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

That was a lively old sporting weekend, but perhaps the one let-down was the All-Ireland Intermediate final<\/a> between An Ghaeltacht and Glenullin. After 50 minutes, the score was the same as the concluding one in Manchester City\u2019s<\/a> FA Cup win over lowly Exeter<\/a>: 10-1. And it didn\u2019t get a whole lot livelier or more competitive after that. <\/p>\n

TG4<\/a> had reminded Glenullin manager Michael O\u2019Kane before the game how he had described his club reaching the final as \u201cthe best Christmas you ever had since you got a Nintendo<\/a> 64\u201d games console, but by full-time he must have felt like he\u2019d found a pair of socks under the tree. <\/p>\n

On top of that, a fair chunk of the TG4 audience might possibly have made emergency calls to pest control after hearing an incessant threatening buzzing din in their livingrooms, before realising that Croke Park was actually filled with the sound of vuvuzelas. It took us back to the World Cup in South Africa in summer 2010, but not in a good way. <\/p>\n

While O\u2019Kane might have rued not getting more out of his players, or encouraging them to be a tad more adventurous by moving in a forwards direction, Macclesfield\u2019s players could have no complaints about manager John Rooney\u2019s motivational skills for their third-round FA Cup tie. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me last week I was two stone overweight and my best foot was my head,\u201d captain and man of the match Paul Dawson informed the BBC after the non-league side knocked out cup holders Crystal Palace<\/a>. He clearly, had, then, been inspired by that tribute. <\/p>\n

\"MacclesfieldMacclesfield manager John Rooney celebrates the team’s 2-1 victory over FA Cup holders Crystal Palace. Photograph: Michael Regan\/Getty <\/p>\n

Wayne Rooney<\/a>, on punditry duty, was in tears, so happy was he for his brother John, and he even graciously batted away the crowd singing \u201cyou\u2019re just a s**t John Rooney\u201d on a loop while he stood at the side of the pitch. <\/p>\n

On Sunday, come full-time at Old Trafford, the Brighton and Hove Albion<\/a> faithful might have been tempted to croon \u201cyou\u2019re just a s**t Ruben Amorim<\/a>\u201d in the direction of caretaker gaffer Darren Fletcher after they knocked his Manchester United crew out of the tournament<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Before the game, TNT Sport\u2019s Laura Woods had a chat with Owen Hargreaves and Steve Sidwell \u2013 and it had a Groundhog Day feel about it, ie where do United go now? \u201cIt\u2019s so important that they get this decision right,\u201d Owen said of the choice of next manager, something he\u2019s been saying for 10 years or more now. Plus \u00e7a change, and all that. <\/p>\n

Owen shifted uncomfortably, though, when Woods asked him for his thoughts on Roy Keane\u2019s<\/a> suggestion that Alex Ferguson<\/a> was hanging around the club \u201clike a bad smell\u201d. Owen is a nice man who loves everyone, so he was never going to say: \u2018Yeah, the old man is stinking the place out\u2019.<\/p>\n

But he stopped short of saying that Fergie should be given the interim job until the end of the season. Which actually wouldn\u2019t be a bad idea at all. Imagine. \u201cDalot? Oot the door. Now. Ugarte? Any chance o\u2019 passin\u2019 tae a team-mate? Mainoo? Yer nae Zidane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ManchesterManchester United interim manager Darren Fletcher after the 2-1 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion. Photograph: Martin Rickett\/PA <\/p>\n

Game time and there was Nicky \u2018Butty\u2019 Butt and Paul \u2018Scholesy\u2019 Scholes sitting beside Fergie in the stands, a show of loyalty that means neither is likely to be invited on The Overlap again. Keane, as we know, doesn\u2019t forgive easily. <\/p>\n

And there was a Darren Fletcher in the commentary box and another Darren Fletcher in the dugout. \u201cSince he got this caretaker job, I\u2019ve had six-a-half-thousand brand new Instagram followers because they seem to think they\u2019re following me and not him,\u201d TNT Darren said. \u201cTo be quite frank, it was the only way you were going to get them,\u201d Ally McCoist replied. <\/p>\n

United Darren was 41 when he was appointed interim manager on Monday, he was 63 by the time he finished watching his team lose to Brighton and Hove Albion. \u201cUnited are like a big ocean liner just meandering around the high seas with nobody sat in the crow\u2019s nest to see where they\u2019re going,\u201d TNT Darren said. Yet again, they\u2019d hit the rocks. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does the new manager need when he\u2019s appointed,\u201d Woods asked Sidwell post-match. He didn\u2019t say \u201ca miracle\u201d, but he was thinking it. <\/p>\n

But the upshot of Sunday\u2019s defeat, of course, is the new interim\/permanent supremo can now focus on the battle to qualify for next season\u2019s Europa Conference League<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And the way things are going, that achievement would be up there with getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas back in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That was a lively old sporting weekend, but perhaps the one let-down was the All-Ireland Intermediate final between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[122420,122419,100313,41190,61,60,8579,917,4410,271,112,15337,19612],"class_list":{"0":"post-241825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-alex-ferguson","9":"tag-brighton-and-hove-albion","10":"tag-crystal-palace-fc","11":"tag-europa-conference-league","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-manchester-city","15":"tag-manchester-united","16":"tag-nintendo","17":"tag-roy-keane","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-tg4","20":"tag-wayne-rooney"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}