Indo Sport
Bits & Bobs | Michael Lyster remembered | Mick McCarthy shots fired | What do viewers want from their pundits?
23 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What insights does the podcast provide on Michael Lyster's legacy?
This is an Irish Independent Podcast. Now, welcome everyone. It's Monday. We've got some bits and bobs. There's a lot to talk about. And therefore, very happy to say Conor McKeown is with us. Conor. Joseph. Ronan, hello to you. Hi, Joe. Indosportpodcast at independent.ie. A lot of emails in over the weekend. Don't have time to get to them today. We'll do so very soon.
It's the start of a big week for Irish football. Damien, Delaney, Gary, Breen are in your feed. They were excellent, if I do say so, looking ahead to the game earlier on. People are getting antsy, you know. What's McCullough saying? Ticketless holders in Prague. Who knows what Dave McCullough is saying? Where should we have the parade if we win the thing? It's being debated today.
And Mick McCarthy is calling Roy Keane a C.
I do do these Q&As and I always get asked about, the last one I did, I got asked about Keane. And I said, hey, come on, you know, he's a fabulous player, great captain, you know, captain of his club and everything, everywhere he's been, what he's done, he's fantastic. Great goal scorer. And then everybody's looking at me. I said, oh, I'm on about Robbie. The other fellow's a c***.
Dave McIntyre hosting there for the Sunday in an event. Last week in Dublin and, you know, Mick did his joke. I mean, it's a kind of, it's a bait and switch. It's a kind of a thing. It's well played. It's right up my street. He's done it, yeah.
A bit of a, what did I call it? A bit of evasion there at the very start. Misdirection. And then bang. And I tell you, if the lads from The Overlap, by the way, haven't clipped that up and they don't lead with this on Thursday whenever it comes out, they're What's the point of podcasts?
They're in Dublin on Wednesday, aren't they?
Ah, even better. Roy's not part of it. Roy's not part of it. He's got his Raleigh Doyle shows to worry about, I suspect. He's not here.
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Chapter 2: What sparked the controversy between Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane?
So... But... It was just very kind of surprising. Like I did double check and have it on excellent authority because a few people said, oh, it's kind of a Q&A, you're a bit more relaxed kind of a thing. And maybe that's just his Q&A story that he got. Yeah, that's his go-to way of dealing with the inevitable Saipan question. Excellent authority there. I wonder who he asked. Will we text Dave now?
Get him on speakerphone now, eh? And, no, he fully knew this is for broadcast. This is for broadcast. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, yeah, this isn't a, oh, I was done. Yeah, yeah. I just see Steve Coogan every time we talk. Well, he hates the movie. I'm sure people saw that as well. He walked out after 20 minutes. Gave it 20 minutes and realised he was a northern numpty who was just happy to be there.
I think he said, I'll wrestle anyone now who says I'm not competitive. But... Which, I mean, proves his point, really, doesn't it? Why didn't McIntyre have the gumption to say, I don't think you're a competitor? I'll wrestle you. Dave should have wrestled him, yeah.
But it is, for a man who has tiptoed around this issue and done everything in his possible powers to evade reigniting the thing, to drop in a C-bomb was an interesting detour.
I feel sorry for Mick McCarthy in so far as I think that this has haunted him since 2002 in a way that he doesn't often publicly portray. I don't know how it doesn't because the whole mishandling of the situation at the time invariably comes down on the head of the manager and everything else.
And Roy Keane, for all the sort of impetuousness of what he did, people kind of forgive him because he's this tortured genius and all the rest of it. I kind of just think that Mick doesn't have very many days when somebody doesn't at least look at him and think about the whole Roy Kane thing.
And that's just why I'm surprised that he's basically decided to spark this up again, because we all know what's going to happen. Well, hopefully what's going to happen when the overlap lads finally return.
Because I've seen plenty of people make the very fair point, Alfred, come on, it's a joke. You know, it is that bait and switch joke. But it's the sea part. Mick knows how the world works. He knows what the headline is. And you're still, I mean, Roy Keane will still interpret this as, yeah, but part of the joke is you called me a sea. I just think he's going to get so angry about this.
Like, I actually think he's going to sit, he's going to look down at his breakfast and be like, he's just called me a sea. I just don't think there's not going to be some kind of response. And I don't know why Mick's kind of done it.
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Chapter 3: How do pundits influence viewer expectations in sports commentary?
He's like, oh, this is the moment. You know, it's all that kind of stuff. And he has the kind of prepared... Joke ready. I wondered if he watched the movie and thought to himself, oh, these guys are rewriting history. And this is how generations and the younger generation are going to see me and see this thing.
And he was almost just a bit like... I wonder if that's kind of in the ether a little bit with him and he's almost a bit like... Yeah, maybe he's gotten to the stage where the idea of being sensitive around the issue or being...
guarded or even vague and respectful to Roy quite often where it's just like well there's no point in this anymore maybe it's very striking and I agree with you it's very tough for Mick I mean Roy's had such a big career compared to most people Mick included that it's such a big career Saipan isn't you know
the defining everything or the, you know, Roy walks into a room and people could have 20 different thoughts. You know, geez, would you ever talk to Ferguson again? Mick walks into a room and it's like that. It was a very striking change in Mick McCarthy's public policy on this one from, oh, I'm not speaking about that ever again. You know, he'd do interviews with Tommy Martin and Virgin.
He'd be like, Tommy, I'm just, I'm never talking about it again. I'm not talking about it. I didn't interview him recently. Roy Keane's a C.
Yeah, I did an interview with him recently enough. And when I say I started getting towards all of that, I wasn't even close nor near what he can kind of feel it. So I kind of like in a way, I kind of admire the fact that he's using humor to kind of deal with this. Now, it's just it's funny that it's it's it's what's worth remarking on is not, oh, how dare Mick McCarthy call Reich.
He can call him whatever he wants. He's fully entitled to it. But what's interesting is that he's decided that this is the moment to change his policy on what he does in this situation, which has cropped up so many times in the past 24 years. It could be the film.
Honestly, he could be just completely miffed at how, is this how I'm going to be remembered, you know? And look, I don't think it's not the kind of thing, by the way, to fully round it off. I don't think it's the kind of thing where on the overlap they say, Mick did a joke in a kind of after-dinner-y style and the punchline was, you're a C. Mm-hmm.
I think this will be six months down the line and an innocuous conversation will come up and it'll just be there like Alfie Hinga-Allen's kneecap and he's going to go for it. Oh yeah, I don't think that they will do it.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of Mick McCarthy's recent comments?
So, like, to me, that will always be the best GAA coverage that we've ever had was Michael Lester and the lads at halftime, basically, and him letting them have it out. And it was very natural and he seemed to be as much a natural part of that and a facilitative part of that as any of the analysis were.
that's the thing the debate was often self-perpetuating but when it required a moderator he'd step in but he was like an unfussy referee like he wouldn't jump in for the sake of jumping in but he would like and you do remember like you can't say that or like putting the big hand out like that did happen every now and then but as a rule he just kept the thing flowing and that's that is literally his job I think with the Sean Kavanagh Brawley one
I think at a certain point he said, you've made your point.
Yeah, like exactly. Like a remark like that, which is some would say out of bounds, that's where he'd step in. But if someone said something that then precipitated a response from someone else, he's not going to then make the point on behalf of an unpresent party. He'd kind of let the thing develop and it would be things like that where he'd come in.
Well, Sean Cavanagh can say that you should remember him as a man and not forget about him as a man. He wouldn't feel the need to do that. Yeah. Yeah, some stint, 35 years. I mean, for me, I don't remember the 80s, but 90s, 2000s, he is just the face of GAA in such a great way.
See, the 80s weren't the thing. People forget how recent a live thing, like live GAA was.
You know what I mean?
Other than finals, it just didn't happen. You know, I remember being a kid and I remember my dad saying, yeah, they're going to show Leinster football championship matches live on the television. It's such a recent thing. We don't even take it for granted.
Well, 90s, 2000s then, he was just that very warm, welcome face on the television. I don't think anyone had a problem with Michael Lester. You know, it was a rare thing. You know, on TV, I just hate that guy's face. I don't think Lester had that with anyone.
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Chapter 5: How did the passing of Michael Lester impact the sports community?
Oh, no, yeah. And I was like, it was as if you're not listening to me. So I'm going to pull that earpiece out of your head.
Brennan got a red card for it, obviously. Yeah. And said, I deserve the red card. Shook the referee's hand when he came back out for the second half. And the aforementioned as the coach as well. Yeah. So look, anything goes on the sideline. 20 points to 115, a Galway win, Dublin condemned. Not the worst thing in the world, said Gerard Brennan, to be in Division 2.
Yeah, well, they seem to be taking it fairly seriously at half time. They'll come to regret that because it's like there'll be a ban. And in the first year, I think Brennan probably missed the Lancelot Championship now. Which is not the thing it used to be. No, I mean, like where did Dublin rank in the...
where do Dublin rank in the last rankings they're definitely not the highest ranked team anyway it's a very frustrating league for Dublin and for Gerard Brennan no matter what he says about finding new players or anything else because their good stuff was really good but there isn't a whole pile coming through and they you know this kind of notional team that we keep selecting if Dublin have everybody they're a match for anybody they just can't get everybody on the pitch at the same time like Paddy Small came off injured they brought on Conor Callan then he seemed to get a bit of a knock um
They just, I don't know, are they paying the price for so many long seasons and winning and putting themselves through the physical ringer and everything else?
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Chapter 6: What are the highlights from the recent sporting events discussed?
But it's just, it seems like it's just a little bit out of grasp. I think there are three teams now that are a cut above everybody else. We were trying to figure out the delineation. Kerry, Armagh and Donegal are, I think, playing football that are at a different level. In the pack, Dublin are one of those.
And I think on a good day, if anybody, everybody was around and they were fit and they were in form, I think they could be the leader of that pack. But it's just they haven't been able to do it. Their good stuff is really, really good, but they just haven't been consistent enough.
They did work, you know, final kick of the ball for Khan off his left foot for a two pointer at the end and he pulled it slightly wide. So, I mean... They're there abouts. And that is with O'Cothickburn red carded from the 53rd minute. Like it's a, that's a big chunk of time to be down to 14 minutes. It's huge. It's huge. So that, there is a certain context there. Oh, the pitch was heavy.
Every time we flicked over, I mean, the TG Car coverage flicked over to your good self at the box at grounds. There was such more pace to the pitch of Kerry Armagh. Like every time the ball was hopped in Dublin Galway, it just took all pace out of the move and the attack. It was really kind of played its played a factor, actually, and just kind of it was a good game.
But it's a really heavy pitch. Armagh, Kerry, a draw. Armagh, 10 points to no score down. Jeez, let's say a few were looking at the exits, were they? Oh dear. And then they outscored Kerry 121 to 14 points. Jack O'Connor said... That game today is worth a month's training. It was played at championship pace. I don't know what he thought.
He said to the journalist, not caring a damn what they thought. What did you think? Oh, no, it's actually, don't answer. I don't want to know.
Jack always does that. He kind of takes a big inhalation. I don't know what you think, boys. And it's a real kind of, you know, look, lads, I'm going to say something profound here. You better pay attention.
He used to start saying, I don't care what you think. He said he thought it was played at championship pace.
a draw looked really it looked good that was a brilliant game and the conditions as you said were you kind of knew going in there was no rain pitch is in pretty good condition this is going to be a fair there's not going to be many skill errors in this game and that was kind of true when Kerry took that 10 point lead I was like how am I not going to be able to get the ball off these lads because Kerry kept winning the midfield and kickouts generally and then yeah they're not going to spill the ball on a bone dry day how did that feel when they were cleaning you out midfield for the first time tables turned obviously
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Chapter 7: How is viewer engagement changing in sports analysis?
Does Ben O'Connor strike you with that?
He's not interested in any of that bullshit. He's going for whatever.
And I think John Kiley and Limerick are keen to get winning again. Yeah. So hopefully. You've sold it to me. Yeah. So the Drada owners have removed Joanna Byrne. You remember, so Joanna Byrne and her family have been involved with DRADA for years and years and years and years. And she's been co-chairperson. She's also Sinn FĆ©in TD for Loud.
And you might remember when Republic of Ireland drew Israel, she said we should boycott the game, etc. And when they had run into bother with UEFA over multi-club ownership, they weren't very forgiving of UEFA then. And so they released this statement. And Byrne effectively kind of... Leonardo DiCaprio style said, I'm not going. And there was a bit of a standoff.
And now Travella Group have released a statement confirming that, pursuant to its authority as sole shareholder, e.g. i.e. we run this place, nobody else, Joanna Byrne has been removed by Travella Group as director of the club. And so they list out their board of directors, which consists of Benjamin Boycott, Mark Koretsky, Barton Lee and their CEO, Rhiann Wogan.
And they're going to try and find another chairperson who can be co-chairperson with Benjamin Boycott. So Joanna Byrne is very upset by this whole thing. She describes what's happened here as a cold underhand move by Travella initiated in the dark of night. It was planned and coordinated without any consultation with me and this is symptomatic of the way they do business.
Now, Trevella, again, they had cited her comments about UEFA as being kind of untenable and they said it was nothing to do with her call for the boycott and they said previously there was a breakdown in trust and confidence, nothing to do with political views or beliefs. But Joanna Byrne's not having that really.
She says that, you know, any notion of a conflict of interest only became an issue recently as in a conflict between her being
a politician and a co-chairperson so she says there's a narrative in peddled in recent weeks of a conflict of interest between my role as co-chair and my role as a spokesperson on sport that is something I categorically dispute so she look she's she's kind of reading between the lines she's saying this is all to do with what I said about the Israel fixture Traveller playing this you know fairly straight bat there was no mention in this statement of UEFA or anything like that but we've just got rid of her and that's that um
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Chapter 8: What future trends are anticipated in sports broadcasting?
And it's very much tied into the sort of sense of place that they feel with the club. Doing something like this to somebody who's been such a prominent voice, a prominent activist, a prominent campaigner for the club can't kind of win you friends.
Yeah. I think it leaves a very bad taste. I mean... I think she should be allowed, given what's happened in Gaza. I think she should be allowed to say Ireland should boycott the game. UEFA and FIFA haven't done enough. I think they're very... You can disagree with them. No problem, you can disagree with them. But I think they're valid enough opinions to be able to state publicly as a politician.
And that shouldn't, like, negate your role with DRADA. But, like, BFA, I think... You could have said, listen, we disagree. We think the game should go ahead, all that kind of thing. But like, just to say, no, gone. I think it leaves a very bad taste.
But there are a lot of clubs that are already on the record about this. Like the FAI Assembly is made up of lots of stakeholders in Irish football, including which is League of Ireland clubs and Bohemians who brought the motion there in the first place.
So all Joanna Bourne was doing was making a, okay, she was making a public statement about an issue, but one that is widely held in Irish football. If you take the FAI Assembly vote, as being representative of the wider body of opinion within the country or within the sport in the country. So, yeah, it's hard to take what Travella are saying here on face value.
Yeah, well, it's a hell of a coincidence, that's for sure. So, I don't know, like she doesn't really, as you said, have much recourse. It's just... Done. So we'll see. I don't know if Drogheda fans will stage any kind of protest. You have to be close to the ground to have a feeling for that.
But maybe the writing was always on the wall for when she refused to go initially and there was a standoff. Standoff no more. Premier League, we touched on the Carabao Cup with Damon Delaney and Gary Breen. I think Damien annoyed Gary at one stage. No, I have to come back in. I have to. So that's waiting for you. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Spurs 0, Forest 3.
So to simplify the relegation situation for Spurs now, it's really Spurs or West Ham and Spurs are a point better off. That's kind of the gist.
The Spurs look like they're never going to win another game of football ever again.
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