OTB Football
UNLOCKED - THE SUNDAY PAPER REVIEW | ‘Which part is outraging you the most!?…’ | OFF THE BALL
21 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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the RT Sports Awards have been out. Which part of this now is outraging you the most? Let's get straight into it.
Look, it's another Eamon, it's a sort of a secondary bit on Eamon Sweeney's column. So his main column in the Sindo today, we've just touched on, is Ruben Ameren, but one of his second piece, the second piece that he has here is, The exclusion of the Ireland team makes a joke of RTU Sport Award. Yeah. So the nuts and bolts of it basically being there were seven teams.
Chapter 2: What were the highlights of the RTE Sports Awards?
I think they were the four GAA teams. Four GAA teams, yeah, correct. The Kerry senior footballers won it. I think there was the Shamrock Rovers team at Lone Town.
And the Cyclists.
And the Cyclists were the seven shortlisted teams. for RT Sports Team of the Year and that the Republic of Ireland soccer team were not listed. And he called it, he said, the glaring absence made a joke of the award.
And we were chatting about it outside as to whether, like Eamon makes a point in the piece that for each of the last four years, there was nine teams shortlisted for this award and there was only seven this year. I don't know the mechanics of how they... They could have just lobbed them in. Yeah, I don't know the mechanics. Yeah, they could have lobbed the Ireland team in.
Why not? Like seven is so random. Sure, might as well be eight.
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Chapter 3: Why is the exclusion of the Ireland team controversial?
yeah so then you're kind of wrestling with the whole i think we were touched on earlier they didn't actually win anything they haven't qualified for anything so should they be in it so the merit was or sorry the the system of merit is you have to have physically won something it appears so and and qualifying for a playoff
I think that's a very unfair benchmark, isn't it?
Well, for a competition that has, we've said, 16 teams qualify out of 55 nations, isn't it?
For Europe, yeah.
For Europe. So it's quite a high benchmark. If the Galway Camogie team, and no disrespect to them, having beaten Cork, there was four competitive teams in that competition. Does that merit inclusion over the Irish team?
But it's not a fair base. No. as in the numbers that you've said and our history of qualifying for these things, not a good strike rate.
I guess it boils down to are you being included for moments or are you being included for sporting success? Is sporting success what the Ireland team achieved in their last two games? Yes. Yeah. I would think so.
Yeah. And it's not just moments. Like, it wasn't just a goal.
No.
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Chapter 4: How do team performances affect award nominations?
Troy Parra was shortlisted, wasn't he?
Yeah, and like I think again, I was sort of interested, him v Rory, who would you vote for?
I'd have voted for Troy.
Would you?
Yeah. Over Rory? This year, yeah. But that's my wheelhouse.
What do you think? I'm kind of torn, like Rory just had the year of his life. Yeah, and I think in the video, obviously he wasn't at the RT Sports Awards, he was over watching Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua. Troy's had a great year since he's gone to Holland and he's been scoring goals. Yeah, I don't know.
Rory was talking in his acceptance speech of the awards on video last night for the RT1 about how he may never have a better year than 2025 and he has to mentally get his head around that. That could actually be, I think he was being asked about what's next and how can he go bigger and better. I think he was making the point that maybe I just have to...
just settle on this in my own head that it may never get better than the year I've just had. So when you factor everything in between the Ryder Cup, the Masters, the Irish Open, that putt, that putt, you know. For the playoff. Yeah, like all of that stuff. And look, I would always, I wouldn't, I like golf, I wouldn't be a massive golf fan, but I appreciate what he's done.
Five goals in two games and the magnitude of them.
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Chapter 5: What moments defined the Irish football team's recent success?
I feel weird saying that given what Troy Parrott did.
Yeah, I get what you mean.
But Troy Parrott brings Seamus Coleman back into the fray. We would have probably been saying goodbye to Seamus Coleman if Troy hadn't nudged the ball beyond the Hungarian keeper. You know, Troy has given us more to come.
Yeah, except for Rory just delivered the World Cup, basically. Like he won the World Cup, effectively, if you want to look at it that way.
For us or for himself?
Ah, for all of us.
Come on now. It depends on what your wheelhouse is.
A lad from up the road is the way I always look at it.
I'm not being patriotic here. I'm saying it's an individual sport and I think I'm going to get much more enjoyment out of the playoffs and potentially a World Cup next year. I really enjoyed the golf and I sat and I watched it and I embraced it all but I do think there's more for me in what the Irish team managed to do.
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