Episode 952: Ireland On The Brink, Don’t Shoot Rule, Scapegoat Sadlier, Law Of Attraction

Eoin, Ken and Ciaran pore over the mathematics of the table of second-placed teams, realise its complicated and out of our hands, and so decide in the end to put their faith in the Law of Attraction.

At this point it looks as though Ireland’s best chance of qualification may be to hope that destiny has a plan to bring John Delaney and Vladimir Putin together.

Thumping finish from Kolarov after smart pass by Kostic. 1-0 to Serbia #IrlSer #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/BQ3RtAbJtY

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) September 5, 2017

What went wrong? Is it simply that Ireland lack the quality of the top sides? Or are there obvious mistakes we are making that could be fixed at the coaching level? And why does the grainy image of Ronnie Radford continue to captivate the minds of Irish footballers born decades after his famous strike? Ken thinks a “no long range shots” rule needs to be applied.

Eoin talks to a hopeful but realistic Richie Sadlier, who was getting blamed for the defeat in Tbilisi by supporters at the All-Ireland Hurling Final.

Interesting stroll into Croke Pk being personally abused for Ireland’s performance yesterday ?????

— Richie Sadlier (@RichieSadlier) September 3, 2017

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Its an “Eoin McDevitt’s Podcast Pals” special today…. secret ingredient is Love ??????https://t.co/dIlaSuzInO pic.twitter.com/k58FxVXDQ0

— Second Captains (@SecondCaptains) September 5, 2017