The RTÉ panel disagreed with Roy Keane’s stinging pre-tournament criticism of Aiden McGeady, with Didi Hamann saying the public dressing down was the right decision.
Manager Martin O’Neill said that his assistant had spoken to the winger after he suggested “he can do a lot better but maybe that's the story of Aiden's career,” after the friendly defeat to Belarus before the squad departed for France.
O’Neill admitted the comments may have been a little harsh, while both he and Keane refused to reveal what was discussed in the face-to-face chat.
McGeady came on as a late substitute in the 1-1 draw Sweden in the Group E opener and speaking on RTÉ’s Euro 2016 coverage, Damien Duff said that the ability is certainly there for the 83-cap international.
“If you ever speak to any lads that ever worked with him, his ability is ridiculous. He wouldn’t look out of place at Barcelona training,” he said.
“Maybe you could say that Aidy over the years hasn’t done it enough times, but I think they want him in the team and maybe it was a wake-up call from Roy.”
Richie Sadlier conceded that the Everton man has not done enough to force his way into the starting XI, but thinks the assistant manager could have handled the situation better, though did praise the Corkman for his subsequent actions.
“Looking back, I think he did the right thing”
“What I liked about it was there seemed to be an apology of sorts made by Keane to McGeady, to the other players...he seemed to acknowledge at some level what he said shouldn’t have been said publicly," the former Millwall striker told viewers.
“My own view is if you have a strong opinion about a player and you are part of the staff, you speak to the players directly.
“There’s not really that much benefit in being too scathing or mocking of players abilities or careers or performances in public, in my opinion,” he said while admitting that the episode may have had little or no impact on the squad as a whole.
Former Liverpool player and German international Didi Hamann however argued that Keane made the right decision in order to get a reaction from the team after the below-par performance against Belarus.
“It certainly did them no harm. He went that way, to go public, and I think he got that reaction out of the players,” he said.
“I think it was an attempt to wake him up because clearly he wasn’t happy with what he saw in training or what he saw in the last few games.
“Looking back, I think he did the right thing.”
