Liam Brady said he was "no longer in love with the game" as he takes his final bow as part of RTÉ's football punditry team for Republic of Ireland's home Euro 2024 qualifier against Gibraltar tonight.
Brady, one of Ireland's greatest ever footballers, has been a mainstay of RTÉ's football coverage since 1998, aside from his two-year stint on the Republic of Ireland backroom team for the 2010 World Cup qualification campaign.
This morning, it was confirmed that the 67-year old would be retiring from his role on RTÉ after the clash with Gibraltar.
In an interview with RTÉ's News at One this afternoon, Brady said that while he still enjoyed watching great players, he had grown disillusioned with many of the factors bearing down on the sport, notably the prevelance of sportswashing and the influence of social media.
"Things have changed with football now. I'm not in love with the game anymore," Brady told presenter Gavin Jennings.
"I like watching it and watching the best players. But all the things that surround it are not really for me.
"And then I suppose the arrival of social media in the last 10 years. I'm an old dog and you can't teach me new tricks.
"So, Twitter and Facebook and things like that, they're all gobbledegook to me.
"The business side of it, it's a multi-billion pound business. The ownership of clubs in England, the arrival of these countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. I don't feel it's been that good for the game to be honest."
Brady created a stir last Friday in the wake of Ireland's calamitous 2-1 loss away to Greece in Athens on Friday night when he proclaimed the current crop of international players as "the worst" in his lifetime.
His comments were subsequently put to Stephen Kenny and James McClean in Sunday's press conference, with the manager admitting that pundits were entitled to their opinion.
While Brady regretted if the comments sounded "disrespectful" to the squad, he reiterated his view that the calibre of player available to the Ireland manager had declined in the past two decades.
"A lot was made of that statement. And I'm sorry if it sounded disrespectful to the players. The players are giving their all.
"But I just feel the talent in this squad just doesn't compare to the teams in the past. The teams I've played in, the teams that Giovanni Trapattoni had or Martin O'Neill had. I think things have gradually got worse in the players we're producing. It's a worry.
"Obviously, young Evan Ferguson coming along is going to be a big boost. I really do think he's a top class player.
"But we used to have five or six players of top class quality. They're just not there anymore. The future for Ireland is a bit of a worry.
"I had hoped that I was going to finish with a win in Greece and a win tonight. The result the other night has compromised those chances."
In the wake of the FAI's strategic analysis report, in which the association said it required €863 million over 15 years to modernise standards and facilities in Ireland, Brady - who joined Arsenal as a teenager before going onto become a club legend - was asked whether he could envision a scenario where Irish players could be developed to a high level at home.
The end of an era pic.twitter.com/HsBroJ9TMP
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) June 19, 2023
"I think with the investment, you could do it. If we identified the best young players from 10 to 16 years of age and gave them good coaching, good facilities.
"Made sure they were playing tournaments in Europe and abroad that would give them the knowledge that young players are getting in England and on the continent, I think that would definitely improve things.
"But that takes an awful lot of money. And that money is just not there at the moment.
"I think this thing should have been addressed 20 years ago. But we are where we are."
As an analyst, Brady was associated with the longstanding RTÉ soccer panel comprised of himself, Eamon Dunphy, Johnny Giles and the late Bill O'Herlihy as presenter.
Dunphy, who departed RTÉ after the 2018 World Cup, has asserted that RTÉ have sought to dumb down their analysis and make it too safe.
Brady stresses that this isn't the reason he's leaving, and that times have changed in terms of what can be said in analysis.
"It has to be a little bit more dull without Eamon and Joe Brolly. Because they were very controversial figures and they did speak their mind. I don't think you can speak like that on the TV anymore to be quite honest. Times have changed and you have to move with the times. I think RTÉ have done that.
"That's not the reason I'm leaving. I'm leaving because I'm 67 years of age. I've done 25 years of it and it's a good number.
"But I think the punditry that we used to have with Eamon and Johnny Giles and Bill O'Herlihy, you probably just can't do that anymore."
Speaking pitchside ahead of kick-off, Brady pinpointed Jason McAteer's memorable goal the 1-0 home victory over a formidable Netherlands side in 2001 as a highlight from his time as a pundit.
"For me, that was the best performance of an Irish team that I've seen," he said.
"To spilt the Netherlands and Portugal was a fantastic achievement and the place went mad that day, completely crazy."
As Liam Brady prepares for his last Ireland game as an RTÉ analyst, he looks back on one of his fondest memories from his long career - when Ireland beat the Netherlands 1-0 and the fallout that ensued in Saipan. #RTESoccer pic.twitter.com/0GJsLS6snQ
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 19, 2023
While Ireland would reach the 2002 World Cup via the play-off, captain Roy Keane was famously sent home before a ball was kicked in Korea and Japan after a bust-up with manager Mick McCarthy.
The bombshell had implications backin the RTÉ studio.
"It made for fireworks," he said. "Eamonn wouldn’t speak to John or I because we took Mick McCarthy’s side. It really was a nasty atmosphere in the studio, and Bill had to control it all.
"It wasn’t an easy job," he said, adding that the realtionships were patched up the following season.
Watch Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar in the Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday night from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live radio commentary with Game On on 2fm
Watch Republic of Ireland v Zambia on Thursday night from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app
