Trap hits back at critical Keane - Football
Published: 15 Jun 2012 - 20:20:49
Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has hit back at former skipper Roy Keane over his withering assessment of their Euro 2012 efforts.
In his role as a television pundit for ITV, Keane called for a change of mentality among both the players and the fans after Trapattoni's men were serenaded from the stands at the PGE Arena in Gdansk as Thursday night's 4-0 thumping by Spain drew to a close.
But the 73-year-old said on Friday: "Roy Keane was a very great player. We know Ireland, when we played against him, was a strong team. This generation was very hard. It is not my habit to be critical of other colleagues as coaches or managers, but what has he done after he finished playing?"
He added: "The players were strong in his time, playing at Manchester United, playing at Celtic, playing everywhere. They were a strong team.
"Roy Keane was a great player, a very great player. He obtained very great results as a player. Now he is a coach he should just stick to focusing on getting results as a coach."
Keane, who famously returned early from the 2002 World Cup finals in the Far East in protest at Ireland's preparations, was annoyed by the scenes at the end of the game.
He told ITV1: "It's a reality check for a lot of the Irish players. I think a lot of them think they are top players, and it goes to show that they are so far behind a lot of these players.
"I think the players and even the supporters, they all have to change their mentality. It's just nonsense from players speaking after the games about how great the supporters are.
"Listen, the supporters want to see the team doing a lot better and not giving daft goals away like that. I'm not too happy with all that nonsense.
"To praise the supporters for sake of it...let's change that attitude towards Irish supporters. They want to see the team winning - let's not kid ourselves, we are a small country, we are up against it, but let's not just go along for the sing-song every now and again."
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NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - Rajat Gupta, a consummate business insider who once sat on the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, was convicted on Friday of leaking secrets about the investment bank at the height of the financial crisis, a major ...Tickets fly as benefactor makes Derry concert free - BBC News
All tickets for the Peace One Day concert in Ebrington Square in Londonderry have been snapped up.
The tickets were offered free on Friday after benefactor Michael Hamyln offered to pay for them.
People who had already paid for tickets will get their money back.
The film producer said he is delighted to have made the gesture.
The concert on 21 June marks the start of the London 2012 Festival.
It will be the first major event to be staged at the arts quarter, which was formerly a military barracks.
The line-up includes Pixie Lott, Dublin singer Imelda May, indie-rockers Guillamots, Derry's Wondervillains and Newton Faulkner.
Founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley said: "It's incredible that someone has come forward to make the concert free.
"I'm delighted. This opens the doors to everyone. It'll be a wonderful show in a wonderful city."
The free tickets were made available at 10:00 BST on Friday morning and ran out in less than two hours.
The director of the London 2012 Festival, Ruth Mackenzie, said the concert will "highlight the key theme of how sport and culture can resolve conflict.
"We are really grateful that thousands of lucky people will now be able to join in the celebration for free."
The event also marks the three-month countdown to Global Truce, a campaign that promotes peace.
The culmination of the Global Truce campaign will be another Peace Once Day concert in London on 21 September, the day of Global Truce and World Peace Day.
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