Alan O'Brien

University Teacher and Tutorial Coordinator, Dept. of Maths and Stats, @UL.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

John Delaney is still dodging the dustbin of history, but he is only the tip of a very large iceberg. How my grassroots experience taught me that Irish football is rotten to the core - any reforms imposed on the #FAI board must apply to affiliates, too.

https://t.co/oyWD7AOnVD

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@mcmnorris Not to mention that modes of assessment were (necessarily and significantly) more forgiving during that time. If anything, students who were assessed more rigorously outside of this period have a case!

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@JGill_Giller A strange one. Sometimes I find him to be excellent, but other times I find he twists things to suit his own narrative.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

One manager, Armenia's Eghishe Melikyan, learned the lessons of Matchday One. The other, Ireland's Heimir Halgrimsson, did not: https://t.co/3YoMZLu6Ek

#ARMIRL #ARMIRE #COYBIG

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@JGill_Giller Who was that, John? It was 4-4-2-ish in defence in the first half, to be fair. But only 4-4-2 in all phases after half-time.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@JGill_Giller Thanks, John. Hope you're keeping well.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

Heimir Hallgrímsson lost the tactical battle to Hungary's Marco Rossi on Saturday night. Here's how and why: https://t.co/YnBAAnyLAH #IRLHUN #COYBIG

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

City's equaliser results from Grealish getting to the byline, the first time City even tried to do that in the second half. A baffling approach from Pep that cried out for traditional fullbacks and wingers. Arsenal's 6-3-0 packed the centre and Pep played into their hands #MCIARS

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@seanohartigan Well, they deserve whatever sanctions are (hopefully) coming to them. Enforcement of rules, of the road or otherwise, is sorely lacking in this country. And hopefully certain individuals will stop objecting to student housing so we can get students out of semi-ds! 😉

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@seanohartigan It's a bizarre take, alright. A far more pertinent point would be the university's failure to expand its parking infrastructure to accommodate a ~50% increase in student numbers over the past decade. Realistically, only a small fraction of a student body can be housed on campus.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@tom_nuttall Chris Morris himself would be proud of that one.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@MorgenrothEdgar We have *business* journalists who repeatedly fail to take into account NPV/DCF when writing about, for example, housing. I often wonder whether that's ignorance or malice...

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

"Although the FAI introduced an eight-year term limit for its own directors, no such limits apply to leagues or bodies affiliated to the FAI."

The key line in this utterly unsurprising article. Five years ago, the government missed a huge opportunity to force grassroots reform.

[Mark Tighe @MarkLTighe]

Girls soccer in Dublin left in crisis after bitter row over governance sparks legal clash

https://t.co/irGgByLnCr

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

Ireland desperately need another body in central midfield as it's essentially 4 v 2 in England's favour at the moment with Trent dropping in. Will be interesting to see if Heimar can do what Kenny couldn't — make appropriate in-game changes. #IREvENG

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

I don't understand Croatia's shape late on. The back five made sense against Italy's front two, but it appeared to be Brozovic on his own in central midfield, with Majer higher and close to the striker. No surprise that Calafiori waltzed through the middle to set up the leveller.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

Any chance someone on the RTÉ production team can teach Cawley the handball rule at half time? 🙄

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

The Greens need a lot more of this. Too timid and non-confrontational, the party's disastrous comms strategy under Eamon Ryan allowed opponents to control the narrative and spread misinformation. Ryan's successor must address this on day one; Garvey provides the blueprint here.

[RTÉ Prime Time @RTE_PrimeTime]

Following @EamonRyan’s announcement today that he is to step down as leader of the @greenparty_ie, @MiriamOCal is joined in studio by his party colleague @RoisinGarvey and Independent TD @MHealyRae.

WATCH:

@rtenews | #rtept

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

This directly contradicts last week's Ipsos poll, which showed a roughly 2:1 majority in favour of retaining our current neutrality model.

Proof that a national conversation on defence is long overdue -- however much those with fringe views would like to shut it down.

[Ireland Votes @Ireland_Votes]

Poll/Pobalbhreith

Q. “Do you support or oppose Ireland joining NATO?”

Oppose: 38%
Support: 34%
Unsure: 28%

Via Red C Research
June 2023

Note: Reposted to correct earlier typo.

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

Serious questions to answer for Catherine Martin, who learned in March of an investigation into payments flagged by RTÉ auditors.

Did she ask further questions of RTÉ at the time? Why didn't she apprise Cabinet of this at the time? And when did she hear of Forbes' suspension?

[Jack Horgan-Jones @JackHoJo]

TDs rush to organise hearings on RTÉ pay scandal to seek answers from management

https://t.co/iRQUJM861H

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

Asking this question yet again this evening. Three centre-backs against a Gibraltarian 5-4-1?!

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

The rest of the game saw Greece adopt an extremely defensive and compact posture, prompting the question I've asked so often during Kenny's reign: "Why are we STILL playing with three centre-backs?" Obafemi for Molumby (rather than one of the CBs) on 81' was indefensible. [7/12]

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

@AnthonyKyne @emmetmalone O'Neill was a very lucky general for a while, with results not matching the underlying level of performance or preparation. What you saw in the last two years of his reign, therefore, was reversion to the mean — his luck ran out, in layman's terms 😅

[Alan O'Brien @alanob2112]

It's difficult to understand why Stephen Kenny opted for a 3-5-2 last night. Primarily a defensive formation, it doesn't exactly lend itself to pressing a 4-3-3 as the opposition full-backs are free in build-up play, representing easy out-balls that are tough to cut out. [1/12]