Henry retirement
Comments released earlier this week by Thierry Henry into his antics last week sound hollow and reek of a man struggling to save face. Henry admitted to French newspaper L'Equipe that he considered international retirement in the wake of last Wednesday's actions.

It is amazing that an otherwise blemish-free career can be thrown to the dogs after a split second madness to get his side to the World Cup finals.

A man with advertising responsibilities to Gillette and Renault to name but a few now seems to have realised the folly of his actions: once he felt the sting in the pocket. Approaching 250,000 people have signed up to the infamous anti-Henry facebook campaign and that is a lot of any customers for any sponsor!

I admit that I was ultra sceptical as to the talent of this Irish squad of players, but once the defensive shackles were abandoned they played with a hunger and flair seldom seen from an 11 in green shirts. It has to be asked, however, if these players were allowed play with reckless abandon earlier in the competition, how could they have fared?

The Irish drew 0-0 home and away with Montenegro: 1-1 away to both Italy and Bulgaria and lost 1-0 in Croke Park to France. Neither Bulgaria nor Montenegro were any great shakes and crucial points went a begging when defensive performances smothered the Irish.

It is a possibility that Giovanni Trappatoni has now discovered that his leopards have changed their spots and that they'll come out and play like they did in Paris in qualification for the European Championships. However, we had nothing to lose in Paris and when the pressure is on, Trapp's team is likely to return to type. Don't expect this Italian leopard to change suit.

FAI Cup final
Congratulations to Sporting Fingal on their last-gasp victory over Sligo Rovers in the Ford FAI Cup final last weekend. Only two seasons after their inception, the Finglas club have built a steady foundation, gained promotion to the Premier Division and now won the FAI Cup.

The one standout from watching Fingal this season has been the attractive football that the side play. Sunday's match was spoiled by the horrendous weather conditions, but Fingal endeavoured to keep the ball on the ground at all stages.

We'll see if they can consistently reproduce that form over a season of top-flight football next year, but if their rapid progress continues they should be more than able to match the likes of Galway United.

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