It’s funny how things turn out. From the Glorious Revolution of 1688 until the signing of the Entente Cordiale in 1904, Irish rebels seeking independence from their colonial overlords, the Brits, had often looked to France for help. The French had often entertained such rebellion, if only to simply get one over on their old enemy. Today however the situation – if only on the football field rather than the battlefield - has reversed. In the wake of the World Cup play off controversy the Irish have found an ally in the usually right leaning and jingoistic English press, if only simply to get one over on their supposed old enemy – the French. Arsenal FC has not surprisingly found itself found caught in the crossfire. A goal scored by a current player and former captain assisted by a helping hand (ha ha, I bet none of the press have made that pun yet?) from a former player and arguably our greatest ever, Thierry Henry. Cue moral outrage from Ireland’s assistant, the current head of youth development at Arsenal and er… well also arguably our greatest ever player, Liam Brady.

The Sun saw fit to lead with the headline ‘Hand of Frog’ in reference to Henry’s misdemeanor. One might ask if this is permissible why it chose the headline ‘racist scum’ when Jade Goody used the words ‘Shilpa Poppadom’ in reference to an Indian contestant on Celebrity Big Brother? The Sun also went on to hire the expertise of certain economists to highlight the benefit to the French economy that Henry’s helping hand would give them when the euros start rolling in for next June’s finals. As the Wapping based publication is known by its own admission to have an incredibly low reading age, its readership may be inclined to confuse France’s recovery from recession on Henry’s handball. Most credible economic opinion however would attribute that to the absence of an unquenchable appetite for the destruction of its industrial base cheered on by certain foreign media barons, leading to a subsequent over-reliance on the financial sector in France.

Over on TalkSport Radio 48 hours later cue the handover of London born Danny Kelly to Dundee born George Galloway, both playing their ‘Irish heritage’ card in a way that may have led to a call up from Jack Charlton two decades earlier like their co-presenter Glasgow born Ray Houghton. Tottenham supporter Kelly, never one to let professionalism get in the way of an anti-Arsenal sentiment, called Henry ‘weasley’. Galloway who admitted to once viewing Henry as a ‘prince among men’ said he would be forever damned in his eyes for not holding his hand up to the ref like Robbie Fowler to his wrongdoing. So one example in 150 years of organized football makes a norm does it? Lest we forget that Fowler’s admittance to diving against Arsenal didn’t actually prevent a penalty decision being given in his favour, or the fact that the result was not in the balance as his side were already 1-0 up at the time of the incident.

Extraordinary also that self proclaimed United and Celtic fanatic Galloway should castigate Roy Keane as a ‘troubled man’ for his reflection on the FAI’s reaction. The usually hotheaded Keane had become the dispassionate voice of reason highlighting how Ireland had a dubious decision given in their favour against Georgia in the group phase and the FAI had not called for any such replay. I also recall that a documentary on Channel 4 a few years ago had alleged that in Italia 90, after England had took the lead against Egypt in a match played simultaneously with Ireland v Holland - which stood a 1-1 - both sides had deliberately played for the draw which would see them both progress from the group phase. I don’t recall any outrage from the FAI in 1990 about the integrity of the game when Ireland subsequently progressed at the expense of four other potential third placed qualifiers, including Scotland.

On Galloway’s talk show one of his favourite retorts in the face of an accusation tinged with hypocrisy is to compare the said statement with the hunchback of Notre Dame telling you to stand up straight. It’s with this in mind that we turn to Liam Brady’s claim of Sepp Blatter’s behavior being an embarrassment. Anyone unfamiliar with one of Chippy’s stroppy outbursts should check on YouTube his hilarious reaction to awkward questions after his last match in club management with Brighton after failing to beat Ryman league Canvey Island in the FA Cup in 1995. Blatter having the nerve to point out quite rightly that if Ireland were to enter the World Cup as 33rd side, consideration would also have to be given to Costa Rica who exited due to a dubious goal from Uruguay, making such an occurrence an impracticality. FIFA though sadly lacked any degree of backbone when it opened a case for Henry facing a one match suspension. Would it be rude of one to point out that had it been spotted, a deliberate handball is only a bookable offence and wouldn’t even merit a suspension?

As ever with refereeing errors (as this definitely was) we face the disingenuously utopian solution from the media of the introduction of video replays. When discussed at length by Richard Keys et al on Sky Sports, they somehow neglect to converse on how the scenario would lead to football’s over-reliance on their presence and technology. Also, that 45 minutes is a long time without a commercial break. One minute of video analysis from the third eye is just enough time for a word from our sponsors. Also the game in the Stade De France is in essence the same as that played at the scene of Brady’s last embarrassing outburst at Park Lane, Canvey Island. Will Sky pay for the technology to be installed at the latter, where a wrong decision in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup could deprive a club of the revenue of a cup run that could make the difference between the death and survival of a club? Is the Pope Irish?