eoin parker gctofuidgmgmailcom new irish smugness losing game last month ireland play argentina rugby world cup former french international thomas castaignède wrote guardian newspaper praying great surge irish pride irish victory would suited french reflected sadness bewilderment basis irelands performances seemed unlikely cant get soulless ireland seemed writes fintan otoole castaignèdes mot juste soulless captures something seems common national rugby soccer teams broader state nation strikes outside observers irish teams dont qualities made formidable much suggest see pitiful exits world cup euro 2008 cyphers deeper malaise general rule using sport metaphor life mugs game generates cliches virulence fastbreeder reactor team player levelplaying field journalism dont want pull punches take eye ball useless national stereotypes temperamental latins disorganised africans inscrutable chinese icecool scandinavians cheating foreigners often prisms see sport expression collective identity irish pride soul part tawdry package point sport case isnt real life nevertheless two areas performances national teams reasonably linked broader direction society management expectation times places good producing exceptionally gifted leaders three greatest football managers 20th century bill shankly jock stein matt busby came mining village communities south glasgow say something culture churns dull organisation men couldnt inspire cow chew grass isnt kind connection irfus decision give coach lucrative new contract world cup test mettle political culture nobody power answer anything connection surely smugness spawned stagnant pool easy money lost capacity connect rewards results money keeps rolling irfu fai nobody answer failure unless demise necessary protect someone power answer failure sounds familiar could precise description government last decade unprecedented opportunities matched unprecedented unaccountability micheál martin made official telling us responsible happened department expectation meanwhile shapes much happens pitch means rugby world cup triumph georgia one game performed respectably others san marino thrilled beat 21 mortified conversely best fun irish sports fans year cricket world cup ireland got routinely thumped pulled surprise victory pakistan losing every game feat transported us back best days irish soccer 1988 1990 deliriously happy major finals demented joy disgracing expectations rise get altitude sickness reflection wider shift irish society long time culture shaped fatalism attitude whose pleasures often underrated fatalism creates sense passivity tolerance failure also lot fun since expect nothing worst small mercies seem joyously miraculous pleasant changes last 15 years banished fatalism havent replaced genuine sense expectation comfortable notion first world wealthy economy right expect firstworld healthcare education planning political systems use words like worldclass hubris bluster serious concrete aspiration promised worldclass football manager get reserve coach mighty walsall talk serious contenders world champions rugby get played park georgia weve lost old feckless divilmaycare giveitalash attitude rooted fatalism suppose constituted soul would fine wed replaced seriousminded methodical notion goals set demands made consequences flowing choices weve got instead though smugness sense entitlement delusion made attitudes win much field thu 07 aug 2008 000406 0100 ierant decent read