CLOSE to 10,000 people provided a heroes’ welcome home for the Northern Ireland squad on Monday evening, because they felt so close to the team.
If 10 people turn up at whichever airport their English counterparts slink back into – assuming they don’t all fly directly to Dubai or the Caribbean – they’ll surely only be there to throw eggs and rotten tomatoes.
Of course there were very different expectations for the two teams, but also very different relations between the players and supporters.
You get a good sense of that relationship as part of the media. We represent a conduit between players and supporters; the clue’s in the name, we’re in the middle.
We’re not just ‘fans with typewriters’, so sometimes there has to be criticism of players, managers, and supporters, but there is a sense that we are all in this together.
Consider these anecdotes after some of Northern Ireland’s matches from the ‘mixed zones’ (the areas where players walk through and can decide whether or not to speak to the media).
After the backs-to-the-wall performance against Germany, one of the more talkative members of the panel politely declined to speak.
He didn’t stop – but he did apologise sincerely. Another incident was much more reflective of how the NI players generally deal with the media.
Press Association reporter Rory Dollard had covered Northern Ireland in recent years before being controversially demoted to the England beat for Euro 2016.
He turned up at Parc des Princes for the Germany game and, after trekking his way to the mixed zone there, was mid-interview when he was interrupted. Politely. By Roy Carroll. Who apologised for the intrusion – but just wanted to say that it was good to see him.
The PA man was surprised, but not altogether shocked. Niall McGinn walked off when I was speaking to him after the Ukraine game – then turned back, having realised that I had asked him another question.
And apologised, of course, for his genuine error. The best aspect of covering Northern Ireland, apart from actually watching matches, is that you’re dealing with decent people.
Down-to-earth lads who, even when they occasionally hit the heights, remain grounded. My colleague Andy Watters relays a similar experience from most of this current squad of Republic of Ireland players.
As he put it: ‘No problems with them at all, even after the Belgium match’. Both Irish teams can count themselves somewhat unfortunate to be knocked out, but there was no avoiding the media after those disappointing defeats by Wales and France.
Indeed, Gareth McAuley even spoke to the media after unfortunately scoring the own goal that ended Northern Ireland’s French adventure. Now think about England.
Apparently only Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart stopped in the mixed zone after their Euro exit against Iceland. In a sense I was surprised that anyone other than the England skipper spoke to the media.
It was a disastrous, dreadful defeat after all and their players don’t have much fondness for the media at the best of times. Credit to Hart, then, for holding his hands up, even if he’d been better putting them down to keep out some soft shots.
He certainly would have been better off keeping quiet in the tunnels before games, rather than indulging in attention-seeking shouting and roaring.
However, at least Hart didn’t run away from questions after the Iceland humiliation, unlike his then ‘manager’, Roy Hodgson.
Teams reflect their manager: so England were a bizarre mixture of caution, nervousness, and arrogance, believing that they are far better than they actually are.
While there has to be some degree of understanding for the England players, it’s a measure of people how they act in adversity.
Even after the worst of results, embarrassing draws or defeats, there’d always be three or four Northern Ireland players who would ‘man up’ and give their thoughts to the media.
English journalists are amazed at the close connection between players, reporters, and supporters.
Even the tragic deaths of two fans during the tournament illustrated that.
When Robert ‘Archie’ Rainey passed away in Stade de Lyon during the win over Ukraine, journalists alongside me were receiving text messages from mates in that stand about the ongoing situation.
Afterwards, players too were aware of what had happened and expressed their sadness, even after the hugely enjoyable first ever victory at the Euros.
Earlier, young fan Darren Rodgers had died after a fall in Nice.
Rather than avoiding a difficult situation – and many would have taken that easier option – NI manager Michael O’Neill insisted on speaking to the media. His words were honest and heartfelt.
Although Darren was from Ballymena, Michael didn’t pretend to know him or his family, but his sadness was still genuine. He cared. The players care. And because of that attitude the supporters care and respect their team.
There’s no such connection between the England team and their followers.
At the risk of sounding like Father Dougal, the bigger players get, the further away they go from the fans.
England’s players may well have started out as decent enough lads but most of them have become separated from their roots, from reality, largely due to the massive amounts of cash they collect from their clubs.
Money alters people, and lots of money rarely makes anyone a better person. Those players are understandably wary of the tabloids, although it’s usually things the players know they really shouldn’t be doing that are being reported on.
Hodgson has been praised for ‘doing the right thing’ by resigning immediately, but he also ran away and hid from the questioning that he merited on the night.
Those who place most of the blame on ‘the players’ have to answer this question: what then is the point of a highly-paid manager? It’s his job to motivate players, organise tactics, ensure they play well.
England showed no improvement in the second half; if anything, they got worse. There’s a simple response to the idea that nothing better can be achieved with the same bunch of players: Eddie Jones.
Yet perhaps it’s obvious why Hodgson and England mostly act like selfish individuals, because they are so far away from the real world.
Iceland’s players in particular are close to their community, and they, as well as the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland players, have all spoken about how the backing of their supporters lifts them during matches, enables them to produce more than the sum of their parts.
There are some qualities that money cannot buy
