Greece manager Gus Poyet has turned up the heat ahead of Friday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Dublin as he accused the Irish camp of making “cheap” and untrue accusations about him using Irish spies to get information on Stephen Kenny’s outfit ahead of their clash in Athens in June.
And the former Sunderland boss also said he was “surprised” to hear claims from both Kenny and Matt Doherty that Greek players dived and faked injury to get Doherty sent off in that game almost four months ago.
“He (Doherty) played for Atletico Madrid, no? When he was in Spain, was he not watching the games, was he on another planet? It’s football. Play the game, be men” Poyet says.
Greece come to Dublin intent on getting all three points ahead of another must-win clash with Holland on Monday to stay in the race for automatic qualification.
Tensions were raised earlier in the week when Kenny’s assistant Keith Andrews alleged that an unnamed Irish coach, close to Poyet, had been in touch with the Greece boss and had “helped his game plan” for the tie which Greece won 2-1.
Andrews was critical of that alleged spying mission by saying “it’s not my game. I want to sleep well at night”.
Poyet confirmed at his pre-match press conference in Dublin on Thursday that he had been in touch with Dubliner Gary Dicker, who played for Brighton under Poyet and who is now assistant manager with the Seagulls’ U21 side and that Dicker had attended a Greek training session but he insisted Dicker gave him no information on Ireland.
“Gary is a very honest man, he is a top bloke. It was a cheap accusation, very cheap,” Poyet said as he lashed back at Andrews for his comments.
“It was sad. I was very disappointed. I don’t know Keith. From outside I saw him talking on television and the way he played football, I felt he was an intelligent man and he made a mistake, a big mistake because he is lying.
“First, I don’t invite people to watch my training. I don’t. Secondly, nobody told me how the Republic of Ireland plays. Third, if you look how your country played before they play us: France at home, 5-4-1. Three days before that, they play Latvia, 5-3-2. How did they play against us, 5-3-2 in the first half, 5-4-1 in the second.
“Do you really think I need information? Let’s say he (Andrews) is young, made a mistake, made excuses but I was disappointed, very disappointed.
“I have to prepare my team based on what I am watching and what I believe can happen. Then I can make a mistake and I need to adapt and the players, they need to adapt. But finding through someone how they are going to play? I would say I have enough experience.”
Poyet said he had been in contact with former UCD player Dicker, who played under Poyet for Brighton between 2009 and 2012 .
“Gary is one of the most intelligent players I had in my time at Brighton. He is proper Irish. Proper. And I promise you, this is one thing that is important, we talked more about how good Brighton play than the Republic of Ireland,” he said.
“Definitely Gary had nothing to do with that. He was in Greece, yes he was. He went to the game and the day he came to (Greek training) we done nothing to show him in case, he told the Republic of Ireland.”
Doherty was critical of Greece in Athens and “the way we felt they were acting during the game” while earlier today Kenny said “players throwing themselves on the ground to get him sent off”.
Poyet, who came to England from Spain in 1997 and lined out for Chelsea and Tottenham, says he was told early on to drop his diving habit.
“I never had a coach who told me to dive, I promise you. Did I dive when I was young? Yeah, a lot,” he says.
“Then I came to England and the first thing they said to me was don’t. And you need to learn. The first one who told me three times was Denis Wise, he said don’t do that, you are in England now and you learn. Do you want me to control the whole world with players who go down?
“Doherty made a mistake, he reacted to something and he got sent off. I don’t think tomorrow we will come in here thinking of anything like that. We come in here thinking, intensity, power, defending, one-v-one, balls in the air and for that there is no way you’ll go down. You need to defend.
“Let’s leave it at that, let’s play the game the best we can with ability, when it goes against you it hurts, sometimes it goes the other way, it’s how we play the game nowadays.
“I am surprised, I am surprised, I didn’t read that part, only the Keith Andrews part – play the game, be men.”