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Ray Houghton in the Star

2

Comments

  • Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 36,198 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Maybe follow the rugby example and make one team from each province to compete for european places.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 41,926 ✭✭✭✭_blank_


    Maybe follow the rugby example and make one team from each province to compete for european places.
    erm...No thanks.

    As I have said on numerous occasions, you'd be alienating actual supporters of football in this country.

    How could I support "Leinster"?

    Also, a little thing like UEFA probably wouldn't allow it. In fact, I'm certain they wouldn't.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    Maybe follow the rugby example and make one team from each province to compete for european places.

    but there are 4 European places.... :rolleyes:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,951 ✭✭✭DSB


    Stekelly wrote: »
    I love the way Ray, who isnt even bloody Irish, has an opinion on everything and the way instead of finishing his career with a lowly club like Stevenage, chose to come "back" to Ireland to help out the league for a season at the end.

    Grow up.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,346 ✭✭✭✭KdjaCL


    but there are 4 European places.... :rolleyes:

    well pats would have to get the 3rd one by default.


    kdjac


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    KdjaCL wrote: »
    well pats would have to get the 3rd one by default.


    kdjac

    Touché.

    Unlucky Connaught.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,315 ✭✭✭Jazzy


    I dunno, maybe these business men who have made millions already and seem to be rather good at making money know what they are doing and wont risk a business venture into something that is unprofitable.

    Harsh, but ultimately how unlikely is it that all these 'suits' havent even thought about investing in the league or done any research into it. The chances are a few have and realised that there is nothing for them to gain out of it so they are going to take their business abroad where they think they can make money... and ultimately they are the ones who have the money in the first place and therefore are good at making it and therefore know better then us :)

    In imagination land it would be great if there was to be money made out of investing in the LoI, but the fact is that with clubs closing and others on the edge it doesnt really give the money men much faith to make that sort of investment. and they aren't going to part with large sums of money just because fans really really want them to. its ****ty and doesnt help Irish football much but thats life, unfair


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,346 ✭✭✭✭KdjaCL


    Jazzy wrote: »
    I dunno, maybe these business men who have made millions already and seem to be rather good at making money know what they are doing and wont risk a business venture into something that is unprofitable.

    Harsh, but ultimately how unlikely is it that all these 'suits' havent even thought about investing in the league or done any research into it. The chances are a few have and realised that there is nothing for them to gain out of it so they are going to take their business abroad where they think they can make money... and ultimately they are the ones who have the money in the first place and therefore are good at making it and therefore know better then us :)

    In imagination land it would be great if there was to be money made out of investing in the LoI, but the fact is that with clubs closing and others on the edge it doesnt really give the money men much faith to make that sort of investment. and they aren't going to part with large sums of money just because fans really really want them to. its ****ty and doesnt help Irish football much but thats life, unfair


    Kelleher is worth 350 million and soon to be 2 billion, he owns Pats.
    Dunno how much Hoey is worth but he owns drogheda.

    Hoey would be the 1st to buy an EL club then Kelleher, but i see your point about kabillionaires, the other teams are screwed.


    kdjac


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,346 ✭✭✭✭KdjaCL


    Irish American lawyer and businessman, Jack McCarthy, has agreed in principle to take over Eircom League of Ireland First Division club, Limerick 37.

    McCarthy was unveiled as the new saviour of senior soccer in Limerick at a press conference in the Patrick Punch Hotel this evening.

    “I have reached an agreement in principle with Limerick 37 and, after due diligence and the construction of a debt management programme, I am confident that it will go through,” said McCarthy.

    The New Jersey based businessman is now looking for a chief executive to run the club on a day to day basis but will be adopting a hands-on approach from his US base.

    “I will be over quite regularly. Our first job is to bring stability to the club and then grow it slowly. We will be concentrating on building relationships with everybody in Limerick both in the football and business community,” said McCarthy.

    “I am very excited by what is happening in Irish soccer at the moment and impressed by the way the FAI is trying to strategically develop the League of Ireland.”

    The FAI introduced McCarthy to Limerick 37 and Chief Executive John Delaney said the Association is committed to the development of senior soccer on Shannonside.

    “We are committed to the development of soccer at all levels in Limerick and will be playing an active role in the Regeneration Plan. We will have coaches working in the community and are working to develop football facilities in the city, including a new stadium that will eventually become a home for Limerick 37.

    “Limerick needs a strong senior soccer club and while that won’t happen overnight, I am confident that in Jack McCarthy they have man who will leave no stone unturned to achieve that,” said Delaney.


    http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2784


    Kudos to anyone who spots a link between this and the OP ;)


    kdjac


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    If the Gah can get huge crowds to their mudwrestling, a woeful product at the moment,

    Woeful? In what sense? Surely its doing something right if 82,000 pack Croker on a regular basis every single Summer.

    Dublin get more people to one game than Shels get in three seasons.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    Woeful? In what sense? Surely its doing something right if 82,000 pack Croker on a regular basis every single Summer.

    Dublin get more people to one game than Shels get in three seasons.

    firstly, 82,000 at five games, and one game that the dubs arent involved in. Celine Dion will fill the Jones Road barn. Mogwai will play Vicar St. Thats not a benchmark.

    woeful in the sense its crap. not even the most ardent Gah head will tell me that Gah football is as exciting and the style sparkling at the moment as it was in the 70's and 80's.

    its 30 creatine filled brutes happy slapping each other. a far cry Heffo's army.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    firstly, 82,000 at five games, and one game that the dubs arent involved in. Celine Dion will fill the Jones Road barn. Mogwai will play Vicar St. Thats not a benchmark.

    82,000 is a decent enough benchmark if you ask me. By regular I meant every summer, and I'm sure the total statistics for attendance in this years championship would put this argument to bed. I know the figure five years ago was pushing two million. If Shels got 82,000 in a season it'd be a miracle improvement. The Mogwai analogy makes no sense.
    woeful in the sense its crap.

    This years hurling championship was one of the best this decade, I don't follow the football religiously but I know that there is no way this years championship was crap. Just watched the Top 15 goals of the year on TG4, the standard certainly hasn't dropped.
    not even the most ardent Gah head will tell me that Gah football is as exciting and the style sparkling at the moment as it was in the 70's and 80's.

    Maybe not, but then again the same can certainly be said of the Eircom League/LOI.
    its 30 creatine filled brutes happy slapping each other. a far cry Heffo's army.

    You can't cry foul when people diss the Eircom League if you purport an attitude like this towards our national sport.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    82,000 is a decent enough benchmark if you ask me. By regular I meant every summer, and I'm sure the total statistics for attendance in this years championship would put this argument to bed. If Shels got that in a season it'd be a miracle improvement.

    Dont get me wrong, some of the Gah crowds are astonishing and a credit to them. But a crap Dublin side gets the same punters through the door as a quality one.


    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    This years hurling championship was one of the best this decade, I don't follow the football religiously but I know that there is no way this years championship was crap. Just watched the Top 15 goals of the year on TG4, the standard certainly hasn't dropped.

    Every Gaafia head I know is talking about the over physical nature of the Gah football and that there are a dwindling amount of competitive hurling sides.
    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    Maybe not, but then again the same can certainly be said of the Eircom League/LOI.

    The standards of the LoI is improving, crowds are on the up. Can the same be said for the evil GAA?

    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    You can't cry foul when people diss the Eircom League if you purport an attitude like this towards our national sport.

    I thought hurling was the national sport? Or is it handball? Or is it whatever the GAA are trying to sell at the time?

    How do we decide this one? The one with most players? Most fans? Most television viewers? That would make the national sport football.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    Dont get me wrong, some of the Gah crowds are astonishing and a credit to them. But a crap Dublin side gets the same punters through the door as a quality one.

    Thick and thin perhaps? Something Shels struggle with.
    Every Gaafia head I know is talking about the over physical nature of the Gah football and that there are a dwindling amount of competitive hurling sides.

    Did you think up Gaafia yourself? Limerick and Waterford are the two new challengers to the Kilkenny-Cork axis, surely that isn't a dwindling number of competitive sides? Oh, and Dublin are on the way up too.
    The standards of the LoI is improving, crowds are on the up.

    Debatable on both points.
    I thought hurling was the national sport? Or is it handball? Or is it whatever the GAA are trying to sell at the time?

    How do we decide this one? The one with most players? Most fans? Most television viewers? That would make the national sport football.

    The four Gaelic games of football, hurling, camogie and handball are the four indiginous sports and are therefore known as being our national sports.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    MrJoeSoap wrote: »

    Thick and thin perhaps? Something Shels struggle with.

    As I amn't a shels fan, I cant comment, but I would suggest they were never the best supported club around.

    And how thick are the Dubs crowds this time of year out of interest?
    MrJoeSoap wrote: »

    Did you think up Gaafia yourself? Limerick and Waterford are the two new challengers to the Kilkenny-Cork axis, surely that isn't a dwindling number of competitive sides? Oh, and Dublin are on the way up too.


    4 teams? Seriously?

    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    Debatable on both points.

    Crowds improving is simply factual. Standards improving is subjective, but I think the fact that players are going directly from the LoI to the Premiership and getting capped almost immediatly coupled with improved European results shows its heading in the right direction.
    MrJoeSoap wrote: »
    The four Gaelic games of football, hurling, camogie and handball are the four indiginous sports and are therefore known as being our national sports.

    We have gone from national sport to national sports? :rolleyes:

    Handball isnt indigenous to Ireland and says who? The national sports act of 1945? Football has as much right to the moniker.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    And how thick are the Dubs crowds this time of year out of interest?

    Around the same as most counties support, much much smaller.
    4 teams? Seriously?

    How many teams challenged for the Eircom League this year? 5 different hurling sides have won the All-Ireland in the past ten years. 5 different clubs have won the League Of Ireland in the past ten years. Get my drift? It's cyclical.
    Crowds improving is simply factual.

    Show me the facts so, because even if they were up this season (I moved to Australia for the year) they aren't up much, if at all, in the 8 or 9 seasons prior.
    I think the fact that players are going directly from the LoI to the Premiership and getting capped almost immediatly coupled with improved European results shows its heading in the right direction.

    I think if you read that sentence a couple of times you might want to adjust it. I do agree the standard has improved on fifteen years ago, but I still think the improvement is marginal in recent years. The football equivalent of brain drain is killing the league.
    We have gone from national sport to national sports? :rolleyes:

    Well if they are all national sports surely they can be referred to as a "national sport" individually?
    Handball isnt indigenous to Ireland

    Yes it is. It is a Gaelic sport dating back to the fifteenth century.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,454 ✭✭✭✭A Dub in Glasgo


    How have we gone from the topic of businessmen investing money in the domestic football (soccer) league to dissing Gaelic games?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,346 ✭✭✭✭KdjaCL


    How have we gone from the topic of businessmen investing money in the domestic football (soccer) league to dissing Gaelic games?

    dunno tbh, did you get the link to limericks new owner and razor? :p


    kdjac


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    How have we gone from the topic of businessmen investing money in the domestic football (soccer) league to dissing Gaelic games?

    Seems that way. Apparently our national sport is evil. Or should that be "national sports are evil"?

    We've moved on to semantics now.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,454 ✭✭✭✭A Dub in Glasgo


    KdjaCL wrote: »
    dunno tbh, did you get the link to limericks new owner and razor? :p


    kdjac

    only now :D


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  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,315 ✭✭✭Jazzy



    I thought hurling was the national sport? Or is it handball? Or is it whatever the GAA are trying to sell at the time?

    How do we decide this one? The one with most players? Most fans? Most television viewers? That would make the national sport football.


    so its not okay for ppl to dis all over the eircom league but its grand for you to crap on GAA

    a big giant hypocrite you are sir :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,985 ✭✭✭✭Gavin "shels"


    Jazzy wrote: »
    so its not okay for ppl to dis all over the eircom league but its grand for you to crap on GAA

    a big giant hypocrite you are sir :)

    He's a football fan and depises the GAA with a passion (I don't blame him one bit) and obviously in this country there is someone the exact opposite.

    Learn how to sell aswell and the use of capitol letters could be handy too.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭OhNoYouDidn't


    Jazzy wrote: »
    so its not okay for ppl to dis all over the eircom league but its grand for you to crap on GAA

    a big giant hypocrite you are sir :)

    its a different sport, one who has always been openly hostile to football. bans, broken glass and trips to the high court.

    its the duty of every self respecting football fan to remind these animals their place in the scheme of things. below us.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,951 ✭✭✭DSB


    Jazzy wrote: »
    so its not okay for ppl to dis all over the eircom league but its grand for you to crap on GAA

    a big giant hypocrite you are sir :)

    You should send him a PM to inform him you've won an argument haha.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 8,176 ✭✭✭Unearthly


    Learn how to sell aswell and the use of capitol letters could be handy too.


    Are you taking the piss with that?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,985 ✭✭✭✭Gavin "shels"


    Unearthly wrote: »
    Are you taking the piss with that?

    Interesting you didn't notice Jazzy but mine. Oh it was a piss take. Spell and captial, if there are others, they weren't intended:D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,117 ✭✭✭✭MrJoeSoap


    He's a football fan and depises the GAA with a passion (I don't blame him one bit)

    Hardly a valid reason to hate the sports. I mean the FAI... come on Gavin.
    Learn how to sell aswell and the use of capitol letters could be handy too.

    Go do the ironing.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,414 ✭✭✭kraggy


    its a different sport, one who has always been openly hostile to football. bans, broken glass and trips to the high court.

    its the duty of every self respecting football fan to remind these animals their place in the scheme of things. below us.

    I don't recall the FAI ever banning the GAA.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,315 ✭✭✭Jazzy


    Learn how to sell aswell and the use of capitol letters could be handy too.

    hitting me with the grammar. my one weak spot... how did you know? btw, aswell isn't a word... as well is two words :)

    yes ohnoyoudidnt, call them animals. you will DEFINITELY appear to be right then. all power to the LoI, smite those other sports because you are the almighty football, you are lord of all.

    LoI is grand and all and if ppl support and like it, then grand go ahead. but some of the supporters of that league in here (some, not all) just seem to make it into this romantic wonderland where dreams come true and can't possibly understand why other supporters don't go to the matches.
    it may be a very 14 year old thing to say, but to those lads - get over yourselves.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,951 ✭✭✭DSB


    Jazzy wrote: »
    get over yourselves.

    This sounds so hilarious coming from someone who PMed me to gloat telling me he had beaten me in a debate.


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