Why do the Irish media hate Irish football so much?

TheCandystripes

Article from a few weeks ago from Tom Conlon in the SINDO.

The Dublin derby was all set up and good to go: the stadium looked lovely, the pitch was a carpet, the crowd was raucous and the match was live on TG4.
Rovers versus Bohs, one point between them at the top of the table with just seven games left in the season -- welcome to Friday night lights in Tallaght.
What could go wrong? Deep sigh. The football could go wrong and, with crushing inevitability, it did.
It's years since we've been to a game. These days we keep in touch with the help of RTE's Monday Night Soccer, the breezy highlights show that does an admirable job packaging the weekend's action into an hour's entertainment. They'll be doing well to pull five minutes out of the 90-plus served up on Friday night.
Pretty soon our Leaving Cert Irish was being reintroduced to the word "droch" by the TG4 commentator Garry MacDonncha. We checked the online dictionary. Ah yes: bad. "Droch ceann ón Oman." "Droch ceann ón Murphy." "Droch ceann Keegan". And if the passes weren't droch, they were "ard san aer". It seemed every ball was "go hArd san aer". And if they weren't droch, or ard, they were "fada". Sometimes they managed to be all three: bad, high and long.
The first half was a particular penance. Gary Twigg, in splendid isolation, rolls the ball 40 yards out over the sideline. Pat Sullivan, totally unmarked, tries a routine pass to a Rovers colleague, also totally unmarked, 15 yards away. He too rolls it out over the sideline. Glenn Cronin picks out Jason Byrne with a slide-rule pass on the left edge of the penalty area; Byrne's first touch is so "droch" the ball dribbles the whole way out over the endline. Mark Rossiter thrashes a shot into the next parish. Owen Heary's attempted cross is so high and so long it disappears into thin air.
It's play like this that saps the domestic game of its credibility. Time and again the two best teams in the league are guilty of basic incompetence. Neither side can keep the ball beyond three passes. A link in the chain always breaks down, the ball is given away and the move collapses. Then the other team gets the ball and does the same. There is no individual flair to compensate, no player capable of beating his man with a feint or a flash of pace that finally creates a hint of excitement. Even that old reliable, getting a man to the byline to whip in a cross, is beyond them.
We haven't seen enough League of Ireland football to make any current generalisations but on the basis of this game, it seems much the same as it always was: a league where nothing much happens, most of the time.
One clear chance is created in the first half, except it's not really created at all: a ball is hoofed high and long, the Bohs defence fails to deal with it, and Twigg lobs the stranded goalkeeper; his effort falls wide.
In the absence of any better ideas, this seems to be the fallback strategy for a team in possession: hoist the ball up and hope that the defenders make a mistake. It's an ingrained habit, perhaps because defensive blunders are a traditional source of goals in the league. But it's an implicit admission by the players that they're not very good at what they do: we can't create and you the opponents can't defend.
In fairness, there's an improvement in the second half -- at least in terms of drama. And MacDonncha even manages to drop the "droch" and replace it with its polar opposite -- beautiful. In fact, he gets to say it three times, albeit only about one player. Bohs' man wide on the left, Joseph Ndo, finally sparks into life with a mazy dribble or two. "Go hálainn ag Joseph Ndo!" "Fós Ndo!" "Ndo, go hálainn!"
Meanwhile, the Rovers support is playing a blinder. The league's dedicated followers have long been immunised against the tedium; it's about tribe and pride, rather than quality football. They are the stoics of sport, prepared to wait, willing to wait better. Mr Beckett would approve.
The Rovers fans are eventually rewarded with the winning goal. Inevitably, it comes from a set-piece and, naturally, it comes
with some chaos attached. Pádraig Amond throws his leg at the ball when it drops amid a flurry of bodies at the back post; his shot would've been on target if he was aiming for the corner flag on the far side. The deflection off a defender's shoulder straightens its trajectory and beats the 'keeper.
Bohs get a chance to equalise via a ludicrous tackle by Sullivan on Glen Crowe. Sullivan gets a yellow card. A linesman is hit by a missile. "Náireach," says MacDonncha. Jason Byrne steps up to convert the penalty and balloons it into infinity. A jubilant Sullivan clenches his fist in front of the referee's face. A crestfallen Sullivan gets a red card.
"I don't think it was a great game to watch," says man of the match Aidan Price afterwards. You can say that again son.
Final score: Ruagairí na Seamróige 1, Bohemians 0. There is apparently no word in Irish for Bohemians. Their nickname is the Gypsies and there is a word, or two, for that -- but it'd probably be best not to go there.
the.couch@hotmail.com

I just want to know why. Is it a post colonial mindset. A part of the Irish inferiority complex?

This would be better on soccer forum but equally suited here.

jdivision

He's saying the standard was crap. That's his opinion. What's wrong with that. Do you want him to lie? I think a lot of LoI supporters have chips on their shoulders, I used to go to a lot of games myself and in real terms the league gets a lot more coverage than it possibly deserves in terms of interest and attendance. Unfortunate though it may be a lot more people interested in football in Britain and coverage reflects that.

Paulw

It's not all the media and not all games. And it was only one person's opinion of the game.

Some media praise some teams and how they play -

http://www.fingal-independent.ie/sport/soccer/super-sporting-on-the-cusp-of-fai-cup-glory-1925578.html

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2009/1025/fingal_bray.html

But, I can also see your point. Like any football game, some teams like to belt the ball forward, while others like to pass it around.

TheCandystripes

jdivision wrote: »

He's saying the standard was crap. That's his opinion. What's wrong with that. Do you want him to lie? I think a lot of LoI supporters have chips on their shoulders, I used to go to a lot of games myself and in real terms the league gets a lot more coverage than it possibly deserves in terms of interest and attendance. Unfortunate though it may be a lot more people interested in football in Britain and coverage reflects that.

:mad:

It was a top of the table class. 'the standard' what a load of absolute bull. look at dundalk vs shamrock rovers or derry vs bohs in the cup final last year and tell me the standard is 'crap'.

jdivision

Why are you referring to other matches. He's talking about this one? I can tell you that if I went to see Hull against Wolves and it was crap I'd say it was. I wouldn't talk about that classic between Hull and Burnley or whoever else a few weeks ago. He's talking about that game, that everything was set up for a classic and it was terrible. It happens and it's pointless referring to other games. Jesus you could fall asleep watching Chelsea most of the time (although they are a bit more attractive this year, a bit)

Douglas Preston

post colonial inferiority complex, tbh... a great many people in this country, especially dublin, wish quite blatantly that they were british. they think being more anglicised means being more sophisticated, which of course it doesn't... walk around anrysuburban shopping centre and you'll see the masses in their liverpool and man u tracksuits, having shopped in tesco and on their way home to watch x-factor and ant and dec... attitudes towards Irish soccer - in the media and otherwise –* is where this is most visible: people aren't merely dismssive of if, they resent the fact that it even exists. Because it reminds them that their 'support' of UK clubs is just a shallow sham and they will never be real soccer fans...hence all of the vitriol directed at domestic soccer. they really do wish it would go away...there's a simple way of proving this: the next time you meet a barstool 'supporter' of some team from the north of england tell them that you're a real fan becuase you follow Cork City, bohs or whoevr. and watch them flip out - you've touched a real nerve. Anyhoo. the media treatement of domstic soccer - and their are a few honorable exceptions - reflects this wider attitude. We do really have a messed up national identity...and btw..there is nothing at all wrong with the standard of soccer in this country... it 's just that, having to get off your behind and go to a match, is a leap to far for the zombified masses who cannot imagine sitting through 90 minutes without a pint on the bar in front of them and andy gray bellowing in their ear...

TheCandystripes

Excellent post man.