Greatest League in the World 2025 [LOI Thread]

Of course it's worse - they would only be comparable if the only outcome for the dive was a yellow card and a free out every time. The deliberate foul always results in the free against and yellow card (even red depending on scenario) for the offending player as that is set out in the rules of football. The dive often doesn't result in the free out and yellow card of the offending player - in fact many times the opposite is true.

Lots of ex-LoI players starting for the Ireland u-21s tonight including three ex-Drogs.

Great to see.

Cool, knew 'killianm2' had moved over to twitter but didn't realise he was putting up full-length vids (shorter clips are hard to keep up with anyway mind)

Another CCFC doc on YouTube about their 1997 Intertoto campaign in case anyone missed that one

It really does seem like it’s the league nobody wants to win!

Derry are just not serious.

It will go down in history and the memory of most teams fans as the league nobody wanted to win, the one where they were literally outdoing each other to drop points.

For one set of fans, they won't give a toss though of course

Scrappy oul point for the Blues has secured PL next season so that's to be celebrated (by us Blues fans anyway, I know what lots of LOI 'purists' think of the current club).

Hard to believe the form of the top three from 2 months ago (Shels, Derry, Blues) is the worst in the division bar doomed Dundalk. It's a funny old game.

Any neutrals going to the cup final? I don't think I will bother this year. 2 teams I have no interest watching.

If Derry were to capitulate and say draw with Dundalk then lose to Pats and Shels I wonder would Higgins keep his job for the final? At that point they be 4th or lower in the table and European football would depend on beating Drogs.

I don't see them collapsing like that, but if they did then leaving Higgins in charge for the final would be a big call.

I doubt O'Doherty would sack Higgins days before the cup final, unless there's some outstanding candidate lined up. Chances are Derry end up with a trophy. If they beat Rovers on Monday they'll be top of the league with the same amount of games played as Shams and Shels. The way this league is 6-7 points from the 12 left could see them home.

There really is an over emphasis on Rovers in this thread and what their form supposedly says about the strength this season. Them cruising to a league title for years doesn’t tell us anything about the strength of the league, it just tells you the top team is miles ahead of anybody else.

Since 2015 the league has been dominated by two clubs. For all the whinging about shels (from some) it’s the first season in sometime that Rovers looked like they might not win the league. And yet many people lament Rovers being poor, like it’s better for the league for them to cruise to another title!!!

I’d suggest there could be a very different look to the league if Rovers were cruising all season, probably more comparable with other seasons. Some of you could console yourselves that the league with a strong Rovers and runner ups with decent points ( but never really in a title race) “proved” that the league was stronger.

Derry and shels constantly falling over each other is most likely more to do with non rovers teams having the pressure of actually challanging for the league. teams finishing 2nd or 3rd in the recent past never had the pressure of a meaningful title push like this.

I said it before, shels are stronger than we were last season and will struggle to match the points we got. We’d probably be closer to 70 points if our form (pressure mounting, injuries , losing Jarvis/molloy) didn’t nosedive. Pats, Derry, rovers can all beat each other. If shels weren’t so petrified of possibly winning the league we’d also be in that discussion.

It’s been so long since there was actually a title race , how would you know ? Finishing 2nd, far behind the leaders just isn’t the same as actually pushing for a title, the pressure isn’t comparable with a Shels/Derry trying to break that duct. League points dont “prove” that the league was stronger, two teams being able to thump teams below them doesn’t mean it’s a stronger league. If anything having do many teams on similar points this season suggests the quality of even mid table teams has risen.

There’s plenty of examples in football of teams who were as good or even better then league champions but getting over the line was just too much pressure. The Jimmy White of soccer.

Derry finishing 7 points off Rovers last season isn’t a meaningful title challange. Winning their last 2 games only made their challange look more respectable but the league was done by the time they won those so the pressue was off. It’s not the same as teams being kneck and kneck at the run in. It’s not the same as the one team , who has dominated the league for years , looks way off the pace and with 10 games to go it looks like it’s two teams Shels/Derry gonna be battling it out for the title.

At the start of the season, top 3 was shels realistic target. 2nd the absolute most optimistic any of us could have been. Even when we were clear at the top , we all felt it was only a matter of time before we were reeled in. I’ve watched how nervy we have looked since Europe. That’s the difference between being a league winner who has the experience to manage that rising expectation versus being a challenger. When you are a challanger, you can’t afford to lose the quality of Jarvis/molly or have the kind of injuries that we’ve been managing. We don’t have those margins of error that Rovers quality squad can afford. I think we might have 10+ more points at this stage if Rovers were consistent ahead of us , it’s less pressure chasing then it is retaining top spot.

Pats looked superb when shels played them recently , far better than rovers who I felt were clinical but not as good as pats. Ironically your point works against you , as I agree Pats look brilliant. So we’ve Shels/Derry struggling with expectations, rovers sort of finding form and Pats playing league winner form quality football on the run in.

At this stage of the season , performance is not as important as result. I’m sorry but Pats don’t dance around shelbourne like that if roles are reversed and they are playing for the title and shels are sort of off the pace. It’s a completely different game when you are in an actual title race. You watch any proper title run in , when there’s something on the line and teams quite often are playing very differently from earlier on in season.

There’s an argument to be had that there’s alot of really strong teams this year but inconsistent form makes it appear that it’s weaker when in fact it’s a generally stronger league with no easy games, that’s just lacking one overall super team. I don’t think there’s been any or many easy games for anybody.

5 teams can still theoretically win the title and it seems like some fans are lamenting a rovers cakewalk. Whoever wins, it’s probably one of the most exciting ends to a season in a long time , especially if it’s not rovers. This is great for the league.

Yeah, even if he’s trying to temper expectations, that’s a ridiculous comment for a manager to make at such a critical stage of the season!

Why not rally the fans ( and team) when it’s still in their hands!

Cracking goal from Malley there.