What happened between Giles and Rovers

**irishultra** · 22/11/2009, 7:35 PM

Where did it all go wrong?

**thischarmingman** · 22/11/2009, 7:36 PM

Originally Posted by irishultra

Where did it all go wrong?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Stole-Ga...8922185&sr=8-1

It's a good read.

**irishultra** · 22/11/2009, 7:38 PM

i was reading a thread on here about this book and its sad to see people saying why is he using such a negative tone...the loi is gonna grow from here

**Dunny** · 22/11/2009, 7:48 PM

http://www.srfcultrasforum.com/forum/index.php

**MariborKev** · 22/11/2009, 9:42 PM

Where did it all go wrong?

The pesky infidels failed to roll over and let the Hooperatzi dominate. Even more damning for Giles and Dunphy was that McLaughlin turned up and won three in a row.....

**Greenforever** · 22/11/2009, 10:27 PM

from memory it was simple, they were never able to generate the crowds, no matter how well they did, and the money ran out, if you think its unfashionable today to support a LOI team, it was ten times worse then

**irishultra** · 22/11/2009, 10:34 PM

really? worse than now. in what way?

**Tony Soprano** · 23/11/2009, 2:43 PM

what type of crowds were Rovers getting week in week out during the Giles years ?

**LukeO** · 23/11/2009, 3:48 PM

Was there a touch of the Farrelly/Kenna arrogance/ignorance about the set-up? i.e. a 'pro' who has spent their whole career in England not realising how much work a manager has to do behind the scenes etc. to get it right in this league?

**superfrank** · 23/11/2009, 3:56 PM

That's the impression I got when I saw an interview with Dunphy from that spell. Think it was on Reeling In The Years.

**LukeO** · 23/11/2009, 9:35 PM

Originally Posted by BYCTWD

He was the Irish manager and had managed WBA before he took the Rovers job.

I know.

**RiffRaff** · 23/11/2009, 9:50 PM

What I do remember is that he brought a lot of veteran players back from England with him and continued to pick himself, Treacy and Mulligan for the Ireland squad while they were playing in the LOI. He also brought a number of other Hoops players into the squad - P. O'Leary, O'Neill, Synott (despite them not being the top team in the league at the time)- and it seemed to me that there was a conflict of interests going on.

**gustavo** · 24/11/2009, 11:54 AM

You should probably have read what he said after "to do behind the scenes etc."

**Bluebeard** · 24/11/2009, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by BYCTWD

As opposed to the top flight in England?

What the Bozo was trying to put forward is that Rovers put their faith in a rookie manager like Pats did with Kenna. The reality was they put enough resources into the project to get Giles from WBA. The failure of the project was not Giles's lack of ability or naivety.

I didn't get that at all from him. I presumed he meant that Giles came over thinking it was going to be like managing WBA - then a fairly high rated team with a good deal of resources and a lot less fire fighting.

I think it was a good and foresighted appointment from the Rovers board of the time. Certainly, Giles was not short on vision fopr the league and the club. However, I think that Giles really overestimated his abilities and charisma as a manager, and when it didn't all come together quickly and easily, he quit, presumably egged on by Dunphy, in frustration.

Giles was a great player, but not a great manager at club level.

**LukeO** · 24/11/2009, 5:31 PM

Originally Posted by Bluebeard

I didn't get that at all from him. I presumed he meant that Giles came over thinking it was going to be like managing WBA - then a fairly high rated team with a good deal of resources and a lot less fire fighting.

Exactly.

**Mark** · 24/11/2009, 5:36 PM

There was a famous article in Magill magazine (1979) in which he said he would win the European Cup with Rovers by 1985. I have a photocopy of it from when I did my thesis last year. I'll try and dig it out and scan it and upload

**A face** · 24/11/2009, 6:20 PM

Originally Posted by LukeO

Was there a touch of the Farrelly/Kenna arrogance/ignorance about the set-up? i.e. a 'pro' who has spent their whole career in England not realising how much work a manager has to do behind the scenes etc. to get it right in this league?

Originally Posted by superfrank

That's the impression I got when I saw an interview with Dunphy from that spell. Think it was on Reeling In The Years.

Originally Posted by RiffRaff

What I do remember is that he brought a lot of veteran players back from England with him and continued to pick himself, Treacy and Mulligan for the Ireland squad while they were playing in the LOI. He also brought a number of other Hoops players into the squad - P. O'Leary, O'Neill, Synott (despite them not being the top team in the league at the time)- and it seemed to me that there was a conflict of interests going on.

Originally Posted by Bluebeard

I didn't get that at all from him. I presumed he meant that Giles came over thinking it was going to be like managing WBA - then a fairly high rated team with a good deal of resources and a lot less fire fighting.

I think it was a good and foresighted appointment from the Rovers board of the time. Certainly, Giles was not short on vision fopr the league and the club. However, I think that Giles really overestimated his abilities and charisma as a manager, and when it didn't all come together quickly and easily, he quit, presumably egged on by Dunphy, in frustration.

Giles was a great player, but not a great manager at club level.

Originally Posted by Mark

There was a famous article in Magill magazine (1979) in which he said he would win the European Cup with Rovers by 1985. I have a photocopy of it from when I did my thesis last year. I'll try and dig it out and scan it and upload

In a nutshell, he threw the toys out of the pram when the whole league didn't bow down to him and let him win, he was never gonna be good for this league even if he had done better initially. He just didn't realise it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

**peadar1987** · 25/11/2009, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by A face

In a nutshell, he threw the toys out of the pram when the whole league didn't bow down to him and let him win, he was never gonna be good for this league even if he had done better initially. He just didn't realise it wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

That's exactly the impression I got.

When you hear him make statements like "they didn't want me to succeed", you have to wonder who he's talking about. The Shams board? Why wouldn't they want their own club to succeed? The other clubs? Of course they didn't, that's the whole point of competitive sport!

**gspain** · 25/11/2009, 3:42 PM

Originally Posted by BYCTWD

Jesus wept. You have to remember at the time Thurles Town were in the league and Bohs were still amateur. His issue was going down to Newcastlewest and the likes for games and there be no hot water for showers or cattle grazing on the pitch.

He felt that he was bringing top professionals in, creating a serious acadamy and other clubs weren't even cutting the grass on their pitches.

There is a difference between trying to beat a club on the pitch and political machinations to try and stop a club succeding because it shows up your own inadequacies.

Bohs went professional in 1970. Newcastlewest joined the league in 1985 when McLaughlin had already won 2 of his 4 in a row.

There weren't cows grazing on pitches and plenty of other clubs had facilities to match Milltown.

Rovers weren't good enough under Giles. They played pretty football but didn't have any steel. McLaughlin made a huge difference and built arguably the best LoI team ever.