FAI Invites First Division Expressions of Interest

[disgruntled]

He scored 2 against Shels after coming on as sub I think. He was well regarded at Rovers by all accounts. They scored very few goals as a team. Daniel Purdy got most of them and he was an established LOI player who was wasting his time playing with the B team.

Yes that's right.
I suppose his contract was up so he decided to move on or maybe there was some other reason ?

[Longfordian]

Could be. I was just putting two and two together given the previous rumblings that Nutsy didn't want the B team and the players had been told to find new teams.

[JC_GUFC]

The problem with the B team is that it seemed to be a big expense for little return.
A lot of the players who played this season are never going to be good enough to progress to the first team. They would be better off signing those that have potential and then loaning them to Shels/Athlone/Wexford etc.
Rovers paying the wages of someone like Chris Lyons who has already been at UCD and Bohs makes no sense.

[Macy]

The problem with the B team is that it seemed to be a big expense for little return.
A lot of the players who played this season are never going to be good enough to progress to the first team. They would be better off signing those that have potential and then loaning them to Shels/Athlone/Wexford etc.
Rovers paying the wages of someone like Chris Lyons who has already been at UCD and Bohs makes no sense.

Wouldn't think he is or was on big wages at either club, but they signed Purdy off us as well - at that stage he'd either done enough in the first to show he could step up, or he hadn't, so what was the point?

[JC_GUFC]

Wouldn't think he is or was on big wages at either club, but they signed Purdy off us as well - at that stage he'd either done enough in the first to show he could step up, or he hadn't, so what was the point?

Yeah I'm sure he was on pittance but it could have been better used elsewhere in the club (a goal bonus for one of their strikers maybe!!)

With Purdy they probably saw his potential so wanted him on their books than elsewhere which is fair enough.

[Longfordian]

Yeah, said above Purdy was just wasting his time there. He may have thought he could move up to the first team if he impressed but he didn't get a sniff all season. He was good enough to be a starter for us if he'd stayed on but apparently he and TC weren't seeing eye to eye.

[Dodge]

The problem with the B team is that it seemed to be a big expense for little return.
A lot of the players who played this season are never going to be good enough to progress to the first team. They would be better off signing those that have potential and then loaning them to Shels/Athlone/Wexford etc.
Rovers paying the wages of someone like Chris Lyons who has already been at UCD and Bohs makes no sense.

To be fair to Rovers, I don't think you can judge something like this on a one season return. The idea is to make it a continual path from the (upcoming) u17s to the u19s to the Bs to the first team. It could take years to prove it's worth

Last year they seemed to throw a few players in there to fill out the team but they still had the likes of Kavanagh, Osam and Heaney who could all make the step up

[disgruntled]

To be fair to Rovers, I don't think you can judge something like this on a one season return. The idea is to make it a continual path from the (upcoming) u17s to the u19s to the Bs to the first team. It could take years to prove it's worth

Last year they seemed to throw a few players in there to fill out the team but they still had the likes of Kavanagh, Osam and Heaney who could all make the step up

This is my way of looking at it as well.
Its about progression up through the ranks.
At the end of each season some players will be let go & others brought in.
If a club could get one or two to step up to the Senior squad each season they'd be doing well.

[nigel-harps1954]

Well, if you look at it one way, it certainly was a success even in one season.

The team themselves might not have lit up the First Division, but the fact three or four players were able to get valuable senior football experience before progressing into the First team has to be seen as a real positive for Rovers.

Its always been said that if you only get 3 players out of an underage squad, you're doing well.

[Ezeikial]

If the cost of running a B team is in the region of €100k that has been touted, getting 1 or 2 players a year graduating to the senior squad is hardly a good benchmark of value.

It's about quality rather then quantity

[Titan]

So have there been any expressions of interest does anyone know?

[Longfordian]

Seems the Rovers B team is a goner

http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepa...ch-B-team.html

[Mr A]

At the recent event at the Aviva organised by the Irish Supporters Network Fran Gavin said the FAI were talking to other clubs about coming in. This becomes a very urgent thing if we're down to 7 teams.

[brendy_éire]

Cue desperate search for a replacement.
Cork B? Pats B? Kerry League?

[Dodge]

There won't be any B teams. Pats and Cork both say it's too expensive

[disgruntled]

If the cost of running a B team is in the region of €100k that has been touted, getting 1 or 2 players a year graduating to the senior squad is hardly a good benchmark of value.

It's about quality rather then quantity

I suppose if that were the case then why would clubs bother with Under 15's upwards at all if all they will ever get out of it is one or two senior players after maybe having players for five or six years?
Clubs in the League of Ireland would be largely selling clubs in that any promising players are sold off cross channel. The income from this enables a club to improve their senior team by means of employing better players to supplement those born locally & brought up through the clubs under age system & without blowing their budget.

It also helps them improve their under age system so that they may improve the players they have by better coaching & facilities.This is how a lot of clubs both here & in the UK survive. Otherwise because of small gate receipts & poor support they would quickly go out of business.

Other clubs prefer to spend money including money they don't have in buying in players by way of signing on fee's & big salaries in the hope it brings success.
In some cases it does bring success but in a lot of cases it doesn't which leaves a club with big debts, no money & nothing to show for all the money spent chasing the dream.

I suppose it all depends on where in the country the club is from & what their philosophy on football is.

[Charlie Darwin]

There won't be any B teams. Pats and Cork both say it's too expensive

Funnily enough a lot of A teams say the same thing. It's almost as if there are more barriers to playing football in this country than incentives.

[JC_GUFC]

What I felt from having seen the team a few times was that there were a number of players who were just never going to make it up to Rovers' first team squad and that would have been known at the start of the season.
During the season it also seemed as if the u19s were given priority over the Bs so the likes of Mark Sandford played for the 19s instead of the Bs. Obviously with no chance of promotion that was fair enough for Rovers to do that.
Aside from all that I wasn't really mad on the idea of them forming part of a league. The chopping and changing of their team from week to week didn't sit well with me from the idea of what a league should be...

[Dodge]

So we're back to arguing about a 7 team league now...

[Mr A]

Which is mighty if you're a club trying to put your squad and budget together for next year.