Trap's Opinion on the Standard of LOI

[Philly]

Speaking about the League of Ireland to Italian journalists yesterday, Giovanni had this to say:
"The problem for us is that the Irish league is like the lower levels of Serie B".

So, needless to say, he isn't going to be very interested in picking players from the domestic league any time soon. Do you think this is a fair analysis? Has anybody got a good idea of what level Serie B is at? I understand the second teirs of European leagues can be tripe, unlike in England where the Championship is reasonably strong; so this comment could be bad indeed for players hoping to get a chance with the new man.

[Rovers1]

i havent watched any italian football for a whie, but from what i can remember Serie B is about the standard of League 1/2 in England. I dont follow the international team, but didnt Trap pick 1 or 2 players from league 1/2 for his first squad????

[niallsparky]

Juve were in league 2 recently...




They came straight back up though despite a points deduction. :(

[Dodge]

HOw would he know? He watched one game (Pats v Linfield) in the Setanta Cup. I'm not saying he's wrong either

He watched the league u23s play too, and singled out Mark Quigley as "an exciting player"

Hopefully Mr Trappatoni will seek to improve the league, and make us reach the standards he sees fit. Good too, that he acknowledges that a stronger league would lead to a stronger national side.

[Mr A]

I was at a league cup game in Italy a few years ago between a Serie C1 team and a C2 team. The standard in that game was better than anything I've ever seen in a game in Ireland to be perfectly honest.

[robertob]

I'm surprised about Trap's opinion to LOI. I thought with him as new nationalteam coach, players like K. Brenann, Mark Quigley, Brian Murphy or Fahey have any chance to come into the irish A-nationalteam.

I think the quality of LOI is not so bad because the strong teams play good football and after the last sucess of Drogs and Pats in europe it's a "must do" for Trap to take a serious look to LOI and there great players.

[TheBoss]

i havent watched any italian football for a whie, but from what i can remember Serie B is about the standard of League 1/2 in England. I dont follow the international team, but didnt Trap pick 1 or 2 players from league 1/2 for his first squad????

I believe that Serie B is the best 2nd Tier in Europe, Each team has some really top players that could handle any top tier easily.


Juve were in league 2 recently...

They came straight back up though despite a points deduction. :(

Well, if Man Utd, Lyon, Bayern Munich etc, were relegated, I would think they would go back up even with a points deduction.

[Nipper]

It's a fair enough assessment I'd say.

I would always have put the top Irish Premier Division teams somewhere between top of the English League One and bottom of the Championship, it's probably more or less the same standard in the Spanish and Italian leagues.

[mypost]

HOw would he know?

Exactly. If he hasn't been to English games, there's frankly no chance of him going to LOI games.

In fairness, Serie B's not that bad a standard. Our English-based ex managers probably reckoned our league was conference level. :mad:

[BohDiddley]

It's a fair enough assessment I'd say.

Agreed.
Given that Italy is a leading footballing nation, with a population of 58 million and no aberrations such as GAA or obsession with football in another country, I'd say that LoI being rated as equal to their second tier is quite an achievement.

[gufcfan]

You can't judge any league from one game of football.

[Rovers Maniac]

HOw would he know? He watched one game (Pats v Linfield) in the Setanta Cup. I'm not saying he's wrong either

He watched the league u23s play too, and singled out Mark Quigley as "an exciting player"

Hopefully Mr Trappatoni will seek to improve the league, and make us reach the standards he sees fit. Good too, that he acknowledges that a stronger league would lead to a stronger national side.

I wonder can he work a telly !:confused::)

[Reality Bites]

No away is it Serie B standard I think Trap was being diplomatic, I would expect a Serie B team to be infinitely superior to LOI standard.

[DUFC4life]

would a serie b team fair as well against dynamo kiev and elfsborg over two legs as eircom league teams did???

[MariborKev]

He watched the league u23s play too, and singled out Mark Quigley as "an exciting player"

One of the worst games I have ever seen in a long time. No wonder Trap was bored....

[centre mid]

I've no problem with his statement, I dont think there is any player in the league that would get into the team and would improve it in anyway. Hopefully there will be during the reign of Trap, but he is right, the league needs to consistently improve by way of the Coefficient & general standard of football. A big improvement in facilities wouldnt go amiss but thats off topic.

[Reality Bites]

I've no problem with his statement, I dont think there is any player in the league that would get into the team and would improve it in anyway. Hopefully there will be during the reign of Trap, but he is right, the league needs to consistently improve by way of the Coefficient & general standard of football. A big improvement in facilities wouldnt go amiss but thats off topic.

Money as simple as that!

[Paulie Bleecker]

Hopefully Mr Trappatoni will seek to improve the league, and make us reach the standards he sees fit.

That's not his job. His job is to manage the Senior International side.

[pateen]

It's a fair enough assessment I'd say.

I would always have put the top Irish Premier Division teams somewhere between top of the English League One and bottom of the Championship, it's probably more or less the same standard in the Spanish and Italian leagues.

I do think thats pushing it a bit. Looking a few top players that went overseas, I think its more like league 2 to league one. The top four or five would survive league one, the botton 6 or so would bs suitable for league too

[finnpark]

One thing for it;

A LOI selection with 2 weeks training to play national side in a friendly :)

Surely Parkhouse should have been called up by now, Ireland could do with his pace up front

[superfrank]

A big thing about comparing our league to other leagues is that a lot of the teams, if not all, in Serie B, League One, League, et al would be full-time teams, whereas here only the top four/five are full-time and the others are trailing far behind. :(

Maybe the top four/five could compete in those leagues but the others would struggle greatly.

[Rovers1]

Surely Parkhouse should have been called up by now, Ireland could do with his pace up front

ya and the donkey next door too :)

[Dodge]

I wonder can he work a telly !:confused::)

Why the confusion. He lives in Italy. I'm sure has better things to be doing on a Friday night that fiddle about with the satelitte settings looking for TG4


That's not his job. His job is to manage the Senior International side.
Agreed, but as manager of the international team complaining about the lack of options, maybe he'd like to do something about it

[jebus]

There isn't a hope a LoI team would compete in Serie B, he was being diplomatic for the sake of not offending us lot

[Nipper]

I do think thats pushing it a bit. Looking a few top players that went overseas, I think its more like league 2 to league one.

But then you have the likes of Kevin Doyle, very good player when he was at Cork but not on a different planet altogether to the other "elite" players in the league...also Daryl Murphy and Shane Long are able to hold their own at a fairly high level...

It's tough to gauge. A lot of good players aren't picked up by English teams because they're too old, and players only reach their peak from 25-28.

[Bohemian1890]

If he went to a few games i would say fine but he didnt go to any,did he??
I know tardelli went to one game.He went to see the under 23s where we had no Fahey, Murphy,both IMO would improve the squad.

[Shelsman]

Agreed, but as manager of the international team complaining about the lack of options, maybe he'd like to do something about it

Yes indeed. Believe it or not, Roddy Collins actually made the same suggestion ( if he knows what one is! ) in one of his recent articles. When you've guys with the experience of Trap he should give seminars / try and coach some of the Eircom League managers ( aren't we paying him well for it? ).

That said, if it was part of the job description all along, poor aul Stevie Staunton may have been talking to a set of empty chairs ( might have been billed better as a stand up comedian than a seminar -Today FM actually did a sketch on something like this Only Fools and Horses style! ). Then again, maybe THEY could have been giving HIM advice, and Don Givens too for that matter! :mad:

[Mr Maroon]

The lower levels of Serie B would be fairly awful. Trap clearly doesn't rate our league, can you blame him?

[pete]

Serie B teams (http://www.lega-calcio.it/eng/btim_societa.shtml)

Never seen Serie B but in continental Europe quality does drop fairly quickly outside the top division unlike say England. From list above seems to almost 50:50 ex-Serie A & teams most people have never heard of.

LOI is probably a combination of top League One to lower Conference. The SPL is probably combination of mid table English Premier to lower League Two.

[KianD]

Surely Parkhouse should have been called up by now, Ireland could do with his pace up front

Is he not declared for OWC, as a first problem for that... :D

[hedderman]

One thing for it;

A LOI selection with 2 weeks training to play national side in a friendly :)

Surely Parkhouse should have been called up by now, Ireland could do with his pace up front

Aah, I see. So Parkhouse has got bags of pace but only "acceleration in moderation.";) Brilliant song btw. :D

[bohs til i die]

would a serie b team fair as well against dynamo kiev and elfsborg over two legs as eircom league teams did???


Unless a Serie B team is put into the exact same situation as Drogheda or Pats it cannot be judged that way.

A lot of EL fans have a very fanciful notion about how good they think EL football is just because they go week in week out. Bohs are top by a long way but some of the performances this season that I have seen havent been great.

Bottom line is Drogheda had a chance and blew it because of a lack of composure. Pats beat a Swedish team but in recent times Cork and Derry have knocked out Swedish opposition so it was hardly a breakthrough for the league. Drogheda's performance must be put into context of your league season. I reckon it had more to do with Kiev's attitude plus Drogheda players raising their games for the big one.

I would imagine Serie B is of higher standard then the eircom league and Trappatoni pointing this out is him stating the truth, not getting a dig in at the league here.

http://www.lega-calcio.it/eng/btim_societa.shtml

This is the current list of clubs in Serie B and there is probably only 2-3 (max) current EL sides who would be able to hold their own in amongst that group.

[Charles Bronson]

Anyone else think Bari's crest looks like a cornflakes box?

[Rovers Maniac]

Why the confusion. He lives in Italy. I'm sure has better things to be doing on a Friday night that fiddle about with the satelitte settings looking for TG4


Agreed, but as manager of the international team complaining about the lack of options, maybe he'd like to do something about it

You sure you know what Trapp does on a friday night !? ;):)
Sorry i was actually laughing and being sacastic i will put it in brackets net time i am for you just to point it out.:D

[Rovers Maniac]

Serie B teams (http://www.lega-calcio.it/eng/btim_societa.shtml)

Never seen Serie B but in continental Europe quality does drop fairly quickly outside the top division unlike say England. From list above seems to almost 50:50 ex-Serie A & teams most people have never heard of.


You just have to look at the results of the Anglo Italian cup to know this is nonsense (sorry Pete could not help myself being so blunt). In the 90's the competition was played between sides from Serie B and what is now the championship Italian sides won 3 out of 4 times i supppose quite close to our own Setanta cup record.

[pete]

Anyone else think Bari's crest looks like a cornflakes box?

Yes, sure does.

Frosinone looks like Peugeot badge.

[galwayhoop]

what do you expect him to say lads that the eL is on a par with Serie A??

Get a life. He was either being diplomatic or complimentary to the league. To be compared with the second tier of one of the powerhouses of european club football is a massive compliment.

We can't use Pats and Drogs european games this season as a barometer of where we are in the same way we wouldn't use Cork's or Bohs... or Longford getting trounced by a Welsh team not so very long back!

I read the interview and felt at the time it was complimentary but to see some of the reactions here ye'd swear he should be saying we are on a level with the top divisions in italy, spain and england before he doesn't insult ye.

[Dodge]

I read the interview and felt at the time it was complimentary but to see some of the reactions here ye'd swear he should be saying we are on a level with the top divisions in italy, spain and england before he doesn't insult ye.

What reactions were they? The vast majority agreed with him, or said he wasn't in a position to compare (when the majority of people here aren't here either)

[Billy-Green]

Agreed.
Given that Italy is a leading footballing nation, with a population of 58 million and no aberrations such as GAA or obsession with football in another country, I'd say that LoI being rated as equal to their second tier is quite an achievement.

Well said, also their are a few players playing in seria B who ive had great sucess with in champion ship manager :D

[superfrank]

...also their are a few players playing in seria B who ive had great sucess with in champion ship manager :D
Well, that settles it then.

[SwanVsDalton]

Well, that settles it then.

Not aware that the football leagues we attend are merely a real-life front for the results that Football Manager dictates? Philistine.

It is true though that in an older game of mine Man City were purchased by multi-billionaires who installed Mark Hughes as manager and they won the league.

This also means Derry City will be playing in the Champions League group stage in around three years. :ball:

Back on topic...I agree with Trap to be honest. Serie B has some quality sides and is fairly competitive - many of those clubs were in Serie A at some point within the last 5-6 seasons. If an EL team did compete at that stage they'd be perennial strugglers.

[Sandro]

While I hope that such players as K. Brennan or Fahey get a call someday, I'm pretty sure the standards in Italy's Serie B are far better than Ireland's domestic league. Trap probably tried to be diplomatic but Sere C1 and C2 (now called English style, Lega Pro 1a and 2a Divisione :() would probably be a better comparison. Neverthless, top teams as Bohs, Derry, Shels and Cork City, at their best in recent years, might have achieved to take points to many Serie B sides. By the way, when was last match between Irish and Italian clubs?

[holidaysong]

By the way, when was last match between Irish and Italian clubs?

Athlone vs. AC Milan ?

[Sandro]

maybe some summer friendly more recently?

[gustavo]

maybe some summer friendly more recently?

http://www.ieptournaments.com/archive1998.php

Pats Lazio

[Sandro]

A very tough match for Pat's as Lazio had a strong team for the tournment (Marchegiani, Mihailovic, Lombardo, Nesta, Stankovic, De La Pena, Nedved, Mancini were playing, not too sure aboout Salas, Concicao, Boksic, Couto, Almeyda and Vieri)

[Dodge]

Donb't forget it was Pats 3rd game in 4 days. Played Celtic in the Champions league on Wednesday. Liverpool on the Friday, Lazio on the Saturday