Delaney being smoked out [Archive] - Page 2

legendz

09/09/2010, 5:46 PM

I was at a Kerry League vs Waterford Utd game, Kerry won after a shoot-out, Delaney turned up to that game that day as well. Seems a big fan of the league. Structures like the A Championship are a move in the right direction.
In fairness He did not want Kerr as manager, Stan was a mistake but that has been addressed.
What happened to Limerick and the Barcelona was a disgrace though.

dcfcsteve

09/09/2010, 5:49 PM

True he came from a decent background ( not a hugely monied though) but false that that is where he got his money from as he made it himself so guess we'll have to agree to disagree

Can you clarify where/how he made his millions himself, rather than just say that he did ?

Thanks.

bennocelt

09/09/2010, 5:50 PM

At least those shoulders aren't laden down with heavy chips.

Nice n tasty too

Lim till i die

09/09/2010, 5:56 PM

People who think John Delaney is a big fan of, or indeed gives a tuppeny frig, about the league (http://foot.ie/threads/135418-Airtiricity-League-XI-v-Manchester-United-confirmed-for-Aviva-Stadium-on-August-4) :bulgy:

There are probably arguments to be made in favour of honest John. I would humbly suggest his treatment of the league wouldn't be among the strong ones.

legendz

09/09/2010, 6:19 PM

Nice n tasty too
Belfast Celtic demise was sad for Irish football. The likes of Donegal Celtic nowadays and Lurgan City should have been invited to the LoI.

SkStu

09/09/2010, 6:27 PM

Not a fan of Delaney's obviously but im not sure that all this kerfuffle is enough to demand his resignation. He failed to meet sales targets, its hardly corruption (at face value) or gross mismanagement. The lack of sales and/or decisions made are certainly defensible all things objectively considered.

True. Also, I don't make most of my money from my house.

yeah right Stu...

http://media.cnbc.com/i/CNBC/Sections/News_And_Analysis/_News/_SLIDESHOWS/FamousProstitutionScandals/heidi_fleiss_600x400.jpg

**FrOsTy**

09/09/2010, 7:52 PM

God another FAI head on here:rolleyes: Nice to rub shoulders up there in abbotstown

Not an "FAI head". But having sat down over a few pints discussing LOI (The Cork and Derry sagas in particular) he gave a good account of the reasonings and moved on to chat about football in general. He's at a lot of LOI games (mostly our games) It's not the FAI's sole job to market the league for clubs. All clubs bar the Shams are dreadful at marketing.

Stuttgart88

09/09/2010, 8:27 PM

Just to digress, but isn't marketing all about the 4p's:

Product
Price
Place
Promotion

The product is what it is for the moment. Hard to improve without investment (from where? and what will attract it?) and maybe better technical development among the next geneartion of LOI players. Unusually among businesses, a sports league - the product - requires competitors to be evenly matched.
Place - in sport this is bound up in the product. You can't watch a match without visiting the place.
Price - presumably it's fair in the LOI - I don't know
Promotion - presumably this is what Frosty was referring to re-marketing.

Probably worth a separate thread, or Phd thesis.

SkStu

09/09/2010, 8:45 PM

a few things id like to address in that post Stuttgart88...

Place - in sport this is bound up in the product. You can't watch a match without visiting the place.

a million or so barstoolers would beg to differ.

Price - presumably it's fair in the LOI - I don't know

its not.

The product is what it is for the moment. Hard to improve without investment (from where? and what will attract it?) and maybe better technical development among the next geneartion of LOI players. Unusually among businesses, a sports league - the product - requires competitors to be evenly matched.

if you like live soccer you'll like to watch almost any live soccer. Just because we are on the doorstep of the Premier League it doesnt mean people should not be attending games here, if they truly like live soccer. If i live a decent drive away from a swanky expensive restaurant, sure, ill enjoy a meal there every once in a while and look in the windows most weekends but i still like going for a meal so ill pop down to my less expensive, less swanky local restaurant a lot more often.

Or something.

Alf Honn

09/09/2010, 9:08 PM

RTE said tonight Delaney declined their request to be interviewed about this story.

Very curious that a man who loves the sound of his own voice so much won't take questions and give very straightforward answers on how many tickets are sold (not allocated), how much income has vantage generated and most importantly what the annual repayments are on the morgage.

geezer

09/09/2010, 11:17 PM

and his buddies coming out of the bunker yet

front page news again, me thinks their is more to this story than just premium seat sales

dcfcsteve

09/09/2010, 11:52 PM

The likes of Donegal Celtic nowadays and Lurgan City should have been invited to the LoI.

Care to explain :

1) Why they should have been invited ?
2) Why they should have accepted ?
3) Why you think any other LOI clubs or the FAI would have been interested in this notion ?

P.S. It's Lurgan Celtic. Lurgan is far from being a city.

Spudulika

10/09/2010, 5:36 AM

First off neither of us is an apologist for either JD or FR... but I have to disagree with you re Delaney as he is a self made millionaire...as for FR again have to disagree with you as (1) he blew it with Baltimore albeit he walked with some money for himself but that's another days debate and (2) what happened to him within the FAI was brought on by himself albeit he was unlucky to encounter forces that were as good as if not better than him when it came to "self entitlement" ..... so basically they are both the type that deserve each other but not the type I like to see running the game here.

I do have more of a liking for FR, though I think it's because he is an actual sportsman and interested in the LOI, whereas Delaney is pure politics and a crook. The Baltimore issue is something that is for another day, though I agree with you on it most of the way. His ousting from the FAI seemed to be a carefully co-ordinated move and a real effort to stop progress, there will be so much that will never come out in it. I agree that JD isn't fit to run the game here, FR didn't have long enough though it's fair that he didn't have the impact he should have had.

The development of this story is quite unbelievable, though I cannot for the life of me see JD get the boot, as he certainly won't walk. He has too much dirt on the council members and clubs will back him for some blood money, so he's there for the long haul. For a person who has constantly underperformed and is now found to have been caught lying it's amazing that (bring the FAI to a dark place) he isn't gone. Though this is what makes the FAI the poor relation of Irish sports, it's like a 26 county Athletics Ireland - everyone scrambling for a plane seat to big events and shot at recognition and profit, and nobody caring about what happens to the sport, supporters and most importantly competitors.

Spudulika

10/09/2010, 5:40 AM

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fai-fills-the-best-seats-at-25pc-of-new-price-2332687.html

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/no-commitment-from-bailedout-banks-but-fai-still-claims-sales-2332710.html

Jaysus, this is getting nasty. Fair play to the man from Ardee to get stuck in like this, I just hope the truth outs in the end.

Very interesting are the figures for the IRFU and GAA for 10 year Premium tickets, 15k and 12k respectively. In terms of value for money the GAA is running away with it, though the IRFU can at least get a couple of big Magners and Heineken Matches in.

Calcio Jack

10/09/2010, 7:18 AM

Can you clarify where/how he made his millions himself, rather than just say that he did ?

Thanks.

He owns/owned a number of companies ranging from accountancy to bakeries.

Macy

10/09/2010, 8:02 AM

How many of these tickets were sold by King Johns errand boy, wearing out the tyres on his (free) car travelling the length and breath of the country flogging to junior clubs at big discounts, sucking money out of the grassroots of the game to feed the big hole at the top.
All the levels of the game have had their arms twisted to buy vantage club seats, including the LoI.

As for the wider issue, Delaney lived by this sword to get the job, if he dies by it, so be it. I'm staggered that so many still attempt to defend him tbh - Delaney doesn't equal Irish Football, it's ok to want the CEO out...

geezer

10/09/2010, 8:32 AM

"He owns/owned a number of companies ranging from accountancy to bakeries."

can bet he didnt leave them 38million in debt and get 420k a year salary plus expenses. He has a lot of honchos planted in the various committees, board of the fai. He runs the board of the fai. Its normally the other way around. One organisation springs to mind where the ceo ran the board as opposed to working for the board and that was at the bank thats gonna take the country down

Spudulika

10/09/2010, 9:01 AM

Geezer, Delaney has an terrible record running companies, this is just the latest in a sorry list of failures!

dcfcsteve

10/09/2010, 11:36 AM

Stuttgart88

10/09/2010, 12:38 PM

a million or so barstoolers would beg to differ.

if you like live soccer you'll like to watch almost any live soccer.

The challenge for the marketer therefore is to address what might be done to get some of those million or so "barstoolers" to attend live matches. For some of these the "place" of consumption is going to be an issue, as well as the other P's in the marketing mix.

I disagree with the second point. As it happens I'm like you in that I like any form of live football. But there's ben a lot of research in the US and UK about different segments of football support. There are dozens of types of fans, each with different motivations for attending and with differing degrees of attachment to their team. Your comment is only true for a certain segment. One Us author I read (will try and dig up his name) wrote about temporary fans for example. The equivalent in Ireland would probably be what many refer to as the "event junkie". The challenge for the marketer is what can be done to make this temporary fan a more regular fan.

A sports marketer in the US called Bernie Mullin used the metaphor of an escalator. You want to get the fan at the bottom of the escalator, the guy who'll attend once or twice, up a few steps , attending more frequently. You want to get the guy at the middle higher up towards the top. The metaphor breaks down at the top - you don't want fans at the top falling off :)

There isn't a one size fits all approach. The marketing industry in other products recognises this, the sports industry was slow to do so.

I'm just saying this in response to the first poster to mention marketing, and to follow on that it's quite subtle - not just a matter of saying "come and watch us".

SkStu

10/09/2010, 3:02 PM

its a good metaphor, Stutts, but not as good as the restaurant one... ;)

Stuttgart88

10/09/2010, 4:17 PM

What, you'd go for a look in the windows most weekends, even though it's a decent drive away? That's a bit sad actually :)

Mr A

12/09/2010, 10:46 AM

Somewhat more nuanced piece in the Sunday Indo: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/from-fais-vantage-point-glass-is-half-full-2334585.html

dcfcsteve

12/09/2010, 12:59 PM

Delaney exciting the loyalty of Irish football supporters ?

Goons in Armenia queuing up to have their photo taken with him in a bar...?

Jaysus wept. The Indo must be looking at Irish football through a parallel universe.

It matters not if a few Oireland supporters think Delaney is worth having their photo taken with. The grassroots at senior club level in Ireland don't seem to like or trust the man. He may have the loyalty - perhaps begrudgingly, due to the lack of an alternative - of those who run Irish clubs at the moment, but the generation that will follow them will probably be a lot more critical of him if he's still around as they start to take up the individual reins.

Lim till i die

12/09/2010, 1:07 PM

Delaney also has the backing of the fabled "grassroots". In Armenia, Irish supporters lined up to have their picture taken with Delaney when they met him in a late-night bar. He has spent time with supporters' groups across the country and in England. In return they have developed a loyalty to the chief executive.

Delaney inspires loyalty and demands it

:bulgy:

What a load of Fanning!!

pineapple stu

12/09/2010, 5:30 PM

Only story I've ever heard about Irish fans, Delaney and a bar on an away trip was the lads drinking with the head of the Faroese FA who was giving out about the ignorant, awkward fool in charge in Ireland...

Mr A

12/09/2010, 6:03 PM

dcfcsteve

12/09/2010, 6:57 PM

Remember the statement from the Junior/Provincial game (http://foot.ie/threads/136078-FAI-Junior-Council-turn-on-Limerick-FC.) after the row with Limerick? From that it seems that JD does have the backing of the junior game.

No great surprise there - particularly as some money from the Aviva will eventually flow to the junior game, whereas money from Limerick-Barcelona wouldn't have.

Delaney has the support of all levels within the game. It's how he got re-elected as CEO recently. Whether that endorsement was whole-hearted or not is a different matter..

monutdfc

12/09/2010, 8:47 PM

Alf Honn

12/09/2010, 9:00 PM

And, as for that yellow brick road Delaney spouts on about towards paying off the morgage to own a house. Well, the FAI won't own a brick of it.: http://www.tribune.ie/sport/soccer/article/2010/sep/12/numbers-dont-add-up/

Dead_Star

13/09/2010, 12:54 AM

Failure to qualify for the W/C, not getting one of the big nation in the draw for the qualification group for 2012, the type of football were playing. There are more than just the economic factors at the play to why the tickets would not sell before the stadium opened. The writing was on the wall well over a year ago that this scheme was going to fail and the FAI buried their heads and hoped that things would sort themselves out. If the figueres are right their in trouble and its going to hurt Irish football at all levels.

Expect to see Amsterdam like touranments held every summer in Dublin (prob without an Irish team) so the great Irish sporting nation can pay �50 a pop to watch foreign team's go through the motions and start Mexcian waves when they get bored.

bennocelt

13/09/2010, 7:08 AM

:bulgy:

What a load of Fanning!!

Only shock in that article is that Fannyhead wrote about Irish football. He usually writes about his beloved England or the EPL.
Also what kind of fans would drink in the same bar as the likes of him and the FAI head honchos???

Macy

13/09/2010, 8:16 AM

No great surprise there - particularly as some money from the Aviva will eventually flow to the junior game, whereas money from Limerick-Barcelona wouldn't have.
All the money from that game will be going to pay the mortgage, and that also ignores the fact that the Junior game in Limerick wouldn't have much time for the senior team anyway (from my understanding anyway).

Delaney has the support of all levels within the game. It's how he got re-elected as CEO recently. Whether that endorsement was whole-hearted or not is a different matter..
I don't think the CEO is an elected position - maybe there was some board vote to offer the contract extensions, but even then you'd be assuming the board is representative.

Spudulika

13/09/2010, 1:29 PM

I do not believe what I read. I know Fanning is an ott Liverpool fan, but this takes the biscuit. Obviously somebody high up in the Indo didn't receive a discount on his Vantage Club tickets, however they must have gotten them on Saturday. The man is a disgrace and he and his ilk are a blight on Irish society. He's the same as the fools who ran the banks into the ground and who have systematically destroyed the credibility of Ireland.

dong

13/09/2010, 1:47 PM

The man is a disgrace and he and his ilk are a blight on Irish society. He's the same as the fools who ran the banks into the ground and who have systematically destroyed the credibility of Ireland.

Ah will you steady on?? Such a load of self righteous drivel. :D

dcfcsteve

13/09/2010, 3:24 PM

All the money from that game will be going to pay the mortgage, and that also ignores the fact that the Junior game in Limerick wouldn't have much time for the senior team anyway (from my understanding anyway).

Which is why I said money from the Aviva will eventually flow to the junior game, not from any specific match.

I don't think the CEO is an elected position - maybe there was some board vote to offer the contract extensions, but even then you'd be assuming the board is representative.

I think you're right there Macy - my bad. Was getting confused with the recent extension of FAI control over the league.

Spudulika

13/09/2010, 5:02 PM

Ah will you steady on?? Such a load of self righteous drivel. :D

Well, I was probably a bit tired and angry after a long train journey and on Saturday I actually met a man whose first question for me was "What type of scum are running football in Ireland?", I was tempted to say, pretty much the same as here, but his point was that no association has so steadily dispossed their own league as ours, I did point out, however, the great job clubs do in messing up all by themselves!!!