will shamrock rovers go onto dominate the league for the forseable future?

[irishultra]

what do people think the implications of rovers qualifying for europa. will they become the irish version of rosenburg in the 90's?
will we see a higher quality player playing for them?

[BohsPartisan]

Yes. The rest of us are screwed unfortunately.

[irishultra]

yeah but at the moment a lot of people overrate the team, there alright but i think the champions league teams that shels and drogheda had, and even the cork city 2005/2006 team was better. so they need better players

[BohsPartisan]

yeah but at the moment a lot of people overrate the team, there alright but i think the champions league teams that shels and drogheda had, and even the cork city 2005/2006 team was better. so they need better players

I agree with that and also our 2008 and 2009 sides were better but they'll be able to mop up all the best talent from now on.

[irishultra]

ye agreed bohs as well.

[sheao]

Yeah given the way the league is at right now, this European campaign should put Rovers in a much stonger position on and off the pitch compared to other LOI clubs.

[irishultra]

they shouldnt become obsessed now with qualifying for champions league with spending on average loi players, if it happens it happens, their goal should be to make the last round of champions league qualifers and hope to get into europa group stages regularly.

[HulaHoop]

We might have an advantage over the next few years but no team dominates forever. We may not win the league this year even. To put the money we will receive in perspective, it's not as much as Bohs, Cork, Pats, Drogs and Shels spent on wages during the boom of the last 10 years. Each of those teams spent millions on players and didn't dominate for years on end.

[sullanefc]

No would be my answer. Yes they can mop up the best talent in the league with their euro prize money. But they can still only put 11 players out on the pitch, and if they assemble a big squad, then that €1 m won't last long. Also, if they are going to fork out big money for marginally better players, then that won't last long either. People are going ott about Shamrock going on to dominate.

Now if they qualify for the CL group stage, then it might be a different story.

[superfrank]

The money coming in isn't going to be that much, maybe two or three million, at best.

They should pay off their outstanding debt, then reinvest in the squad.

They have the best squad in the league at the moment and they're not dominating it. Even with more money, I don't see that changing. The only way they'd go onto dominate is if they could afford to bring in better players from outside the league but even then, the money isn't going to last that long and if they don't make it back into the group stages next year, they'd be struggling to hold onto those players.

[SPXcyan]

It really depends on what they do with the money though right?? if they spend the majority of it on players then they'll be grand out for the next few seasons maybe, maybe they'll use it on infrastructure which I would think is the best option, it'll ensure better quality players and better training facilities and spectator facilities, that'll surely ensure they'll always have quality in the club.

[sullanefc]

For the record, I think Shamrock won't be foolish enough to blow the money on the wage bill. They'll keep things tight and stick to their wage structure.

[irishultra]

ye best way for it, no point signing dross for the sake of it.

[Acornvilla]

Any decent players available on a free transfer they could nab now because there screwed squad wise for this season?

[irishultra]

they should try get a few good young players on loan from english clubs like liverpool/man u and say players will have chance of playing in europe

[placid casual]

Dont tar other clubs like Derry,Sligo, Pats et al, with the same $hit stained brush the imbeciles running your club have left you with.
Rovers have shown those self same clubs that it is possible to achieve success within a certain budget, not held to ransom like the farce we saw at pats a few weeks ago, and in a relatively short space of time.
If it proves anything, it proves that bohs and shels deserve to be where they are now. struggling.
the best of luck to youse ,
From the Champions.

[dfx-]

Rovers can, but whether they will is not necessarily a foregone conclusion or anything like it...

[Spudulika]

Rovers won't, because a rising tide will lift all boats. Only if they became unimaginably stupid and overspend on wages will they go bang - no way will the people who continue to financially back the club through thick and thin allow that to happen. There are alot of intelligent people there, with foresight and know how, they'll invest in their youth structures, build further on their fan base and get the facilities right. They won't make a fortune from this campaign, and they know that.

What will happen is a couple of clubs will get some backers who will now see euro signs in supporting local clubs and try to make a run for it. Monaghan anybody? But seriously, they will be top 3 for the next decade unless they lose their minds, which they won't, but they don't have the structure that Rosenborg had/have. They're nowhere near that level yet, but in 4-5 years they will be, by which time Cork will be back in the Premier, Derry will be moving along and Pats, Sligo and Bohs will be chasing hard.

[nigel-harps1954]

The problem here is at the end of the season any of their quality players will be snapped up by English teams after seeing them in European action. They need to have some way of keeping hold of their quality players, spending their money wisely and not getting too egotistic. Then they will dominate.

[legendz]

Derry made good money from the McClean sale. Sligo were in a decent position after their first leg but unfortunately missed out on the EL play-offs. Sligo and Derry from what I've seen are capable of making the EL play-offs.

[Sonny]

The money coming in isn't going to be that much, maybe two or three million, at best.

They should pay off their outstanding debt, then reinvest in the squad.



Rovers have no outstanding debt.

[SwanVsDalton]

In terms of mopping up the best players available to domestic teams - didn't Rovers do that prior to this season?

They've a good platform, no more. It does mean they'll be the Irish force for a few years to come but remains to be seen how dominant they'll actually be.

[hoopy]

they shouldnt become obsessed now with qualifying for champions league with spending on average loi players, if it happens it happens, their goal should be to make the last round of champions league qualifers and hope to get into europa group stages regularly.

Seems one of us has to continually reassure people that we'll never overspend on players. Getting tiresome at this stage.

[SwanVsDalton]

Seems one of us has to continually reassure people that we'll never overspend on players. Getting tiresome at this stage.

I truly hope you don't, but you can excuse people's cynicism when every successful domestic club in the last couple of decades overspent while their fans claimed they'd 'never overspend'.

[hoopy]

I truly hope you don't, but you can excuse people's cynicism when every successful domestic club in the last couple of decades overspent while their fans claimed they'd 'never overspend'.

Fortunately our board and my fellow members are not idiots.

[El-Pietro]

We might have an advantage over the next few years but no team dominates forever. We may not win the league this year even. To put the money we will receive in perspective, it's not as much as Bohs, Cork, Pats, Drogs and Shels spent on wages during the boom of the last 10 years. Each of those teams spent millions on players and didn't dominate for years on end.
in relative terms its far more than other teams spent.

[Ezeikial]

Shamrock Rovers have been astute to date in relation to siging players within defined pay structures - witness their stance in relation to Gary O'Neill and Ken Oman when Sporting Fingal were competing for these players last close season. There is no reason to believe that they will be foolish now. They don't need to be as they are (already were) in a position to sign almost any player within Ireland that they are interested in.

Ignoring ambitions in Europe for a moment, the relative financial weakness of the competitor clubs in this league means that the gap is likely to widen as much because of these weaknesses as Rovers additional strengths.

While Derry are in probably in reasonable shape with the McClean funds and emerging local talent, Sligo Rovers, St Pats and Dundalk are well stretched financially while Bohemians difficulties are well documented. While Cork might have potential, the overall picture for a sustained challenge from any particular club is not very bright.

Shamrock Rovers are likely to dominate the league over the next say 5 years - but that was the case anyway before this European windfall

[Charlie Darwin]

I truly hope you don't, but you can excuse people's cynicism when every successful domestic club in the last couple of decades overspent while their fans claimed they'd 'never overspend'.
If Rovers were gonna overspend they'd have done it a couple of years ago.

Rovers will dominate the league in years to come, not because of a million euro windfall or Europa Leaue qualification, but because we have twice as many fans as the next biggest club, which is a pretty big deal in a league where TV money is non-existent. And by dominate I mean we'll win it more often than other teams, not that we'll do a Rosenberg/Copenhagen and hoover up everything every year.

The money will probably mean a small increase in the playing budget for next year but as things stand there's no reason for Rovers to start driving up a massive wage bill. The club can afford to offer the highest wages in the league but that would have been the case regardless following Fingal's demise. Unless we start bringing in quality players from abroad, there's no need to expand the wage bill because we're the only gig in town.

[peadar1987]

The problem here is at the end of the season any of their quality players will be snapped up by English teams after seeing them in European action. They need to have some way of keeping hold of their quality players, spending their money wisely and not getting too egotistic. Then they will dominate.

But on the other hand, Rovers now might have the financial clout to offer their players several year contracts, meaning that if English clubs want them, they have to pay a fair transfer fee, not just wait six weeks and get the player for free.

[Macy]

not held to ransom like the farce we saw at pats a few weeks ago, and in a relatively short space of time.
I've been out of the loop so may have missed agreements/ contract extensions, but surely the Rovers players have the club over more of a barrel than the Pats players could possibly have hoped for...

[Kingdom]

I've been out of the loop so may have missed agreements/ contract extensions, but surely the Rovers players have the club over more of a barrel than the Pats players could possibly have hoped for...

Not necessarily. Rovers have the luxury that they're getting big money from uefa no matter how good/bad they do in the group stages. When does the squad have to be submitted for the group stages? Surely if the players are acting the bagogee's, then Rovers can just submit a squad of underage players, get the Uefa money and then recruit afresh next season?

[Straightstory]

One of the benefits of Rovers showing they have what it takes to qualify for Group Stages is that it makes them more attractive to promising young Irish players, who might previously been felt compelled from a career point of view to sign for Rochdale, or some equally dreary club cross channel.

[fionnsci]

They will dominate moreso I'd imagine but that had to happen for the league to move forward. If they have relative success co-eff wise, it'll help the league's other big teams qualify for Europe, levelling the playing field. Is this necessarily going to happen? No. But considering the performances in Europe in recent years, it's not ridiculous to think that a different team will qualify in the next few seasons. Pat's and Sligo came relatively close without having topped the league.

[Ezeikial]

I've been out of the loop so may have missed agreements/ contract extensions, but surely the Rovers players have the club over more of a barrel than the Pats players could possibly have hoped for...

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and in particular what role the PFAI plays.

At first glance the players look to have a very strong hand if most of them are out of contract at the end of Ocotber and they negotiate as a group.

The downside for them is significant. If they make unreasonable demands and Rovers make a stand, what happens is that they have talked themselves out of contracts for next season and would ultimately end up with lower contracts elsewhere.

The starting point for Rovers is likely to be individual rather then collective negotiations.The PFAI have badly damaged their credibility because of the Pats debacle and Rovers have no obligation to engage with them at all.

Interesting times ahead depending on Mr McGuinness's ego!

[oriel]

As Eziekiel said, Rovers would have been in the position anyway to sign the better players if they had not made the group stages, but remember only a certain level of player will be attracted to LOI, there are 4 of 5 better divisions these players can pick in England alone. They will be a great position thats for sure, but I think they would probably be better served building a training centre and paying off all debt, but as someone said above, they are not even certain to win the lge this year.

[Kingdom]

What's the story with Rovers Sponsorship with Woodies? Do they stand to gain anything extra? Is it a fixed contract or a year on year arrangement? Surely they're due to cash in in that regard?

[SPXcyan]

Most sponsorship deals layout targets, international qualification was surely in the contract?

[sligoman]

Rovers have no outstanding debt.Maybe pay off the debts owed to people before the club decided to get relegated instead so.

[avvenalaf]

Maybe pay off the debts owed to people before the club decided to get relegated instead so.

Ah. c'mon, Sligoman - time to move on. Whatever happened in the past the present Shams is a credit to the league and a template for other clubs.

[Macy]

Rovers have no outstanding debt.
I thought the last Rovers accounts showed a different scenario, but I aint trawling back to confirm.

[Charlie Darwin]

I've been out of the loop so may have missed agreements/ contract extensions, but surely the Rovers players have the club over more of a barrel than the Pats players could possibly have hoped for...
Not really. Pats were effectively out of Europe when the players tried to kill the club - in their minds, they had nothing to lose so they bent the club over. Rovers players have the prospect of making history by becoming the first players to represent an Irish club in Europe and they'd be mad to screw it up.

[hoopy]

I've been out of the loop so may have missed agreements/ contract extensions, but surely the Rovers players have the club over more of a barrel than the Pats players could possibly have hoped for...

Don't see how. You want to play for us then this is what's on the table. You don't then off you go. As previously mentioned re Oman and Gary O'Neill got better offers from Fingal and we didn't budge on the offer. Some players find it hard to take in the idea of a wage that heavily involves success on the pitch. Killian Brennan certainly is one, he was offered a deal before the season started and went off in a huff saying Bohs were offering him more.

[Sonny]

I thought the last Rovers accounts showed a different scenario, but I aint trawling back to confirm.

Nope.