2016-'Three to watch'

[nigel-harps1954]

Only 3,000 :)

I think it's fair to say if LOI crowds were 3,000 higher on average there would be no complaints about the LOI.

Ah, of course, but just using it in comparison to League of Ireland, where attendances are completely paltry compared to most leagues across Europe.

[CraftyToePoke]

On this very subject, an Irish Post article from last week with a few names from left field, I thought anyway.

http://www.irishpost.co.uk/sport/10-brightest-irish-prospects-in-britain-for-the-future

[gastric]

On this very subject, an Irish Post article from last week with a few names from left field, I thought anyway.

http://www.irishpost.co.uk/sport/10-brightest-irish-prospects-in-britain-for-the-future

Always love to read these articles to see what happens to these players in the future. I think Crowley is one that will never play for us again, will be interesting to see what happens with Grego Cox and Bossin long term.

[Charlie Darwin]

Sam Byrne won't be looking to go out on loan next season considering he's been released. The rest seem like they were just picked from the various youth team players playing at the biggest Premier League clubs.

[ArdeeBhoy]

In my very honest opinion, outside of Celtic, there's no club in the SPL who would realistically walk away with the League of Ireland Premier Division.
You are joking!
This season just gone, Aberdeen & Dundee Utd. would have romped home while St. Johnstone & Motherwell would have won it easily too...
Granted, the rest are very mediocre, to variable degrees.



I was at a talk in London last night about the history of the football league playoffs. The speaker said that League Two is the tenth best attended league in the world! Let's take TV and commercial income off the table (League Two is surely earning more on both fronts) and just look at gate money. How on earth can the LOI come close to the tenth best attended league in the world? Let's assume there is a rough correlation between income and standard. I can think of reasons why the correlation would be high, but equally why it may be low. You'd have to conclude that League Two is higher standard overall, but that there are players in LOI who could play quote a bit higher.

Btw, I'd say Aberdeen and Dundee United both would walk the LOI myself, and probably Inverness and Motherwell. Hibs, St. Mirren, Partick and others, maybe not.
Presumably that talk meant old Division 2 in England, as in the Championship now?

[Stuttgart88]

No, I don't think so. Maybe I picked him up wrong, maybe he was talking ****.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Ah fair enough, unlike some your posts are usually fairly logical, so just trying to offer a rational explanation, as bizarrely, think the Eng.Championship does have the 'tenth highest' crowds in Europe, definitely in the top 20...

[Stuttgart88]

I think The Championship is even higher than that. Better than Serie A and maybe also Ligue 1?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Think it was, but slipped back?
Ligue 1 definitely!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Per capita, the Eredivisie is higher than loads of them.

[Stuttgart88]

Looks like Forrester has taken CD's advice about bulking up:

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/national-league/st-patrick-s-canter-to-easy-win-against-dispirited-drogheda-1.1818613

[Charlie Darwin]

Morto for them calling Pats "St Patrick's". Pity they weren't playing against "Shamrock".

[ArdeeBhoy]

Belatedly a link to part of the published piece.
May need a MSN/Hotmail account to view?

If it doesn't work, not sure how to post a download on my computer to here as an image.



https://dub128.mail.live.com/mail/ViewOfficePreview.aspx?messageid=mgGCRuM4X44xG1LwA jfeMuqA2&folderid=flinbox&attindex=1&cp=-1&attdepth=1&n=38365521