Soccer Republic

[Neish]

Found out by mistake was flicking channels looking for something to watch whilst making dinner and saw it on, thought it was an ad at first. Seemed to be an attempt which was worth a shot but didn't see it advertised and just had a look at their facebook page nothing about earlier time slot there,

Was it mentioned the last night it was on before the break?

[Martinho II]

Found out by mistake was flicking channels looking for something to watch whilst making dinner and saw it on, thought it was an ad at first. Seemed to be an attempt which was worth a shot but didn't see it advertised and just had a look at their facebook page nothing about earlier time slot there,

Was it mentioned the last night it was on before the break?

luckily for me I was reading the paper at half six this evening and it mentioned about Soccer Republic being on at Seven!But no there was no mention about the earlier start time! and I had the exact same problem with Sky either!

[outspoken]

Jesus lads I've been in France for 2 weeks and I knew it was on at 7, it was advertised well in advance last week on Twitter

[disgruntled]

Lets all twitter :rolleyes:

[Nesta99]

Just getting round to watch Soccer Republic after a night off. Nice to see Joanne Cantwell for a change, and asked a few 'difficult' questions with the whole 4 managers in 5 years stuff. Dave Barry batted the question with not criticising volunteers, the 400 club, former nomads etc. But Dave Barry does play the nice guy. Alan Cawley is a good pundit, started off with the 'so it is' when he started as apundit after every sentence which he eliminated - but put him on a stool and not a swivel chair in future!

That rovers game looked awful, no intensity at all. They could very well get back in to that tie! (Post Pat).

[White Horse]

It was a good show despite having Barry on it. Barry comes out with the most banal comments and Cantwell did her best to challenge him to say something worth listening to.

Kenny Shiels is something else. He should do stand-up.

[joey B]

Was I the only one who thought Shields was about to cry during that second interview part last night? Very strange indeed. .........

[oriel]

Was I the only one who thought Shields was about to cry during that second interview part last night? Very strange indeed. .........

It was never a 5-0 defeat !

Cue the pundits, both laughing at the same time.

Cantwell was excellent on it I thought, for me the best two pundits are Cawley and Byrne.

[gufcfan]

I don't always agree with Byrne but at least he backs his opinions up with something.

[Nesta99]

I think Croly is better than Byrne myself. If there is a post match interview in Oriel with Kenny Shiels in front of the board with Dundalk's main sponsor on it it would quite apt. Indeed Fyffes should sponsor Shiels' interviews in general!

[gufcfan]

Fyffe times better than you average bull****.

[Nesta99]

I think bananas fits just as well!

[nigel-harps1954]

Just started now on RTE One. Fran Gavin to be on to talk about the fall out with Derry/Pats and the FAI.

[White Horse]

Nice little dig from TOD abut the timing of the programme.

[nigel-harps1954]

GO ON BRIAN KERR! Exactly why I stayed tuned in.

He absolutely tore into Fran Gavin on the FAI running of the league. Well worth a look.

[TonyD]

GO ON BRIAN KERR! Exactly why I stayed tuned in.

He was brilliant. Delighted it was him that was on and not, say, Trevor Croly. He didn't let Fran Gavin away with any crap. I have to say, as a former player in the league Gavin should be ashamed of himself.

[redarmyfaction]

Gavin didn't seem to know anything about Limerick or Oats, all he could say when asked about the LC final, was both both teams want to football (you would hope so), two great coaches blah, blah, fair play to him for going on though, he took a bit of a kicking.

[ger121]

Oh I enjoyed that. Bout time that spoofer was called out on the rubbish he spouts as the mouth piece of the FAI.

[joey B]

If they were in a bar Kerr woulda glassed him! !!

[harry crumb]

Take that Gavin you ****ing lacky.

[Lim till i die]

Anybody who thinks that bothered Fran Gavin has never had any dealings with the man.

He lives for it, wallows in it.

He has a head and neck constructed solely from jockeys ******.

[gufcfan]

Well that did not go well. Nothing was achieved. Fran Gavin stuck to what they already said in the statement and the ****ery the FAI has been engaging in for a decade was never properly addressed.

[sullanefc]

Well that did not go well. Nothing was achieved. Fran Gavin stuck to what they already said in the statement and the ****ery the FAI has been engaging in for a decade was never properly addressed.
Agree with this and posted this on another forum.

Having watched Soccer Republic tonight, I felt the whole lot of them were full of guff and the wrong arguments were being put to Fran Gavin. All Stuey Byrne said was how angry people were and things can't continue. No coherent proposal.

While I did agree with Brian Kerr on the issue of fines, at one stage he suggested that the clubs should be given €100k each rather than between them. That's ridiculous to be fair. Can you imagine, if TNB was still in charge of CCFC, how quickly that money would be wasted? Or if you gave it to Waterford? They'd blow it all and be back out with the buckets next season.

If any money is to be given to clubs, it should be spent on facilities, marketing and coaching. Not to be blown on wages.

Let's call a spade a spade here. Many of the clubs can't run themselves, because they are either run by egotistical idiots or by volunteers who are out of their depth. One point that was well made by Fran Gavin is that the FAI have at least reigned in the collective debt of the clubs.

I can see the logic in what the FAI are trying to do. They want sustainable strategies to be set up so that the clubs can better run themselves. The only problem is that they are implementing and handling it very badly. And the clubs see it as too little too late. Same with the 65% rule. Also not implemented correctly. That should have been an opportunity for the FAI to force clubs to put money aside for improving facilities.

I think the clubs are fighting the wrong battle here.

They should be arguing for more transparency in the costs of running the league. Reduction in reg fees, higher spends on marketing the league, working with clubs to improve facilities, aiding them to obtain grants and providing FAI funds to do so. Providing more coaching aid for underage players etc, reducing the cost of coaching courses, obtaining badges etc. And finally, telling the FAI to act like they give a sh1t about the league.

[sullanefc]

Anybody who thinks that bothered Fran Gavin has never had any dealings with the man.

He lives for it, wallows in it.

He has a head and neck constructed solely from jockeys ******.
Exactly. Tonight won't change anything for him.

[harry crumb]

Fran Gavin was hung out to dry by the FAI tonight.

Why didn't John Delaney come on is what I want to know?

Where is the leadership? Where is John Delaney? All well taking credit for the success's of Dundalk and Cork City in Europe, but what about Athlone, Waterford..

[bluewhitearmy]

Handling of it by soccer republic was terrible tbf seen a few people say Byrne and Kerr didn't make enough points or the right points but they weren't allowed to. O'Donoghue was fine to let Gavin ramble on with the party line while trying to stop Kerr properly having a go at Gavin. Not near enough time given to it either.

[harry crumb]

Handling of it by soccer republic was terrible tbf seen a few people say Byrne and Kerr didn't make enough points or the right points but they weren't allowed to. O'Donoghue was fine to let Gavin ramble on with the party line while trying to stop Kerr properly having a go at Gavin. Not near enough time given to it either.

Soccer Republic is a misnomer, this is a party political show. The FAI/RTE dictatorship.

The LOI is a distraction to these organisations, a "problem child"

This was the most anticipated show of the season. 2 huge European fixtures including a historic breakthrough by Dundalk AND a massive sporting political storm over a €100k grant that made all the Sunday paper and radio.

And yet they put the show out at 11.40 on a Monday evening to show the King's "****ing" Speech while Chinese fellas do somersaults on the other channel.

[outspoken]

Agree with this and posted this on another forum.

Having watched Soccer Republic tonight, I felt the whole lot of them were full of guff and the wrong arguments were being put to Fran Gavin. All Stuey Byrne said was how angry people were and things can't continue. No coherent proposal.

While I did agree with Brian Kerr on the issue of fines, at one stage he suggested that the clubs should be given €100k each rather than between them. That's ridiculous to be fair. Can you imagine, if TNB was still in charge of CCFC, how quickly that money would be wasted? Or if you gave it to Waterford? They'd blow it all and be back out with the buckets next season.

If any money is to be given to clubs, it should be spent on facilities, marketing and coaching. Not to be blown on wages.

Let's call a spade a spade here. Many of the clubs can't run themselves, because they are either run by egotistical idiots or by volunteers who are out of their depth. One point that was well made by Fran Gavin is that the FAI have at least reigned in the collective debt of the clubs.

I can see the logic in what the FAI are trying to do. They want sustainable strategies to be set up so that the clubs can better run themselves. The only problem is that they are implementing and handling it very badly. And the clubs see it as too little too late. Same with the 65% rule. Also not implemented correctly. That should have been an opportunity for the FAI to force clubs to put money aside for improving facilities.

I think the clubs are fighting the wrong battle here.

They should be arguing for more transparency in the costs of running the league. Reduction in reg fees, higher spends on marketing the league, working with clubs to improve facilities, aiding them to obtain grants and providing FAI funds to do so. Providing more coaching aid for underage players etc, reducing the cost of coaching courses, obtaining badges etc. And finally, telling the FAI to act like they give a sh1t about the league.

Totally agree with you that clubs should not be given vast amounts of money, the majority have shown they can not keep their houses in order and as you said the majority are run (badly) by volunteers who throw out the volunteer card as soon as criticism comes their way. For me every club should have professionals appointed by the FAI to run them and only when the clubs are in a position to pay them then the FAI should cover the cost.

Also Stuey Byrne made the point about some clubs in the league holding back the rest, totally agree with him. Clubs that aren't meeting certain levels of professionalism should be punished. They'd soon pull their socks up.

[redarmyfaction]

And yet they put the show out at 11.40 on a Monday evening to show the King's "****ing" Speech while Chinese fellas do somersaults on the other channel.

There was 14 fellahs playing some new breed of rugby when I turned RTE 2 on, thought SR had been shafted in favour of it.

[Mr A]

The reason most clubs have had problems is because running a league of Ireland clubs is very, very difficult. A downturn in results or unexpected expenses and you're in trouble. There may be volunteers out of their depth- but more of the time they just have more to cover than they have time to do well. It's easy to throw shots and all but there is good stuff happening at virtually every club.

The FAI did employee people at clubs previously through the CPO programme. This was a great initiative and it was a pity it went but the crash came and it was done away with.

As for the idea that some clubs are holding the rest back- well John Caulfield would certainly agree there. He said last week that the league should reduce to 6 teams if necessary. But the thing is a club that at one time might be held up as a good example may be fecked beneath the surface, while clubs down in the dumps may be well run but struggling nonetheless. Did the league improve when it reduced from 22 to 20 clubs by the way?

There are no easy answers to any of this- and one issue is that most of the time the debate is dominated by people whose involvement with the league has been paid. Most of these people don't have the remotest idea of what it takes to run a League of Ireland club. Even Kerr, while he made some good points said "I'm talking to managers every day".. does he every talk to directors or volunteers? The league would be in great shape if we could monetise former managers and players saying 'there needs to be reform and more investment'.

[D24Saint]

well John Caulfield would certainly agree there. He said last week that the league should reduce to 6 teams if necessary.

disgraceful comments by a so called football man , denying any club the right to exist & the opportunity to represent their town or community at the highest level of football is just wrong. Who does he think he is saying that for example Cobh,Longford or Athlone should be out of the league.

[Brusher]

John Caulfield seems a really nice guy, but he once admonished the Dublin clubs for not pulling in 7,000 fans.So John, how many did your club attract last night against Sligo ? 2,500 was it ? So,where did the extra fans from the Genk match disappear to ? For a County the size of Cork,I think you should be more concerned with that !!

[sadloserkid]

John Caulfield seems a really nice guy, but he once admonished the Dublin clubs for not pulling in 7,000 fans.So John, how many did your club attract last night against Sligo ? 2,500 was it ? So,where did the extra fans from the Genk match disappear to ? For a County the size of Cork,I think you should be more concerned with that !!

While I don't disagree with the principle of the point you're making I think every other club in the country would kill for the problems of only attracting 2,500 people on a Monday night. I didn't bother my arse going last night as it happens so that's one of the extras from Genk accounted for. :)

[nigel-harps1954]

Agree with this and posted this on another forum.

Having watched Soccer Republic tonight, I felt the whole lot of them were full of guff and the wrong arguments were being put to Fran Gavin. All Stuey Byrne said was how angry people were and things can't continue. No coherent proposal.

While I did agree with Brian Kerr on the issue of fines, at one stage he suggested that the clubs should be given €100k each rather than between them. That's ridiculous to be fair. Can you imagine, if TNB was still in charge of CCFC, how quickly that money would be wasted? Or if you gave it to Waterford? They'd blow it all and be back out with the buckets next season.

If any money is to be given to clubs, it should be spent on facilities, marketing and coaching. Not to be blown on wages.

Let's call a spade a spade here. Many of the clubs can't run themselves, because they are either run by egotistical idiots or by volunteers who are out of their depth. One point that was well made by Fran Gavin is that the FAI have at least reigned in the collective debt of the clubs.

I can see the logic in what the FAI are trying to do. They want sustainable strategies to be set up so that the clubs can better run themselves. The only problem is that they are implementing and handling it very badly. And the clubs see it as too little too late. Same with the 65% rule. Also not implemented correctly. That should have been an opportunity for the FAI to force clubs to put money aside for improving facilities.

I think the clubs are fighting the wrong battle here.

They should be arguing for more transparency in the costs of running the league. Reduction in reg fees, higher spends on marketing the league, working with clubs to improve facilities, aiding them to obtain grants and providing FAI funds to do so. Providing more coaching aid for underage players etc, reducing the cost of coaching courses, obtaining badges etc. And finally, telling the FAI to act like they give a sh1t about the league.

In fairness, most of what you say here was uttered in some form by either Stuy Byrne or Brian Kerr last night. Between all the shouting, the idea that investment in facilities and coaching should be made by the FAI was suggested.

Kerr also had a go at Gavin for the lack of marketing and promotion of the league.

Agree though that 100k should not be simply given to the clubs. A strategic plan should be made by both the FAI and the clubs working with each other, but it's been done the wrong way. The FAI are going about this all wrong, and as others have said, it should have been done 5 years ago if not more than that.

I thought things erupted into an awful shouting match, and it was handled very badly all round, but, the fact Kerr was willing to get stuck in and have a go was fantastic.

[Philosophizer]

I think the clubs are fighting the wrong battle here.

They should be arguing for more transparency in the costs of running the league. Reduction in reg fees, higher spends on marketing the league, working with clubs to improve facilities, aiding them to obtain grants and providing FAI funds to do so. Providing more coaching aid for underage players etc, reducing the cost of coaching courses, obtaining badges etc. And finally, telling the FAI to act like they give a sh1t about the league.

Amen, brother.

I can understand that Pats and Derry were totally ****ed off, but by rejecting the grant on their own (rather than it being a collective thing by all clubs) all they've done its strained their relationship with the FAI. Don't start a fight you can't win.

Fundamentally, the league needs the FAI if we're going to get it to be the best it can possibly be. Nobody here is happy about the above-mentioned topics (like fines, reg fees, unpublished accounts, etc, etc) but like any business, you've got to work with your business partners to give yourself any chance of success. I'm not saying the clubs must bend over and take everything that the FAI says, you've got to box clever. Forming the PCA to legally represent the clubs was a v smart move and that's exactly the type of clever strategic thinking we need more of, not lone clubs angrily lambasting the FAI in the media.

[Professor K]

Wrote this about Peter Collins and Joanne Cantwell as Soccer Republic hosts last month.

https://leagueofirelandhistory.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/we-need-to-talk-about-peter-collins/

Unfortunately he's still there.