League of Ireland in Europe 2016 [Archive] - Page 29

oriel

02/08/2016, 11:56 PM

What a a brilliant night, still hard to take it really just what we have achieved, and not long home from the match. It was a superb second half performance and we really battered them, possibly the best 45 mins I've ever seen in McEleney, Horgan was a class act, Gannon came alive in the second half and O'Donnell just breezed through the game as if it was a standard loi match. Loads of other hard workers all over the team, then McMillan with his 4th and 5th CL goals of the season! We were worried for 20 mins about the away goal being scored, then step forward Robbie Benson.

Thanks for all the good wishes, it was a truely memorable night, definitely up there with any recent league title win, haven't even considered the financial impact yet, need to get my head around the result first.

Ps still no idea (much that it looked well) why we wore our away strip for a 'home' game, final word of thanks not just to our own supporters but to all neutrals who made the effort in attending, it was very much appreciated and added to a magnificent atmosphere.

ger121

02/08/2016, 11:58 PM

In all the excitement, I didn't see anyone mention the attendance. Looked to be over 5k?

Colbert Report

03/08/2016, 12:06 AM

Great result, fair play to the club and the supporters. When will an announcement be made regarding the venue for the play-off round?

Comic Book Guy

03/08/2016, 12:46 AM

First up massive congratulations to Dundalk, when you see the calibre of teams Bate have beaten or drawn with then you get a sense of the achievement.
How long now before several of Dundalk's team or City for that matter get a senior international call up. After all how many of our National team will be playing (at worst) in the group stages of the Europa league?

Lim till i die

03/08/2016, 12:52 AM

What a joyous night to be a League of Ireland fan.

It's a great night for dundalk.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone thinks its a great night for the league. Well, I understand it's enamel peeling minnowism. But the why I don't understand.

TheBoss

03/08/2016, 1:05 AM

Surely this result has to be the best ever result in Irish football, I include International matches too because when do we ever see any Irish team win with such conviction against a team that has better quality. The great results we look back on tend to be teams that nick a goal and hold out but this Dundalk victory was so much more than that, its that their quality won them the game along with their hunger to succeed.

jinxy lilywhite

03/08/2016, 1:08 AM

It's a great night for dundalk.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone thinks its a great night for the league. Well, I understand it's enamel peeling minnowism. But the why I don't understand.

Why not as o'donnell said all the players in dundalk and the league as a whole want is respect for their trade. They earned that tonight.

Our result shows we are nationally improving. I think also our league games are improving in that our opposition are equipped to deal with us.

Cork on Thursday and fingers crossed theyll go through will be immense.
For loi clubs now to be involved in Europe in august is fantastic

jinxy lilywhite

03/08/2016, 1:09 AM

Words just can't describe this team. In our 3 year (only 3 years) journey under Stephen Kenny (let's just call him the king) we have 2 leagues, an fai cup and a league cup but above all those this performance tonight ranks as the club's best ever, actually go so far to say an Irish teams result in Europe.

We destroyed a team ranked 64th in UEFA club coefficients. We are 360 odd. It's an amazing achievement.

180 minutes away from the champions league proper minimum is Europa league group stages. 8 more European matches guaranteed with a minimum of 7.2m. The club's turnover is little over 1m, winning the league of Ireland is only �100k ffs.

I don't really want to give out about the league and lack of attendances finances or lack of guidance and support from the fai to clubs because it's been done to death but we have a special special team here and it would be a shame for some to miss the opportunity to see them play.

**** sky sports and go your local games and you maybe quietly suprised with the entertainment on offer

thischarmingman

03/08/2016, 1:26 AM

It's a great night for Dundalk.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone thinks it isn't a great night for the league. Well, I understand it's enamel peeling minnowism. But the why I don't understand.

Lim till i die

03/08/2016, 1:44 AM

Any fan of any other club who thinks dundalk getting 7 or 8 million quid is a good thing are out of their minds.

No good can come of it for any other club in the league.

Best case scenario dundalk **** it up against the wall and are back to square one in a few years.

Worst case scenario we are all playing Kilmarnock to their Celtic for the next ten years.

Either way there's no benefit for anyone else. First Division Champions League Cup Finalists 2016 Limerick FC will not make a euro out of dundalk doing well in europe.

And if anybody thinks Joe public gives a ****e that dundalk beat a team of Soviet tractor manufacturers (remember I'm talking Joe public here) then they are sitting in their LoI bubble with their head up their arse.

Remember the boost the league got from shels adventures? And shamrocks? Me neither.

I might start a thread on it tomorrow if I'm bored as I really don't want to come across as poo pooing on what is a great achievement for dundalk.

As a First Division Champions League Cup Finalists 2016 Limerick FC fan I wanted Bate to win though. :ball:

nigel-harps1954

03/08/2016, 1:47 AM

It's a great night for dundalk.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone thinks its a great night for the league. Well, I understand it's enamel peeling minnowism. But the why I don't understand.

Ah g'way and sh!te in a bucket.

I'll throw a celebration party for Limerick winning the First Division to make you feel better.

Lim till i die

03/08/2016, 1:54 AM

Ah g'way and sh!te in a bucket.

I'll throw a celebration party for First Division Champions 2016 League Cup Finalists Limerick FC winning the First Division to make you feel better.

A cogent argument there from young Nigel. :good:

bluewhitearmy

03/08/2016, 2:08 AM

There was all the same talk when Rovers got there I said at the time it would do nothing for the league and was attacked for it,can anyone show me the benefits to it from then honestly now one single benefit to anyone other than Rovers from it will do.
I've asked loads of people why its great for the league the answer I am getting is more people might go now that they see an Irish team in Europe but does anyone truly believe someone from Limerick or Donegal or wherever will see that Dundalk have qualified for Europa at least and then jump to thinking best head down see the lads play Waterford/Wexford or anyone like that? Get real. The only people who are truly happy about this from other clubs are those that have such a small time mentality that they have no ambitions whatsoever to win the league in the next 5-10 years so are more than happy to see Dundalk walk away with is so they can have some kind of justification for supporting the league or some other nonsense.

I'm not for a second trying to underplay Dundalks achievement they are an amazing team and it was an amazing result for them but it is just for them and I am sure they couldn't care less if people are happy for them or not they are about to go on a wonderful adventure.

TheOneWhoKnocks

03/08/2016, 2:17 AM

There's going to be over 15 Irish players getting exposure in the group stages of a European competition as opposed to 2 or 3. The exposure could get two or three of them a high profile move to a Championship, Premier League or continental team. Who knows a domestic player may finally get a call up to the Ireland team and see some action in a friendly game, or even a competitive game.

It's crazy when you think about it. Olympiakos are the only team they could face in the next round that you wouldn't give them a chance against and they have to go to Israel and score.

Thing is. They could get tanked in the Champions League or they could actually compete and pick up a few points if they go in to the Europa League.

Charlie Darwin

03/08/2016, 2:23 AM

Well done Dundalk - terrific performance and result and a wholly deserved night to remember.

It's obviously terrible for any of the clubs who would normally have expected to be able to compete at the top end of the table (I know, Rovers are crap, but theoretically we could) but it validates those of us who've always believed there's quality in this league. Plus the raising of the bar is something for other clubs to strive to match.

And if Dundalk do the sensible thing and pump the money into creating a proper stadium and underage structure, then that's a bonus for the league as a whole.

Jealous as ****.

Charlie Darwin

03/08/2016, 2:24 AM

Pleb is on again, lets hope CD is right for once.
Sorry Paul, I couldn't reply to this sooner. I was actually in the stadium you see.

nigel-harps1954

03/08/2016, 3:05 AM

A cogent argument there from young Nigel. :good:

I fail to see the need in going in-depth into why I think it's a great night for the League of Ireland. It's self explanatory.

For you though, I'll make an exception.

It's sh!te that Dundalk now have the financial clout to go on and dominate the league. If they spend wisely, they will be untouchable for years. That's where Shamrock Rovers screwed up their operation, and I'd expect Dundalk to be a little smarter about how they spend their money.

But:

- An improved Oriel Park is good for the league. €7 million would do a lot for Oriel Park. Anything that helps improve facilities for fans is good for the league.
- The media attention tonight alone will be good for the league. You can be damn sure there'll be a couple hundred extra on the gate in Galway on Friday night for the visit of Dundalk after that result. People are talking about the league of Ireland. That is a good thing.
- For years and years, we've had to listen to rubbish, constant tripe from people who call the league a 'pub league'. Maybe, just maybe, there's some vindication, some justification for supporting League of Ireland teams tonight. Hopefully Cork do the business tomorrow night too and provide a little bit more justification. Our teams can compete at the highest level. It's not as bad as people make out. Potentially a team in the Champions League and Europa League at the same time might just make a few people sit up and take note.
- The League of Ireland is a close-knit community. These gestures of support provide a sense of pride in each other. In no other league do you see anything like this. In turn, it relaxes tensions between fans. Not all the time, but most of the time. I can see nothing but benefit from simply showing a bit of support. Coming across like a jealous auld fart does nothing to help anyone.

Charlie Darwin

03/08/2016, 3:14 AM

That was Sligo, They were in front and did a rain dance to kill the game and were very effective! I have never seen anything like the torrents of water coming in through what I presume were drains from the road through the perimeter wall and then visibly see the water rising on the pitch!
I asked you to do me one thing. ONE.

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 6:46 AM

LTID has a point in fairness; this won't really impact UCD.

But the hope would be that such a big result would finally make the FAI get off their holes, see the potential in the league and start to actually properly manage and market it. In that case - a long shot, I'll admit - Dundalk's win would benefit everyone.

I'd particularly like to see FAI Cup Winners 2016 Limerick FC going on a scorching run in Europe next season, qualifying for the groups in part due to massively increased prize money, and then having John Delaney throw his tie into the home end in Thomond Park in celebration as the success only his glorious presence and being could have wrought.

But football isn't about logic. I know last year, it was great to have so many fans nervously watching live updates as we clung on in Luxembourg. That kind of cameraderie is what makes the league great, I think. That's not worth giving up just because Dundalk might win the league ten times in a row now. If anything, given the prize money in Europe these days, it was inevitable that someone would win big - and the only alternative was that we'd continue going to games in crap stadia getting knocked out by teams from Gibraltar and Luxembourg while wondering who the next league winner to go pop was going to be.

Obviously there needs to be a plan to develop all clubs in the league, not just Dundalk, but **** it, for now, well done Dundalk. Must be particularly amazing for the 300/400 who were traipsing out in the First Division only a few years back watching their side lose to Cobh or Kilkenny.

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 6:49 AM

Also, I find it even more hilarious that in just ten years ago, the FAI's IAG ranked Dundalk below Sligo, Derry, Pat's, Bohs, UCD, Bray and, of course, Galway in terms of off-field criteria.

I don't think we can begrudge aul Maxi a hearty laugh today.

Edit - also, wiki has updated the top scorers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016%E2%80%9317_UEFA_Champions_League_qualifying_p hase_and_play-off_round#Top_goalscorers)

usename

03/08/2016, 6:53 AM

that was some performance in the second half ! only got home from training to see the second half ! but they really dominated BATE in it! congrats Dundalk :) Lets hope city can do the same :D

Actually hope Dundalk get Celtic in the draw, it's actually possible to beat them !

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 7:07 AM

Oh, and for ****s and giggles -

Dundalk get Plzen (I think LTID is right that they're the "best" draw)

Win and get into groups.

Draw Barca.

Iniesta v O'Donnell.

Top scorer in the Champions League Dave McMillan v Messi.

Mascherano v Boyle.

The even each have a keeper I wouldn't trust.

I'd travel over for it anyway.

White Horse

03/08/2016, 7:22 AM

Phew. It wasn't a dream.

patrickccfc

03/08/2016, 7:47 AM

Phew. It wasn't a dream.

Ha, enjoy it. Dare to dream of the CL group stages now.

Hopefully we can join ye in dreamland tomorrow

White Horse

03/08/2016, 7:52 AM

Ha, enjoy it. Dare to dream of the CL group stages now.

Hopefully we can join ye in dreamland tomorrow

I'll be cheering ye on Patrick.

There is nothing between Dundalk and Cork this season. If we can do it, so can Cork. The key is belief.

Dodge

03/08/2016, 8:33 AM

Best ever European performance by an Irish team and, by far, the best ever result. Players like O'Donnell, McMillan and Horgan were exceptional

Already an astonishing achievement, Dundalk have now every chance of reaching the CL group stages as there isn't too much between what's left and BATE

BonnieShels

03/08/2016, 8:39 AM

SPXcyan

03/08/2016, 8:52 AM

I was impressed with Cork last week, no reason as to why they can't do it, even my friend that laughs at our league enjoyed that Cork performance and was even more baffled by Dundalk last night, people will wake up and show respect to our league with these performances!

I'll be watching with a real sense of hope for Cork tomorrow, as a Waterford fan that is difficult to admit.

poster

03/08/2016, 8:57 AM

How much did Shams earn for qualifying for/playing in the EL in 2011?

Yossarian

03/08/2016, 9:07 AM

Well that was just fantastic. I didn't sleep a wink last night replaying it all in my head. The great thing about it was that it wasn't a fluke and we weren't hanging on. We played very well and fully deserved it.
Looking at who we can possibly draw in the play off the only team I would really want to avoid would be Olympiacos. I think most of the rest are on a par with BATE or worse.

Hitman

03/08/2016, 9:17 AM

One thing we can be sure of is that Fran Given is frantically drafting new licencing rules which mandate a €100k fine for any club which fails to provide adequate crisps and minerals for away supporters.

I also sincerely hope someone in Galway is producing a high-quality commemorative dvd of Dundalk's run in time for Friday night.

Dodge

03/08/2016, 9:22 AM

How much did Shams earn for qualifying for/playing in the EL in 2011?

€1.85 million. That includes money from their 2 CL rounds

Dundalk's participation in the CL play off guarantees €3m alone

The EL base fee has doubled from €1.2 million for Rovers in 2011 to €2.4 million now

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 9:23 AM

What do Dundalk fans think of this:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/champions-league/stephen-kenny-wants-dundalk-heroes-to-play-champions-league-playoff-tie-at-the-aviva-34933844.html

I used to think these clubs should always play it in the biggest venues possible, but having seen opinions throughout the years, it should always be whats best for the players first and then the club.

I thought the real stand out, who looked a cut above all 27+ players that played last night Horgan looked a level above the rest, he had pace and skill to match both, and the fitness to keep going. The ball he chased down in the last few minutes beating their defender for pace, was brilliant, only a great McGrath style last ditch tackle from their defender stopped an inevitable goal.

They looked to be tiring on 70mins and then upped it a gear, BATE really didn't have the right temperment and I think the rain really got to them as well, they became very irratic and sloppy, and it was they who ended up looking the less fit of the two teams.

It would be interseting to see O'Neills take on events, it was mentioned on the Ireland thread by BS about McGeady going jokingly, it would be a tough one for O'Neill to get out of if he didn't pick him if/when he was playing with Dundalk in EL or Cl.

As a perrenial blow in to this thread and all things LOI in Europe, as a national team follower without any LOI club to associate with, its great to see that it was done with a group of solely Irish players. A stronger league makes for a stronger national team, or at least better structures to help with a better selection of technically able players available. I also think it helps the profile of the league, friends of mine have watched the last couple of games, and even more were interested last night than ever before, if it gets even one down to a game and then ends up going a bit more frequently then its a success in my opinion. If nothing else it will make people sit up and take notice, a more interested public regardless of attendances will also benefit the league if solely from a marketing and financial perspective.

Best of luck to Cork tomorrow night. Nice to see a Rossie doing well for himself, and JD is a top lad.

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 9:28 AM

Sorry Paul, I couldn't reply to this sooner. I was actually in the stadium you see.

Touche CD, Touche. Well played, its great to see you finally admitting going to games you see the game in a whole different perspective :P

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 9:30 AM

BonnieShels

03/08/2016, 9:32 AM

I'd be worried about playing it in Lansdowne simply from a numbers POV.

A sold out rocking Tallaght would be preferable to 20k in Lansdowne. And would be more advantageous to the team you would think.

But whatever is decided long may it continue to be good news for Dundalk.

BonnieShels

03/08/2016, 9:32 AM

i don't know if they'd have beaten bate in lansdowne road. You need to keep it loi; let bate know that this is not their place.

Ditto the play-off round. Celtic for example would be well used to lansdowne road. Keep it in a packed loi ground, play up the atmosphere, give the opposition as few tickets as possible, let them know they're out of their comfort zone.

Depends in part on whether extra seating can be installed in tallaght in time of course.

bingo

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 9:42 AM

I don't know if they'd have beaten BATE in Lansdowne Road. You need to keep it LoI; let BATE know that this is not their place.

Ditto the play-off round. Celtic for example would be well used to Lansdowne Road. Keep it in a packed LoI ground, play up the atmosphere, give the opposition as few tickets as possible, let them know they're out of their comfort zone.

Depends in part on whether extra seating can be installed in Tallaght in time of course.

What do you mean extra seating, how much are yout talking about here? Are Dundalk actually allowed to switch the games now anyway if Tallaght was given as their QR3 and QR4 venues?

I think a half to 2/3s full Avivia with people who would only have a general footballing interest would be a lot worse for Dundalk, providing a flat atmosphere, than 8k Dundalk and extended LOI family in Tallaght. That shels/deportivo game in Landsdowne that time was quite flat.

The Belorussians commentators pronounciation of tallaght was like something out of Doctor who it was very funny - sorry for going off point BS ;-)

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 9:43 AM

QR4 needs an extra 2000 seats or so over QR3 I think.

So they'd have to install the same stand behind one goal that Rovers had in for the EL Group Stages.

BonnieShels

03/08/2016, 9:45 AM

What do you mean extra seating, how much are yout talking about here? Are Dundalk actually allowed to switch the games now anyway if Tallaght was given as their QR3 and QR4 venues?

I think a half to 2/3s full Avivia with people who would only have a general footballing interest would be a lot worse for Dundalk, providing a flat atmosphere, than 8k Dundalk and extended LOI family in Tallaght. That shels/deportivo game in Landsdowne that time was quite flat.

The Belorussians commentators pronounciation of tallaght was like something out of Doctor who it was very funny - sorry for going off point BS ;-)

I thought the atmosphere walking to Lansdowne and in the stadium that day was absolutely unbelievable. Great day.

What was flat was our game v Bulgaria a few days later... (or before)...

EDIT: A week later so it was!

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 9:52 AM

I only saw that game on TV(i was at a couple of other Shels games in Europe when I lived in Dublin and saw Stephen Geoeghan, who at the time for me was one of the standout players for someone who didnt know LOI) and it came across a bit flat. Wasn't the two stands only open or something, as I recall there only being about 22k or something? Maybe the TV didnt do it justice then.

BonnieShels

03/08/2016, 9:57 AM

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 10:03 AM

For the Bulgaria game, they installed temporary seating on the North and South Terraces.

Terraces were allowed for friendly games then, but not competitive games (like Bulgaria)

I guess they just figured they wouldn't need the extra capacity for the Depor game.

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 10:06 AM

24k according to Wiki. Don't forget that teh two ends were terraces. So I think at the time they weren't allowed for the ECL. It's 12 years ago and I wasn't a foot.ie member so I wasn't as au fait with regs.

Interestingly the Ireland game 7 days later had nearly 32k at it. Obviously terraces were allowed in Intl soccer.

I didn't want to say cos I wasn't sure but I thought that was the reason alright, but I also then thought how can International soccer have less criteria than CL and thought I must be wrong :D

I guess they just figured they wouldn't need the extra capacity for the Depor game.

Ya and probably landsdowne didn't help but on TV it seemed really flat.

I think I watched the Hajduk( ;-) ) game before that with DCFCsteve actually. I have a vivid image of ollie byrne walking up to the stand behind the goals after the game, almost doing what Delaney did almost 10 years later :)

pineapple stu

03/08/2016, 10:20 AM

What happened Finn btw? Did he pick up an early knock?

The result is arguably more impressive for losing someone like Finn inside the first 20 minutes.

Dodge

03/08/2016, 10:22 AM

What happened Finn btw? Did he pick up an early knock?

The result is arguably more impressive for losing someone like Finn inside the first 20 minutes.

His replacement is a better player

paul_oshea

03/08/2016, 10:22 AM

What happened Finn btw? Did he pick up an early knock?

The result is arguably more impressive for losing someone like Finn inside the first 20 minutes.

It looked like his groin he was touching on it when he went off - it was on 32 minutes I think.

brendy_�ire

03/08/2016, 10:29 AM

Stephen Kenny has said he'd like to use Lansdowne. Not sure they would fill it unless it was Celtic. And would they even want that?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/champions-league/stephen-kenny-wants-dundalk-heroes-to-play-champions-league-playoff-tie-at-the-aviva-34933844.html

Is the RDS an option? I get the logic behind sticking with Tallaght though (even if I'm not a fan of the place myself).

Philosophizer

03/08/2016, 10:31 AM

His replacement is a better player

McEleney has outstanding feet all right. He's brilliant when he's given a license to solely attack and create. His defensive limitations were exposed last week in Borisov when he got the hook at half time though. He was playing on the right wing and the left back was roasting past him every time he got the ball and causing all sorts of problems. He's a weak link when he's expected to chase. That's not his game. He probably doesn't have the work rate of physicality of Finn who's a bit bigger, but he has serious talent - well able to control a ball in tight areas and dance his way by a few defenders and pick a pass. Ideally, i'd like to see him play no10 all the time with Finn moved back into the no8 role, partnering Stevie O'Donnell in CM.