Who is going to win the 2021 League

[Nesta99]

Thats the one, mentioned in one of the local papers so more reliable than Gerry. Seems too random to be random and yet I doubt there has been a chance to properly scout the guy - the scatter gun approach throws up an occasional gem but a risky and costly way of doing business. Of course he could actually be the commanding centre half that will dominate key zones in a 3 central defenders formation that compliment each other, I hope he has some pace as others dont particularly. If the keeper linked also is as good as its being said, the leaky defence may not be an issue. and sure we could throw him on up front and hoof it if chasing a game ;p Its impossible to call what Dundalk will like next season even with players retained. I'd forgotten close seasons where ye cant speculate on much (well so far). We've anticipated mad and bad over the years, been odds on favourites but 2021 could go any way!

[oriel]

A relatively minor point, but did Dundalk really "convincingly" beat Rovers in the Cup final?

Bohs, yes. But the final went to extra-time and the comments on here at the time were that Dundalk weren't really at the races until McMillan scored his first, 70 minutes in.

Ok whilst Rovers were much the better team up to say 70 mins, Dundalk got stronger and stronger after this, and much the better team in ET, plus scoring 4 usually beats a team that scores 2!

Dundalk took their chances, Rovers didn't, Dundalk finished stronger, maybe a better description !

[pineapple stu]

Yep, Dundalk finished stronger for sure.

In a league game, it'd have only been a draw though. :)

[oriel]

That's true, and same goes for 2016 (ET), 2017 (Pen) , & 2019 (Pen) cup finals that we lost !

Come to think of it, only one in these series 2015-2020 that was decided in 90 mins was 2018, begs the question, just how many of the Aviva finals were won in normal time, not many I'd think. (As we go off topic)

[nigel-harps1954]

Can we all just remember that Rovers shouldn't have been in the final at all? Thanks.

[placid casual]

Very true, sligo just didn't turn up for the semi final.

[ontheotherhand]

Can we all just remember that Rovers shouldn't have been in the final at all? Thanks.

And if penos werent given when defenders put their hands on attackers in the box, rovers would've have won the final they shouldn't have been in.

[Nesta99]

Can we all just remember that Rovers shouldn't have been in the final at all? Thanks.

Feel free to seek revenge and hammer SRFC at every opportunity in 2021!!!

[sbgawa]

We will be back in love by next season. We are just on a break.

[Neish]

Can we all just remember that Rovers shouldn't have been in the final at all? Thanks.

And we won them the league. #UTH

[sbgawa]

according to the Sun (so it must ne true) season starting on 19th of March.
Seems like a long time away :(

[Martinho II]

according to the Sun (so it must ne true) season starting on 19th of March.
Seems like a long time away :(

No harm imo. I know for us this third lockdown is a fin disaster for us. We had just announced a major sponsorship deal with Elverys Longford to sell our club gear on their premises so its not good for us or any loi club that essential retail is now closed. Can see this upcoming season being without fans and a shortened season too.

[White Horse]

I think Shamrock Rovers will be favourites for 2021. The have a settled way of playing and a good squad of players who know their roles. They will miss Jack Byrne as he has been pivotal to their style of play and replacing playmakers is very difficult. Dundalk are likely to be the closest challengers but it remains to be seen whether they have the capacity to be consistent enough to win a title. For Dundalk to challenge, they will need a full league season as integrating new players will take time.

[sbgawa]

Will be interesting to see how paddy power price it up.
Rovers minus- byrne
Dundalk -minus gannon hoare.
Dundalk stronger in relative terms season on season compared to rovers but is it enough to close the gap.

[oriel]

Will be interesting to see how paddy power price it up.
Rovers minus- byrne
Dundalk -minus gannon hoare.
Dundalk stronger in relative terms season on season compared to rovers but is it enough to close the gap.

Hard to know how the new arrivals will fit in at DFC, I still think (obv apart from a new GK) only the new Latvian international Jurkovskis will be close to the starting xi. As things stand these could be suggested strongest starting XI if you exclude most of the new arrivals:

If going 3-5-2

........................GK...........

.....Gartland ----- Boyle------ - Cleary

Dummingan - Shields -- Murray ----McEleney ----Leahy

------------------Hoban-----Duffy

Subs McMillan / Sloggett / D.Kelly / New arrivals



If going 4-2-1-3 (which would be my choice, but he won't go with this!)


....................GK...................

Dummingam----Boyle ---Cleary ---Leahy

-------------Shields----Murray

----------------McEleney..............

D Kelly--------- Hoban----------Duffy


Subs McMillan / Gartland / Sloggett / New arrivals

The new joins will need to be blended in at some stage, or there was no point in getting them in, but I still think even without Jack B, Rovers are stronger in MF unless DFC unearth an attacking MF gem. Would also agree Rovers will start as favs, more settled team.

[2 Year Contract]

I notice you left a keeper out. Has it been hinted anywhere that Abibi will be second choice keeper?

[placid casual]

Do you not think that the new recruits at dundalk will be put in straight away? The possible team mentioned there include quite a number of players who singularly didn't bother their ar$é last season, in the league anyway . If you think that's gonna be the starting 11, then I need to get to a bookies and put every last penny on Rovers winning the league (whenever it starts!)

[oriel]

I dont know (along with most others) how the new recruits will do, nor do we know if Abibi will be no 1 GK, assume he will though.

Therefore I listed out two examples of how DFC might line out based on those who played in 2020 and who are still at the club. That's a fair point on players included who didn't perform last year in the league, but also same can be said for Gannon (who almost downed tools in Aug - I still would have kept him), and Hoare - dreaful display away to Molde to name but one, Flores - who to be fair did well in extra time in cup final, and scored two EL group stage goals, but quite poor on most league games that he started after Covid break.

I still think only the Latvian Jurkovskis and the keeper Abibi if first choice might be close to starting, up front is fine with a choice of 3 strikers, and Duffy obviously and Kelly to a lesser extent also on the wings are decent. Its the MF that DFC still need to get better players in to challenge Rovers in my book, although most of the MF that played in cup final and beat them 4-2 are still there, and of course its minus Jack B for them, but still think they are stronger in MF.

I'm sure the new recruits that have joined to date will be blended in, otherwise no point in getting them, but an attacking MF man is still required.

[oriel]

I notice you left a keeper out. Has it been hinted anywhere that Abibi will be second choice keeper?

Two more keepers are required, as all 3 left from 2020, I would think Abibi might be first choice, but will depend on the second keeper is, the 3rd one might be a junior / less experienced.

[TonyD]

St Pats will either be very good or very bad....no surprise there but pivitol for S'OD and a few players. Forrester looked interested v Dundalk last weekend.

.

Nah, I disagree. I expect us to be mediocre (again). Good enough not to be in any real danger, but not good enough to challenge at the top end.

[Nesta99]

Nah, I disagree. I expect us to be mediocre (again). Good enough not to be in any real danger, but not good enough to challenge at the top end.

Is it acceptable to Pats fans and the club to keep SO'D in the hotseat?

[Martinho II]

Nah, I disagree. I expect us to be mediocre (again). Good enough not to be in any real danger, but not good enough to challenge at the top end.

Considering the transfer fee ye got for Luke McNally I expect ye to progress further under SOD with that extra dosh in his budget unless Pats board have other ideas.

[boynemunich]

Considering the transfer fee ye got for Luke McNally I expect ye to progress further under SOD with that extra dosh in his budget unless Pats board have other ideas.

Who is there left that they can sign though ? Will probably go into the Scottish market which is very hit and miss as they know.

[Martinho II]

Who is there left that they can sign though ? Will probably go into the Scottish market which is very hit and miss as they know.

Wot bout the Irish lads in that St Mirren side? Isnt there a certain ex teammate of SOD playing for them?

[2 Year Contract]

Wot bout the Irish lads in that St Mirren side? Isnt there a certain ex teammate of SOD playing for them?

Pretty sure they’re busy starting every week, beating the likes of Rangers and Celtic in recent weeks to have any desire to come back to the League of Ireland on less money

[Bunny Kelly]

If they do start the league towards the of march, what are the chances they still schedule half the season in the first 2 months even though no fans present?

Just delay the start of the season & just play 3 rounds, it isn't a complicated solution

[pineapple stu]

I wouldn't be sure about fans in the second half of the season either tbh.

Maybe no harm getting games played as quickly as possible to give space for postponements to be played later on. Look at how many games are being called off in England at the moment.

(And of course the question has to be asked whether there's really any need to play the league at all given there's a pandemic, but that's a different matter)

[Redbull]

Considering the transfer fee ye got for Luke McNally I expect ye to progress further under SOD with that extra dosh in his budget unless Pats board have other ideas.

What kind of fee did they get Martinho?

[Redbull]

The best thing about the LOI was always that it was very open and a few teams always felt they had a chance. Unfortunately, Shams will win the league handy again. It’ll be very close for 2nd between the rest.

[Nesta99]

The best thing about the LoI was the years from 2014-2020 (bar 2017) and maybe a few more to come ;)

[redobit]

If they do start the league towards the of march, what are the chances they still schedule half the season in the first 2 months even though no fans present?

Just delay the start of the season & just play 3 rounds, it isn't a complicated solution

Player contracts could get tricky!

[Dalymountrower]

Daniel Mc Donnell reporting that €3.6 million offered by FAI to clubs to start the season. Seems to be weighted towards clubs on the basis of turnover. Also reporting that prize money for winning the league has almost doubled!
Would have thought that available funds would be used to keep clubs alive rather than an additional reward for clubs who will be in receipt of europa leave/conference funding.
Also reporting limited chances of Watch LOI operating for the whole season!

[nigel-harps1954]

€600,000 reported as league prize money. Affiliation fees and referee costs waived for the year.

Prize money is going to be a bone of contention too. €22,000 for finishing bottom of the Premier suggests it's not being weighted properly.

Flat fee of €215,000 per Premier Division club and €50,000 First Division, plus add ons based on applications.

It's not great, and won't be enough if we've to go through a season behind closed doors again.

[Kiki Balboa]

Daniel Mc Donnell reporting that €3.6 million offered by FAI to clubs to start the season. Seems to be weighted towards clubs on the basis of turnover. Also reporting that prize money for winning the league has almost doubled!
Would have thought that available funds would be used to keep clubs alive rather than an additional reward for clubs who will be in receipt of europa leave/conference funding.
Also reporting limited chances of Watch LOI operating for the whole season!

Prize money doesnt need to added to the winners as they get plenty from Europe, it need to go down table. Silly mistake.

WatchLOI was fantastic for us watching abroad. I really hope they continue it. No need for commentary, or at least bringing commentators from RTE... give an option to sync with local stations or none at all. Maybe that would save money.

[sbgawa]

Prize money doesnt need to added to the winners as they get plenty from Europe, it need to go down table. Silly mistake.

WatchLOI was fantastic for us watching abroad. I really hope they continue it. No need for commentary, or at least bringing commentators from RTE... give an option to sync with local stations or none at all. Maybe that would save money.


Id say most of the clubs will offer streaming service after the learnings from last year.

I presume the money the clubs get on the wages support scheme is on top of that.
The scheme should be open until crowds are allowed back/ economy opens up

[Calcio Jack]

Id say most of the clubs will offer streaming service after the learnings from last year.

I presume the money the clubs get on the wages support scheme is on top of that.
The scheme should be open until crowds are allowed back/ economy opens up

Hopefully clubs will offer streaming if Watch LOI not available otherwise can’t see season ticket holders waiving their right to a refund as almost all did last season

[Bucket]

Premier
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. €22k

First
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. €10k

Can anyone fill in the blanks for prizemoney?

[GUFCghost]

Is there anything to be said for just scrapping the prize money and just distributing the money equally?

Football clubs want to win football matches, there shouldn't be a need for money on top of that. And besides, the best clubs are going to be rewarded with euro cash anyway.
Are there any leagues that do this already?

[nigel-harps1954]

Can anyone fill in the blanks for prizemoney?

Took a random stab based on the 2016 figures, which had a total prize money of €475,500

2016 Premier:

1 – €110,000
2 – €55,000
3 – €35,000
4 – €25,000
5 – €21,000
6 – €19,500
7 – €18,500
8 – €18,000
9 – €18,000
10 – €17,500
11 – €17,000
12 – €17,000

2016 First:
1 – €30,000
2 – €17,500
3 – €12,000
4 – €10,500
5 – €9,500
6 – €8,500
7 – €8,000
8 – €8,000


Based on the above..a rough calculated guess at €600,000 distribution, and the reports of Premier bottom team getting €22k and First bottom team €10k

Premier:

1 - €125,000
2 - €60,000
3 - €40,000
4 - €32,500
5 - €30,000
6 - €28,000
7 - €25,500
8 - €25,000
9 - €24,000
10 - €22,000

First:

1 - €40,000
2 - €25,000
3 - €22,500
4 - €20,500
5 - €18,500
6 - €15,500
7 - €13,500
8 - €12,500
9 - €10,500
10 - €10,000



I wish the off-season would feck off..

[Bucket]

That looks likely alright. It's not a bad increase when you factor in not having to pay affiliation and referee fees.

GUFCghost I think the higher up you finish, the more you deserve but the differences shouldn't be as big. Maybe take €35k off the 1st prize and give bottom seven clubs €5k extra each. LOI clubs should be looking to make more money in the new Europa Conference

[Martinho II]

What kind of fee did they get Martinho?

I wouldnt know the exact figure but its supposed to be a good deal Redbull.

[GUFCghost]

That looks likely alright. It's not a bad increase when you factor in not having to pay affiliation and referee fees.

GUFCghost I think the higher up you finish, the more you deserve but the differences shouldn't be as big. Maybe take €35k off the 1st prize and give bottom seven clubs €5k extra each. LOI clubs should be looking to make more money in the new Europa Conference

If there's 600,000 euro in the pot, splitting it twenty ways leaves us with 30,000 euro each. I still maintain this country has the potential for a far more lucrative league where it not for chronic mismanagement, and maybe then the money would be more worth equally splitting.

Most leagues in Europe are dominated by 1 to 3 clubs, we should be trying to avoid that but the horse may have already bolted

[placid casual]

I dunno if it's being discussed on another thread (please move if that's the case), but there's talk that the watchloi won't be continued for next season, as its not "financially viable".
What the f***!?!?
Am I correct in thinking that most LOI clubs subsidised/fully paid for their clubs members/ST holders for the service last year? Is the same principle not applicable for next season as well then. I know RTÉ are in a hole financially, especially having to pay over the odds for deadbeats like tubridy & duffy, but surely even they can see the merit of making an effort to broadcast the elite men's game on this island.
If not, it needs a whole lotta maxis turning up in donnybrook with the petrol cans.

[EatYerGreens]

I dunno if it's being discussed on another thread (please move if that's the case), but there's talk that the watchloi won't be continued for next season, as its not "financially viable".
What the f***!?!?
Am I correct in thinking that most LOI clubs subsidised/fully paid for their clubs members/ST holders for the service last year? Is the same principle not applicable for next season as well then. I know RTÉ are in a hole financially, especially having to pay over the odds for deadbeats like tubridy & duffy, but surely even they can see the merit of making an effort to broadcast the elite men's game on this island.
If not, it needs a whole lotta maxis turning up in donnybrook with the petrol cans.

I'm not surprised to hear that Watch LOI wasn't viable to be honest. It was a fiver to watch a game as a one-off, and €50-60 to watch them all. So you're probably looking at an average income of somewhere in the region of 2-3 Euro per head per match. A good crowd to watch an LOI game online would probably be a thousand or so (?), with the average probably lower than that. So when you factor in all the costs, the level of demand for the LOI is such that it was always going to be pretty marginal in financial terms.

There's probably scope to keep a limited version of it gong with a) Higher subs, and b) Broadcasts limited to the more popular teams and fixtures (they'll have precise info on that from last year). No disrespect to the specific clubs mentioned here, but fixtures like Longford v Waterford are probably not going to cover their costs with the number of viewers attracted. We have to be realistic about the appeal of our product.

[sbgawa]

Clubs will probably do their own streaming and production values will be tailored for the expected revenues.

Facebook live stream for small clubs with limited revenue.
Decent stream with commentary where the likely buyers would fund the outlay.

Even big clubs (in Irish terms) would struggle to fund it.
Take Rovers with an average attendance in the last season of around 3500 ( i havent checked) id be surprised if that represents more than 2000 family units from what i observe at matches (not even counting mates who would buy together and watch together......i know ...covid etc).
1000 buyers would be a lot

[2 Year Contract]

Who paid for the Doppler Media productions of the games at the UCD Bowl at the end of last season? I wonder if they’d be cheaper? They’re miles ahead of WatchLOI in production quality

[Longfordian]

Longford's one last season was good on the whole. Some initial challenges but they were able to use Facebook Live as a back up and the quality was grand. I'd imagine the lads who were doing it would do it again if allowed to. The Doppler productions were excellent.

[Bucket]

Hopefully Virgin Media take over from RTE. Everything RTE do looks terrible, very amateur-looking productions.

[Martinho II]

Hopefully Virgin Media take over from RTE. Everything RTE do looks terrible, very amateur-looking productions.

Yeah Im surprised VM wasnt never approached. If they dont get it I would like to see them host goals roundup on Monday nights like they did with Trevor Welch all these yrs ago. They always did a way better job than RTE imo but suppose its FAIs call?

[Bucket]

Ah Trevor Welsh, Paul Osam and the Foo Fighters theme tune!
TG4 also used to show live matches, First Division games too.
No reason why the next contract couldn't give one station live matches and highlights for another channel.