Will Derry city win the league next season?

[Candystripe]

Yes, we all know Derry is now owned (more or less) by someone who has $2billion in his bank and has confirmed that he wants Derry to win the league asap.
That's actually more money than most top clubs in the EPL owners have!

What is your opinion of how things will work out?
Remember that Philip O' Doherty has been a lifelong Derry city fan.
He won't sh1t on Derry unlike what's being happening in Dundalk.

[Bucket]

He could spend a billion on Derry and still be a billionaire, crazy. It might take Higgins a couple of seasons, like Bradley, to win a league. He's still learning his trade. Unless ye start signing €20k a week type players

[Candystripe]

He could spend a billion on Derry and still be a billionaire, crazy. It might take Higgins a couple of seasons, like Bradley, to win a league. He's still learning his trade. Unless ye start signing €20k a week type players

TBF Higgins has already over achieved this season considering the team he took over.
Rumours are Derry are signing 5 more top LOI players plus an Irish current international regular.
It'll be interesting to watch though.

[Bucket]

James McClean? You're going to need a lot more seats!

[sbgawa]

It wont be easy for Higgins to gel a team togther bringing in 5 or 6 more players.
Rovers handled Derry very easily the last time we played them i think the gap is bigger then people realise.
Higgins has done well in the league since taking over but the league this year is made up of 1 good team , 1 bad team and 8 teams that are all just about ok.
Being better then the rest wont be enough to be better than Rovers unless he brings in real quality.
That being said Rovers have relied on a lot of late goals and are bout to lose Joey O Brien who has been a rock for us.
WE need a couple of quality signings if we are to start winning games with a bit more ease, oh to have Jack or Aaron back.

[pineapple stu]

£1.5 was a lot for Shels to p!ss away, but they managed it.

€7m was a lot for Dundalk to p!ss away, but they managed it.

$2bn seems quite a lot for Derry to p!ss away. I look forward to seeing how they manage it :)

[Nesta99]

It wont be easy for Higgins to gel a team togther bringing in 5 or 6 more players.
Rovers handled Derry very easily the last time we played them i think the gap is bigger then people realise.
Higgins has done well in the league since taking over but the league this year is made up of 1 good team , 1 bad team and 8 teams that are all just about ok.
Being better then the rest wont be enough to be better than Rovers unless he brings in real quality.
That being said Rovers have relied on a lot of late goals and are bout to lose Joey O Brien who has been a rock for us.
WE need a couple of quality signings if we are to start winning games with a bit more ease, oh to have Jack or Aaron back.

I dont really agree that the gap is that big at all, it never is in LoI imo and a couple of key signings turns bog standard mid-tablers in to challengers - pick up a 20+ goal striker (and a good keeper) and yer well on track. The Maguire season while not common, shows that a striker hits that form and anythings possible. With the better quality players that you'd expect Derry to be in for they will gel quick enough, some (hope there is a chance to halt the numbers now) will have been teammates already, familiar with the league, heading home to familiar surroundings so shortens that settling in period, Very different obviously if there is a tighter budget and a team has to be moulded with incremental improvement. Kenny wasnt far off in 2013 with a bunch of journeymen and players we wanted to see the back of eg Shields.

As for managers, I think Higgins will grow very quickly in to he role if not already, in comparison Bradley may have peaked who has looked tactically fooked at times especially in Europe but in general when his game plan isnt working - he's a pre prep manager rather than a dynamic one, though that can be offset with the right assistant.

Squads, well Derry is still an unknown but looking very handy already with robbing the 2 lads from Dundalk as confirmed so far. Rovers also have important signings to make and holes to fill unless young lads are brought through and backed. If Derry have the money how about the 'current Irish internationl' linked being Byrne, is he still a free agent and would immediately caue jitters for other clubs looking to put in a challenge (just imagine if McEneff got homesick...).

Soooo we wont have a notion untill next autumn, Derry as 2022 champions is possible, there will be no room for sluggish starts, dropping points and getting away with it as 7 or 8 teams slug it out for the minor placings like this season. All this not including Pats, Sligo improving too.

[DCWA]

Whilst I contuously say we will as a wind up my genuine opinion would be that we will be challengers but may not do it next season. We will win it soon though, Phil said within 3 years and I have no doubts that will be the case.

That being said, it is a very poor league atm (I maintain it contains no good teams this year) and it might not take all much to turn it round so we will see.

[Lim till i die]

Accountants of foot, is it fair to say he could put 500 million of his millions in a fund somewhere, call that the Derry city fund, still have one thousand five hundred millions to play with for the rest of his life, and run Derry off the interest with a budget many, many, multiples of what any other Irish team would have?

I know that assumes he has all the two billion in cash in a big bag somewhere but you know what I mean.

McClean is a no brainer (and not just cos it's poppy season lulz) and probably Duffy will have his money made in a year or two as well?

Looking at it they should basically dominate Irish football forever

And a good thing too the soundest folk in the league are Derry folk now that I'm no longer involved in the league.

[pineapple stu]

What is this "interest" you speak of?

AIB are currently charging you 1.1% per annum for the privilege of holding your money for you (on balances over a million). You could invest it more actively I suppose (say, in homes that peasants want to buy and live in), though that requires more management and maybe cost in terms of someone to manage the fund.

Probably there's special rules for people worth actual billions though.

[Lim till i die]

I was more thinking a nice, lazy, five percent return kind of like investment fund linked to the s & p or something but I will admit to having only the vaguest idea what I'm talking about

[pineapple stu]

Yeah, in theory it's certainly quite possible alright. It'd be a bit harder than doing it, say, 15 years ago. But if your opening sentence is "Hello. I have half a billion to invest", you will get a different set of doors being opened to you.

[EatYerGreens]

Yeah, in theory it's certainly quite possible alright. It'd be a bit harder than doing it, say, 15 years ago. But if your opening sentence is "Hello. I have half a billion to invest", you will get a different set of doors being opened to you.

If you're reading this Philip O'Doherty, my cousin is a Nigerian Prince and has just won the African lottery big time ! Only problem is that for religious and cultural reasons he doesn't have a bank account to collect the winnings with. So if he could just borrow your bank account to get the money sent to whilst he gets his own set up from scratch, he'll split the winnings with you. And you can buy yourself another centre-forward with your share. You in ?

[Nesta99]

If you're reading this Philip O'Doherty, my cousin is a Nigerian Prince and has just won the African lottery big time ! Only problem is that for religious and cultural reasons he doesn't have a bank account to collect the winnings with. So if he could just borrow your bank account to get the money sent to whilst he gets his own set up from scratch, he'll split the winnings with you. And you can buy yourself another centre-forward with your share. You in ?

It's as plausible as a multi billionaire owning a LoI club, playing out of a council owned ground as the club waits for public money from a different 'country' to the one the rest of the league is played in to move to stages 2 and 3 of development and that that additional capacity would sell out. But then we have just had about 12k people attend 1st Division games in the last week or so. As another LoI club is sold by their billionaire owners 'cause they were really bad business people!?

[Calcio Jack]

It wont be easy for Higgins to gel a team togther bringing in 5 or 6 more players.
Rovers handled Derry very easily the last time we played them i think the gap is bigger then people realise.
Higgins has done well in the league since taking over but the league this year is made up of 1 good team , 1 bad team and 8 teams that are all just about ok.
Being better then the rest wont be enough to be better than Rovers unless he brings in real quality.
That being said Rovers have relied on a lot of late goals and are bout to lose Joey O Brien who has been a rock for us.
WE need a couple of quality signings if we are to start winning games with a bit more ease, oh to have Jack or Aaron back.

All going to plan we’ll have one of them back

[GUFCghost]

Any plan to finish the new stand in the Brandywell?
First thing any club with any amount of cash should do is make sure they have a stadium and a training ground, that way you'll have something left when it's all gone tits up

[EatYerGreens]

Any plan to finish the new stand in the Brandywell?
First thing any club with any amount of cash should do is make sure they have a stadium and a training ground, that way you'll have something left when it's all gone tits up

The council is holding out for money from Stormont to finish the new stand there, but it's dragging on forever and is far from guaranteed.

O'Doherty is funding a new training academy for the club, but seems to have no interest in leaving the Brandywell. A huge mistake in my view, as the club's income is very limited there and it couldn't even win the discussion with the council about grass vs plastic pitch.

[Martinho II]

The council is holding out for money from Stormont to finish the new stand there, but it's dragging on forever and is far from guaranteed.

O'Doherty is funding a new training academy for the club, but seems to have no interest in leaving the Brandywell. A huge mistake in my view, as the club's income is very limited there and it couldn't even win the discussion with the council about grass vs plastic pitch.

The thing I find intriguing is Stormont arent interested in Derry City cos they are in the LOI would it not make sense to go through the EU or Irish Government or FAI for funding instead? Surely there would be more uptake!

[oriel]

Usually it takes at least 1 year, possibly two to mount a serious title challenge, Derry to be fair have been nowhere near in recent times.

They could certainly put down a marker next year, but I would think it would be 2023 when they will be seen more serious challengers, time will tell.

[EalingGreen]

The thing I find intriguing is Stormont arent interested in Derry City cos they are in the LOI would it not make sense to go through the EU or Irish Government or FAI for funding instead? Surely there would be more uptake!
What makes you think that "Stormont aren't interested in Derry City cos they are in the LOI etc"?

After the Maze Stadium collapsed, the money which had been expected to spent on this was redirected.

The bulk of this was allocated to a Regional Stadium fund - Windsor, Ravenhill and Casement.

After this was distributed (GAA screw up notwithstanding), the next tranche of £36m was to be allocated to a Sub-Regional Stadium fund for football. At the time, it was widely understood that £10m of this would go to Glentoran and £10m to Derry City. (It may not be entirely coincidental that The Oval is in the East Belfast Constituency of then First Minister Peter Robinson and The Brandywell is in the Derry Constituency of then Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness!)

Anyhow,while that money wasn't disbursed on schedule (basically due to the suspension of Stormont), nevertheless it was ringfenced and may only be legally spent for the same purpose.

Of course with over 5 years having passed since the original proposals, it has had to be revisited to ensure that it is is still up-to-date etc.

But with Deirdre Hargey (SF) being responsible for Sport as Communities Minister, Nichola Mallon (SDLP) as Infrastructure Minister and Conor Murphy (SF) as Finance Minister, you shouldn't imagine that Derry City would somehow be excluded simply because they play in the LOI.

[ToberonaTornado]

No. No

[TonyD]

It’s certainly not impossible for Derry to do it next year in my view. It’s all about who they sign, but if they really are splashing the cash to get players, then they will almost certainly be serious challengers at the least.

The gap Rovers had this season doesn’t really mean a lot as far as next year goes, in my view. We’ve seen before how quickly fortunes can change in this league.

[Martinho II]

Yeah maybe Im harsh a bit in my judgement after the carryon in the IFA years back which caused Derry City to leave the NIFL. There does seem to be a lot of positive momentum nowadays with the IFA.

[ger121]

I think with new players coming in and a new enough manager, that next season will be the one where they do put up a title challenge but might come up short. We’ve seen it with other sides finishing 2nd once or twice and then winning a title. I’d be seeing 2023 as the season where they might push on after a very successful 2022 season and win the league.