Thompson to Plymouth Argyle

[Steve Bruce]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/local/article2780106.ece

This would be a huge loss to Linfield, but if they come in with a sufficient offer, I wouldn't stand in his way. Great player, scores plenty of goals.

I think Thompson can do so much better than playing football on this island.

[Lionel Ritchie]

great move for him if it's on. Could do well in the championship.

[Graemerz]

Show us the money. 32 million from the IFA and £250K + inc. conditions for Thompson. :D

[gustavo]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/local/article2780106.ece

This would be a huge loss to Linfield, but if they come in with a sufficient offer, I wouldn't stand in his way. Great player, scores plenty of goals.

I think Thompson can do so much better than playing football on this island.

Why are you always so negative about football here?

[Sheridan]

I don't know Gustavo, I've noticed that about IL posters too, they seem to have a bizarre, unquestioning reverence towards football in Great Britain and a deeply ingrained inferiority complex.

[Steve Bruce]

Why are you always so negative about football here?

It's not being negative, it's a reality that their is a far higher standard being played on the mainland.

Let's look the differences between mainland football and Irish football on this island.

1)TrainingFacilities on the mainland are by and large a different world to Irish football

2) Football stadia on the mainland is by and large a different world to Irish football

3) The crowds on the mainland is a complete different ball game

4) The exposure of football on the mainland is far superior and is given precendent over any other sport.

5) The standard is by far and away better than this island

6) The money on the mainland is by far and away better

7) The prospects of international football for Northern Ireland and the ROI players is far greater on the mainland than in the Irish League or LOI.

8) Far greater opportunities for the individuals to earn money if they make it.(through sponsorship etc)

The only thing Irish football has to offer these lads is a stepping stone to greater things. Or if they are not good enough to progress to greater things, Irish football can offer a decent wage and some success at local level.

Tell me why any Irish League or LOI player should stick with Irish football if an opportunity of a decent club on the mainland goes in for them?

[Graemerz]

It's not being negative, it's a reality that their is a far higher standard being played on the mainland.

Let's look the differences between mainland football and Irish football on this island.

1)TrainingFacilities on the mainland are by and large a different world to Irish football

2) Football stadia on the mainland is by and large a different world to Irish football

3) The crowds on the mainland is a complete different ball game

4) The exposure of football on the mainland is far superior and is given precendent over any other sport.

5) The standard is by far and away better than this island

6) The money on the mainland is by far and away better

7) The prospects of international football for Northern Ireland and the ROI players is far greater on the mainland than in the Irish League or LOI.

8) Far greater opportunities for the individuals to earn money if they make it.(through sponsorship etc)

The only thing Irish football has to offer these lads is a stepping stone to greater things. Or if they are not good enough to progress to greater things, Irish football can offer a decent wage and some success at local level.

Tell me why any Irish League or LOI player should stick with Irish football if an opportunity of a decent club on the mainland goes in for them?

Love and passion for their local club would be the only one.

[Steve Bruce]

Love and passion for their local club would be the only one.

I think the days of Noel Bailie type players is a thing of the past.

I wouldn't however begrudge anyone a move to English football and I wouldn't think any less of their love and passion for the local game. It his a living afterall. They can come back and support the local game afterwards.

[GavinZac]

mainland.
mainland football

mainland

mainland

mainland

mainland

mainland

mainland

mainland

WUM. :rolleyes:

[Steve Bruce]

WUM. :rolleyes:

What are you on about?

The mainland teminology is used on a daily basis.

But it does say a lot about you, that I make 8 valid points and all you can pick on is my terminology of mainland Britain. You cannot be that intolerant surely?

[GavinZac]

What are you on about?

The mainland teminology is used on a daily basis.

But it does say a lot about you, that I make 8 valid points and all you can pick on is my terminology of mainland Britain. You cannot be that intolerant surely?
your points may be valid for the IFA league or for the eircom first division. the championship is not "far and away" better than the premier division in any sense. better, as a whole, i'll give it that.

the mainland, unsurprisingly, is mainland europe. maybe certain linfield supporters like to afford britain continent status, or reduce ireland to the isle of man's size, but calling britain the mainland from ireland is like corsicans calling sardinia the mainland :rolleyes:

[Steve Bruce]

your points may be valid for the IFA league or for the eircom first division. the championship is not "far and away" better than the premier division in any sense. better, as a whole, i'll give it that.

the mainland, unsurprisingly, is mainland europe. maybe certain linfield supporters like to afford britain continent status, or reduce ireland to the isle of man's size, but calling britain the mainland from ireland is like corsicans calling sardinia the mainland :rolleyes:

I'm just going to ignore your last paragraph. I've no real time for pettyness over terminology. It's just stupid.

And as for your first paragraph, I'll answer that tomorrow when i should stop laughing my ass off at such rubbish.

[gustavo]

If it was far and away better then none of our players would ever have been able to move from our league to that league and get anywhere near a squad never mind a team.

[Steve Bruce]

If it was far and away better then none of our players would ever have been able to move from our league to that league and get anywhere near a squad never mind a team.

You mean the very best players?

You don't judge yourself as being a certain standard because of a few players. Would their be enough players currently in the Championship/Premier League that has came from the LOI to form a squad of 20 players?

You judge the standard by results. League 1 at best for any team on this island. I think 3 or 4 teams on this island would sit comfortably in mid table league 1. The rest would be sprinkled among the lower leagues.

This isn't about knocking Irish football. It is about being realistic about things. Believing all the hype is a very dangerous thing to do.

But i'm not going to argue with you. You have your opinion, which I disagree with, i have mine which you are disagreeing with.

[ifk101]

Disappointed that Thompson is possibly going to Plymouth. Would have liked to seen him play in the LOI.

Just on a general note, the Irish League is improving and maybe the LOI clubs should start looking for new blood there. It'd be great if the Irish League could be developed into a feeder league for the LOI. ;)

[Graemerz]

Disappointed that Thompson is possibly going to Plymouth. Would have liked to seen him play in the LOI.

Just on a general note, the Irish League is improving and maybe the LOI clubs should start looking for new blood there. It'd be great if the Irish League could be developed into a feeder league for the LOI. ;)

Never going to happen in our life time. May never happen. Believe it or not our Leagues are not that far apart. Eircom League is better though no doubting that.

[Cymro]

your points may be valid for the IFA league or for the eircom first division. the championship is not "far and away" better than the premier division in any sense. better, as a whole, i'll give it that.



Think of it this way. If you put all the Eircom League teams in the Championship how would they fare?

I'd imagine most if not all would be doing extremely well to stay up, considering even top Eircom League players do not always succeed in the Championship, eg Jason Byrne. Put a top Championship player in the Eircom League, on the other hand, and he'll run the show. Even players who haven't managed to make the grade in League One can still go back to Ireland and get a contract. Case in point-Gareth Farrelly, rejected by Blackpool (?)

Another point-OK, maybe you can't read too much into this, since it's a friendly, but UCD just drew 1-1 with Stockport. UCD are halfway into their season, Stockport are on their first pre-season match. Stockport are a good League Two side and will probably be in the promotion shake-up next year but are nowhere near Championship standard. UCD on the other hand are a fairly typical mid-table side in Ireland.

Another friendly result from last night-Bray 0 Wolves 4.

Make what you will of the above facts.

[EalingGreen]

On the subject of relative standards of the two Leagues in Ireland vis-a-vis the Championship etc, I'm with Steve Bruce all they way.

You only need to look at three aspects to "prove" this, imo.

First, London alone has twice the population of Ireland, but only a third of the number of "senior" clubs. It would be surprising if the second tier of London clubs (i.e. the Championship) were not some way ahead of even the best of Irish clubs, standard-wise. And that's before you even get to non-London clubs, like Wolves, Southampton, the two Sheffields etc, drawing from a talent-pool seven or eight times that of Ireland's.

Second, Championship Clubs are all full-time and pay considerably higher wages than Eircom or Carnegie clubs. If the average Eircom/Carnegie player was good enough to cut it in the Championship, there would be many more travelling over to play in England - if only for a few years, whilst they made their pile. After all, there are any number of players from European countries with stronger Leagues than either in Ireland, who think it worthwhile to move to England.

Finally, there is the "Does she have a sister?" factor! English clubs are desperate to find low-cost, high-quality talent from any source. If it is available from close to home, so much the better. Therefore, when they see the success of individuals like Kevin Doyle, you can be pretty sure they're spending ever more time to find the next Doyle; the fact that relatively few have followed, and hardly any to his level of success, indicates to me that he is (sadly) the exception that proves the Rule, namely, that the average Eircom or Carnegie player (esp) simply could not "cut it" at Championship Level.

(Phew! All that and not one single reference to "the mainland", even though I live on it ;))

[Not Brazil]

I bumped into Holloway and another PAFC Official after the game last night - the Official said they were over to look at one of the Swedish players.:confused:

[half_full]

It's not being negative, it's a reality that their is a far higher standard being played on the mainland.

Let's look the differences between mainland football and Irish football on this island.

1)TrainingFacilities on the mainland are by and large a different world to Irish football

2) Football stadia on the mainland is by and large a different world to Irish football

3) The crowds on the mainland is a complete different ball game

4) The exposure of football on the mainland is far superior and is given precendent over any other sport.

5) The standard is by far and away better than this island

6) The money on the mainland is by far and away better

7) The prospects of international football for Northern Ireland and the ROI players is far greater on the mainland than in the Irish League or LOI.

8) Far greater opportunities for the individuals to earn money if they make it.(through sponsorship etc)

The only thing Irish football has to offer these lads is a stepping stone to greater things. Or if they are not good enough to progress to greater things, Irish football can offer a decent wage and some success at local level.

Tell me why any Irish League or LOI player should stick with Irish football if an opportunity of a decent club on the mainland goes in for them?

I didn't know Belfast was an island:eek:

[BleusAvantTout]

I do know that Oireland did nothing until they had a BRITISH manager!!! :p :D ;)

[half_full]

not to pushed on the old internationals myself, BTID:p:p:p

[DmanDmythDledge]

Another point-OK, maybe you can't read too much into this, since it's a friendly, but UCD just drew 1-1 with Stockport. UCD are halfway into their season, Stockport are on their first pre-season match. Stockport are a good League Two side and will probably be in the promotion shake-up next year but are nowhere near Championship standard. UCD on the other hand are a fairly typical mid-table side in Ireland.
We only had half of our regular line up starting, Stockport were at full strength.

Agree with your other points though.

[TonyD]

.
(Phew! All that and not one single reference to "the mainland", even though I live on it ;))

What a coincidence, so do I :p