Uniteds O'Flynn Unhappy

[Fivesilver]

"Transfer-listed striker Galway United striker Stephen O’Flynn has slammed the club for their lack of loyalty, insisting they are wrong to let him leave..." link >> (http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/06/06/eLOI-OFlynn-on-Galway-exit/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/football/)

Apparently it's so they can afford a proper diet for the remaining players . . .
"O’Flynn, along with six other players, have been told they are no longer wanted at Terryland Park as the Tribesmen struggle to make ends meat". :D

[Mr A]

What a whinging ballbag.

[Demoshield]

He claims "I played a lot of last season carrying injuries".
He was on the pitch for 19 league games & came on as a sub for 3 more. This season he has started 4 and was a sub in 2. Thats aprox 60% of the games he was with GUFC for. I wouldn't call that alot. He is currently injured again.

[finnpark]

In fairness he always give 100% which cannot be said for most Galway players.

I heard last week that Galway were in serious finance trouble, Im sure they will be back again if they hold onto Kenna and Leeson. Their greatest problem is their lack of local players and lack of youth development.

[jebus]

, Im sure they will be back again if they hold onto Kenna and Leeson.

What makes you say that? Kenna is unproven (although has started well enough), and Leeson, well with his history in finance I'm not sure he should inspire total confidence. Plus isn't he the man who has gotten them into this position? The jump to a 100% full time club was a very risky move based purely on hoping the crowds would flock to Terryland with Premier football. The club should have known better, they should have gone with 13-14 full timers backed up with their youth and A League teams (this season)

[Fivesilver]

Leeson, well with his history in finance I'm not sure he should inspire total confidence. Plus isn't he the man who has gotten them into this position? The jump to a 100% full time club was a very risky move based purely on hoping the crowds would flock to Terryland with Premier football.

"Hmm - I'll just take a bit more risk here and the dividends will be such that it'll all have been worth it" - bit of deja vu there, no? :rolleyes:

Seriously, though, Jebus is spot-on. Why is everyone convinced that Leeson is the messiah? There seems to be an obsession in Galway with hype over substance. When Kenna was hired, one of the comments here was to the effect that he was already a success because it got heavy coverage in the media.

Even now over on the Galway section there seems little recognition of what it means to throw half a dozen experienced players out of a football club with sod-all notice - 'business is business' was one comment. Seems like the 'spreadsheet promotion' did a lot to insulate them against the concept that the team could actually do with being some bloody good before unilaterally declaring itself one of a spuriously concocted 'Big Five'.

You'd have to wonder if Kenna was told when he joined that within weeks he'd be expected to dump a load of players. Don't reckon that was part of the five-year plan.

[jebus]

There seems to be an obsession in Galway with hype over substance.

I know some Galway fans will expect me to start gloating about this but I'll try not to lob that stone through the Limerick glass house. Anyway I think where Galway have fallen down is that they expected too much of the barstoolers in Galway. They did seem to think that by going full time and calling themselves a big club that it would somehow magic in a whole new set of fans on top of their die hards, something which makes me think Leeson and his team don't fully understand this league

I'd assume Kenna was told he would have to cut players to bring in new faces though

[Réiteoir]

Galway crisis forces player cuts

June 6, 2008

Galway United Football Club has been forced to release six players from its first-team squad due to lower than projected revenue returns this season.

The club was forced to act after lower income streams endangered the 65 per cent player salary agreement imposed on clubs by the FAI at the start of this year.

In a statement, Galway revealed that “many revenue streams were behind projection and unlikely to improve significantly before the end of the season.

“As this impacts adversely on the Salary Cost Protocol that all Eircom League Of Ireland clubs must adhere to, Galway United found themselves in serious danger of breaching this requirement.”

Goalkeeper Alvin Rouse, defenders John Lester and Wes Charles, midfielders Ciaran Foley and Daryl Robson and striker Stephen O’Flynn have all been informed that the will be released at the end of June.

Club chief executive officer Nick Leeson said: “It is with deep regret that we have had to take this course of action. It is absolutely no reflection on the individuals concerned but is driven purely by financial pressure.

“The club has suffered significantly in recent months from the general economic downturn that is affecting so many businesses throughout the country. Season ticket sales were down sharply, fundraising is behind target and advertising continues to sell poorly.

“In recent weeks falling gate receipts have added to the problem and prompted such action to ensure the long-term future of the football club.”

[MyTown]

In fairness he always give 100%

Fair comment. We just didn't see enough of him with his injuries.


The jump to a 100% full time club was a very risky move based purely on hoping the crowds would flock to Terryland with Premier football.

Fair comment - albeit with the benefit of hindsight.

There seems to be an obsession in Galway with hype over substance.

Even now over on the Galway section there seems little recognition of what it means to throw half a dozen experienced players out of a football club with sod-all notice - 'business is business' was one comment. Seems like the 'spreadsheet promotion' did a lot to insulate them against the concept that the team could actually do with being some bloody good before unilaterally declaring itself one of a spuriously concocted 'Big Five'.

You'd have to wonder if Kenna was told when he joined that within weeks he'd be expected to dump a load of players. Don't reckon that was part of the five-year plan.

Give us a break Fivesilver. Your first criticism of hype over substance is 100%valid. We created a marketing monster with the IAG process and now chickens are mercilessly coming home to roost. Try to conceal your joy.

The notion that anyone would be immune to the feelings of people who have lost their jobs might also be true. But it's not in my case. Even if I supported the Board in its decision to sack Tony Cousins, I honestly felt for his wife and young family. Similarly, with the lads who were named on our official website last night. I have nothing but thanks to them for their efforts & best wishes to them for the future in whatever walk of life. Football mirrors life in so many ways.


I know some Galway fans will expect me to start gloating about this but I'll try not to lob that stone through the Limerick glass house.

Never:D

Anyway I think where Galway have fallen down is that they expected too much of the barstoolers in Galway. They did seem to think that by going full time and calling themselves a big club that it would somehow magic in a whole new set of fans on top of their die hards, something which makes me think Leeson and his team don't fully understand this league

I'd assume Kenna was told he would have to cut players to bring in new faces though

Again a fair and remarkably perceptive comment coming from you, ya so-and-so, given that I presume you haven't been within a 10 mile radius of the city in recent times.:p

Munster Rugby is the only template worth copying. I cannot see a similar success in the Eircom Leaguue for a team from west of the Shannon in my lifetime.

[jebus]

My God a Galway fan who didn't throw a tantrum at me saying something negative about an aspect of their club, will wonders ever cease? :)

Still I'll extend the First Division's first welcome home at this stage :D (That cracked the glass, didn't go through though:))

[Terry-Lander]

My God a Galway fan who didn't throw a tantrum at me saying something negative about an aspect of their club, will wonders ever cease? :)

Still I'll extend the First Division's first welcome home at this stage :D (That cracked the glass, didn't go through though:))


Ouch!

[pateen]

A sad state really.

There isn’t a great heart in GUFC. I lived there for 7 years and went to about 30 - 40 games. Compared to Cork, Bohs or SRFC the atmosphere was always dull.

Instead of jumping around, claps went around when goals went in and these generally were not claps over your head. Younger fans were better but the lack of older more loyal fans really showed. Also I only every remember 3 songs. United, da da da, United da da da, we all live in a terry terry land and we hate Sligo. Not great.

Anyway my point is that they couldn’t have expected the 3000+ crowd to last for every.
Sorry for Galway but it would be nice to see some Galway business gets behind the club. Let’s hope you don’t go down too.

[pineapple stu]

Anyway I think where Galway have fallen down is that they expected too much of the barstoolers in Galway. They did seem to think that by going full time and calling themselves a big club that it would somehow magic in a whole new set of fans on top of their die hards, something which makes me think Leeson and his team don't fully understand this league
To be honest, that seems to be the overriding principle behind the new league we find ourselves in, and indeed behind any proposed AIL. Everyone seems to want to put the cart before the horse - I recall gufct on the Galway forum saying something like "If the people of Galway want a top six team, they're going to have to pay for it" - and then people are stunned when it all falls apart. There is no quick fix solution to football on this island - not a new FAI super duper league with Galway instead of Dundalk, not an AIL, not extensive TV coverage. The sooner clubs realise this, accept it and try and improve steadily within than constriction, the faster we can move on, ironically.

All credit to Galway though; they have at least reacted to their current situation. They may well go down because of it, but at least they'll have less of a distance to climb to get themselves back up.

We don't get fooled again

[Rovers fan]

tbh o'flynn is probably the worst player I've seen all season(thats based on games played against us btw). He seemed very slow and generally of the pace of the game. When he luckily was presented with a half chance he blazed it way over iirc.

[Ceirtlis]

The problem with doing 5 year plans and going full-time is that if you scratch the surface at most eircom league clubs then the amount of dedicated support is actually worse, especially at clubs like Galway, than it seems from just looking at the overall average attendance figures for the league. Our crowds can go from 300 to 3000 depending on where we are in the league.

The 5 year plan was always doomed to failure because it aimed to have 2500 people attending matches on a regular basis, but the thing is there are not many teams who get the same attendances year in year out in the el, it all depends on where the team is in the league at the time and that will override any honest efforts made to promote the club in the media. I saw last year how the Promotions Officer award was given to the Cobh PO last year. Im not saying he didnt go a good job, but I think the award missed the point seen as they had a noticable upturn in performance on the field. I would love to see a case where a club has improved its attendances noticably through promotion while the clubs performance on the field stayed the same.

Having said all that i cant really criticise the club for attempting to push the side in to the top six in the premier division. It is hard just to accept being in the first division with crowds of 500 and say "this is the constraints we have to work within". It wasnt a case of living the dream just attempting to build up the club. At least they are now acting quickly to make sure we dont go over that wage cap, a points deduction would be the nail in the coffin for the league this season.

O'Flynn is just injury prone, if he played alot of games for us injured last season then when was he ever fit. He spent a whole season out a few years ago didnt he, with Cork i think. Tony Cousins signed a good few like him Chris Armstrong who played a couple of games and had to be paid off due to injury, Ollie Fenn and Daryl Robson had fairly desperate injury records as well and i dont know what his injury record was but Mensah had to have his contract paid up after one game as well because of injury. I am a bit confused about the line in that report about the players being told they wont be paid after a certain date, you cant just say that to someone, a contract is a contract.

[Paddyfield]

Rumour around Galway is that O'Flynn is going to Cobh.

[Fivesilver]

Anyway, congrats on your win in the cup.

I might make plenty of cruel comments about GUFC, but just so there's no misunderstanding, I never have a problem with anything your players achieve on the field - it's all the PR nonsense that gets on my wick. As I said before, if you get relegated and then come up by earning enough points on the pitch, fair play.

Call me a grudge-holder, but I've found it hard to be any way charitable toward Galway since that **** in the Advertiser celebrated the beginning of Galway's stint back in the Premier with a ludicrous editorial that consisted mostly of backhanded, condescending swipes toward Sligo - the comparative performances of the two teams since have hopefully set that imbecile right, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[eamo1]

A few clubs are having to cull a few players i hear to stay in line with the Cap.We CAN still stay up,a review can then be made for ticket prices next season etc.We have had a brutal start to the Season but are only 5 points from safety,its NOT impossible.The only one of those 6 we will miss is Wes.
KEEP THE FAITH.

[DotTV]

As bad as it is to have to chop players, this is a pro-active step from GUFC. They are in a position where their finances are well planned and future dips in funding can be foreseen and actioned on, as in this case.
I'd much rather see this than the club blindly thinking they can pull out if it and going completley bust in a few years.