Keely on Limerick - An outside view

Taken from eleven-a-side.com

Keely impressed with Limerick progress


August 23, 2005

Dublin City manager Dermot Keely has backed Limerick FC to make a long-awaited return to the top flight under the current management team at Hogan Park.

Keely’s side were knocked off the summit of the First Division table by the Blues last weekend, two goals from Tommy Barrett giving Noel O’Connor’s side all three points on Shannonside.

And the veteran boss believes that, under O’Connor and ambitious chairman Danny Drew, Limerick will be a force to reckoned with at the top table in the coming years.

In his column in the Irish Sun, Keely wrote: “From what I can see, they people down there are doing a great job running that club. Noel O’Connor has done things properly with the team and they are in good shape.

“It won’t be too long before they are back in the Premier Division if they keep it up. The eircom League needs a Limerick team in the top division and they are going about it the right way.

“Seeing their chairman Danny Drew in action too was extremely interesting. He is a bundle of energy and you can see how much he puts into it. He was running across the pitch with the team-sheets just before kick-off and you get the impression that he is only a step from joining in the warm-up with the team!

“He has had his run-ins with some people. But perhaps they should step back and look at what he has done for the club.”

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

Taken from eleven-a-side.com

you get the impression that he is only a step from joining in the warm-up with the team!

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I'm starting to think that's his plan to be honest. :)

Birds of a feather hoof together, it would seem. You can do without this kind of endorsement.

Do I detect a subtle dig at Sweat (a better servant to Dublin City than the Hooped Hoofer will ever be) in the final sentence?

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Originally Posted by Sheridan

Do I detect a subtle dig at Sweat (a better servant to Dublin City than the Hooped Hoofer will ever be) in the final sentence?

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Thomas McGauley, Derek McCarthy, the fans Drew called Scumbags, the fans who tried to organise an away presence in Galway, anybody who dares to criticise any facet of the club online, the rest of the support for not building a statue outside Hogan Park yet, you for putting up your last post, me for answering it, the guy who looked funny at him yessterday, Paddy Purcell for not coming back... I could go on but I think the point is made to be honest.

Was just coming on to post that ridiculous pro-Danny column in the Sun today. Honestly how much do you think Keely was given to write that tripe? Makes no mention of the wrong decisions made by Drew, or his treatment of any criticism, suggestions, support in regards to the club. And does anyone honestly believe that seeing the chairman leg it across the pitch with the team sheets moments before kick off is a good impression to give to anyone? Obviously Keely would have thought Danny shouting at the ref at Cobh after the game, calling the Limerick supporters scumbags, frightening the Sligo crowd half to death and being a general nutjob was extremely interesting too then. Absolute Grade A muppet is all Keely is, actually balls to this, I'm firing off a e mail to the Sun right now! :)

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Originally Posted by sligoman

“He has had his run-ins with some people. But perhaps they should step back and look at what he has done for the club.”

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I know a lot of Limercik fans are unhappy with some of the things that have gone on in the club this year. And in some cases i can see why you are unhappy.

But look at it this way last year Limerick were the laughing stock of the league, and now your signing former premiership footballers and are in contention for promotion. the progress made this year has been massive.

(I cant believe I have just agreed with Dermot Keely)

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Originally Posted by jebus

Was just coming on to post that ridiculous pro-Danny column in the Sun today. Honestly how much do you think Keely was given to write that tripe? Makes no mention of the wrong decisions made by Drew, or his treatment of any criticism, suggestions, support in regards to the club. And does anyone honestly believe that seeing the chairman leg it across the pitch with the team sheets moments before kick off is a good impression to give to anyone? Obviously Keely would have thought Danny shouting at the ref at Cobh after the game, calling the Limerick supporters scumbags, frightening the Sligo crowd half to death and being a general nutjob was extremely interesting too then. Absolute Grade A muppet is all Keely is, actually balls to this, I'm firing off a e mail to the Sun right now! :)

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Yeah, I think you should stop anyone writing anything positive about the club in the national media too. We don't need this positive view of the club abroad. In fact, you are right to just stop anyone saying anything you don't agree with. :rolleyes: (By the way, that's sarcasm). Maybe this is just your wish for the club to "implode" manifesting itself again. :)

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

“It won’t be too long before they are back in the Premier Division if they keep it up. The eircom League needs a Limerick team in the top division and they are going about it the right way.

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Unlike his own team Dublin City who would be no addition to the premier,or first division if the truth be told.

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

Yeah, I think you should stop anyone writing anything positive about the club in the national media too. We don't need this positive view of the club abroad. In fact, you are right to just stop anyone saying anything you don't agree with. :rolleyes: (By the way, that's sarcasm). Maybe this is just your wish for the club to "implode" manifesting itself again. :)

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Take the head out of the sand again LFC In Exile and read the bloody article, all I'm saying is that he was clearly put up to writing it by someone at the club because he obvioulsy hasn't been following the events at Limerick this season as much as he would like his readers to believe. Either that or his lack of including any points in regards to the negative side of Danny Drew's ownership of this club is just poor journalism.

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Originally Posted by jebus

just poor journalism.

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In The Sun??? Surely not! :eek: :D

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Originally Posted by jebus

Take the head out of the sand again LFC In Exile and read the bloody article, all I'm saying is that he was clearly put up to writing it by someone at the club because he obvioulsy hasn't been following the events at Limerick this season as much as he would like his readers to believe. Either that or his lack of including any points in regards to the negative side of Danny Drew's ownership of this club is just poor journalism.

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I know what you were saying - but it is just silly really. Someone at the club put him up to writing it? Hardly. And after all Keely isn't a journalist - he's a bad football manager so we can hardly expect John Pilger type essays. After all he's no Damien Richardson. In fact, Keely probbaly just phoned some lad working in teh Sun and they had a chat that the reporter had to write up. "How did ye get on this week Mr Keely". "Beaten by that shower in Limerick". "Are they any good?" "They're alright - they are a lot better than a couple of seasons ago". This gets written up as "Limerick FC on the up and up".

I know you have issues with DD but you can hardly blame him for getting positive reviews of the team in the newspaper. If he wasn't doing it he'd be getting slagged off for not getting us any proper press coverage. Even if he did put Keely up to it good for him - hope he puts a few more papers up to it.

He probably didn't put in all the negatives because he doesn't know about them. He hardly reads this forum and if you ask any fan of other clubs about Limerick they will say that things are going really well becaus ethey will look at the league table and compare it to previous years. Just like we do with other clubs.

So, instead of me taking my head out of the sand perhaps it is more a case of other fans taking off their blinkers and trying to look at things with a bit more balance. Not everything is black and white, bad guys and good guys. And DD isn't Darth Vader. :)

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

And DD isn't Darth Vader. :)

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He's not tall enough. :)

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

And DD isn't Darth Vader

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I know he isn't, Vader can take an insult better than Danny :)

But my main point about Keely's column was that it was like reading the weekly 'All Is Good At Limerick FC' column in the Limerick Post, which seems to remind us week in and week out what a great guy Danny Drew is. So if the same 50euro wasn't paid to Keely then I'd be wondering why if I were him

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Originally Posted by jebus

it was like reading the weekly 'All Is Good At Limerick FC' column in the Limerick Post

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To be fair I think that the guy in the post (Niall Cantrall? :confused:) isn't bad at all. At least he acknowledges that things have happened that have annoyed some of the support. It beats the coverage in The Limerick Leader anyway.

There's a huge story there if they were bothered to actually write it.

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Originally Posted by jebus

I know he isn't, Vader can take an insult better than Danny :)

But my main point about Keely's column was that it was like reading the weekly 'All Is Good At Limerick FC' column in the Limerick Post, which seems to remind us week in and week out what a great guy Danny Drew is. So if the same 50euro wasn't paid to Keely then I'd be wondering why if I were him

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But my main point is that Keely doesn't give a fcuk about what is going on at Limerick and probably couldn't be ars ed finding out. He has a column to fill each week and fills it with whatever he can. what do you expect from keely, investigative journalism.

SLK, I am not sure there is a 'huge story' there. We care about it but I doubt many others do. And "Football Chairman hated by fans" is hardly unusual. It is impossible to get away from the point that the club is in a better financial and footballing position this year than it was last year. And the extent to which this is due to DD or in spite of DD is open to dispute. And "Fans think team should be doing better" again is not unusual. In fact I'd say it is the view of every single football fan of every single football team in teh world. :ball:

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Originally Posted by LFC in Exile

SLK, I am not sure there is a 'huge story' there.

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Are you serious? Players being forced to go and play for other clubs, players leaving after rowing with the chairman, manager claiming to be writing his own programme notes, chairman verbally attacking some of his own support, an assistant manager who can't keep still, an international kicking his heels on the bench, the whole Rio O'Brien debacle, ex Premiership pro arriving to steady the promotion push. That's about half of what's happened maybe. The casual reader would definitely read that with some interest if anybody bothered to cover it.

Let's face it, we've been the eL version of 'Dream team' this season, minus the fit women. Far more entertaining than some of the football itself.