Galway Top Fantasy Table

Galway Top Fantasy Table
Sunday April 06 2008

Pity poor Tony Cousins, sacked last week after just four games by Galway United, Ireland's leading fantasy football club.

It's only a few months since Galway were named as one of the big eircom League clubs seeking to join an All-Ireland League. With no hint of shame or irony, United met with Cork City, St Pat's, Derry City, Bohemians and Drogheda United to discuss the possibility of jumping to a 32-county competition. And all this from a club who wouldn't even be in the Premier League had they not been promoted on the basis of off the field criteria after finishing behind Dundalk the previous season.

Galway's notion of themselves as members of a big six belies both the fact that there hasn't been a decent team at Terryland in a decade and a half (in fact Cousins' achievement in keeping them in the Premier last year was as good as anyone's managed with these serial underachievers) and the fact that Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers, to name just two, are far more credible participants in any future cross border set-up. Even a small town club like Longford Town have contributed far more to the league in recent times than Galway.

Up to last week the Tribesmen's fantasising was a mere irritation. But that was before Cousins paid the price for a poor, but infinitely retrievable, start to the season.

Cousins then revealed that he'd been expected to produce big six football on the same kind of budget as First Division strugglers Athlone Town. Pat Dolan observed last week that even Sporting Fingal provide their manager with more money than was available to the former Shamrock Rovers striker.

The bottom line is that Cousins has paid the price for Galway's pretence of being a big club. By sacking the manager they can pretend that the club has ambitions to compete with the big boys, other evidence notwithstanding. It's the kind of cheap and shoddy behaviour which brings the league into disrepute.

Hopefully the genuine big guns of Irish soccer will see the Cousins sacking as a demonstration of what Galway United are really about. The disgust expressed by Pat Dolan and Pat Fenlon last week suggests this might just happen. About time too.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...e-1339659.html

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Originally Posted by The Lilywhites

And all this from a club who wouldn't even be in the Premier League had they not been promoted on the basis of off the field criteria after finishing behind Dundalk the previous season.

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Galway were not promoted though because that league was disbanded.

Galway were invited to the premier league initially on criteria that was not based on where they finished in the season before.

The 22 clubs voted to have play offs that season, even though they were always going to be redundant. The play offs were meaningless.

Bit of a weird article. I'm no fan of Galway by any means but I don't see what other option they had than to sack Cousins and I don't see what it has to do with their ambition or lack of ambition to be a top half club. If Galway intend to survive it had to be done. The article also seems to be quoting some massaged figures by Cousins and the disgust of two men with vested interests in the situation to back its point up. A useless piece of writing and unusually aggressive for a broadsheet. I didn't even know anyone in the Independent cared enough about the eL to bother writing something like this.:confused:

i hear they have awfully bitter lemons in dungdalk :)

its already been posted in another thread btw - http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=86977&page=5

do keep up dear :)

I am amazed at the shoddy lunatics that pass for journalists on this island. A tiny piece of research on a forum or a phone call would tell, dolan,sweeney or anyone else that 99% of GUFC fans stayed very silent when cousins went. I have missed 11 home league games since 1977 at terryland and cousins team were by far the most uninspiring team through all that and by god we have had lean years.TC was a rookie manager with no ability to get a team playing for him and the charisma of a gorilla. We have a number of issues at GUFC e.g hike in prices and season tickets which supporters voice opinions on but with cousins only hooball and ****e were the words used by all bar one person i met and i spoke to 35 utd supporters in the last week. Cousins brought in some mindboggling useless signings and continued to down the western region. God be with the days when Richie Blackmore offered his wages back for a poor performance Playing for Galway Utd. TC was a dub spoofer who got found out and I am glad to see the back of him

This really shows up the Independent though. Are they really that out of touch or is it just something knocked up in a few minutes as a space filler?

Shoddy work anyway no matter what that case may be.

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I'll post my rant here as I want it out of my system and I have a funny feeling that I will be moderated!


At best this article is ill informed but looks more like a press release on behalf of Tony Cousins. Can the author honestly say that he saw the "football" that Tony Cousins lead Galway United to play?

Has the author any source other then Tony Cousins to backup the Galway United Budget was the same as the Athlone Town Budget?

The sacking may have been ill timed but not unjustified.

Dundalk and every other club signed up for the new FAI run Eircom LOI and knew that there was a chance that a club would be score equally on and off the Park. I agree that this is a strange way to form a league but all of the clubs agreed to this, hoping that it would lead to greater sustainability.

My last dig will be what will get it not posted though:


"
I am pretty sure that Galway United are not pretending to have ambitions to compete with the "Big Boys", I am sure the author of this article is has ambitions of becoming the sports editor someday.
"

That started out as:

The author is a stupid *********

Glad that from time to time I am reminded why I don't need to buy the independent anytime soon...

The other "poor us Galway United" article in the Mail today article is a classic piece of West of Ireland "poor us" Professional Victim Card carry on. What do they want? A 'Shannon Stop-Over' solution to their problems? League table points being taken away from Dublin clubs and shared between Galway United, Sligo Rovers, Finn Harps and Limerick 37 in the interest of regional balanced development.

I can see O'Cuiv saying this should happen.

bohs have sold their soul....... no western teams will ever do that.
i cant see galway playing in clifden
cant see rovers playing in tubbercurry
cant see harps playing in raphoe

galway should be top six .. they have a good ground , good support and represent a lot more good supporters than bohs ever will.

money is not everything and galway will never sell their soul.

cousins was never the solution but i guarantee if they get the right manager they will be a top six team

Galway are a more credible club than some other "Premier Division" teams. The constant slagging of Galway over how they were promoted is fairly pathetic at this stage.

I am not from Galway but as an outsider looking in Galway seem to be a club with far more ambition than most of the teams around them in the league table. It is obvious that the board felt that TC wasn't matching their ambition so they got rid. The slating they are getting from spoofers like Pat Dolan and Pat Fenlon is ridiculous.

If I were to pick a 2nd favourite team in the league right now I think I would pick Galway.

Keep the faith GUFC. It'll come good in the end. :ball:

Eamonn Sweeny is a LOI man and a true Sligo Rovers fan. He wrote a superb book about following Sligo Rovers which got rave reviews. He seemingly knows a lot about this League and loves it too.

He used to write articles for the now defunct Magpie Magazine where he once wrote a load of lies about Galway United. GUISA (Galway United Independent Supporters Association) responded with letter to the editor which corrected the many untruths in his article.

However, Sweeny's article in the Sunday Independent is a big improvment. He refers to GUFC as "serial underachievers". Wow! That suggests that he expects more from GUFC. He was let down. The Board's ambition for this year is survival in the Premier Divison. No, not to win the League or the Champion's League. Just to finish higher than the 8th spot of last year. Mind you, he reckons that the dismissal of Tony the Taxi Driver "brings the game into disrepute" but didn't explain how. Sure didn't his beloved Sligo dump a manager before he had a chance to sign a contract, just days before a season started. They had every right to that too.


In defence of Eamonn Sweeny, he couldn't possibly understand the real feelings behind the dismissal of Cousins. You'd need to be living in Galway to do that (which is another kettle of fish, especially if you commute 120 miles to work every day). To grasp what really happened behind the scenes, read the back page of last Friday's Galway City Tribune*. It paints the real picture. Harsh reality without spin.


*Could someone post it up here?

Sweeney's article is a load of ill-informed nonsense. Not a rarity in the Sindo I admit.

Cousins' sacking seems to have given some carte blanche to pursue personal vendettas in print.

we in sligo have had our share of bad managers and you cant blame the board for not availing of the services of rob mcdonald.

however i feel that tony cousins is unproven to say the least

its a cheap shot to blame a clubs directors for getting rid of an underperforming manager.

the real supporters know that cousins had not a clue and they are the ones that count.. not dolan sweeney or other scribes..

billy clery seems a good guy and i hope he gets a fair crack of the whip.

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Originally Posted by Paddyfield

Eamonn Sweeny is a LOI man and a true Sligo Rovers fan. He wrote a superb book about following Sligo Rovers which got rave reviews. He seemingly knows a lot about this League and loves it too.

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Seemingly is the all important word there Paddy. You rightly point out his book on Sligo Rovers was widely praised. I thought it was pants. He would not be unique in cashing in on his passionate support :rolleyes: for his club.

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Originally Posted by Paddyfield

In defence of Eamonn Sweeny, he couldn't possibly understand the real feelings behind the dismissal of Cousins.

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Are you joking? This is no defence for writing this rubbish & taking a hefty fee for it. I'd forgive him if he passed on the SIndo's cheque to the Showgrunds. Eamonn Sweeney is to sports journalism what Roddy Collins is to Soccer Management...poorly researched, full of hyperbole (sorry that should be all mouth:p) and ready to spew any kind of tripe to meet a copy deadline.

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Originally Posted by Paddyfield

To grasp what really happened behind the scenes, read the back page of last Friday's Galway City Tribune. It paints the real picture. Harsh reality without spin.

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Fair comment Paddy, one of Keith's best pieces IMO.

How their Chief Editor has remained in the job is a joke really.Its gone down the tubes in recent years with nearly every week them having to write a small applogy to someone.This is not to mention the big fowl ups they had with Lawlor and also that Abbeylara garda etc etc.
That article is a joke.Its wrong in so many of its assertions,budget,ambition are the 2 main ones.

Just one comment on Tony the Taxi Driver*

The guy had definitely set himself up to fail by not basing himself in Galway. Full time club and to be removed from the equation as a rookie managers who was under-achieving was mad and to be honest he must have known he was going to fail as soon as he made that decision. If the guy wanted to have given himself any sort of a chance he would have moved to Galway.

To comment on the situation and not raise that point is a glaring oversight in any opinion about his managerial ability, role or the sacking.

Shoddy out of touch, piece meal effort is the only way to describe that article.

Can someone post up that article in Galway City Tribune? That would definitely give some balance to a debate that is cripplingly one sided ala Sweeneys effort.










* :p

3 reasons Tony got sacked:

1. he refused to move to Galway (when he got the job we were part time so it was not an issue, but it became an issue when we went full time, last year 1 player lived outside galway but for this season tony made this player move galway to get a new contract which he did, yet Tony would not move himself, which annoyed some of the board).

2. Results and style of play- we played terrible football under Tony and he played many players in wrong positions and our results have been crap at home.

3. Money Wasted: Tony signed 2 players who we had to pay off to get rid off them as they were worse than useless (Dimitri Brinias played 1st game and sligo and Mensah who played 30 mins against sligo away)

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Originally Posted by Trainee

3 reasons Tony got sacked:

1. he refused to move to Galway (when he got the job we were part time so it was not an issue, but it became an issue when we went full time, last year 1 player lived outside galway but for this season tony made this player move galway to get a new contract which he did, yet Tony would not move himself, which annoyed some of the board).

2. Results and style of play- we played terrible football under Tony and he played many players in wrong positions and our results have been crap at home.

3. Money Wasted: Tony signed 2 players who we had to pay off to get rid off them as they were worse than useless (Dimitri Brinias played 1st game and sligo and Mensah who played 30 mins against sligo away)

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2 and 3 would not (or at least should not) have happened if 1 had been resolved. The guy didn't give himself a chance and the board probably should have got rid of him sooner if they knew he wasn't going to move (end of last season). Remember that it was Cousins who had to prove himself at that stage, unless he thought he was home and dry and the board would have put up with anything? Was that a failing on the boards part i dont know.

Either way, Cousins managerial style seems to have been a text book case on how not to do it. And i'm making this point on the understanding that this league needs to progress, so if someone is not up to it, or at least doesn't recognise the direction the league needs* to go then you need to get rid ..... fast


* It was fairly clear cut for Cousins to be honest, it was either forward or backwards. He was the guy that should have been giving the directions, with a pre season and proper plan in place.

Point of interest:

Connacht Rugby manager Michael Bradley lives in Cork. Connacht have done reasonably well under his management. I understand he spends a hell of a lot more hours in Galway than TC ever did.

When John Mahoney was manager of Galway Gaelic Footballers, he lived in another county. He was not full time. Galway won 2 All Irelands under him.

The last trophy won by GUFC was the League Cup in 1998. Then manager Denis Clarke lived in Athlone. He was not full time.

Tony Cousins lives in Kildare, drives a taxi in Dublin and worked full time as manger of Galway United.