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Very true. saw a piece on Football focus about them not that long back. They have an impressive stadium considering their L2 status, I think its a 20k seater, but it was only built in the last few years, despite the fact that the club would do well to get 3k at a home game, so its no wonder they are in a financial and footballing mess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Quote:
Originally Posted by elroy
Darlington are a very interesting club. My father has been a lifelong supporter since his days visiting his great-aunt who lived there back in the early 60s so I know quite a bit about how they're run.
The problem is that a millionaire owner took over, built a huge stadium on the outskirts of town. The team died because they used to play in a 4400 seater right in the middle of the town itself. Partly due to mismanagement and bad contracts, and partly due to the enormous operating costs of such a huge stadium, they've run into serious financial trouble.
They'll go down, be back up next year and back to averaging 4000 fans a game, more than enough to run a successful L2 club.
Tadgh Purcell is on pace to the be division's top goalscorer, if he had played the whole season with them, so there's hope yet.
Daniel McDonnell was on NewsTalk last night talking about this, he was at the last game at the Northern Arena
Click http://media.newstalk.ie/listenback/
Select Off The Ball
Tuesday 23rd March
Part 3
McDonnell's piece starts around the 32 minute mark
He had a 2 page article in yesterday's indo too. (I found it lying on a table in the UCD restaurant, honest.)Quote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
i read that article - apparently they are only allowed 10,000 in their ground (despite capacity of 20,000 or so) as the roads around the ground are shocking... surely that could have been discovered prior to building the damn place!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by John83
the captain reckons the team amuse themselves by laughing at the irish lads trying to work the cd player... charming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by galwayhoop
If the Irish lads knew how to work the cd player then it wouldn't be a laugh?
Stan is finished as a manager after this, a nice guy but he is not cut out for management. Now that the u21 post is available I will bet he will apply for it and knowing the FAI he may well just get it.
darlington deserve what they get for hiring stan in the first place,shows how badly the club is run...when your team is bottom of the football league you need someone to come in with a bit of passion and charisma to motivate the players...i.e not steve staunton,good luck to them next season in the conference
Stan wouldn't make a good pundit sadly, I hope he has a future in the game but management is not his forte
I think his eagerness to be the top dog got him into the mess at Darlington - he should never have taken the job. Avram Grant does the same thing - following sinking ships around and putting himself in lose-lose situations - but he has decades of experience compared to Stan's 2 years.
I guess 2nd in the EPL, r-up in the LC with Chelsea, and before that being the most dominant coach in Israeli football before making their national team very hard to beat (won't call them cheats but Dudu......) is lose-lose. Every job is lose-lose if you're not up to it. Staunton was unlucky in a sense where he had a great first win and everyone got carried away. Meanwhile the media pundits were gunning for him - Dunphy and Giles stand up and take a bow, which meant the masses were going to react every time we did anything less than win 5-0. Worst of all was the fact that our arrogance ran away on us, apparently Cyprus just need to turn up to be beaten, same with any number of "minnows". And unless Trap starts with a bang in the first 3 games he'll be for the axe too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Got to be a wind-up. "you tell me" was appointed by a person who I believe shoud have been kicked out of Irish football a long time ago. Stan's tenure IMO cost us not only qualification for 2008 but also cost us our place at 2010 (Trap had to sort out the losing mentality and lunacy of Stauton's tenure). We are SO LUCKY to have a man of integrity, football achievment and knowledge at our helm. Trap must have doubts about Delaney and co. And yet to his eternal credit he dismisses them to the back of his mind and remains our manager. And for that alone I am grateful.
Come on now Noely Stan has integrity. Dont hang the man. Many coaches are unsuccesful. It doesnt mean they are terrible people.
Crosby I have great respect for Stan. I stood on the terraces in Poznan when Stan sent over the perfect ball for Paul McGrath to head home in 1991. I am alluding to the chancer who runs Irish football. The guy who kept Givens in his job as u21 manager (2 years without a victory)and now has seen fit to give the guy a "uk scouting"role.
That is very questionable given that he did not have the itegrity to resign, rather wait for a large pay-out. He put himself before the organisation - not usually associated with integrity. He also put himself before his country.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Took over a struggling side and kept them in the race for the title until the last day and got all the way to penalties in the Champions League final... and gets sacked for his troubles. How is that not lose-lose?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spudulika
Possibility of Staunton to Villa as some sort of assistant/manager in a 3 man "Dream Team"! Dream is not the word I would use.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news...cle571059.html
Great gig if he gets it. Great player for Ireland but I can't see this working out.
On a memory lane off-topic moment, can anyone remember the match where staunton scored from a corner? Who was it against?
Link
During a friendly match against Portugal in Boston, USA, in June 1992, Steve Staunton scored directly from a corner kick. The Irish won the match 2-0.
Staunton repeated this feat in another competitive match against Northern Ireland less than a year later. On 31 March 1993 at Lansdowne Road the Republic of Ireland beat near neighbour 3-0 in a 1994 World Cup Qualifier. Stephen Staunton scored the Irish third goal in the 29th minute direct from a corner kick.
Thanks Wex!
Gone to Sunderland in a back room staff/scout capacity.