Just look up ''Lodo Petrucci''Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewhitearmy
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Just look up ''Lodo Petrucci''Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewhitearmy
Hard to argue with most of that post LTID, going to be one absolute shocker of a division this year. Limerick will walk it. If you ask me, it's anyones game after that. Waterford have made one or two good signings, but they were very poor last year and it would take a lot more than one or two players to make them a much better side.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lim till i die
Longford are the side to look at this year by all means and Athlone should be there or thereabouts. I just hope to be pleasantly surprised this year by Harps and hopefully push for a top 4 finish, although seems unlikely, it's not impossible given how poor the division is.
Harps will finally get a top-4 finish and STILL be mid-table! Sums ye up doesn't it?
I think I could probably make some arguments about that but yes, arguably, I guess. Very hard to compare every position when u see opposition 3/4 times a season though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lim till i die
Possibly poorer than last year? I wouldn't agree at all. The only concern is a keeper but I dont see us missing the likes of Wilson (barely played) and Kenny Browne (awful last season). Burns didn't have a great season but we need another keeper to go with Hughes. Murray was good but missed most of the end of the season and we had enough cover, with another defender to join soon. Dempsey and Frost coming in are good signings, especially Dempsey, who was simply brilliant last season in the Premier Division.Quote:
Waterford - Possibly poorer than last year, but then the division is a hell of a lot poorer than last year. They'll do alright, always seem to have a little bit of extra quality at this level.
I don't think you'll dominate as much as your fans seem to be expecting, but we'll wait and see how this joke of a league turns out :D
Longford have a good squad and should finish third behind us :cool: but they'll beat us in the play-off.. :( After that, anything can happen tbh, but it's going to be a season that will seem to go on and on and on.
...and Ariston...
I'm a glass half full sort of person.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
Glass half-full of Daisy's finest.
The First Division has been very competitive in recent years. Teams in that league have done ok in the cups and not hindered by being a level down.
What LTID means is that the current club Limerick FC is essentially the same club that has always existed, just a different name. Largely the same people involved, same fans, same colours, same people involved in the supporters clubs, same people involved in working to keep senior soccer afloat etc etc. The only difference really is a different chairman and name on each occasion. You will not find many people, if any at all, that attend Limerick's games who view the current club as something separate to the past incarnations. I've been going to Limerick matches since the late eighties and to me it's the same club.Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
I think what you mean is that if say, Pike Rovers or Fairview Rangers stepped up and took over as being the senior club in Limerick, would LTID still support them? I doubt he would, and I wouldn't either as neither of those clubs would mean anything to me and in my opinion wouldn't be representative of Limerick.
8 team league is ****e. And not really comfortable with this 'we'll walk the league' attitude. This is Limerick after all. I'll reserve my judgement until series one has been completed, but I do expect us to go up with the squad we have.
Fair enough. LTID's original post didn't read like that to me, but if that was the point being made, then we're actually agreeing, which is a disappointment as I thought we were onto a genuine argument. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by 4tothefloor
That was my reading of the original post, yes. A case of crossed wires then. Shame!Quote:
Originally Posted by 4tothefloor
Agree with everyone about the eight team league. Dreadful. Ye should win the division by 15 points though. And we should finish second. but I wouldn't bet on either of those outcomes.
We'll leave Daisy out of this. She's done nout wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by BonnieShels
I don't think that is accurate. The A-Championship was technically not the lowest rung of the LOI ladder. It was basically a reserve league for where teams outside the LOI could compete in while they prepared themselves for the LOI first division. If Tralee, Carlow or anyone else could have attained a first division license during the years of the A championship, then they could have gone straight in. Cork City Foras and Derry City were successful in their applications for first division licenses and were hence admitted to that league.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
The A Championship was the third tier. The route to the first division was to be the best first team, finishing in the top 3 of either group and qualifying for a promotion/relegation play-off against the team finishing last in the first division. Salthill beat Cobh in such a play-off. Tralee, Carlow and any other club could've obtained a first division licence but would still have had to qualify on the field of play, unless of course a position had become available.
Both wrong but Legendz closer.
2008 Mervue bet Kildare in a playoff but Cobh took Kildares place in the A Championship.
2009 Salthill were to play Kildare but Kildare folded and Salthill went up.
2010 Cobh lost out in Playoff to Salthill so Cobh remained in A Championship
2011 No playoff as all teams invited to apply for 1st division but none accepted
Argue away, it's what the internet is for. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by blue til i die
Limericks probable starting eleven:
Goalkeeper:
Either Ryan - Hands down the best keeper in the division, can't see anyone having too many qualms.
Back Four:
Shaun Kelly
Paddy Purcell
Shane Guthrie
Andrew Bhandharkar
The first three there would walk on to any other team in the Division. Bhandarkar came on in leaps and bounds last year, to the point where he was starting to keep Frosty out of the starting eleven at one stage.
Centre Mid:
Joe Gamble
Stephen Bradley
Nuff said.
Attacking Players:
Gary Sheehan
Paudie Quinn
Rory Gaffney
Sheehan and Gaffney will be recognisable as quality to any First Division officianados. Quinn burst onto the scene last year, scored twelve goals I think it was, including two in Tolka, two in Turners Cross and two in Monaghan.
Striker:
Denis Behan
Nuff said.
Bench looks pretty tasty aswell, Shane Tracy, Dave O'Leary and Corie Tracy would walk into most other teams in the division. Stephen McGann (particularly Stephen McGann), Barry Sheedy, Sean Brosnan and Garbhan Coughlan are fellas to be watched this year aswell.
I dunno like.Quote:
Possibly poorer than last year? I wouldn't agree at all. The only concern is a keeper but I dont see us missing the likes of Wilson (barely played) and Kenny Browne (awful last season). Burns didn't have a great season but we need another keeper to go with Hughes. Murray was good but missed most of the end of the season and we had enough cover, with another defender to join soon. Dempsey and Frost coming in are good signings, especially Dempsey, who was simply brilliant last season in the Premier Division.
Frosty is a pretty decent signing, Dempsey is a good signing.
But if you take Kevin Murray, Kenny Browne and Kevin Burns out of a probable starting eleven and look to replace them with Peter White, David Breen and some youngfella, it's a pretty big step back.
As I said above, for my own part, I expect us to have a long slog, don't expect us to **** it at all (although I'll continue to claim otherwise at times on here for the purposes of winding people up right up until the big kick off)Quote:
I don't think you'll dominate as much as your fans seem to be expecting
At the moment the squad is high on quality, but low on bodies. If we get an insane run of bad luck like we did at the start of last season we could struggle.
On the face of it, that's a very strong point, but...Quote:
Originally Posted by Lim till i die
Browne, although capable of superb performances, was very ordinary for much of last season, and woeful for parts of it. His display against Pats in the cup was awful to the point of comedy. Ironic then that they should have signed him...
Murray was well below his usual standards as well. He seemed to be struggling for motivation, and missed most of the last third of the season with injury. There was no noticeable decline in team performance after he left, albeit that isn't saying much.
I do think Burns is a loss, although he is only a young fella himself, being the same age as Hughes who's replaced him.
Last season, we worried about midfield (which we right to do, as we were lightweight), but nobody worried about our defence which looked the best in the division by some margin. It wasn't though.
Getting back on topic regards "2012 First Division structure?" and going forward, I think the FAI should be open to expanding the first division to 12, just like the premier. If they went ahead with 10 this year, there should be an indefinite race for any clubs looking to take the final two places. I mean like, if the FAI were to come out and say the LoI will be capped at 24 clubs, two in each division, it'd force a few aspiring clubs to get their act together to get the available places.
Are there 24 clubs that are up to LoI? as much as I disagree with how the FAI runs the league, one thing I think they may be right about (or at least the impression they give) is that there aren't 24 clubs of requisite senior standard. Even with eight teams in the current FD, there are arguably two or three teams in that who are unlikely, even in the medium to long term, to be a genuinely strong senior club.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
http://www.superiorpics.com/news/pic...irteen_053.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Lim till i die
I don't think there are 24 clubs ready at the moment either. What I'm suggesting is the FAI set a cap of 24 but it could take any number of years for enough clubs to make up that number. For example if Cobh and Tralee got in. There'd be only two places for any other aspiring clubs to fill be it in the near or far future. If GUST got in subsequently, it could take a few year for a 24th team to come in but once there would, that would be it.Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
If a few northern clubs were relegated from this season's premier, Fanad could reconsider in 2013, and likewise, if clubs operating on a lower budget still performed well in the league, then Carlow might re-assess their options. You wouldn't need to cap the divisions, because no more than four clubs would be interested, but if it's seen not to be a closed league, then those clubs would once again see the First Division as a viable option between now and 2014.
In fairness, the argument that there aren't teams able to make the step up, I'd easily have Cobh and Tralee (and Carlow playing out of Buckley) ahead of the 2 Galway teams. If they're allowed in, surely the rest should be allowed. There is always teams willing to join the First Division.
It's a mess at the end of the day. The best approach is earning league status on the field of play. Salthill fair play to them retained their first division status a few years ago by defeating Cobh in a play-off.
The A Championship seemed to be a stretch on Premier clubs resources. A Cork supporter stated recently their squad would be too small, no way they'd have a reserve team. Interest in taking part in the A Championship never took off in a few regions where it might have been expected. Unfortunately now a few clubs, including Dynamos, are caught in between.
If a third/intermediary tier is ever looked at again, it'll need at least a dozen first team clubs to make it viable.
http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/7343/
Interesting article with new Wexford Youths boss who reckons he can get them promoted over the next 2 or 3 seasons.
Also interesting to note they started pre-season with a squad of 28 players!
Good read there. Glad to see some sort of media coverage about the shambles we call a first division.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainee
That's what FORAS thought too. We applied for an A Championship license but the FAI advised us to apply for the first. No doubt it helped that we were the only club in Cork (Ramblers in the A already) unlike Galway's situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
If Tralee or Cobh meet the first division licensing requirements they should be left in. A ten team division is workable, nine's a mess but eight is just a disaster.
the Fai shouldn't be getting away with this its making fools of the clubs in the first division a kids league could drum up more teams to compete.
Agree that Tralee or Cobh should be let in if they get a license, even if it was just one of them. Nine teams in the division isn't a problematic number at all - it gives eight teams to be played four times each, giving a perfectly respectable 32 game season.Quote:
Originally Posted by derm
Ten teams gives either a 36 game season (which the FAI and some clubs clearly baulk at) or a 27 game season like last year, with all the nonsense of playing some teams twice at home but only once away, and vice versa. 27 games is just too few anyway.
There was 30 games last year. People are complaining that the 28 games we have now is a joke cant see how making it one less makes it better being honest.Quote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
Ah yes, my mistake. Don't know where my head was.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewhitearmy
My point is still the same though. A nine team division with 32 games is better than a ten team division with 27.
One or two extra games at home can make a big difference for teams with tight budgets, but not drastically I would imagine. The fact we only play seven other teams is what annoys me, the repetition will drive me insane.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluewhitearmy
One or two extra home games can mean 5-10 grand for a team struggling financially like Harps. That would mean the world of a difference.
Read your post wrong i thought you were saying that a 10 team league with 27 games was better my mistake :oQuote:
Originally Posted by gormacha
I had read gormacha post wrong and had thought he was saying 10 teams with 27 games was better then 8 with 28 games.....Quote:
Originally Posted by blue til i die
Some changes confirmed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by League Office
Outside Derry a couple of years agoQuote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
When's the last time you reckon Harps took five grand on a home gate??
As for ten grand?! :eek:
Talking a good few years I'd say.
Certainly for the first home game of the season before last, there was over 1000 at that. There were a few other games that wouldn't have been far off but mostly well under obviously.
On the other hand you'd make a bit extra out of match sponsorship, ball sponsorship, extra lotto sales, a bit of merchandise etc with the extra game.
Hopefully the slightly shortened season means we're paying wages for less time and it all balances out anyway.
^ What he said.
And this from a Limerick fan....Quote:
Originally Posted by Lim till i die