Dundalk IAG conspiracy theories

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Where was it billed as a promotion/relegation play-off?

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While the early announcements were typically FAIesque in content, the media interpretation was unequivocal, even if subsequently incorrect, in billing it as a promotion/relegation playoff. Even as late as the build-up to the actual fixtures this notion was still prevalent:

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http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...ord-70392.html

By Daniel McDonnell, Saturday November 25 2006
DUNDALK have a number of fitness worries as they travel to Waterford for the second leg of their promotion/relegation playoff at the RSC this evening.

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http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...ng-138095.html


Dundalk, you may recall, recently won a promotion play-off against Waterford United.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

The clubs signed up to the IAG, so you can't now say they didn't agree with it. Of course it was nonsense, but a club can't sign up for something and then cry when they don't like what they've signed up for.

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I didn't say that. What I said was that the entire process was a farce, and that the play-offs only being unilaterally introduced after the season had started, was simply a further bizarre element in the whole gerrymandering process that was the IAG.

Perhaps it should have been obvious from the outset, given that the "on-field" criteria was set over the previous five seasons, that Dundalk had little prospect of achieving sufficient points, but the lack of transparency and the denial of sporting and natural justice still rankles.

In hindsight, Dundalk are probably better equiped now - from an organisational and financial perspective - then they were then to compete in the premier. With no disrespect to Galway, I doubt that they were in a superior position then or now.

LOL at using a Dundalk fan to back up your argument!

And it doesn't matter what the media thought; you noted they were incorrect.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

LOL at using a Dundalk fan to back up your argument!

And it doesn't matter what the media thought; you noted they were incorrect.

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The IAG judgement rendered it so.

The play-off farce was not really the critical aspect of this mullarkey - it merely highlighted the (failed) lengths the FAI / IAG were prepared to go to create the illusion that natural justice and sporting acheivement was in some way relevent to their (pre-determined) decisions.

Any notion that the process was designed to reward those clubs with the best off-field organisation is also a nonsense when you consider that Dundalk were ranked in the top 10 by this criteria!

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Originally Posted by Ezeikial

The IAG judgement rendered it so.

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What does that mean?

Those newspaper articles are both dated long after Bald Student pointed out that it wasn't a promotion/relegation play-off. The articles, therefore, are wrong (and written by a Dundalk fan), and should be ignored.

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Any notion that the process was designed to reward those clubs with the best off-field organisation is also a nonsense when you consider that Dundalk were ranked in the top 10 by this criteria!

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It was never designed to reward those clubs with the best off-field organisation; it was designed to reward a mixture of off-field organisation and on-field performances.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

It was never designed to reward those clubs with the best off-field organisation;

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It looks like we agree on something!

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

it was designed to reward a mixture of off-field organisation and on-field performances.

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It was designed to reward the clubs that the FAI / IAG wanted in the premier - it's really that simple.

It's pretty clear that they wanted Shamrock Rovers and Galway from the first division (with Waterford as next preference), and designed a system to accomodate them - gerrymandering is the most apt description.

Are you inherently argumentative or do you believe that this procees was in some way fair and reasonable?

You reckon they wanted UCD in the premier? Yeah right!

And why would they be so anti-Dundalk?

To me, the fact that UCD were not screwed over actually gave some credibility to the process.

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Originally Posted by Ezeikial

It looks like we agree on something!



It was designed to reward the clubs that the FAI / IAG wanted in the premier - it's really that simple.

It's pretty clear that they wanted Shamrock Rovers and Galway from the first division (with Waterford as next preference), and designed a system to accomodate them - gerrymandering is the most apt description.

Are you inherently argumentative or do you believe that this procees was in some way fair and reasonable?

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Back then i think they wanted the biggest clubs together, they probably seen Waterford's and Galway's plans for a new ground and they are bigger population centres than Dundalk and said right Galway and Waterford are bigger clubs. Dundalk remind me a bit of Galway in their first season up in the premier in terms of crowds.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

And why would they be so anti-Dundalk?

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I don't think they were anti-Dundalk. I think they had looked at a map of the country and picked locations where they wanted franchises.

With Drogheda being an established permier club at the time, they didn't want a club in the far north east of the jurisdiction.

They were pro-Galway United due to it's location and the size of the city.

It is the lack of honesty on the part of the FAI in this regard that still gets my goat.

As mentioned, I think the fact that we got in rules out that theory. It wasn't even as if our on-field stuff saved us either; we were second in the off-field nonsense. i think it was just an idiotic idea implemented by idiots. No conspiracy.

The Dublin IAG refs probably helped us.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

You reckon they wanted UCD in the premier? Yeah right!

And why would they be so anti-Dundalk?

To me, the fact that UCD were not screwed over actually gave some credibility to the process.

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I don't believe that the FAI / IAG were intentionally anti-Dundalk, but that they were pro-others. They obviously skewed the criteria in such a manner that they would maximise their preferred selections. Your earlier post illustrates an understanding that many of the outcomes were fait-accompli before the season even started:

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Originally Posted by Mr A

From the start of the IAG process it was clear that Dundalk had not a hope of promotion due to their poor performance in the years leading up to it leaving them at a serious disadvantage.

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I imagine that one of their regrets was the inability to create a system that would also exclude UCD.

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Originally Posted by Ezeikial

I don't believe that the FAI / IAG were intentionally anti-Dundalk, but that they were pro-others. They obviously skewed the criteria in such a manner that they would maximise their preferred selections. Your earlier post illustrates shows an understanding that many of the outcomes were fait-accompli before the season even started:




I imagine that one of their regrets was the inability to create a system that would also exclude UCD.

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You cannot seriously expect anybody to believe this can you?

You're getting very argumentative, osarusan.

(LOL at the notion that it was harder to devise a system to relegate us than to keep Dundalk down. This is a system whereby we lost points for coming sixth instead of seventh that year).

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Originally Posted by eelmonster

Galway are an abomination of a club, they've no business in senior football (that's soccer for those of you in Connaught, outside of Sligo). I'm with Maxi, burn those friggers down.

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Who do you think you are? Galway having no business in Senior football, you obviously don't know what you are on about

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Originally Posted by SMorgan

Not a hope??. We would have been promoted were it not for Galway's claims. But listen, that's all by the by. We're in the Premier Division with average crowds of over 2,500 and major revelopment of the ground and Galway are a complete basket case with two men and a dog at their home matches and making appeals for somewhere to train, ffs!! Now that's what I call a wrong being righted!!!

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We have higher crowds than Bray, and just a little less than Drogheda

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Originally Posted by osarusan

You cannot seriously expect anybody to believe this can you?

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I'm not sure if you are referring to my tongue-in-cheek remark about excluding UCD, or my belief that the criteria was gerrymandered to favour certain clubs.

I don't have expectations of most people believing anything other then what they want to believe!

Most agree that the whole process was a farce and an affront to fair play and natural justice. My fundamental point here has consistently been that the play-off series being introduced after the competition had already commenced was simply a further illustration of the lack of integrity, fairness and transparency by the FAI/IAG.

The play-off was fully transparent. It was never hidden what it was a play-off for, as the link I posted shows.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

The play-off was fully transparent. It was never hidden what it was a play-off for, as the link I posted shows.

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Can you suggest any logical reason why it was not part of the competition from the outset?

Because, as was clearly stated at the time, the FAI said that the IAG criteria were to be decided mid-season; the clubs agreed to an IAG before the season in full knowledge that the exact details were yet to be formulated. Those details came out in May. The clubs were fully aware this was going to happen.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Because, as was clearly stated at the time, the FAI said that the IAG criteria were to be decided mid-season; the clubs agreed to an IAG before the season in full knowledge that the exact details were yet to be formulated. Those details came out in May. The clubs were fully aware this was going to happen.

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I bow to you in the face your incontrovertible logic!

The FAI get the clubs to agree pre-season to an undefined selection process. When they see how the first division is shaping up, they then go "ehh things aren't looking too good here - our picks ain't doing as well as we hoped. OK lets put in a play-off in case anyone starts bitching about who we have selected"

A disgraceful sham from start to finish.

I'm reopening this now, and I'm feeling generous so I haven't doled out any infractions. It's unlikely this will last.

Mods, this applies to you too. You should know the "attack the post" refrain better than anyone.

adam