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Could ya imagine Bill O'Herlihly, John Giles, Graham Souness and Dunphy sitting on at their table talking about a league of ireland side? i wonder would dunphy or giles know any of the players. giles i think probaly has a bubble around the island of britian, and everywhere outside of that is blocked from his mental state.Quote:
Originally Posted by pól-dcfc
Don't bet on it. I'd never underestimate the brass neck of RTE. And who would put them under pressure ? Man U fan John The Laney and his stooges ? I doubt it. Has there ever been a Man U Champions League game that RTE didn't show live? RTE 2 = MUTV.Quote:
Originally Posted by pól-dcfc
Oh, and back to the original topic, the chances of Bohs (or any other Irish club) making the group stages is still very much a pipe dream.
Of course. It won't happen for years yet, if ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyD
Ah come on he was only trying to drum up business for his Hummer Limo service..........wasn't he??!!! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by SunderlandBohs
Ollie Byrne is deceased, so i think it is disgraceful some of the comments on here.
Wind your neck in. I don't think anything that is untrue has been said on the thread. Just because the man is dead doesn't make him a saint.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derry
Hitler's dead?Quote:
Originally Posted by Derry
I suppose I better not speak negatively of him either... :rolleyes:
With the new structure and every increasing qualifying rounds,I fear the ship has sailed.Quote:
Originally Posted by pól-dcfc
One was a megalomaniacal dictator who burned millions in the pursuit of an empty dream of running rampant in Europe, the other ruled Nazi Germany...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyl10
Yeah initially I thought that the new structure would be a boon for small nations, and give us a realistic chance of qualifying. However, it's not gonna help us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maribor
The only way I can see it (well in the next 20 years anyway) is if there is a massive shock in world football. Like clubs going bust left right and centre (highly unlikely), or someone who is very progressive and wants to even out football's inequalities takes over at FIFA and UEFA and changes the rules again (equally unlikely).
Europa League is something we should be pushing towards.
I collated the stats on this some years ago when people were worried about Shels qualifying for the CL and dominating the league. Can't be bothered updating but I suspect the outcome is even clearer now: http://foot.ie/showpost.php?p=162104&postcount=17
I see UEFA came out yesterday to dispell everyone's favourite footballing myth by confirming that they wouldn't (read - legally couldn't) stand in the way of the Old Firm joining the English pyramid.
With the proposal to create yet more 'super first championhip premier elite' leagues in England by expanding the Prem and then splitting it in two, the appearance of the Old Firm in English stadiums may well be sooner than many people think.
And if that happened, who knows what else might happen within the world of European football.....
The Old Firm are a bit of a basket case though, Scotland and England being in the United Kingdom. I'll reserve my panic for when I see Porto join La Liga, Ajax join the Bundesliga and the like.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
Frankly, I think it's more likely that the owners of the big clubs will eventually break away from the ruling bodies and end any regulation on football as anything but an international sports entertainment business.
I'm just delighted that I don't have to post-up the letter of European law anymore whenever someone on here says authoritatively 'the Old Firm can't join the English league' anymore... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by John83
Anyway - the Old Firm being able to join the English system has nothing to do with the UK and everything to do with EU freedom of movement and restrainty of trade laws (there I go again having to explain it all. D'oh...!). Don't underestimate the impact two very high profile clubs jumping from one league to another - regardless of political jurisdictions - may have upon European football. The butterfly effect, and all that...
Indeed. And as with all these things, it requires a catalyst - or a gradual series of them (which arguably we've been having since the Champions League began anyway). The Old Firm shifting leagues may well be a majot catalyst.Quote:
Originally Posted by John83
Balanced against that, however, is the fact that fans in some leagues are more fussed about their petty domestic rivalries than they are European ones. Would the Milan teams, for example, really want to be in a Euro league without Lazio, Napoli etc ? Those teams bring out bigger crowds for them than French or German opponents do.
[QUOTE=dcfcsteve;1148311]I'm just delighted that I don't have to post-up the letter of European law anymore whenever someone on here says authoritatively 'the Old Firm can't join the English league' anymore... :D
Anyway - the Old Firm being able to join the English system has nothing to do with the UK and everything to do with EU freedom of movement and restrainty of trade laws
Steve, the FAI licensing system being based on the 65% cap, how consistent is that with EU Competition Law? Or, for example, under free movement of Labour provisions, if a player from another EU country who wanted to sign for a club and the club wanted to sign the player but the FAI effectively. threaten the club with a loss of license to "trade" if they sign the player and breach the cap.?
Presumably the FAI would argue the cap is an art ( fiction) rather than a science by pointing to Bohs accounts for lat year!
I thought the former too from hearing brief soundbytes about it; how's the new format going to work exactly?Quote:
Originally Posted by pól-dcfc
on football manager it seems slightly easier:o
It'll help smaller countries, but UEFA's definition of a smaller country is someone ranked outside the top 12 leagues. The new system guarantees 4 teams from outside the top 12 will qualify. If Bohs were to qualify the highest ranked teams they'd face would be from the likes of Belgium or Czech republic.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Sounds more doable than Depor, although there's still some decent teams in there. And four teams isn't that many.
Or if people decided to actually support their own local teams and give them a sizeable fan base on which qualification for the Champions' League would be viable. The population of Dublin (similar size to Munich, bigger than Eindhoven etc,) is obviously large enough to support a team in Europe. But the only thing that could wake people up is if a team did manage to qualify. (Very glamorous then: possibility of Bohs v Man U, Milan, etc in the new Lansdowne Road). Classic Catch 22 situation. Not completely unlikely, as Bate and Famagusta (and Cluj from Rumania) are very small teams in European terms. But people here just don't support their local teams. Obviously. As we all know.Quote:
Originally Posted by pól-dcfc