You cant just count Dundalk trophies in a conversation for the greatest Irish manager everQuote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
Printable View
You cant just count Dundalk trophies in a conversation for the greatest Irish manager everQuote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
https://foot.ie/image/jpeg;base64,/9...EQLkvREH//2Q==Quote:
Originally Posted by RathfarnhamHoop
Please keep up - the conversation had moved on to Stephen Kenny's likely duration at Dundalk - hence the trophy count comparisons between two Dundalk managerial legends
The othr thing about McLaughlin of course is that he didn't take over the 'right club' at any time.... Dundalk in the doldrums 74, Rovers 20 years without a title 82, Derry in the First Division 88. Kenny came in to Bohs, Derry and Rovers when they were flying, but ironically enough he achieved his greatest success at Longford and basket-case DundalkQuote:
Originally Posted by RathfarnhamHoop
Just from the single Division era, the following had no League wins in an entire season: YMCA 1921-22, Jacobs 1929-30, Bray Unknowns 1941-42 & Bohemians 1959-60. Haven't checked Shields, Cups, and other confrontations.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrufil
Kilkenny City in the 1994–95 First Division, no wins, just 2 drawsQuote:
Originally Posted by littlebray
Good win tonight against Derry. Dundalk were terrific for 60 minutes but lost their shape for the last 30 and let Derry back into the game.
Almost have the title, one more point needed to make it official.
Dundalk started awful and finished awful - but sandwiched in between were some brilliant goals and some absolute champagne football from the champions elect.
I'm not counting my chickens yet :p;)
The scenes at the end of the match tonight were amazing.
:worship:
The match was over at half-time. Thankfully Dundalk took the foot off the pedal for the second half, though I think Dean Shiels did help us in midfield. In truth, Dundalk could have had three or four more, if they chose so.
Nice of Dean Jarvis to give us a wee break with the OG, and decent pass and finishing for our second.
Goal of the night, even with the non-existant defending, was Hoban's. Lovely shot.
Match highlights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9cAe2iQy5g
Dundalk notch up their 16th league win in 17 matches last night, yet still fall short of the accolade of being the leagues form team, according to RTE.
It just shows you how high standards currently are in this league............
Dundalk are champions. So they're a bit higher up the hierarchy than "form team". They're the best team. One of them things that's so obvious to most, there's no need to say it.
Interesting to read last night, along with this being Dundalk’s 13th league title, they will also have the most PD titles now (since LOI moved to 2 divisions in 1985)
7 - Dundalk
6 - Shels
5 - Rovers & Pats*
I think the National broadcaster should at least get the simple facts right.And thats the pointQuote:
Originally Posted by bohsmug
Bohs are on a good run but Dundalk more so.
Just off track here for a min but we'll connect the dots . . . . .
Paul Reynolds,crime correspondent @RTÉ described the €26k found on John Gilligan at Belfast/Aldergrove airport as a "suitcase full of money" :D
RTÉ haven't a fecking clue lol
Jesus some people will find anything to be unhappy about :D
I don't know if its been noted anywhere here, but the FD play-offs are down for 5th and 8th October for Drogs and Shels, then 12th and 19th for the winner vs Harps. Presumably Limerick vs the winner of that will be the week after?
That true
Actually, rather inexplicably, a week and a half after. Monday 29th October and Friday 2nd November.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter
So for FHFC we have an extra four weeks of wages and expenses with one gate at the end.. and if we do poorly in the first leg it might not even be that good a gate. Am also surprised that the premier team gets the advantage of the second leg at home- when we played Limerick previously it was the other way around.Quote:
The dates for the First Division Promotion/Relegation Play-off series are as follows.
Friday 5th October
4th placed First Division club v 3rd placed First Division club
Monday 8th October
3rd placed First Division club v 4th placed First Division club
Friday 12th October
Winner of 4th v 3rd Play-off v 2nd placed First Division club
Friday 19th October
2nd placed First Division club v Winner of 4th v 3rd Play-off
Monday 29 October
Promotion/Relegation Play-off Final
Winner of First Division Play-off series v 9th placed Premier Division club
Friday 2nd November
9th placed Premier Division club v Winner of First Division Play-off series
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr A
Jesus some people will find anything to be unhappy about :D
Limerick will be in Waterford on the Friday and Ballybofey on the Monday.
I would say send the squad players to Waterford but what squad?!
The second leg at home is no advantage whatsoever to Limerick either.
Just you wait and see us UCD fans moaning about the 5 week gap if we make the final. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by ToberonaTornado
Serious question, do the UCD lads get any money in the off season or what way do their scholarships work?
I think many of them don't get money during the season.
Scholarships aren't money though; it's course fees, accommodation, etc. So that continues through the iff-season - except that UCD don't have an off-season. Colleges league starts up shortly
Cheers, I thought they may get some kind of additional payment for a bit of spending money. Most of the League of Ireland squad wouldn't play in the colleges league though would they?
If you're in the college, you play in the colleges league. It's a condition of the scholarship
Just to be clear, you're saying Dundalk's three-game winning run is better than Bohs' nine-game winning run?Quote:
Originally Posted by ToberonaTornado
Bohs haven't won a match since last Saturday. Dundalk are the only ones on a winning streak this weekQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Silly Ezekiel. Winning Streak isn't on until Saturday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
I know it's a bit late, but I was visiting my family in Cork last week and got to see City play for the first time in nineteen years... and boy, was it a tough experience. Dundalk just totally outplayed us on all levels - better on the ball, physically stronger, better organised. Once they got in front, we never looked like getting back into it, there was just no spark and no penetration. And I heard some City fans muttering that it was a disgrace, but whenever we got the ball and started to build from the back, I looked upfield and just saw no gap in the Dundalk defence. Meanwhile when Dundalk attacked, we regularly looked stretched, although we did cling on after the goal.
Just seeing the two teams play in the flesh, I could suddenly see that there is a clear gap in Dundalk's favour again and that it's going to be a big task to close it, which leads to the question of how? And the first place to look is probably the manager's position. Now, it really feels awful to even question a man who was a legend as a player and has brought unprecedented success in the last five years, building a club that had only just returned from the dead into seemingly the only team in the League that can currently even live with Stephen Kenny's Dundalk, who probably still have a good chunk of Europa League money socked away.
But... there's still that gap. And last year's success was significantly influenced by the outstanding form of one player and probably also the fact that Dundalk were still in transition after the departure of Towell, Horgan and Boyle. So the question has to be asked... is Caulfield the man to close that gap? And if not, then who? Is there really another manager in the League who could do a better job? If not, could City afford somebody from outside? Is Damien Delaney's return an indication of an aspiration to start a coaching career at City?
My own feelings are that, as long as he still has the support of his players, Caulfield should be given another shot... his Cork City team aren't bad by any means, they're just not as good as an outstanding Dundalk team. His teams over the past few years have had a lot of success, been organised well and played some very good football, in spite of his conservative instincts. And player-wise, he has shown a good eye for finding diamonds in the rough. But he really needs to take a close look at where they fell short this year... he needs to be able to evolve the playing style of the team and listen to advice from his players, particularly Delaney, as well as employ his eye for talent to find players who have that X-Factor: the ability to pick apart even the most organized defences, to terrorize lesser opponents, to create a goal from nothing on a bad day.
Which brings me to the other area where improvements could be made i.e. the squad. The FORAS team did an outstanding job resurrecting Cork City F.C. and putting it on a sound financial footing - this has surely been helped by prudent financial decisions when it came to player recruitment. But is it time to open the purse strings a little? Should City try to emulate Larnaca's success and bring in a couple of mature players with extensive experience in the Segunda Division/2. Bundesliga/Serie B etc. in the hope that they could take us another round or two in Europe? (I could probably point City in the direction of a couple of MLS players they could afford). Or should they follow Shamrock Rovers and focus on youth development, combined with picking up cast-offs from the English academy system?
Of course it's vitally important that the fans don't get cynical or despondent after this season's setback - they must continue to turn out in large numbers (larger, if possible), even against "lesser" teams to ensure the club has the finances to compete with Dundalk, initially, and also potential European opponents. Otherwise, there's little or no chance of keeping up with Dundalk
One quick aside: after the game my Dad and I walked outside the stadium to the St. Anne's End (where the away fans were) to meet a friend of his who was going to drive us home. We thought we still had time to drive along St. Anne's Road before they left. But when we got to the end of the road (which is narrow), one of the Dundalk supporters' buses was blocking the exit. When we looked back we saw the Gardai putting a barrier across the road to corral the fans towards us and suddenly, with visions of being swamped by hundreds of opposition fans, it felt like a scene from a horror movie! Luckily we managed to get turned around and let out before that awkward situation arose.
"Open the purse strings". Do people genuinely think there's a big pile of money somewhere that the club is holding back?! I wish! There's not, but if there were, I wouldnt be rushing to throw it at the team.
This years budget was significantly higher than it ever has even under FORAS. Trying to play catch up financially with a team with deep pockets like Dundalk, if they choose to flex those financial muscles, simply isn't going to happen.
To be fair ye will be getting a decent sum from UEFA for this seasons CL qualification; unfortunately JC confirmed earlier in the season it was already included in the 2018 budget. Looking to next seasons budget for Cork that'll be a drop of around 550k of income down to guaranteed EL one round money so it'll be an interesting close season over the winter for Cork with regard to ins and outs with that and the JC/ style of play conversation going on too. Be interesting to see what Sadlier & McNamee do.Quote:
Originally Posted by micls
With regard to ourselves we're not throwing around Crowe or Byrne money around the league, our top earners wouldn't be on too much more than Corks. The difference for us this close season is we hopefully won't suffer the same turnover as previous years as we've got most of the lads tied up already; out of the first team we're potentially only going to lose Duffy depending on what offers he gets from across the water. The rest like Massey, Mountney & O'Donnell who are out of contract this winter are settled and will likely re-sign and even Benson is saying he's looking to sign long term after only signing a years extension to leave his options open last winter.
I imagine the squad size/quality will be the main difference as well as attracting or holding onto top top players, especially scorers. But yeah, interesting time ahead for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by micls
When I say "open the purse strings", I don't mean City should be monitoring developments the Paul Pogba situation closely. And I don't want to be one of those whiny fans who demand that the club be put into financial peril just for the sake of short-term glory (especially given the club's history and particularly as I'm 3000 miles away) - the FORAS people seem to have done a terrific job putting City on a sound financial footing. But we seem to have plateaued a little this season, surrendering the title early and suffering four defeats in Europe, with only a quirk in the draw allowing us to walk away with 800k.Quote:
Originally Posted by micls
But what could City get for 200k? Maybe a couple of experienced players in the latter part of their careers who may still have enough to offer to propel City forward an extra round or two in Europe? After all, Larnaca's average domestic attendance is nearly 2000 less than City's (https://www.transfermarkt.com/first-...saison_id/2017 ) but they have invested in Spanish and other international players since 2014 and since then have reached the play-off round of the Europa League in the last two seasons and the group stage this season. Is it possible for City to emulate this?
That said, in the long run it's probably better for City to focus on developing young talent and paying good wages to keep the best prospects at the club longer
Larnaca are backed by an investor. The crowds are irrelevant.
You can open the purse strings, but there's nothing left in the purse! It was spent this year.
When you consider what Cork got for their money this year, it is puzzling how they will fare with any budget cuts for next season.Quote:
Originally Posted by micls
I hear strong suggestions that last seasons marque signing is on 75k and is contracted to 2019. Many more of those under contract for next season have also not performed this year. It seems an impossible task to correct without new investment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by micls
You are making very sensible points. Cork don't have the cash reserves or the availability of cash from investors as Dundalk have. Winning the league this year was a necessity for Cork, which is why they maxed the budget.
The problem for them is that the manager spent poorly.
As a fan owned club with a history of financial recklessness, Cork will quite sensibly cut their cloth to measure and agree a sensible budget. Moving on dead wood who are contracted for next season is a potential problem and a drain on the budget. However, it needs to be done.
Cork's hope is that Dundalk will spend poorly and that the American owners will foist players on Dundalk that are not suitable to the LOI. There is nothing preventing Caulfield from building up a team like the one he had in 2014-2016. You never know, another nugget like Maguire may come along again and change everything.
Ah yes 'strong suggestions'. They're rarely accurate and given the size of our squad I would doubt it to be honest. We know the wage bill, so if one player was on that I'm not sure how we'd have signed the amount of players we've signed. But who knows. The budget is the managers to do as he will with. It's not worked out this year and it'l be smaller next year as a result. That's the nature of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
There certainly won't be new investment, so it's a rebuild project. He's done it before, hopefully he can do it again. But no doubt it'l be incredibly challenging. Interesting times ahead.
Its all in the presentation, people will baulk at the suggestion that a player is on anything like 75k per year but saying a marquee player is on 1300-1500 per week and that seems more acceptable. Not saying this is the case but it's not beyond possible either for a former EPL player and Irish international.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezeikial
I'd imagine it's Sadlier or shep he's talking about, not Delaney. With Delaney it's a big different, he was moving home anyway and he contacted us, rather than us trying to entice him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nesta99