2024 Season, Arrivals and Departures

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Originally Posted by placid casual

What an utter farce of a football club.
A barstoolers wet dream when it comes to discussing the merits or otherwise of the League of Ireland.

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Bar stoolers?? You'd be sliding off your stool legs crossed when the news broke PC!

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Originally Posted by outspoken

Always feel that such a false narrative. They were goosed financially and still got them to a cup final.

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Agreed and its lazy to just see a trigger happy end to that speel without any of the rest. Got to within safety on the last day of the SPL after being well adrift (10pts I think) and after 4 wins in a row at one point were staying up last day bar a St Mirren miracle. The cup run wasnt luck of the draw with Rangers, Hearts and Hibs knocked out before a damn close tussle with Celtic. Followig season Scottish Trophy R-Up and lost to Hacken 2-1, 1-1 at home but for some reason these 'Swedish minnows' was a huge blot on the copybook from day dot that new season - when you consider some SPL european results, its hard to see how a 2nd tier Scottish side could see that loss as humiliation. They did climb 3 places and safety after SK left, he was barely a year in the job at that point. So imo it is harsh to see Dunfermline as a blackspot on his career and with some luck things may have been very different and who knows whether Dundalk would have had the chance to be the circus of this week if things hd been slightly different then.(they say a lucky manager is better than a good one and time in the Irleand job does kind back that up in an odd way).

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Originally Posted by outspoken

I don't think Cork City are in any position to be feeling smug. The club. With the self proclaimed best support in the country once again in the First Division and only recently back in a stadium they were locked out of as they don't own it. This time last year it was their owner making the headlines.

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everyone says they've the best support in the country - unless you are from longford where 200 people show up every fortnight.

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Originally Posted by placid casual

We'll have to agree to disagree then outspoken.
For me it's a really bad look for the league , albeit the comedy value of a club who 6 yrs ago were cash rich ,boasting a title winning team and self proclaimed best loi manager ever, are now melting like fallen snow in may. Good enough for them.
Cork will at least offer the opportunity of raincover for away fans next season, which should be the bare minimum for ground facilities in a league striving to get better and be taken seriously by the hoi polloi of irish football fans.

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This would be the same league that the 4 in a row champions had their home ground sold out from under them a year on, had to traipse across the city to play at dog tracks, running tracks, rented a room from their bitter rivals, had ground development grant money 'reallocated', went in to luquidation, submitted false accounts, were relegated by Dublin City FC a club that Roddy Collins left calling them a sham for him to be given a job by Shamrock Rovers, who suspended Roddy and were then done for unfair dismissal, spent so long developing a new ground that it would make Harps blush, was declared derelict and was taken back by the council to be actually develped and allow Shamrock Rovers to rent. Possible issues to come ie the bankrolling of club activities diluting and maybe ending the much lauded fans ownership model with DD due to call in his loan or take ownership in lieu - is it this year or next that debt matures and with accounts showing the sort of loss that is likely to see that sacrosanct fan share end. SRFC becomes another play thing of a billionaire that can d what he likes!?

Its LoI, nobody is in a position to point the finger at the colourful back stories of our clubs, no one should point the finger knowing that the future of any cluB can be upended. Really PC you should know your history!!

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Originally Posted by Jd2793

everyone says they've the best support in the country - unless you are from longford where 200 people show up every fortnight.

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Population of Longford 40000 crowds (according to Nigel) 594
Population of Dublin 1.5million = average attendance in Dublin should be 22,275
Shels Rovers Bohs UCD, Pats = 19629 (credit Nigel again)
Turns out Longford are killing it :)

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Originally Posted by sbgawa

Population of Longford 40000 crowds (according to Nigel) 594
Population of Dublin 1.5million = average attendance in Dublin should be 22,275
Shels Rovers Bohs UCD, Pats = 19629 (credit Nigel again)
Turns out Longford are killing it :)

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Best support in the country

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

This would be the same league that the 4 in a row champions had their home ground sold out from under them a year on, had to traipse across the city to play at dog tracks, running tracks, rented a room from their bitter rivals, had ground development grant money 'reallocated', went in to luquidation, submitted false accounts, were relegated by Dublin City FC a club that Roddy Collins left calling them a sham for him to be given a job by Shamrock Rovers, who suspended Roddy and were then done for unfair dismissal, spent so long developing a new ground that it would make Harps blush, was declared derelict and was taken back by the council to be actually develped and allow Shamrock Rovers to rent. Possible issues to come ie the bankrolling of club activities diluting and maybe ending the much lauded fans ownership model with DD due to call in his loan or take ownership in lieu - is it this year or next that debt matures and with accounts showing the sort of loss that is likely to see that sacrosanct fan share end. SRFC becomes another play thing of a billionaire that can d what he likes!?

Its LoI, nobody is in a position to point the finger at the colourful back stories of our clubs, no one should point the finger knowing that the future of any cluB can be upended. Really PC you should know your history!!

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It's PRECISELY this reason Nesta.!!!
I and all my Rovers mates suffered for 30 years under this kind of $hite ,and are determined not to let it happen again. You can't seem to acknowledge where your club is headed.
The biggest difference is your club had the best part of €9/10 Million quid during the kenny era to improve your club and you pi$$ed it right up the wall- The kilcoyne twa*$ sold Miltown for a million quid when it was worth multiples of that,so even they lost out along with the Rovers fans.

Dont bother with the bs PC, You were were feigning concern about the image of the league, claiming that we deserve this. At least be honest with yourself and accept that you are particularly bitter when it comes to Dundalk, behaving more akin to minnowism. You are simply gloating and now trying to cover by flying a flag of SRFC experience based virtue. That hole in your finances doesnt indicate that lessons have been learned, that you may, as fans, lose any say in how your club is run, which doesnt indicate lessons have been learned. If you think that Dundalk fans do not know where mistakes were made, what it like to have no say in how money should be invested, have decisions made that have long term implications with out any input well you are quite wrong. Being powerless while wtaching your club get toyed with is not easy, Im sure you recall what its like. But its a glimpse in to a possible future for you. So come on then, when does the DD loan mature and he can take control of the club? He might cover losses, or he might focus on youth development and strip playing assets for his Glasgow operation, do you think this is a possibility? Do you think losing the fans stake in the club is learning from the past? Was a good enough for Rovers fans past, possibley future? Get down off that high horse before you fall PC!

Stephen Kenny confirmed as the new St Patrick’s Athletic manager….

Contract till the end of the 2029 season. Wasn’t a bad idea publicly buttering him up for the Ireland job back in 2018 after all now was it Dundalk lads ;)

Kenny back at the level he is more suited to. I suspect he'll do a lot better for Pats than he did for Ireland.

Potentially game changing appointment by Pat's. You would wonder what has changed in the 8? Weeks since he was linked with the Bohs job because I can confirm he did do the tour of the training ground and the usual stuff managers late in the process do. Fingers crossed it ends up like his time at Rovers :D.

On Rovers. If they do end up being owned 100% by Dermot Desmond I'd say Rovers will always be second fiddle to Celtic for him but I don't think that would mean he would let Rovers rot. From anything I've heard about him he is someone who wants to win everything with Celtic and I can't see why that wouldn't translate to another club should he own them as well. You would probably lose some of the young exciting players to Celtic for less than you would want but that's how it goes with multi club models.

On Dundalk I've always fancied being a manager and can get into internet arguments with the best of them. Does anyone have BA's number so I can throw my hat in the ring? :D Jokes aside I think Dundalk fans (whether it's a hundred of them or thousands) need to band together and plan for BA throwing his toys out of the pram and leaving Dundalk in the lurch because I'm not sure he has the patience for the long term project that Dundalk have become. If he did he would have stayed at Kerry but he tried to jump a few steps ahead by buying Dundalk.

Whats happened in the 8 weeks is G Kelliher has offered him a lengthy and lucretive contract with cedrtainty around budget.
Bohs can toffer the same particularly if they have to move during Dalymount rebuild etc.
Money talks

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

Dont bother with the bs PC, You were were feigning concern about the image of the league, claiming that we deserve this. At least be honest with yourself and accept that you are particularly bitter when it comes to Dundalk, behaving more akin to minnowism. You are simply gloating and now trying to cover by flying a flag of SRFC experience based virtue. That hole in your finances doesnt indicate that lessons have been learned, that you may, as fans, lose any say in how your club is run, which doesnt indicate lessons have been learned. If you think that Dundalk fans do not know where mistakes were made, what it like to have no say in how money should be invested, have decisions made that have long term implications with out any input well you are quite wrong. Being powerless while wtaching your club get toyed with is not easy, Im sure you recall what its like. But its a glimpse in to a possible future for you. So come on then, when does the DD loan mature and he can take control of the club? He might cover losses, or he might focus on youth development and strip playing assets for his Glasgow operation, do you think this is a possibility? Do you think losing the fans stake in the club is learning from the past? Was a good enough for Rovers fans past, possibley future? Get down off that high horse before you fall PC!

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I don't think you realise. I'm not on any horse at all.
I'm just laughing at you on your 3 legged donkey going in the wrong direction.
Don't bother bringing the bedsheets past the away section tomorrow night,like what happened before. You'll get short shrift from Rovers fans.

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Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

Kenny back at the level he is more suited to. I suspect he'll do a lot better for Pats than he did for Ireland.

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Complety agree. He has a base to work from there , although he might have to get rid of some expensive deadwood first.

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Originally Posted by joey B

Stephen Kenny confirmed as the new St Patrick’s Athletic manager….

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Who will be his assistant and possible other staff?

Brian Gartland is available!

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Originally Posted by placid casual

Complety agree. He has a base to work from there , although he might have to get rid of some expensive deadwood first.

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He's had a knack of getting the best out of people at a crossroad in their career when working together day to day, so you never know what's possible with the current group even before they bring a couple of new faces in.

I think this is an extremely positive development for Pats and the league by extension. For himself, I'm sure it's not the dream gig, but there's a lot to work with and the opportunity to prove a lot of people wrong with a European adventure or three.

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

This would be the same league that the 4 in a row champions had their home ground sold out from under them a year on, had to traipse across the city to play at dog tracks, running tracks, rented a room from their bitter rivals, had ground development grant money 'reallocated', went in to luquidation, submitted false accounts, were relegated by Dublin City FC a club that Roddy Collins left calling them a sham for him to be given a job by Shamrock Rovers, who suspended Roddy and were then done for unfair dismissal, spent so long developing a new ground that it would make Harps blush, was declared derelict and was taken back by the council to be actually develped and allow Shamrock Rovers to rent. Possible issues to come ie the bankrolling of club activities diluting and maybe ending the much lauded fans ownership model with DD due to call in his loan or take ownership in lieu - is it this year or next that debt matures and with accounts showing the sort of loss that is likely to see that sacrosanct fan share end. SRFC becomes another play thing of a billionaire that can d what he likes!?

Its LoI, nobody is in a position to point the finger at the colourful back stories of our clubs, no one should point the finger knowing that the future of any cluB can be upended. Really PC you should know your history!!

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The difference with us is that despite various iterations of owners almost destroying the club as outlined by you above ; we the fans worked and succeeded in becoming owners and over last 15 years have ‘built’ the sustainable club we have today that incorporates a hugely successful first team and an academy that is the best in the country ( e.g. 8 of our u15s are in the Irish squad) and a range of other community projects ( yesterday for example our men’s Walking football team participated in a tournament in Cork). And of course we even had to in conjunction with the SCC take on and defeat the GAA ( Thomas Davis) in the High Court .

Based on the above we’ve earned the right to comment on others as we may of been a ‘basket case’ the difference is we set about to fix ( not saying we couldn’t get into trouble in the future ) that and as things stand we’re doing good ).

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

Dont bother with the bs PC, You were were feigning concern about the image of the league, claiming that we deserve this. At least be honest with yourself and accept that you are particularly bitter when it comes to Dundalk, behaving more akin to minnowism. You are simply gloating and now trying to cover by flying a flag of SRFC experience based virtue. That hole in your finances doesnt indicate that lessons have been learned, that you may, as fans, lose any say in how your club is run, which doesnt indicate lessons have been learned. If you think that Dundalk fans do not know where mistakes were made, what it like to have no say in how money should be invested, have decisions made that have long term implications with out any input well you are quite wrong. Being powerless while wtaching your club get toyed with is not easy, Im sure you recall what its like. But its a glimpse in to a possible future for you. So come on then, when does the DD loan mature and he can take control of the club? He might cover losses, or he might focus on youth development and strip playing assets for his Glasgow operation, do you think this is a possibility? Do you think losing the fans stake in the club is learning from the past? Was a good enough for Rovers fans past, possibley future? Get down off that high horse before you fall PC!

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Rovers only care for one other club... "our friends in the north" who they occasionally send top ups...

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Originally Posted by placid casual

Complety agree. He has a base to work from there , although he might have to get rid of some expensive deadwood first.

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That current Pats squad looks a mid-table level write-off to me unimpressed everytime I have seen them this season I wouldn't be expecting miracles from Kenny this season and with Dundalk in 2013 he had a complete clean slate unlike Pats who will have alot of junk still under contract next season

You have to expect Kenny is being provided a budget to match Rovers/Derry so more wage inflation in the league and players picked off from Bohs/Shels/the rest, if Pats botch their recruitment again for 2025 at least Kenny has the security of that bumper contract and any potential big pay-off it's a win-win for him

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Originally Posted by placid casual

I don't think you realise. I'm not on any horse at all.
I'm just laughing at you on your 3 legged donkey going in the wrong direction.
Don't bother bringing the bedsheets past the away section tomorrow night,like what happened before. You'll get short shrift from Rovers fans.

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Now there's some honesty, no bs. Its a **** show at Oriel, as it has with other clubs, proabably all at some point. CJ is spot on too, Rovers supporters worked damn hard to preserve the club but you havent forgotten the hard times CJ and pointed the finger. PC was up on his pedestal talking about barstoolers using this to LoI bash. He was just having a (justified) swipe with faux concern for the wider league.

You still havent answered my question on the possibility of losing fan ownership! A self proclaimed perfect model for LoI clubs that would prevent mistakes of the past being repeated. Im sure it would stick in the craw for the likes of CJ who was one of those who fought to bring the club back from the brink but could yet cede once again to private ownership, potentially risking the club being exposed to the whims of an individual. While its unlikely that DD would dismantle the club he could make Rovers a youth development outfit and feeder club to his main football interest. Care should be taken in LoI when laughing at other clubs as there but for the grace of god or he who laughs last etc etc. Its is mad that Dundalk's current situation is rooted in the appointment of a single mad geriatric about 4 years ago. Maybe if we had weathered that storm without demanding the ousting of people with very deep pockets, Bob would have moved on and some normal footballing operation resumed, who knows and tbh is a warning to any club that a few years can make a big difference. BA could well be the man that gets the off field club operations up to scratch, has acknowledge and not fudged the fact the facilities are not up to scratch. He scored an own goal with appointing NK but he has indicated an awarness of deeper issues at the club. It is too early to pass judgement on his ownership but if he was pushed out by fan groups where to then?

Part of Rovers business model is to wing the league every x number of years, the champions pathway making group stages possible semi regularly. If a SK led and heavily financially backed St Pats were to dominate going forward then that financal deficit could grow and become increasingly problematic. Selling the odd player, making Europe is still the basis of Rovers sustainability, hardly unique.