I suspect that the LOI will now retreat from previously unsustainable spending levels, if nothing else through complete lack of choice.
The question is whether DCFC will still be around to participate in this new dispensation.
What was that you were saying about "conjecture" at the start of your post?
Where is your evidence that the IL will fall prey to this, especially with their having seen what unsustainable spending by their Southern neighbours has done?
Quite honestly, after years of certain LOI fans looking down on the IL for being unambitious and "small town" etc, it's a bit rich for someone now to suggest that they're suddenly going to start "chasing the dream" - and in the middle of a recession at that!
Leaving aside the possibility of DCFC nor being allowed to compete in the LOI next season (or even being around?), it stands to reason that if the finances were sorted out so that both Leagues were properly run, on a p-t basis, then DCFC could expect to be more genuinely competitive in the IL than the LOI.
After all, haven't you been telling us for years that the standard of football in the LOI is so much higher than the IL?
Dear oh dear. You don't know much about the Glens, do you? The fact is that due to previous incompetence by the Board etc (inc trying to compete with the IFA-subsidised Linfield), the club is £600k in debt. However, this is secured against the Oval, which they own and which despite being decrepit as a football ground, is still potentially very valuable for development purposes.
Moreover, unlike eg Bohs or Pats, the Glens have been just about managing that debt for some years, chiefly by refusing to get drawn into an "arms race". (Keith Gillespie was only signed, for example, on condition that a sponsor would cover his wages. Plus they desist from prioritising Europe, despite the sneers which follow heavy defeats etc). At the same time, they are the current IL Champions (and Setanta Runners-Up), so arguably they haven't suffered
too much from their economising
Anyhow, whilst there is no money even to give the place a lick of paint, never mind "go nuclear", the Board at last looks to be living within its means and should not be forced to sell the Oval until it is ready to move to an alternative (Blanchflower Park has already been identified, though I'd say it's a long way off).
And it seems you know even less about the Ports...
In fact, they already are owned by a "Sugar Daddy" of sorts, Bobby Jameson (though that's not how many people might describe him!)
Anyhow, after years of spending on players and wages to try and keep up with the "Big Two", Jameson has cut back on that, deciding instead to rebuild Shamrock Park completely, with three brand new stands, plus other improvements (new floodlights, training facilities etc).
When they screwed up with their application for the new Irish Premier League, some people feared that this would banjax the whole scheme; however, the floodlights are installed, two new Stands have been completed and the third has been deferred. Assuming this last goes ahead, Shamrock Park will arguably be better than any LOI ground bar Tallaght and possibly Turners Cross (though at least it will have a team to play in it)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock_Park
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium...shamrock.shtml
The only people who appear to imagine that pigs might fly are those people at the Brandywell who have spent years imagining that the laws of (economic) gravity somehow don't apply to them...
QuoteOriginally Posted by pineapple stu
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