Tribune At It again...

[Straightstory]

Just read this in the Sunday Tribune’s match report of the Ireland v Georgia game:

‘two sides of the ground were practically empty, and at times the mood resembled that of a funereal League of Ireland ground on a damp Friday’.

I normally avoid the Tribune like the plague, exactly because of their contempt towards our national league, but I thought I might be able to read a report of an international game with coming across a derogartory reference. Seemingly not.
People can blame the FAI and the clubs themselves for the parlous state of the leage, but more harmful by far is lazy, arrogant writing like this, which re-enforces people’s prejudices and leads to grounds being practically deserted. The implication here, and commonplace throughout Irish newspapers, especially the Tribune and The Irish Times (where I’ve come across similar comments by Keith Duggan), is that people who support their local clubs in Ireland are somehow pathetic and misguided. Personally, I’ve had some of the best nights of my life at League of Ireland grounds on damp Friday nights.
I don’t know anything about the jouro who wrote this, Ciaran Cronin, because I really do try to avoid the truly hateful Tribune, but is there any other country in the world where the national league is held is such contempt by it’s newspapers’ football correspondents? I doubt it. Shame on them. Ultimately Cronin’s comments say much more about the arrogance and snobbery of journalists than about decent football supporters.

[Stevo Da Gull]

Some people are just arseholes, and some of them work for newspapers. While it's frustrating to know that many people will be influenced by the words of this arsehole, there have been many arseholes throughout history who love to have their opinions noted and whatever damage comes from arseholes like this is just another thing that our league must strive to overcome.

My post may not seem particularly thought out, but I don't feel that there is anything particularly untrue in there, whereas I've been to many a LOI game with a far better atmosphere than that which was regularly created in Lansdowne Road but clearly a certain arsehole couldn't bother his arse to avoid running the league down. Sure there are LOI games with funeral like atmosphere's which resemble those regularly witnessed in Old Trafford and some other big clubs stadiums, but this fellow doesn't seem to remember these occasions now does he?

[the-blue-harp]

cheap shot, its shows a real lack of imagination from this puke cronin. it seems you need to have "hate league of ireland" on you cv, to get a job in the irish media these days.

big story in the independent about galway owing money to john aldridges company that supplied the "legends" to a friendly at galway a while back. galway owe 17,000euro, so the independent was compelled to have a story on it "hot on the heels" of the cork scandal. the way the clubs in this league handle their finances is just fuel to the fire.

[BohDiddley]

t seems you need to have "hate league of ireland" on you cv, to get a job in the irish media these days.

Certainly true of the Tribune.
To reach the editor of Sport, contact sport@tribune.ie
http://www.tribune.ie/contactus/
Oddly enough, the piece isn't run in the online edition.

[CharlesThompson]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You would think, reading comments like the one above and other reprehensible 'points' and articles referring to our league by the Irish media, that OUR league was the only league in the world that had problems. For crying out loud, half the teams below the Sparkly, Shiny, Premier League have had to overcome and are at this very moment trying to overcome adversity in keeping their clubs afloat. Yet the concentration in this country and others of attention toward the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, etc. is so damaging to the grassroots football leagues around the world that these holier than thou, lazy hacks cannot see the wood for the trees.

Take this as a point, the amount of money being wasted in the English game over the last 10 years or so on purchasing foreign players, paying players agents, etc. in order for quick fix solutions to the ills of competing using your own players is money that will now always be lost to the football industry in England. It is no wonder that teams like Nottingham Forest, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, et al are where they are and perrenial strugglers like York, Cambridge, Darlington, Carlisle, etc. have all faced deaths door in recent years.

Yet this type of lazy throw away comment and all the other ****e that we have to put up with in this country for supporting our local sides is par for the course. In some way these comments are to underline and cement already entrenched views that somehow supporting your local side is a complete waste of time and that it will always be better, cheaper and more convenient to choose a winner from across the water and happily sit on the back of some bandwagon singing songs about being "English till you die" or that you hate Man United supporters because none of them come from Manchester, with a little blue and white, red and white, green and white, whatever flag, resplendent in a replica jersey and novelty hat with bells, happy in the knowledge that if Chelsea don't win the league this year then they can spend more money next year and win it then instead.

[the-blue-harp]

i had a crazy idea when i was writing into the tribune there, that if people on here that feel they have creative writing skills were to write pieces promoting the eircom league and we got together in trying to get some published. kind of a case of....if you want something done do it yourself.

its all the negative media coverage that is ruining and not allowing our national league to progress. Its hindering sponsors from getting involved and stopping football fans that probably would give it a chance bothering to get off their asses and go to games.

Just a crazy idea.

[brianw82]

i had a crazy idea when i was writing into the tribune there, that if people on here that feel they have creative writing skills were to write pieces promoting the eircom league and we got together in trying to get some published. kind of a case of....if you want something done do it yourself.

its all the negative media coverage that is ruining and not allowing our national league to progress. Its hindering sponsors from getting involved and stopping football fans that probably would give it a chance bothering to get off their asses and go to games.

Just a crazy idea.

What about a video diary of the season from a LoI fan's point of view? Maybe pitch it to RTE/TV3? Could anyone here do that sort of thing?

[cheifo]

Always thought a video diary or a supporters panel(if done well) would have been an excellant feature on MNS.
Might be an idea as well to feature some supporters who had not previously supported their local side.

[irishultra]

Writing an e-mail as I type, well I'm not cause' that would be hard to do unless I had 4 hands but as soon as I finish this, that ****** is getting an e-mail.

Tosser.

[A face]

‘two sides of the ground were practically empty, and at times the mood resembled that of a funereal League of Ireland ground on a damp Friday’

Who wrote that line?

[thischarmingman]

I don’t know anything about the jouro who wrote this, Ciaran Cronin, because I really do try to avoid the truly hateful Tribune

Who wrote that line?

I've never heard of him. But I am going to write an email later tonight.

[Bohemian1890]

He is a loser who obviously never went to a game.Also funny thing is the atmosphere seemed better on TV anyway than it is for home games.

[Greenforever]

He must have only seen a clip of the goals on telly, over 3,000 in the irish end, and they never stopped singing all night, grrat athmophere, \nd as previousaly posted Ive seen better athmosphere at many el grounds than at old trafford etc.

[pete]

He is a loser who obviously never went to a game.Also funny thing is the atmosphere seemed better on TV anyway than it is for home games.

Strangely enough for such small crowd it did sound like a good atmosphere on Saturday. Don't know if it was because of microphone placement but good bit of noise all the same...

[OneRedArmy]

only reading this thread now but was going to post yesterday when reading the article as the cheapness of it infuriated me.

What hope have we when our domestic game is the stuff of ridicule? I thought the worst the Turbine could do was ignore the EL, seems this isn't enough for them.

[pete]

I thought the worst the Turbine could do was ignore the EL, seems this isn't enough for them.

Given the Tribune ignores the LOI how do they know stadiums are half empty?

[Sheridan]

The ***** even had a swipe at the LOI (getting most of the facts wrong as usual) in their sports editor Ger Siggins's cricket column the other week:

So which cricketer last week joined Warwickshire from an Irish club? When I mention that the Irish club was St Patrick’s Athletic, it may confuse you. It seems that Richie Barker, 21, a former England U-20 footballer has been plucked from the obscurity of the National League into the obscurity of the English County Championship Division Two. Barker has been playing a bit in the Lancashire Leagues this summer and won a two year deal after a trial. He is godson of West Indies captain Clive Lloyd and son of Keith, who played twice for Guyana in the 1960s. A few Dublin clubs must regret they didn’t spot him during his time in the city. Maybe Merrion could have found room in their top order, where one R Barker already resides.

I sent him the following email:

The former St. Pat's player who signed for Warwickshire is called Keith Barker, not Richie Barker, so no confusion with "other" R Barkers would have arisen. I did in fact notify a couple of Dublin clubs to his presence but they felt that the terms of his contract might have prevented him from playing cricket. Not that there would have been many other impediments, as he made only a handful of appearances for Pat's and was not of the required standard.

As for being "plucked from the obscurity of the National League", there has been no league of that name in Ireland for about a decade, and there's nothing obscure about the eircom League unless one takes all one's information on sport second- third- or fourth-hand from the Tribune.

[pete]

Barker? Baker?

[Sheridan]

Presumably he'd heard the name "Richie Baker" in conjunction with the "National League" at some point and that's how the confusion arose.

[Dodge]

For the record keith barker joined us on loan, was rubbish, and not offered a permanent contract. Good luck with the cricket Keith

As for the Tribune...