QuoteThe echo do give us a fair amount of coverage, even if most of it is tripe. That article was a disgrace and probably a one off.
just read eanna's post about paul daly's anti-city article. i'm away at the mo and have missed all the euro matches (thank god for the internet). i think we should have a campaign of emails protesting that article - the sports editor is john mchale. john.mchale@eecho.ie
to get the ball rolling, here's the email i sent today.
I am writing as a Cork City supporter appalled by the article written by Paul Daly and published in the Evening Echo entitled "For Some The Cup Is Always Half Empty". I hope I will not take up too much of your time in outlining my complaints.
Sky Sports and the clubs they televise benefit from Irish football fans spending money on their passion. If it was not financially viable, Sky Sports would not be here, but they are, collecting subscription fees and providing matches for us to pay-per-view. The hype and glamour lavished on these matches is unique to Sky Sports and, with our history of emigration and of Irish heroes playing for Liverpool and Manchester United et al, Sky Sports are not likely to lose the Irish market any time soon.
For the Eircom league to survive, to improve, it must attract those who love football. It must encourage the Sky Sports subscribers to leave the comfort of their armchairs from time to time and spend some money and some time supporting instead of merely watching. How can this be achieved? What does the Eircom league have to offer?
1. Excitement. The passion of the crowd. Chanting, flags, cheers, groans. The benefiits of actually being at the stadium. Cork City's home match with NEC Nijmegen was a sell-out, with an atmosphere that had never been witnessed before by several of City's players.
Paul Daly commented on the atmosphere at a typical Cork City match: "Normally the inhabitants of the Derrynane end only open their mouths occasionally, alternating between breathing and abusing certain players. Mostly, they do the latter more than the former."
2. Football of a high standard, played on good pitches by skillful players - in Cork City's case there are frequently several past and current Irish Under-21 internationals, and at least one candidate for full international honours.
Paul Daly summed up the quality of the football on offer: "It was one of the most tedious games I've ever sat through at the Cross.... City didn't have the ability...Their play lacked ambition and imagination."
3. Pride. The opportunity to support your local team, to share in a sense of community spirit. Irish clubs have been looked down on and trivialised for too long. Now as standards rise and professionalism grows there exists an opportunity to leave the inferiority complex of the past behind.
Paul Daly spelled out his sense of pride in Cork City's performances in Europe: "Let us not get carried away with this win. The Intertoto Cup is known in English football circles as the Inter-two-bob cup... in short, the Dutch weren't particularly bothered... Those who love City should not worship a false god."
The impression given by Mr. Daly is that Cork City lack ambition, thrilling at hollow victories over disinterested opposition who lost only because they attached no worth to a competition ignored by clubs of real stature. He maintained that the standard of football on offer is frustrating and boring. He maintained that to visit Turner's Cross is to endure tedious football played out in a negative atmospere. Mr. Daly has suffered so much supporting Cork City that he fears for his "mental stability".
I would suggest that perhaps that stability was unhinged some time ago. Cork City's Intertoto exploits have brought a level of interest in the Irish game that has perhaps never been seen before. The excitment surrounding the club is an outstanding opportunity to generate new supporters, to consolidate existing suport, to win over those who might otherwise just stay at home. Without support from football fans, Eircom league clubs cannot hope to continue the progress of recent years.
My question is simple. Why did the Evening Echo, who sponsor Cork City Football Club, publish such a negative, damaging article, which encourages potential supporters to stay away, to keep their money and their sanity? For the local media to pour such vitriol on the local football team, who are currently enjoying one of their most successful periods both on and off the pitch, is incomprehensible to me. I would greatly apppreciate any light you could shed on this matter.
if we send in enough emails, maybe the message will get thru? if not, at least we can **** the little fecker off.
The echo do give us a fair amount of coverage, even if most of it is tripe. That article was a disgrace and probably a one off.
we live in a free and democratic society and everyone is entitled to their view while i dont agree with his article i think it is wrong to lynch someone for their views
save the sheep shaggers bring back beheadings for waherford
couldn't agree more. this guy daly is entitled to his opinion - i don't agree with it, but that's just my opinion. my problem is with the echo. if daly wrote a piece voicing his opinion that hitler was great and the holocaust was just propoganda created by the jews, would the echo publish that?Originally Posted by exile
the point is, democracy and freedom of speech don't relieve newspapers of their responsibilities. the echo chose to publish that article rubbishing city as a team and rubbishing the atmosphere and the fans.
anyone who goes to the cross regularly knows that the size of the crowd can vary by thousands from week to week. lets say last sunday was your first visit, or maybe you weren't there but were interested in going next time. and you read, from a longtime fan in the echo, who says, yeah sunday was a good atmosphere but usually it's crap. and city played as poorly as they always have, no sign of any change there. and sure if they came up against a team who were actually interested, they'd be hammered. really supporting this team is no fun at all. maybe you'd say, well **** this, i'm not going to put myself thru all that, and sure anyway eircom league isn't real football. where's the remote?
why publish an article that says to potential fans: stay away? because it's his opinion? surely the echo have to ask more questions than that. who is this guy anyway, why is his opinion so important? did they actually look for someone to write a negative piece?
this is kind of like the "supporters" who hurl abuse at players and say: free speech boy, it's my riight to say whatever i want". having the right to do something is not an a valid argument in itself. and when you're the local newspaper, you've got to take a little more responsibiliity for what you publish. i just hope that i'm wrong and city don't lose any supporters to this.
Giving this guy this much attention is making him out to be something he is not. He is immaterial to Cork City, the club, the team and the fans.
Don't make an elephant out of a flea.
Listening to red fm live from nantes, just cos it has a better reception. osin is doing a great job, he is actually a fan, spillage is being so negative, we need a penalty or og to score, he gave city no chance even after 1-0. he is a useless tool. even when city got the away goal, he said we havent a hope of scoring again. WHY NOT. I always think back to man u bayern, anything can happen in football.
Thats the one ..... forget about it, the club is getting far bigger than this now. We should let this tool let us get bogged down. Ignore is a good plan of action.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
it isn't just a random "guy" though. it's the evening echo, the local newspaper. local media can't be said to be immaterial to ccfc.
The Echo may not be immaterial, but this guy is.
that's a very philophical statement...
my problem is mainly with the echo publishing the article - lets face it, guys like paul daly are not exactly in short supply.
of course if you want to get really philosophical, the echo IS paul daly, and all the other journalists writing for it. he may be immaterial in himself, but when his rantings are read by thousands then his opinions become extremely important.
The better more able journos always come out on top, this guys isn't very good and it is apparant in the way he writes. That it with a grain of salt and hope people can erad between the lines.
Anyway ..... word of mouth is far better that anything he'll scribble down. The NEC game was a great advert so no matter what he said, it would be hard to sway people who were there away from thinking it was great.
If anything, the guy is showing himself up.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
well i for one hope to never see his name is print again. still feel that a whole load of emails complaining about the echo publishing such unwarranted negative crap is a good idea.
Can anyone argue with this?
The Derrynane is second only to the St. Anne's End for lack of atmosphere.
Have Boot Disk, will travel
in any stadium there are sections that are quieter than others. old trafford has it's stretford end where, in my limited experience, most of the "singers" sit. just like city and the shed. i for one have often sat in the st. anne's end and, while i don't belt out city songs all by myself, i certainly don't hurl abuse at anyone, and i have been known to cheer occasionally.
this daly tool set out to paint the worst possible picture of city - and i think everyone should argue with that.
Couldn't agree more with you.
It is good for newspapers to encourage writers to look at stories from unusual angles, but that article was not fair. It was not even factually correct. An attempt by the Echo to be clever has not worked. For a start they should have chosen somebody who can write.
Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere - Martin Luther King Jnr.
he is obviously immaterial to loyal supporters. for anyone who goes to the cross regularly it's nothing more than a bad joke. BUT for people who don't go regularly it's telling them to stay away.
if city never got in the paper at all we'd be complaining, because media coverage makes a difference. i'm not worried about paul daly affecting the club or it's fans. i'm worried about him costing the club potential new fans, which we need. there should be a full house at every game and i don't think we should ignore someone in the local media trying to turn people off cork cuty fc.
Has it occurred to anyone that this Daly character might actually have a point?
In which part of the article?
Cork City: Making 'Dream Team' seem realistic since 2007.
the guy was just getting a kick out of ****ing people off. he's a waster. I got a response from the Echo which was quite reasonable, but I don't want to post it. Suffice it to say several of my questions were answered and I was offered the right to reply to the article- unfortunately they needed it by this morning and I didn't see the e-mail untill too late.
In fairness the Echo's coverage of City is usually daily and they have extensive match coverage for the bigger games.
But that effect is usually undone by irresponsible pieces with wide sweeping statements, which is a pity.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks