A Couple of Questions Re Dundalk

**Roo69** · 29/05/2012, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by The Lilywhites

Who gets paid on a Tuesday?!

The players will be paid this week, confirmed by the club. Last week's wages wont.

An ex-Bray player who is now with Dundalk posted on his Facebook page that he wasn't paid his wages again this week, i thought it strange myself on a Tuesday but that's what he said.

To me that reads that they have already missed more than one payment. Really hope Dundalk can turn things around, we were in a terrible situation at the start of the year and managed to turn things around, hopefully you can too.

**bullit** · 30/05/2012, 3:45 AM

Originally Posted by jinxy lilywhite

I am not running it down. it is good to have an asset that hopefully in future will generate revenue stream. It is my opinion that during the time focus was just to build it without any though or proper planning on how to utilise it and to run it properly.
it was built purely for youth development it would be next to impossible for the centre to run itself. It would also be very speculative to think that dundalk fc could build a conveyor belt of talent that could be sold accross the water to pay for the centre.
to counter that you need functions and functions do be held there. But there is not as many functions being held there that would hoped to be. Dundalk and ireland are different places now than it was 3 or 4 years ago.

What would I do? tbh I dont know, hire an events manager or get someone in who intimately knows how to run a youth centre and to use it to feed the 1st team. but it will be a very long time imo before this centre becomes a cash cow. the revenues generated from it will take a very long time to pay back. Centres like these you build and you hope in 20 yrs that it will pay back but we all know the reason why it is a perceived cash cow is because the costs have been landed on DFC and the company now running the centre have no costs.

1 ^ An events manager has been in place since Jan/Feb

2 ^ GMatthews reckons that the YDC will return a profit for this year.

Point No.2 is the deal breaking point though.

GM was involved with other investors in the building of the YDC and i would say that any takeover by an outside party will have to include some assurances that those investors wil have to get a fairly HIGH percentage of their money back.

It is a desperatley sad state of affairs atm

**bullit** · 30/05/2012, 4:30 AM

Originally Posted by Guinney

I think the YDC or Oriel Active as it's now called is good, nice bar, a gym for the players and we can hold events in it - like the European badminton tournament, Take Me Out, Strictly Come dancing, large Poker tournaments, snooker expeditions, and probably other things that I can't think of. But on a football side of things there is only 3 indoor pitches in it, not a whole lot in my opinion. Even though it has only recently closed JJB in town had 11 pitches, all that could be converting into larger pitches, plus the 12th pitch that was turned into a kiddies play area. And still it closed down despite being busy every night of the week (not sure of the exact reasons). There is tonnes of artificial pitches now in town, so on the whole 3 5-A-side pitches for me isn't a whole lot for the time, money and effort put into the YDC.

Guinney, JJB as a company failed.The Dundalk arm of the biz was prob profitable or near enough break-even but the take-over company prob just wnted the good meat on the steak if you know what i mean. The pitche's alongside the gym were well placed to make cash but i think having the sports shop included was the wrong way to go.For a town the size of Dundalk they should have stuck that into the(main) retail park(yeah,just around the corner

) or into the town centre.For anybody that didnt play football or go to the gym it was hardly the go to spot for sports gear ?

**JC_GUFC** · 30/05/2012, 8:52 AM

Originally Posted by Mr A

I saw he said two clubs already unable to pay wages. Are Monaghan the other I wonder?

I'd say it's more likely the FAI's dream team. They didn't pay players last year but vowed to pay wages this year, the results haven't exactly improved and crowds certainly haven't despite being given free access to one of the best stadiums in the league.

**Dodge** · 30/05/2012, 9:23 AM

Originally Posted by JC_GUFC

I'd say it's more likely the FAI's dream team. They didn't pay players last year but vowed to pay wages this year, the results haven't exactly improved and crowds certainly haven't despite being given free access to one of the best stadiums in the league.

Best stadiums in the league you say...

**JC_GUFC** · 30/05/2012, 9:39 AM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Best stadiums in the league you say...

Turner's Cross, Tallaght and struggling after that...

**Dodge** · 30/05/2012, 12:21 PM

FAI's dream team you say...

**Lim till i die** · 30/05/2012, 12:42 PM

I'm confused, why aren't Shamrock paying their players??

**marinobohs** · 30/05/2012, 1:34 PM

Originally Posted by Lim till i die

I'm confused, why aren't Shamrock paying their players??

No direct bus between SDCC stadium and the bank ?

**passerrby** · 30/05/2012, 2:52 PM

Originally Posted by Lim till i die

I'm confused, why aren't Shamrock paying their players??

Simple they budgeted getting us in the cup imagine there faces when the real rovers drew the sleeping giants

**Poor Student** · 31/05/2012, 12:22 PM

I'd say it's more likely the FAI's dream team. They didn't pay players last year but vowed to pay wages this year, the results haven't exactly improved and crowds certainly haven't despite being given free access to one of the best stadiums in the league.

We often complain about lack of media coverage in the LOI but I have to say it results in one of my favourite things about it, the vague rumour and conjecture. With the complete lack of media interest and investigative journalism the above statement could be entirely fictional or true, either being entirely plausible!

**Dodge** · 31/05/2012, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Poor Student

We often complain about lack of media coverage in the LOI but I have to say it results in one of my favourite things about it, the vague rumour and conjecture. With the complete lack of media interest and investigative journalism the above statement could be entirely fictional or true, either being entirely plausible!

The best part of it is that the 'criteria' could be applied to 3/4 teams. Thats what makes truly great innuendo

**Guinney** · 31/05/2012, 1:42 PM

Originally Posted by bullit

Guinney, JJB as a company failed.The Dundalk arm of the biz was prob profitable or near enough break-even but the take-over company prob just wnted the good meat on the steak if you know what i mean. The pitche's alongside the gym were well placed to make cash but i think having the sports shop included was the wrong way to go.For a town the size of Dundalk they should have stuck that into the(main) retail park(yeah,just around the corner

) or into the town centre.For anybody that didnt play football or go to the gym it was hardly the go to spot for sports gear ?

Yeah agree with all that you say, but the issue I am more concerned with is from all the hassle, cost and time put into Oriel Active/YDC and we only have 3 pitches. Well there is also a bar (a really nice one) and a small gym for the players. Events can be held there aswell which is great and there is a large underground carpark. But the focus on the whole building is really the pitches and we only have three of them, which is not a large amount really when you compared it to JJB which had 12.

To be honest this is really only a side issue, the survival of the club is more important at the moment, but if we fitted more pitches in there maybe this would have helped with the cashflow problem that slight bit more

**Dodge** · 31/05/2012, 2:43 PM

Dundalk trust looking at alternatives...

http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/sport/...park-1-3904519

**Spudulika** · 31/05/2012, 4:27 PM

One of the best suggestions, which speaks volumes about reality vs LOI, came by stealth from GM's buddies and then from the horses mouth itself - to pay the wages of a couple of good players so as not to lose them for nothing! Can anyone, in their right mind, even contemplate a situation where the club owner invites supporters to pay the wages of one or two players so as not to lose them for nothing? It plumbs the depths of corruption and foul play. It slaps the head off players who turn up week in week out and are deemed unfit to be paid. The trust and GM have put the club in a mess of their own desire.

**Mr A** · 31/05/2012, 4:37 PM

You're saying the trust wanted this?

And they wouldn't be the first club to keep their most saleable players up to date in the hope of selling. If they can get a fee the other lads may see more money than they would otherwise.

**Dillonman** · 31/05/2012, 5:25 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Dundalk trust looking at alternatives...

http://www.dundalkdemocrat.ie/sport/...park-1-3904519

Its the same alternative, they are just looking at wider ideas at how they could sustain taking over the running of the club should it be required as an emergency sooner rather than later. A few other whispers and unconfirmed whispers at that have been that the Trust could be talking to the previous bidders who where turned down at Xmas, with a joint bid a possibility, ie Fastfix and a few local businessmen.

**Spudulika** · 31/05/2012, 5:36 PM

Originally Posted by Mr A

You're saying the trust wanted this?

And they wouldn't be the first club to keep their most saleable players up to date in the hope of selling. If they can get a fee the other lads may see more money than they would otherwise.

That the owner is on the way out, yes. That they should have called him out on it sooner and not been conned by his 3 card trick, yes. That they want to club to die, it's impossible to say but I would guess no. I compared (unfairly in a way) GM to TNB, but I would always add that GM put money into the club and is leaving the facilities better than he found them.

As for messing about with wages for one player over another, it's a disgrace, it has happened in clubs true, but it's wrong. It is the death knell for the club if this carry on starts. How much could they expect to get (for one particular player returning from injury) that would justify it? No club is even going to offer a half decent amount.

Dillonman, I hope that the 2 lads from Fastfix can get in and turn it around, but after the way they were treated, along with everyone else, they're not going to just let GM sit beyond in the shed soaking money from the club. He either goes or continues taking the club back to where he found it.

**bullit** · 01/06/2012, 2:55 AM

Originally Posted by Spudulika

Dillonman, I hope that the 2 lads from Fastfix can get in and turn it around, but after the way they were treated, along with everyone else, they're not going to just let GM sit beyond in the shed soaking money from the club. He either goes or continues taking the club back to where he found it.

Spud and Dillonman,it would be great if someone came in right now to help the club out but i dont think those Fastfix guys are as clean as they appear.Be careful what you wish for :-/

**Spudulika** · 01/06/2012, 3:44 AM

Bullit, while I'm not 100% in agreement with you, a part of me feels that nobody in this is as angelic as they make out (so basically I do agree :-) ). Has anyone ever figured out who "invested" in the YDC - apart from the sports grant - and what are the legal terms of the repayments on it?