Why cant the FAI develop our players the same way those 'superior players' are being developed.Originally Posted by Murfinator
There is no reason why they cant and there is no reason for the FAI-apologists to defend them for not doing so.
They can see where football is going, its there job to take us there. Why do we have to play catch up all the time? Its not a radical agrarian society we are proposing or anything, its good technical football .... something the administrators of the game in this country should be in favour of.
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.
Can they see where its going? They strike me as an organisation poorly led with little foresight or initiative.
If you look at what the IRFU have done is they've loaded the coaching positions from top to bottom with experienced and talented Kiwi's. Why aren't we doing the same with Spanish? Though I suppose we actually have to keep the talent here past their 16th birthday for that to be of any use.
I'd prefer Eastern Europeans meself.
can we afford them?
so turning up in massive numbers, always remaining enthusiastic and supportive to the team (support of the only part of the set-up you claim to support!!) no matter what goes on on the pitch, behaving impeccably at ALL times both at and away from the matches etc etc makes us "awful" and embarrassments"?? never heard such tripe in my life.
you obviously werent over there to see and hear what the local polish media said, the poznans residents organised show of support and thanks in the main square monday or what the fans of many countries that we mingled with said and thought about us. our supporters were a 100% credit to the team, themselves and the country.
lets be racist and violent like the croats and russians instead shall we?
Nice generalisation.
The argument about the rugby team is one that really irritates me. Here is a sport played seriously in about 12 countries (most with small populations) and we claim it is a success story because in the last ten years we have hovered between being the 4th and 8th best team. How is that better than being between the 20th and 40th best at a sport taken seriously in c150 countries?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...318259016.html
EMMET MALONE in Poznan
EURO 2012: A DECADE ago, when the bullets were flying around the FAI over the Saipan affair, one of the criticisms levelled at Brendan Menton was that he had demeaned the status of the position of association chief executive by showing up to team training in shorts. Given the photographs and video of John Delaney out socialising in Poland over the last few weeks, it seems a more laughable complaint than ever now.
Delaney, who was treasurer of the association in 2002, played a key role in the departure of both Menton and, subsequently, Fran Rooney and has won just about every internal battle he has fought since.
The upshot is that he is widely considered to be untouchable within the organisation; an attitude he would appear to share himself if the many images of his nights out that have appeared in newspapers or on various social media platforms over the last week or two are anything to go by.
Technically, of course, he is an employee of the association and answerable to his board.
But those who have publicly stood up to him in the past have tended to leave the organisation not long afterwards and, if it would be unfair to describe the current members as “yes men”, then it is certainly hard to recall any significant issues on which they have said no to him in recent times.
His job brings with it a salary/package worth just over €400,000 – that’s about three times what Menton was paid for performing the same role a decade ago and four times what a League of Ireland team will receive for winning the title this year.
The biggest part of the salary hike occurred during Rooney’s time at the association, with the former Baltimore Technologies man demanding to be paid what he reckoned he was worth.
Even at a time that many others within the organisation had concluded that the appointment of Rooney had been an error, Delaney told The Irish Times that he believed Rooney’s demands should be met.
In time, Rooney did get most of what he wanted but as he was forced out of the job soon afterwards it was to be Delaney who ultimately benefited.
As rivals departed one after the other, power appeared to become more and more centralised within the association, with Delaney coming to wield almost all of it. Many, though certainly not all, grumbled in private but given the central importance of the association in making or obtaining grants for clubs and leagues, none wanted to be identified as an opponent.
And during the boom the amount of money that flooded into the association from the public and private sectors meant Delaney came to be regarded by many, not least himself, as a tremendous success. On one of the many occasions he has been asked what is it he does that merits him being paid more than the Taoiseach, he said he “delivers” for the association.
Now, however, the association in struggling under the weight of the huge debt it incurred for its part of the Lansdowne Road redevelopment. The association’s plan, championed by Delaney, was that the money, around €70 million, would be paid through the sale of premium seats but the pricing and timing of the scheme was spectacularly misjudged, with the result that the finances of the organisation were plunged into crisis.
That, combined with dramatic cuts to public funding and other setbacks on the revenue front like plummeting ticket income and the swift collapse of the Dublin Super Cup, have left the association looking pretty desperate at times, as when they refused Limerick permission to play high-profile friendlies in Thomond Park or when centralised deals ended up depriving already cash-starved clubs of income they had previously received directly from the same sponsors.
Some supporters of the club and of the league generally ask how it was that somebody whose salary accounted for about one per cent of the association’s entire turnover last year could feel free to enjoy himself so wholeheartedly while the senior game back at home received yet another body blow with the decision of Monaghan United to withdraw from the League of Ireland.
Others have been less surprised. There was some mirth among the press corps when the 44-year-old was asked to help launch a drinkaware leaflet aimed at fans coming to Poland given that he had been involved in high-profile drink related stunts while on recent trips to Slovakia, Estonia and Russia.
Here, most of the journalists on the trip tended to avoid Max’s cocktail bar in Sopot on the basis that they might run into him.
By the end of the trip, though, it wasn’t hard to uncover a fan with a story relating to the chief executive’s behaviour which typically involves joining in with or leading a chorus of “Oh John Delaney, used to be a w****r but he’s all right now”.
Some of those he is singing with clearly like him but for others he is a laughing stock.
He has never exactly shied away from the spotlight, of course, but to be at the heart of a story like this would, for most people, be utterly humiliating.
It is not entirely clear what those around him have made of it – although there has been more of that grumbling – but it is not hard to imagine what the likes of Michel Platini (as important to Delaney these days in terms of funding as the Irishman is to those beneath him in the game) must think.
If, in any case, he is embarrassed by the remarkable pictures which have appeared in Sunday newspapers or the various images now viewable on the likes of YouTube or Twitter then he has shown no sign of it.
Perhaps he’s actually proud of himself. The players, after all, only came remotely close to delivering at these European Championships in the last game. Delaney, it seems, gave it more of a lash over the course of the group stages.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I think JD can be glad Enda Kenny is running the country, not this fella:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...-chief-resigns
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...e-3147496.html
Dion Fannings interview with Big Bad John - Sorry if its been posted elsewhere, I've only just read it.
Some items a crossover with your corporate governance topic stutts.
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Wow, that's a great interview. Now, I'm a big softie but I have to say JD made a good case for himself and his work there. I maintain that he can do wtf he likes at night. Fraternising with fellow Irish while away on a business trip is absolutely fine. I get p1ssed when I'm away on business, often with clients / potential clients / competitors / whoever (at nights) so why shouldn't he?
Fanning was resorting to ad hominem tactics in that regard wheraes he should have focused more on the FAI's own review processes etc. Better questions to ask would be along the lines of Sadlier's criticism of Emerging talent Programme, i.e., that it starts too late.
I'm all on for the FAI to be subject to public scrutiny and would like to have seen more probing questions wrt Koevermans legacy etc.
wrt Bonner being a potential threat to JD wasn't it Liam Brady, on arrival at Celtic, who noticed that Bonner was very underpaid versus his peers and had very little business acumen? Hardly a candidate for FAI CEO I'd have thought, great guy that he is and all that.
Dion certainly asked him a lot of the tough questions, I'd certainly like to have heard more about his attitude to the LOI and the way he fines clubs who's fans criticise him.
He certainly has the same slimey tongue of a politician, but I disagree with you Stuttgart88 when you say he should be allowed to socialise and get ****ed with fans. I have no problem with him wanting to build a rapport with fans, but getting into a state like he did is simply unprofessional IMO. Its also very hypocritical of him as he held a photo shoot in Lansdowne before the Euros about responsible drinking. Yeah right.
He will defend his stance on going on to the pitch thanking the fans, throwing his tie in to the crowd etc, but it is so naff and cringey. A good CEO would get all the work done quietly without being seen. The man IS a clown.
The arrogance of this fool knows no bounds.
He said in one of his many newspaper interviews before going that he couldn't bring his kids because he'd be too busy working.
And here he is langers roaming the streets of Sopot looking for the next rent-a-crowd to get pictures with. I was there with mates for the week and between us all, saw his mush stuck into pints on nearly every night. So much for the odd night out.
All this interview showed was how invincible he feels, which is a sad state for the game in Ireland.
A CEO is there to keep the association stable but he doesn't even answer questions about finances, even though he buried the FAI into 50M of debt.
Wasn't that long ago he was bragging about all the money he'd made the FAI. All he's making now is a bigger clown of himself.
If only someone could sack him...
I dont know enough about Delaney and what he does in the FAI to answer with fair reasoning whether he is doing a good job or not. I'd question the motives of LOI fans, when it comes to Delaney, at best they are probably looking for a scapegoat, it always easier to blame someone else.
I have gotten p1ssed on work nights out, it doesn't and hasn't effected my work, or my contract renewals. People really do lead very simple of lives to be worrying about a CEO getting ****ed on a sojourn. If it was Michael D as a representative of the Country getting ****ed then yes fair enough, but John Delaney is not representing the country or its people.
I would like to see some facts for why people are so against him. Has he reduced debt from 7million to 140k last year since taking over the LOI? He obviously has issues with the debt around the stadium, if it was healthy he would be more than happy to discuss it externally, or at least gives estimated figures. But he is adamant by 2020 it will be cleared, i reckon he is crossing his fingers for brazil and euro 2016 to ensuring this debt is cleared. That is a gamble, like a lot of banks before the recession, you are relying on increased performance, it could seriously backfire.
I reckon this emerging talent could be a bit of a smokescreen, is it actually benefiting any teams at international level? The development officers thing is definitely a plus and although there is only 1 in the region where i'm from(and they have produced 2 connaght cup winners in the last few years), its certainly better than none.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
I don't think the "too busy working to bring his family" remark is incompatible with drinking at night. I think the "drink aware" advocacy is a better point. I'd be a rank hypocrite if I ever did that - I'd have to delegate it!
I'm coming across all JD-ccentric here which I'm not, but again, he took professional advice from a subsidiary of IMG on Aviva ticket corporate sales and then the whole economic ponzi scheme came crashing down. Some warned it would, but wouldn't we all have loved to have called it right in fairness?
I think there are tougher and more pertinent questions that could be asked.
Of course there are many more pertinent questions that could be and should be asked but you can see by the responses to the difficult/tricky questions that were asked that the atmosphere of the interview began to change. Brick wall and politician responses became order of the day.
I don't know what positions Stutts and POS hold at their respective employers but I too have got drunk on work do's, moreso when I was much younger and certainly never in a position of responsibility. JD is Head Honcho on a salary of 400k and is 'working'. Having a meal and a few drinks, perhaps a few photos and then slipping off back to hotel is what I would expect. I don't expect some eejit, getting drunk acting the bufoon, effing and jeffing and acting like some sort of celebratory. It's completely inappropriate and for all the positive influences he says his tenure has had on Irish football I simply can't take this man seriously. I suppose it's easier to win 'votes' by taking your shoes off and singing with a raised glass and slainté than address the needs of a continually failing domestic football league (amongst other issues of course).
I am not knowledgeable enough in the detailed issues or problems on the LOI to offer constructive suggestions and it may appear like a cheap shot at JD but I think it's justified as its only in response to a cheap attempt at positive PR on his behalf.
A scapegoat? Yeah, the ills of the LOI are nothing to do with JD. He is only the CEO of the FAI.
Getting p*ssed isn't a crime. But if you are doing so at your own work, in front of customers, then I'd be questioning your professionalism if I was your boss. But then, I don't know your line of work, maybe it's a plus in your industry.
But JD is a public person, who speaks on behalf of all the soccer community of Ireland. His actions in Poland do not paint him, or the association, in a good light, and this is a problem IMO. It also does not send a good message to all the kids playing soccer up and down the country either. Is it right that the head of football in Ireland feels that its appropriate to associate going to football matches and getting hammered?
*cue someone posting a jpg of Helen Lovejoy exclaiming "think of the chidren"
Last edited by sullanefc; 26/06/2012 at 7:34 PM.
2020...Are you serious?
This chancer's track record shows he can't be believed on anything. Where do we start...
Remember the World class manager promise the night he stuck the knife into Kerr? (we got Stan instead)
The pledge of selling over 8,000 vantage club seats in a year...(there's no proof they've even sold 6k)
Huge prize money for LoI as a reason for the FAI to take full control (that didn't last long)
Massive commercial revenue from Euros (did they even get one new sponsor?)
And the best of the best...Team 33!
Delaney may be a fool but so are people to be fooled by him.
Junior, I fully take the point that JD was courting favour among the fans - as he did in Estonia and to a more justifiable extent in Slovakia by chartering the train to Zilnia - but I don't think he courted the publicity in Poland. Camera phones and youtube are a deadly combination. Christ, I'm not sure I could ever be a public figure in this day and age.
I'm not fooled by anyone Alf, just looking for proper reasons to doubt or prove his competence. I think there's no doubt whatsoever that he's a very canny political operator.
I wonder will Daniel McDonnell write anything in reply to that interview. He's usually very good at responding with specific details to the kind of broad claims Delaney made.
We shall have to agree to disagree re: Poland. If it happened once then perhaps I could agree/ be swayed but from what I can gather it was most nights.
I agree though it's all rather a distraction from the real issues at hand. No coincidence in that either I suspect.
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