Tony Cousins to stay till 2013.

[prince20]

Lets just say all the reserve teams finished ahead of the likes of Longford, Harps etc would promotion go to the highest ranked senior side? You could have a team finishing 5th or 6th or whatever in the league and still be promoted? That's just ridiculous it will never work.

Sure thats how we got into this mess. Did Salthill or Mervue win the A championship? They still got promoted

[Longfordian]

Another consideration is that the likes of Longford and Athlone get plenty of players from the reserve sides of Premier Division clubs. If the Premier clubs hold on to those players because they need a stronger reserve side it becomes that much harder to put together a decent squad without paying higher wages.

[Patrick Dunne]

If one of the clubs with reserve teams was in the bottom third of the Premier Division, there could be huge possible conflicts of interest.

The results of a clubs reserve team could help influence the fate/opposition of their first team. Players could end up picking up injuries and suspensions against reserve teams, and serving them against the first teams (could also apply to cup competitions).

An example (in theory) : Dundalk reserves vs Waterford, final match of First Division season.

[Lim till i die]

Did Salthill or Mervue win the A championship? They still got promoted

Via playoffs which they won fair and square.

[outspoken]

The A championship should never have been scrapped it was the only link we had between so called non league and loi. If the A championship was still there now it would be much much easier to draft up the likes of FC Carlow but now they are further away from joining the LOI than ever before, it really is a dark place at the moment.

[gufc2000]

Sure thats how we got into this mess. Did Salthill or Mervue win the A championship? They still got promoted

As little respect as I have for Salthill they are there on merit in terms of results on the field of play. They got to the A Championship Final the year they went up. Shamrock Rovers beat them 1-0 in the final I think. Mervue beat Kildare County over 2 legs.

[jamiec6284]

aussie has announced his retirement today due to injury

[Longfordian]

Good player, shame he had so many injuries when with us. Best of luck to him in whatever he does now.

[outspoken]

Always had the potential to win a game on his own it's a shame injuries stopped him.

[Cabs88]

Back on topic, wouldn't be Cousins' biggest fan, I think there are considerable question marks over him tactically and I doubt there were a que of teams looking for him.. BUT what I will say, its no harm having a manager sorted early in terms of continuity and player recruitment so perhaps he might learn from some of his mistakes this year and press on next. let's hope so.