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
In fairness, they are quite astute. For example, I hear Gold does all recruitment, or oversees it anyway. They have done well on that front lately. He obviously sees some merit (assuming the stories are true).
I can't imagine they're doing with out of the goodness of their hearts but I'm sure they see potential for a few more Bradys, Doyles and Longs.
They probably also see the LOI as a stepping-stone for a work permit to facilitate introduction to the EPL of non-EU players. Belgium is known as a "stepping stone league" in football recruitment circles.
€4-5 million (the amount I read would be invested in the academy) is chicken feed to West Ham in light of the new EPL TV deal, their move to a bigger stadium and possible CL qualification even. That amount will buy you a mediocre French or African player who'll warm the bench and contribute eff all.
I don't much like Gold, Sullivan and Brady and their move to the Olympic Stadium stank (although good business on their part) but part of me thinks this is how it should work. For all intents and purposes Irish football is part of the English pyramid (our best players have always played there, Irish people watch & support English clubs) but we have never got the benefit of the solidarity payments that the lower levels of the English pyramid receive. This would go some distance towards redressing that balance. We've always moaned about the pittance clubs like Sligo received for Seamus Coleman.
It's a question of degrees. I'd like to see this happen but in a way that doesn't involve Rovers selling its soul hook, line and sinker.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 22/03/2016 at 10:00 PM.
If it works, we might other premiership club doing the same. For me, if it means kids being able to stay in Ireland until they are 18 and not feeling forced to leave for England at an earlier age that would be a good thing. However, of course there is no guarantee of that.
I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread over the last few years. I've dipped in and out occasionally, but I read it completely there this morning, and there are plenty of very good contributions. There is plenty of food for thought, and I think that with patience in the new system, we should start to see dividends in the next generation.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I wish the FAI would take on one of his prime recommendations that being changing schoolboy football over to a May to October league. I'd see that as a positive development for all levels of football.
I don't buy for a minute the argument that we're 'competing' with the GAA in summer. That mindset in both associations is paranoid and unhelpful. There's 7 days in the week and long evenings -plenty of time for both codes to train and play.
Societally our problem is our kids aren't playing enough sport not too much of it -be it football, gaelic, hurling or whatever mix of them.
Damien Duff said just last week in an interview that he reckons that in 1990 when he was ...what ten? that he was kicking a football somewhere close on 20 hours a week and reckoned todays kids were getting nowhere near that. He's bang on.
Nor do I buy into the 'burnout' argument -that tends to come from coaches (in any code btw) who are hell bent on being the Jose Murinho of the under 12 scene rather than developing their squad both collectively and individually as student footballers. Playing through the summer they'd be forced to use their squads more rather than their preferred starting line ups.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
20 hours a week, is three hours a day (more or less), then factor in schoolwork, other sports, and that's a lot of their time spent just playing football. Not that I don't agree that kids should be playing more, but not every child is going to spend that much time playing football
St Kevin's beat Barcelona in the St Kevin's tournament today. Can't say i was there but given that Lyon and Celtic also had teams in it, i'd imagine that they sent their best of that age group.
Obviously, they're only 12 and 13 but it highlights that despite the obstacles, we are still producing good talent. Kevin's really are a great club. Nearly all of our best players these days coming through seem to be connected to them.
@tets I agree. Which is why I think the change to summer schoolboy football would be helpful as it would allow footballers of all levels and capabilities a better opportunity to develop to their full potential. I don't expect expect the vast, vast majority of young footballers to spend anything like that time playing. Maybe 'elite' youngsters of the calibre to which a young Duff would've belonged might. But I think the aim should be affording as many kids as possible, again kids of all levels and capabilities, the chance to play and engage with developing their footballing skills and get them playing the game regularly and habitually. That can't happen in the current set up. (My ten year old had every game and most training sessions between mid November and late February rubbed out due to weather). In that regard I may be deviating somewhat from Dokkters stated aim where he does have an emphasis on 'elite' young footballers. My emphasis is most certainly on non-elite. I just want to see more kids kicking a ball regularly. Get that right and the rest of the ducks might even line up in a row on their own.
" I wish to God that someone would be able to block out the voices in my head for five minutes, the voices that scream, over and over again: "Why do they come to me to die?"
Kevin's drew 3-3 with Barca in the final but lost on peons. Very encouraging stuff.
Having watched "a bit of the under 21 game", Eamon Dunphy is "sort of horrified" as to our future prospects.
Last edited by DeLorean; 29/03/2016 at 12:18 PM.
Anyone see Football Focus on Saturday and the piece they did on Iceland and the football houses? A country that supposedly went near bankrupt could still fund this for their football. It brings me back to this thing I mentioned ages ago about playing conditions and the bad weather in ireland. They have developed technically better players since bringing in coaches and these "houses" - I'd imagine some of that is down to the artificial playing surface and the speed of the ball etc. It was a very intersting piece and got me back thinking about "long ball" hoof it up I used to hear so often when I was younger.
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
Not as bad as Setanta who called our central midfielder on Friday "Niall Quinn".
Piece here by Ewan MacKenna on the potentially-bleak times ahead: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/irishn...cle4723189.ece
Originally Posted by Ewan MacKenna
One word - parochialism.
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