Don't see why it has to be the top teams all the time. I don't think winning the tournament outright is particularly important. Giving a small boost to mid-table clubs is a nice extra touch.
Don't see why it has to be the top teams all the time. I don't think winning the tournament outright is particularly important. Giving a small boost to mid-table clubs is a nice extra touch.
Fair enough its just unlucky that the two qualifiers this year are unrecognizable as the teams they were last year. We can hardly be as unlucky again
Bray disappointed in fairness; they're arguably stronger than last year (taking into account recent chaos and dip in form)
Agree on Sligo - but I guess that's always the risk with Europe too.
Bray/Bohs in line for the competition next year at the moment, assuming qualification stays the same and the Cup winners finish top four.
That's the danger of a summer league though, and could very easily happen again.
It's almost a year since Bray and Sligo's placing in the league qualified them for the Irn Bru. For Crusaders, Linfield, TNS etc it's only been 4 months. A lot can happen teams in-between - especially ones that weren't challenging for the league, and will therefore struggle to hold good players in the transfer windows.
So there's a good chance we'll be as unlucky again
I see TNS have drawn Elgin at home in the next round of this. I bet they compound Bray's misery by winning.
Linfield face Dundee United away, which has the potential to be a big fixture. The sort that LOI clubs should aspire to be involved with.
Problem with this cup will nearly always be the team that finishes 5th/6th the year previous are either going to be pushing for a European place next season or like Sligo they will have gone the other direction and are in a relegation scrap so neither can afford to concentrate on this over vital league points. Now obviously Bray are pretty much out of the European race but they are a special case given what's happened at the club this season.
The only special case with regards Bray is that they shouldn't have been in contention for a European place at all in the first place.
It was only unsustainable financial doping that saw them bank early results which have flattered them since the wheels came off the whole project. They're lucky not to be involved in the relegation dogfight.
Well - it was your Chairman who said it !
Financial doping is the process of pumping money into a football club so that it can perform above its natural level.
What happened at Bray was clearly financial doping, and the fact that the club instantly went into major financial crisis and couldn't cover player wages for more than a week when Mulvey closed his chequebook proved that fact.
In all fairness, even your former chairman was very clear that Bray Wanderers make no financial sense this year. Without the developers pumping in money out of the goodness of their hearts Bray would be nowhere near where they are. That said, there are loads of clubs around the league with backing of various levels. But Bray is an extreme example.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
A club's natural level is that which its regular finances allow. As tends to be shown by how they perform over time.
Bray's income, attendances and performances since they started in senior football do not make them a Top 3 club. Only an unsustainable injection of external cash made that possible for a period this year.
The fact that you're trying to deny this is true is deeply worrying, when even your own Chairman admitted it.
Our (former) chairman is an idiot and no-one should believe a word out of his mouth. He issued a statement that caused consternation but still the players were paid. He wasn't the one investing money in the club. At the start of the season that investor couldn't have known that his circumstances would change. Your allegation of 'financial doping' was hysterical. Football clubs prosper when money is invested in them, Bray aren't the only team in the League propped up by wealthy benefactors. What club do you support by the way since you're so interested in Bray's affairs?
All you zombies tweet tweet tweet.
Firstly - no-one 'invests' in Irish football. They at best donate.
Secondly - football clubs with money pumped into them tend to prosper for only a relatively short period. And often they face real problems and sometimes die when that funding source inevitably dries up. Learn the lesson from history here.
Indeed. Though they are the only one to unravel spectacularly in the public eye for it this season.
Tubbercurry Tornadoes.
And I'm interested in all Irish football clubs. Hence why I'm on an Irish football forum. If I was overly interested in Bray, I'd be on their own forum instead.
Last edited by Seagull; 10/09/2017 at 9:47 PM.
All you zombies tweet tweet tweet.
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