QuoteJust you wait and see us UCD fans moaning about the 5 week gap if we make the final.Originally Posted by ToberonaTornado
Jesus some people will find anything to be unhappy about
The second leg at home is no advantage whatsoever to Limerick either.
Just you wait and see us UCD fans moaning about the 5 week gap if we make the final.Jesus some people will find anything to be unhappy about
Serious question, do the UCD lads get any money in the off season or what way do their scholarships work?
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
I think many of them don't get money during the season.
Scholarships aren't money though; it's course fees, accommodation, etc. So that continues through the iff-season - except that UCD don't have an off-season. Colleges league starts up shortly
Cheers, I thought they may get some kind of additional payment for a bit of spending money. Most of the League of Ireland squad wouldn't play in the colleges league though would they?
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
If you're in the college, you play in the colleges league. It's a condition of the scholarship
Just to be clear, you're saying Dundalk's three-game winning run is better than Bohs' nine-game winning run?
Bohs haven't won a match since last Saturday. Dundalk are the only ones on a winning streak this week
Silly Ezekiel. Winning Streak isn't on until Saturday.
I know it's a bit late, but I was visiting my family in Cork last week and got to see City play for the first time in nineteen years... and boy, was it a tough experience. Dundalk just totally outplayed us on all levels - better on the ball, physically stronger, better organised. Once they got in front, we never looked like getting back into it, there was just no spark and no penetration. And I heard some City fans muttering that it was a disgrace, but whenever we got the ball and started to build from the back, I looked upfield and just saw no gap in the Dundalk defence. Meanwhile when Dundalk attacked, we regularly looked stretched, although we did cling on after the goal.
Just seeing the two teams play in the flesh, I could suddenly see that there is a clear gap in Dundalk's favour again and that it's going to be a big task to close it, which leads to the question of how? And the first place to look is probably the manager's position. Now, it really feels awful to even question a man who was a legend as a player and has brought unprecedented success in the last five years, building a club that had only just returned from the dead into seemingly the only team in the League that can currently even live with Stephen Kenny's Dundalk, who probably still have a good chunk of Europa League money socked away.
But... there's still that gap. And last year's success was significantly influenced by the outstanding form of one player and probably also the fact that Dundalk were still in transition after the departure of Towell, Horgan and Boyle. So the question has to be asked... is Caulfield the man to close that gap? And if not, then who? Is there really another manager in the League who could do a better job? If not, could City afford somebody from outside? Is Damien Delaney's return an indication of an aspiration to start a coaching career at City?
My own feelings are that, as long as he still has the support of his players, Caulfield should be given another shot... his Cork City team aren't bad by any means, they're just not as good as an outstanding Dundalk team. His teams over the past few years have had a lot of success, been organised well and played some very good football, in spite of his conservative instincts. And player-wise, he has shown a good eye for finding diamonds in the rough. But he really needs to take a close look at where they fell short this year... he needs to be able to evolve the playing style of the team and listen to advice from his players, particularly Delaney, as well as employ his eye for talent to find players who have that X-Factor: the ability to pick apart even the most organized defences, to terrorize lesser opponents, to create a goal from nothing on a bad day.
Which brings me to the other area where improvements could be made i.e. the squad. The FORAS team did an outstanding job resurrecting Cork City F.C. and putting it on a sound financial footing - this has surely been helped by prudent financial decisions when it came to player recruitment. But is it time to open the purse strings a little? Should City try to emulate Larnaca's success and bring in a couple of mature players with extensive experience in the Segunda Division/2. Bundesliga/Serie B etc. in the hope that they could take us another round or two in Europe? (I could probably point City in the direction of a couple of MLS players they could afford). Or should they follow Shamrock Rovers and focus on youth development, combined with picking up cast-offs from the English academy system?
Of course it's vitally important that the fans don't get cynical or despondent after this season's setback - they must continue to turn out in large numbers (larger, if possible), even against "lesser" teams to ensure the club has the finances to compete with Dundalk, initially, and also potential European opponents. Otherwise, there's little or no chance of keeping up with Dundalk
One quick aside: after the game my Dad and I walked outside the stadium to the St. Anne's End (where the away fans were) to meet a friend of his who was going to drive us home. We thought we still had time to drive along St. Anne's Road before they left. But when we got to the end of the road (which is narrow), one of the Dundalk supporters' buses was blocking the exit. When we looked back we saw the Gardai putting a barrier across the road to corral the fans towards us and suddenly, with visions of being swamped by hundreds of opposition fans, it felt like a scene from a horror movie! Luckily we managed to get turned around and let out before that awkward situation arose.
"Open the purse strings". Do people genuinely think there's a big pile of money somewhere that the club is holding back?! I wish! There's not, but if there were, I wouldnt be rushing to throw it at the team.
This years budget was significantly higher than it ever has even under FORAS. Trying to play catch up financially with a team with deep pockets like Dundalk, if they choose to flex those financial muscles, simply isn't going to happen.
To be fair ye will be getting a decent sum from UEFA for this seasons CL qualification; unfortunately JC confirmed earlier in the season it was already included in the 2018 budget. Looking to next seasons budget for Cork that'll be a drop of around 550k of income down to guaranteed EL one round money so it'll be an interesting close season over the winter for Cork with regard to ins and outs with that and the JC/ style of play conversation going on too. Be interesting to see what Sadlier & McNamee do.
With regard to ourselves we're not throwing around Crowe or Byrne money around the league, our top earners wouldn't be on too much more than Corks. The difference for us this close season is we hopefully won't suffer the same turnover as previous years as we've got most of the lads tied up already; out of the first team we're potentially only going to lose Duffy depending on what offers he gets from across the water. The rest like Massey, Mountney & O'Donnell who are out of contract this winter are settled and will likely re-sign and even Benson is saying he's looking to sign long term after only signing a years extension to leave his options open last winter.
I imagine the squad size/quality will be the main difference as well as attracting or holding onto top top players, especially scorers. But yeah, interesting time ahead for us.
When I say "open the purse strings", I don't mean City should be monitoring developments the Paul Pogba situation closely. And I don't want to be one of those whiny fans who demand that the club be put into financial peril just for the sake of short-term glory (especially given the club's history and particularly as I'm 3000 miles away) - the FORAS people seem to have done a terrific job putting City on a sound financial footing. But we seem to have plateaued a little this season, surrendering the title early and suffering four defeats in Europe, with only a quirk in the draw allowing us to walk away with 800k.
But what could City get for 200k? Maybe a couple of experienced players in the latter part of their careers who may still have enough to offer to propel City forward an extra round or two in Europe? After all, Larnaca's average domestic attendance is nearly 2000 less than City's (https://www.transfermarkt.com/first-...saison_id/2017 ) but they have invested in Spanish and other international players since 2014 and since then have reached the play-off round of the Europa League in the last two seasons and the group stage this season. Is it possible for City to emulate this?
That said, in the long run it's probably better for City to focus on developing young talent and paying good wages to keep the best prospects at the club longer
Larnaca are backed by an investor. The crowds are irrelevant.
You can open the purse strings, but there's nothing left in the purse! It was spent this year.
When you consider what Cork got for their money this year, it is puzzling how they will fare with any budget cuts for next season.
I hear strong suggestions that last seasons marque signing is on 75k and is contracted to 2019. Many more of those under contract for next season have also not performed this year. It seems an impossible task to correct without new investment.
You are making very sensible points. Cork don't have the cash reserves or the availability of cash from investors as Dundalk have. Winning the league this year was a necessity for Cork, which is why they maxed the budget.
The problem for them is that the manager spent poorly.
As a fan owned club with a history of financial recklessness, Cork will quite sensibly cut their cloth to measure and agree a sensible budget. Moving on dead wood who are contracted for next season is a potential problem and a drain on the budget. However, it needs to be done.
Cork's hope is that Dundalk will spend poorly and that the American owners will foist players on Dundalk that are not suitable to the LOI. There is nothing preventing Caulfield from building up a team like the one he had in 2014-2016. You never know, another nugget like Maguire may come along again and change everything.
Ah yes 'strong suggestions'. They're rarely accurate and given the size of our squad I would doubt it to be honest. We know the wage bill, so if one player was on that I'm not sure how we'd have signed the amount of players we've signed. But who knows. The budget is the managers to do as he will with. It's not worked out this year and it'l be smaller next year as a result. That's the nature of it.
There certainly won't be new investment, so it's a rebuild project. He's done it before, hopefully he can do it again. But no doubt it'l be incredibly challenging. Interesting times ahead.
Its all in the presentation, people will baulk at the suggestion that a player is on anything like 75k per year but saying a marquee player is on 1300-1500 per week and that seems more acceptable. Not saying this is the case but it's not beyond possible either for a former EPL player and Irish international.
I'd imagine it's Sadlier or shep he's talking about, not Delaney. With Delaney it's a big different, he was moving home anyway and he contacted us, rather than us trying to entice him.
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