Three Cheers

[galwayhoop]

EL will not give us better players as most players in the EL have been through the system and failed to make the grade...........( Supporting junior clubs and their schoolboy set ups will improve the standard.

ok so let me get this straight:

eL players are failures who have failed to make it and junior players are going to improve the standard of the national team!

open the doors and let this man loose!!!!

[Billy Lord]

I'm not slagging people off for supporting British clubs, I'm slagging them for looking like village idiots and behaving like Westlife fans.
Ireland fans are under an illusion that they're the best in the world - where's the basis for that, and what makes them better than, say, Mexico fans, South Koreans or the Italians?
I'd reckon that English football fans are the best because they turn out in huge numbers week after week, supporting clubs as diverse as Manchester United and Halifax Town. Small clubs in England get incredible support considering the counter-attractions. Respect.
All many Ireland fans want is a good day out on the beer now and again. Big deal.

[osarusan]

think about this, espically everyone who doesn't follow/attend or support the eL:
if you put even a quarter of the annual amount of euro you put into your favourite premiership team (from jerseys, trips over, posters, hats, mugs, bedsheets....whatever) into your local eL team do you not think that the league and also the quality of players would improve?

Everyone?

There is a difference between those who don't follow the el, and those who don't follow the el and also support a premiership side.

Apart from that, I agree with the post.

[Billsthoughts]

who said they were the best supporters in the world? Maybe 10 or 15 years ago when we just didnt have a rep for hooliganism but nobody has said it in a while.
There is no real culture in this country of going to anything on a regular basis.
And are you tryin to tell me that nobody goes on the beer at an EL game?

[NeilMcD]

Dont know about that Bill, attendances for the LOI during the 60s were up to the 30 or 40 thousand for games.

[galwayhoop]

Everyone?

There is a difference between those who don't follow the el, and those who don't follow the el and also support a premiership side.

Apart from that, I agree with the post.

okay osarusan what you pay supporting the J-League team of your choice

[osarusan]

okay osarusan what you pay supporting the J-League team of your choice

2,000 yen a ticket, about...........12 euros?

Maybe I should post it home!

But seriously I think that there is a false assumption that people who dont support the el are all wasting their money on the premiership.

I will admit there are a lot of people who do this, but I'm sure there are other reasons some people dont watch el.

[galwayhoop]

i don't know - looking at our back 4 for tomorrow i'm sure there's a few eL players who may feel that with the lads coming in that they might of been given a shout - after all look at the progress eL teams are starting to make in europe. jusy because mcshane plays in england (never heard of him until very recently) is he better than the lads at derry or drogheda

[Billy Lord]

I'm sorry I opened me big gob now! Anyway, here's to an Ireland win tomorrow. It would certainly make things very interesting.

[Pat O' Banton]

Anyone watched Ingerland lately? Surely there's a nation doing their best to prove that having a league with the income of a medium size country has feck all to do with producing quality football.

[Dodge]

My point is that you call fans who dont watch el games "so-called fans", therefore implying that if you dont support the el you cant be a real fan, or that Ireland fans who also support el teams are somehow 'better' or more 'worthy' fans. This I disagree with.

And I strongly disagree with you. Not going over why again but just thought I'd mention it

[The Legend]

Agree with Billy Lord on this one.
I dont go to Ireland matches because I dont feel the team is a proper reflection on the Island of Ireland,as in no Eircom League players in the team.
Also,the fact that most "Ireland fans" pledge themselfs to English clubs is the biggest contradiction ever.

This is kinda ignorant.... if you're so irish, why dont you just follow GAA and not watch any soccer!

[Billsthoughts]

Thats like that old joke..."not too communist to wear shoes I see..."
Maybe he does follow the GAA as well. Its only 2 games a year for Sligo people anyways...

[TonyD]

Fair enough if you have invested a lot of time/energy and money in to something only to see the apathy and derision of so called Irish fans mean you are constantly flirting with extinction. Its understandable that a certain amount of resentment would build up. "you dont care if my club exists or not so why should I care if your team gets trounced by some euro no hopers". i get that.

That kind of sums it up alright Bill. What disappoints me is not so much that people don't support their local teams more (after all, it's such hard work isn't it ? Watching ManWho in the pub is so much easier, let's face it.) It's the contempt and sneering at our league by so many people that annoys me. Was it you who said earlier in the thread that you didn't support the league as you wanted a "better product" ? (Forgive me if I'm wrong, and I'm not saying you were sneering) surely the logical extension of that is to go and support Brazil, or France, or anyone of the many international teams who could currently offer you a much better product than the Ireland team ?

(BTW - like the sig, a Billy Bragg fan. Respect! You can't be all bad )

[Dodge]

Is there any likelihood that some Irish multi-millionaire would ever stump up megabucks and plough it into an eL team? People like JP McManus and John Magnier have turned the Irish thoroughbred world into world beaters. Surely there are some rich Irishmen out there who would like to take an eL club and make it amazing? Or are they just interested in investing where ever Roy Keane goes?

No chance, and it doesn't have to be billions either, A small amount of money spent (in premiership terms) spent on renovating every ground in ireland would go a long way but while the FAi continue to put so much resources into the national team, it won't happen.

[Calcio Jack]

I started going to watch the Irish team in 1970...have missed only a hanful of homes games since then and have attended loads of away games. I have followed Rovers for 40 years as well. The common thread between following the two is that when you have good times (my personal highlight was Roy Keanes one man destruction of the Dutch in 2001 and 3-0 victory over USSR 1974) enjoy them because there are plenty of awful time...(Cyprus away, McCarthy sending home Roy and of course the losing of Milltown).

So you can moan on about the ole bigade, sure they are plonkers but IMO they are harmless, they'll be gone soon enough if our current form continues. That's the nature of success, it always brings out the "hangers on" "event junkies" etc . Sure when Rovers regain their righful position and start winning things in Tallaght no doubt you won't be able to get a taxi when we play at home as all the drivers will be watching us !!

So my point is that it's time IMO that Eircom fans dropped this fixation they have about the ole crowd not being "proper" fans.Just because you support the local league doesn't make you any better or worse a fan than someone who chooses to support Man U, Celtic, Liverpool etc. All that shows is that there are a lot of people living here (including our poor Tshock) who exercise their democratic right to follow any dam team they want. I agree that their choice is not one I'd choose and supporting a British club team shows a certain desperate failure of identity for those concerned. That failure IMO can be put down to the fact that we as a nation despite our recently found wealth still suffer from a debilitating inferiority complex and to put it mildly a sheer lack of style,class and respect for ourselves. To put it as plainly as I can I believe are almost unique culture that allows the majority of fans to feel comfortable supporting British teams and allows them to slag off thier own local club teams is down to the fact that we as a nation have no idea of what a "social conscience is" and that is why our TShock can get away with taking "loans"/"gifts" , why developers have been able to get a stangelhold on land and screw people by making ordinary houses so expensive that 40 year mortgages are required.

We've lost all sense of community is this country and thus we have lost our perspective on decency and thus the ole brigade can't see the sheer stupidity/shallowness of supporting a team from England... no doubt tonight we'll see at Lansowne Road the first outing for a number of Sunderland shirts... so to all the Eircom supporters annoyed by this if you think that
Bertie was right not to resign then you are just as culpable as the olers as you are endorsing a society where nothing counts expect the next quick personal gratification and of course not geting caught...

I'll be there tonight, watching and waiting to see how the Celtic Gob****es respond.... I suspect it will be sickening.

[galwayhoop]

fairly good post calico but as a GUFC season ticket holder, irish supporter who will be at landsdowne this evening (hoping for a good result BTW, and someone who was horrified at the reaction at the end of last swiss game) and a season ticket holder at celtic i take offense at the final sentence!

is it impossible to support all three, be involved in soccer at a local level and have a decent knowledege of the game and not be a gobsh1te?

or are we all resorting to painting each other with the one brush?

[NeilMcD]

Good post lads, I think this tarnishing people is not helful. It is always easy to slag others off rather than do something positive. I rather concentrate on positives and entice people to games rather than slag people off. If people in pubs or work etc slag you off about the EL, just walk away and have nothing to do with them Thats what I do with stupid people and it usually works. Get rid of them from your life and I dont mean that in an AL Pacino way.

[Calcio Jack]

fairly good post calico but as a GUFC season ticket holder, irish supporter who will be at landsdowne this evening (hoping for a good result BTW, and someone who was horrified at the reaction at the end of last swiss game) and a season ticket holder at celtic i take offense at the final sentence!

is it impossible to support all three, be involved in soccer at a local level and have a decent knowledege of the game and not be a gobsh1te?

or are we all resorting to painting each other with the one brush?

The term 'Celtic Gob***tes' was a play on the term 'Celtic Tiger' , nothing to do with Celtic FC...

I'm surprised that you were horrified at the reaction at the end of the last Swiss game... all I remember was the total silence and stange kind of bewilderment in the ground... or are you refering to the reaction that IMO McCarthy received at the end of his last game which was against the Swiss.

Re your owning up to being a Celtic season ticket holder... how long have we got...all I can say is that IMO I have heard all the reasons over the years by which Irish residents (I assume you are one) justify such support for British, English, scotish teams etc.... and when it comes to Celtic they always seem to express the added justification that they are an "Irish" team blah blah... IMO that doesn't stack up but if it makes people happy so be it... I guess it goes back to what i said earlier, many people here seem to suffer from some sort of inferiority complex etc... why don't people who want to support foreign teams just say that's what they want to do and stop the b###s##t justifications... as the bard said "..thou doth protest too much.."

[Roadend]

Speaking of Leprechaun suited green wig wearing fans, I'll bet the likes of Brazillan fans ar embarrassed to high heaven when they see scantilly clad, big breasted, tanned beauties, attending their internationls. Its absolutely embarrasing to think they spend the majority of the 90 minutes jiggling their ample bristols to the beat of some other eejit's samba drum. No bloody self respect.