Cup semi press conferences cancelled

[pete]

I believe Scully was fined by the eircome league? If thats the case why is no boycotting the FAi press conference?

The fact is that the league needs all the publicity it can get & petty in fighting is not the PR were should be looking for. saying that the Showgrounds will be full even without the press conference is very short sighted.

[WeAreRovers]

The fact is that the league needs all the publicity it can get & petty in fighting is not the PR were should be looking for.

So a €5000 fine for telling the truth plus Cronin's €1000 fine for his innocuous comments don't harm the game? Check out yesterday's Times and today's Indo for some "bad publicity", all of it linked to the way the game is governed here and the Stalinist tendencies of the Merrion Sq brigade - both FAI and League.

The cancelling of a photo-op is small beer compared to the real damage being done to Irish football every single day. We need to get rid of these people, simple as that.

KOH

[NY Hoop]

Are the cup semi's on in neutral venues? I'd be interested in going to see either if they were on anywhere relatively close.

IMO they should be in neutral venues. They are in Sligo and tolka this weekend as everyone knows at this stage.

Check out today's indo for a good article. I'd copy and paste but probably get barred by delaney/dahamasta

KOH

[pineapple stu]

I believe Scully was fined by the eircome league? If thats the case why is no boycotting the FAi press conference?

It's the same body, for all intents and purposes.

Thanks Steve. Just thinking. If and when Athlone's stadium is fully developed and if say Terryland or Longfords grounds were up to the required capacity, would it be viable to stage semi finals in Neutral grounds? Just curious.

Probably not. Neutral grounds is a good idea in principle, but with the public transport system in this country revolving around Dublin, it'd have to be a neutral Dublin venue. Certainly for Derry fans, for example, to travel to Athlone, they'd have to travel via Dublin, and also with a fair few other clubs' fans. I don't see any major problem with the current system, but from the point of view of maximising the crowd (which maximises the TV impression, etc), any neutral game would surely have to be either in Dublin or in a town on the train line/bus route/road between the two teams involved.

Check out today's indo for a good article. I'd copy and paste but probably get barred by delaney/dahamasta

Can you post a link?

Kind of agree with that tbh. Lets face it, the big losers in the end, as always, will be the clubs involved.

The cancelling of a photo-op is small beer compared to the real damage being done to Irish football every single day. We need to get rid of these people, simple as that.

KOH

Exactly. Got to be cruel to be kind.

[Schumi]

Can you post a link?

http://www.unison.ie/sportsdesk/stor...=12&si=1711502 Requires registration.

Nothing much new in it but worth saying for those who haven't heard.

[paudie]

IMO they should be in neutral venues.
KOH

Ideally they should be but the lack of suitable venues makes this impractical.

eg where would you play a neutral venue Sligo v Derry semi?Ballybofey/Athlone/Monaghan too small.

Would the atmosphere be as good in Longford as in Sligo with the amount of locals greatly reduced? Probably not.

Where would you have played the Cork Derry semi last year? In Dublin. If so what would the atmosphere have been like. Not as good as it was I'd say.

Where would a neutral Cork v Shels semi be played? Nowhere big enough outside of Dublin or Cork. It would probably be played in Dalymount, which isn't exactly neutral.

It's really only in England/Scotland they have Cup semis in neutral venues as they have plenty of venues and guaranteed large travelling support. Most European countries have 2 leg or non neutral venues for Cup semis.

[joeSoap]

A €5000 fine is quite alarming considering the fine that that the walking ignorant lisp managing Cork City got for blatantly calling a referee corrupt on National television.

[wws]

isnt €3000 suspended?

its a warning shot to ppl to stop dissing the league from within (a favoured pass time of every manager and club official involved
as they move into a new league format (with promised pro active promotion from the fai) its a reasonably sensible strategy - its just been introduced cack handedly

[NY Hoop]

Ideally they should be but the lack of suitable venues makes this impractical.

eg where would you play a neutral venue Sligo v Derry semi?Ballybofey/Athlone/Monaghan too small.

Would the atmosphere be as good in Longford as in Sligo with the amount of locals greatly reduced? Probably not.

Where would you have played the Cork Derry semi last year? In Dublin. If so what would the atmosphere have been like. Not as good as it was I'd say.

Where would a neutral Cork v Shels semi be played? Nowhere big enough outside of Dublin or Cork. It would probably be played in Dalymount, which isn't exactly neutral.

It's really only in England/Scotland they have Cup semis in neutral venues as they have plenty of venues and guaranteed large travelling support. Most European countries have 2 leg or non neutral venues for Cup semis.

Agree about lack of proper venues. However Sligo v Derry could have been in Longford. Although they have only 5,700 seats.

Rovers v Pats in Dalymount.

IMO it gives both sets of fans a day out.

Most European countries dont give a **** about the cup.

KOH

[pete]

It's the same body, for all intents and purposes.

I am surprised you are saying that.

The eircom league issues these fines, the eircom league issued the points deductions, the eircome league will eventually rule of Shels appeal for Bohs game. The eL is affiliated to the FAI in the same way as SchoolBoys football. Next season it will be different after the merger is in operation!

I don't think Scully should be fined 1 euro but no use boycotting the FAI. He may as well boycott FIFA.

[pineapple stu]

I'm surprised you're surprised at me saying that. There's clearly no difference between the two at a practical level - the FAI pull the strings, and if they say jump, the eL say "How high?"