Indo story on new league

**Louth4sam** · 12/12/2006, 6:18 PM

Originally Posted by JW.

Stephen
I'm still well in contact with Dan, met him recently. I honestly thought you were better than garbage like this.

Give it a rest GW i didnt see you coming out and complaining when that pure propaganda piece was written about Galway a week ago. Was that a news piece or an opinion piece???

**gael353** · 12/12/2006, 7:33 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

Couldn't all this have been put in the main thread?

it could have been but someone was trying to lose u

**bholg** · 12/12/2006, 8:04 PM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

It's dead easy to explain :

- Irish domestic football is essentially sh!te, as you know my barstool loving friend.
- It's current structure, facilities and administration are perpetuating its sh!tness.
- If left to sort itself out through the usual on-field criteria, it may never make the changes in facilities, structures and support that are required. Irish league football has been failing to upright the collapsed ship on its own for years now.
- The FAI therefore introduced a one-off exercise to aid that process.
- A mixture of on-and-off field criteria have been used to determine which teams in the league are best located, structured, funded and performing to operate at the highest level.
- The top ranking 12 teams from that process will be recognised for their efforts by being awarded a place at the highest level for season 2007.
- From then on, the usual rules of promotion and relegation will apply.
- This selection process is being supported through increased prize-money and central investment in facilities and staff in order to further boost the facilities and structures in the league.
- Essentially it's Irish league football's last chance to sort itself out. The FAI is assisting it to do so - but not without seeking to first address some of the fundamental problems that were holding it back in the first place.

- however, my friend, the results of this miraculous process turned out to be totally insignificant on the league as a whole, yet very damaging to one club while granting another a free leg up. It is likely next year we will be back where we started. Alas the irish leagues last chance to sort itself out has been squandered. Is your stool comfortable? i hope so.

**pete** · 12/12/2006, 8:49 PM

Originally Posted by bholg

- however, my friend, the results of this miraculous process turned out to be totally insignificant on the league as a whole,

Please explain my this is so. The FAI have picked the best clubs so will have the best possible 12 team package.

Galway United budgetted move to fulltime professional players surely backs this up.

**Dodge** · 12/12/2006, 9:10 PM

No the best clubs though are they Pete? Using the IAG's points for off the field and this years league placings would've seen Dundalk in the premier. They were ****e 3 years ago and are getting punished

**pete** · 12/12/2006, 9:18 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

No the best clubs though are they Pete? Using the IAG's points for off the field and this years league placings would've seen Dundalk in the premier.

Can't change the rules now get answer don't like.

The IAG process appears to have been very fair as been no leaks with must be an FAI first. If Delaney was interferring he would have helped out Waterford. I would be critical of the FAI if they scrapped the process when didn't like the result.

**Dodge** · 12/12/2006, 10:33 PM

If its fair, release the full breakdown. Thats all I'm asking for. Until the do that, we can't see why clubs got x or y points. Oh and the people complaining about it now, have always complained about it. Likewise those defending them

**Conor H** · 12/12/2006, 10:44 PM

It's unfair though that Galway be slated for beneffitng from the FAI's criteria.

Good thread though.Personal Insults from the likes of Sduffy ruin it though.That was a sly nasty jibe.Cop on.

**Conor H** · 12/12/2006, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by sduffy

IMO the very first post in the thread was a calculated insult and an attack on a journalist who wrote a fairly good article on the matter.

No he didn't.He wrote a biased article.It may have had some facts in it but he had words like
"farce,sadly,confusion "etc.

Nevertheless you shouldn't have attcked JW like that.Maybe yee know each other but i thought it was out of line.

**Conor H** · 12/12/2006, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by sduffy

That's your opinion, Conor and you're welcome to it, but I was very surprised and disappointed with JW's initial post.

Fair enough.

**Dr.Nightdub** · 12/12/2006, 11:18 PM

I've an idea...

At a guess I'd say Daniel reads this forum. We all know Johnny does too. Why don't the pair of them write pieces that they would have submitted to the Nightdub Times as coverage of this story and post them up here? Be sure to mark your entries as "news" or "opinion", guys.

Passive, feel free to join in too.

BTW, just as anecdotal prrof of Chicagosaint's point about people's sources of news, I haven't read Daniel's piece yet, but I now know all about it thanks to the internet.

**sniffa** · 12/12/2006, 11:37 PM

Impartiality went out the window when the good people who conducted the report for Genesis decided to travel across west to Galway to discuss something that the rest of us were not privy to.
A year ago.
Oh what Dundalk and Waterford would given to be a fly on the wall then.

**OneRedArmy** · 12/12/2006, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by sniffa

Impartiality went out the window when the good people who conducted the report for Genesis decided to travel across west to Galway to discuss something that the rest of us were not privy to.
A year ago.
Oh what Dundalk and Waterford would given to be a fly on the wall then.

There's a certain amount of truth in this with an added dose of suspicion that was created by Galway fans telling anyone who would listen all season that they would go up regardless of where they finished.

However, the counter-argument is that Genesis went to Galway precisely because they were viewed as one of the best run clubs off the field (they were well into their 5yr plan at that stage). Chicken or egg?

**Terry** · 13/12/2006, 7:47 AM

Genesis were invited down to explain to the general public what was going on. You didnt have to be a fly on the wall to know what was going on, all you had to do yourself was either turn up or get your own club to do the same!

**Patrick Dunne** · 13/12/2006, 8:37 AM

Perhaps if Dundalks incompetent officials had actually read the proposals before signing up to them, they would be in the Premier Division today.

**endabob1** · 13/12/2006, 8:56 AM

As all the clubs signed up to this at the begining of the year they knew that their on-field results in 2006 would only play a minor part in their final placement.
The clubs with poor league records for the previous 3 years who had Premiership aspirations foccused their attention on the off-field points knowing that they would be able to make up more ground there than they would in their final league placement, so they would have thrown much more resources at the off-field activities rather than sign more/better players who would have helped their league position.
How then can you say that Dundalk would deffinitely have finished second and beaten Waterford in the play-off? Surely if they knew the size of the on-field gap they like Galway would have been better putting their resources into their off-field activities?
Every club knew the risks and rewards some got it right some didn't.

**GuisaSaigon** · 13/12/2006, 9:00 AM

Originally Posted by endabob1

As all the clubs signed up to this at the begining of the year they knew that their on-field results in 2006 would only play a minor part in their final placement.
The clubs with poor league records for the previous 3 years who had Premiership aspirations foccused their attention on the off-field points knowing that they would be able to make up more ground there than they would in their final league placement, so they would have thrown much more resources at the off-field activities rather than sign more/better players who would have helped their league position.
How then can you say that Dundalk would deffinitely have finished second and beaten Waterford in the play-off? Surely if they knew the size of the on-field gap they like Galway would have been better putting their resources into their off-field activities?
Every club knew the risks and rewards some got it right some didn't.

Exactly, end of story.

**Dodge** · 13/12/2006, 9:11 AM

Nobody is denying the results, its the process we're unhappy with.

**endabob1** · 13/12/2006, 9:21 AM

Fair enough, but why was the process agreed by all the clubs?
In a hypothetical world if promotion was purely based on league position hypothetically Galway would have spent their money on players rather than infrastructure and hypotheically would have finished in the top 2.
We can't turn back time and while some people may not like it, there's no denying that the clubs all signed up to it so for those who missed out it's a case of getting promoted as quickly as possible. Galways off-field investment may yet cost them beacuse if they were only good enough for 3rd in the first they will need to invest in players quickly or they could well be back there.

**WeAreRovers** · 13/12/2006, 10:16 AM

Trips to both Galway and Dundalk this year - which unfortunately we had the privilege of - would have told you instantly that one is a well-run, progressive club and the other is an amateur hellhole with delusions of grandeur.

From fans, players, backroom staff, stewards to board level, Galway know what they are at. The jax alone in Terryland would put EVERY other club to shame. Their marketing is spot on, they liase with the police and ensure the safety and comfort of large groups of away fans.

In contrast, Dundalk are just about reaching the mid 1970s. Their attitude to opposing players, officials and fans is disgraceful. Board members of another club told me that they had to put up with the exact same nonsense as Rovers did.

Bottom line - it would have taken the IAG roughly 20 seconds to discount Dundalk BEFORE even beginning to look at their 4 year record. And from what I hear, their presentation was a joke. I know of one large professional practice owed big fees by Dundalk. Dundalk's response? Move the debts to another company.

The mealy-mouthed moaning from Gill et al is pathetic. If they didn't know the criteria, they should hang their heads in shame. if they did, they should shut up and concentrate on winning promotion next year.

KOH