Tonight at the Fans Forum

**patsh** · 28/11/2002, 10:22 PM

OK. Liam Murphy did show up. While an attempt was made to exclude questions to LM from the agenda, a few questions were asked. It ws very difficult to hear the questions and sometimes the answers, here is a very brief summary:

Question regarding Anthony Buckley and Mark Herrick.
Gunther, I thought, got himself out of it well enough, and basically siad it was the players not him.

Lot of questions to the eL marketing guy. My impressions from a long list of topics was that most of the clubs in the league are not progressive, and are holding the eL back. To many clubs are happy with the state their in and are run in a completely amateur way, and because of this the eL will never change.
He listed things like Athlone Town having got a grant of �1,000,000 last season, and still have not used it to improve the ground, etc etc.
Pat Kelly gave a fairly spirited defence and explanation for refs, and admitted that the 4th official who got G O'C sent off was taken off the panel for awhile.
Brian Lennox said that he sees City being fully professional "within 5 years". The stewarding issue was being sorted out, and he said that scenes like the Longford match "will never happen again".
Murphy gave a lot of excuses about the away form and how he was trying so hard to sort it out. He also explained about John O'Flynns contract, that J o'Fs goal is to get back to a club in England, but only a 1st or premier division club. He told us about the training pitch problems, and lennox is trying to buy 10 acres(Am I correct in that this is what he said?)
Murphy, when shown the article on the saturday after the Rovers away game,aid he was "mis-quoted" and had never said anything like this. (I believe him, because when the Echo was produced, I saw Spillane leaving fairly quickly.)
I guess there will be a lot more written about the whole night, so my impressions were that it was worthwhile. Murphy acquitted himself well, in that he managed to get out of giving proper answers, but the idea that a minority is unhappy has been firmly put to bed. Lennox seems to be all he is cracked up to be.
The league marketing guy is good, and is probably trying his best, but is wasting his time as long as the present el management structure remains in place.

So, James and others will fill you in in more detail, as they did most of the questioning!!

Neil · 28/11/2002, 11:59 PM

Darren Bernstein did a great job at the meeting tonight, covering a lot of topics and being honest at all times. He says he hopes to see a fully pro league of 14-18 teams in Ireland in the short term future.

The thing that emerged and that stood out for me (and was embarrassing as a CCFC supporter) was that Cork City FC did NOT have a representative at the Marketing Seminar in Dublin yesterday. Only 5 of all eL clubs did not have someone there and that included us. Brian Lennox came under a bit of pressure because of this but I think this was slightly unfair. Jim Murphy and Noelle Feeney are the people involved in Marketing and Merchandise for CCFC. What excuses have they for not being there???

I think they both got away with murder when this topic was raised and I feel that Brian Lennox took the blame (unfairly) on himself.

I've been saying it for years but now it's so obvious it's not funny any more... We need to start getting PROFESSIONAL MINDED people doing the important jobs within Cork City FC. And doesn't just mean give someone a professional wage.

Neil · 29/11/2002, 12:08 AM

Originally posted by oddboy
The stewarding issue was being sorted out, and he said that scenes like the Longford match "will never happen again".

Brian Lennox said that there will be 4 Gardai and 2 stewards in the Shed tomorrow night. There will be 4 stewards on front of the Shed looking at the Shed. There will also be 22 more stewards in the ground (the most ever at CCFC game).

**TheNorthsider** · 29/11/2002, 8:01 AM

just ur point about the 4th offical and what pat kelly said oddboy,the 4th offical who most will know was out injured for a number of months and didnt officiate in any capacity as a result of this but that was b4 the bohs game and since then he has been involved in other games so not sure what pat kelly was refering to

**dalo** · 29/11/2002, 8:02 AM

sounds interesting alright what did james and colm et al think of it?

looks like a worthwhile exercise. good to see Liam murphy go to it, although lads it may have strengthen his hand?

also could people clarify the plans to go pro and also the situation regarding john o'flynn?

thanks for the detailed reports above

**Dricky** · 29/11/2002, 8:22 AM

Good to see that it didn't turn into a slagging match, It's about time that a soap box has been provided for everyone.

One good thng is that Murphy had the right to reply, regardless on what I think of him as a manager it is good to see a report that states that he does speak.

I hope the other reports are as clear.

**patsh** · 29/11/2002, 8:51 AM

Originally posted by dalo
also could people clarify the plans to go pro and also the situation regarding john o'flynn?

Lennox said that the first thing to get right is the off field setup. Next year,a full-time person will be employed to do what Lennox is doing now, i.e. going to away games, checking the gate receipts, travel arrangments etc, I suppose you would call him/her a club manager.
He sees the management and playing staff going fully professional within 5 years.
As regards J O'F, if I understood LM correctly, he has a 2 year contract. His focus is to get back playing in England, but he will only go to a first or premier division club.

Neil
The thing that emerged and that stood out for me (and was embarrassing as a CCFC supporter) was thatCork City FC did NOT have a representative at the Marketing Seminar in Dublin yesterday

Agreed. This was not a welcome revelation. I thought it showed up the problem that it is Lennox who seems to be the one who has to do everything.

The worst thing for me, apart from CCFC related stuff, was the information about the attitude of a lot of other clubs and the league management.
Bernstein does not even have a budget !
The amateur, small minded and petty little men who run a lot of clubs are the single biggest obstacle to this league progressing.
How this is ever going to be solved, I don't know.
I thought Bernstein was honest, open and would really like to see this league thrive, but as he mentioned so many times, petty politics is destroying this league

Johnny · 29/11/2002, 9:57 AM

I wasn't at the Longford game. Was there some sort of trouble ?

**dalo** · 29/11/2002, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by oddboy

Agreed. This was not a welcome revelation. I thought it showed up the problem that it is Lennox who seems to be the one who has to do everything.

The worst thing for me, apart from CCFC related stuff, was the information about the attitude of a lot of other clubs and the league management.
Bernstein does not even have a budget !
The amateur, small minded and petty little men who run a lot of clubs are the single biggest obstacle to this league progressing.
How this is ever going to be solved, I don't know.
I thought Bernstein was honest, open and would really like to see this league thrive, but as he mentioned so many times, petty politics is destroying this league

was there much criticism from the fans of Liam Murphy's tenure ?

**Gary** · 29/11/2002, 10:57 AM

Tactics were mentioned, but everytime people tried to "have a go" it was stopped and brought back on topic.

I was cringeing at the start when some guy started an attack on Murphy.

To be fair LM acquitted himself well. I dont think he changed any minds, but at least we have seen that he is human.

Also he guaranteed good football and a good result tonight.

**dalo** · 29/11/2002, 11:08 AM

Originally posted by GWA

I was cringeing at the start when some guy started an attack on Murphy.

.

What did the guy say

**pete** · 29/11/2002, 11:32 AM

I obviously wasn't there but some queries on the issues raised above...

Did Lennox clarify what he meant by a fully professional club? IMO if it takes the club 5 years to becomes fulltime then they may as well give up now as I couldn't see the players or the money still left in that time scale...

Since John O'Flynn appears to only have 1 year left in his contract I predict now he'll start the 2004 season with Bohs or $hels. If he still with city will only becuase he not good enough to leave...

Only getting the info 2nd hand its a bit hard to criticise but appears Lennox suffers from the same inferiority complex the club have had for years. Ticket price for the cross should increase to 12 euro (UCD even charge 10 euro) to pay for a professional manager & players.

**Gary** · 29/11/2002, 11:36 AM

Originally posted by dalo

What did the guy say

He asked why did LM let personal differences get in the way. Ordinarily that would be an okay question, but it was at the very start of the meeting.

Same guy also accused Gunther of using a 451 formation in tghe second leg against IFK. Gunther reply to that was

"who was manager then?"!

**dalo** · 29/11/2002, 11:49 AM

Originally posted by GWA

He asked why did LM let personal differences get in the way. Ordinarily that would be an okay question, but it was at the very start of the meeting.

Same guy also accused Gunther of using a 451 formation in tghe second leg against IFK. Gunther reply to that was

"who was manager then?"!

That must got a few laughs

so did any of the anti-murphy faction say anything at all in regard to murphy or did they all keep stum?

**�anna** · 29/11/2002, 11:51 AM

Originally posted by Neil
The thing that emerged and that stood out for me (and was embarrassing as a CCFC supporter) was that Cork City FC did NOT have a representative at the Marketing Seminar in Dublin yesterday. Only 5 of all eL clubs did not have someone there and that included us.

We really let ourselves down there. Of the 5 clubs who didn�t attend, apparently 4 were from Munster (Us, Waaaaaaaterford, Lims and Ramblers). How can we complain about the league being Dublin-centred after this?!

Overall report on the meeting sounds good. I�m glad LM turned up and gained himself a bit of credit, fair play to him for facing his accusers. It doesn�t lessen my opposition to him in any way, but I have more respect for him now anyway. As for him being misquoted, well thats an easy way out IMO

**Gary** · 29/11/2002, 11:54 AM

Well it seemed that if there was going to be any anti murphy talk it was going to be cut off straight away.

Noteable mention goes to a certain person involved with the club who could keep his/her eyes to his/herself, and pointed out James and Colm to Gunther as he was leaving. Gunther shrugged his shoulders as if to say "so what". He/She was also staring a few of our direction alot and whispering to Patsy and Billy.

I think that that person should really go and chill out a bit and take the job that he/she is meant to do properly rather than gossipping and trouble making.

**eoinh** · 29/11/2002, 12:44 PM

First of all for those on the edges it was actually hard to hear anything that was being said.

Q. Mummble,Mummble,Mummble,Mummble,Mummble?

A. Well Mummble,Mummble,Mummble,Mummble,. (then either clap or boo)

thats why the people on the edges were creeping slowly in all the time (not to launch an attack).

That Bernstein guy was very good (unbelievebale, no marketing budget)
i totally disagree with the concept of one league. You have to have relegation and promotion to stop standards slipping. A one league system caused the drop in standrds in the 70's/early80's. So what if clubs happen to be from Dublin? Who wants to see Monaghan just for the sake of seeing them. you have to earn the right to eat at the top table. we would be the only country in Europe without relegation/promotion.

**pete** · 29/11/2002, 1:21 PM

Originally posted by eoinh
That Bernstein guy was very good (unbelievebale, no marketing budget)
i totally disagree with the concept of one league. You have to have relegation and promotion to stop standards slipping. A one league system caused the drop in standrds in the 70's/early80's. So what if clubs happen to be from Dublin? Who wants to see Monaghan just for the sake of seeing them. you have to earn the right to eat at the top table. we would be the only country in Europe without relegation/promotion.

AFAIK Bernstein is the Marketing & Development Manager & as such doesn't necessarily require an advertisingt/marketing budget. The fact that the eL doesn't have a budget for advertising/marketing is of concern though. I doubt if Bernstein be around this time next year as apparently he has no real manager so will probably go the way of Dooney...

If the non-dublin clubs were good enoughg they'd be in the Premier division. Theres already a few 1st division clubs that don't even deserve to be in that division let alone a single division eL.

**Casegrande** · 29/11/2002, 1:39 PM

Originally posted by GWA
Noteable mention goes to a certain person involved with the club who could keep his/her eyes to his/herself, and pointed out James and Colm to Gunther as he was leaving.

If Noelle would only do her OWN job properly (ie. going to Marketing Seminars and having proper stock in the Club Shop etc etc etc.) and keep her nose out of business that has NOTHING to do with her she might earn a bit of respect.

She is a disgrace at the moment the way she is carrying on.

She seems to think that it's HER club! And no-one else has any right to have an opinion that goes against her ways or darling Liam's ways etc.

Step aside Noelle and let someone with a business brain do the important stuff.

**patsh** · 29/11/2002, 3:20 PM

Originally posted by scottyshedender
Well considering that was me who severly phucked up my question with the 4-5-1 metioning othenburg insted of metalurgs was pretty bad but

I DO THINK EVERYONE KNEW WHERE I WAS COMING FROM

I did ask the two questions on my mind about JOHN O FLYNN and the PERSONALITY CLASH SITUATION.

Maye it was the wrong time but what worries me is that I had to ask Lennox twice about would he break the bank for O FLYNN!

Scotty were you the guy that asked the first 2 questions?
I thought they were fair enough, even though I could not really properly hear all the questions and answers.

Murphy acquitted himself well enough, but the few guys I spoke to were not really convinced by him.
I actually thought Lennox was more nervous than Gunther.
All those who put questions to LM were calm, reasonable and civil and the fact that there were quite a few questions put to him should leave him in no doubt at all that it's not just "basketball correspondents" who do not think he is up to the job.

As regards Darren Bernstein, I think it was pete mentioned it earlier, I can't see that lasting too long here. He was too honest and critical of clubs, and there are too many chairmen in this league who do not take to kindly to the truth.