You players capable of higher standard than LOI/IL

[Steve Bruce]

The thread starter is extrapolating Linfields performance in the Setanta (pre-season warm up for our summer season) to equate the IL to the EL. This is completely flawed, as the respective Leagues recent Euro coefficient rankings show.

We might as well wrap this thread up, you have successfully brought Linfield into the equation and I am naturally going to defend my club.

Linfield are on par with anything you have down there. That is fact, we have proved it. 15 unbeated group games in a row. beat EVERY LOI team we have played. We have nothign to prove.

using Coefficients is very flawed as we are not like for like. Maybe we should compare our co-efficients from before your summer football move, which showed the IL slightly higher rating.

Or if the IL moves to the summer you could then use htis as a better indication.

I'm using a tournement where we play each other and linfield has shown to be the best team in the tournement history as we have out performed every team.

But that wasn't my point so don't try making it one.

[Cymro]

A combination of Hurling and Football's success, general hostility toward the eircom league, the incomparable competition with EPL sides, and the every-so-often likelihood of meeting a "famous" team.

by the way, we beat swansea last time we played them, if i recall correctly.

When did you last play us? I don't ever recall Swansea playing Cork. At least not in the last ten years, which is when I've started seriously following the club.

By the way I could cite the same reasons for why we don't fill our stadium, except substitute rugby for gaelic games. It's a well-known fact that the four best supported sides in South Wales are Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. SCFC and Cardiff come a distant second to most fans, and this also severely impacts on support for the national league too.

[gustavo]

It's a bit silly to be constantly comparing ourselves to the English leagues , thats what the barstoolers do in disparaging terms , we should be looking to make the league flourish on its own terms and not to be constantly looking across the water as a barometer of its success.

[Steve Bruce]

Yes, at present. You're claiming we never, ever will pass them out, which is a ridiculous assumption and indicative of your lack of ambition, probably brought about by years of embarrassment in europe. mind you, very many people would have said that ten years ago when eL sides were being slaughtered in europe too.

Nothing to do with ambition. It is to do with reality. Do you think any team will ever average crowds of 30,000? Your a good stand up son.

Also 10 years ago? How about 5 years ago. You are only getting good results since you moved to the SUmmer. Before that you where gettign the same embarrassing results as the IL. Actually you where slightly behind in Co-Efficients.

[Steve Bruce]

that kind of support has been present in the past, is present for other sports events and i see no reason to suggest it is an impossible task for the future. its been a long road downhill and it'll probably be a long road uphill but if half the people that currently obsess about EPL were to give the same support for their local clubs tomorrow as seen in other countries, we wouldnt be far off it.

on what basis do you make this claim?

By the fact that we have beat all your top teams over 3 seasons and haven't failed to top our group with your best teams.

[OneRedArmy]

We might as well wrap this thread up, you have successfully brought Linfield into the equation and I am naturally going to defend my club.

Linfield are on par with anything you have down there. That is fact, we have proved it. 15 unbeated group games in a row. beat EVERY LOI team we have played. We have nothign to prove.

using Coefficients is very flawed as we are not like for like. Maybe we should compare our co-efficients from before your summer football move, which showed the IL slightly higher rating.

Or if the IL moves to the summer you could then use htis as a better indication.

I'm using a tournement where we play each other and linfield has shown to be the best team in the tournement history as we have out performed every team.

But that wasn't my point so don't try making it one.

Learn to read and then I'll respond.

[Steve Bruce]

I made that point!!!

The top 3 of our League has been as good as the top half of division 1 standard over the past 5 years. I think we's struggle in the Championship too, but we are comfortably better than the English 2nd division.

We'll agree to disagree because the top League 2 sides would **** over any team on this island.

[Steve Bruce]

Learn to read and then I'll respond.

Lose your chip and maybe we can have a sensible debate without you and your other Derry City supporters dragging it down.

A team taht gets beat every season by Glentoran

[GavinZac]

When did you last play us? I don't ever recall Swansea playing Cork. At least not in the last ten years, which is when I've started seriously following the club.

A few years ago, we had a mini-tournament with yourselves and Wrexham for the "Swansea-Cork Ferries Cup". We definately beat Wrexham, and i think we beat swansea too.

[GavinZac]

Also 10 years ago? How about 5 years ago. You are only getting good results since you moved to the SUmmer. Before that you where gettign the same embarrassing results as the IL. Actually you where slightly behind in Co-Efficients.

It was 10 years ago we beat IFK Gothernberg, and around seven years ago that Bohs went a couple of rounds before being put out by Kaiserslautern. Around that time, Shels and St. Pats met Celtic and Rangers, neither were embaressed and St. Pats lead 3-0 at one point. There is a period of inconsistency between consistently losing and consistently winning, and that was that period.

Of course, last year who knows, only for Denis Behan's knee'd in own-goal, and our multitude of suspensions and walk-offs (bye George), we could've ended up playing Milan who will, fingers crossed, win the entire Champions League this year. And then we could've boasted only being put out by the eventual champions! we had to make do with past champions.

But yeah, of course we're conference standard, you're right

[SligoBrewer]

keith foy has played championship.. could still do if he knuckled down and lost the weight..

[Dodge]

Around that time, Shels and St. Pats met Celtic and Rangers, neither were embaressed and St. Pats lead 3-0 at one point. There is a period of inconsistency between consistently losing and consistently winning, and that was that period.

Other way round, Shels were leading Rangers 3-0 but lost in Tranmere. We drew 0-0 in Glasgow and lost 0-2 in Dublin

[ollie]

Around that time, Shels and St. Pats met Celtic and Rangers, neither were embaressed and St. Pats lead 3-0 at one point.
:

It was shels who played rangers. I can remember rutherford scoring but not a lot else from the game apart from the fact that it was played in
prenton park over on merseyside
St.pats then drew with celtic 0-0 in parkhead. I remember one st.Pats striker having a glorious chance at the end.

[Ceirtlis]

Robbie Doyle, Trevor Molloy and Paul Keegan were all given contracts in the English or Scottish leagues and none of them could be considered top level LOI players.

The Motherwell two have had a nightmare since going over and Robbie Doyle is not playing in the team that is second bottom in league 2, but he could be injured.

[GavinZac]

Other way round, Shels were leading Rangers 3-0 but lost in Tranmere. We drew 0-0 in Glasgow and lost 0-2 in Dublin

Fair enough. Easy to mistake Pats for Shels anyway

[charliesboots]

St.pats then drew with celtic 0-0 in parkhead. I remember one st.Pats striker having a glorious chance at the end.

Damn you Martin Reilly

[Ceirtlis]

It was 10 years ago we beat IFK Gothernberg, and around seven years ago that Bohs went a couple of rounds before being put out by Kaiserslautern. Around that time, Shels and St. Pats met Celtic and Rangers, neither were embaressed and St. Pats lead 3-0 at one point. There is a period of inconsistency between consistently losing and consistently winning, and that was that period.

Of course, last year who knows, only for Denis Behan's knee'd in own-goal, and our multitude of suspensions and walk-offs (bye George), we could've ended up playing Milan who will, fingers crossed, win the entire Champions League this year. And then we could've boasted only being put out by the eventual champions! we had to make do with past champions.

But yeah, of course we're conference standard, you're right

The glass is always half full with yourself anyways. Where to start, ye "beat" ifk in the second leg lost 3-1 on aggregate. Shels lost 7-3 on aggregate the same as Derry beat Gretna now im sure your not going to say that Gretna werent outclassed. One team that was outclassed were Cork city in Belgrade. If ye had your full team ye might have given them a better game but ye would absolutely not have beaten them.

[GavinZac]

A few years before that, the eL would have been embarrassed by them, as I said. Nothing embarressing about semi-pro teams losing over two legs, my point is that that time was when the results started improving.

If ye had your full team ye might have given them a better game but ye would absolutely not have beaten them.

The match was even at home, they didnt have much to offer. Obviously, they seemed to either be unmotivated or playing for the draw, but as i said, we'll never know what might have happened in belgrade! they probably would have still had too much for us, but then their players were being rated in the millions and tens of millions by premiership managers at that point.

Whats funny is Stevo's insistence that the reason we started winning was summer soccer, when Keflavik, Gothenburg, Malmo and Djurgarden also all play summer soccer and were beaten by eL sides.

[DmanDmythDledge]

Darren Quigley, Conor Kenna, Ronan Finn, Greg Bolger, Gary Dicker from UCD.

[Tis-smeee]

Kenny Browne is a class act for us and still young , def learning his trade at centre back for us and Paul McCarthy will be one of the best players in the league if he keeps developing, the others are all bar none gash