2day FM + Bertie

[CollegeTillIDie]

Bertie Ahern can support who ever he wants to. Fair play to him for voicing his opinion. I support FC Barcelona I travel over at least 6-7 times a year with the possy I live in clare I cant stand the Eircom League and the fans. If your looking for a reason why people won't follow the LOI then you have it. ITS YOUR KIND! Get over yourself.

Shaman

You're missing the entire point.
If I can give a GAA analogy, you don't see fans here worshipping the Australian Rules Football League cause it's professional and because they always beat us at the Compromise Rules do you?
You don't see Clare people supporting Kilkenny cause they win the Liam Mc Carthy Cup more often do you? Or supporting Kerry instead of Clare because they win more Munster titles and All -Ireland? No you don't and that is the way things should be. A lot of foreign soccer supporters here are bandwaggoners and Gloryhunters. The fact that you support Barcelona rather than the English Premier League is the lesser of two evils. So some credit to you for taste !

People who feel as you do, about the League, are now in the media controlling the level of coverage. The Irish Times is full of stuff sent in by wire from The Guardian. If I want to read the Guardian I'll buy the bloody thing. For one thing it's cheaper than the friggin' Irish Times.

The domestic League gets pi** poor coverage in it's own printed press. Incidentally we are the only League in Europe where this is the case. You don't see the English media full of Spanish football where English football is squeezed into a few column inches whenever the paper concerned can be arsed to cover it. We are under siege in this League from the cross channel product and as I said earlier the printed media has done the League no favours.

I have been to countries in Central and Eastern Europe where the domestic League games are poorly attended and in terms of population size the attendances are around 50% of the level here in some cases. I have attended League games in Romania
Their papers are full of the local league games , which is how it should be. I feel like asking the sports editors of the newspaper of this country which country they think they are living in.

Ex British PM Tony Blair supported Newcastle United .... Not AC Milan !
Our Prime Minister ( An Taoiseach) follows Manchester United ! Forgive me if I consider that pathetic but I do.

[bennocelt]

I must admit I used to support Man Utd when I was younger. At some stage I realised I was'nt from Manchester so I stopped supporting them. Im from Kerry where there is no team in the LOI so I just follow the league. This thing about supporting the nearest team does'nt wash. A kerryman is hardly going to support a cork team (although i did last suday in the RDS).

yeah similar for me too. I used to support celtic, but then realised that supporting a scottish team (albeit with an irish heritage) wasnt really the thing to do. And i also live in a town with no EL teams or even Leinster senior league teams.............but i have made the effort to see EL games...........and do actively coach in my locality................i hate barstoolers........and people who jump on the bandwagon..........but then again thats the irish for you
Unless you have a strong connection I find it really stupid to shell out money to watch a foreign club week in, week out

and as for Bertie....he doesnt strike me as a man who knows a lot about sport...........sure he goes to the games......but then he is a politican

[pixiehead]

I must admit I used to support Man Utd when I was younger. At some stage I realised I was'nt from Manchester so I stopped supporting them. Im from Kerry where there is no team in the LOI so I just follow the league. This thing about supporting the nearest team does'nt wash. A kerryman is hardly going to support a cork team (although i did last suday in the RDS).

I recently moved to south dublin so I was thinking of following Shamrock Rovers next season and going to a few of their games. Not so sure now as they are'nt playing their home games on this side of the city.

Anyway as regards Bertie ahern he is entitled to do what he wants in his spare time and support who he wants but as leader of the country he should be a role model and supporting foreign teams is not the model i want to see!

Same Situation. Im Born and bread in Mayo . However i had a choice to follow Sligo or Galway and i picked wisely 12 years later i travel an hour down the road to every home game and wonder why i spent my child years following a foreign league. Well the answer is I was brain washed!!! My advise to any one who dosent have a Local Eircom side is to give the nearest club your support. Just because their not in the same county is a poor excuse!! Its not GAA .Its 100 times worse to follow a Brit team in my eyes

[pixiehead]

Well like I said that view of supporting a team is old fashioned. A team to me is a collection of players. In 10 years time the team you support will have a whole new set of players. So what exactly are you supporting? It isn't the players, it's just some romantic image of the club's flag and what they stand for.

It's silly and dated.

And I've been to the Allianz Arena 3 times, the San Siro twice. Ironically I've never been to an Eircom League game. >_>

Sorry if that sucks to you but thats what young people are doing, on an average day I'll see people wearing Barca, Ac Milan, Brazil, Argentina and whatnot shirts. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing a Cork City shirt, heck you don't even see people wearing EPL shirts anymore.
We're Irish, we're the best so why shouldn't we support the best sports teams even if they're not our own. ^_^

Lads I really think this Guy is about 14 or else he is seriously deluded. I would suggest we ignore him from now on as i think he is looking for attention (ADD)
Ive never read such excreament

[Scram]

This country makes me sick. Where else would you get the leader of a country spouting on national radio about a foreign league. Disgusting.

Absolutely, that is the state of the nation. The lowest common denominator are pandered to by Leinster House, it's all about celebrity.

[harry crumb]

Bertie Ahern can support who ever he wants to. Fair play to him for voicing his opinion. I support FC Barcelona I travel over at least 6-7 times a year with the possy I live in clare I cant stand the Eircom League and the fans. If your looking for a reason why people won't follow the LOI then you have it. ITS YOUR KIND! Get over yourself.

Cant stand the fans of the Eircom league!!!

I feel like a leper. Im just a normal feen that goes to a game every other week. I hate Dublin teams and sneer at Waterford.

Your living in a dream world.

BTW it must be tough to go all the way to the west coast of Spain to watch the best team on the planet a few weekend every year.

[soccerc]

BTW it must be tough to go all the way to the west coast of Spain to watch the best team on the planet a few weekend every year.

Just hope you aren't a travel or estate agent!

[Comic Book Guy]

Sorry if that sucks to you but thats what young people are doing, on an average day I'll see people wearing Barca, Ac Milan, Brazil, Argentina and whatnot shirts. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing a Cork City shirt, heck you don't even see people wearing EPL shirts anymore.
We're Irish, we're the best so why shouldn't we support the best sports teams even if they're not our own. ^_^[/QUOTE]

Well it depends on where you are because anytime I am in Cork I see lots of different people wearing Cork City shirts, jackets etc, indeed I would say that they are probably the most worn club merchandise in the City and that takes Man u, Liverpool etc in to account as well.
You sir are a consumer and not a fan you will probably change allegiance in another year or so to some other club (and you are entitled to do so).
However the last sentence is just so pathetic. so leave us to have a go at Bertie, God knows he deserves it.

[BohDiddley]

The band-wagonning debate isn't only about Irish football. The English game also is dying on its feet because of the consumerism that sees fans choosing to follow ManU, Celtic, Chelsea and Barcelona in preference to their own.
The G14, with global brands, huge investment and obscene player wages, are practising a form of sporting cannabilism. It's not about 'consumer choice', the creed of the airhead. It's about sustainability, heritage, and real supporters enjoying real football.

Millwall fan Rod Liddle puts it in stark terms in his Sunday Times column today:

Mind you, we in the media should share a little of the blame with our unrelenting obsession with the Premier League at the expense of everything else. Page after page of speculative preview of big club fixtures in the morning national dailies and scarcely a mention of what’s taking place in that vast black hole below Derby County. In my club’s local paper, The Evening Standard, you will trawl through five pages of guff about Cesc Fabregas’s groin strain or Jermain Defoe’s existential anguish, before finding five lines, next to the stuff about horses, telling you Millwall, Orient, Barnet, Palace et al are also playing this weekend and hope to win. Oh, and that Luton Town have gone out of business.

[kingdomkerry]

Rod Little is that the guy.............

http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prep4trYNj4

Tune in to about 8 minutes

[NeilMcD]

I think there are two separate issues here.

First, Bertie, as a citizen, is entitled to support whoever he wants. And he's just as open to criticism for that choice as anybody else is. As a citizen, I'd much rather he supported his local side or closest eL side rather than a foreign team, just like I'd rather everybody did.

Secondly, a Taoiseach is aware that basically everything he says and does will be scrutinised. That comes with the territory of being Taoiseach. The eL, like it or not (and some posting here clearly don't), is the national league, and has been for many, many years. It is a part of our history, our culture, our tradition, and our identity. And these are things that a Taoiseach should be trying to promote, not ignore.

Fair play great post.

[BohDiddley]

Rod Little is that the guy.............

http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prep4trYNj4

Tune in to about 8 minutes

That's the guy!
Liddle does tend to get up the noses of those who can only see as far as ManU and the rest of them. Which is a very good thing.
What his leaving his wife has to do with, only Dunphy, it seems, can tell.

[TonyD]

Well like I said that view of supporting a team is old fashioned. A team to me is a collection of players. In 10 years time the team you support will have a whole new set of players. So what exactly are you supporting? It isn't the players, it's just some romantic image of the club's flag and what they stand for.

It's silly and dated.

And I've been to the Allianz Arena 3 times, the San Siro twice. Ironically I've never been to an Eircom League game. >_>

Sorry if that sucks to you but thats what young people are doing, on an average day I'll see people wearing Barca, Ac Milan, Brazil, Argentina and whatnot shirts. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing a Cork City shirt, heck you don't even see people wearing EPL shirts anymore.
We're Irish, we're the best so why shouldn't we support the best sports teams even if they're not our own. ^_^

In a post just dripping with hilarity, that sentence just takes the Kimberly, Mikado, and Coconut Cream. Poor Ciaran, can we have a volunteer to break the news to him ?

[woodie]

the biggest turn off in relation to the Eircom League is the self absorb and obnoxious fans. "Our League is great and anyone that watches English soccer is evil"

[sligoman]

the biggest turn off in relation to the Eircom League is the self absorb and obnoxious fans. "Our League is great and anyone that watches English soccer is evil"

You've no problem listening to the ****e Sky constantly spout about how 'our league is the best in the world' though?

[gustavo]

the biggest turn off in relation to the Eircom League is the self absorb and obnoxious fans. "Our League is great and anyone that watches English soccer is evil"

Who said that?

[OneRedArmy]

the biggest turn off in relation to the Eircom League is the self absorb and obnoxious fans. "Our League is great and anyone that watches English soccer is evil"

Convenient.

[Erstwhile Bóz]

Same Situation. Im Born and bread in Mayo . However i had a choice to follow Sligo or Galway and i picked wisely 12 years later i travel an hour down the road to every home game and wonder why i spent my child years following a foreign league. Well the answer is I was brain washed!!! My advise to any one who dosent have a Local Eircom side is to give the nearest club your support. Just because their not in the same county is a poor excuse!! Its not GAA .Its 100 times worse to follow a Brit team in my eyes

What would you do — honest question — if a Mayo team entered the league?

I've always wondered that about people down the country. Not trying to be smart at all.

Sort of like when Donegal Celtic got back up and running in Belfast. Did that split the Cliftonville support to any extent, does anybody know? As far as I can gather Cliftonville became the 'pan-Belfast-nationalist' team by default. (Like Bohs becoming the Northside kingpins after Drumcondra's demise, I suppose.)

[pixiehead]

What would you do — honest question — if a Mayo team entered the league?

I've always wondered that about people down the country. Not trying to be smart at all.

Sort of like when Donegal Celtic got back up and running in Belfast. Did that split the Cliftonville support to any extent, does anybody know? As far as I can gather Cliftonville became the 'pan-Belfast-nationalist' team by default. (Like Bohs becoming the Northside kingpins after Drumcondra's demise, I suppose.)

Honest Answer. Id stay following United!! Ive followed them through thick and thin and there simply wouldnt be any reason for me to Follow a Mayo side with the Passion i have for the tribesmen. Also Mayo is ravaged by GAA, Premiership, One minded muck savages so an EL team wouldnt have a hope of getting a fan base

[kingdomkerry]

That's the guy!
Liddle does tend to get up the noses of those who can only see as far as ManU and the rest of them. Which is a very good thing.
What his leaving his wife has to do with, only Dunphy, it seems, can tell.

Yeah that was the one where dunphy told the whole world about his "young one". He also called niall quinn a "creep". You would'nt get that entertainment on Sky!!