Dolan on EL weekly...

[Colm]

Pat Dolan does not seem one bit happy about having to do without O'Flynn against St. Pats on Friday.
He was basically saying that it is disgraceful that the eircom league is being treated like this and that el players should not have to miss el games. He made a number of good points on this issue. Noel King, surprisingly, re-iterated his point.

[tiktok]

i might be wrong but i assume that city requested the fixture be changed and Pats declined. (seeing as shels and waterford had their fixture put back because they both agreed to refix it).

hopefullt in the absense of flynn, other players will step up and take more responsibliity in front of goal, i don't think georgie's shoulders are wide enough to carry all the goalscoring responsibility by himself.

[Dodge]

There was a thing in the Pats programme on Friday about Cork asking but Pats couldn't due to the logistics of changing a big game so late (something to do with local Garda apparently)

Sounds like an easy answer to me...

[fonzi]

thats pure effluence there. I'm sure Pat's could have easily re aranged the match but nawww, they bleeding coudnt could they?
very unsporting indeed.

[Dodge]

The thing that annoyed me about Dolan's comments was that he was saying that O'Flynn was tired from the training. I thought he was already a full time professional and if so, should not have been tired from training just because it was with the international side. he should be praising the fact that eL players get any recognition at all and realise that these players will improve as they're training with better players. Its easy for him to point fingers and say that Pats are being selfish (which they are) but for the good on Irish football, John O'Flynn (and others) should be in international squads. Last week there was 10 eL players in the Irish u20, u21 and senior squads. thats a good step up from previous years.




(Oh and by the way if Cork had've won, he wouldn't have mentioned it)

[Macy]

Originally posted by Dodge
(Oh and by the way if Cork had've won, he wouldn't have mentioned it)

Or if JOF had finished some of those chances.... Personally I think Dolans rant would've do the league more harm than good if (or when) it gets more publicity.... He, and by extension the league, came across as very small minded....

btw also a nice cover for the sh!t run you're having...

[The Sheliban]

The Great One seemed to imply that O'Flynn missed those three chances because he had "nothing left in the tank".
Seemed more like poor finishing to me.

[patsh]

This has nothing to do with a bad run or anything else.
The eL is supposed to be the premier competition in this country. Why is an international match involving a team that draws from this league allowed to be played on the same night as the eL fixtures?
Or else, arrange the league fixtures and internationals so that they don't clash. In any other association in the world this is always done.
If $hels, Bohs, Longford or anyone else were put into this situation, you'd all be crying blue murder.

Is it now small minded to think that someone in the FAI might actually care enough about the eL to arrange league games and international games on different nights?

It's very easy to have a snide swipe at Dolan, but face up to the fact that he is right.

[The Sheliban]

Both Shels and Waterford were in the same position. Both teams requested to switch the league fixture. The FAI agreed.
It is impossible to change U21 fixtures. They are always played the day before a full international. Therefore you have no option but to change the league fixture. The FAI weren't requested to do so. Once again, blame the easy target.

[Dodge]

Originally posted by oddboy
This has nothing to do with a bad run or anything else.
The eL is supposed to be the premier competition in this country. Why is an international match involving a team that draws from this league allowed to be played on the same night as the eL fixtures?
Or else, arrange the league fixtures and internationals so that they don't clash. In any other association in the world this is always done.
If $hels, Bohs, Longford or anyone else were put into this situation, you'd all be crying blue murder.

Is it now small minded to think that someone in the FAI might actually care enough about the eL to arrange league games and international games on different nights?

It's very easy to have a snide swipe at Dolan, but face up to the fact that he is right.

No-one said he's not right, he went about the compltely wrong way and in doing so gives the FAi an excuse not to listen to him.

[Macy]

Originally posted by oddboy
If $hels, Bohs, Longford or anyone else were put into this situation, you'd all be crying blue murder.

Well from our point of view we frequently are - Dillon with the U20's; Mulvihill with the U19's; Avery John - With T&T....

[patsh]

Originally posted by Dodge
No-one said he's not right, he went about the compltely wrong way and in doing so gives the FAi an excuse not to listen to him.

How does it give the FAI an excuse?
How else is he supposed to go about it?

The whole point is that the FAI don't give a sh*te, and it has been proved in the past that they have to be publicly forced to do anything.
Liam Miller was the best player on the pitch yesterday. If he was Celtic's main striker, and Celtic had a league game on the same night that the FAI had scheduled an under-21 fixture, for which team would he line out for, and would there be an outcry?
Now if O'Flynn lined out for City next Friday, everybody in the eL would be saying that he was letting the eL down.

The point is that Liam Miller will never have to chose, because the FAI will ensure that an under-21 match would never clash with a Celtic game.
It's the FAI who let the eL down time after time.
And Macy, unless someone starts to shout blue murder publicly, the FAI will do sweet f*ck all as usual.
We are all eL fans, and I'm sure we all want the best for our clubs. So why should there be one way of doing things for "foreign" clubs, while our clubs get f*cked about?

[tiktok]

Originally posted by oddboy
The point is that Liam Miller will never have to chose, because the FAI will ensure that an under-21 match would never clash with a Celtic game.

It's more likely that Celtic wouldn't let the clash happen, the u21 fixture was set a long time before this seasons league fixtures were. The League have known for eighteen months when these games were due but are used to being unaffected by these internationals and don't take them into account. They don't expect call-ups for our players.

City are finding themselves in a bind, Pat's definitely could have helped them out but didn't, then again, why should they, wouldn't we prefer to face a Bohs team with crowe on international duty.

[patsh]

Originally posted by tiktok
City are finding themselves in a bind, Pat's definitely could have helped them out but didn't, then again, why should they, wouldn't we prefer to face a Bohs team with crowe on international duty.

My point is that it's not hard for the FAI to move an eL game here and there.
After all, they can abandon the entire program for the Special Olympics.
The FAI should be the people doing the most to ensure our home players get the best of both worlds, not making it harder for them.

[eoinh]

Originally posted by Dodge
he should be praising the fact that eL players get any recognition at all and realise that these players will improve as they're training with better players.

I think its the other way round. Maybe the British Based players will improve as their training with O'Flynn.

Hes a precious talent

[tiktok]

Originally posted by oddboy
My point is that it's not hard for the FAI to move an eL game here and there.
After all, they can abandon the entire program for the Special Olympics.
The FAI should be the people doing the most to ensure our home players get the best of both worlds, not making it harder for them.

I agree completely, probably didn't make myself that clear, all i was saying is that the league appears to be such an afterthought to the FAI. Even though they have the international fixtures well in advance they don't seem to foresee that league players could get called up and seem to make no provisions for the clubs.

i was just saying that there's no point laying it on Pats (even though they could have helped a little) because they're only goping to look out for themselves.

[Dodge]

Originally posted by eoinh
I think its the other way round. Maybe the British Based players will improve as their training with O'Flynn.

Hes a precious talent

Exactly, they'll improve...

Dolan's problem is that rather than meeting with the FAI or writing to them (or better still get Cork to make an official submission (or whatever) ) he does it in the Media. Two things happen here.
1) The FAI take no notice of it as "if he was serious he'd have contacted us directly"
2) Barstoolers think "isn't he the bloke who was caling for more international recognition for that league"

What we need is people working together in this league and generally in this country as regards football. By Dolan taking pot shots at the FAI from the safety of a TV crew, he already has lost the battle. If the game had've been moved to Wednesday and Givens envokes the four day rule, would Dolan have cried about it, probably but then if Damian Duff chose to play for Blackburn two days before an international, he'd be in the papers claiming Duff had a "lack of pride" in his country.

Thats why its easy for the FAI to dismiss him as he complains about every thing and it doesn't matter if he's contradicting himself. And as previously stated, if O'Flynn had've scored v Drogheda and Cork didn't lose, he wouldn't have mentioned it. He uses his typical bluster to get Cork fans talking about anything other than the fact that you're playing crap at the moment

[James]

thats of course if JOF is here much longer to learn from the great george o callaghan

[niamh]

i have to say when i saw him appear for an interview I was looking for his view on why we lost the game...not him talking about something we already know.
O'Flynn being tired and not scoring is not a reason for why the team lost the game.

[wws]

Originally posted by niamh
i have to say when i saw him appear for an interview I was looking for his view on why we lost the game...not him talking about something we already know.
O'Flynn being tired and not scoring is not a reason for why the team lost the game.

you've just described the single biggest complaint by pats fans against dolan last season:

when things arent going well its bury the head in the sand time, I'm not exaggerating when I say he had programme notes about: the Iraq war, the economy, the fai, the national manager job.....EVERYTHING BAR COMMENTS ON WHAT was going on with his team.

If you question him on it he'll say you're "not qualified"

this is sooo predictable with him