Niall Quinn Has Failed - Oirish Not as Thick as He Expected

[Boh_So_Good]

There is no doubt now that Niall Quinn's 'greening of Sunderland' has been a complete failure on every level - especially in terms of his tacky and cynical tactics (some would say almost racist) to get as many gullible Irish as possible to support his UK business interest.

The whole Keano element flopped. The endless and very embarassing bombarding the Irish media with "Sunderland are Irish" was mainly laughed at, and completely ignored.

I was in Easons in Galway the other day and they had a mountain of unsold Sunderland 2008 annuals in the sales bin for a Euro each and still no one was buying them, not even little kids.

I think this could well prove to be the last act of supreme madness by the Irish business community to invest so much money and bull**** into a British club with no hope of anything other than an eternal relegation/promotion battle season after season.

The recent comments from Razor that Irish business should invest in Irish clubs was almost like an insight into what people in the industry are now thinking. I suspect a lot of Irish business people are about to get badly burnt by Quinn's false Irish experiment on Tyneside. Surely one or two of them are smart enough to realise that the same money in an LOI club gets them into the group stages of the Champions League.

More than anything else, it really speaks volumns about what Niall Quinn thinks of the Irish people. He really does look upon us all as morons who'll run salivating to anything in the Premiership with an "oirish" connection. Maybe in the past that was true, but even the retards in this country are wising up to the fact that the Premiership is not such a big deal afterall.

[galwayhoop]

There is no doubt now that Niall Quinn's 'greening of Sunderland' has been a complete failure on every level - especially in terms of his tacky and cynical tactics (some would say almost racist) to get as many gullible Irish as possible to support his UK business interest.

The whole Keano element flopped. The endless and very embarassing bombarding the Irish media with "Sunderland are Irish" was mainly laughed at, and completely ignored.

I was in Easons in Galway the other day and they had a mountain of unsold Sunderland 2008 annuals in the sales bin for a Euro each and still no one was buying them, not even little kids.

I think this could well prove to be the last act of supreme madness by the Irish business community to invest so much money and bull**** into a British club with no hope of anything other than an eternal relegation/promotion battle season after season.

The recent comments from Razor that Irish business should invest in Irish clubs was almost like an insight into what people in the industry are now thinking. I suspect a lot of Irish business people are about to get badly burnt by Quinn's false Irish experiment on Tyneside. Surely one or two of them are smart enough to realise that the same money in an LOI club gets them into the group stages of the Champions League.

More than anything else, it really speaks volumns about what Niall Quinn thinks of the Irish people. He really does look upon us all as morons who'll run salivating to anything in the Premiership with an "oirish" connection. Maybe in the past that was true, but even the retards in this country are wising up to the fact that the Premiership is not such a big deal afterall.

morons, retards... you do everything but call Mr. Quinn a Dumbass!!!

[passerrby]

he is neither dumb or an ass however he's a Bo**ox

[Philly]

That's why hundreds of people make their way across the sea to see them from here every weekend, if not thousands.

I wish it was a failure. Things are quiet on the SunIreland front at the moment because they are struggling. Our barstoolers are also band-wagon jumpers and the shirts will be selling well again once they go on a good run.

[osarusan]

especially in terms of his tacky and cynical tactics (some would say almost racist)

Where have you heard somebody say it is "almost racist"?
Or does the word "some" actually mean you?

[drummerboy]

I don't support Sunderland. I don't attend Premiership matches but I think calling people who do retards and morons is way out of order. People like you, give EL supporters a bad name. Its a free country, people can do what they like with their money.

[Redie]

Originally Posted by Philly
I wish it was a failure. Things are quiet on the SunIreland front at the moment because they are struggling. Our barstoolers are also band-wagon jumpers and the shirts will be selling well again once they go on a good run.

Sadly Philly you are 100% correct

[Mr_T]

I don't support Sunderland. I don't attend Premiership matches but I think calling people who do retards and morons is way out of order. People like you, give EL supporters a bad name. Its a free country, people can do what they like with their money.

Exactly. I always question whether people who take this view actually want to increase the popularity of the league of ireland, or do they just like to act superior to the "morons" who choose to support UK teams, revelling in the "cult" or "unpopular" status of the EL.

Its certainly a "moronic" way to try and get those people, essentially the EL's target market for increasing attendance, to take a closer look at the product on their doorstep.

I can see Noel Mooney's new marketing campaign now - "Oi Morons, You are a D*ck if you don't Support your local LOI Team, W*nker!", will have them queueing at the 'styles!!

[Ireland4ever]

....Surely one or two of them are smart enough to realise that the same money in an LOI club gets them into the group stages of the Champions League.
.

Comicalk statement, Sunderland are the perfect example that even an abundance of money cant attract players of decent calibre to compete at the top.

[finnpark]

Comicalk statement, Sunderland are the perfect example that even an abundance of money cant attract players of decent calibre to compete at the top.

If Sunderland were palying in the Eircom League they would qualify for the Cl most seasons but the English Premier is worth far more than the Cl.

[placid casual]

i'll assume your naive as opposed to stupid.
to qualify for the champions league you must :
in england: be top 4 places(where sunderland will NEVER EVER EVER be.)
in ireland :win the league(which about 6 clubs from LOI could theoretically do)

ergo his point about there being a better chance to get into the champs league qualifiers,then 1st round proper and MAYBE ,maybe one day qualify for the group stages if the team is from the glorious Leaue of Ireland..
your welcome.

[bohsRap]

People like you, give EL supporters a bad name.

Oh ye, because all supporters of premiership clubs are model citizens and that is what people base their support on premiership teams, their supporters!

[bohsRap]

Comicalk statement, Sunderland are the perfect example that even an abundance of money cant attract players of decent calibre to compete at the top.

You've never heard of Rosenborg? Perfect example of how decent investment can attract good players and also produce them.

[WoodquayBoy]

Some of what he said might be a little strong, but I share the sentiments of Boh So Good, well said sir

[ashbournebohs]

A lot of people have season tickets for sunderland as they see it as a cheaper way to watch the premiership live .Its far cheaper to go to sunderland to watch chelsea or arsenal than it is to go to london to watch them

[EalingGreen]

As i see it, there are two elements to this whole "Sundireland" thing, which should not be confused.

First is the marketing of the "Irishness" of the club. Having been to the Stadium of Light last season, it actually wasn't quite so bad as I'd feared. Nonetheless, for all that it's plastic and tacky (imo), I doubt whether it's really seducing that many fans from domestic Irish football. Rather, I suspect that once the novelty wears off (esp if relegated), the bulk of their newfound Irish support will be seen to have come either from those who formerly followed other English clubs, or expatriate Irish already in England, or "events junkies" from Ireland for whom it was e.g. Munster last year, Sunderland this year and God Knows Who next year - American Football or some bloody thing.

Consequently, it may be less harmful in itself than it appears at first sight, irritating though it may be.

However, in my opinion, this whole Blarney Business is actually serving as a very good smokescreen for the wealthy investors behind it to disguise what is in reality a purely commercial venture. That is, not only are they not interested in Irish football and the effect they may be having on the Irish game, but they may not necessarily be interested very much in football itself.

Frankly, what they and other canny investors have cottoned onto long before the rest of us is that English Premiership clubs are an absolute licence to print money, such as has not ever been seen in football, or even any other comparable sport, anywhere in the world. For instance, if Derby County never score another goal or gain another point for the rest of this season (not impossible!), they will still pocket a minimum £29 million from Sky for domestic UK TV rights alone.

This does not include bonuses should they make more than their normal share of TV appearances. It doesn't cover overseas rights from Sky. Nor payments from BBC, Setanta, ITV etc. Nor Cup matches. Nor European games (for those clubs which qualify). Nor prize money related to final League position. Nor commercial, sponsorship, merchandising etc. Nor gate revenue. Nor all the other things which football clubs are getting involved in these days.

All of which explains why so many English clubs are now foreign-owned - the former British owners, whose wealth is only measured in tens or hundreds of millions, are receiving offers they can't refuse from Billionaires from Asia, Middle East, America etc, none of whom could tell you what shape a football was, but who can read a balance sheet in any language.

And even if you're a wealthy investor who missed the boat with the really big clubs (who actually win everything), there's still good money to be made even with mediocre clubs, so long as they can just avoid relegation.

And if you still can't afford one of those, the prospect of even an occasional season in the Prem, plus the parachute payments upon relegation, mean that it's still worth a punt on the next level down i.e. the "yo-yo" clubs.

Which is exactly where Sunderland come in. People think Keane has spent a lot of money on players (which he has), but it's peanuts to what the owners will rake in for this season, never mind what they'll get if they can just hold on for a season or two.

In which case, the new owners are conning everybody in Ireland that they are really doing this with the best interests of Irish football at heart, whilst the appointment of Quinn and Keane serves to ingratiate them with the locals on Wearside, since one is a local hero and the other is a big name superstar of world football.

There's a saying "When Money talks, Bulls hit Walks". Only in this case, these guys are taking football's money and selling us the bulls hit in return.

[finnpark]

You've never heard of Rosenborg? Perfect example of how decent investment can attract good players and also produce them.

But Sunderland are turning over a lot more than Rosenborg and probably have a much better team. Its a business decision.

Some fools from Ireland travel over to British matches on a regular basis and some companies have corporate boxes over there. Hard to beleive but its fact. These are the real fools funding the foreign system. But this may be down to the lack of education that Irish people got compared to English people during the penal times!

[Réiteoir]

But Sunderland are turning over a lot more than Rosenborg and probably have a much better team.

Tend to disagree there fella on the second point

[finnpark]

Tend to disagree there fella on the second point

Would Iverson make the Sunderland team and he is one of Rosenborg's best players? Perhaps he would

What Rosenborg have that Irish teams don't is not a huge investor but a top class youth academy. Look at their squad and see how many have come through their youth academy. Their youth academy has probbaly made them 50M€+ in transfer fees + qualification to the CL. This opportunity is in Ireland and it would probably take less than 1M€ per annum to make it happen but as nobody has yet proved Rosenborg's theory here no investor can touch an Irish club.

[Comic Book Guy]

I don't know if Sunderland are a much better team, after all, outside of the top 6 in the premiership the standard is pretty mediocre, rosenborg are well versed in European competition and if they were to play Sunderland I would expect them to beat Sunderland.