DUNDALK

 

I haven’t written for a while, what with the Covid situation and football being played in empty

stadia.  All necessary probably, to fight this awful pandemic.  Being so far away and not

hearing what people are saying, only getting information through social media makes it

difficult to be fully aware of what's going on in the Club.

But at a minimum the handling of Vinny Perth’s sacking and the subsequent departure

of John Gill and Alan Reynolds has been shambolic.

Let me say from the outset that I am not a friend of Vinny’s, so I am not here to fight his corner,

but if someone outside the coaching team was trying to influence team selection, then Vinny

should have gone when  that happened. If that was not the case then the Board have a

right to fire the Manager and Staff whenever they want.  They also have the right to hire

whoever they want.  But we, as supporters have the right to question whether  these decisions

are right for the Club.  I don’t care who the current owners are, but I know this, they are only

minding our Club.  Dundalk nearly went out of existence in 2012, but it survived due to the

intervention of Andy Connolly and Paul Brown.

When Peak 6 took over it was  a well run Club, with good players and a top Manager.
Unlike Andy and Paul, who did it for the love of the Club, Peak 6 made an investment decision.
I said at the time that they were in it to make money for their investors.  That's perfectly ok
and a legitimate reason to take over a Club.  But when the S..T hits the fan and European
Football does not look like happening, the value of the investment decreases and the
investors depart for greener pastures.

I will say this to the Board, if you intend to cut and run, then do that.
The people of Dundalk will ensure that Dundalk FC  will survive, as they always have done.
If on the other hand you want to stay and rebuild the Club, well that would be great too, but do
not run OUR Club into the ground, do not make matters worse.
You have the right to hire and fire if you are here for the long term.  If you are not then leave now
and close the door on your way out,  Let someone else come in and refresh the squad. 

I don’t know anything about the two Italians who have just been appointed but it looks like

they are just here to steady the ship.  Whether they can do this only time will tell.. 

Maybe that's what is needed now, but I don't think so.  There are 16 players out of contract,

decisions have to be made there.  Discussions also have to be made about new recruits,

who is going to do this, not Filippo Giovagnoli and Guiseppe Rossi.  They simply do not know

the League.  It begs the question, is this what the Board wants? Was the story that they wanted

input into Team Selection true?  If that is the case we are doomed.  Many Boards of

Management have tried this, but it does not work.  If they are waiting to see if we get

European qualification that is also no reason to stay.

I have said I do not know Vinny personally but he did a great job when Stephen Kenny left. 

I do know John Gill, he was my assistant and friend for many years, and still is.  He is a

top class Coach and if he wants he will be working again in the League very soon.  I don’t

know Alan Reynolds but his work in Waterford was exceptional.  It will be some job of

work if the Board of Management can replace these three with three of equal ability.

Our Club has survived many crises and many people have came to our aid.  We have a

history of local people coming into the Club to help, not for financial gain but for the

love of Dundalk FC.  During my era some of those that come to mind include Des Casey,

Enda McGuill, Eamon Hiney, Oliver Quinn not forgetting the great local players Tommy Mac,

Barry Keogh, Dessie Gorman and many more before and since.   We have a network of

vocal and hardworking supporters, all down the years who are epitomised by the late

Harry Taaffe. Although I am a Dub, Dundalk is my Club and like everyone from the “Town”

will watch and make sure OUR CLUB  survives.

League starting again

Once again we are back to the age old problem of the League of Ireland.  Each club looks out only for itself.  There is no interest in the group or what is best for the LOI.  This selfishness is how John Delaney prospered.  He was able to play on this individuality.

We are the last League back playing.  This in itself is a disgrace.  The League is run by the FAI and the "new body" has scored very few points in this debacle.

I have said for years that our League is not big enough for two divisions.  I believe their should be one big division 14/16 teams, but this argument is for another day.  The first division is the graveyard of League of Ireland football - very little support and incredibly hard to get out of.  It does serve the function of finding good young players and giving them a chance to play men's football.  But this is the job of the Premier clubs.  they should be recruiting and playing their own players.  But this,  I believe is the job of the "New FAI" in the future.

Right now I think it is right and fair that we should have ONE UP, ONE DOWN, and a play off between the 2nd from bottom in the Premier division and a team in the 1st division.  That second team can be selected purely on the League form. ie 2nd in League or some other form of selection. eg 2nd/3rd play off and the winner plays the 2nd last team in the Premier division.  This is fair and equitable to all clubs.  If the FAI is there to manage - then do your job and Manage.

It's Been a While

Seems a long time since my last blog, that's the official title but I just call it the ramblings of an old League of Ireland Fan.

The John Delaney mess has taken up the last few months.  I am amazed at the number of people who knew so much but did not tell us about their doubts and fears at the reckless manner in which the FAI was being run.  Its amazing how brave people become when the object of their fear has gone.  i can hold my hands up and say that I had no knowledge of the inner workings of the FAI., but my gut feeling was that they were at the minimum inept and at worse corrupt, has been proven to be correct.  Where were these people when they were needed,  who have now come out bristling with indignation at the plight of the FAI and the manner in which it was run.  Why did they not step up to the plate.  People who read my column in the Sun will know where I stood on John Delaney and his fiefdom.

But where are we now? not much better I fear.  We have ex board members now trying to get back on the merry go round.  I have said this before and I repeat it,  this organisation needs to to be changed from the top down, it does not need tweaking, it needs root and branch reform.

In the last couple of weeks we have had the election of Independent Directors..  Now I don't know Roy Barrett, New Chairman of the FAI, Gerry Owens CEO, and Niall Quinn Deputy CEO., all members of Niall Quinn's Visionary Group.  I would not have the same vision for the League of Ireland as this group but I respect other peoples views and their right to have a different view.  There is no doubt that these people ALL have an interest in progressing the LOI.  Not my vision, but a vision all the same.  It is a long time since anybody in the FAI showed any evidence of having any vision for the future of Irish Football.

While we do need a vision for the future we also need some practical steps to be taken now.  Some of these  are being addressed.  Refinancing debt and securing the jobs of the people working at the coalface of Irish Football, securing new and increased funding for the sport that has the largest number of participants in Ireland.  They also face problems in house.  The manner in which they have dealt with the problems of the First Division is shocking.  First denying Limerick FC a licence, then being forced to go to court and agreeing to allow Limerick FC to apply for a licence.  Admitting Shamrock Rovers Reserves without the agreement of any of the other 1st Division Clubs was I believe, typical of the way the Competitions Department works.  It is their way or no way.  We now face the possibility of an 11 team, 20 match League, augmented by a stupid Shield Competition.  the 1st Division Clubs don't know who they are playing, or how many matches they have.  How can they budget for a season when this is the case with 3 weeks to go to the K.O.  The 1st Division is a shambles, that is the fault of the people still running our Leagues.  Unfortunately in a crisis the small man normally pays the price.  The axe falls on the ordinary worker doing his best.  Well this time I would suggest that reform be from the Top Down not the Bottom Up.

Day of Judgement

The day of judgement finally arrived. This day should be forever remembered as the FAI's Black Friday.  We finally got to see the 2018 accounts and the reconstituted accounts for 2016 and 2017. What an absolute horror story.  An organisation who former CEO John Delaney said would be debt free by 2020. Well no it won't. We have just found out that the FAI are now €55m in debt.  This is before all the other reports come up with their findings. These reports are going to cost another €5m at least to tell us what I know already. The FAI is/was an incompantent organisation, run at the top by Me Feiners, interested only in their own vanity, in their own little area, feeding titbits to the associations they represented.   slapping themselves on the back for dishing out cash to their own little parish. Cash that wasn't theirs. It was ours. By ours I mean the ordinary taxpayer. The money used by John Delaney and his nodding dogs to keep themselves in power and to the life they were accustomed to.

i have been writing about the FAI and John Delaney for the past 10 years.  it is a club for the few, not for the many, run by a CEO whose main interest was himself, and as I have said a million times over the years, the National Team.  He abandoned his problem child a long time ago. Let this child look after itself while he was out wining and dining as dictators do. How could one person hold such sway? How could the council not know what was going on?  How can 2 or 3 people be allowed to deal with the CEO's contract and the council which they represented not be informed. How can the payroll dept not know. What kind of an organisation has no checks or balances. They are a disgrace to themselves and to Irish Football.  Listening to Donal Corcoran yesterday whingeing over how hard he has worked over the last 2 years sickened me. It might come as a shock to him, but Donal we all work hard. I.m glad he didn't work any harder because we would probably be €100m in debt.

The accountants say they can only audit the information they are given.  Well if the reconstituted accounts are a true and fair reflection of the FAI then the previous accounts were not.  Why?? The accountants are saying they were not given all the relevant information. If this is the case then surely there are people within the FAI guilty of holding back information.  Surely this is fraudulent and must break the law. If information was not held back and the accountants had all the information then they are at fault. They were well paid for this work.  So somewhere someone or two or three or whatever are responsible. It is not enough for these people to retire and leave power. Some people have to be held accountable and face the full rigors of the law and if found guilty they must be punished.  Not being able to wear their BLAZERS is not enough.

On the same day these accounts were being presented to us there was a kid up in court for stealing a bottle of orange, value €1.  What kind of a country are we. It would make you ashamed to be Irish.

There is a deathly silence from all the people who were prepared to laud our great leader when he was on "gardening leave". Indeed the Clare District League have suspended a player for 6 months for asking "where are the Delaney Defenders now" I ask the same question.  These "Men of the People" praised the work he did at grass root level, all the chicken dinners he endured while he dispensed OUR largess like a full time Santa. The grass roots are the very first that are going to suffer for the next 5 years. There will not be enough money to pay for badly needed facilities which allow our sport to grow.  Worse still there will not be enough to run the programmes currently in existence. those who will be affected most will be the weaker sector of our society.

What about the employees of the FAI. Those people who depend on the wages they receive from the FAI, to bring up their own families.  the effects of John Delaney's mismanagement and the sheer scale of his ineptitude will hit Irish football a seismic blow.

The "hard working" Donal has belatedly resigned and any other of his "hard working" minions should depart stage left immediately.  But this will not be enough. We need a new model, not just at the top at board level but all the way down. We do not need to elect more replicas of what we had.  there is a huge amount of work to be done to avoid Irish football spiralling downwards.

Nero fiddles while Rome Burns.

Another sign of no change in the attitude of the FAI “suits”  to the working people they are supposed to look after. The treatment of the Under 21’s sums up their mind set totally.

At Under 21 we have a team bristlning with talent playing in a Euro Qualifier.  They have to travel to Armenia next Thursday, then play Sweden the following tuesday.  This will involve taking a total of 5 flights, three there and two back. It basically means the lads are going to be exhausted for both matches and their hopes of qualifying severely damaged. Why is this happening you ask - Well the FAI are in such a state financially that they cannot afford to look after International teams property..  The reasons of course are financial. The fall out from the John Delaney debacle is now affecting the elite level of Irish football. We know already it is having a devastating effect on the grassroots. Employees are in fear of losing their jobs and all sections within the structures are suffering.  

We have just had the case of money due to go to the FFA (Football For All) being siphoned off elsewhere.  This is an absolute disgrace. People with disabilities are already discriminated enough in their normal life without carrying on the discrimination by the FAI.  Colm Fay of FFA found out in March that the budget from government was É212,490 when he was under the impression that no more than E80,000 was available. A full-time member of staff  has left the FAI and not been replaced. Colm Young reported this to Donal Conway and Rea Walsh, the new face of the FAI and they failed to shed any light on this matter SHOCK, HORROR

This is a disgrace and wrong at every level.  Who WAS to blame - John Delaney. Who IS to blame now - the current mob..  All of these things happening we are told, are because of the financial crisis left in the wake of John Delaney .  How bad is it?

We don’t know.  Why do we not know? Because the accounts for 2018 and the amended accounts for 2017  have not been published. They are due this month, or maybe next month or the month after.  While the FAI are not doing the job they were elected to do, it seems they can come to a quick arrangement wihen it comes  John Delaney , which we have no details on. That deal will make the E100,000 they can’t find for the U21’s look like small change.

I will also point out that the “suits” were not able to attend the Oireachtas committee meeting because they were being wined and dined in Switzerland.  How much did that junket cost I wonder. The more things change the more they stay the same. 

Last night Dundalk beat Linfield 6-0.  A result that clearly shows the gap that has been created between the LOI and the Irish League.  I don’t think there is any real doubt that currently the LOI if far stronger than the Irish League despite the fact that the FAI show no interest in our League.

What is worrying was the behaviour of a small section of both fans.  Despite the 20 years of the Peace Process the mind-set of this small section hasn’t changed.  The display of the PARA flag in Windsor Park was done to provoke a reaction from Dundalk.supporters.  The same thing happened in reverse at the match in Oriel Park with the singing of pro IRA songs. Can you imagine the scenes if these matches were played in al All Ireland League.

And that’s a Wrap

Well the end of the season has come..  I think the League of Ireland teams can be proud of themselves. Attendances are up, the football has improved.  If you take out the antics of the FAI, I'd say the product has definitely improved.

Dundalk, League Champions for the 5th time in 6 years.  This despite the departure of Stephen Kenny to International Football.  You have to commend the efforts of Vinny Perth and his staff. It is not an easy task coming in after such a successful manager.  People say the team is already there, so it's an easy task.. Not so. it is so difficult to come in and perform at the standards which have been set over the past 5 seasons..  the players have only to drop their standards a notch and another team will step up to the plate.  

Well that team will be Shamrock Rovers.  They will benefit hugely from winning the FAI Cup.  Beating Dundalk in the final will be a huge boost to their confidence and belief.  to be considered a top side you must win a trophy to have a good season. Well Rovers did that on Sunday and deserved their win.  The fact that it was Dundalk they beat will give them the confidence and belief they can win a League Title. In fairness next years League title can only go to Dundalk or Rovers.

I look forward to Shels being in the big League next year.  I really hope they can consolidate their position in the top League.  Progress has to be made slowly and I hope supporters give the team a chance and don't expect miracles.

I have already written about the great job Keith Long, his players and staff have done over the past couple of seasons. to secure a European spot is a phenomenal achievement especially when you consider they are basically a part-time team, while the teams around them are predominantly full time.

It is easy to praise the top 3 teams, but for me there in an unsung hero that will probably be ignored completely when the awards are given out.  his name is Olly Horgan, Manager of Finn Harps. His feat of keeping them in the Premier Division matches any of the achievements of the teams above him.  I was really sorry to see Drogheda losing the play-offs but delighted for Olly who has done the impossible and will have to do the same again next year.

Just a brief comment on an All Ireland League.  It came as no surprise to me that the IFA would not be supportive.  Turkeys don't vote for Christmas. There is no doubt that in an All Ireland League the suits lose.  Why would they give up positions of power to join up with a League that has a dysfunctional management team.  I also believe that football in Ireland is not at a stage to merge. Even after 20 years of the Peace Process, can you imagine Linfield going to Derry/Dundalk and vice versa.  I am not convinced that football fans have made the progress that the rest of society has over the past 20 years. Maybe I'm Wrong!!

You know you are getting old when your babies start to retire,  May I congratulate Derek Pender on another magnificent season for him personally and for his club.  He played for me when the game was played in a completely different fashion to how it is played now.  He was truly formidable. To be able to adjust to the modernisation of the game so successfully says everything about the man.  Happy retirement Detser - no more aches and pains on Saturday mornings after giving it all on a Friday night.

All the above sentiments are heartfelt, but this blog is a bit yo-ho-ho, Happy Holidays.  I have left the final say on UCD to last. I was there when the "Doc" Tony O'Neill started the professional program in UCD.  He wanted students on scholarships to have the benefit of playing with professionals. This policy came to early fruition when they won the FAI Cup beating a great Shamrock Rovers side in the final.  the scholarship scheme has progressed now to such an extent that all the top clubs have players who have played with UCD and benefited from the education program.  This year they bowed to the pressure of their stakeholders and sacked one of the most talented coaches in the country. Shame on them.

“Long” Time coming for Boh’s

Special Congratulations to Boh’s on qualifying for Europe.  I have to admit that Bohs and Dalymount have never been favourites of mine.  Not I hasten to add through any fault of the Club but just bad memories of breaking my leg there and trying to get out on a stretcher! It’s a long story but its for another day.  Speaking of Long what a job Keith Long, Trevor Crolly and the staff have done.  It is unfortunate for them that they are competing against a great Dundalk side who continue on relentlessly.  If it wasn’t for Stephen Kenny last year and Vinny Perth this year I believe Keith would have received the Manager of the Year award this year. Keith Long however has had an outstanding year, with Bohs punching way above their weight.  They have put their faith in youth and it has paid off handsomely.

I am also over the moon for one of my football babies.  Derek Pender, one of many unsung heroes of League of Ireland.  I had the privilege of managing Detser and what a pleasure that was.  I never thought back then that he would play for a further decade with Bohs.  The game has changed so much but he has adapted his game to suit.  Mind you he still likes the odd tackle.

The All Ireland League is due up for discussion again this week.  I have to admit I am not a big fan of this idea.  I believe that we would be far better off fixing our own League.  We should I believe set up an independent body to run and market the League of Ireland.  If we got the right people involved I think our league has a bright future.  We need to step away from the FAI  and run our League, for and  on behalf of ourselves.  It will be a struggle to get people of the right calibre to do this, we need to concentrate on getting our League up to speed before we contemplate an All Ireland League.

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Eoin Hand last night.  Had a great night talking all things football and then of course had the pleasure of hearing the great man sing.  Needless to say the crowd loved him.