Hopefully change will Happen.....

This week I should be talking about League of Ireland football on the pitch.  Dundalk's late winner against Bohs, Derry moving to 2^nd place, Rovers continuing their fantastic run of results. On Monday  UCD beating Cork City and that's without mentioning the first division.  But alas it is not to be.  The shadow of John Delaney hangs over our League and the whole football network.  The board have said they will resign – WHEN? John Delaney says he will “step aside” – NO NOT ENOUGH, he must go.

The Sports Council need to put an experienced Sports Administrator in place now,  to run the association on a daily basis until all the investigation are completed.  These investigations should be carried out by Companies that are independent of the FAI and appointed by an external body probably Sports Ireland.  The terms of reference of these companies should include a root and branch forensic audit of the accounts of the FAI.  We have the situation where at the present moment even their auditors don’t have confidence that the FAI’s books are in order.  This is a book keeping task and while it may be time consuming it is a task any of the accountancy firms are capable of doing.  I think people are looking at this as the main task and expect some juicy headlines/scandals to arise from the investigation.  We will have to wait and see.

Although the forensic audit is important I do not believe that it is the most important strand of this investigation.  We have to understand how a man who came into power on the back of supporting the Genesis Report, a Reformer was allowed to become an autocrat.  The people who allowed this, by their silence, by their constant massaging of the Ex CEO’s ego, by never having the balls to say no, they fed out of the trough. His glory was their glory.  They could get John Delaney to open a pitch, dressing rooms, whatever... and bask in the reflected glory.

 

No this is not just about finances, important though that is.  This is an opportunity to change how Irish football is run.  Removing senior people but not changing the organisational structure will serve no good.  Without reforming the structure the problems will still be there.  Believe me there are many more potential John Delaney’s out there, people who know how the system works and are ready to fill the void that has been created.  This cannot be allowed to happen.  We need to develop an organisational structure that is fit for purpose in the 21^st Century.  We need to consign the present arcane system to the bin.  Parish pump politics, gombeenism has to be done away with. The mantra of “the Leader is great, the Leader is good” has got to end.

We need professional people to run a business in a professional manner.  I do not believe it is the CEO’s job to disperse funds personally.  We have enough ex players in the different areas of the country who would be delighted to do that job

A note of thanks to all our journalists who wouldn’t let this story die.  I am sure I missed some of the coverage here in Lanzarote but  Mark Tighe, Daniel McDonnell, Owen Cowzer and Neil O’Riordan certainly kept all the information up to date and I even got used to twitter lol . if I missed anyone  - apologies!

From someone who loves Irish football please take this opportunity to change the face of Irish Soccer and make me proud.

Will there be Change?

Can someone explain to me why the League of Ireland clubs have to play so many fixtures in April?  It appears nonsensical

That the clubs have to risk life and limb to fulfill a glut of fixtures.  I think there are a couple of options which could happen:

a.     Extend the League by 2/3 weeks.

b.      Do away with the summer break.

The first option is expensive for the smaller clubs in the Premier Division and would also impact on the First Division as regards playoffs etc.

The second option to me is a realistic one.  When we agreed to go for summer football I don’t believe it was ever intended that we take a summer break.  I accept that every couple of years we could have a problem if Ireland qualified for a major tournament.  Surely we can deal with that, if and when the problem arises.

Many managers complain about the problems that arise with the glut of fixtures.  The full time clubs are really being handed a huge advantage with the present fixture list.  I believe it is a problem that could be easily sorted out if there was dialogue between the clubs themselves and the clubs and the FAI

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The John Delaney saga continues.  He appeared before the Oireachtas Committee – or did He?  He is all Lawyered up.  After a brief monologue about all he has done for Irish football he proceeded to tell us that on legal advice he would not answer question on his time as CEO (14 YEARS) but would answer questions on the job he gave himself  17 DAYS ago – Executive Vice President.  After the “Long Day” of Oireachtas hearings as John Delaney called it, even though he did not answer questions,  suffice to say the fellow members of the cabal did what they do – support their great leader because they know he will be forever grateful.

We had a Treasurer who stated that he knew nothing about the infamous E100,000 loan, he also did not know how many bank accounts the FAI held and indeed he did not feel insulted or undermined in his role when he realised  that he was outside of the Golden Circle of 3 who knew about the loan. 

Indeed how can the board stay in place, when the majority of them did not know about the loan but signed off on the Accounts for 2017.  I believe that this is a breach of company law.  The fact that the Sports Council has stopped grants to the FAI is a serious blow to grassroots football and they are now being punished because of the actions of John Delaney and those close to him.   This is the “family” that John Delaney purports to love.

He has run the FAI as his own personal fiefdom, where he and he alone was responsible for handing out grants and getting as much publicity as possible. Now there are difficult questions to answer and he is passing responsibility to those close to him, who seem ready to fall on their swords to protect him.

Maybe the attitude of the FAI is perfectly summed up by the treatment meted out to Des Casey – a man who has devoted himself to League of Ireland soccer and European soccer and should now be enjoying the fruits of his labour. To withdraw his VIP tickets which meant an 83 year old man with mobility problems would have to make his way to the Upper East Stand is a terrible way to treat such a man. He is now unable to attend to watch his beloved Ireland

It is time for a fresh start, a new beginning. If those people do not resign en masse it is time for the Government to force their hand. Or is our Government represented by the outrageous performance of Jackie Healy Rae.  Are we ready to accept that in the 21^st Century Gombeenism is not only alive and well but is actually flourishing.

I could write so much more but I have to stop myself because as I write I get more and more annoyed.  The FAI claim that an increase in attendance in the League of Ireland is down to them.  No so,  John Delaney fooled our League for many years and any improvement is despite you - NOT because of you and your minions.

Who are the April Fools?

It’s now a couple of weeks into the John Delaney/FAI saga.  We have seen a man resign from the post of CEO and be appointed to the position of Executive Vice President, a new post in an organisation permanently strapped for cash.  An organisation that borrowed €100.000 from its own CEO but did not recognise this loan in their accounts.  Sports Ireland now has reservations about said loan.

We have also witnessed a full on PR operation from the “Grass Roots” of Irish Football, in support of the Ex CEO. His Trojan work in giving out Government money as if it was his own, his ability to press the flesh and consume numerous Chicken dinner is being repaid.  John Delaney refers constantly to the “football family” but obviously some of this family are regarded higher than others.  While the “Grass Roots” are courted by the Ex CEO the League of Ireland has been starved of attention.  John Delaney worked out very early that the “Grass Roots” have enough power to keep him in control.  The League of Ireland however has been left to survive or die with little interest shown by the great man.

To continue with the analogy of the FAI Family we are now in the position of the father moving to a smaller house down the road but he is also going to run the big house he  has left.  He moved from a 3 figure salary to a smaller 3 figure salary, which will enable him to get a further 3 figure salary from UEFA.  Which one of us is the April fool????

The post of Executive Vice President should be withdrawn and no other post offered to him.  His time as father of the family has come to an end.  Let’s get someone in who loves all the family equally.

We are still waiting for the Competitions Director, who announced the “Champions of Ireland” competition in February, and who stated he would have a sponsor in March to give details or maybe he meant March 2020 or 2021or 2022.....  It must have been an early April Fools announcement in February as he announced it BEFORE it was agreed with his Northern counterparts

On a better note the League of Ireland continue to please, good crowds and it looks like 2 competitive divisions.  I thought Dundalk played really well in beating Cork City and Rovers continue to win and look very solid.  It is a huge game for Cork this week against Rovers.  Even this early in the season I think this is a must win game for Cork, while Dundalk will be hoping that Rovers slip up. In the first division things look extremely tight with no team really showing they want to be the boss.

It was great to show the Dundalk /Cork game last Friday and looking forward to Cork and Rovers this week, good following of League of Ireland people into to see the games. Very disappointing that we have been unable to stream games this season.