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.

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

John Delaney finally departs stage left, but not before negotiating a sizeable payoff from the F.A.I. I understand that legally this might have had to be done but it galls me,

It infuriates me that a man who was paid a huge salary, negotiated with himself, A Golden Handcuff agreement, went on paid gardening leave and then leaves with a wedge.  All paid for by us the Tax Payer, not the F.A.I.  This point seems to get buried in every conversation about John Delaney and the F.A.I Can I say that the money being spent by the F.A.I. is OUR money, not the F.A.I.’s money.  John O’Regan just last week came out to bat for John Delaney once again.  He was one of a number of people who came out to tell us how good John Delaney was when all this mess started.  How good he was to Kerry, Limerick et al.  But he fails to comprehend that the largess distributed by John Delany personally on many occasions was not his money, it was OUR money.  The fact that he has “young kids” and “old parents” is unfortunate and we must be careful to distinguish family from business.  These problems are John Delaney’s problems, he is responsible for his own actions, his actions determined that he resign.  May I say to John O’Regan that I am one of the whinging and moaning League of Ireland guys I just don’t wear a blazer and there are many like me who are appalled at the actions of John Delaney.  It will take more that a Chicken Dinner to change my mind.

Shane Ross’s politics would not be my politics.  I don’t know what he knows about any sport but particularly Soccer.  I would hazard a guess that unlike Michael D. Higgins, he wouldn’t know whether the ball was pumped or stuffed.  His performance in Dublin Airport when Katie arrived home was cringe worthy and I believe made him a laughing stock.  Reminded me so much of Charles Haughey’s dash to the Champs Elysees in 1987 to be there when Stephen Roche won the Tour de France, but these people are politicians and they do what politicians do.  The thing is they have to put themselves up for election and the people decide their fate.  This obviously is not the case in the F.A.I.

In an article recently Shane Ross described what it was like to take on the F.A.I. going on trips with the F.A.I., who then offer to pay your bill, you refuse, but it is paid anyway, you then pay the F.A.I. back the money for the bill.  Later on a “source” leaks the fact that you were a guest of the F.A.I. and that they paid the bill.  If you don’t have proof that you repaid the money to the F.A.I. you are in trouble. This is sinister in the extreme.

What about the “new” F.A.I.? Don’t make me laugh. The new F.A.I. (N.F.A.I.) is very similar to the old F.A.I. They have the draw for the cup, named after their association, early in the morning on radio so no one knows who is playing whom.  This is how they promote this PRESTIGEOUS and historic competition.  Oh and by the way the Boss of the N.F.A.I.  Refuses to go on air in someone asks him a question.  The N.F.A.I. then announces the resignation of John Delaney at 11pm on Saturday night, and refuse to give details of the package. Old F.A.I. and N.F.A.I – Similar

Lastly the N.F.A.I. doesn’t want to appear before the Oireachtas committee on the 16^th October because it is the day after the Switzerland match in the Euro’s.  Why can they not attend, I saw Mick McCarthy’s squad and none of them are in it! OH maybe there is a “Jolly Up” planned for the new BLAZERS.

The 2019 Season so far

Missed the last couple of weeks of the Blog.  Sometimes I just get fed up with the way the league is “Run”, the people who “Run” it or maybe I should say RUIN our League. I seem to be banging on about this for a lifetime and nothing seems to change.  It gets to me and I have to take a step back. I have to take myself out of the bubble that is the L.O.I. for me.  I am not going to let the John Delaney payoff get to me. 

I am going to try to be really positive about THE BEST LITTLE LEAGUE IN THE WORLD.

Congratulations first of all to Shelburne on their return to the Premier Division. I really do believe that they are returning to their rightful place in the big time.  Obviously the injection of cash from investors was vitally important to them. But I’ll have to say that without the work of Joe Casey and his band of dedicated workers there would have been no club around to inject cash into. These people were around in 2007 when the club was on its knees and within days of going out of football. Without their efforts the Club would have died. I think it is important to remember that the past creates the future.  I hope they can raise the necessary Capital that the Club will need to compete in the Premier Division.  It is going to be a steep learning curve for all involved.

What about my beloved Dundalk.  What a season,  what a job Vinny Perth and his staff have done. I was worried at the start that there were too many Chiefs and that  might hamper the decisions being made. I am glad to admit that I was totally wrong on this. This team and the Management are on the way to a record breaking year no matter what happens. A League Cup already won, a League Win with 4 matches to spare and a place in the Cup Final. What a Season.

The task of following Stephen Kenny was daunting.  Most new Managers would have tried to “put their stamp” on the squad.  It takes a huge amount of belief and confidence in your own ability to leave well enough alone.  He knew he had a really good squad and he managed them magnificently.  Unlike most managers it was not about him, it was about the team.  He put his faith in them and they have repaid his confidence in them. We have seen what has happened in clubs where a really good manager has left.  It has taken years and many managers to get back to where they were.  Dundalk are lucky that they had an assistant big enough and brave enough to carry on the mantle of Stephen Kenny and still do it his way. Well done Players, Staff and you Vinny Perth.

All eyes now on Cup Final Day.  I have been impressed with Rovers every time I have seen them this year.  I thought they performed better in Europe than the other League teams.  Because of their history in the Cup playing Rovers in the final will add spice to an already great occasion.  They will be disappointed that they could not push Dundalk in the League.  They will see this as their chance to prove that they can compete with the best Dundalk Team in history.  For Stephen Bradley it is important that the Club win some silverwear.  It will give them the belief that they can go and compete to win the League next year.  It is going to be a fantastic occasion, with two huge clubs involved, Clubs that have a huge fan base. The two top teams playing, lets pack the Aviva. What a TV showcase for our League that would be.

I have purposely stayed away from commenting on Gardens, Gardening Leave, Pension Funds, Grotesque Salaries, Rent Allowance and Pay Offs.  I will be back on that horse next week

Our National Broadcaster

What a joke, Dundalk played a quarter final of the major Cup Competition in Waterford on a Monday night with less than 1,000 people attending.  Why? I hear you ask.  The answer–because the tie had to be re-arranged to allow Waterford pay Hearts Colts on Friday.  What a joke.  What a way to treat the League’s most prestigious competition.  How can the F.A.I.  Cup be treated with so little respect.  I am sure the sponsors of the Cup were not best pleased.  But hey it’s run by our glorious F.AI. it has to be a joke.  I’m sure John Delaney is in his garden laughing his socks off as the F.A.I. lurch from one farce to another.  Only good thing about it is that Dundalk won.

This leaves Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and Sligo Rovers through, to be joined by the winner of Crumlin Utd v Bohs.  Again due to the “magnificent” work of the F.A.I. the draw will be live at 8.30am on RADIO. Most prestigious Cup competition – I don’t think so

Potentially a great weekend ahead for Shels in the First Division.  Surely the time has come for them to claim a place in the Premier Division.  Hopefully they will win the match against the Drogs and clinch the title.  I’ll be glued to the phone looking at their results.  I know to my cost the feeling of Last Match Blues.  To all the people travelling, get behind the team and enjoy the game, if that is possible.

 I see that RTE, our national broadcaster are now showing a few League of Ireland matches as the season draws to a close.  Well Whoopee and thanks for that.  I don’t know what they have been doing since May.  I understand the L.O.I. is a niche sport.  I understand that it does not compete with GAA or Rugby as far as viewing figures are concerned, but Soccer is still the biggest sport played in Ireland and is a market that can be tapped into.  Again it is up to the F.A.I. to negotiate a deal that includes the L.O.I. when they do a deal for the International team.  But will it happen, you tell me.

What a debut for Jack Byrne, fantastic performance and showed what a L.O.I. player is capable of. He looked completely comfortable playing in the National Team.

Congratulations also to Stephen Kenny on his brilliant start to the U21 Euro qualifiers, showing that the L.O.I. can produce top class Managers as well as top class players.

SAME OLD.  SAME OLD.

I missed last week’s blog because I feel I’m commenting on the same things I have been banging on about for the last 20 years.  I stupidly believed that we were in a time of change. A time of openness and transparency. A new look F.A.I.  Alas the John Delaney cloud looms large over this organisation.  It is now a case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

What is the current position of the F.A.I. with regard to John Delaney?

What is the position with the numerous enquiries set up to get to the bottom of the sordid mess that he left behind?

Are we as usual going to let the whole affair disappear like a puff of smoke, nobody will found culpable and the old system will be put back but with new faces and no new ideas.  We will do it the Irish way.  We all know how the various tribunals ended. 

Same Old, Same Old.

We have had the situation in the last couple of weeks where we had a draw for the ¼ finals of the F.A.I.  Cup at 8.30 in the morning.  This is bad enough, but it was on RTE, a station that ignores the League of Ireland.  Why would you allow a station that will not show L.O.I teams playing in Europe let alone in our League host the draw.  Easy way out.  No thought needed, no work needed, just let the bus trundle on with no driver.  Same Old Same Old.

Where was Donal Conway? The good man, who is overlooking the changes needed to make the F.A.I.  fit for purpose.  Allegedly he didn’t go on air because he was going to be asked questions about the Johnny Giles Foundation.  If this is true I ask you what has changed.  Why is the F.A.I. afraid of allowing reporters to do their job?  No, anything difficult comes up – don’t answer questions openly and honestly retreat behind the John Delaney well tried and trusted method of not allowing people to do their job.  If questions can’t be asked the answers don’t have to be given. Same Old, Same Old

With their every action the F.A.I. demean the L.O.I.  We now have the ¼ finals of our most prestigious competition being re-arranged so that teams can play a Mickey Mouse competition.  Actually, to call it a Mickey Mouse competition is an insult to Mickey Mouse.  Same Old, Same Old.

In the last blog I slated UCD for the sacking of Collie O’Neill, which I believe showed UCD in a very poor light.  But just like clubs, Managers and Players must have standards. 

Neale Fenn’s move from Longford to Cork City baffled me.  Neale has done a great job with Longford.  How can he up sticks and leave with Longford still in the Cup and more than likely in the play-offs to get into the Premier Division.  Did he not owe it to Longford to stay until the end of the season and then move, why move with 3 matches to go. So why would Clubs treat a Manager correctly if this does not work both ways.

Talking of the First Division, Shels are a step closer to returning to the top flight, a place where I believe they truly belong.  I can only hope that next season I will be watching Shels v Bohs and Shels v Shamrock Rovers on TV, that’s if anybody in the F.A.I. gets of their ass and does a proper deal that promotes our League, and is not dependent on crumbs from the table of our National Broadcaster.

Where now for Dundalk and Collie O’Neill 

Last Friday the beloved Jimmy Dainty was laid to rest.  Unfortunately circumstances prevented me from being there.  But I would like to extend my sympathy to Helen and all the family.  Jimmy was one of the English men who came to Ireland(Dundalk) and loved it.  Dundalk also loved Jimmy and like Ritchie Blackmore and myself took us into the Dundalk family.  I cannot put into words how it felt when I heard of his untimely death.  Jimmy was the most likeable of men and will be remembered by the people of Dundalk for a long time to come.  R.I.P. DAINT

Jimmy’s sad demise got me reflecting on Dundalk Football Club and its current owners – Peak 6.  I presume these are a group of venture capitalists who are looking  for a return on investment.  I have no problem with that but the failure to ensure the Wednesday night European match was shown on TV quite frankly deeply disturbed me.  I believe EIR made an offer to show the game, but this offer was turned down.  Now this could be because the T.V Company’s offer was so small that it could not be accepted or was it that the current owners wanted to ensure that people had to travel if they wanted to see the game.  Methinks this was the motive of the club.  They were able to stream the match for people outside of Ireland.  Keely’s Bar was one of the businesses to benefit from this.  But why can you watch the match if you are on holiday and not if you could not get time of work to travel to Dublin or if you genuinely could not get to the game.  The attendance was not I believe any greater than usual attendances for European matches.  Let me say that Dundalk people will travel to a European game.  They will not sit at home and watch it on television.  My own son who does not travel to games  but went to this one with his daughter.

The problem here is not supporters; the problem is that we haven’t got a stadium that is capable of showing a European game.  May I say to Peak 6 – you may own the infrastructure of Dundalk FC but you do not own the club.  It is owned by the people of Dundalk past and present.  So I understand your priority is to improve the standard of the players so that they can be serial winners of the League and hopefully in the near future progress to the knock-out stages of a European competition. But along with this we must also have a stadium that reflects this great club.  For too long we have been boom and bust.  My fear is that this will happen again to our great club.  If the owners cannot get a return on their investment, that they feel is appropriate then they could depart.  Leaving us with a load of memories and a stadium that is a disgrace in this day and age.

I repeat it is time for everybody to get together and put plans in place for a proper stadium to be built.  Let that be the legacy of Peak 6 NOT just the desire to get a financial return on investment.  We have already been down that road, and it was left to the ordinary supporters, the Maxi’s of this world, Andy Connolly and Paul Brown and all the people who put money in to save the club, let’s not let that happen again.  C’MON THE TOWN

UCD were beaten 10-1 by Bohs last Friday, what exactly does it mean for the LOI structure.  The people running our League have no interest in our League.  The First Division is a joke and teams that get promoted from it invariably go back down almost immediately.  I have long called for a larger Premier Division with a Regional League to back this up.  The winner of this Regional competition would then play off against the last team in the Premier Division.  But to play in the Premier Division you should have to meet a fixed set of criteria.

      1.  To have a ground available that is up to standard

      2.  To have the financial capability to survive the Premier Division e.g. Sponsorship, proper        budgets etc

      3.  To have a fan base or potential fan base that will allow the club to survive.

There are many more basic standards that could be applied.

So when we get results like the last weeks gone – Bohs v UCD and the recent result against Rovers what do we see? We see a club with one of the best coaches in the country struggling in the Premier Division.  So it is not his problem.  UCD are different to all other clubs, they use the football team to promote Academic excellence, it does not matter what division they are in.  Their model is not conducive to winning League and cups.  They do however produce fantastic players.  These players are then cherry-picked by League clubs.  If UCD were able to keep their promotion team together then they would not be in the position they are in now.  They had two 5^th year students and two 6^th year students in their team last week.  Alex Ferguson couldn’t coach this team successfully so having a brilliant young coach will not help when half your team wouldn’t get in to see an over 18 movie.

Since I wrote the above, events have overtaken me.  UCD took the decision to sack Collie O’Neill, a decision that defies logic and is an insult to a really good coach.  What do they expect to achieve by this outrageous decision.  Where will they get a coach who is prepared to build a team and have it whipped away from under his feet.  To the people who run UCD – shame on you.  I thought you were different. I thought you were smart.  I thought you had the education of players both academic and football at the heart of your club. You don’t, you have become just another second rate club.

To Collie O’Neill I say, you have performed a minor miracle with this team.  You will be appreciated over the next period of time. You are a man slight in stature but huge in integrity.  I have had the pleasure to work with you and see your ability and character.  You will be a huge loss to UCD and more importantly to our League.  Take a break, you will be back soon. Our League cannot afford to be without people as good as you.

I have stayed quiet about Shels in the first division.  I have been afraid to say anything in case things went belly up.  But their win over Longford puts them in the driving seat.  I hope they can now finish off the job and get back to their rightful place in the Premier Division.  Shels tick all the boxes as far as eligibility for the Premier Division is concerned.  I hope this year they finally make it.

Why no TV coverage??

Dundalk, the last team standing, play tonight in Tallaght, a beautiful stadium, which I believe shows our League at its very best, but the match is not on TV.  WHY??  This match is very much alive and the winners will probably play AJAX - what a prize to play for.

You have to wonder what does a League of Ireland team have to do to get on RTE, our “national” broadcaster.  We’ve had the situation before this season, when the Rovers European tie was not shown, what do we have to do to get proper coverage of our game.  I believe there are only two reasons for the game not to be televised.

          1        RTE just don’t want to and don’t have to.

2    2          The owners of Dundalk for some reason don’t want it to be shown.

To deal with the first point you must look at what RTE are contractually obliged to broadcast every year. Easy you might think NO! Nobody knows details of the broadcasting contract because the FAI won’t tell us.  Part of the secrecy for which our great leaders are responsible.  We know already that the FAI have no interest in supporting our League, so it might be fair to assume that they sold the TV rights for International football and have not included the League in this deal.  But we don’t know because it is a SECRET.

We should be promoting League of Ireland.  There should a Friday night match on every Friday and probably a follow up on another night. The FAI should be able to ensure this happens, offering a package that includes LOI to RTE or another broadcaster. The belief in RTE is that viewing figures are too low for broadcasting the LOI, but we can only grow these numbers by showing our product every week.  RTE have not shown a League match for at least two months.  This is a public service station set up not only for major events but to help develop the Arts and Sports area.  Last Friday night there was no mention of the FAI Cup, our major Cup competition on the 9 O’Clock news – no mention!!.  Today while Dundalk is representing Ireland, we can instead watch a programme on Vitamin Pills and a British programme on cars.  I don’t imagine the numbers will go through the roof for these mouth-watering programmes.

The second scenario, the one I hope is not the case, is that the owners of Dundalk FC, Peak 6 are not allowing the game to be shown because they want people to go to the match in Dublin.  I hope this is not the case.  The people of Dundalk are the most generous people in the world.  They will go to see Dundalk whether the match is televised or not.  They love “The Town”, as much as they are generous and welcoming they are also capable of withdrawing their support if they think they are being used and abused.

We should have our own stadium, one to match our team.  Nothing has been said about developing a stadium.  It is now time for everybody to sit down and discuss how we go about getting one.  Or is it the case that Peak 6 invests in the team only, win the League year after year, simply for a return on their investment.  I hope not.  For someone who was adopted by the lovely people of Dundalk I would not like to be Peak 6 and incur their wrath should this be the case.

Tonight I will be watching the Dundalk game which we purchased and is available to supporters outside of Ireland. This is great for us but it is a shame that supporters in Ireland who cannot travel to Tallaght to see the match will have to listen to it on the radio like I used to do when I was a child 60 years ago, surely we should have progressed from this.

 Club Funding ( or lack of) 

A week on and Dundalk are out of the Champions League and Rovers are out of the Europa League.  Doom and gloom.  NO WAY.  These two clubs are improving year on year.  They have raised the bar for League of Ireland football.  Dundalk was beaten by a superior side in Qarabag.  A club with far more economic clout and most importantly better players.  Dundalk has exited the Champions League where they should have.  The important thing is, I believe, that they were competitive with a team that were superior to them.  They played like a team that believed in themselves and the way they play.  They are really up against it next round and realistically they should depart the scene.  This is not important.  What is important is that the team’s performance is improving every year, that means the standard in our League is also improving.

I felt the same watching Shamrock Rovers.  The days are gone when we can look down on a League like Cyprus.  Back in the day if you got a team from Cyprus you thought you were into the next round.  This is not now the case.  These “lower” leagues have grown and developed over the years and are now at the same level or higher than our teams.  This match was 50/50 and I think either team could have won.  The most important thing is that our League needs to improve.

This really brings me to the nub of the matter all of these “foreign” leagues have been helped by their own associations. 

In our League all our clubs are left to their own devices.  5 years ago Dundalk was on the verge of going under.  Only local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Brown stepped in the club was dead and gone.  Rovers have also had a long time in the wilderness until they found their home in Tallaght.  They have a beautiful stadium and a wonderful team but have had huge backing from South Dublin County Council.  I don’t believe Dundalk have received any help from the council in Louth.  Let’s face it, Dundalk might be the best team in the country but they must have the worst stadium in the country.  The work the club do in the community, the love the people of Dundalk feel for their club is huge.  It must be the only town in the country where you see more kids with Dundalk tops rather than the English Premiership tops, this is all done locally.

This brings me to my Bete Noir – the FAI and John Delaney and all of the executives of whatever they were called in times gone by.  Their job is to promote our League, to seek government funding for our League teams, to develop our infrastructure.  I have been banging on about this for 20 years to no avail. I don’t believe the Government department responsible for sport even know there is a League of Ireland.  I have just read about John Delaney’s “Golden Handcuffs”, where it is alleged that he doubled his salary to close to €1M a year and nobody knew, it didn’t appear in the accounts.... Same Old, same Old.  Maybe if the old fashioned handcuffs were used for the guilty parties, whoever they are, we might get a change in culture, not a change in the status quo.