Originally posted by seand
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Good point. -
The Welsh Premier League is probably easier to quantify bearing in mind many of the founding clubs were or had been playing in the Northern Premier League and the Southern League, which at that time were covering the second and third tier of the English non-league.Comment
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The Irn Bru Cup is a handy method of interleague comparison this season.Comment
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To a point, though Connah's Quay's win at Falkirk has surely got to be judged as a shock result, or the result of Falkirk giving about as much of a fuck as a Neil Warnock team would in such a competition.Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View PostComment
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My experience (2 years as season ticket holder at Pats) was that the perception of it depended on who you spoke to. People who took an active interest were generally pleased with the quality of the better sides (I began following LoI in 2013) and those who took no interest dismissed it as rubbish (similar to fans who only follow the PL in England). If I had to place it, I'd say the best teams would probably fit in at the top end of the Conference and League 2 on a weekly level.
RTE were showing an Eircom League Game after the Ireland Poland draw. I can't remember the two sides involved, but compared with the national team, this was like watching Barcelona vs Bayern Munich. There may not be any money, or much respect, but all of those coaches all have to go on training courses, they all have to learn about modern football methods, and they try to apply them to their teams. I mean no-one is actually going to confuse these games with a CL semi-Final, but what I saw in that one game was more than enough evidence that parts of the League of Ireland are considerably closer to the European Mainstream than our international setup, by a good 30 years. They certainly know about the importance of Overlapping Fullbacks, and how to use them. But this is also true of the lower leagues in the UK if that BBC show with Manish thingy was anything to go by.
It seems to me that while football at underage levels hurtles along with elements of the top level of football, many managers, all the pundits, and most of the Fans have been left miles behind. Whether you are Jose Mourinho, or Rafa Benitez, or Martin O'Neill, or the ghouls on BT sports. There is a huge disconnect here. Though I don't know why we're even talking about Stephen Kenny here. If O'Neill is sacked, they'll just appoint Mick McCarthy again. He was on the Late Late Show last weekend, and is popping up all over irish Television as a straight talking pundit. Delaney would reappoint him in a heart beat, and then go back to his celebrity lifestyle, and his mid life Crisis.Comment
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What is the consensus amongst Irish supporters regarding the origin of their next manager? Does he have to be a homer this time? Because if that is the case then there is little to choose from outside of the LOI. Obviously Chris Hughton ain't about to drop Brighton to take over the National team unless he's one of those blokes who likes nailing his ball bag to scaffold boards, John Sheridan has had seven different jobs in the past three years with little success and is contractually obliged to manage Oldham again before he can take another job, and so little is known about Joe Dunne at Cambridge that even he couldn't tell you who he is.Comment
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Delaney’s midlife crisis has already lasted longer than Jogi Löw’s tenure with Germany.Comment
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Can't speak for everyone else but I've never been hung up on nationality,so long as we have a manager who plays football and has an interest in every part of Irish football, I don't think any gaffer apart from Kerr has cared about the domestic game and I don't think Martin and Roy know we've a (pretty decent) under age set upOriginally posted by Sean of the Shed View PostComment
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It seems like the FAI could learn a lot from appointing someone with little visibility and less expectation but who understood the wider coaching picture as England did with Southgate. Once England stopped looking to find a messiah by paying the tabloid-fevered Hot Pick du jour a king's ransom to little effect, things started to improve.Comment
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Chris Hughton is hugely popular in Ireland. He has always come across as a decent, thoughtful pleasant man, rather than someone who uses amiability or niceness as a weapon, (yes you Niall Quinn) or a shield from incompetence (Yes we're looking at you Mick McCarthy) but I think in general most people would prefer to see him be a premier league manager for as long as possible. I'm not sure that he'd be a great appointment though. I have no real sense of what a "Chris hughton" team looks like in any positive sense, and that's not great for someone who has been a manager for most of the last decade.Originally posted by Sean of the Shed View PostComment
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Couldn't care less where the manager comes from as long as he (or she) is competent, puts in the hours and is somewhat forward looking in terms of tactics.
Kenny fits the bill. Being Irish is a bonus, because it means he knows the players and can hit the ground running. If we are lucky, Denis O'Brien might tell the FAI to fuck off. In that case, Kenny might well be the only candidate they can afford.Comment
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Has DoB done anything that might attract the attention of a foreign regulator with teeth? Cos I guess that’s the only way to stop him playing at mini Carnegie/Murdoch. But I guess there’s a reason his investments concentrate on Haiti etc rather than places the SEC or whatever might have jurisdiction.Comment
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Mad Marty quoted in the (London) Indy today, he's confident of taking the team to home triumphs at Euro 2020. To widespread ridicule from fans.
I reckon both sides may be missing the point(s). The South could have 18 games in this cycle (4 Nations League, 2 friendlies, 8 or 10 qualifiers, finally the play offs). But arguably only the last 2 are really crucial. The new structure with 36 countries guaranteed at least a play off means you can stiff right through 2019 yet still qualify by limping past 2 other League B underachievers.Comment
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Was reading the news and was reminded that the FAI gave him a contract extension after the 5-1 loss against Denmark.
I had forgotten about that. For some reason I had misremembered that it was the week before the playoffs.
They really are a shower of muppets.Comment
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His comments about how he'd also love us to play more attacking and creative football are also a window into his delusion. Those comments suggest that we are playing defensive football. We're not, because we are losing. This isn't a clash of dreamy fans clamouring to see samba football and a realistic manager who has to send out a defensive formation. If he successfully implemented an Italian catenaccio system that ground out 1-0 and 0-0 results then fine. I'm a defender. I can appreciate that kind off football. But as it stands, that's not what we are doing. We are not playing any kind of football. Which is no surprise, considering that he thinks he is so good that he doesn't have to bother himself with managing the team.Comment
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fecking hell, do those second captains really have 11,000 people paying 5 euros a month
i'm in the wrong businessComment
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Yes, Ken and co's model is impressive. Wonder how many subs there'd be at say £5 or £10 a year?Comment
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Almost certainly not twelve times as manyComment
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I would love to do a case study on Second Captains.
https://graphtreon.com/creator/secondcaptains.
They have averaged over 9,000 patrons in the last year and have had a significant boost with the World Cup. In the last twelve months, their subscriber revenue was approx. €600k. They've also had a number of sell-out shows with sponsorship for some shows. Also, some radio work and regular journalist work for at least two of the contributors.
They will be paying a reasonable percentage to patreon and payment providers, they have a Dublin 2 recording studio and the calibre of regular contributors and interviewees aren't pro-bono. Throw in a bit of travel and miscellaneous expenses before the 5 of them get to take a salary.
How many regular listeners do they get for their free shows? Is it a case of fighting to maintain the current levels or can they grow even faster (there seems to have been a dip post World Cup)? Their success is genuinely impressive.Comment
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So they do free and subscriber only shows? Not sure I realised that.Comment
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The two Monday podcasts (one devoted to football, the other to other sports) are free to download. The others are generally subscriber-only.Comment
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The Phoenix keeps tabs of their financial affairs. It was in one of the last two issues. All I know is that they needed 5,000 subscribers to match their Irish Times contract, so they were very relieved to hit that mark relatively early on.
The Thursday show is also free I think.Comment
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Tim Vickery is very good. Haven't heard him on their show (rarely listen, don't pay), but have been listening him for 15 or so years in five live with Dotun Adebayo.Comment
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Big night of international football, nobody cares. It's as if you're all distracted by European drama elsewhere.
Anyway, the plucky islanders with a proud history held out in Brussels for a long time, but now reality has hit home: Batshuayi scores, Iceland one down.Comment
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