How high is the quality of the LOI?

dreamers75

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Yes, BUT HOW MANY LOI GAMES HAVE THEY GONE TO?????!!!!!!

BLOODY BARSTOOLERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rabble rabble rabble

if anyone emulates pats in Europe this season we will move up 3 places and on current form will catch Scotland in the next few years.

CSF

Oh lord these threads always bring out the biggest fools. For what its worth, in my opinion, the big 2 would be struggling Championship sides, the rest of the Premier would balance themselves around League One, some at the top, the weaker 1s at the bottom, Bray would probably be bottom half League 2 along with the better First Division sides. The likes of Athlone, Harps, Longford, Mervue, Wexford and Salthill Devon would presumably be non-league standard.

bohsman

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Yes, BUT HOW MANY LOI GAMES HAVE THEY GONE TO?????!!!!!!

BLOODY BARSTOOLERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rabble rabble rabble

Dont see where they say anything about the quality of football on display and if they were to they'd certainly be doing it with better background knowledge than the lad who's eyes cant put up with less than level 10 football and is purely going by word of mouth.

Nothing in it between SPL and LOI over the last couple of years by that chart..

CSF

oconnon9 wrote: »

I use the term Bohs and Shels loosely

You should probably stop posting about football, its pretty much the equivalent of me going on to the astronomy forum and telling them I know better.

bohsman

CSF wrote: »

Oh lord these threads always bring out the biggest fools.

They are great as a troll filter, get to add loads to ignore every thread.

monkey9

oconnon9 wrote: »

LOI football is utter shiite. Someone said earlier bohs and shels would compete with celtic and rangers!? Haha thats just comical. I'd say League Two standard at best. Nowhere near the Championsip.

And what par are you putting Celtic and Rangers on, cos i've got news for you, Buddy. They're both sh!te as well.

DB10

bohsman wrote: »

Too young to remember George Grahams Arsenal then?

The football wasn't great, but they more than made up for it with fight,passion, brilliant defensive displays, power and trophies.

It's more my kind of watch really. The current side has no fight, little passion or power, **** defense and haven't won a trophy in over half a decade.

Only a handful of players in the current side truely care about the club IMO.

stovelid

This thread only serves to remind me how much my local is going to be Cunt Central tomorrow.

dreamers75

stovelid wrote: »

This thread only serves to remind me how much my local is going to be Cunt Central tomorrow.

Do a "bohs" on it ?

pablomakaveli

In terms of standards i'd say Bohs/Shams would be around bottom Championship/Top half League 1. The rest of the premier division would be bottom half League 1/ top half League 2 and the Division 1 sides around Conference level.

I've known a few lads who have played for Cobh with a couple of them playing in the first division though they were'nt regular players. Given these guys are good players and still were'nt regulars in the first division i'd say any good footballer isn't guareenteed to make it with a LOI side.

TheBigLebowski

This thread is riduclous from start to finish.

DB10 wrote: »

Just wondering for LOI fans or people who know any of the players, how good are they?

Can you define what you mean by "good"? There are "good" players playing in Leinster Senior. There are "good" players in the LOI. There are "good" players playing 5 a side with me on Friday nights.

DB10 wrote: »

Just thinking how hard is it to make it as a LOI player?

Can you define what you mean by "hard"?

There are far more people in this country playing non-LOI football than LOI football. The vast majority of which would not be able to compete in the LOI. I suppose it depends how talented and dedicated you are.

DB10 wrote: »

I mean most good Irish players move to England, so what of those that are left? Are they just really hard workers who were dedicated in making it in in the LOI?

Again it comes back to what you mean by "good". In my opinion, most good Irish players do not go to England. Most good Irish players play in Ireland. The best of the bunch go to England. This does not mean that the rest are a bunch of retards. There are also examples of failed LOI players that went to England and done OK.

DB10 wrote: »

Surely there must be a few on here that grew up with League of Ireland players..where they that good growing up?:)

Interesting I feel to see what people think.

Again, there's that word again...



By the way, have you ever played football and at what level?

dreamers75

pablomakaveli wrote: »

In terms of standards i'd say Bohs/Shams would be around bottom Championship/Top half League 1. The rest of the premier division would be bottom half League 1/ top half League 2 and the Division 1 sides around Conference level.

Havent seen the league table the last month have you?

3hn2givr7mx1sc

dreamers75 wrote: »

Havent seen the league table the last month have you?

It'll all come to shape by August.;):P

DB10

TheBigLebowski wrote: »

Can you define what you mean by "hard"?

There are far more people in this country playing non-LOI football than LOI football. The vast majority of which would not be able to compete in the LOI. I suppose it depends how talented and dedicated you are.

Well that is all that I asked no need to get all holier than thou over it. Also it is hard to measure how many people actaully want to play in the LOI. Not alot I reckon.

Again it comes back to what you mean by "good". In my opinion, most good Irish players do not go to England. Most good Irish players play in Ireland. The best of the bunch go to England. This does not mean that the rest are a bunch of retards. There are also examples of failed LOI players that went to England and done OK.

In my opinion any quality Irish players play in England which is also another reason people follow English clubs. And yet even several of these are players I would not regard as being very talented if at all. Paul McShane in my opinion has very little talent if any at all, he is where is due to a combination of hard work, dedication , commitment and being very lucky.

Guys like him make the Ireland squad at their ease. When I see players like that playing regular football for the Irish football team, I question how much quality players in the LOI really have. A guy like McShane gets regular football all his career in the top two divisions in England.

Is he a "top" player? No not at all and he is not the only one.

CSF

DB10 wrote: »

Well that is all that I asked no need to get all holier than thou over it. Also it is hard to measure how many people actaully want to play in the LOI. Not alot I reckon.




In my opinion any quality Irish players play in England which is also another reason people follow English clubs. And yet even several of these are players I would not regard as being very talented if at all. Paul McShane in my opinion has very little talent if any at all, he is where is due to a combination of hard work, dedication , commitment and being very lucky.

Guys like him make the Ireland squad at their ease. When I see players like that playing regular football for the Irish football team, I question how much quality players in the LOI really have. A guy like McShane gets regular football all his career in the top two divisions in England.

Is he a "top" player? No not at all and he is not the only one.

Ok so lets be honest here, you didn't make this thread to find out how people feel about the standard of the LOI, you made it because you wanted to talk about how muck it is, didn't you?

Pinturicchio

CSF wrote: »

Oh lord these threads always bring out the biggest fools. For what its worth, in my opinion, the big 2 would be struggling Championship sides, the rest of the Premier would balance themselves around League One, some at the top, the weaker 1s at the bottom, Bray would probably be bottom half League 2 along with the better First Division sides. The likes of Athlone, Harps, Longford, Mervue, Wexford and Salthill Devon would presumably be non-league standard.

Some of those clubs are non-league standard in Ireland!

dreamers75

TheBigLebowski wrote: »

what he said

tbh this is the most interesting post on this thread.


i know players who went to england but werent the best player on our team (paul byrne wasnt but made it sort off)


Numerous players i played with in LSL were more than good enough but the friday/saturday night ended any chances of going over.

Fairly sure anyone who played ina ny league in ireland knows at least one player who was good enough but for whatever reasons didnt.

oldyouth

Back on thread. LOI football is not technically comparable to SPL, EPL or Championship, but attending live games is REAL. I can't really explain it properly but unless you regularily watch a live game at ANY level, you can't really appreciate the essence of football.

Unfortunately, it is not easy for us all to go and see the higher technical standard in the UK, so check out your local schoolboy league, county league or, God forbid, to ocassional LOI game. It is a whole new perspective

Boskowski

From what I can see on telly and from the 2 blues games I saw I'd say 3. Liga and top Regionalliga teams when comparing to German footie.
Which may not sound a lot to people who only know football from the box. But if you ever played yourself you'd know that's pretty serious stuff. I don't know about the commitment levels in Irish soccer but I know regionalliga is officially amateur while in reality it's not. So we're talking training 5 times a week and physios and teambus and money and whatnot. That's not happening unless you have a bunch of actual footballers.

I imagine LOI to be at least on a par with that?

For anyone who's only playing 'a bit' and wondeing... Any of these guys that seem to you like donkeys compared to Drogba and Torres. It's all relative and about the pace of the game. The same guy would look like fkn Maradona in your nightowls game.

TheBigLebowski

Let us not forget that last year, a very ordinary Pats side beat Krylya Sovetov in the Europa League Qualifiers. Krylya had come 6th in the previous Russian Premier league and they had drawn with Spartak Moscow 11 days prior to this game. The Russian league is rated 6th highest in Europe. This is just one example of good European results for LOI sides.

stovelid

What's sad about the thread, and most of the comment on the forum, is that the intrinsic worth of football is defined by how good it is in comparison to the small number of best teams in the world. By that token, why enjoy playing amateur level or five-a-side yourself when you're not as good as the best?

Personally, I couldn't care less how Rovers measure up to other leagues because like the overwhelming majority of clubs in the world that get a crack at it, European competition is a enjoyable bonus (and potential means of revenue) and you don't "pick" them (LOL) because of their guaranteed inclusion at the top-table in Europe.

anonymous_joe

stovelid wrote: »

What's sad about the thread, and most of the comment on the forum, is that the intrinsic worth of football is defined by how good it is in comparison to the small number of best teams in the world. By that token, why enjoy playing amateur level or five-a-side yourself when you're not as good as the best?

Personally, I couldn't care less how Rovers measure up to other leagues because like the overwhelming majority of clubs in the world that get a crack at it, European competition is a enjoyable bonus (and potential means of revenue) and you don't "pick" them (LOL) because of their guaranteed inclusion at the top-table in Europe.

Football is an inherently competitive sport. People will always gravitate towards the best level they can attain, be that in terms of playing or viewing.

For your average fan of Bohs or Pats, they're probably the best team in their locality.

For those without a team in their area, English football is nearer (in terms of consumption) and better. Moreover, its media coverage is infintely stronger.

The LoI in terms of relative strength of players would probably be similar enough to somewhere like Norway, Sweden, etc. Certainly people do underrate it.

doncarlos

ziggy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Normally I'd agree with you but having seen Celtic play this year I feel that an on form LOI side would give them a game.

Ferris_Bueller

I think this could be a good thread if all the sh*te was removed, interesting to see how everyones opinion differs, I've followed LoI for about 6 or 7 years now and I think that whoever said Bohs and Rovers could challenge Celtic and Rangers must have been having a laugh, they would dominate this league. But as for the rest of the SPL I wouldn't say some of our teams are miles behind, I'd imagine Bohs, Rovers and our stronger teams could fit in well in the SPL lower half, but thats only about 5/6 out of 22 league clubs we have.

A lot of people seem to be using the logic of, oh well Shels drew with Deportivo and Bohs barely lost to Salzburg, so this makes us as good as them. But they were 1 off games, over the course of a season is when you are shown the quality IMO. Some posters have hit the nail in the head, as someone said the quality of the league about 5 years ago was better than it is today, back then perhaps our strongest teams could have been lower Championship standard, but as it stands today I would compare it to League 1 over in England.

I've played with and against players who have played LoI (first division mind you) and as was previously said, in a little 5 v 5 down in the park they play in a league of their own, these are really good footballers, a lot better than your average joe, but in the bigger picture they are miles away from the elite players across the world. But without doubt a large part of it comes down to determination and mental attitude, 2 lads I used to play with have gone onto play LoI, 1 of them was easily the best player I've ever played with and could make a show of defenders when he wanted to, the other was never anything special despite being solid and a good motivator. The first guy played the odd first division game now and then, while the second guy is now playing Premier Division for a top side (although not regularly). Strange how it works.

Is it possible that the technical side of the game here is forced to take a back seat and let the physical side dominate? That seems to be the case in my eyes anyway, a habbit which is never eliminated throughout under age football.

Tom10

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Football is an inherently competitive sport. People will always gravitate towards the best level they can attain, be that in terms of playing or viewing.

For your average fan of Bohs or Pats, they're probably the best team in their locality.

For those without a team in their area, English football is nearer (in terms of consumption) and better. Moreover, its media coverage is infintely stronger.

The LoI in terms of relative strength of players would probably be similar enough to somewhere like Norway, Sweden, etc. Certainly people do underrate it.

This isn't true, Norway have had a number of teams qualify for the Europa League and the Champions League (ok it was only Rosenberg but still). Irish teams haven't had this so the standard is not as high - sure on any given day and Irish team could beat a team from these countries but not on a consistent basis I would say.

dreamers75

Tom10 wrote: »

This isn't true, Norway have had a number of teams qualify for the Europa League and the Champions League (ok it was only Rosenberg but still). Irish teams haven't had this so the standard is not as high - sure on any given day and Irish team could beat a team from these countries but not on a consistent basis I would say.

Pats beat swedish oppositon in EL (who beat hibs comforatbly in the previous round). Cork also beat a swedish team over 2 legs.

Wouldnt fear any norwegians.

8-10

oconnon9 wrote: »

I use the term Bohs and Shels loosely

Pinturicchio wrote: »

That doesn't even make sense.

He's probably debating which type of pasta to have for dinner.

HalloweenJack

Having played five-a-side football with one average LOI player, I can tell you he was by far the best player in our group. Everyone else there were Sunday league footballers and you could see this guy was miles ahead of everyone else.

I've also heard that another first division LOI striker bangs them in for fun in five-a-sides. The difference between them and Sunday leaguers is massive.

Pure_Cork

dreamers75 wrote: »

Pats beat swedish oppositon in EL (who beat hibs comforatbly in the previous round). Cork also beat a swedish team over 2 legs.

Wouldnt fear any norwegians.

Yeah, we beat Malmö (4-1 agg, beating them 1-0 away) and Djurgårdens (1-1 agg, away goals), but lost to Hammarby (2-1 agg).

DB10

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

I've played with and against players who have played LoI (first division mind you) and as was previously said, in a little 5 v 5 down in the park they play in a league of their own, these are really good footballers, a lot better than your average joe, but in the bigger picture they are miles away from the elite players across the world. But without doubt a large part of it comes down to determination and mental attitude, 2 lads I used to play with have gone onto play LoI, 1 of them was easily the best player I've ever played with and could make a show of defenders when he wanted to, the other was never anything special despite being solid and a good motivator. The first guy played the odd first division game now and then, while the second guy is now playing Premier Division for a top side (although not regularly). Strange how it works.

Is it possible that the technical side of the game here is forced to take a back seat and let the physical side dominate? That seems to be the case in my eyes anyway, a habbit which is never eliminated throughout under age football.

Very interesting post mate, I had thought the same would be through. Alot of the time it is the most determined hard working players that get furthest in the game and not necessarily the most talented.

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Having played five-a-side football with one average LOI player, I can tell you he was by far the best player in our group. Everyone else there were Sunday league footballers and you could see this guy was miles ahead of everyone else.

I've also heard that another first division LOI striker bangs them in for fun in five-a-sides. The difference between them and Sunday leaguers is massive.

Again this is what I was trying to talk about, good post. I've often heard the phrase "anyone could play in the LOI" etc. Well I think it shows, that not everyone could, and that these players are actually talented. Sometimes you look at the matches and think it is easy, but it really isn't.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

OhNoYouDidn't

In terms of the original question, its patronising in the extreme. Comparing LoI pros to 5 a side players who bothered.

As for the substantive question, the LoI is miles ahead of the non Glasgow SPL - look at the Euro results. As for where they fit in to the Engerlish pyramid, which lets face it is all that matters (:rolleyes:), I would say the top LoI clubs would fit into the lower half of the Championship/compete in the League 1. Compare crowds and facilities, Rovers & Bohs would slot right in.

But the real question is exactly what standard do people expect of a country of 5m people? The LoI is actually a far better league than Ireland deserves population wise and I would confidently say is highest standard of league anywhere per arse on seat.

OhNoYouDidn't

ziggy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

As an avid watcher of both leagues, I do believe that Rovers and Bohs could and should finish third and fourth in the SPL.

Crowd wise, Rovers would be the sixth best supported team in the SPL after the Glasgow two, Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee Utf. Wage wise we have a bigger budget than Hibs, Falkirk, St Mirren etc.

OhNoYouDidn't

DB10 wrote: »

Again this is what I was trying to talk about, good post. I've often heard the phrase "anyone could play in the LOI" etc. Well I think it shows, that not everyone could, and that these players are actually talented. Sometimes you look at the matches and think it is easy, but it really isn't.

Are you for real?

Dublin_Gunner

I think a lot of people who underestimate the level you'd have to be at to play LOI have never been to an LOI game.

If you're at an LOI match, and you see the pace, the quality of ball, the toughness of the tackling, the speed of decision making, and the amount of ground they cover - I think underestimating the quality of the league would go out the window.

Sure, the teams aren't gonna be able to compete against the United's or Barcelona's, but they're of a very high standard.

I reckon our better sides would easily compete in the Scottish Prem, maybe not against Celtic/Rangers (althogh I'd say on occasion get a result), but are at least as good as most other teams in the division.

I'd say in comparison to England, we'd be talking maybe having a tough time in the Championship.

The fact of the matter is, there is fairly little difference in the qualoty of player between LOI and EPL, but when paying at that level, a little difference in quality means a LOT on the pitch and results.

stovelid

The obvious point is of course that the rest of the teams in the SPl may as well be in a different league to the Glasgow Two so it's not a contradiction
to say that the top LOI teams could compete in the SPL and still not be that close to Rangers and Celtic.

anonymous_joe

Tom10 wrote: »

This isn't true, Norway have had a number of teams qualify for the Europa League and the Champions League (ok it was only Rosenberg but still). Irish teams haven't had this so the standard is not as high - sure on any given day and Irish team could beat a team from these countries but not on a consistent basis I would say.

Rosenborg predominantly, and not for a few years. They've not been in the Champions League for about five years though.

dreamers75 wrote: »

Pats beat swedish oppositon in EL (who beat hibs comforatbly in the previous round). Cork also beat a swedish team over 2 legs.

Wouldnt fear any norwegians.

Norwegian clubs are slightly richer iirc, and have a habit of snaffling up good African talent. Chinedu Obasi at Hoffenheim, John Obi Mikel, etc all came from African football to Norway.

Still though, Irish sides can compete with them. The major difference though, is that your average Norwegian or Swede probably supports a Premiership side as well as their local side. (All the ones I used to know who liked football did anyway.)

Ferris_Bueller

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

As an avid watcher of both leagues, I do believe that Rovers and Bohs could and should finish third and fourth in the SPL.

Crowd wise, Rovers would be the sixth best supported team in the SPL after the Glasgow two, Aberdeen, Hearts and Dundee Utf. Wage wise we have a bigger budget than Hibs, Falkirk, St Mirren etc.

Hibs and Kilmarnock seem to attract better crowds than Rovers too, seems like they would be somewhere around par with Motherwell.

Thought this site was interesting to compare attendances;
http://stats.football365.com/dom/SCO/PR/attend.html
looking at attendances throughout England our league would probably fit in around bottom of League 2/Blue Square Premier.

Dublin_Gunner

Ferris - I do believe that we are discussing the quality of the football, not the attendance a the matches.

Interesting to see though.

Madworld

ziggy wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I'm sorry but you are the one talking out your arse.

Aug 1 2009 Neil Cameron

IN TOUGH times Scottish football used to reach out for a familiar pain killer - the belief that no matter how rough life got, it was never as bad as the League of Ireland.

As a defence against criticism, it was weak, largely irrelevant and these days completely wrong.

In fact, if our clubs even came close to the results regularly racked up by Ireland's sides in Europe, the Scottish game would not be on the slab again, being carved up in an autopsy.

While three of our teams lost 9-1 on aggregate this week, across the Irish Sea they more than punched above their weight.

On Thursday in Dublin, St Patrick's ran out 1-0 winners over former Celt Jiri Jarosik's Kryla Sovetov (Hoops fans take note: Kryla recently beat Dynamo Moscow in the Russian league).

Meanwhile, Derry City travelled to Bulgaria and narrowly lost 1-0 to CSKA Sofia - a scoreline the Old Firm, and every other SPL side, would gladly settle for.

In their previous Europa League qualifier, St Pat's beat Maltese outfit Valletta, no giants themselves, but they won the first leg away in temperatures close to a searing 90 degrees.

It's debatable whether a Scottish side - outwith the Old Firm - would have pulled off a result like that? And in the second qualifying round Derry defeated Latvians Skonta Riga, the side that sent Aberdeen tumbling out of the UEFA Cup in 1994.

And while Scottish Cup finalists Falkirk were well beaten in the end by Vaduz, of Liechtenstein, Dubliners Bohemians were incredibly unlucky to lose to Red Bull Salzburg, an outfit that boasted a 50million euro budget this summer.

Forced

Bohemians were well placed to go through after drawing the first leg 1-1 in Austria but a goal four minutes from time at home broke their hearts.

Such results and performances by Irish clubs are far from one-off. For years they have been beating decent teams, surviving qualifying rounds and even when they lose, they do so with respect and with a few hard luck stories thrown in.

They are forced to play from the first qualifying stage of both the Champions and Europa Leagues but no one gets trounced 5-0.

League of Ireland director Fran Gavin summed up the state of the game when he said: "If an Irish team was drawn against an SPL side, every one of our managers would think they had a chance.

"In fact, didn't Bohemians beat Aberdeen a few years ago? "It is now the norm for our teams to get past the first, second or third rounds in both European competitions.

"That is due to a combination of things - particularly our move to summer football and clubs going full-time.

"Six years ago we decided that if things were ever going to improve we would have to switch to summer football.

"Now when European competition starts, our players are fitter and more prepared. For example, when our teams play the Scandinavians they are ready for them because we are as far ahead in our own season.

"And when we draw against sides whose leagues have not started, it's a much more level playing field.

"The result which, for me, proved things had turned came in 2004 when Shelbourne knocked out Hajduk Split in a Champions League qualifier.We've had lots of great performances since."

Does that not make a case for Scotland to follow the Irish example? There may be too many people on the other side of the argument for the SPL to switch to summer football but if the Irish could do it, when they arguably had bigger obstacles, then surely we can.

Gavin said: "There are still some people against summer football. We changed purely for footballing reasons but there were arguments against it.

"The league now comes up directly against Gaelic football, something which wouldn't be a problem for you in Scotland.

Proof

"But our crowds have gone up. There is a much better family atmosphere in the summer."

The proof is in the results. Two seasons ago, Derry City beat IFK Gothenburg, thrashed Gretna 5-1 in Scotland, then narrowly lost 2-0 to Paris St German after holding them to a 0-0 draw at home.

A year ago, Drogheda drew 2-2 at Dynamo Kiev although they did go out by a single goal. In the 2004-05 Champions League qualifiers, Shelbourne beat KR Reykjavik, Hajduk Split then drew 0-0 at home with Deportivo La Coruna who had finished fourth in La Liga the previous season.

And for an hour in Spain the Irish side held there opponents until a daft mistake led to a goal and eventually a 3-0 defeat.

Gavin said: "When St Pat's beat Elfsborg last season in the Intertoto Cup, it was the first time I had seen an Irish team standing up physically to a Scandinavian side.

"They were bigger and fitter. Elfsborg were a really good outfit but they were the ones who got tired late on.

"St Pat's then gave Hertha Berlin a run for their money in the next round."

Against Elfsborg, St Pat's drew 2-2 away then won the second leg 2-1. And in the previous round the Swedes had swept aside Hibs, winning 2-0 in both legs.

The Irish league is now full-time and far better organised than before.

However, Bohemians have massive financial problems which could see them relegated. Cork City are being saved by a friendly with Celtic. Drogheda are broke and losing investors because of problems with their stadium and Brian Kerr walked away from St Pat's, claiming they had no ambition.

Yet in recent years, despite these problems, clubs from this league have bettered results achieved by SPL sides.

Note also that earlier this month Shamrock Rovers lost 1-0 to Real Madrid, the most expensive football team ever put together, thanks to a late goal.

Perhaps the Irish side consoled themselves with the thought that things would have been much worse had they been Scottish.

anonymous_joe

Dublin_Gunner wrote: »

Ferris - I do believe that we are discussing the quality of the football, not the attendance a the matches.

Interesting to see though.

Usually a direct link as bigger crowds give access to more money.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Ferris_Bueller

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Usually a direct link as bigger crowds give access to more money.

Not entirely true, Ireland is a relatively small country so would be unfair to compare to other countries which are larger.

Anyway as was said this is not what the thread is about.

Would be nice to see Bohs or Rovers or Dundalk get a Scottish team in Europe this season.

Pick any LOI team of your choice and tell me where you think they would finish over a full season in the SPL in relation to Celtic/Rangers?

You were not talking to me, but if I were to throw Shamrock Rovers into the SPL I imagine they would finish around 4th/5th place.

Walsh

For people saying its on Par with League 1, Shels (For those of you who dont know play first division football) Drew with both Leeds and Millwall in their pre season, Leeds squad featured most of their first team, including the 'Amazing' Jermaine Beckford and Fabian Delph. Now i'm sure people on here will say ah it was only a friendly but for players fighting for first team places, the English lower leagues are way over rated.

JohnNightmare

plus on the above comment, i dont know if it was said or not but il say it now/again, rovers only lost 1-0 to real madrid in a freindly and real had there full squad out,
im a loi fan and i would agree with most of the comments, most teams in loi could well compete in the spl and hold there own in the english championship

anonymous_joe

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Not entirely true, Ireland is a relatively small country so would be unfair to compare to other countries which are larger.

Anyway as was said this is not what the thread is about.

Would be nice to see Bohs or Rovers or Dundalk get a Scottish team in Europe this season.

Average attendance in Norway is between 9000 and 10000.

Both countries have similar populations.

The simple fact is, most Irish fans (myself included) don't support a LoI team and an English side, they support one or the other. That's something the FAI should be trying to work on.

The_Kew_Tour

Is it just me or do the keepers in the LOI seem be ordinary at best?

Brian Murphy was decent but nobody else was as close to him.

They always seem be at a division or two behind the team they play with in terms of quailty.

I do however think the league has some very good footballers, just pity clubs went on this craze of paying players money they could not afford.

CSF

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Average attendance in Norway is between 9000 and 10000.

Both countries have similar populations.

The simple fact is, most Irish fans (myself included) don't support a LoI team and an English side, they support one or the other. That's something the FAI should be trying to work on.

Agreed, but its also a part of our personalities Irish people need to work on.

adrian280582 wrote: »

Is it just me or do the keepers in the LOI seem be ordinary at best?

Brian Murphy was decent but nobody else was as close to him.

They always seem be at a division or two behind the team they play with in terms of quailty.

I do however think the league has some very good footballers, just pity clubs went on this craze of paying players money they could not afford.

I'm a Shels fan, we're in the first division and our keeper is our best player.

DB10

Walsh wrote: »

For people saying its on Par with League 1, Shels (For those of you who dont know play first division football) Drew with both Leeds and Millwall in their pre season, Leeds squad featured most of their first team, including the 'Amazing' Jermaine Beckford and Fabian Delph. Now i'm sure people on here will say ah it was only a friendly but for players fighting for first team places, the English lower leagues are way over rated.

Friendlies mean absolutely nothing when comparing teams. And even so, would these friendlies not have been at the peak time of the LOI season while the English teams where in pre season?

Honestly the sarcasm directed at Beckford and Delph is pathetic mate, both of these guys will playing in the PL next season, Delph is playing for Villa this season. Beckford scored the winning goal at OT, he is no laughing stock.

I'm no fan of Beckford, but realistically there is no striker in the LOI near his level. The likes of Twigg etc aren't on his level.

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CSF wrote: »

I'm a Shels fan, we're in the first division and our keeper is our best player.

Dinny Corcoran tbh