Your unpopular footballing opinions Mod warnings - post#128

Will I Amnt

rarnes1 wrote: »

The vast majority of football fans in Ireland haven't a clue.

That is one of the stupidest things I've read on this forum.

Fescue

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

When you watch it do you watch it on a hd 60 inch tv? If you dont you clearly have not invested in the sport you love and therefore are not a real fan

It's a 40 inch LED. So I guess I would call myself a fan but not hardcore.

ROCKMAN

Optimalprimerib wrote: »

When you watch it do you watch it on a hd 60 inch tv? If you dont you clearly have not invested in the sport you love and therefore are not a real fan

Fescue wrote: »

It's a 40 inch LED. So I guess I would call myself a fan but not hardcore.

aH this would explain the level of fans who watch games on-line..

As for myself I quess my 12" portable makes me a proud Barstooler

Richard Hillman

DeanAustin wrote: »

Luis Suarez will be a failure at Barcelona.

I think if he was a relative failure then it may not be his own fault. We know that Messi doesnt take kindly to largely priced strikers joining Barcelona.

764dak

Will I Amnt wrote: »

The role of captain has almost completely diminished to the point where it loses all importance.
In many cases it's just handed to the star player regardless of personality or presence on the pitch. Messi and Ronaldo both captain their countries, the former being one of the least vocal players I've ever seen and the other the most self obsessed player in the history of the game.

Not having an armband won't stop the strong, vocal players from getting their instructions across or encouraging their teammates. Leading the team out and standing beside the referee while he tosses a coin have become the main duties of a captain nowadays.
They could do away with the role completely and it wouldn't affect the game in the slightest.

shamrock55 wrote: »

Just look at argentina against holland, messi as captain,but who was rallying the troops before and during et, mr mascherano (i know he used to be captain)

Sabella, Mascherano and Messi discussed the captaincy. Mascherano and Sabella then discussed it by themselves and they thought it might improve Messi's performance in an Argentinian shirt. Messi has played better for Argentina since he became captain.

losthorizon

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

Suarez is most definitely at Bale's level.

Hes definitely shorter

MarkSRFC21

rarnes1 wrote: »

The vast majority of football fans in Ireland haven't a clue.

True

Will I Amnt

MarkSRFC21 wrote: »

True

How is it true? How could you even know? And why Ireland? Do we know how much of a clue everybody else in all the other countries have?

It really is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard on here. And to make that claim, it gives the impression you are more knowledgable than most other people.

MarkSRFC21

Will I Amnt wrote: »

How is it true? How could you even know? And why Ireland? Do we know how much of a clue everybody else in all the other countries have?

It really is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard on here. And to make that claim, it gives the impression you are more knowledgable than most other people.

The majority of Irish 'fans' don't attend matches. This alone limits their knowledge of football. How could someone who doesn't attend matches have a clue about football

Will I Amnt

MarkSRFC21 wrote: »

The majority of Irish 'fans' don't attend matches. This alone limits their knowledge of football. How could someone who doesn't attend matches have a clue about football

I know people that go to matches week in, week out that don't have a f*cking notion about the game.

AdamD

Premier League football is not the devil

Cienciano

rarnes1 wrote: »

The vast majority of football fans in Ireland haven't a clue.

I'd agree. The worst fans are EPL that laugh at LoI fans for going to watch shíte football with crowds of 500 people. But they're on a par with LoI fans that say they're "real fans" and laugh at "barstoolers".
Throw in the national team fans that are laughed at if they dare to wear a big novelty green hat, or have an inflatable green hammer. Imagine trying to bring colour to a game?

There's different types of fans, simple as that.

Billy86

Will I Amnt wrote: »

How is it true? How could you even know? And why Ireland? Do we know how much of a clue everybody else in all the other countries have?

It really is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard on here. And to make that claim, it gives the impression you are more knowledgable than most other people.

I don't think it is ridiculous argument at all, and to be fair it can easily be extended to UK fans as well, and I think punditry has a lot to blame by Sky over hyping every British player to a painful extent and Sky/RTE both having an awful habit of rubbishing modern tactics and anything it "old fashioned, honest decent players" as essentially high falutin nonsense. Sky has improved a good deal quite recently but RTE has stubbornly held on, and the end result of having people with these insanely dated opinions (and sheer, wilful ignorance of anything but them) is that we have a large chunk of our fanbase still stuck with an early 90s mindset regarding how to approach the game. Liam Brady even touched on that last part in one if the final games, while the other two initially were trying to shoot it down because, well, because I don't know why. Because "sure aren't we wonderful" I guess?

The coverage of the EC was a pain fly obvious example of this, to the point that even in the quarter finals they were referring to James Rodriguez as a completely unknown player who was included as part of Monaco's bid for Falcao. Or having a go at Neymar for not being built like Ronaldo (a player they all wrote off as a joke and clown even after he was setting the world alight, and instead trying to nonsensically claim how much better Rooney was). Or claiming Colombia were a bunch of headless chickens who didn't have a clue how to defend, despite them having the best defensive record in South American qualifying.

When a national audience literally grows up hearing pundits, who they then have placed as somewhat of a figure of authority on the game, making comments like that, or "I would never trust a centreback who tries to play football" (!?) it leads us to where we are today. Behind, and falling further back by the year.

Will I Amnt

Billy86 wrote: »

I don't think it is ridiculous argument at all, and to be fair it can easily be extended to UK fans as well, and I think punditry has a lot to blame by Sky over hyping every British player to a painful extent and Sky/RTE both having an awful habit of rubbishing modern tactics and anything it "old fashioned, honest decent players" as essentially high falutin nonsense. Sky has improved a good deal quite recently but RTE has stubbornly held on, and the end result of having people with these insanely dated opinions (and sheer, wilful ignorance of anything but them) is that we have a large chunk of our fanbase still stuck with an early 90s mindset regarding how to approach the game. Liam Brady even touched on that last part in one if the final games, while the other two initially were trying to shoot it down because, well, because I don't know why. Because "sure aren't we wonderful" I guess?

The coverage of the EC was a pain fly obvious example of this, to the point that even in the quarter finals they were referring to James Rodriguez as a completely unknown player who was included as part of Monaco's bid for Falcao. Or having a go at Neymar for not being built like Ronaldo (a player they all wrote off as a joke and clown even after he was setting the world alight, and instead trying to nonsensically claim how much better Rooney was). Or claiming Colombia were a bunch of headless chickens who didn't have a clue how to defend, despite them having the best defensive record in South American qualifying.

When a national audience literally grows up hearing pundits, who they then have placed as somewhat of a figure of authority on the game, making comments like that, or "I would never trust a centreback who tries to play football" (!?) it leads us to where we are today. Behind, and falling further back by the year.

The whole premise of your argument there is based on the idea that people take notice of the lads on RTE.
They're a parody of themselves at this stage, either laughed at or ignored.

I honestly don't know how you can hold that up as some sort of reason why Irish people wouldn't know much about football.

pickarooney

The most clued in people in world football are the scouts at fc Porto. They should be earning far more than any manager.

Billy86

Will I Amnt wrote: »

The whole premise of your argument there is based on the idea that people take notice of the lads on RTE.
They're a parody of themselves at this stage, either laughed at or ignored.

I honestly don't know how you can hold that up as some sort of reason why Irish people wouldn't know much about football.

I actually think you would be quite surprised at the number of people that take in what they say, perhaps not as gospel but certainly over time. If you show enough manipulated edits of highlights from a game you can make anyone look poor, which for example is exactly what they were up to with Ronaldo up until about 2010 and Rio Ferdinand through most of his career. As a result, if you keep repeating something enough times, a surprising amount of the public will begin to believe it (particularly as we are good at remembering the just of what we have heard, but not the source or the specific details). Younger audiences also are more easily persuaded, and hearing things like "modern tactics are nonsense" and whatnot is something that gets stuck in their heads as they continue to grow up.

A comparison would be FOX News in the US. Obviously they do political punditry instead of sports, but that is another channel seen by most as a parody of itself at this stage. Yet they continue to influence the discourse of their subject matter by repeating their idiotic nonsense over... and over... and over, until their talking points have been said so many times that the general public get them impression that they are wider held opinions the they really are, and in turn this "truthiness" becomes seen to be more valid than it actually is. That there are so few actual challenges to the nonsense spewed on RTE (and instead just petty, personal arguments that generates the "drama" some people love about the coverage) only strengthens this further, and they've been at this for thirty years now!

The end result is that you wind up with a viewing audience who values a player running themselves into the ground over one who never has to because he can dictate the game in other ways, that values "crunching, last ditch tackles" and "fearless headers" over closing down space, keeping on your feet and getting rid of danger long before it even gets near needing to do anything "last ditch", that has a lesser opinion of players outside of England and the CL by default, that sees a manager who shouts and motivated his players to "give 110%" over one who keeps a calm control and emphasises tactics and technique, and who prefer pace and power to intelligence and touch. The audience all too often in football dictates the product, and as a result you see "kick and run" football still seen as the best way to go all too often, which is exactly what Liam Brady was referring to. Compare that with Spain, Germany and Holland where not only is there far more emphasis put on the basics (there is plenty of time to bulk up from 18-23) but also far less work and even shorter and less strenuous training regimes at your levels.

Yes a lot do treat them as parodies of themselves, but not everybody does. Even on boards you often see during matches, comments like "good old RTE telling it like it is, not afraid to give criticism where it's due" even though it is frequently part of an agenda in favour of or against whichever players they do and do not like (same for Sky, though far moreso in the Andy Gray era), and is often complete nonsense. Added to that, it was only in considerably more recent times that they many saw them as a parody at all, and like I said it is far from as universal as you might think, hence why they stoll write supposedly "serious" footballing articles for newspapers, etc.

There are obviously plenty of other factors, but that is just one of them. I also don't necessarily think we have a dumb fanbase on the whole, but certainly enough to make a difference. The influence and style of play on GAA sports plays a part too culturally, but what I really find interesting there is that our rugby team have had a far heavier emphasis on technique and intelligence for a long while now, and have flourished because of it. They also have been far from any about getting as much help from abroad as possible in terms of coaching regimes, etc which may well play a part.

marienbad

Billy86 wrote: »

I actually think you would be quite surprised at the number of people that take in what they say, perhaps not as gospel but certainly over time. If you show enough manipulated edits of highlights from a game you can make anyone look poor, which for example is exactly what they were up to with Ronaldo up until about 2010 and Rio Ferdinand through most of his career. As a result, if you keep repeating something enough times, a surprising amount of the public will begin to believe it (particularly as we are good at remembering the just of what we have heard, but not the source or the specific details). Younger audiences also are more easily persuaded, and hearing things like "modern tactics are nonsense" and whatnot is something that gets stuck in their heads as they continue to grow up.

A comparison would be FOX News in the US. Obviously they do political punditry instead of sports, but that is another channel seen by most as a parody of itself at this stage. Yet they continue to influence the discourse of their subject matter by repeating their idiotic nonsense over... and over... and over, until their talking points have been said so many times that the general public get them impression that they are wider held opinions the they really are, and in turn this "truthiness" becomes seen to be more valid than it actually is. That there are so few actual challenges to the nonsense spewed on RTE (and instead just petty, personal arguments that generates the "drama" some people love about the coverage) only strengthens this further, and they've been at this for thirty years now!

The end result is that you wind up with a viewing audience who values a player running themselves into the ground over one who never has to because he can dictate the game in other ways, that values "crunching, last ditch tackles" and "fearless headers" over closing down space, keeping on your feet and getting rid of danger long before it even gets near needing to do anything "last ditch", that has a lesser opinion of players outside of England and the CL by default, that sees a manager who shouts and motivated his players to "give 110%" over one who keeps a calm control and emphasises tactics and technique, and who prefer pace and power to intelligence and touch. The audience all too often in football dictates the product, and as a result you see "kick and run" football still seen as the best way to go all too often, which is exactly what Liam Brady was referring to. Compare that with Spain, Germany and Holland where not only is there far more emphasis put on the basics (there is plenty of time to bulk up from 18-23) but also far less work and even shorter and less strenuous training regimes at your levels.

Yes a lot do treat them as parodies of themselves, but not everybody does. Even on boards you often see during matches, comments like "good old RTE telling it like it is, not afraid to give criticism where it's due" even though it is frequently part of an agenda in favour of or against whichever players they do and do not like (same for Sky, though far moreso in the Andy Gray era), and is often complete nonsense. Added to that, it was only in considerably more recent times that they many saw them as a parody at all, and like I said it is far from as universal as you might think, hence why they stoll write supposedly "serious" footballing articles for newspapers, etc.

There are obviously plenty of other factors, but that is just one of them. I also don't necessarily think we have a dumb fanbase on the whole, but certainly enough to make a difference. The influence and style of play on GAA sports plays a part too culturally, but what I really find interesting there is that our rugby team have had a far heavier emphasis on technique and intelligence for a long while now, and have flourished because of it. They also have been far from any about getting as much help from abroad as possible in terms of coaching regimes, etc which may well play a part.

A lot of this is just not correct, RTE for years have lauded skill above the 'blood and guts'' school of analysis. And they have never bought into the Premier league hype above other European Leagues . Even Dunphy was a champion of Italian football decades ago and saw the revolution taking place in Spain sooner than most.

Compared to what is on offer on BBC/ITV/SKY they come across as the best of the lot. Even Souness said as much that the freedom he was given to speak his mind on RTE was unheard of and not acceptable on SKY .

The only ones better inho are Keane and Neville and Danny Murphy might have something about him. Yeah they can be caricatures of themselves at times but compared to 'the lad done good' on offer elsewhere I will stick with them.

Billy86

marienbad wrote: »

A lot of this is just not correct, RTE for years have lauded skill above the 'blood and guts'' school of analysis. And they have never bought into the Premier league hype above other European Leagues . Even Dunphy was a champion of Italian football decades ago and saw the revolution taking place in Spain sooner than most.

Compared to what is on offer on BBC/ITV/SKY they come across as the best of the lot. Even Souness said as much that the freedom he was given to speak his mind on RTE was unheard of and not acceptable on SKY .

The only ones better inho are Keane and Neville and Danny Murphy might have something about him. Yeah they can be caricatures of themselves at times but compared to 'the lad done good' on offer elsewhere I will stick with them.

They love to think of themselves as purists and so you do see them praising "footballing footballers" at times... but only very occasionally and for the guys at the absolute pinnacle, like Scholes or Xavi (uses they happen to be Irish because sure aren't we great?). For the rest of it they spend their time endlessly lauding players like Vidic or Terry (even when he is not at the tournament) over the likes of Carvalho or Ferdinand (who were both the superior defenders in the great partnerships) and cite that last ditch tackle nonsense and winning g headers as to why. There is a reason you would rarely see Ferdinand or Carvalho need to make these tackles. And of course the latter two having the gall to go and try to play football in possession, can't be have great now can we? Best just to goof ot out of play or right back to the opposition.

Before Spain went on their spell of dominance I remember Dunphy referring to the likes of David Silva as useless donkeys, and claiming you would see better defending in the Leinster Senior League than you would by that team. But hey what do you expect from a guy seen as RTEs "Spanish football expert" who cannot renounce Valladolid, and who praised the Spanish side for not so going their national anthem out of respect of their Catalonia teammates. If you can find me the words to their anthem, I salute you.

Dunphy once even referred to Thomas Muller as a player “who looks like he won a competition in Tesco to play in the Champions League”, as he wrote them off after the last Euro's for being "just not good enough". As for claims he foresaw Spains rise to dominance as mentioned he knew nothing of much of their players like Mats/Silva and claimed they "could not defend as well as any team in the Leinster Senior League" (probably a lack of that while getting stuck in lark, hence his pining for Terry over the last few weeks).

The reason they get away with being. Ore opinionated is because nobody (outside of Ireland) is watching, whereas Dani Alves responded to a comment Shearer made during the World Cup in a press conference. I have nothing against being outspoken, it is even a good thing, but the problem with it on RTE is that they are shouting loudly about unfounded, unresearched, uninformed and frankly incorrect nonsense. The likes of Didi, Sadlier, Friedel and yes even Cunningham showed them up so badly over this World Cup that it was embarrassing for them.

But at the end of the day, you get people taking their dared idiocy seriously, and perhaps most damaging you get kids growing up having their early views of football being formed by this. And the end result is us going as far back as we have in the last 15-20 years and only going further back, stuck in a vacuum of all to many 1990s approaches.

Will I Amnt

Billy86 wrote: »

They love to think of themselves as purists and so you do see them praising "footballing footballers" at times... but only very occasionally and for the guys at the absolute pinnacle, like Scholes or Xavi (uses they happen to be Irish because sure aren't we great?). For the rest of it they spend their time endlessly lauding players like Vidic or Terry (even when he is not at the tournament) over the likes of Carvalho or Ferdinand (who were both the superior defenders in the great partnerships) and cite that last ditch tackle nonsense and winning g headers as to why. There is a reason you would rarely see Ferdinand or Carvalho need to make these tackles. And of course the latter two having the gall to go and try to play football in possession, can't be have great now can we? Best just to goof ot out of play or right back to the opposition.

Before Spain went on their spell of dominance I remember Dunphy referring to the likes of David Silva as useless donkeys, and claiming you would see better defending in the Leinster Senior League than you would by that team. But hey what do you expect from a guy seen as RTEs "Spanish football expert" who cannot renounce Valladolid, and who praised the Spanish side for not so going their national anthem out of respect of their Catalonia teammates. If you can find me the words to their anthem, I salute you.

Dunphy once even referred to Thomas Muller as a player “who looks like he won a competition in Tesco to play in the Champions League”, as he wrote them off after the last Euro's for being "just not good enough". As for claims he foresaw Spains rise to dominance as mentioned he knew nothing of much of their players like Mats/Silva and claimed they "could not defend as well as any team in the Leinster Senior League" (probably a lack of that while getting stuck in lark, hence his pining for Terry over the last few weeks).

The reason they get away with being. Ore opinionated is because nobody (outside of Ireland) is watching, whereas Dani Alves responded to a comment Shearer made during the World Cup in a press conference. I have nothing against being outspoken, it is even a good thing, but the problem with it on RTE is that they are shouting loudly about unfounded, unresearched, uninformed and frankly incorrect nonsense. The likes of Didi, Sadlier, Friedel and yes even Cunningham showed them up so badly over this World Cup that it was embarrassing for them.

But at the end of the day, you get people taking their dared idiocy seriously, and perhaps most damaging you get kids growing up having their early views of football being formed by this. And the end result is us going as far back as we have in the last 15-20 years and only going further back, stuck in a vacuum of all to many 1990s approaches.

So 3 lads on RTE are holding back the country progressing in the game right down to grass roots level? And they're also distorting the views of the whole nation on all things football?

Billy86

Will I Amnt wrote: »

So 3 lads on RTE are holding back the country progressing in the game right down to grass roots level? And they're also distorting the views of the whole nation on all things football?

You might want to read my post again.

Let me summarise: these guys have been the foremost voices on football in Ireland for decades. People have grown up watching them since they were in nappies. They have stubbornly refused to move forward and change with the game, and have a nasty habit of shouting down any guests panelists who do. They have written and continue to write supposedly "serious" articles in prominent newspapers, where they further espouse these views. This influences public opinion, hearing this same stuff over and over throughout all or most of their lives, and while a lot of people laugh at them, there are also a good number who take their dated views quite seriously.

How else can you explain to me people that thought Ronaldo a terrible footballer up until just the last few years, as one example?

Despite all of this negative criticism they have a tendency to shy away from criticising most of our players or our development system, instead taking the low hanging fruit and pointing the finger at the manager over and over. Just note how quickly they got on the defensive when Brady brought up the draconian training and development approaches seen at grass roots levels in this country.

And the reason we have found ourselves with such an ass backwards approach to the game is because any attempt to move it forward is typically shouted down as high falutin nonsense because to borrow a Johnny Giles soundbite "it doesn't matter how you play, just so long as you play well. All this 343, 4231 stuff, it's all nonsense Bill. Just put your best players on the field and tell them to get the job done".

I did repeatedly mention that they are not the sole problem, but that they have certainly played a role as the collective voice of Irish football for so long.... but you seem to have ignored that. Meanwhile however, rugby has in contrast embraced and sought after the input of as many foreign coaches and regimes as they felt they could benefit from, and have now wound up with a team nfnit) infinitely married from where it was 15 years ago, both physically and technically able to compete with about anyone out there.

elefant

Billy86 wrote: »

That, and a quick reinjection of EPO should do the trick. :pac:

Seriously though, it is kind of telling and hilarious how they almost immediately "ran out of as" the moment the Lance Armstrong/cycling/dodgy Spanish doctors and physicians stuff broke around 18 months ago, when they reportedly had to distance themselves from a number of these types of characters.

They did come within 40 minutes of winning the Spanish League, narrowly lost in the CL quarter final and made the semi finals of the Copa Del Rey though, so I don't know if this conspiracy theory stands up.

Andersonisgod

I will add that as someone involved in grass roots football the amount of tines you hear the A teams often ridiculous ramblings regurgitated by parents and even coaches is shocking.

Will I Amnt

Billy86 wrote: »

You might want to read my post again.

Let me summarise: these guys have been the foremost voices on football in Ireland for decades. People have grown up watching them since they were in nappies. They have stubbornly refused to move forward and change with the game, and have a nasty habit of shouting down any guests panelists who do. They have written and continue to write supposedly "serious" articles in prominent newspapers, where they further espouse these views. This influences public opinion, hearing this same stuff over and over throughout all or most of their lives, and while a lot of people laugh at them, there are also a good number who take their dated views quite seriously.

How else can you explain to me people that thought Ronaldo a terrible footballer up until just the last few years, as one example?

Despite all of this negative criticism they have a tendency to shy away from criticising most of our players or our development system, instead taking the low hanging fruit and pointing the finger at the manager over and over. Just note how quickly they got on the defensive when Brady brought up the draconian training and development approaches seen at grass roots levels in this country.

And the reason we have found ourselves with such an ass backwards approach to the game is because any attempt to move it forward is typically shouted down as high falutin nonsense because to borrow a Johnny Giles soundbite "it doesn't matter how you play, just so long as you play well. All this 343, 4231 stuff, it's all nonsense Bill. Just put your best players on the field and tell them to get the job done".

I did repeatedly mention that they are not the sole problem, but that they have certainly played a role as the collective voice of Irish football for so long.... but you seem to have ignored that. Meanwhile however, rugby has in contrast embraced and sought after the input of as many foreign coaches and regimes as they felt they could benefit from, and have now wound up with a team nfnit) infinitely married from where it was 15 years ago, both physically and technically able to compete with about anyone out there.

Stupidity???

I think you are vastly overestimating the number of people that take any notice of them, not much point in trying to argue it any further as it's impossible to prove.
What I would say is, you will find very few people in this forum, people with a fair interest in football, that would say they think they are in any way informative, it's quite the opposite really.

It's the Ireland thing that annoyed me about the comment. There is just no way you can measure and compare the knowledge of fans by country. Who is to say the standard of punditry is brilliant everywhere else? It mightn't be as old fashioned but can still be similarly full of sh*te. I'd like to think that most people wouldn't hold their views based on what some ex-players sitting in a studio discuss among themselves, regardless of location.

Billy86

elefant wrote: »

They did come within 40 minutes of winning the Spanish League, narrowly lost in the CL quarter final and made the semi finals of the Copa Del Rey though, so I don't know if this conspiracy theory stands up.

This has been covered in more depth in the Messi vs Ronaldo threads. Not saying it's a definite it, but I would not be shocked it it came out down the line, much like it took fourth years to come out that the German sides in the 1970s were involved in doping.

However with the bankroll they have of course Barca should be at least competing, nobody would argue that their players on just technique alone are top quality. They finished with 87 points, compared to 100 each of the seasons before that and 96 and 99 on each of the two years prior. In their CL eliminarion they looked physically over matched, as was the case the year prior against Bayern (about 2 months or so after the Armstrong story was everywhere) who completely overran them in a way that thicker the world and had peoplemaskingifnBarca had "lost their mojo overnight."

Billy86

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Stupidity???

I think you are vastly overestimating the number of people that take any notice of them, not much point in trying to argue it any further as it's impossible to prove.
What I would say is, you will find very few people in this forum, people with a fair interest in football, that would say they think they are in any way informative, it's quite the opposite really.

It's the Ireland thing that annoyed me about the comment. There is just no way you can measure and compare the knowledge of fans by country. Who is to say the standard of punditry is brilliant everywhere else? It mightn't be as old fashioned but can still be similarly full of sh*te. I'd like to think that most people wouldn't hold their views based on what some ex-players sitting in a studio discuss among themselves, regardless of location.

Well yeah, mostly idiots. But idiots stoll get to shout and make noise that can force the way things go. Just look at the Tea Party crowd in the US to go back to the FOX News comparison, or some of the more infamously fickle fanbases in football that demand change after 3 or 4 poor performances.

I just feel what they promote is flat out backwards, is all. That said, the likes of (Sadlier in particular, Brad/Didi (if either are at all possible to keep around) and even Kenny Cunningham and his technicolour eyebrows would represent a massive step in the right direction.

I just think the Old Boys Club are advertise exactly why football pundits should be rotated a little more than once a quarter century.

Laois_Man

I don't know whether this is an "Unpopular" opinion as such, but I'm surprised I haven't seen any official, or any fan, or any journalist say it;

All the talk has been about the 2022 tournament, but the 2018 World Cup may have to be taken away from Russia. I'm guessing it would probably end up being played in the USA if that happened. Certainly if the conflict with Ukraine escalates or even spreads to the likes of Moldova, a decision will have to be taken by FIFA relatively soon, or you could have boycotts (like in the 1980 Olympics - but much more widespread).

Depending what comes out of that Malaysian plane incident today, things could get very out of hand, very quickly there.

(Not that the 2018 World Cup is the most important thing in any of this)

Smithwicks Man

Laois_Man wrote: »

I don't know whether this is an "Unpopular" opinion as such, but I'm surprised I haven't seen any official, or any fan, or any journalist say it;

All the talk has been about the 2022 tournament, but the 2018 World Cup may have to be taken away from Russia. I'm guessing it would probably end up being played in the USA if that happened. Certainly if the conflict with Ukraine escalates or even spreads to the likes of Moldova, a decision will have to be taken by FIFA relatively soon, or you could have boycotts (like in the 1980 Olympics - but much more widespread).

Depending what comes out of that Malaysian plane incident today, things could get very out of hand, very quickly there.

(Not that the 2018 World Cup is the most important thing in any of this)

In agreement here. As things stand, Russia is no place for a World Cup. Same goes for Qatar but for different reasons.

Iused2likebusts

The world cup a 1 month at most section of the football season has way too much effect on footballing opinion.
Liverpool signing Diouf and Diao after the 02 world cup.
Ron Vlaar being mentioned in various threads as a potential signing.
Messi and ronaldo getting OTT criticism.
Gerrard being finished at the top level after 2 bad games for england.
Mascherano's stock rising considerably mainly due to a last ditch tackle on robben. He had a very good tournament but still gave the ball away too regularly which is why barca rarely play him midfield.

Oranage2

Ireland couldn't organise a Garth Brook concert, there's no way it could host a major soccer tournament.

MaroonAndGreen

Iused2likebusts wrote: »

The world cup a 1 month at most section of the football season has way too much effect on footballing opinion.
Liverpool signing Diouf and Diao after the 02 world cup.
Ron Vlaar being mentioned in various threads as a potential signing.
Messi and ronaldo getting OTT criticism.
Gerrard being finished at the top level after 2 bad games for england.
Mascherano's stock rising considerably mainly due to a last ditch tackle on robben. He had a very good tournament but still gave the ball away too regularly which is why barca rarely play him midfield.

Im not so sure, its the biggest stage and the biggest pressure players will ever play under. Seeing who performs best under that pressure is very interesting in my opinion. I think thats why performances on the World Cup stage carry more weight than any other competition.

Will I Amnt

MaroonAndGreen wrote: »

Im not so sure, its the biggest stage and the biggest pressure players will ever play under. Seeing who performs best under that pressure is very interesting in my opinion. I think thats why performances on the World Cup stage carry more weight than any other competition.

It's also at the end of a long and tiring season, where the best players in the best teams will have played by far the most games. The Dioufs and Klebersons get their big move based on maybe 5 or 6 games.

Tipsy McSwagger

Laois_Man wrote: »

I don't know whether this is an "Unpopular" opinion as such, but I'm surprised I haven't seen any official, or any fan, or any journalist say it;

All the talk has been about the 2022 tournament, but the 2018 World Cup may have to be taken away from Russia. I'm guessing it would probably end up being played in the USA if that happened. Certainly if the conflict with Ukraine escalates or even spreads to the likes of Moldova, a decision will have to be taken by FIFA relatively soon, or you could have boycotts (like in the 1980 Olympics - but much more widespread).

Depending what comes out of that Malaysian plane incident today, things could get very out of hand, very quickly there.

(Not that the 2018 World Cup is the most important thing in any of this)

They should never have gotten it because of their anti-gay laws.

Billy86

Oranage2 wrote: »

Ireland couldn't organise a Garth Brook concert, there's no way it could host a major soccer tournament.

It's a shame, because if we went split with the North, Wales and Scotland we could fill the stadium quota for a Euro's I reckon. It would be four different countries but they are very easy to get around, plus Ireland and Scotland D are on a lot of people "places to visit" list and as much as we do love a moan, all four countries are very hospitable and the Troubles are by now far, far enough in the past to not be of any worry (not saying all is peachy perfect up there, just it wouldn't be a political worry).

As for stadiums there is the Aviva, Windsor and Thomond Park, plus Croker/McHale/Semple/Gaelic Grounds) though the GAA would likely look for a big kickback it is much more feasible since they allowed Croker be played in a few years back)... I just don't see the rugby crowd minding 1 or 2 games in Thomond in their off season. Wales has the Millennium stadium, Cardiff City Stadium and Liberty stadium in Swansea (the smallest at 20k). Scotland has Celtic and Hampton Parks and I bro, plus possibly Pittodrie or Easter Road if they want to have some outside Glasgow.

The bigger worry though would be a minimum capacity rule for stadia, anyone know if there is one? Because a few of those are in the 20-25,000 region.

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As for the 2018/22 bids, living there at the time I thought the country that got done over most was Australia. Never had one before, and FIFA loves to harp on about spreading the game. Way up a lot of peoples lists of places to visit but without a good excuse (because it's not easy to get to). Tonnes and tonnes of places to go and things to see/do. A huge country to spread all the fans out over, and plenty of stadiums already there and ready to go (with just a few small adjustments for the Aussie rules oval shaped pitches)... Melbourne Cricket Ground (100k capacity for the final! And the oldest active sports stadium in the world), Sydney's Stadium Australia (83k capacity), Docklands Stadium Melbourne (56k), Adelaide Oval (53k), Lang Park Brisbane (52k), Football Park (51k), Sydney Cricket Ground (48k), Sydney Football Stadium (45k), Subiaco Oval Perth (43k), the Gambia Queensland (42k) and another 10 stadiums with over 25k capacity spread through the country.

The weather would not be a problem at that time of year apart from possibly one or two of the North most stadiums which could be planned around to have to hot weather teams playing each other there. In terms of non footballing tourism they would stand to make more than perhaps any other country in the world, and while it is a country who isn't football crazy they do have large Greek, Italian and Lebanese immigrant communities that have a heavy interest. They have also proven they can do a great job with high demand things like this, withe the 2000 Olympics and... anyone who has ever been in Sydney in New Years eve will know what I mean.

The one major thing they had going against them was the lack of a high speed transport system since it is a long, long distance from one city to the next. Having said that they have a national airline so I am sure something could have been worked out there (and Aussie airport staff are much friendlier than that show makes out ), their domestic flights are also pretty cheap if you are willing to use their Ryanair equivalent, and accommodation would not be an issue. For younger people a group could hire a camper van, but a tent or two, and set up camp at night by a beach (the whole bloody eastern coastline is basically a beach!) in the shade to dip off in and get refreshed for next morning.

For me it was just a win/win/win situation all round, and a big shame they didn't get it.

Richard Hillman

I am not one of these Sky are the devil types but BT's coverage is far superior to Sky's. OK Michael Owen is pants but the overal package is better.