LOI Talk, Rumours, Gossip, Transfers etc 2018

topmanamillion

pablomakaveli wrote: »

But we're always told people will go to matches if theres better facilities.:rolleyes:

Only problem is they'll have to find another excuse not to go.

Theres no valid argument against improving infrastructure.

joeysoap

Says Dundalk are possible users, most Dundalk fans are hoping this windfall is put to use making Oriel/Greenfield site suitable for bigger matches, and who is to say that Dundalk will need a stadium of that calibre in 2020?

If Dundalk fans are still travelling to Dublin 2020 something seriously wrong.


Good luck though, looks great.

topmanamillion

joeysoap wrote: »

Says Dundalk are possible users, most Dundalk fans are hoping this windfall is put to use making Oriel/Greenfield site suitable for bigger matches, and who is to say that Dundalk will need a stadium of that calibre in 2020?

If Dundalk fans are still travelling to Dublin 2020 something seriously wrong.


Good luck though, looks great.

I would say the opposite. If they need a UEFA category 4 stadium in 2020 it would mean they are competing in the later qualifying/group stages of UEFA competition.

I made this point on here before but Dundalk need a stadium that meets their needs.
That's a 4-5000 seater with good playing and spectator facilities.
A UEFA category 4 stadium is an 8500 seater along with various other high end requirements.
Dundalk have no need for an 8500 seater.
If in 5 years Dundalk are playing out of a 5000 all seater state of the art stadium, Dundalk fans won't mind going an hour down the road to Dallymount once or twice every couple of years.
Of course if things change and Dundalk find they make the breakthrough and group stage football is an annual thing that may change, but they're a long way from that.

Hammer Archer

Dylan Watts finally looks to be off to Leicester. Hasn't played for us in around 2 months as they were sorting the move out.

Saint_Mel

pablomakaveli wrote:

But we're always told people will go to matches if theres better facilities.

We had that when we moved from Mels to Lissywollen ... And it worked ... But only for the season that we were winning games ... Which was pretty much the same as when we were in Mels :-)

pablomakaveli

topmanamillion wrote: »

Theres no valid argument against improving infrastructure.

I never said there wasnt. Infrastructure should be improved regardless.

BOHtox

Surely Shels moving to Phibsboro will be the final nail in their coffin? I can see why a lot of their fans are against the move.

A_Sober_Paddy

BOHtox wrote: »

Surely Shels moving to Phibsboro will be the final nail in their coffin? I can see why a lot of their fans are against the move.

Will they just become an intermediate club?

Gavin "shels"

GLaDOS wrote: »

Firstly it's claimed Shels will be sharing with us, Shels have shut down that idea as far as I know?

For most, we know it's going to happen it's just a matter of when.

Bateman wrote: »

The Shels in Dalymount stuff is further along the road than a lot of Shels fans seem to think, from what I can see...

Nope, all Shels fans know it's very far along.

BOHtox wrote: »

Surely Shels moving to Phibsboro will be the final nail in their coffin? I can see why a lot of their fans are against the move.

100% in my opinion, we'll be gone by 2020 I'd imagine in the current state of things. Attendances are down, interest is down, the current Board aren't helping, etc.... moving into Bohs stronghold and their stadium will just be the life support turned off unfortunately.

topmanamillion

Gavin "shels" wrote: »

100% in my opinion, we'll be gone by 2020 I'd imagine in the current state of things. Attendances are down, interest is down, the current Board aren't helping, etc.... moving into Bohs stronghold and their stadium will just be the life support turned off unfortunately.

Luckily Shels will also be on the Maters doorstep.

howiya

Speaking of Shels I see the 1895 Trust are having a meeting about their business plan.... How far away is Shels from fan ownership and would it improve anything?

GLaDOS

Bohs to spend 2 - 3 seasons in Tolka while Dalymount is done up. As expected really.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

CSF

Patww79 wrote: »

So long Shels, it's been ups and downs.

Son the question is, in 3-5 years am I supposed to find a new club or just give up on the LofI completely?

I don't believe the club will cease to exist. It's just going to be quite a grim existence. Worst comes to worst you're gonna see a Cork done where the fans start a new club to carry on the legacy of Shelbourne FC that was founded in 1895. Not ideal but I'm fairly confident you'll always have a Shelbourne club to support.

But as I said I don't think that will happen. Hopefully the 1895 Trust will be able to takeover and that might see things looking a little brighter.

topmanamillion

Patww79 wrote: »

So long Shels, it's been ups and downs.

Son the question is, in 3-5 years am I supposed to find a new club or just give up on the LofI completely?

While I don't think this is a good move for Shels it's about as good as they could have hoped for considering the level of debt they ran up.
I don't see why they'll fall apart inside the next 3-5 years, with their debt cleared they will probably roll along as a mid table FD club. Monaghan lasted over 30 years as a mostly FD club. A miserable existence but an existence.
In 5-10 years time Shels could always sort out a move to Irishtown/Morton or somewhere else.

No one will be forcing Shels to stay in Dalymount.

joeysoap

I remember Drumcondra (tolka) Home Farm (tolka and Whitehall) Dublin City (Tolka was one ground) and Sporting Fingal. All north Dublin clubs and I for one would not like to see Shelbourne join that list ( I know home farm are alive and well). Surely a city the size of Dublin can support 4 league teams?

Captain Havoc

joeysoap wrote: »

I remember Drumcondra (tolka) Home Farm (tolka and Whitehall) Dublin City (Tolka was one ground) and Sporting Fingal. All north Dublin clubs and I for one would not like to see Shelbourne join that list ( I know home farm are alive and well). Surely a city the size of Dublin can support 4 league teams?

I wouldn't really count Dublin city or Sporting Fingal as they were brand new clubs.

dan1895

Tolka is just about suitable for 1st division football at the moment but Bohs playing the likes of Rovers, Cork or Dundalk there in an important end of season game is a no no in its current state.
The only logical action is to demote Bohs.

Captain Havoc

http://www.98fm.com/Dublin-City-Council:-Deal-Reached-With-Shelbourne-To-Move-To-Dalymount

topmanamillion

dan1895 wrote: »

Tolka is just about suitable for 1st division football at the moment but Bohs playing the likes of Rovers, Cork or Dundalk there in an important end of season game is a no no in its current state.
The only logical action is to demote Bohs.

Have you seen some of the grounds that clubs have been let play PD football out of?
Tolka is no worse than United Park, Ballybofey, Jackman Park etc.
A few safety improvements and it'll be grand.

joeysoap

Limerick using Markets Field again, Finn Harps supposed to building a new stadium, United Park is poor and I don't think much can be done with it Haven't been to Tolka for about 10 years and it was ok then, sad to hear it's not what it was. My first visit there was a cup semi- final in the 60's. Great atmosphere.

Wilberto

joeysoap wrote: »

Limerick using Markets Field again, Finn Harps supposed to building a new stadium, United Park is poor and I don't think much can be done with it Haven't been to Tolka for about 10 years and it was ok then, sad to hear it's not what it was. My first visit there was a cup semi- final in the 60's. Great atmosphere.

To be fair, I'd say a lot of grounds had great atmosphere in the 60s/70s/80s (i.e. pre the TV money era across the water)


Not that I was have been around to witness it!

topmanamillion

joeysoap wrote: »

Limerick using Markets Field again, Finn Harps supposed to building a new stadium, United Park is poor and I don't think much can be done with it Haven't been to Tolka for about 10 years and it was ok then, sad to hear it's not what it was. My first visit there was a cup semi- final in the 60's. Great atmosphere.

I was giving examples of grounds that have been used in the PD recently.
Harps' new stadium is a running joke. Don't expect it to be built inside 5 years! Ground was broken about 10 years back and it's stop start since with more stop than start.

topmanamillion

joeysoap wrote: »

Limerick using Markets Field again, Finn Harps supposed to building a new stadium, United Park is poor and I don't think much can be done with it Haven't been to Tolka for about 10 years and it was ok then, sad to hear it's not what it was. My first visit there was a cup semi- final in the 60's. Great atmosphere.

I was giving examples of grounds that have been used in the PD recently.
Harps' new stadium is a running joke. Don't expect it to be built inside 5 years! Ground was broken about 10 years back and it's stop start since with more stop than start.

Zebra3

Wilberto wrote: »

To be fair, I'd say a lot of grounds had great atmosphere in the 60s/70s/80s (i.e. pre the TV money era across the water)


Not that I was have been around to witness it!

Well, you'd be wrong. Grounds started emptying out in the 60s.

I'm surprised the league lasted through the 80s. Bar Derry City when they came in, nobody could attract a regular crowd in the 80s. Economic situation in the country certainly didn't help.....

Wilberto

Zebra3 wrote: »

Well, you'd be wrong. Grounds started emptying out in the 60s.

I'm surprised the league lasted through the 80s. Bar Derry City when they came in, nobody could attract a regular crowd in the 80s. Economic situation in the country certainly didn't help.....

Fair enough. Like I said, I wasn't around to witness it so I'm going to have to just take your word for it on that one!

Gavin "shels"

howiya wrote: »

Speaking of Shels I see the 1895 Trust are having a meeting about their business plan.... How far away is Shels from fan ownership and would it improve anything?

At least a few years, with all the malarkey going on in the background we've been told it's near impossible for any fans involvement at that level until the whole mess is cleared up.

As someone involved in the 1895 Trust at the startup committee 4 years ago and now again in the past month or two (with minor involvement throughout) my main reason is the improving of Shelbourne FC and everything about it - it's what I'd imagine our whole committee would tell aswell I'd imagine. It hasn't been easy for the Trust nor will it be easy, but hopefully it will be worthwhile.

kksaints

Decent match for a 0-0. O'Malley made some super saves and was a deserved MOM. How Kelly missed from 4 yards out is a mystery.

justshane

Some miss, great ball by Timlin though. Vital result for Dundalk, Bohs have been a bit of a bogey side in the last few seasons.

joeysoap

Another away game out of the way. I know Dundalk play better away and better on grass.

Wilberto

joeysoap wrote: »

Another away game out of the way. I know Dundalk play better away and better on grass.

Brian f***ing Gartland again! How many important goals has he scored for you over the last few seasons?!


I'd say if you put money on him before every game to score in that game for the entirety of the season, you'd surely make a profit come the end of the season! Super stuff from him in fairness.

GLaDOS

Dundalk blessed to come away with 3 points tonight, stonewall penalty denied to Bohs at 2-1.

Gavin "shels"

Good win for us, too little too late unfortunately.

dfx-

surprisingly 0-0 and a good game for 0-0, the second O'Malley save from Cregg (I think) was top drawer.

Also a surprise to see no red card or penalty given in a Rovers game reffed by Doyle, it feels like a while since that happened. I thought he was itching to give a pen to McGrath at the end.

doncarlos

GLaDOS wrote: »

Dundalk blessed to come away with 3 points tonight, stonewall penalty denied to Bohs at 2-1.

Blessed me hole. We hit the post in the first half and missed an absolute sitter. Add that to some fantastic goalkeeping from Supple and should have been four up at half time. Bohs on top for 20 minutes of the game Dundalk on top for 70. Well deserved victory for Dundalk. Spirited fightback from Bohs all the same.

Dundalk should have had a penalty in second half also. Foul on Gannon

joeysoap

Sligo have two players suspended for first competitive match from Monday 29th. Both were serving that suspension tonight but match was abandoned. Is their suspension now served or do they miss Tuesday's match instead?

Sligo weren't responsible for the abandonment so I think they have served their suspension.

Paz-CCFC

joeysoap wrote: »

Sligo have two players suspended for first competitive match from Monday 29th. Both were serving that suspension tonight but match was abandoned. Is their suspension now served or do they miss Tuesday's match instead?

Sligo weren't responsible for the abandonment so I think they have served their suspension.

I think you're right. Rule 116.4 of the FAI Rule Book (2014 edition, so possibly out of date):

If a match is abandoned or forfeited, suspension is only considered to have been served if the team to which the suspended player belongs is not responsible for the facts that led to the abandonment or forfeiture of the match.

Now, they don't say anything about whether the match being refixed differs from if the League decide to deem the result at the time of cancellation as final. But in Rule 114.6, regarding yellows picked up in an abandoned match, it discusses both situations - where there is a replay and where there isn't - and gives two different outcomes. So, my interpretation of Rule 116.4 would be that if two different situations were to occur depending on replay/no replay, it would have expressly stated it like it did in the other one. Therefore, as Sligo's match was abandoned outside of their control, the suspensions have been served.

Obviously, that's just my own interpretation (and I've had a long, tiring day and could've missed something!), so I might be wrong. And bear in mind that the rules seemed to be broken when Bohs v Wexford got moved to make way for Bohs v Dundalk, so even if the above interpretation is correct, there's nothing to say that these ones wouldn't be broken either.

fullstop

joeysoap wrote: »

Limerick using Markets Field again, Finn Harps supposed to building a new stadium, United Park is poor and I don't think much can be done with it Haven't been to Tolka for about 10 years and it was ok then, sad to hear it's not what it was. My first visit there was a cup semi- final in the 60's. Great atmosphere.

That's dead in the water, not going to happen.

Darkglasses

fullstop wrote: »

That's dead in the water, not going to happen.

How come?

fullstop

Darkglasses wrote: »

How come?

No work has been done in 2 years, zero updates from the club in yonks. They've even given up with the standard update that was used for about 3 years "we're just waiting for the next drawdown of the grant money".

topmanamillion

fullstop wrote: »

No work has been done in 2 years, zero updates from the club in yonks. They've even given up with the standard update that was used for about 3 years "we're just waiting for the next drawdown of the grant money".

Thats terrible.
What happened?
The last I heard it was stalled because the government would only pay grants for work done and there was no way the builder was essentially going to work for free. Finn Park was supposed to go to a developer for houses to part fund it. Obviously the land has nowhere near the value it had 15 odd years ago when the whole deal was done.

I remember seeing a few photos where the concrete slabs for the stands were going in.

overshoot

topmanamillion wrote: »

Thats terrible.
What happened?
The last I heard it was stalled because the government would only pay grants for work done and there was no way the builder was essentially going to work for free. Finn Park was supposed to go to a developer for houses to part fund it. Obviously the land has nowhere near the value it had 15 odd years ago when the whole deal was done.

I remember seeing a few photos where the concrete slabs for the stands were going in.

any builder should only be paid for work done... however he does have a right to request proof that funds are available for drawdown when required.
only part of the main stand/clubhouse is done so far, none of the other 3, and as fullstop said, the last work was this month 2 years ago.
Finn Park isnt being transferred until the stadium is ready so its basically the final payment... money before that is grant so fairly obvious where the hold up is even if no one will say it.

Oat23

Delighted to see we are taking care of business early for once when it comes to contract renewals. I think we have 8-9 signed for 2017 (and 2018 in some cases) and most of them are the core of the team. Schlingermann has a new 2 year deal, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Craig Roddan, Sadlier & Raf all signed up already.

By the time we lifted the league trophy in 2012 we only had maybe 1 or 2 of the first team under contract for 2013.

howiya

topmanamillion wrote: »

Thats terrible.
What happened?
The last I heard it was stalled because the government would only pay grants for work done and there was no way the builder was essentially going to work for free. Finn Park was supposed to go to a developer for houses to part fund it. Obviously the land has nowhere near the value it had 15 odd years ago when the whole deal was done.

I remember seeing a few photos where the concrete slabs for the stands were going in.

This is where the FAI should be helping clubs. The govt. will rightly only pay for work done but in my experience if a GAA club receives a grant there is access to bridging finance from within the GAA to help the club fund the work before they are in receipt of the grant.

Obviously the ownership structure in the GAA is different with clubs being units of the association rather than private companies but if the interest rate on the bridging loan was at market rates then I doubt there would be any issues

Bateman

Oat23 wrote: »

Delighted to see we are taking care of business early for once when it comes to contract renewals. I think we have 8-9 signed for 2017 (and 2018 in some cases) and most of them are the core of the team. Schlingermann has a new 2 year deal, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Craig Roddan, Sadlier & Raf all signed up already.

By the time we lifted the league trophy in 2012 we only had maybe 1 or 2 of the first team under contract for 2013.

Of course it may be that there is no other market demand for those players...

Joking aside, Sadlier and Roddan are definitely 2 that it’s no harm to nail down. I can see another change of coach there before long though…

Oat23

Bateman wrote: »

Of course it may be that there is no other market demand for those players...

Joking aside, Sadlier and Roddan are definitely 2 that it’s no harm to nail down. I can see another change of coach there before long though…

Tobi is fast becoming the best RB in the league and Schling is one of the best keepers. I would think they would have a market.

I think we are in it for the long haul with Dave. If he learns from the mistakes made this season, next season could be really good.

topmanamillion

Bateman wrote: »

Of course it may be that there is no other market demand for those players...

Joking aside, Sadlier and Roddan are definitely 2 that it’s no harm to nail down. I can see another change of coach there before long though…

I don't think so.

He's done a solid job of assembling almost an entire squad here last winter.
Also, a lot of people forget that this is Robertsons first full season of senior management.

We're up to 5th now with an outside chance of Europe. I'd have snapped your hand off for that at the beginning of the season, particularly with the strart we had.

We have some real quality in the squad now and the backbone of it is tied down for next season or the season after.
Kearns, Sadlier, Campion, Roddan and Tobi would get into any team in the league.
If we can get 3 or 4 more players like them in the winter then European football should be more than possible next season.

Mushy

Big win for Bray, great to comeback from behind!

qwabercd

topmanamillion wrote: »

I don't think so.

He's done a solid job of assembling almost an entire squad here last winter.
Also, a lot of people forget that this is Robertsons first full season of senior management.

We're up to 5th now with an outside chance of Europe. I'd have snapped your hand off for that at the beginning of the season, particularly with the strart we had.

We have some real quality in the squad now and the backbone of it is tied down for next season or the season after.
Kearns, Sadlier, Campion, Roddan and Tobi would get into any team in the league.
If we can get 3 or 4 more players like them in the winter then European football should be more than possible next season.

Whatever about the others (e.g. Kearns hasn't done much yet for us and wasn't in much demand when coming back to the league) but not an absolute hope Roddan would walk into the likes of Dundalk's team. Been average at best for quite a while now and his stupid red cards are costing us big time.

joeysoap

Used to be a chant ' one nil to the Arsenal, one nil to the Arsenal'. Think Dundalk might to see if it's copywrite. Still we'll take it, saves a replay but there goes another scheduled league match - Longford away this time.

Looks like a cracking set of semis to look forward to.