LOI Talk, Rumours, Gossip, Transfers etc 2018

Sue Pa Key Pa

MD1990 wrote: »

Incredible talent. One of the stars of the Wexford League.

His talent is never in doubt

Gavin "shels"

MrMac84 wrote: »

Liam Kearney back at Cork City as a coach

Which one? :pac::pac:

MD1990 wrote: »

Greg Moorhouse hatrick tonight for Glenavon .
Wonder will any LOI teams be in for him over the next few weeks.

Very much doubt it, NI team like offering two year contracts. Last player I remember us signing from Crumlin was a certain Tony Griffiths nearly 10 years ago iirc and it failed tbh.

awec

Hands off our Moorhouse. :cool:

Not sure how long he was signed up for, when we sign guys from amateur teams it tends to be on an initial short deal that's extended if it works out.

sligolad1

Which are the four clubs in favour of ten team league? Dundalk, Derry, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers? St.Pats?

johnnyryan89

sligolad1 wrote: »

Which are the four clubs in favour of ten team league? Dundalk, Derry, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers? St.Pats?

The first three definitely I'd say seeing as they'd be constanly pushing for top three and out of Sligo and Pats I'd probably say Sligo.

If it's true another meeting is taking place on Monday to discuss it more that they scrap the plans and keep things the way they are for now and come up with a new solution.

qwabercd

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

The first three definitely I'd say seeing as they'd be constanly pushing for top three and out of Sligo and Pats I'd probably say Sligo.

If it's true another meeting is taking place on Monday to discuss it more that they scrap the plans and keep things the way they are for now and come up with a new solution.

Why does there need to be a new solution? The problems with the league aren't really the number of teams in it.

overshoot

according to Donegalsporthub, Dundalk, Derry, Shams & Pats are in favour of it. Bray & Sligo initially supported it but that has faded... (im guessing its a typo in the article saying they "sided with the majority", had always heard they voted for it)

Captain Havoc

I read that 'sided with the majority' also. If they want to make changes, they need to be radical. 10 teams was tried before, so what makes the current situation different? If they want to change it should be something like a league final between the top two or a play-off for the final Europa league slot, could even have this as a double header at the Aviva. I wouldn't like to see a league final but a play-off for the Europa league might keep games competitive until the end. Anyway, I think the league has bigger hurdles issues to overcome and there's no silver bullet to magically improve things.

johnnyryan89

qwabercd wrote: »

Why does there need to be a new solution? The problems with the league aren't really the number of teams in it.

While the number of teams isn't the problem the first division will still be a mess and could be used to try and bring new clubs into the league. Do something with it cause it's depressing as fùck down there.

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I read that 'sided with the majority' also. If they want to make changes, they need to be radical. 10 teams was tried before, so what makes the current situation different? If they want to change it should be something like a league final between the top two or a play-off for the final Europa league slot, could even have this as a double header at the Aviva. I wouldn't like to see a league final but a play-off for the Europa league might keep games competitive until the end. Anyway, I think the league has bigger hurdles issues to overcome and there's no silver bullet to magically improve things.

If they want radical changes they should move away from the traditional whoever has the most points wins the league and follow the American approach of regular season followed by post season play offs like the MLS with the team who finishes top of the regular season gets some shield and the champions league spot with the winner of the play off getting a cup and a Europa league spot.

The number of teams could be a problem here cause the MLS has 22 teams with 12 going to the play offs. For league of Ireland could have the top 8 go to a play off and the bottom four go to a relegation play off with the top two from the first division.

As you said the league has bigger problems and should tackle them instead of trying to rearrange the deck chairs hoping something will come good.

dundalkfc10

Captain Havoc wrote: »

I read that 'sided with the majority' also. If they want to make changes, they need to be radical. 10 teams was tried before, so what makes the current situation different? If they want to change it should be something like a league final between the top two or a play-off for the final Europa league slot, could even have this as a double header at the Aviva. I wouldn't like to see a league final but a play-off for the Europa league might keep games competitive until the end. Anyway, I think the league has bigger hurdles issues to overcome and there's no silver bullet to magically improve things.

1. League Final between the Top 2! Stupid Idea!
2. Imagine Cork V Dundalk for the league followed by Rovers V Bohs for the cup! Be a war zone for the little scumbags!
3. Agree with some sort of play off's for Europa league

irish_goat

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

2. Imagine Cork V Dundalk for the league followed by Rovers V Bohs for the cup! Be a war zone for the little scumbags!

Cork v Dundalk for the league followed by Cork v Dundalk for the cup would be even more ridiculous though.

MD1990

https://twitter.com/WaterfordFCie/status/817070254270644225

Waterford continue to raid Wexford. Mark O'Sullivan is an excellent signing . Should score at least 15 goals next season.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Speedy is a big loss to The Youths, but money talks. Full rebuild job underway. "We go again"

sligolad1

Discussing with a friend what next year's table will look like. This how I see it playing out:

1. Cork
2.Dundalk
3. Shams
4. Derry
5. Rovers
6. Bray
7. Pats
8. Bohs
9. Limerick
10. Galway
11.Harps
12. Drogheda

civis_liberalis

Shamrock Rovers will finished higher than 5th.

Gavin "shels"

Bray will finish higher than 6th imo

D14Rugby

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Shamrock Rovers will finished higher than 5th.

cant tell if thats a joke or serious but some people, mostly in sligo, call shamrock rovers shams so they dont confuse them with sligo.

ShamoBuc

D14Rugby wrote: »

cant tell if thats a joke or serious but some people, mostly in sligo, call shamrock rovers shams so they dont confuse them with sligo.

In Cork we call them something completely different.

AgileMyth

Not sure Shams will finish higher than 5th either. They need that keeper to be decent, no garauntee of that. Other than that all they've signed is a load of midfielders. And a manager with no experience.

Pablo Escobar

AgileMyth wrote: »

Not sure Shams will finish higher than 5th either. They need that keeper to be decent, no garauntee of that. Other than that all they've signed is a load of midfielders. And a manager with no experience.

The hype machine is certainly in motion alright. Time will tell, but I wouldn't be backing them to improve on last years league position just yet.

irish_goat

Derry now going to play their home matches in Buncrana on Friday nights.

GLaDOS

I'd snap your arm off if you offered me Bohs finishing in 8th

johnnyryan89

irish_goat wrote: »

Derry now going to play their home matches in Buncrana on Friday nights.

Friday night's and Sunday afternoons. Limerick's first away trip is Derry at 2.30 on a Sunday afternoon, you'll want to camp out the night before in Buncrana for the matches.

SEANoftheDEAD

I really think the FAI need to step up and take full control of every aspect of football in this country. From the top down to the bottom. If they did, these are the proposals I'd put forward for them to put in place starting in August 2018. I would also re-brand everything under the FAI banner so that they have to accept the responsibility of Irish football's administration.

The FAI are to administer the following competitions each season.

FAI Presidents of Ireland Cup
Curtain raising super cup final match featuring last season FAI Cup and FAI PL winners
FAI Premier League
16 Team division. Tier one.
FAI National League
10 team division. Tier two.
FAI Cup
Straight knock-out cup competition featuring all PL/National league teams and regional semi-pro/amateur senior club teams.


I purpose the football calendar revert to the traditional August to May to fall in line with other UEFA Leagues. (Players and club staff need to be earning over the Xmas period)

The FAI President of Ireland Cup taking place the weekend before the Premier Leagues match-day one fixture and the FAI Cup final taking place the weekend after the final league matches are played.

4 FAI clubs will compete in UEFA competitions. (Based on current coefficient rankings)



Purposed FAI football Pyramid for professional, semi-professional and amateur senior football in Ireland



Tier 1 | FAI Premier League



Tier 2 | FAI National League



Tier 3 | Regional Leagues





Tier 4 | Leinster & Munster Senior League



Tier 5 | Leinster & Munster Senior League 1




Tiers 6 - 12 | County & District Leagues

County & District amateur leagues will feature all remaining football clubs in Ireland. They will be placed into regionalized leagues with their counties and districts.
The team with highest points at the end of the season in their district league will contest a play-off match against the 10th placed Division Two teams in Leinster and Munster and the 10th place team in the North-West Senior League.

FAI Premier League & FAI National League reserve teams will compete in County & District leagues. They are ineligible for promotion.


FAI Cup



FAI League Cup

To be used for PL B teams and clubs made up from FAI National League and Regional Senior Leagues.

Financial Regualtions

GLaDOS

I fully agree we need a proper pyramid system linking the LOI to the rest of the leagues in the country. It's a farce that it isn't in place already.

There's no will for it to happen though.

johnnyryan89

GLaDOS wrote: »

I fully agree we need a proper pyramid system linking the LOI to the rest of the leagues in the country. It's a farce that it isn't in place already.

There's no will for it to happen though.

Apart from the FAI possibly not being arsed to have something in place the junior clubs would possibly never support it. I can only speak for the Limerick District but clubs like Pike and Jansboro would rather stay junior and be big fish than becoming senior clubs and competing in the Munster Senior League( which is basically a glorified Cork league).

The sooner the u15 and u13 leagues come in the better so Limerick can cut ties with the local leagues and play in the national league the better.

CHealy

Thats some serious work there @SEANoftheDEAD, did you do that yourself? Hard to disagree with anything on it bar reverting back to winter football, I think teams will have to strive towards paying 52 week contracts.

SEANoftheDEAD

CHealy wrote: »

Thats some serious work there @SEANoftheDEAD, did you do that yourself? Hard to disagree with anything on it bar reverting back to winter football, I think teams will have to strive towards paying 52 week contracts.

Cheers man. Yes, all me. They are snip's from a report I made myself and am tempted to email it too every LOI club and FAI :P

I don't know why the FAI pay consultants huge money to do this kind of thing... I'm more than willing to do it for a few pints.

SEANoftheDEAD

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Apart from the FAI possibly not being arsed to have something in place the junior clubs would possibly never support it. I can only speak for the Limerick District but clubs like Pike and Jansboro would rather stay junior and be big fish than becoming senior clubs and competing in the Munster Senior League( which is basically a glorified Cork league).

To me that's the stagnation attitude that keeps things in the mess they are.
All clubs primary focus should be about winning their league, be promoted and go again the next season at a higher level.
Isn't that the whole point of competition?

CHealy

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

Cheers man. Yes, all me. They are snip's from a report I made myself and am tempted to email it too every LOI club and FAI :P

I don't know why the FAI pay consultants huge money to do this kind of thing... I'm more than willing to do it for a few pints.

Hopefully we'll be hearing of the famous 2017 SEANoftheDEAD Report soon

Seriously though, fairplay.

CHealy

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Apart from the FAI possibly not being arsed to have something in place the junior clubs would possibly never support it. I can only speak for the Limerick District but clubs like Pike and Jansboro would rather stay junior and be big fish than becoming senior clubs and competing in the Munster Senior League( which is basically a glorified Cork league).

The sooner the u15 and u13 leagues come in the better so Limerick can cut ties with the local leagues and play in the national league the better.

This is something that should have been nipped in the bud decades ago. If you look at the current Munster Senior League Premier Division, of the 10 clubs, 9 are from Cork City, and the other one is in Cobh 20 minutes down the road. In fact, of the three Senior divisions, every single team is from Cork. Same goes for the three Junior divisions, Ringmahon have three team in the Junior Prem this year. How was this allowed to happen? Were there ever any clubs from outside of Cork in it?

peteeeed

anto flood has signed for bray

http://braywanderersfc.ie/anthony-flood-signs-wanderers/

johnnyryan89

CHealy wrote: »

This is something that should have been nipped in the bud decades ago. If you look at the current Munster Senior League Premier Division, of the 10 clubs, 9 are from Cork City, and the other one is in Cobh 20 minutes down the road. In fact, of the three Senior divisions, every single team is from Cork. Same goes for the three Junior divisions, Ringmahon have three team in the Junior Prem this year. How was this allowed to happen? Were there ever any clubs from outside of Cork in it?

The only club I can think of from outside of Cork that competed in it was Tralee Dynamos but they went back to the Kerry league then. Newcastle West in Limerick county might have years ago when they left LOI but would have to Google that.

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

To me that's the stagnation attitude that keeps things in the mess they are.
All clubs primary focus should be about winning their league, be promoted and go again the next season at a higher level.
Isn't that the whole point of competition?

I agree with you 100% but for clubs who are junior in name only the FAI junior cup is the be all and end all. They don't care about progressing to senior which some clubs could do and compete cause they are already paying their players and coaches as it is. But all they want is to be more successful than the next junior club by having more FAI's or Munster Junior cups.

SEANoftheDEAD

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

I agree with you 100% but for clubs who are junior in name only the FAI junior cup is the be all and end all. They don't care about progressing to senior which some clubs could do and compete cause they are already paying their players and coaches as it is. But all they want is to be more successful than the next junior club by having more FAI's or Munster Junior cups.

Paying players and coaches are junior/amateur level?

The madness begins :pac:

SteelyDanJalapeno

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

Paying players and coaches are junior/amateur level?

The madness begins :pac:

Theres a few amateur clubs out there paying their players at this stage, Tramore in the WJL for one.

SteelyDanJalapeno

This article on Iceland football is worthy of a cup of tea.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/08/iceland-stunning-rise-euro-2016-gylfi-sigurdsson-lars-lagerback

johnnyryan89

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

Paying players and coaches are junior/amateur level?

The madness begins :pac:

Limerick clubs as they would say have been "sponsoring" players for a long time now. Certain player at local level is a goal machine and has trained with Limerick a couple of times but never signed as his wage demands have been too high as he can make so much working and getting "sponsored" from the local club to train two nights a week and play once on Sunday morning.

kksaints

peteeeed wrote: »

anto flood has signed for bray

http://braywanderersfc.ie/anthony-flood-signs-wanderers/

He was great for us in 2013 when we won the league. Has been in Austraila since but if Bray can get him back to full fitness he'll be a very good signing.

srfc d16

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

I really think the FAI need to step up and take full control of every aspect of football in this country.....

Some good ideas here but just a few points I'd like to make about it.
Is there a registration fee to join the league? If so how much for each level?
Does the FAI spending rule on prize money not include player wages? If not only teams with an established support base will be able to sign any players as the average team would not get enough paying customers to be able to sign a full time professional squad without being able to use prize money for wage expenses.
Lastly if for example in the 1st 3 seasons of the FAI National league (current div 1) Avondale, Rockmount and Tralee were to get relegated but Crumlin, Bluebell and Cherry Orchard were to get promoted how would the regional leagues be balanced out?

Some great ideas you have and I am not criticizing you at all, just trying to get a better handle on your plan.

SEANoftheDEAD

Is there a registration fee to join the league? If so how much for each level?
Right now, I would like to say no to a registration fee at all levels. The FAI make more than enough money from sponsorship's and don't need small sums from clubs every season. Perhaps in 10 years time when things have stabilized under the new format clubs can kick back a little to the association, but for now, it should be all about the association doing whatever it can to help secure long term operations for every club in Ireland.


Does the FAI spending rule on prize money not include player wages?
As this is all part of a rebrand/relaunch of the footballing pyramid in Ireland. I would suggest a wage cap on players earnings (Not that they earn a lot anyway) This is more to do with stopping the clubs spending and help them refocus them on youth set-up's and family friendly facilities.
Let the sponsors pay for wages.

If not only teams with an established support base will be able to sign any players as the average team would not get enough paying customers to be able to sign a full time professional squad without being able to use prize money for wage expenses.

Lastly if for example in the 1st 3 seasons of the FAI National league (current div 1) Avondale, Rockmount and Tralee were to get relegated but Crumlin, Bluebell and Cherry Orchard were to get promoted how would the regional leagues be balanced out?

Well it is possible for the National League to fill up with clubs from the same region over time and that's okay.
Relegation from the National League puts you back into the region the club is based so the balance stays intact.

But, I see what you mean about the top regional leagues becoming lob sided, so I'd suggest the play-off/relegation system would probably have to be expanded on a seasonal basis to accommodate the movement of teams. As there can only be one club moving between tiers per season, it should be easy to monitor and might actually increase competitiveness in the lower tiers.

howiya

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

Is there a registration fee to join the league? If so how much for each level?
Right now, I would like to say no to a registration fee at all levels. The FAI make more than enough money from sponsorship's and don't need small sums from clubs every season. Perhaps in 10 years time when things have stabilized under the new format clubs can kick back a little to the association, but for now, it should be all about the association doing whatever it can to help secure long term operations for every club in Ireland.

This is something another poster came up with recently and I'm not taking the FAI's side but simply pointing out the reality.

I think the latest annual report on their website is 2014. In it they made a surplus of €360k.

Now obviously they will make more in better times, qualifying for tournaments etc but there's costs to be paid out of the prize money too. How much does having a squad together for over a month cost?

Until the loan for the Aviva is paid to say the FAI make more than enough is just factually incorrect.

They could certainly look at how they spend what they make, Delaney's salary etc but turkey's don't vote for Christmas

So where does the money come from?

irish_goat

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Friday night's and Sunday afternoons. Limerick's first away trip is Derry at 2.30 on a Sunday afternoon, you'll want to camp out the night before in Buncrana for the matches.

Nah, the Limerick match is now Friday night.

Bray, Limerick, Bohs and Cork all moved to the Friday. All the rest, apparently going to be on Sunday afternoon.

SEANoftheDEAD

howiya wrote: »

So where does the money come from?

This a good question. I think the whole system is at a point where it has lived hand to mouth for too long and the FAI need to take ownership and ground zero it.

That surplus figure may seem low, but they certainly don't act like it... if the money isn't there then they need to stop publicly portraying a mass of wealth, as it's sending out such a bad message to the football fans in this country. A bit of transparency would go a long way and would certainly help clubs and fans manage expectations.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Is there any scope for a new managing group coming in altogether and overhauling it? I have no faith in FAI unfortunately.

Saint_Mel

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Limerick clubs as they would say have been "sponsoring" players for a long time now. Certain player at local level is a goal machine and has trained with Limerick a couple of times but never signed as his wage demands have been too high as he can make so much working and getting "sponsored" from the local club to train two nights a week and play once on Sunday morning.

We (Athlone Town) went through a phase of signing lads from Limerick when Mike Kerley was manager. They all left again as they were getting better dollars with clubs there and didnt have to travel half way around the world either. A couple of our local players were also approached and offered decent deals if they would travel down once a week for training and then match at the weekend.

SEANoftheDEAD

TiltedBrain wrote: »

Is there any scope for a new managing group coming in altogether and overhauling it? I have no faith in FAI unfortunately.

Isn't that what UEFA ordered the FAI to do?

I do have faith in the FAI as a governing body, I just don't have faith in their staff... The organisation really needs football people working for them. Their recruitment process needs to a have cultural round of interviews.

GLaDOS

The FAI won't piss of the Junior Clubs, too many of the higher ups know they'll be out of a job if they do.

AgileMyth

SEANoftheDEAD wrote: »

Cheers man. Yes, all me. They are snip's from a report I made myself and am tempted to email it too every LOI club and FAI :P

I don't know why the FAI pay consultants huge money to do this kind of thing... I'm more than willing to do it for a few pints.

They pay because it yields the results they want. Your plan is too expensive and too much like hard work.

Easier to just change the number of teams in the league around and hope for the best. Rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic..

MD1990

https://twitter.com/McLaughlinGavin/status/817411516827832321

Very surprised at this move considering he is from Dundalk. Rovers also have a few young strikers who are highly rated.

Dundalk are hoping to sign Jamie McGrath. That would be a very good signing.

White Horse

MD1990 wrote: »

Very surprised at this move considering he is from Dundalk. Rovers also have a few young strikers who are highly rated.

Dundalk are hoping to sign Jamie McGrath. That would be a very good signing.

I don't think Kenny rates either of the O'Connors, their attitude is not what he wants at the club.

McGrath is a player who has the potential to step up, a bit like Horgan. A Kenny type of signing.