Greatest League in the World 2024 [new thread available]

artanevilla

The LOI is a young league with really fit, professional, hungry and technically gifted players, it's why you often see older boys coming back from England really struggling a lot of the time.

DrumSteve

artanevilla wrote: »

The LOI is a young league with really fit, professional, hungry and technically gifted players, it's why you often see older boys coming back from England really struggling a lot of the time.

How long did it take Damien Duff to pack it in?

Gavin "shels"

Drumpot wrote: »

looking forward to bringing my son to his first Shelbourne game on Friday v Cork City.

You're in the lucky 100 people with a surname in the A-D range too? :pac: I'm like a kid at Christmas waiting to get back to Tolka on Friday!

Oat23

topmanamillion wrote: »

I'd be the same. A memory that sticks out for me is watching a 100 cap Damien Duff in the Showgrounds barely able to jog during a match because he was completely crocked and his career was clearly over.

Dundalk have Zahibo, a player that was an MLS all star 2 years ago, looks like he wouldn't get a game in the MSL now.

A lot changes in a season or two in football and the league doesn't need to become a retirement home for former Ireland Internationals looking to play a bit of ball in their spare time.

The Zahibo criticism has escalated massively in the past two or three weeks. Coincidentally it was around that time it became known just how much he was getting paid.



I think there's still a good player there but he's had a horrible start. Filippo was sacked before he even arrived and he was playing under Magilton, who is a useless coach, for the last 2 months while also trying to gain fitness after 5/6 months without playing. It might be too late to turn it around now though if Dundalk are thinking of getting rid next month.

Oat23

I see Linfield have announced Chris Shields this evening. Can't blame him or anyone else for leaving if there are 3 year deals on offer elsewhere.

https://twitter.com/OfficialBlues/status/1407363126123765761

joeysoap

Great signing. Can't say anything bad about hiin. It's ironic that of the 3 players here when Kenny took over in 2013, Cherrie was the first to go - and now he's the last one left (Mountney was here too)

pgj2015

Chris is the one player you would want to keep at Dundalk. I know we aren't the team we were 2 years ago but I would have thought he is better than playing in that league up north. Who is going to do all the work he used to do for us in midfield? He was constantly running himself into the ground, even in injury time you would see him sprinting around the field. great player.

I wonder if Stokes signs for shamrock rovers, will he be able to play at Oriel park and in Derry's ground. I think the reason he didn't sign for Livingston was because of their astro turf pitch.

joeysoap

Some record!

5 league titles
3 FAI CUPS
3 president cups
Unite the union cup
2 Europa League group stages



And that’s not counting the runners up

Liberta Per Gli Ultra

ACitizenErased wrote: »

City made a massive profit last year. High six figures. Money isn't a problem down here anymore.

During a pandemic, with no gate receipts, while getting relegated no less. Your chairman, powered by aws, should be knighted.

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Budget wasn't available for Colin back in December but it is now after some refinancing.

No need for refinancing with that massive profit, sack the chairman!


https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40248878.html

City have had to inform season-ticket holders from last season that refunds will not be offered. Some supporters had offered to forfeit any refunds while others had sought their money to be returned. “Unfortunately, we took the decision not to offer the refunds,” he says.

artanevilla

Bad form from them, you'd wonder what would happen if it was challenged in court.

Dillonb3

pgj2015 wrote: »

Chris is the one player you would want to keep at Dundalk. I know we aren't the team we were 2 years ago but I would have thought he is better than playing in that league up north. Who is going to do all the work he used to do for us in midfield? He was constantly running himself into the ground, even in injury time you would see him sprinting around the field. great player.

I wonder if Stokes signs for shamrock rovers, will he be able to play at Oriel park and in Derry's ground. I think the reason he didn't sign for Livingston was because of their astro turf pitch.

Said it in the off season we started letting go so many of our title winning players in a short space of time. If we're to rebuild you'd want to keep some of them around then again it's probably for financial reasons we're selling him

joeysoap

Dundalk offered (decent) discounts off this year’s ST you didn’t want a refund or a discount in the shop (and of course free streaming ) unfortunately this year was also affected.

joeysoap

Dillonb3 wrote: »

Said it in the off season we started letting go so many of our title winning players in a short space of time. If we're to rebuild you'd want to keep some of them around then again it's probably for financial reasons we're selling him

Players will always go for 3/4 years over 1 year contacts eg . Gannon 3 years, Hoare 4 years. Now Linfield have offered 3 years. Watch Duffy and McEleney head for Derry.

Ps I wouldn’t offer Zahibo, Han or Junior 1 week contracts

ACitizenErased

Liberta Per Gli Ultra wrote: »

During a pandemic, with no gate receipts, while getting relegated no less. Your chairman, powered by aws, should be knighted.



No need for refinancing with that massive profit, sack the chairman!


https://www.echolive.ie/corksport/arid-40248878.html

I'm a FORAS member. Cork City are a full time club. What broke club is full time?
Stop spouting nonsense about stuff you know nothing about.

topmanamillion

ACitizenErased wrote: »

I'm a FORAS member. Cork City are a full time club. What broke club is full time?
Stop spouting nonsense about stuff you know nothing about.

:pac:

They're clearly spinning some yarns at those FORAS meetings. 3rd from bottom of the First Division and they've inexplicably found a mountain of cash.
A 6 figure profit no less in a Covid hit relegation season!

hardybuck

topmanamillion wrote: »

:pac:

They're clearly spinning some yarns at those FORAS meetings. 3rd from bottom of the First Division and they've inexplicably found a mountain of cash.
A 6 figure profit no less in a Covid hit relegation season!

Agreed. Seems very dubious unless they got a massive cash injection from somewhere.

deisedude

ACitizenErased wrote: »

I'm a FORAS member. Cork City are a full time club. What broke club is full time?
Stop spouting nonsense about stuff you know nothing about.

Why don't you just tell us how city have made such a healthy profit if you are in the know?

topmanamillion

hardybuck wrote: »

Agreed. Seems very dubious unless they got a massive cash injection from somewhere.

All seems very Cork City. Hemmings put cash in alright at the beginning of the year but that was solely so they could get a FD license.
ACitizenErased isn`t suggesting this is outside investment. He is saying they "refinanced" and instead of being on the edge of liquidation last year, were in fact sitting on "a high 6 figure profit".
Liberta called him out on it and was told to "stop spouting nonsense".
ACitizenErased is either a fine WUM or he`s gotten his FORAS meeting and football manager nights mixed up.

ACitizenErased

deisedude wrote: »

Why don't you just tell us how city have made such a healthy profit if you are in the know?

Significant merchandise sales, refinancing of existing debt and the wage subsidy scheme meant that city's expenditure last year was significantly lower than budgeted.

Head over to the CCFC forum if you're that interested, plenty of info there.

dfx-

artanevilla wrote: »

The LOI is a young league with really fit, professional, hungry and technically gifted players, it's why you often see older boys coming back from England really struggling a lot of the time.

Contrary to the poor reputation that some LOI fans love to give it, the league is a distinct challenge. Of all the players to come back, McPhail is the standout success who looked like he had all the time in the world even under pressure in a central midfield of a not great Croly team. Fahey might've been but for injury retirement.

Anyone thinking of it as a retirement home will be run out very quickly.

ACitizenErased

topmanamillion wrote: »

All seems very Cork City. Hemmings put cash in alright at the beginning of the year but that was solely so they could get a FD license.
ACitizenErased isn`t suggesting this is outside investment. He is saying they "refinanced" and instead of being on the edge of liquidation last year, were in fact sitting on "a high 6 figure profit".
Liberta called him out on it and was told to "stop spouting nonsense".
ACitizenErased is either a fine WUM or he`s gotten his FORAS meeting and football manager nights mixed up.

Ok, I'm lying. We're bust and we're running full time players and staff (and looking to sign multiple new players, per the Evening Echo) on no money. Christ.

topmanamillion

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Ok, I'm lying. We're bust and we're running full time players and staff (and looking to sign multiple new players, per the Evening Echo) on no money. Christ.

In a reply just above you give one of the reasons for City's current surplus as the wage subsidy scheme. Do you see any issue with this heading into a time when these schemes are being would down/return of crowds?.....hint:they won't be there long term/once crowds are back.

Also you say the club has "refinanced" debts. Which presumably translates as the club has told people they owe money to they won't be paying them in full/when their bills are due and they might pay them some time in the future.

In context, this has all happened in a background of where Hemmings has had to settle bills so the club could get a licence at the beginning of the year.

This has all been an absolutely fascinating insight into the thought process of the people running Cork City FC. Best of luck with all this. Its sure to be a success.

joeysoap

Says it all

https://www.dundalkfc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2027781-scaled-e1624307233488.jpg

hardybuck

dfx- wrote: »

Contrary to the poor reputation that some LOI fans love to give it, the league is a distinct challenge. Of all the players to come back, McPhail is the standout success who looked like he had all the time in the world even under pressure in a central midfield of a not great Croly team. Fahey might've been but for injury retirement.

Anyone thinking of it as a retirement home will be run out very quickly.

What about Brian Murphy at 38? Fair enough he's a goalkeeper, but he's among the best in the league.

Colin Healy also comes to mind.

hardybuck

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Ok, I'm lying. We're bust and we're running full time players and staff (and looking to sign multiple new players, per the Evening Echo) on no money. Christ.

Rather than calling you a liar, I think people are genuinely curious about how Cork could be in profit given how the last two seasons have gone.

Considering Cork's previous track record in terms of managing their finances, while also having the largest crowds in the league, I think it's fair to say that many people will be fairly bemused to hear talk of profits and big investment in the squad in 2021.

Pawwed Rig

Refinancing or an injection of cash would not affect the profit of a club as neither would appear on the Profit and loss account. Getting paid for previous debts would also not affect the profit as they would have been accounted for before.
The wage subsidy scheme would appear on the P&L but I would assume that the net effect of that would be zero i.e. money in = money out.
There must be some income that has been received or a sale of some asset.
If anyone has a link to their financial statements I would be interested.

pgj2015

dfx- wrote: »

Contrary to the poor reputation that some LOI fans love to give it, the league is a distinct challenge. Of all the players to come back, McPhail is the standout success who looked like he had all the time in the world even under pressure in a central midfield of a not great Croly team. Fahey might've been but for injury retirement.

Anyone thinking of it as a retirement home will be run out very quickly.

I see your McPhail and raise you Paddy McCourt.

dfx-

pgj2015 wrote: »

I see your McPhail and raise you Paddy McCourt.

Like Murphy, Mannus, McCourt and others, those who played in the LOI, left and came back would be a separate thing...they know what they are getting back into.

GLaDOS

https://twitter.com/bfcdublin/status/1407715064082223106


Any idea what capacity Lansdowne can hold atm?

artanevilla

GLaDOS wrote: »

https://twitter.com/bfcdublin/status/1407715064082223106


Any idea what capacity Lansdowne can hold atm?

I've heard 5k will be allowed. I am away for it :mad:.

ACitizenErased

topmanamillion wrote: »

In a reply just above you give one of the reasons for City's current surplus as the wage subsidy scheme. Do you see any issue with this heading into a time when these schemes are being would down/return of crowds?.....hint:they won't be there long term/once crowds are back.

Also you say the club has "refinanced" debts. Which presumably translates as the club has told people they owe money to they won't be paying them in full/when their bills are due and they might pay them some time in the future.

In context, this has all happened in a background of where Hemmings has had to settle bills so the club could get a licence at the beginning of the year.

This has all been an absolutely fascinating insight into the thought process of the people running Cork City FC. Best of luck with all this. Its sure to be a success.

1) No. Can't explain why due to confidentiality agreement.
2) That's not what it means.
3) That was the beginning of 2020, not 2021.

Update sent to season ticket holders today:
The club remains actively engaged with Grovemoor Ltd. regarding the call-option agreement. We will keep all supporters as up-to-date as possible regarding developments. At the FORAS AGM last week, the board presented members with an update and provided an outlook for future sustained growth and reassurance on the club's current financial position. After a very tough 2.5 years of severe budget cuts, the club is now in a position to start sustainably investing in the football squad, which will begin during the summer transfer window.

Gavin "shels"

ACitizenErased wrote: »

After a very tough 2.5 years of severe budget cuts, the club is now in a position to start sustainably investing in the football squad, which will begin during the summer transfer window.[/COLOR]

Aren't Cork full time this season, paying players full time wages?

ACitizenErased

Gavin shels wrote: »

Aren't Cork full time this season, paying players full time wages?

Yes. We were never 'broke', as some on here continue to suggest.

Oat23

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Yes. We were never 'broke', as some on here continue to suggest.

There's no real difference between being 'broke' and having finances managed poorly. You almost went to the wall because of an unpaid Revenue bill of €600k before last season only to be bailed out by Preston when you sold the clauses in Maguire & Browne's deals to them. A few months prior to that you made a balls of calculating expenses and needed to pay €90k extra in VAT.

You might as well be broke if that is the way things are being done.

(Yes I know. It'll be different this time.)

eire4

artanevilla wrote: »

I've heard 5k will be allowed. I am away for it :mad:.

I read that they are allowing 6,000 fans for the Ireland v USA rugby game on July 10th. Will be interesting to see what kind of crowd Bohemians can pull for that one considering how long its been since we were able to go to any games.

ACitizenErased

Oat23 wrote: »

There's no real difference between being 'broke' and having finances managed poorly. You almost went to the wall because of an unpaid Revenue bill of €600k before last season only to be bailed out by Preston when you sold the clauses in Maguire & Browne's deals to them. A few months prior to that you made a balls of calculating expenses and needed to pay €90k extra in VAT.

You might as well be broke if that is the way things are being done.

(Yes I know. It'll be different this time.)

There is a massive difference between being broke (ie Limerick, Bray not paying players) and our accountants making a mess. Not sure why this is even a discussion, it’s a long time since all this happened.

Oat23

ACitizenErased wrote: »

There is a massive difference between being broke (ie Limerick, Bray not paying players) and our accountants making a mess.

There really isn't. In early 2020 the FAI told you that you had to pay Revenue the €600k owed to them or you wouldn't get a license. That sent the club scrambling to scrape together the money and ended with Cork having a pathetic first team budget that got you relegated in the end.

Your poor financial management resulted in no money being available to sign players. You were basically broke. Call it what you want. Tapped out? The coffers were empty due to the Revenue bill.

hardybuck

ACitizenErased wrote: »

There is a massive difference between being broke (ie Limerick, Bray not paying players) and our accountants making a mess. Not sure why this is even a discussion, it’s a long time since all this happened.

So it isn't the case that the club was at risk of going out of business last year? And lost €400k the year before?

ACitizenErased

hardybuck wrote: »

So it isn't the case that the club was at risk of going out of business last year? And lost €400k the year before?

The club sold buy-on clauses to fund the team's license for the 2020 season. I'm really not sure what any of this has to do with Cork City having a transfer budget for this summer which was what my original post referred to

ACitizenErased

Oat23 wrote: »

There really isn't. In early 2020 the FAI told you that you had to pay Revenue the €600k owed to them or you wouldn't get a license. That sent the club scrambling to scrape together the money and ended with Cork having a pathetic first team budget that got you relegated in the end.

Your poor financial management resulted in no money being available to sign players. You were basically broke. Call it what you want. Tapped out? The coffers were empty due to the Revenue bill.

Still not sure what exactly this has got to do with us being in a good financial position now. You mustn't like Cork City, you're letting off a lot of steam.

hardybuck

ACitizenErased wrote: »

The club sold buy-on clauses to fund the team's license for the 2020 season. I'm really not sure what any of this has to do with Cork City having a transfer budget for this summer which was what my original post referred to

You do seem confused alright.

This has relevance to your assertions that the club was never broke and has made large profits.

When you say the club made massive profit, did you mean EBITDA?

Oat23

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Still not sure what exactly this has got to do with us being in a good financial position now.

When did I say you weren't? You claimed the club was never broke when there is ample evidence you were. That was the part of your post I quoted and refuted.

ACitizenErased wrote: »

You mustn't like Cork City, you're letting off a lot of steam.

I must not like Cork City because I'm not taking everything you say as gospel and dared to disagree with your revisionist view of Cork's financial position in 19/20? Alright then.

You loaned in a bunch of kids from the UK for the craic last season while sitting on a pile of money then I'm guessing.

joeysoap

GLaDOS wrote: »

https://twitter.com/bfcdublin/status/1407715064082223106


Any idea what capacity Lansdowne can hold atm?

Dundalk sticking to oriel. I don't know how many allowed though.

irishmanmick

artanevilla wrote: »

I've heard 5k will be allowed. I am away for it :mad:.

Same! Gutted :mad:

ionadnapokot

No. Is the short answer!

Perfect for Rovers though:D

artanevilla

I think he'd fit in well in that dressing room.

Tchaikovsky

Shields' final game for Dundalk tonight. Hopefully he gets a testimonial so that the fans can give him a proper goodbye. A legend of a player, one of the best the league has seen.

ionadnapokot

Integral part of that Dundalk team. Leader. Stalwart.

But he was no Paul Osam!

Tchaikovsky

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Integral part of that Dundalk team. Leader. Stalwart.

But he was no Paul Osam!

Fairly close on the honours list actually

Paul Osam honours:
6 League of Ireland Premier Divisions
2 League of Ireland Cup

Chris Shields honours:
5 League of Ireland Premier Divisions
3 FAI Cups
3 League of Ireland Cups
3 President's Cups
1Leinster Senior Cup

ionadnapokot

Hounours may be close but they are a class apart!