Greatest League in the World 2024 [new thread available]

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117879607#Comment_117879607

One thing I'd say is that a lot of the players mentioned in the first paragraph, as good as they were or are, they have a lot of miles in the legs and there has been a large amount of injuries with nearly all of them missing large number of matches. It also interesting to note that the players who left Dundalk to join Rovers this season, have had poor seasons and while Benson and Mountney have played well for us, they both picked up a number of injuries and have missed a number of matches. It's possible that time is catching up with all of them.

topmanamillion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117879893#Comment_117879893

Id be happy to throw a few quid in a bucket for that to happen but only if there was a camera in the room when buffalo Bill and Ollie meet!

Couldn't be worse than what they have. Perth only got the job again because he was cheap and wasnt wanted at any other PD club. He was in the media straight after being sacked grovelling for his job back.

Im personally a fan of Horgans. One of the good guys and as far from a spoofer as a man could get.

I think the job hes done there is amazing. Hes in the middle of nowhere and finds it hard to get players to go there. Im a fan of Longs as well and think hes done a good job at Bohs but theyve a deal with the DDSL that gives them first pick on players and they've a link with one of the biggest school boy clubs in the country (Kevins'). Plus they benefit from players that fall out of the English system coming to them. Horgan has nothing like that to work with.

He works in Donegal as far as i know and the part time job at Harps suits him so would have no interest in it. He used to manage the schoolboy international side so he's a decent manager. I also think he wouldn't be against having his side playing a bit of ball but with the players he has and the state of their pitch he's no choice. As has been said his team is above Cork and Dundalk in the league.

RedCardKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117879836#Comment_117879836

They look to be down to the bare bones with injuries and then sent Junior out on loan. Heard on Friday they only had 10 fit senior outfield players.

The bigger question has to be ..... would they be any worse of with the two Italians? It looks like these players were Fillipo signings .... would he have got more out of them? Would the player suit a different system? Young O´Kane was playing great stuff pre-season for Fillipo (minus the Rovers game), looks to have lost all his form and confidence under Vinny. Also still a core of players there who were there when Vinny got the boot the first time round ... do they possibly want rid again? Not as if they played out of their skins for any of the 3 managers they have had this season. Bonus or desire to get a big money move must have been big in Europe, that is the only time they have played to their potential.

On another note .... what kind of ban would a play for pushing an official with his chest?

https://twitter.com/i/status/1436993595253436419

topmanamillion

The players at Dundalk weren't Fillipos players either. What would a summer camps coach in new york know about obscure eastern european players and a south korean?

They were Bills/Peaks signings and were flogged to them by agents looking to offload poor players to gullible owners.

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117880301#Comment_117880301

Don't forget Magilton too. Filippo has been scapegoated over the transfer dealings but as you say he had very little to do with it.

Bill and that one agent he is chummy with has been the biggest issue but Magilton also played a role.

pgj2015

If they all tried as hard as Hoban did last night, we wouldn't be second last. O Kane did well when he came on.

joeysoap

Simply too many injuries and too many players leaving. Big hole to fill.

RedCardKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117882680#Comment_117882680

He may as well get started now, surely the Americans cannot give him a new contract. Will any other LOI touch him?

Gavin "shels"

😍😍😍

https://twitter.com/Ryanbrennan08/status/1436431156979900428

joeysoap

SNIFL ON bbc2 now

joeysoap

NIFL. ( I hate this new site)

joeysoap

Carrick Rangers are 4-0 up in the 71st minute and their full back gets a serious injury. And the ref abandons the game. WTF?

kksaints

https://twitter.com/LoiWomen/status/1437710336614969346?s=19

Possibly not for this thread but it's an interesting one this. Good to see the Women's domestic game get some TV coverage. TG4 is really going all in on Women's sport which is fantastic.

dan1895

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117888799#Comment_117888799

Tolka the venue for both the first live League of Ireland game and Women's National League game.

#SaveTolkaPark

artanevilla

Foul throw last night in Harps Bohs, ref tells the Harps players to have another go. What is going on with the referees?

joeysoap

They’re making up as they go along. 😠

- bo -

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117889026#Comment_117889026

It happened twice. Couldn't believe what I was seeing.

joeysoap

Mike Treacy returns as ‘adviser’

joeysoap

sorry ‘consultant’

artanevilla

I don't mind losing against a better team or even getting caught on the break, but if Harps were to score a late equalizer from that phase of play I'd have been fairly pissed off sitting soaking wet on the four hour drive home.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117887725#Comment_117887725

To be fair to the ref, one of the teams didn't want to play on. Not much he can do about that, and Carrick have rightly been awarded a 4-0 win.

Carrick wanted to continue playing the game however Glenavon decided however that they did not want to complete the remaining 19 minutes of the match, so referee Shane Andrews abandoned the game.

joeysoap

Thanks. I i didn’t know one team could dictate. (Not the one affected by the injury). At least Carrick kept the game.

artanevilla

Surely a major fine for Glenavon should follow. Huge implications if they aren't punished for that decision.

Oat23

Watching Dundalk tonight I realised half of their problems could have been solved if they called Sligo Rovers over the summer and asked for Luke McNicholas on loan. He played 3/4 games over the summer when McGinty was injured and looked far better than any of Dundalk's keepers. Instead they have managed to sign someone who is seemingly no improvement on Cherrie/Abibi and is already injured anyway.

Strangely enough they weren't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting. They were the better side in the first half and in the end were undone by an Abibi mistake.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/louth/sport/soccer/dundalk-chairman-bill-hulsizer-asks-fans-to-stop-looking-at-the-negatives-40848223.html

Here's Bill H blaming the football gods and fans for their current predicament.

Mrs Doyle was a better keeper than any of Dundalks

Oat23

Why are Harps 9/5 to beat them Friday? Those odds seem way off. Harps are the better side for starters, and Dundalk will be forced to play the same XI for the third time in 6 days due to injuries.

Ollie is probably licking his lips seeing how poor they are defending set pieces.

thebronze14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117892618#Comment_117892618

Maybe, but our set pieces have been very poor this season. Conceded a lot more than we scored

Gareth Keenan

The LOI started 100 years ago today, with wins for Bohs and Shels and St James' Gate. The Gate went on to win the first title.

Gareth Keenan

Dan McD has a piece on the 100 years today https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/as-league-of-ireland-hits-100-years-fears-grow-dundalks-time-at-top-of-the-tree-will-quickly-fade-into-memory-40859151.html

But the standout line in it is about DFC's wage bill, approaching 4 million quid. That's staggering.

joeysoap

Whatever about anything else, IF Dundalk had a decent ‘keeper they wouldn’t be in the position they are in now. That’s their own fault, nobody else’s.

Tchaikovsky

On my hands and knees praying that this goes through and the bastards **** off out of it

https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/consortium-seek-dundalk-deal-if-american-owners-peak6-follow-through-on-intention-to-exit-the-stage-40859169.html

Oat23

The FAI cup games going to a replay if tied after 90 minutes is such a typical FAI decision. Completely illogical.

Oat23

I can't believe I paid to watch Harps v Dundalk. I should be refunded due to the referee ruining the match.

dreamers75

LOI refs, into the semis.......

https://twitter.com/kdjacl/status/1438950451819466760

Oat23

Delighted for Harps. They deserved that equaliser.

Another 90 minutes on Tuesday is the last thing Dundalk needed. Well done to the FAI for their wonderful decision making.

NIMAN

Great viewing in the Harps game, and yes they fully deserved it considering they played a lot of the game with 10 men.

Dundalk poor again, should have easily seen out that game.

overshoot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117905751#Comment_117905751

Hard to argue with their peno and the red for mustoe, although Boyle should have had one too, definitely clipped. Looked buried after 3-1 but Dundalk just had no ability to handle the high ball in when Boyd came on and we changed it up

PTH2009

Yes go on the Blues

Waterford won't fear anyone in the semi finals, a home draw would be fantastic

Great night for the club considering how we lost up there in 2018. Finn Harps and Dundalk going to a replay might give us a boost in the league to avoid that playoff place. The 2 of them are bound to be tired

kksaints

Good win after going down to 10 men early over a game but limited Wexford side. I missed the 1st 25 minutes due to awful public transport so missed Pats sending off. Wexfords was for two yellows, one was clearly a yellow other was a bit more questionable but wasn't the worst decision ever. We were far too open at times between our 1st and 2nd goals, a better team than Wexford would have punished us.

GLaDOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7phejYkGOrU

Mile outside the box

Appreciate it didn't change the result, but shocking none the less

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117907405#Comment_117907405

Depressing decisions every single week these days it feels like. Maybe it is because RTE's highlights would often ignore so many bad decisions you'd only read about on boards/twitter/foot and these days video is available which has more of an impact.

Something else that is depressing is the official site. Went on there trying to find the U19 tables and couldn't find them. The U19 section hasn't had an article uploaded since January either. The homepage of the site hasn't had PD highlights embedded since August.

If anyone knows where to find up-to-date tables from the U19 divisions let me know.

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117907559#Comment_117907559

Extratime.ie usually has the underage tables updated.

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117907572#Comment_117907572

Yeah you're right. Thanks.

I clicked onto ET from google earlier when I was looking but that link was to another out of date table. Going to the U19 section from their homepage brought me to the right one 👍️

kksaints

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117907583#Comment_117907583

It's a great resource Extratime.ie. Don't use as much as I used to for the match updates but for the underage tables and stats for the league it's great.

joeysoap

This tweet from Gerry Malone says it all really

·

20h

With 10 games to go Dundalk in the cup tonight showed they have really come off the tracks .Harps wanted the game .Dundalk were just terrible .I’m convinced as ever it’s the play off’s, And they won’t win them. Heads were down totally in the second half even at 3-1

joeysoap

Or this one

Gerry Malone Retweeted

Simon Blackmore

@SimonBlackmore

·

19h

I honestly can't see this @DundalkFC

team avoiding relegation right now. All the opposition have to do is lump the ball into the box and there's a high possibility it'll end up in the back of the net. Pretty much any team in the first division can do that much.

shanec1928

Neil Doyle should not be aloud near any shams games.

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117909458#Comment_117909458

Conceded a sh*te goal and didn't really test Mannus. Can't really blame the ref for much apart from not sending off Finn.

Wright didn't show up and we regressed to playing how we did on that awful winless run before he arrived. If Wright plays well we're a different side.

topmanamillion

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/sport/irish-league-clubs-can-now-apply-for-fifa-loan-of-up-to-240k-to-spend-on-facilities-40865180.html

NIFL clubs are getting £240,000 low interest loans from FIFA to build infrastructure.

Presumably these are open to LOI clubs as well? The railway end in the showgrounds was put in for about that much albeit a few years ago now but a similar stand behind the goals would improve a lot of grounds in the league.

The NIFL seems to be much better at improving grounds up there than the LOI are, to the point where i would say overall they have better infrastructure than the LOI and funding and plans in place to get even better.

hardybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117912698#Comment_117912698

Most of the LOI grounds are owned by local authorities. Do they have a similar model?