Greatest League in the World 2024 [new thread available]

Awesomeness

Even with Sligo's poor start they are only 3 points behind cork with a game in hand. Relegation scrap over 13 games is gonna be intense.

Cork and harps will be worried

Zebra3

deisedude wrote: »

Can we just agree both sides have entrenched views at this stage and arent going to change their opinions?

Lets just cut out the 10 pages of tit for tat and inevitable mod warnings, thread being locked and American buzzwords and go back to talking about football

Or we could discuss issues relating to the league and leave the moderating to the mods?

I don't think anyone on here wants to fly WLM banners over grounds or disagrees with racial equality, but people are entitled to point out the lack of sincerity in this gesture.

Ohmeha

MD1990 wrote: »

https://www.sligorovers.com/junior-signs-sligorovers/

Didnt Sligo have a gofundme to stay afloat. Now they get Derry's best player from last season

gofundme/donations/sell your playstations always = funds needed to increase transfer budget to strengthen squad

dan1895

Ohmeha wrote: »

gofundme/donations/sell your playstations always = funds needed to increase transfer budget to strengthen squad

Weren't they the first to stop paying players back I'm March. Looks like the money they saved has gone to good use.

overshoot

MD1990 wrote: »

https://www.sligorovers.com/junior-signs-sligorovers/

Didnt Sligo have a gofundme to stay afloat. Now they get Derry's best player from last season

Was never announced to stay afloat... They looked for 30k same as harps to help with covid infrastructure... And raised 80k in a week... The spare 50k was always going to go to players given their start.
Although tbh... Not sure what infrastructure Sligo would need compared to us... Our new dressing/medical rooms arrived yesterday. Going over by the TV gantry.

MD1990

Wonder how the Sligo players & staff feel who didn't get paid for months

Corholio

Derry signing Adam Hammill. Very good signing that. Thought he'd definitely get a club in England still.

irishmanmick

Corholio wrote: »

Derry signing Adam Hammill. Very good signing that. Thought he'd definitely get a club in England still.

If he finds the form he had when with Barnsley, they have a serious player on their hands. Can make something out of nothing.

TheCitizen

Zebra3 wrote: »

Or we could discuss issues relating to the league and leave the moderating to the mods?

I don't think anyone on here wants to fly WLM banners over grounds or disagrees with racial equality, but people are entitled to point out the lack of sincerity in this gesture.

Is there a lack of sincerity on this? Who says that?

Zebra3

TheCitizen wrote: »

Is there a lack of sincerity on this? Who says that?

Me.

It's been nearly four years since some NFL players started these protests and now after the likes of the English Premier League jumps on the bandwagon years later that the FAI/LoI decide they want some too.

Nobody takes these things for real when they're dictated from the top down.

Apart from morons on social media who think that these things look great because everyone else is doing it, but are less interested in why it's being done.

And now like the poppy crap in Britain, all the players will just go along with it for the sake of it even though some no doubt see through it.

The word charade springs to mind.

Oat23

MD1990 wrote: »

https://www.sligorovers.com/junior-signs-sligorovers/

Didnt Sligo have a gofundme to stay afloat. Now they get Derry's best player from last season

Ohmeha wrote: »

gofundme/donations/sell your playstations always = funds needed to increase transfer budget to strengthen squad

The gofundme was no different to any of the dozen other fundraisers we do every year. It was just online instead due to COVID.

The amount of salty tweets I've read about us signing Junior is crazy. I don't know why there is so much hate? This is how Sligo Rovers operate. We fundraise every single year to be able to put a team on the pitch. Our money always partly goes towards paying staff but based on the sh*te I've read today that has come as a surprise to some people.

MD1990 wrote: »

Wonder how the Sligo players & staff feel who didn't get paid for months

Probably better than they would have felt had we paid them from March to May and then went bust in June leaving them jobless? Not a single player seems to have taken issue with our strategy to survive. All our foreign players came back including De Vries all the way from New Zealand.

Oat23

The quality is certainly there. Hopefully it's stable now.

https://twitter.com/RTEmcbennettd/status/1286964944731344896?s=19

Banjaxed82

I'm not a rovers fan so I'm not glued to their social media but I have noticed a complete lack of Jack Byrne being mentioned from pre-season matches or even any photos of him. What's the story here or is there even a story?

Long story short is he actually coming back for Rovers or is there something brewing...

wadacrack

Oat23 wrote: »

The quality is certainly there. Hopefully it's stable now.

https://twitter.com/RTEmcbennettd/status/1286964944731344896?s=19

Wouldnt just judge the quality by two screenshots. Cork City V Midleton is live on youtube atm. Its their trial test also. Its not good.

Waterford v Bray was only ok on Friday. Its going to be difficult with just one camera for most games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgUq6mg_vzo

Oat23

wadacrack wrote: »

Wouldnt just judge the quality by two screenshots. Cork City V Midleton is live on youtube atm. Its their trial test also. Its not good.

Waterford v Bray was only ok on Friday. Its going to be difficult with just one camera for most games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgUq6mg_vzo

That game appears to be taking place in a random field.

The cross will have fast wired internet and a proper TV gantry. That's one of the last grounds I'd be worried about production-wise.

Does it say anywhere that it is a watchloi production? Because it doesn't really make sense to run a test at a random ground that won't ever be used on the service. Looks like Cork have just thrown something together themselves to show the match.

edit: It definitely has nothing to do with watchloi. It's Cork's own production. I looked into Waterford v Bray and that also was not a watchloi production/test.

TheCitizen

Zebra3 wrote: »

Me.

It's been nearly four years since some NFL players started these protests and now after the likes of the English Premier League jumps on the bandwagon years later that the FAI/LoI decide they want some too.

Nobody takes these things for real when they're dictated from the top down.

Apart from morons on social media who think that these things look great because everyone else is doing it, but are less interested in why it's being done.

And now like the poppy crap in Britain, all the players will just go along with it for the sake of it even though some no doubt see through it.

The word charade springs to mind.

I see the similarities with the poppy crap in the sense that everyone is doing it but it’s different as BLM is a legitimate campaign in my view raising awareness around a crucial issue. I agree that every player in every match doing it becomes a bit going through the motions and dilutes the impact of the message.

It’s different than the poppy fest tbf which has become an annual display of British jingoism and a horribly coercive carry on at that.

MonkstownHoop

Banjaxed82 wrote: »

I'm not a rovers fan so I'm not glued to their social media but I have noticed a complete lack of Jack Byrne being mentioned from pre-season matches or even any photos of him. What's the story here or is there even a story?

Long story short is he actually coming back for Rovers or is there something brewing...

Back injury

the heathen

MonkstownHoop wrote:

Back injury

Hmmm. Or could it be a "back injury"?

Oat23

Sad news from Dundalk. RIP.

https://twitter.com/DundalkFC/status/1287423624413155330

joeysoap

Liam Neeson shows up to O’Hanlon Park Boxing Club a couple years ago around this time. Harry takes off his DFC jacket and has Neeson wear it during his visit. Only Harry could be the biggest personality in a room with the most feared actor in the world. An absolute legend ��


Mike Treacy
@MikeTreacy
·
Jul 26
I’m devastated. Your signature wink. Your shimmy into a room. Your passion. Rest easy my friend
Mike Treacy


There is an photo of Liam wearing Harry’s jacket but I can’t post it

dundalkfc10

David McMillan has signed for Dundalk.

Georgie Kelly on the way to Pats

NIMAN

I can see us getting involved in a relegation battle.

Can't see where the goals are going to come from to win games.

We needed the likes of a Junior or Georgie Kelly.

Oat23

NIMAN wrote: »

I can see us getting involved in a relegation battle.

Can't see where the goals are going to come from to win games.

We needed the likes of a Junior or Georgie Kelly.

I still think it'll be us (Sligo) who go down. I know we signed Junior but is that enough?

He hasn't played since February and he will only have a dozen games to play. He can't even start training for another week at least.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't see him being the saviour. I wouldn't really call him a goal machine either.

ACitizenErased

Oat23 wrote: »

I still think it'll be us (Sligo) who go down. I know we signed Junior but is that enough?

He hasn't played since February and he will only have a dozen games to play. He can't even start training for another week at least.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't see him being the saviour. I wouldn't really call him a goal machine either.

We (Cork) don't even have a striker. No way Sligo are finishing below us tbh.

joeysoap

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

David McMillan has signed for Dundalk.

Georgie Kelly on the way to Pats

Georgie ( as you undoubtedly know) is well liked in Dundalk. I personally wouldn’t swop Georgie for McMillan


Sincerely hope it’s not another mistake like Seanie Maguire.

joeysoap

David McMillan 31

Georgie Kelly 23

topmanamillion

Oat23 wrote: »

I still think it'll be us (Sligo) who go down. I know we signed Junior but is that enough?

He hasn't played since February and he will only have a dozen games to play. He can't even start training for another week at least.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't see him being the saviour. I wouldn't really call him a goal machine either.

I'd agree with this some of the reactions to his signing have been way over the top because he was top scorer in the league last year.
He was top scorer with 14 goals, which is a p1ss poor reflection on the attacking quality in the league rather than any great accolade for him.

We've 14 games to get from bottom of the league to 8th and close out this nightmare of a season for the club..Its obviously doable but it can't be understated how poorly we started the season.

One or two of the sides that I was expecting to be below us surprised me, I thought Harps in particular were a better side than us whether they still are after 4 months of no football is anyone's guess.

I just see it being very tight with little room for error. One or two bad results could be enough to relegate us.

harpstilidie

I'm getting more and more worried about our chances of staying up as the teams around us seem to have strengthened while we have arguably got weaker with Shaun Kelly and Cameron Saul leaving.

Also feel the part time nature of Harps will go against us having to play so many games in such a short space of time, particularly in August. Hopefully we won't pick up too many injuries.

Sligo probably aren't finished with their signings either.

dan1895

Daryl Murphy training with Waterford?

wadacrack

Very little media coverage about LOI restart. No podcasts or anything and the new streaming service advertising has been pretty poor. I think the lack of crowds at the moment has little killed the buzz for the league coming back. I don;t see the streaming service going that well tbh. Hopefully enough people can buy it so that is can be sustained. I think its a decent option but their are leagues with a better product on the pitch and that is more TV friendly. A big part of LOI's appeal is the atmosphere and authenticity compared to mainstream football

howiya

wadacrack wrote: »

Very little media coverage about LOI restart. No podcasts or anything and the new streaming service advertising has been pretty poor. I think the lack of crowds at the moment has little killed the buzz for the league coming back. I don;t see the streaming service going that well tbh. Hopefully enough people can buy it so that is can be sustained. I think its a decent option but their are leagues with a better product on the pitch and that is more TV friendly. A big part of LOI's appeal is the atmosphere and authenticity compared to mainstream football

Currently listening to RTE soccer's podcast from Sunday. It's started off with chat about the streaming service

the heathen

joeysoap wrote: »

Georgie ( as you undoubtedly know) is well liked in Dundalk. I personally wouldn’t swop Georgie for McMillan


Sincerely hope it’s not another mistake like Seanie Maguire.

Georgie needs the games that he'll get at St Pats to continue his development. And to be fair, McMillan is a bloody good alternative to Hoban in the meantime, especially in Europe where Pat hasn't proven to be at his most effective.

And more importantly Georgie'll improve Pats significantly for their two games against Rovers and can't (presumably?) play against Dundalk - that's a big plus.

dundalkfc10

wadacrack wrote: »

Very little media coverage about LOI restart. No podcasts or anything and the new streaming service advertising has been pretty poor. I think the lack of crowds at the moment has little killed the buzz for the league coming back. I don;t see the streaming service going that well tbh. Hopefully enough people can buy it so that is can be sustained. I think its a decent option but their are leagues with a better product on the pitch and that is more TV friendly. A big part of LOI's appeal is the atmosphere and authenticity compared to mainstream football

Between The Stripes Podcast is out since yesterday, nearly 2 hours.

Im led to believe Dan McDonnell and Johnny Wards podcast will be out tomorrow.

Other than that, its been very poor indeed.

Omackeral

wadacrack wrote: »

Very little media coverage about LOI restart.

It's got ready-made buzz with the EPL ending last week. ''They think it's all over... it's not yet.'' Or something to that end.

Ferris_Bueller

wadacrack wrote: »

Very little media coverage about LOI restart. No podcasts or anything and the new streaming service advertising has been pretty poor. I think the lack of crowds at the moment has little killed the buzz for the league coming back. I don;t see the streaming service going that well tbh. Hopefully enough people can buy it so that is can be sustained. I think its a decent option but their are leagues with a better product on the pitch and that is more TV friendly. A big part of LOI's appeal is the atmosphere and authenticity compared to mainstream football

Yeah I would worry as well, I don't think the quality of the football is the number one reason many people support the league and I would be worried about the quality of the streams as well if there is only one camera at most games. I'm going to sign up but it's hard to know how many games I will realistically watch, I'm not someone who could watch 5 matches over a weekend. When the Champions League starts back up I will probably choose to watch that instead of LoI games (I will watch Rovers whenever they are on).

It will be interesting to see how much money it makes especially if the ST holders of each club get free access. It's good value and a definite positive step but I fear RTE will use it as a stick to beat us with if it is not an instant success.

Omackeral

As ardent and die hard as I am, LOI on TV doesn't give the true experience or show it off in all its glory. You need to be there and give it a chance. IMO.

MD1990

I hope Dundalk just have very good funding & the owners are not banking on Europe.

They have a very big squad now for a club that may not have many fixtures if they go out of Europe early.

McMillian will be on good money. Lots of new players .
They have so many wide players Duffy,Kelly,Mountney,Oduwu,Colovic,Gatt all fighting for 2 positions.

Makes no sense to have so many. All these players with little money coming in.

joeysoap

the heathen wrote: »

And more importantly Georgie'll improve Pats significantly for their two games against Rovers and can't (presumably?) play against Dundalk - that's a big plus.

I agree Georgie needs the games. But if signs for pats - he’s a pats player, cab play against anybody. Like a lot of people I thought he was about to score the winner in the Aviva last November but Manus made ‘that’ save.


McMillan will be 32 at the start of next season, Georgie will be 24. I know which one I’d prefer ............... but I’m only on the sidelines.

dfx-

harpstilidie wrote: »

I'm getting more and more worried about our chances of staying up as the teams around us seem to have strengthened while we have arguably got weaker with Shaun Kelly and Cameron Saul leaving.

Also feel the part time nature of Harps will go against us having to play so many games in such a short space of time, particularly in August. Hopefully we won't pick up too many injuries.

Sligo probably aren't finished with their signings either.

there's only one club that can go down. We have fans of Sligo, Cork, Harps and Derry worried. Waterford and Shels surely too, they can't all go down.

No-one knows how the restart will go, everyone could stumble.

artanevilla

Got my watch LOI code from Bohs last night, signed up, includes all games, not just Bohs ones.

Zebra3

Omackeral wrote: »

As ardent and die hard as I am, LOI on TV doesn't give the true experience or show it off in all its glory. You need to be there and give it a chance. IMO.

It's as much, if not more, who you watch it with than what you actually watch.

Cape Clear

What happens if a player tests positive for Covid or have the FAI thought that far ahead yet?

Omackeral

Zebra3 wrote: »

It's as much, if not more, who you watch it with than what you actually watch.

True. Honestly, sometimes the football just happens to be on in the background.

Ferris_Bueller

joeysoap wrote: »

I agree Georgie needs the games. But if signs for pats - he’s a pats player, cab play against anybody. Like a lot of people I thought he was about to score the winner in the Aviva last November but Manus made ‘that’ save.


McMillan will be 32 at the start of next season, Georgie will be 24. I know which one I’d prefer ............... but I’m only on the sidelines.

Not sure where I read it but I think Kelly to Pats is only a loan deal, so he would probably come back to Dundalk and also wouldn't be eligible to play against them.

ShamoBuc

artanevilla wrote: »

Got my watch LOI code from Bohs last night, signed up, includes all games, not just Bohs ones.

Got mine from City, great to have so many games to look forward to watching.

Ferris_Bueller

Quick question re: the streaming service. Is there any way to watch the matches from a smart TV? I usually like having my laptop open so would rather stream from a TV and not have to screen share from the laptop. Could probably do it from the phone if the matches can be watched via a phone?

Gavin "shels"

Cape Clear wrote: »

What happens if a player tests positive for Covid or have the FAI thought that far ahead yet?

I think you answered your own question :pac:

wadacrack

Gavin shels wrote: »

I think you answered your own question :pac:

The lack of testing is a concern with the prevalence of the virus likely to increase. Have been a few LSL games called off even for suspected Covid. If a player in a team has symptoms of the virus I hope the teams take a cautious approach. Have seen it spiral out of control with other teams. The Belarussian league had a number of issues

irishmanmick

This is a great promo video! Fair play to the lad, did it off his own back

https://twitter.com/PaulMlad_Design/status/1288067782584696835

joeysoap

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

Not sure where I read it but I think Kelly to Pats is only a loan deal, so he would probably come back to Dundalk and also wouldn't be eligible to play against them.

That makes more sense, Hoban and McMillan not getting any younger. Georgie is a natural striker, bit like Hoban in style, maybe doesn’t work as hard ( Hoban to be fair works his socks off ( and then some). 29 today