Waterford may go. |
Post Reply | Page <1 234 |
Author | ||
deise316
Moderator Group Don't ask me about car warranty Joined: 11 Apr 2009 Location: The Déise Status: Offline Points: 10921 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Lifted this lengthy post from BTID, courtesy of the poster ' Bluebeard' there.
A lot of valid points, and a few concrete suggestions to go with them; I know that all of us have, over the years and even this season, had various gripes with the club about different things, but I think that we are truly united behind the club on this. Something clearly needs to be done. A discussion must take place. However, it appears that without the threat of action, nothing will happen. It may seem a risky strategy - none of us want the club to leave the league - but there are no rewards without risk. The League needs to see that changing from 10 to 12 in the top division every couple of years is not fixing things for very many. If everyone acts like there is no problem, nothing will change. I am reminded of that famous Primo Levi line from a much more gruesome circumstance: When they came for the Jews, I said nothing, because I was not a Jew. While in no way does this circumstance bear comparison in terms of tragedy and loss, one does see the parallel in that many clubs are not in trouble and are doing nothing, because they are not in trouble. I don't disagree with some of the core concepts behind the push for 10 or 12. Largely, I think that the theory is that the league of ten will have more of the better players playing more of the better players more often, and therefore they should get better and therefore these teams will be able to do better in Europe. This is not fuzzy thinking - we have a smaller pool that is regularly looted and it largely needs to be concentrated in order to improve. However it is plagued with fuzzy timing. Small team top tiers work best in countries with some of the following characteristics: small in physical size with the clubs close together: a smaller population; there is a reasonable chance of national team players playing in their national league; there is the money to bring in people from abroad; there is genuine support at home for the local clubs fromm both fans and other clubs. Right now, very few of these things apply - our clubs are (rightly in my opinion) scattered throughout the land but sadly, there is a glut of location for the majority in the top division. This is leading to a massive move of talent to Dublin, but also to the top regional clubs dominating their region to the exclusion of the others in the area, which in turn has lead to the departure of players from places like Limerick (to Cork), Athlone (lately to Longford) and Donegal (Derry) for example. Weaker players = less support = smaller income = poorer facilities / incentive to stay = even the weaker players depart. And it gets worse from there. Athlone, which has a good tradition, and had great support is in the doldrums for decades. Similarly Limerick and Finn Harps. We lose out to Cork too, and that doesn't help us. The consequent tradition of not bothering about your local club is being exported to the major cities thanks to the recent trend of internal immigration: as a result the clubs there will lose out too. In the Irish context - a world where the local is celebrated above the national (CF the localised Olympic celebrations, the success of the club and county structure of the GAA, the fact that the Examiner is considered a national daily, the mistrust of "that shower in the Dail in Dublin") - we need to find an Irish solution to the problem. The first thing is to identify the problem. While I may bang on about success in Europe, and the grail that is the co-efficient, the truth is that improving the co-efficient will solve no problems. The problem is not European standing, it is Irish standing. We need to focus on making the league a thing of value. While doing well in Europe will do something towards that, we have seen repeatedly that this is not enough. Tallaght is motivated about Rovers, but that predated the Europa Cup run. And having only one club doing well with an enthusiastic fan base is simply not enough - we saw how that castrated the league in the 1980s - the last time Rovers dominated. For the league to succeed with the public, there have to be a lot of clubs doing well attendance wise. We need to look at one of the core ideas of the Italian thinker Gramsci: what benefits the weaker in society will benefit the stronger. Then there is that hoary old chestnut: a herd is only as fast as it's slowest buffalo. We need to embrace this kind of thinking rather than this attitude that as long as we are OK, then I don't care: the reality should be "but for the grace of god, there go I". I would suggest that we need to completely rethink football in the country. More specifically we need to do the following things to help develop the league: There are plenty of other leagues that probably bear a lot of exploring too, but these were the ones that came first to mind Similarly, off the field, we need to explore the other ways clubs are run abroad. For example, Barca are a multiple sports club, with volleyball, basketball and other programmes - why not us too, and boost our basketball or volleyball or athletics programmes in the country, the league clubs are well placed for doing this, there may even be grants available. We need to explore how clubs are run as a business in the US (where it is nearly a science), how they relate to their communities, and their schools. We are lucky in this at Waterford in that we have plucked ourselves an expert from Britain for the commercial side, and we have developed a lot with WIT. But I would guess there is still more we can do (PADDY'S DAY FLOAT!) and that is probably true for other league clubs. I'm sure that not all the above alone are the road map to development, but I do think that most of them, particularly the first, will greatly assist in the positioning of the league - and the FAI - on the road to exploring a better future for the league. I have to say that I am very proud to be a Blue in light of the club putting its balls on the line to improve the future of the league - time for the rest to step up to match this. |
||
Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.....
|
||
Sponsored Links | ||
gazelle.
Kevin Kilbane Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Status: Offline Points: 410 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Gammy teams like Salthill and Mervue couldn't be included. AFAIK they are dropping out at the end of this year anyway. The single division would be to benefit the likes of Waterford, Limerick, Longford, Athlone and Finn Harps. Clubs that could be mid table premier sides or better if they were given the chance to get the benefits of having the big boys in town. They'd have a better chance than UCD anyway. The survival of these clubs could depend on a single division as Waterfords chairman has already stated. Edited by gazelle. - 27 Aug 2012 at 12:19am |
||
deise316
Moderator Group Don't ask me about car warranty Joined: 11 Apr 2009 Location: The Déise Status: Offline Points: 10921 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Something has to change, there is no way a 7 team league (even saying it out loud sounds ridiculous FFS) is sustainable. I don't think John O'Sullivan (chairman) is making idle threats either, it would be the common consensus here that it is his own personal money keeping the club afloat the past few years, and he isn't exactly Abramovich.
@ Landon, Waterford have 26 (I stand to be corrected) teams in the local schoolboys league. |
||
Picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.....
|
||
Jason Kelly
Liam Brady Joined: 10 May 2010 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 1188 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
For the forseeable future, a single league is the way to go imo. A 2 tier league is just not sustainable at the moment for the smaller clubs. The possibility of having a 7 team 1st Division is just lunacy. |
||
The U
Liam Brady Joined: 12 Jul 2010 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 2395 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
why would small teams in Prem want it either? sham rvs coming to town twice or rvs once and SD Galway? |
||
gazelle.
Kevin Kilbane Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Status: Offline Points: 410 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Agree with this. The way they've treated the league is a joke. Particular regards prize money. The licence fee is 19k yet most clubs make less than that from prize money. In fact, last year, 21 teams paid 19k entrance fee which altogether amounted to 399k. Yet the overall prize money was 223,500. So the FAI actually MADE A PROFIT out of the league while clubs are on their knees.
|
||
gazelle.
Kevin Kilbane Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Status: Offline Points: 410 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Would love to see Queenstown back. I think GUST are applying for a licence too. Defiantly need a one tiered league for the next few years. It would hugely benefit the small clubs to have the likes of Sligo, Rovers and Cork visiting. Big clubs won't want it though. Shamrock Rovers want a 10 team premier again ffs. Every time it's tried it gets changed back again. Playing the same team four times a year is a joke.
|
||
Landon Donovan
Paul McGrath Sheldon Cooper Joined: 27 Aug 2010 Location: Neutral Zone Status: Offline Points: 15708 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Do Waterford have any schoolboy teams?
|
||
Irish Times Fantasy 6 Nations
League Name: YBIG League Password: YBIG |
||
Jason Kelly
Liam Brady Joined: 10 May 2010 Location: Ireland Status: Offline Points: 1188 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
Beat me too it
Those 2 Galway clubs are a joke alright, get rid of them and bring back Ramblers. One tier league should be the way to go. Edit: Galway United should be re instated too obviously. And i think a break away from the FAI should be looked at in the long term. Edited by Jason Kelly - 26 Aug 2012 at 11:45pm |
||
corkery
Ray Houghton Joined: 28 Jul 2010 Location: Cork Status: Offline Points: 4932 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
|
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0824/1224322861559.html
They are not having a 7 team first divison. Can't blame them, FAI let too many mickey mouse teams in the first division. |
||
'The younger generation as in 17 -25 are certainly gayer than their predecessors. I think they may cause the extinction of the human race with their activities.'- Baldrick
|
||
Post Reply | Page <1 234 |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |