Shels 00s V present Dundalk side

Xpro wrote: It`s always hard to compare teams from different eras. I was at the Shels-Deportivo game in Lansdowne and Wes Hoolihan was outstanding in midfield, backed up by a very organised defence. This current Dundalk team are really good and on their day, are arguably more attractive to watch than what`s gone before. Yes, you could blame that on weaker opposition, but my dad goes way back in the LOI and he compares their passing and movement to the great Hoops sides of the 60`s, with O`Neill, Leech and Brophy in attack.

Shelbourne by a country mile. Current Dundalk team are good but in a rubbish league, its a shame standards have dropped so much in ten years. 

RKBarmyArmy wrote: Shelbourne by a country mile. Current Dundalk team are good but in a rubbish league, its a shame standards have dropped so much in ten years.

I suppose thats the underlying conversation here. We were as close to having a full time league in the early 00s as we'll ever be and standards were high as a result.
The physical conditioning at dundalk is top class and the rest of the clubs are lagging behind. At most of our clubs there are lads who are known as "gym lads". These are 3 or 4 lads who regularly go to the gym! Thats ridiculous as going to the gym regularly should be the very lesst expected.

You`re right "Cabra Hoop", we`ve all overlooked the great Waterford teams of the 60`s and 70`s. The Shels side of the early noughties was no doubt really good but it came at a huge price and sank that club into 12 million of debt.

That Dundalk team featured in the recent documentary have to be acknowledged also. Thread is a bit pointless as many woulda only seen LOI recent years. My own bias would plump for the Hoops 84-87 era, shoulda beat a decent Celtic team in the European Cup and played utterly brilliantly against Honved in 1985 for 70 mins.

What about the Dundalk team in the late 70's and early 80's who did plenty in Europe also?
That Shels team was a good side but it had some money chucked at it and it took a while for that European run to come about including being embarrassed by Hibs of Malta! Europe is also changing in that many minnows have money to spend and Dundalk faced BATE in the first round a team who'd made the group stages the 2 years previously.

MC Hammered wrote: Xpro wrote: It`s always hard to compare teams from different eras. I was at the Shels-Deportivo game in Lansdowne and Wes Hoolihan was outstanding in midfield, backed up by a very organised defence. This current Dundalk team are really good and on their day, are arguably more attractive to watch than what`s gone before. Yes, you could blame that on weaker opposition, but my dad goes way back in the LOI and he compares their passing and movement to the great Hoops sides of the 60`s, with O`Neill, Leech and Brophy in attack.   Imagine for a moment that there was a current forum member who was on the fringes of that early 00's Shels team. What a wondrous moment for YBIG that would be be. If only, eh.