FAI Accounts....what's the story?

The FAI AGM was held over the weekend and Monaghan and passed over with little or no incident.

There was some comment relating to the €16m deficit in the accounts with an one off payment of €10m in relation to the construction of Lansdowne Road.I found the comments of Jack O’Neill from Bray Wanderers interesting. He was critical of the fact that the association’s decision not to release the accounts to members until the Saturday morning. I assume that the decision was based on minimising leaks to the media. However his comments that the association needs to “grow up” seems to be on the money.

If the association are so confident in their figures then they can stand over these in front of public scrutiny. The current approach smacks of minnowism and of an association that has something to hide.

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/fai-cagey-on-debt-at-agm-1807833.html

Tips for the weekend

Timidly entering into the betting tips arena.

For the weekend ahead a draw in the Dundalk v Bohs game looks good value at 9/4. It was available at 12/5 earlier in the day and you still might get that on the exchanges.

Rovers, who are looking impressive, are also worth a look at 19/20 away to Bray. The Seagulls have started to fall away badly and you sense the momentum is with the Hoops.

Is the blog a hex?

My blogging had been periodic before the mid season break and it seems that when I didn't blog, we won. However the moment I made comment on the games here, City would fall to defeat. The rational side of my brain told me to wise up, and the idea was to blog solidly for the second half of the season. However after the reverse in Dundalk on Friday I'm thinking of bowing to superstition and just letting the tumblweed blow through here on Friday night.

There's been a lot of negative reaction to the defeat in Dundalk and rightly so in my view. I've been at every away game in the League this season and it was certainly the worst I have seen this season. We played significantly better away to Cork and Rovers, when we were down to ten men!

It was very similiar to the game in the Brandywell, with Dundalk playing a physical pressing game. Derry didn't seem to have any answer and it seemed much more likely that the home side would get a second than Derry getting back into the game. Derry just never seemed to get to grips with the opposition or with the much talked about surface.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/kevinmcdaid/DundalkVDerry#5354981590092531650

In my view the game didn't tell us anything we didn't know, ie that a Martyn/Higgins midfield axis will not win us the League. That area was completed bossed by Turner and Collins and without the platform, we neverly reaclly looked like scoring. Indeed Gerard Doherty made a number of really good saves.

So long Setanta Cup?

League of Ireland followers had watched the travails of Setanta with some ambivalence in recent weeks. The pervading view was that Setanta Ireland was a separate (and profit making) entity and therefore would survive the struggles of the parent company.

However developments in the last twenty four hours suggest that this confidence may have been misplaced. The postponement of the draw for the 2009 Setanta Sports Cup was the first sign that all was not well.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0623/1224249338961.html

I’m a fan of Setanta, which has provided another outlet for LOI on television. Sure, it gives Felix Healy and out and we need more moustaches like that on TV. Aside from that, the coverage of non League football in England, the IPL, the golf and many other sports is something you don’t get on Sky.

Once again the lads at the GCTni have done it again with another cracking retro shirt.

We had attempted to use their last supplier but they were not prepared to go ahead without the blessing of DCFC. I forwarded all the details to the club but they opted not to do anything with it.

However the GCT have used a new supplier and I reckon we might follow them in and use a few more designs to produce a range of merchandise for the ST, with the profits for the club.

The Eastern Front

So it’s Skonto Riga. After all the waiting and the research, UEFA threw a curveball with the subdivision into pots and the mixing of lower second rounded seeds and higher first round rounds. Skonto were originally seeded in the second round but due to the ramifications of the first round draw they ended up on the unseeded side of the draw.

I think it is a great trip for the fans, but a difficult one from a footballing point of view. Skonto have been one of the powerhouses of Lativan football since independence and although the crown has slipped recently, they are still a force to be reckoned with. Certainly there are many easier sides which we could have got in the draw.

Unfortunately the tie falls in the only two weeks of the year that I can’t take off work. In every year in the recent past these two weeks would have fallen in October but due to how quiet we are they have shifted it to July. I knew this from a few months back, and despite a tentative approach yesterday the answer was still no. I’ll struggle to get to the home game, and the away leg is definitely out.

Still, spent the afternoon researching options for the like of me da who is definitely going. I think people were caught by how expensive flights were. However with less than a month to the game and heading to a destination which is increasingly popular with tourists, it was never going to be a bargain basement price.

What about that....

On Friday night at half time we were eight points behind the leaders and slipping out of the title race. Come the final whistle we were back to two points behind and the title race was wide open again.

I'd stopped blogging for a while as I was convinced it was harming the home form. That's the type of crazy thoughts that get a man when his team throws away six points at home. Anyway after six points and six goals in the last two games Derry appear to be bang back in form and not before time.

The second half on Friday night was a joy to behold. Tom the Gom told me at half time on Friday we hadn't a chance(as he attempted to offload a cup of milky tea on Richie Q) and I had to agree. However within minutes of the restart not only were we back on terms but we were actually leading the game.

iCandy was a joy to commentate on, and although we missed the goal(again!) it was some craic! Felix and Micky O'Donnell have taken up residence beside us in the press box and the banter is good. Myself and Greengo have good craic describing the action and if Derry win all the better. Kudos to the Bohs fans for their "Free Colin Duffy" flag. That will take some beating in terms of bizarre flags this season.

The Brandywell was rocking on Friday night, reminiscent of the famous 3-2 victory in the semi final cup replay of the mid nineties. I think people understood the pivotal nature of the game and as it turned in favour of us, the volume just went up and up. Tom meet me again and told me that he always said we'd turn them over........

Next stop Cork. The flying column amongst us have taken advantage of the Ryanair flights and we are heading down Friday afternoon and back up on Saturday morning. Tough life, this League of Ireland lark.