THE BACKLASH FROM Roddy Collins’ recent controversial League of Ireland comments continued last night, as Stuey Byrne and Ger O’Brien weighed in on the issue.
Speaking on Off the Ball, Collins reiterated his belief that last weekend’s FAI Cup final was a decidedly unimpressive spectacle.
“I expected so much more from Pat’s,” he said. “From certain individuals in the team and one or two in the Derry team, and when it didn’t materialise, it was just disappointing.
“I talked up three Pat’s players and two Derry players in particular and on that display, [Luton manager John Still] went away disappointed and said he couldn’t take them
“On that particular performance, it was horrendous. The individuals you expect to stand up and be counted just didn’t do it. The other disappointing factor was that there were only 17,000 people in the stadium — it’s an absolute disgrace, it’s a joke. Surely to God, with a team from Dublin, and a team from Derry, we can put 40,000 in that stadium.
“There’s something every week [in the League of Ireland] — floodlight failures, problems with the pitch…”
However, Collins, while acknowledging that there were problems with the league, believes the cup final was not necessarily an accurate reflection of Irish football’s general standard.
“If I thought it was typical of the league, would I have brought someone over? Thank God, Christy Fagan bagged a brace and showed something,” Collins added.
Meanwhile, Pat’s player Ger O’Brien — while acknowledging Collins had a point in some respects — took issue with certain comments
“Roddy’s entitled to his opinion. Obviously we’d love 30,000 or 40,000 there. The league and the FAI should be doing more.
“But if he feels the likes of Keith Fahey, Chris Forrester and Christy Fagan aren’t good enough to play in the League Two…”
Meanwhile, Stuart Byrne defended the quality of the Pat’s-Derry game.
“It was a good game, it wasn’t a classic,” he said. “It was a good tactical affair. This conversation has become the world and Irish football against Roddy Collins.
“This whole conversation’s been an embarrassment.
“I don’t like the tone of the debate from the start. We never get an opportunity to put forward where the league is going to go.”
However, Collins remained unapologetic about his controversial comments, emphasising his love and passion for the League of Ireland while doing so.
“The lads that played most are going to be on the dole [between now and next season]. If Aston Villa want a young player, they’re not going want to wait until January.
“I’ll say what I feel and I think the league is going backwards. But if you try to make a difference, you’re this, that or the other.”
For a chap who has made a good living from being a journeyman manager in LOI , he doesn’t half slate it. The fact is he will be remembered as a poor footballer and an even worse manager.
Are there any teams he hasn’t managed?
Anyone good enough to make the grade will make a career in the game outside of Ireland, mainly in the UK, history proves this. The standard of football in Ireland suffers for this,poor attendance at league of Ireland will also suffer because of live premiership games and our love affair with English clubs. The only person making a good living from Irish football is John Delanney.
If Irish football fans didnt spend close to €100 million every year on British football and instead invested a little more in Irish football the LOI might be in a better place. English football is dire anyway. Never understood the appeal.
Well said. Insane that most irish fans would not even contemplate supporting their local team if they were to play their (the fan’s) favourite English side..
I’m only repeating a point made by another gentleman yesterday but how can Roddy constantly harp on about the standard of football , on one hand , blame the FAI then make a living by poaching the best players , offering them deals with 3rd rate English clubs. His statements are always too general, you have to pick the bones out of anything he says to get anything valuable , discarding the self serving stuff. I heard that original interview , and the comments were only made after he spent the usual couple of minutes talking about himself, and hinting that if Derry hadn’t got rid of him the result might have been different, I tend to agree with him there, Pats would have beaten Shamrock Rovers in that scenario .
Storm in an FAI cup.
Move on!
Roddy is a laughing stock. The difference between everyone involved in the FAI Cup final and Roddy is that they have a job in football and he doesn’t. The man is truly shameless.
As much as I dislike roddy collins,, most of what he said in that interview was correct… the standard of that game sunday was brutal