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Despite
encouraging performances from the
three Irish representatives in
Europe this season, there has been
little over the years to challenge
the conventional wisdom that Irish
clubs will never be good enough to
compete at the highest level. It
appears now, though, that the day
may soon be coming when they don't
compete in Europe at any level.
Leaks from Uefa, probably under
pressure from the continent's
biggest clubs, suggest that
football clubs lacking a certain
level of wealth could be excluded
from taking part in top European
competition. Hopefully, this will
not happen. Nevertheless, the mere
suggestion should be a spur to
Irish clubs to consider more
closely what they must do to
ensure that they deserve to play
with the best.
Twenty-five years ago, former
internationals John Giles and
Eamon Dunphy took control of Irish
club Shamrock Rovers and
proclaimed that they would have a
team to win the European Cup
within ten years. Needless to say,
they got it wrong. Perhaps they
underestimated just how poor Irish
football was, both on and off the
field. Little has changed since
then, and Irish clubs still have
more or less no profile in Europe.
So, is it sensible to talk of
Irish clubs having a level of
success in Europe? It would be
easy to sit back and accept that
the size and state of the game in
the republic mitigate against it.
It could be argued that the drain
of Ireland's best talent to the
English leagues, leaving the
domestic league bereft of quality,
is inevitable and unstoppable, and
certainly it has been going on for
some time now.
Without top quality players, you
cannot compete. Without money, you
cannot keep the players. Moreover,
the perceived lack of quality in
Irish football keeps the public
focusing its attention on the more
glamorous English Premiership.
Clubs that can barely muster
crowds of 3,000 for top league
clashes have no right to look to
Europe.
Indeed that pessimistic outlook
has dominated the wider view of
the game in Ireland. Efforts to
raise the profile of Irish soccer
have generally failed. Merely
claiming that the football on
offer is better than people think
is not a credible strategy. A more
proactive approach is desperately
needed.
With Uefa apparently intent on
pandering to the big clubs for
fear of seeing a breakaway
European super league, it is the
small clubs who suffer. The
cynical might argue that clubs,
like those in Ireland, cannot
suffer from the loss of something
they have never had. This view
would brook no argument if the
clubs harboured no aspirations in
this direction. If Irish clubs do
dream of European success, and
they should, then its time for
them to think more seriously about
how this can be achieved.
The exclusion of smaller clubs is
what many of the biggest clubs
want. Television demands big
games. Big games produce money.
Internazionale must curse the
part-timers of Helsingborg – the
minnows who ended their Champion's
League involvement. Perhaps Inter
fans would not agree, but such
shocks are what make the game
great. The success of the Swedish
champions should be an inspiration
to Irish clubs.
So, what should Irish clubs do?
How can they make the breakthrough
in Europe and win over a sceptical
domestic public? The answers lie
in European competition itself. A
respectable level of success in
Europe the Irish game some
much-needed credibility.
We are not talking about winning
the Champions' League. Rather,
Irish clubs should be aiming at
one day reaching the group phase
of the competition. Irish sports
fans love to get behind a good
cause. Whichever club might make
the breakthrough could be
guaranteed an audience and support
– and consequently, a major
injection of cash. Belief that
they really are watching a
relatively high standard of
football would surely have the
knock-on effect of attracting
supporters for domestic games.
Great, you might say, but Irish
clubs are a long way off
qualifying for the Champions'
League proper. That is
irrefutable, but it does not have
to be that way. Ten years ago, who
in Europe had heard of Rosenborg?
The Norwegians are now a side that
commands respect. Although not a
glamour club, they are one that
many big clubs would seek to
avoid. Gritty, organised and
hardworking, they have shown in
recent years that they can upset
the best. Emulating their success
requires greater levels of
professionalism amongst Irish
clubs on both the football and
business sides.
Let's take the business side
first. Pumping what little money
the clubs have into improved
facilities is all very well, but
this is likely to result in little
more than rows of empty seats
rather than empty terraces. Lack
of income is a major problem.
Income from crowds of two or three
thousand will never be enough.
Clubs must look to entice
potential investors into both the
infrastructure and playing sides.
As efforts to try and relocate
Wimbledon FC to Dublin proved,
there are plenty of wealthy
business people who might be
persuaded to take up the cause.
Short of that, club chairmen
should seek to secure funding
towards a believable but lofty
goal. The advent of a European
league is only a matter of time,
they might argue, so how about
backing their particular club to
be Dublin's representative? Being
the best in Ireland is patently
not enough.
On the football side, clubs could
do a lot worse than investing in
their coaching. Perhaps with the
help of the FAI, they should seek
to ensure that club and youth
coaches get the best footballing
education possible. At the very
least, they should attain Uefa
coaching credentials.
After all, Gerard Houllier and
Arsene Wenger were not noted
players, but their coaching
abilities are unquestionable. The
success of Brian Kerr's Irish
youth sides is another example.
Organisation and fitness levels
can make teams very hard to beat
– look at Rosenborg. Good
coaching should be able to attain
both. Being a difficult side to
beat can take a club a long way
and is the stepping stone to
greater things. If Irish clubs had
this quality, then qualification
for the first group stage of the
Champions' League would not be
beyond them.
Clubs should look more closely at
how they nurture young talent.
Increasing involvement in youth
development would help. This can
be expensive, especially as Irish
youngsters are unlikely to go to a
National League side if a British
counterpart is sniffing around.
That said, if the clubs can bring
more players through the ranks,
they will surely benefit and not
just on the playing side.
Athletic fit youngsters with good
football awareness will benefit
the league. Good technical
understanding of the basic skills
and tactics of the games are a
saleable commodity. Following
Bohemians' victory over
Kaiserslautern in Germany, the
local media expressed surprise at
the quality of the Dubliners' play
and some German coaches said they
would be sending scouts to
Ireland. Irish clubs with
professional set-ups should seek
to sign these hopefuls to
contracts, ensuring they gain some
benefit should they move on.
At present, however, Irish clubs
tend to undervalue their players
and lose them for shockingly low
transfers. Roy Keane went from
Cobh to Nottingham Forest for a
negligible fee. What price would
you put on his head now? Current
interest in Shelbourne's Richie
Foran suggests a fee of around £100,000
would secure his signature.
English clubs buying players of
similar quality for the second and
third divisions would probably pay
more. Moreover, clubs should also
pay more attention to how deals
are done when selling players. The
potential of the sell-on clause is
an area that could do with a
little more research. Ultimately,
realistic transfer fees for
locally developed talent would go
a long way toward bringing through
more talent. It also might be used
to keep certain players within the
National League.
There are many other potential
strategies that Irish clubs could
follow. Sending delegations to
Norway to find out how the profile
and quality of Norwegian football
has been raised would be a good
starting point. Failing to take
action will leave the game in the
republic forever in the doldrums.
Improvement will not come
overnight – it took Rosenborg
eight years to finally start
reaping the benefits of their
improved methods – but a
concerted and focused approach to
improving the lot of Irish
football would eventually yield
results.
What do
you reckon? Mail Paul at littleatlarge@dangerhere.com
or post your thoughts on our
message boards.
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