Tony O'Donoghue suggests some reasons to look forward to the new season of League of Ireland football.
We had such a laugh in Richmond Park, Inchicore, during the week as the MNS team gathered ahead of the new season. A new team strip hung in the 'Home' dressing room with names like 'Murphy' (Con) 'Richardson' (Damien) and two 'Collins'. One was for the Bionic Man, Roddy and the other for a new panellist for the forthcoming series, former St Pat's and Shels supremo and current agent, Eamon.
There was also a couple of 'McDonnells', Tony who was a stalwart for RTE's flagship football show last year and the recently out of work Johnny McDonnell who was making his first return to Richmond since he left at the end of the most turbulent season in Irish soccer history.
It could have been an awkward moment. Jeff Kenna, the new boss at the Stadium of Light, was hosting a press conference upstairs in the media room as the MNS team got stripped for their photo shoot. At the same time, the Saints new signings, John Lester, Alan Cawley, Gary Rogers, Mark Leech and Gints Freimanis were posing in their tracksuits.
And Richie Sadlier, who could not have expected the scale of the financial meltdown when he agreed to become chief executive of the Saints, had to leave his swivel chair in the boardroom to come down and join his MNS teammates including our new signing Johnny Mac.
The last time these guys had a conversation, Richie made it clear that Pat's were going part-time and that there would be no money in the Inchicore kitty. Johnny, who clearly believes in the benefit of full-time football, felt the new reality was not for him.
Then Pat's poach Jeff Kenna from Galway United when he was was expected to stay with the Tribesmen and, for good measure, Jeff brings his mate Paul Peschisolido and the two former Premiership men register as players as well. Once again in the loopy League of Ireland, you couldn't make it up.
Richie arrived into the dressing room and made straight for Johnny, extending the hand of friendship. A strange moment, but a decent gesture of goodwill that was quickly reciprocated by the former Pat's boss, who is clearly still a saint.
However, when he lightened the mood during the photoshoot by referring to Richie as 'Pinocchio', you got the impression that he felt that a few 'porkies' had been doing the rounds around Richmond Road before Christmas. It will be interesting if Richie and Johnny are scheduled on the MNS couch with Con as the referee and Roddy stirring it up over the next few weeks. You could sell tickets to that!
So here we are with the new reality of the League of Ireland. The hugely impressive Padraig Smith is probably unknown to most - if not all - League fans, yet he could be a key man if the game in this country is to survive and prosper.
Smith is the man responsible for reining in the financial mismanagement endemic in the game here. His job title has the whiff of the Politburo off it; he is the FAI internal compliance officer. Come to think of it, that sounds like it could be a GAA committee! His gig basically is to monitor the accounts of the clubs ensuring that they stay within budget and maintain the salary cost protocol; otherwise their licence could be revoked.
The clubs themselves though have a huge part to play. In 2007, it is widely acknowledged that clubs lost €7 million. Last year, that figure totalled €3.5 million and this year the aim is to break even, a tall order if the last few years are any indication. The onus is now firmly on the clubs to act in a fiscally responsible manner.
What I would love to see is a season without asterisks alongside the League table. Where we have no liquidation, examinership, points deduction or salary reduction. It won't be easy.
Losing talent like Paddy McCourt and Niall McGinn, who went from Derry to Glasgow, or Seamus Coleman, who went from Sligo to Everton, or an entire Cork strike force of Mooney, O'Flynn and O'Donovan or the mercurial Keith Fahey (who is surely due an international call up now that he is doing the business at Birmingham) means the League of Ireland will be a poorer place and not just financially.
But there's plenty of reasons to be cheerful too.
Reasons to be Cheerful Part 1:
Shamrock Rovers.
The biggest brand in Irish football, if you are to leave you own blinkered club loyalties aside you will surely accept that a successful Shamrock Rovers is good for the game here. They have done the examinership thing and suffered relegation, but through the extraordinary work of their supporters they have survived 22 years without a home. Tallaght offers new hope to them and us and Michael O'Neill will have a big fund of goodwill from throughout the game here.
Reasons to be Cheerful Part 2:
Dundalk.
Dundalk are back in the top flight and that is their due. History and tradition are important in building legacies and Dundalk are a proper club. Sean Connor is back in football and his man-management skills will be tested to the limit dealing with the likes of George O'Callaghan and Darren Manseram. The Lilywhites have reached out into their community and their 'SHOPDUNDALK' message on the jerseys this season will send an important signal to people in these unprecedented times. Best of luck to the border town.
Reasons to be Cheerful Part 3:
The First Division.
What? A mention of the First Division on the MNS website! A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and it's essential that the lower division is sustainable and competitive. The clubs there too have to be prudent, but the signs are good that they have learnt their lesson. This year the First Division could be ultra-competitive and a successful Finn Harps are likely to get bigger crowds at the top of the First than the bottom of the Premier. The same goes for Waterford and Shelbourne and you know UCD and Wexford Youths will be strong. And Sporting Fingal are acting like they could become a force to be reckoned with in conjunction with a borough council and an area that badly needs a positive identity.
Let the games begin.
Tony O'Donoghue is Group Football Correspondent for RTE.
