Shelbourne's new owner Acun Ilicali defended the multi-club model of ownership amid criticism from his League of Ireland rivals and stressed that they would not seek to impose a style of play on manager Damien Duff.
Ilicali, a renowned businessman and media owner in his native Turkey, acquired control of Championship outfit Hull City last year, and spent the first half of 2023 seeking to add a second club to his stable.
Yesterday afternoon, he gave his first Dublin press conference as majority shareholder at Shelbourne, a club which he described as a "hidden treasure".
Having stressed that his objective was to build a Shelbourne capable of competing in Europe and that the club would not merely serve as a feeder club of Hull, Ilicali also strongly defended the multi-club model.
This week, Bohemians CEO Daniel Lambert said that the multi-club model had the potential to "destroy" smaller leagues like the League of Ireland and said FIFA needed to enact measures to combat it.
Appearing initially baffled by the objections raised to the multi-club approach, Ilicali responded: "I mean, for example, if Manchester City owns a club in Turkey, I would be very happy.
"Because it means that in the Turkish league, it's an advantage in that we can see better players and a good football philosophy in Turkey.
"If you ask me, it's an advantage for the country (in question).
"Of course, I do respect other opinions, that some people don't like it. This is life. We cannot always think the same."
Shelbourne vice-chairman Andrew Doyle - who has served as chairman for the past few years - added, "the only potential issue with multi-club models is when two teams play in the same competition.
"I actually spoke to Dan about this during the week and I told him that every single aspect of his concern could be covered in contract," adding "I'm a former lawyer and I offered to draw up the contracts for him."
Before buying a stake in Shelbourne, Ilicali said they had examined the option of taking control of clubs in Portugal and Belgium, eventually settling on Ireland.
Asked whether his strategy involved recruiting players from the EU market and placing them at Shelbourne in order to obtain a UK work permit for Hull City, Ilicali replied: "No, no. Unfortunately, the players don't get points (under the UK's points-based immigration system) if they play in Ireland.
"So, it's not the way we're thinking. As I say, it's an individual project. Only the British boys can come and play here and go back (to Hull). A player who's playing in the Irish league doesn't get points for playing in the British league.
"But because of this European Union, you can bring all the talents from Europe here easily. I know that not a big quantity of non-Irish players are successful in the Irish league. But I believe we can do it, if we pick good players.
"For example, I was talking to the Croatian federation chairman, there are so many Croatian talents that can improve coming to Ireland. In England, you cannot do it. But in Ireland, you have the potential to discover some talents. This European Union advantage is very good."
To Ilicali's left at the top table was executive board member Tan Kessler - a fellow Turkish native albeit with an American tinge to his accent - who reiterated that they saw huge potential among the domestic underage game in Ireland.
"There is massive potential in here," added Kessler. "We've also understood some of our players in Hull are from Ireland and they're very hard-working.
"The character and resilience and the potential of these players getting debuted in England. We're also going to be very aggressive in recruiting local talent as well. We have a global reach and we're trying to improve but the domestic talent, we're going to get our hands on it and try to find the right talent for Shelbourne.
"We're going to improve the academy as well to be able to bring other Shelbourne players, instead of sending them out, they will stay with us and having a route into the Hull City environment."
Shelbourne manager Damien Duff - who Ilicali recalls watching in Lansdowne Road in Ireland's 1-1 Euro 2000 playoff game with Turkey in 1999 - was watching from the back of the room and posed for photos with the new owner afterwards.
The question of whether there'd be interference from Shelbourne's new brother club was raised, a query which harked back to Hull City manager Liam Rosenior's comments in February.
When Ilicali's mooted takeover of Dundalk was reported to be imminent, Rosenior gave an interview to the local press hailing the move and indicating their playing styles would align.
"There's no point us playing in a certain way and Dundalk not playing in that way," Rosenior remarked at the time.
At Friday's press conference, Ilicali, using a culinary analogy, insisted he wasn't going to impose on the Shelbourne manager, though he liked to see his teams play good football.
"You're talking about the two teams playing the same system of football? No, no, as a general (principle), I like football when the team plays good football.
"Why I'm the owner of a club, I want to be entertained myself, so that people can be entertained.
"We want, of course, always to see good football. In Hull City, what we achieved with Liam, is we are playing good football. We are playing our own style, we are not playing according to the opponent. We have our own system. And people are coming more and more. Why? Because they get entertained. This is the philosophy.
"Of course, we cannot expect the two teams to play completely the same style. Because every chef has his own talent in cooking.
"We (Shelbourne) are already playing good football, by the way. Of course, I am not able to come to all the games but what my people are saying, who were following in the last few weeks, is that the team playing good football.
"If you're asking what kind of (player) transfers will come to this club, they will be all talented, ball-playing footballers with a good physical level.
"After that, the chef will cook the food. And we will all enjoy! (laughter)"
Ilicali heaped praise on Duff, describing the manager as "a gift" to the ownership, adding this his profile and exalted career as a player was a huge boost to the club.
"For us, I think it's a gift to have a coach like this. It's not possible for you to bring that level of player as a coach to come and work in these hard financial circumstances.
"I really appreciate his love of this country. I really appreciate his love of football. Living football with his heart.
"There are so many star players that they don't continue on the pitch (coaching). Because for them, it's not easy. They want to enjoy the life and work in different areas.
"With a small budget country in football (terms), he is just giving his everything. About football, I would respect everything he says because, for me, he's a big talent, I can never talk football in detail with him.
"Everybody in Turkey knows him. When I talk about Shelbourne, for example, I immediately mention his name.
"'How is the club?' they ask. I say, 'Damien Duff is the manager.' And they say 'Wow'.
"These sort of big names have a good effect on teams. We had this in Turkey, many times. Big names came to Turkey and these big names made the clubs popular in the world.
"Damien Duff's character and personality are a big chance for the club. In the future, it's going to be very helpful for the world to know Shelbourne more."
