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Irish Football Blog's Bill Gaine on Third Divisons, Youth Development and the Granny Rule Debate
48 Plays7 days ago
Could a third division transform the League of Ireland? 🇮🇪 Are we making the most of the Granny Rule to strengthen the national team? ☘️ The impact of Brexit on Irish youth players 💼 Another week, another FAI blunder 😩
We are delighted to be joined by Bill Gaine of Irish Football Blog (@BlogIrish)
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:17
Killian Ginnity
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to the Not a Pundit podcast. My name is Celine Ginnity and delighted to be joined as ever by Connor Glennon and Nathan Byrne and I'm di extra delighted to be joined this evening by Bill Gain, the man behind Irish football blog, one of our social friends, and but an absolute behemoth in the Irish football scene with some and fantastic sub-stack articles.
00:00:46
Killian Ginnity
always ah finger on the pulse of Irish football from national team down to the leagues. If you don't already follow them, do. and Mainly on on ah Twitter or X or whatever you want to call it now.
00:00:59
Conor Glennon
You old man calling a Twitter, you old man.
00:00:59
Killian Ginnity
m
00:01:04
Killian Ginnity
whatever Whatever way you find them, do. We'll also have the links in the podcast description below.
Podcast Recognition and Coverage Topics
00:01:10
Killian Ginnity
um Gentlemen, how are we doing?
00:01:13
Conor Glennon
Well, I'll tell you, Newcastle may have lost, which is not good for my blood pressure, but it seems Ruben Amaran's blood pressure is even worse, because he seems to be smashing tellies in dressing rooms if the media are entering the go-by. But, uh, how are you killing?
00:01:27
Killian Ginnity
I am great and we got our first i ah on on radio call out today I was I was delighted to join at lunchtime live earlier for some podcast reviewing and not a point I got our got our shout out which is oh always nice Bill what is the crack
00:01:43
Bill
uh not too bad um thanks for having me on um i've listened to a few podcasts before i'm not gonna say i listen regularly to be honest but i just i listened to your one with john in the kinstry i think i listened to the one with um jerry strain and there was one more i can't think of but i've listened to a few anyway
00:02:01
Killian Ginnity
possibly George Kearns, but there we we do try to go for the the the different ones where where we can, ah from Cambodia to to all the way to the Hamilton and and in Scotland, we we do try to cover all all bases.
00:02:18
Killian Ginnity
um
00:02:19
Conor Glennon
We globetrot on all the niche niche clubs, topics, and coaches we can we can think of. So welcome to our illustrious group of of of niche people.
00:02:23
Bill
um
00:02:27
Bill
ah she That's what it's all about because like I won't encourage anyone starting but some people like You see an awful lot of accounts and they're doing the same thing and it just gets Regards you heading like I followed 750 accounts on Twitter X and it's not because I don't follow people back one thing I tried to like really fine-tune my timeline to get the maximum information for my time of hospital, but um yeah fair
00:02:55
Killian Ginnity
Bye.
00:02:55
Conor Glennon
but you' wait Well, you've ah you've always been good, though, so thank you very much. But ah and I don't know, Killian, where do you want to start this one
Colin Healy's Contract and FAI Issues
00:03:02
Conor Glennon
with? There's so much to touch you on from ah from an Irish football perspective.
00:03:05
Killian Ginnity
Well, I think there's only one place to start. um And Nate, I think we'll throw this to you first. um Colin Healy, I'm sure everybody's seen this story now, but just a very quick overview.
00:03:19
Killian Ginnity
Colin Healy, former Irish international, former son and a player, also former Cork manager and head of youth development and coach.
00:03:20
Bill
Yeah, fair play.
00:03:27
Killian Ginnity
He was the assistant manager for the Irish women's national team, and he claims that Mark Canham had told them, yeah, you'll be getting a new contract. There was no new contract. And he came out on social and made everybody aware of this and and his ah his own unhappiness with that. So Nate, I want to put it to you considering our previous chats. The FAI cannot be as badly ran as their comms make them seem.
00:03:59
Nate
Well, it was her good friend Mark Cannon that seems to be in the spotlight again. and Yeah, like it's a PR nightmare. What was that about? um you know Not only a year like is it in the football realm, but we're also dealing with people's personal lives and jobs and stuff.
00:04:17
Nate
and The fact that the CEO didn't even know that that he was let go was mind boggling. So yeah, it's just a disaster altogether.
00:04:25
Conor Glennon
Mm.
00:04:25
Nate
and Like, you understand to a certain degree where how how much position changes are going on in that organization that, you know, one thing or another could slip through the cracks but this is huge. then I think, you know, they need to move to rectify it but it doesn't look like anything will happen.
00:04:44
Killian Ginnity
Bill, ah we we we've touched on as a podcast, we've touched on this before and basically kind of said that one of the major problems with the FBI footballing aside is that the comms always seem to like snatch victory from the jaws of defeat or or vice versa or whatever way it's meant to be like it just always when you think something's going to go right there's going to be some media mis mishandling and this seems to me that could have been ah avoided what have you been on the story much have you got to see much of it what do you think
00:05:19
Bill
Look, I'm not gonna pretend like I'm in the know or anything. I only know what I've read and It's very it's very hard to know because like it's very easy to Beat the bush to the FBI and speak everything they do around because there's been plenty and half that they don't wrong for this thing to do right too, but um I'd like to think that it wasn't malicious and it wasn't like a vindictive type of thing like college went through his own personal problems at the time and I'd say it was just, for want of a better phrase, it was this incompetence that are oversized, which isn't too uncommon, but at least it's not in a malicious sense, I hope.
00:05:59
Bill
I can't hear what it would be, probably just a breakdown.
00:06:01
Conor Glennon
You really hope it isn't because, you know, I don't know the truth of this is it's obviously coming from car himself though that he turned down a job with co for Ambler's, which is a great position that that he could have had. So you do feel sorry for him, you know, kind of almost falling between two stills.
00:06:18
Bill
Yeah. And I, I have no doubt that what kind of thing is true to, or he believes the teacher, like I have no doubt a cover in for him. They were. Um, I do know that, um, it was certainly a good option opportunity for him. Maybe it was a break down communications. Um, if fear everyone gets blamed for that, they probably should, but it can't be black and white. Like it's just something greater.
00:06:43
Killian Ginnity
Yeah, it's just it's just like when the new ah women's team manager comes in and it's a great coup to get it ah get her in um from Aston Villa and then the whole press conference is dominated by by yet another kind of, ah I don't want to say scandal, I don't think it's it's that big of a deal, but it's just another kind of and
00:07:07
Conor Glennon
another It's another, what do they say, gage, manager gage this time around. It's another, there's always a gage with, yeah.
00:07:12
Killian Ginnity
It's a and another gaffe. It just seems to be that we're not even making it to a ah to an international window now before there's another FAI gaffe or something that makes you kind of go, oh, that was unnecessary.
Challenges in Irish Football Development
00:07:25
Killian Ginnity
um course It's not the only thing that the FAI was responsible for and it's not the only news that we will be touching on this week because obviously things are starting to get hot and heavy and the the Irish League is going to be coming back very very soon and it it kind of begs the question as we always do and we touched on it before in our conversations with George Kearns and Alan Cauley about development and developing young footballers for the betterment of the Irish league system and also um the national team ultimately and Bill you had a fantastic sub-stack on ah what you felt for some of that the points that we need to look at um ah as a nation
00:08:10
Killian Ginnity
for these young footballers, but it you took ah a lot more of a holistic approach than just kind of football, money, training facilities. Could you kind of give us even just a brief run through some of the things that you touched on?
00:08:22
Bill
Yeah, I suppose, look, I'm not a footballer myself. To be honest, I didn't even reach, like, under 10 standard. I went to get it again. So that's kind of, you know, in part, that's kind of my personal gripe with, um, the timing structures are trying not to tell because we're trying, like, no one knows who's going to make it. Um, the idea behind the timing structures are should be to keep people in it for as long as possible.
00:08:53
Bill
just develop the person thing and then see what happens from that. Now I'm the league round, I think the league round is best placed as a development league. Um, if I had my way, I would be running at a league round club, at like as basically an under 23 team. The idea behind that would be getting as many first team senior games as possible for them before you can move the man. Because I think realistically, and I don't know if this would be a popular, um,
00:09:19
Bill
opinion, but like, if you're playing past 24, 25, 26, or in your prime in League of Ireland, you're not moving on, nor should you, and nor should a club be looking at you. And what League of Ireland is great for developing players, I think physically, and getting the first team games, it leaves a lot to be desired for like,
00:09:38
Bill
basically on course Academy, Academy coaching, technically developing players. Um, like I touched on Andy more and in the sub stack, he said that when he was a child because of his size, he didn't, he didn't get picked for under her team's teams and stuff. Because the fifth, the physically more developed people were going over there. So I think what Andy went over quite early, it was the best decision for Andy because he was only got the technical development that he wouldn't have gotten. And rightly wrongly,
00:10:09
Bill
So we had to without move over to England. I think that England isn't linear and different pairs were require different things. So it's hard to have a branch hall phrase, but it's just, you have to take on a case by case basis. And as it is now, we're not going to touch the English leagues for their facilities, coaching contact hours as much as we want to try. We can try to improve it, but when everyone can bear really.
Training Challenges for Young Footballers
00:10:36
Conor Glennon
Yeah, I think it's, I think it's a very fair point. And one of the things that stood out to me in, in your sub stack article was the clip with Damien Duff, where he kind of, I think it was a couple of years back now, but he he was talking about how he's kind of, he was getting slaughtered in the press for training his, his young lads kind of five days, six days a week. And I do, ah he raises the point in that, that, you know, if, if they're only training twice a week and playing half the year, how is he meant to develop his teams? And, and, and I think we run into those issues as well, you know?
00:11:03
Bill
Yeah, like what's the difference between innate talent and learned talent? Like innate talent won't take you so far. um You have to have the contact hours. And I understand you have to treat kids like kids and stuff, but if you want to career in professional football, it's not just football. In every sport, they're taking it stringently, seriously, nutrition, everything from very early stage. So it's very hard to not argue with it.
00:11:32
Bill
the He comes across as extreme and he's criticized as extreme at the time, but I think he's right to be honest.
00:11:40
Killian Ginnity
Do you think that, like and I know you're saying with, if you're, for most players, if you're hitting 25, 26, 27, you're realistically not going to be moving on from ah really the island of Ireland, you might get a move up north or south.
Irish League as Career Endpoints
00:11:57
Killian Ginnity
Do you think that there needs to be more more focus on being put on making the Irish league, ah more more of it, or the Irish leagues, more of a destination kind of going, and if you only reach here that's you're still going to have a good career that is still really good and do you think part of that ah kind of reshaping ah would be helped by um like we we've touched on the as a podcast we've touched on this before kind of like the league's having better social media presences so that like when these young lads are coming true they have something kind of aspirational to look at online because that's how things are going like the amount of young lads you see now that are sharing messy or Ronaldo highlights well wouldn't it be great to see that for some of our own immensely talented players that are actually playing and then off the back of that them lads might go down and watch them and join the academy structure and actually end up having a good footballing career that will make the whole league better as ah as ah as a result.
00:12:58
Bill
Yeah, I think the Polish media has definitely improved through the likes of yourselves, myself, and others. That's really helping make us put a spotlight in the league. um and We are coming to the problem very soon, if not already, in some places where we don't have the capacity to facilitate demand.
00:13:15
Bill
Just circling back though, yeah.
00:13:16
Killian Ginnity
Great problem to have.
00:13:17
Conor Glennon
Yeah, I was gonna say a couple of years back we would have been dying for that problem.
00:13:21
Bill
Circling back though, what I'd like to see in the event that I mentioned as a development league, what we see now is we see players moving on from the league, taking our chance to lead to league one. Ideally, I think those are the pairs that if we had an industry in the country, we had facilities, we'd be keeping to develop the onsite nature. So we could help develop our younger talent in Ireland for as long as possible, because they have the technical quality. Whereas you're likely to have some sound characters
00:13:54
Bill
Those pairs are also going to move on. Pairs will always seek pass for this higher end. I think otherwise it's wrong. But I'd like to increase, if you can increase the, try to have a financial situation where more of your league two league one standard pairs are staying, then you're improving the league. And look, there's people, there's pairs of the league one league two standards for staying around. They have a good career. They earn good money. And that's, for them, they might play in Europe.
00:14:22
Bill
That's not, that's not the version that, um, I wouldn't propose to anyone that, nor would I propose to anyone who goes, they're going to take my chance abroad and leave one of the two because the money down there is serious too. It has to be done in a case like Ace Basis, but, um, yeah, I don't know. Sorry.
00:14:39
Killian Ginnity
ah you You touched on like obviously the the moving abroad and League One and obviously money is always going to be a factor, but ah in general, do you think that the Irish footballing system has kind of taken advantage of
Brexit's Impact on Irish Football
00:14:55
Killian Ginnity
Brexit enough? Because obviously players can't go over until they're 18 now um and those that are moving abroad can go within the EU. so I know i I've kind of felt it and i like we all talked about seeing the guys go over to Serie A, Serie B. um Great to see, but do you think that one, that the league is doing a enough to kind of ah harness the youngsters for that extra year or two that they might have? But also, do you think that the t that we're not making enough of the pathways where teams could be looking to us or players could be looking to
00:15:34
Killian Ginnity
teams that they wouldn't have considered before. like Should we be but having better relationship or closeover in Belgium or Poland and trying to get the UK system is not is's not the be all and end all of football.
00:15:44
Conor Glennon
Kinda sister clubs goin' and feeder clubs, yeah.
00:15:51
Bill
Yeah, I don't, I don't, there's no, there's no solutions to running trade-offs. And, um, with Brexit, kind comes it there's challenges about players have to stay if for longer. We're keeping players longer, but it's about building opportunities from that and saying, can we get these players more contact hours? Can we develop them? Or can we look at alternative markets? Um, to be honest, and if I was in English club or was running English club, I'd do it too.
00:16:21
Bill
The English still see it as a lower risk high reward investment. um They're from fancying 60 grand, 60 grand with James Coleman, but like that's nothing for off of the league round supporters or Irish football fans to be proud of.
00:16:37
Bill
It's kind of embarrassing that some of that standard i went to so cheaply and it's not really improved.
00:16:43
Nate
Thank
00:16:46
Bill
I don't like, we but we never see six figure transfer fees in league round.
00:16:46
Nate
you.
Financial Realities of Irish Clubs
00:16:50
Bill
that we It happened, it's happened in the early state there, there was a bid for someone called Karen O for 100,000 or 120,000. I can't remember the last time a pair of transfers for that unique round.
00:17:02
Killian Ginnity
Like that that shouldn't be news, that should just be the given.
00:17:05
Conor Glennon
Do you think, do you think that's a case though of say, uh, you're, I don't know, you're, let's lie, go show my growers a pass and you get 60 grand offer to you. Do you think half of half of the ownership is gone? Okay. 60 grand is really useful right now. If we hold on them for another year, he could tear his ACL and we get nothing. Do you think it's panic out of sheer lack of investment in the clubs that they really need that low level of money in comparison to what they could get?
00:17:30
Bill
Yeah, absolutely. And again, it's like case by case basis. I wouldn't blame club for that later. Um, say it's like, we're over thrown a tight ship, volunteer on, like it's very hard to turn their money because that's mine about injuries. Like a pair could fall off anything anything can happen to parents. So it's very difficult for us not to take the offers at the time become. Um, I know I've seen Pat's recently had knocked back bids for Miss Amelia or you can't leave now the ones anyway.
00:17:59
Bill
Champ Grovers have turned out bids for players that burn previously, but like they're more like they're better place to do so. Um, so it's, it's very hard for like to cycle over there. Even a Bohemian has to be turning on bids for players when it's just not run. It's not run to the standard art degree where they can afford to keep these pairs.
00:18:22
Conor Glennon
and it's It's one of those things, it's you know once a couple of those offers come in and get accepted, it just keeps rolling because ah unless someone holds out for that larger offer, it's always going to be those sub six figure deals.
00:18:33
Bill
yeah look
00:18:33
Killian Ginnity
plot I was just going to say, because like you did mention um ah Bose there.
00:18:34
Bill
yeah
00:18:39
Killian Ginnity
Daniel Lambert in the past has actually called for a minimum fee agreement across clubs. Now, again, I don't think it's necessarily feasible.
00:18:51
Killian Ginnity
um But i do like I do think there should be a base minimum that like under 10,000, 50,000, you don't have to accept it.
00:18:58
Bill
Yeah, look, Jaco.
00:19:00
Killian Ginnity
But if you want it, you can. Um, but like we, we see it in La Liga and the Spanish structure that you have to have a minimum fee release clause that no matter what, that there is a get out clause for a player.
Minimum Transfer Fees Debate
00:19:13
Killian Ginnity
We've seen it in the past, but I think Benzema was like 2 billion or 3 billion things that are never going to be activated, but like.
00:19:16
Conor Glennon
Yeah. yeah
00:19:20
Killian Ginnity
Do you think something like that could um help clubs in terms of negotiating power kind of going, well, we don't have to say yeah to 60 grand. We know for them a hundred grand is not that much more, but it'd mean a whole lot more to us.
00:19:37
Bill
Yeah, and the end runs. Khrushchev bullhounds do a great job now. i ah like a lot of them does I dis disagree with all of it but I can't doubt that he speaks or he's he's speaking fairly factually there and he does run ugly shippable humans. The problem with those type of deals and I think I can't remember who was at the time but some of the clubs wouldn't agree to it. I don't know if it was the United States Chamber Grovers and like like and even if clubs agree to it and we had a minimum thing
00:20:10
Bill
like doesn't this is the incentive to cheat like if there would always be an incentive to cheat or to try yeah I work around like because that's your edge then like if I'm in the club I'm looking for where's my edge if I can't compete with Shamacorovers with thieves or getting pairs in I'd be like can I get these pairs out out earlier to clubs
00:20:17
Conor Glennon
Get a workaround.
00:20:34
Conor Glennon
Where's the gray area that you can maximize the kind of return on ah on um investment, really?
00:20:39
Bill
Yeah, and you're you're appealing to because better nature and just I don't know if it there can we do it because Like when ah when I always say like ah I'm running page ah I like to see all Irish football teams do well in Europe because the league is not in a financial place where we can be turning their money into our football um and you can swap squander, but like if we were at the level of the Premier League or either championship We could then say oh i hate bohemians i'm a clock city fan i hope they get that anniversary but we're we're just now at that place yet um we need a lot more i saw an idea proposed a camera where it was and the Netherlands or Belgium or one of those countries a few years ago and won the team to win the european money it was divided across the league now i can never see it working in the iland
00:21:14
Conor Glennon
Yeah, I suppose if forty if one team wins, we all win, kind of mentality.
00:21:35
Bill
Nor or would I agree with it really, but there's ways around things.
00:21:39
Conor Glennon
but's It's kind of that US model.
00:21:40
Killian Ginnity
It's a nice sentiment.
00:21:41
Conor Glennon
It's like the you know the US model of you know ah Jersey sales gets chaired out across the league equally.
Brexit and Youth Development
00:21:46
Bill
Yeah, it's about taking the things that work across different leagues and applying them to league rounds because there's plenty of them for a round league round to be able to get through here.
00:21:56
Nate
I personally just touching on, I think but we all know Brexit was such a big thing for the League of Ireland and how it affects youth and money coming into the league. But, you know, we all know clubs or businesses and probably more than we'd love to admit it is it's it's had such a huge effect when you look at it in terms of when we can get our players out to other leagues. And I think that affects the price because supply and demand is huge in terms of, you know, if we're not selling players, I'd say 15 16 or whenever they're going to be looking at other leagues and that's just the fact of it and then when it comes to the 2018 and stuff is they haven't had that time in in the Premier League in terms of like you know in the academies and i'm getting that that time so they become like they become less um what's the word like
00:22:47
Nate
like they did They're not as um important to these teams, I don't think. So I think Brexit's had a huge impact and more than we probably talk about sometimes.
00:22:58
Bill
Yeah, look, and I meant to say earlier, we'd love to beat the brush above the criticize parents who go over to England saying or rather they go to Belgium or to Netherlands or Germany but like there's a lot of very good clubs in England. The facility is a second to none and there's a lot going for the English system. Now I'm not saying that's right for everyone because it's not. It has to go by case by case basis but I've seen players go over to Italy now and Italy are notoriously bad for bringing through young players. They don't have the facility to the level that England has
00:23:35
Bill
I know if a pair is linked with Italy tomorrow, the average fan would be like, oh yeah, it's great. It's not England. It's just not exactly the case. It's not that black and white. It's a case, I guess, basis. And I think the England system, the English system isn't perfect. And I'd like to see other pairs, certainly a certain profile pair look past that, but it's like, it is a good system. like done um
00:23:59
Conor Glennon
<unk>s it's hard It's hard to look down on the money, I suppose. If if if you're if you're you're a player who's very aware of your level and knows you're not going to be a 1%, it's hard to turn down you know a very decent contract in the UK.
00:24:12
Bill
Yeah, go earn your money in League 1, League 2, and there's nothing wrong with that. Like, very few players, even with Ireland, that's how the standard is now. Very few players will make the international team, so 1% through 1%. So, if someone wants to earn more money in League 2, England, than playing Air Divya in the Netherlands, like, fair play time, like, I can't toss down their life choices, to be honest.
00:24:39
Conor Glennon
It's great when you see players like Troy Parrott you know take the leap across and and and really succeed and he he seems to have found some old form within him and you just hope that reignites it for other players.
00:24:50
Bill
Yeah, and I think it was the right move for Troy, but again, he had his grounding in the English system. He moved over to to England fairly. He was in the Tottenham Academy for years. Maybe he could have moved to Bolivia quicker, but the English system definitely had a place in his development. like
00:25:09
Conor Glennon
For sure.
00:25:10
Killian Ginnity
I think that's one of the things with UK football in general is they do tend to blood players earlier and are a lot more willing to do that. like We've seen um Liam Kerrigan and ah James Abankwa not get the game time over in in Syria, um so like I do appreciate that, but it is always just Even just the idea of of seeing players like not somewhere different, it's all it's always good. But one of the things that is going to be coming into Irish football um relatively soon and the
00:25:45
Killian Ginnity
there is the calls out for applications is a third division.
Concept of a Third Division in Irish Football
00:25:50
Killian Ginnity
It's been long mooted and by whether it should be included, and a little bit more of ah a pyramid rather than m the two league structure. And there will be cup one coming, I believe it's North and South divided. um For the English fanatics, it's like the Vana Rama National League will be split like that.
00:26:09
Killian Ginnity
i am
00:26:12
Killian Ginnity
Do you think, and ah lads, if you want to come in on this as well, do you think that this could potentially be like floating the market now that there's going to be a lot lot of clubs looking for um for a very small a relatively small audience to be for them to be coming in and seeing and whatever limited finances are going into the leagues?
00:26:40
Killian Ginnity
there's now going to be more looking for it. I believe it's going to be relatively relatively amateur and stuff, and I live in Calvins, so any any teams close to me I'll be happy with rather than having to go an hour and a half close to go. But it is a worry that it's going to just water down an already very limited stew.
00:27:00
Conor Glennon
Yeah, I'd be interested to get Bill's opinion on this because for me, I think financially the league is already is incredibly stretched and we're just, it's's it's going to be glorified Sunday league players. And I hate to say that, you know, I love Sunday league football, but I think there's going to be a lot of.
00:27:15
Conor Glennon
Joe blogs is trying to make their their way in the league and I do think I'd love to see it to obviously see more football, more players could get found, you know, diamonds in the rough and that, but I don't know about you, Bill. I think it's it's a bridge too far for the system we have.
00:27:31
Bill
Yeah, I think I take a different opinion tea. I suppose I've been I've been a supporter of Either an all-in league or and or an expanded third tier for some time. It's something I build an awful lot of my content around The part that what I see with the territories and a lot of it will be at no it's basically entirely amateur what you what it provides is a joint of system where you can The first division isn't a dead rubber now, so you don't have your life long for it to carry this Jeopardy, which adds to the intriguing matches, I suppose. I can see it, like, from but the point of finance and stuff, it's region-wise, so I don't think it'll cost much more. um As well, there are a lot of teams, and this is the problem with our There's a lot of teams, allegedly, or knowingly, that are known in, let's say, it likes the length of senior league,
00:28:29
Bill
I don't know, Monster City, maybe not, but then City definitely that are paying players more to play amateur football than players are getting in the first division in the round.
00:28:40
Conor Glennon
Well, I'm not going to lie, that's the first I've heard really of of that.
00:28:40
Killian Ginnity
That's insane.
00:28:41
Bill
it' to
00:28:45
Conor Glennon
I knew there was always murmurs, but I didn't know if there was any truth to it.
00:28:49
Bill
I believe there is, I can't prove anything, but I'm pretty sure there is. and That, that is the problem. Like what, what I see with Twitter does it allows for a joint up system as for Jeopardy as for promotion. So you have saved 12 more teams in the country that if you manage that top level that kind of worked the way up to the system, if they use their money correctly. And what, what I more most like to do is I think you would like to increase the talent base.
00:29:24
Bill
or increase the floor of talent in the country so your amateur football rise standard or not, that's subsequent effects to the first division of quality of the rise, the parent division of quality of the rise, or nationally in quality of the rise. So I think it's about creating and joining the system. I noticed finance problems and now you'd have to have the lines of if a team from the first division and they get relegated to the third division that that constitutes a change of you might be going from sending a professional alert amateur but again if you're running a ship that's getting relegated from the first division then you should you should be cutting your card you should be cutting your card accordingly um i think people need to be smarter about the decision making and yeah look i'm okay i'm i'm sure there'll be cheating issues
00:30:11
Bill
But I
B-Teams and Regionalized Leagues
00:30:12
Bill
think it's necessary. If you look at Northern Ireland, for example, there's three, four, or five tiers, pretty much eradication. And I've always said, if they have it up north, and I know other times the geography is much bit tighter, I can't see why we don't have anything.
00:30:25
Conor Glennon
No, it's a fair point.
00:30:26
Killian Ginnity
And like, it one of the things I do love about the the Northern League is, is it lockdown? They're like from a village of like 257 people or something, and they they're getting into the top two leagues.
00:30:37
Killian Ginnity
And who knows, one one day they might get in into Europe.
00:30:40
Conor Glennon
Ireland's Villa Royale.
00:30:42
Killian Ginnity
Yeah, it's just like, but everyone loves an underdog story, and and and that is one. um
00:30:48
Bill
Yes, well, if you're doing what you can do, like, again, like all might won't be able to compete against the likes of Linfield with the financial thoughts about looking, how can I operate differently and achieve domestic answer their abilities? Yeah, I'm all for that.
00:31:04
Killian Ginnity
um you And because i'm I'm not, I won't won't claim to be um knowledgeable on the kind of the third tier up application ah be beyond as sending it in and being like, not appointed FC guys, ah his and then into our group chat. Do you think that there is potential that ah they could get flooded by be it either like B teams or youth teams from some of the bigger ones that like we we've we've seen that with Shamrock Rovers B before. Do you think that kind of stuff is going to be on the cards again?
00:31:38
Bill
yeah i've i'm glad you came up because it's something to be strongly about um i believe that like we don't know until until things are announced but i don't believe they'd have looked for i say they've done the cheating they've done i i have trust in fei to have done their due diligence beforehand, send out a few clubs, advise them, or have got an idea that there's clubs, few clubs coming, cause I know and I don't live towards three clubs that will be interested. The argument about being a B team of stuff, um, I understand it to a degree, but I think the Irish have been obsessed again with the English system in the sense that England does all B teams. In an awful lot of European leagues, the likes of La Liga, you perhaps won't want to be, you'd rather enjoy it,
00:32:26
Bill
I'd you've I asked you to join or something called so there goes cabbage choosers We could draw we could all draw up a perfect map and say and I like chart your two teams like like the bit like the GA No, I'm not too fancy.
00:32:40
Bill
Yeah, but like have a team but like we gotta drop a perfect map and say I'd like a team of cabin I'd like a team in where it does who doesn't have one or us comment like
00:32:42
Conor Glennon
don't Don't get Killian started in the GIA. We could be here for three hours.
00:32:56
Bill
or Tipperary would say Tipperary would be another good choice. But I think beggars can't be choosers. And if the team shows the ambition to want to go into the third tier, I'd say the best of luck to them because I'd much rather you see them have the ambition to go into the third tier than paying pairs of amateur level because that's just absurd.
00:33:15
Conor Glennon
but That's just counterintuitive to the growth of the game really.
00:33:18
Bill
Yeah, look, and just on the Shamrock Road with B-point, If you look at the B team, the Shamrock World massage, when they were asking for a solution, it was a serious team. Thank you to Sam Kirk, the Fincher, Armstrong, and MacBook, maybe. But it's like, it wasn't a bad team. Like they have the players to do it. So I i wouldn't be, I wouldn't be able to do one or two B teams. Like it sounds like it's not 10, but if you have one or two, I'm probably flat out.
00:33:44
Killian Ginnity
Nate is one of the things that ah yeah even if they are, it would be teams because they're going to obviously have the better kind of academy structures. We might see a few kind of a little bit more links from the the the region regional teams that like we might get our own Jamie Vardy-esque story where the lads that had been missed at 16, 17, 18.
00:34:07
Killian Ginnity
They hit a bit of form when they're 21, 22 and they have a load of red bulls and they're working in a factory and they can just maybe get a couple of seasons at the top.
00:34:15
Bill
that's what it's about like keeping players playing football for as long as possible and as high of a level as possible now i'm someone who who could never make anywhere in level but yeah maybe yeah but may like i think that's the thing we need to be faster in people's strengths and stuff and so working towards things i know someone you he covers you know he's called Ronaldo Brown and he was in the uh the deliverable academy for a bit and
00:34:25
Conor Glennon
I think we're all in that camp mate, you're not alone.
00:34:43
Bill
He wasn't, he said that he wasn't the best of the players. Um, but what he had was blending pace. And apparently what the coach has said to him at the time was we can teach the rest.
00:34:55
Killian Ginnity
So...
00:34:55
Conor Glennon
show named kyle walker
00:34:55
Bill
like
00:34:57
Killian Ginnity
here
00:34:57
Bill
like I think it's about fostering our strengths. Like every player has their strengths and their abilities. And it's very rare that someone's weaknesses will come to strength. So they're harnessing people's abilities for as long as we can. And maybe if people can't make it in.
00:35:14
Bill
the grand level, can they be used elsewhere? Can they be used in social media? Can they be used in academy football? Can they be brought, can they be from cultures earlier?
00:35:23
Conor Glennon
Shout out Kyle Walker.
00:35:23
Bill
Like if people have, people have multiple times that people have lots of times and it goes beyond like just building a gig of wall to be honest.
00:35:31
Conor Glennon
It's better on earth than it. And yeah, I think if you make, you you raise a good point there in terms of, yeah, just cause they may not be able to get the 1% of playing, they could be a 1% coach. Like it's a lot of very, very top level, coach good top level coaches out there that have haven't been much use with kicking a ball, you know.
00:35:48
Bill
Yeah and like I'm sure it certainly has its place and I wouldn't say like if you're going if you've played football at a top level of course we're gonna have that perspective and that be able to work off that but like it's not to be on at all um there are other things there are other paths to improving things but um yeah starting back basically if we're going to have a territory it's about keeping as many people playing football as high ever as possible, as far as I was possible, and who knows what happens after that.
00:36:21
Killian Ginnity
It would be great to see ah the third tier also be included, even if it's only a handful of matches or whatever ah on the likes of League of Ireland TV.
00:36:32
Killian Ginnity
like So that the teams that are playing can get that extra little bit of coverage and so be it like the league, the topic sends one guy once a week just to a random team and gets a little bit of coverage and
00:36:44
Conor Glennon
but that's actually that's actually kind of nice yeah like i mean it's it's it's not i don't want to trivialize it by saying kind of a good news story kind of thing but i think what is nice about it is let's face it for if a smaller team if we're going to call them that get that opportunity there's not going to be that immediate buy-in even locally there will be to the people that are already involved in the club but i think if you're if you're putting it on even if it's on like league of art and socials or yeah if they send a camera guy day in the odd time
00:37:02
Killian Ginnity
Mm.
00:37:11
Conor Glennon
I think it will only help build not only locally that team, but then increase the interest of the other third tier teams and in their locality.
00:37:19
Bill
Yeah. yeah but
00:37:21
Nate
um I'll be honest, the more I think about this third league is I think it sort of has to have second teams in it. Otherwise, I don't understand how the ecosystem is going to work in terms of players going up and where they get they get seen. and I think it'd be good to have the second teams in it. like if If the League of Ireland goes out to say,
00:37:43
Nate
and the primary division teams and go listen lads if you want a second team you can have it just prove you can fund it basically i think that makes more sense and then fill out the rest of it with with other clubs because i don't see how players get spotted in that league in terms of i don't know if we have the infrastructure to take players up two leagues if that makes sense and i think If they're in, say, a Shamrock Rovers B team, I think it makes it a lot more viable to take them up up the system, if that makes sense.
00:38:14
Conor Glennon
I think that ties into what Killian was saying as well because I think that is that is realistically the only way that those games are going to be shown on TV is if a B if a b team is playing a minnow. It's that kind of FA Cup mentality of of there's something, there's David Goliath of sorts, obviously it's not at the level of the FA Cup, but I think that's what brings the eyeballs.
00:38:34
Killian Ginnity
Well, part of that is also down just to the bigger teams by like by default, they're going to actually have some form of even if it's minimal broadcasting equipment.
00:38:46
Killian Ginnity
Like I don't think if Virginia FC were going to start in the league, they're going to have some like one that even if it's only like a what they called play or whatever it is, they reveal the cameras for even
00:39:01
Conor Glennon
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:39:01
Nate
Yeah.
00:39:02
Conor Glennon
yeah
00:39:02
Killian Ginnity
ah like they're 1,200 quid and 1,200 quid for a team.
00:39:06
Conor Glennon
They're actually quite good as well, like ah like a mate of mine who coached non-league and in the UK, the club invested in that even just for watch back of games for for internally and the quality of that stuff is actually very good.
00:39:20
Killian Ginnity
Yeah, like the tech tech the tech is becoming a lot more um accessible. It's just kind of having that kind of ah having somebody there to run it, basically.
00:39:31
Conor Glennon
Yeah, we send we'll send you around the country.
00:39:31
Killian Ginnity
like hey
00:39:34
Killian Ginnity
I'll happily do it. We'll do a not a pond it Irish football blog tour of Ireland.
00:39:40
Conor Glennon
yeah
00:39:40
Killian Ginnity
We'll go we'll go to all the third division teams and give give them a day out. Will we Bill?
00:39:44
Bill
and definitely in the future we'll start something but I think I think it just comes down to just joined up thinking like it has to be joined up there has to be a plan in place definitely I have the people have to be to be sure they so I do believe very well intentions a lot of the time and like there are stories to be told in the amateur football like I don't know if you're aware of the farmer or in the college rugby player and I
00:39:48
Killian Ginnity
yeah
00:39:49
Conor Glennon
It's in the pose!
00:40:14
Bill
out of con. He's from Nigeria.
00:40:16
Conor Glennon
No.
00:40:17
Bill
Yeah. Like he was playing with, um, Merview United being up until recently. Uh, after, um, he recommended, he said he played like you GA at when he's younger and pay for seven under twenties, but he's playing with Merview United.
Amateur Football and Talent Inspiration
00:40:32
Bill
They're beat, they're beating up recently. So there are people, there are athletes, there are stories to be told in the inventory too, just by finding them.
00:40:42
Killian Ginnity
Do you think that, not to be kind of harping back to the old days, because obviously they didn't end particularly well, but like when you mentioned that, do you think that there is a place for um And this doesn't necessarily have to be for the third division, but I think i think but even potentially the first. I think that there could be a place for trying to get some beautiful international or a former Premier League player and maybe take a slightly MLS approach and kind of go right. We have, let's say, Shane Long has agreed to come and do a season for us. um
00:41:20
Killian Ginnity
we can afford X amount as a league which is be willing to do to front X amount um per per week because that's one of the things that in in the ml MLS that like if you can prove that it's going to be a tangible benefit to the league as a whole so the likes of a Messi or David Beckham that you could actually get the league to kind of help invest and to get the transfer over the line.
00:41:44
Killian Ginnity
I think there is kind of a place for that because like we saw back in the day where George Best had a stint in and was it Cork Celtic and I think Bobby Moore I think maybe had a game in Ireland I think Gordon Banks was in St.
00:41:57
Conor Glennon
my only thing with the My only thing with this, and I love, you know, it's it's amazing to get to see that caliber of manager or player or or whatever it is.
00:41:58
Killian Ginnity
Pat's
00:42:06
Conor Glennon
But I think, I think, well, with the big sound managing Ireland, I think he did at one point.
00:42:06
Killian Ginnity
They were all players.
00:42:11
Killian Ginnity
He did he start off as a player manager in Limerick.
00:42:11
Bill
and
00:42:13
Conor Glennon
But my only thing with all of that is, are you trending into mercenary territory there? you know Are you taking away opportunities from the money you're investing in those players, from facilities, from bringing in even just more players to the league that are gonna stay longer and actually buy in?
00:42:33
Bill
Yeah look, I think it comes down to finances and I don't believe we have the finances to do so in that sense the moment. And what I would what I would be against and this isn't one of my advocacy hurt here would be it allows it gives there's say twit if you include Women's there is 2030 management jobs in country senior teams. That's it Whereas if you added another the torture adds another 10-15 teams to the mix Depending which will like like it just allows more managers to start their cut the record. So What you could have is the likes of
00:43:13
Bill
say Roy Keane going to a ring matinee or a call of ramblers, what if it's formed a rockman to say, you could have pairs going to their grassroots clubs, these are quite often individuals anyway, and they could take it out of the project themselves, and also have them, there wouldn't be a financial thing for them to do so, so you have to want to do more supportive just personal the improvement or improving their Irish football rather than getting any financial returns from them because you're not you're not getting any financial returns from a redistricting.
00:43:48
Conor Glennon
I think i think you I don't know if you'd get the caliber of a Roy Keane, but there's definitely I think players who would have had you know spent time and and be at the UK or top flight in Ireland kind of going back to their local team that I think would definitely again bring more eyes, more attention and I suppose create a management pathway as well.
Managerial Opportunities in a Third Division
00:44:10
Conor Glennon
Like that's the one thing that I was kind of thinking there when you you were saying about an additional 10, 15 jobs, like, you know, who says one of them doesn't go on to be a, you know,
00:44:19
Conor Glennon
gigantic manager in the future and of kind of huge caliber.
00:44:24
Bill
Yeah, like because if you look abroad, we have, I'm gonna say hundreds of Irish players across different, even England, and like, but like, if I ask, well, I could probably just do it now, but if you've asked me the name Irish Cultures, I'd be interested in how many people can actually name.
00:44:41
Conor Glennon
We were only saying this recently on the pod. We we were we were kind of struggling enough to to to get more than a handful.
00:44:50
Killian Ginnity
Only for I'm a faux pas manager fiend.
00:44:50
Bill
Yeah.
00:44:52
Killian Ginnity
I would i would struggle.
00:44:54
Conor Glennon
yeah And yearss go so your level of niche coaches, like that if like they're not mainstream. you know
00:45:02
Killian Ginnity
Like it's it's, yeah, it's, and I think this is where, a but like, as you said, the joined up thinking would be great that like, if it was kind of incentivized within the, um, when you're getting your badges with the FAI to work within or with, uh, the third division clubs, especially in the first kind of format of years, though, when clubs and the league and nobody's sure financially how it's going to work, potentially that it's kind of like, okay, well, we will all these guys and.
00:45:31
Killian Ginnity
If you're looking for work placement, well, we'll incentivize that you just go here. We're not going to stop you going elsewhere, but here's a bunch of clubs that you'll get really good experience with. It would just make sense, I think.
00:45:44
Conor Glennon
ah You're bringing me right into the idea of it. When we came onto the pod today, I had a feeling that this third division would would be a major talking point. And I've been quite a large proponent of and all the reasons why it doesn't work. But I think if you look at it as a football fan, why not try it?
00:46:02
Conor Glennon
you know
00:46:04
Killian Ginnity
100%. We are coming towards the end of ah the podcast now, and but Bill, it's it's it's a question I put to Alan Cawley before, because I'm a great proponent of it.
Utilizing the 'Granny Rule' for National Team Benefit
00:46:17
Killian Ginnity
Nate and Connor, less so. They're kind of less enthused about it as I would be. and ah Granny Rule. Heimer Helgramson, when he was at Jamaica, brought through many ah second, third generation players um and had relative success with them, I don't think it was long enough to get the real ah successes over. and There's a whole batch of second second or third generations players there that
00:46:44
Killian Ginnity
I'm not sure how much the approach has gone out to them or how convincingly they've kind of done it or not as the case may be. I'm a Sunderland fan. I want to see Dennis Serkin in an Irish shirt.
00:46:55
Conor Glennon
If I hear that man's name, one more bloody time.
00:46:57
Nate
yeah
00:46:59
Killian Ginnity
What do you make of, of um for lack of a kinder word, of the imported players that that didn't come through the Irish leagues, that don't necessarily have the affinity of the Irish structure, but could come in and do a really good job for us?
00:47:13
Bill
Yeah, like, I suppose it's kind of one of my um gimmicks that I should have loved that I kind of pick up the diaspora for, to an extent where I got a post about Declan Rice, Jack Rheelish and Michael Kean.
00:47:26
Killian Ginnity
much to your followerss chagrin
00:47:28
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:47:29
Bill
Yeah, but it's there's been a cracking day. Again, if people are like, it annoys all the right people, if they're not, if that annoys them and they aren't going to follow because of that, then I don't want them following in the first place. like I'd rather post what I want to post than ponder for people for likes and clout which certain people and if you want to talk to me about.
00:47:48
Bill
But yeah, look, as someone who's born in Ireland, raised in Ireland, I've never left Ireland for much considerable life, but my parents are.
00:47:53
Killian Ginnity
Too much to your followers, chagrin.
00:47:59
Bill
Did they ask you a question? It's very and difficult, like I know, I understand people were burned with the likes of Jack Ralish and Declan Rice. I'm, I'd more so blame, um, I sure don't really blame either of them to be honest. I blame Martin O'Neill for not copying, but like,
00:48:17
Bill
um there I'll never know what it's like to be due to a nationality like those and I think it's wrong. There's an insecure kind of feeling going into the Irish cycle where we don't like these pairs because they switched but like it's happened since the dawn of time ah and it'll continue to do so when you see the amount of people with African heritage now. We've worked with Lopez playing for Cape Verde with Hans and Rach, played for Dr. Congo there recently.
00:48:45
Bill
And even Michael Kean played for Aaron in England, probably to which, Andy Donegan. There's so many of them and people don't know about them because they don't care. They don't see him as an off star and Patrick Bamford. It's it's only because Deccan Rice and Jack Relish would have been one of our best players that People are so upset about it now when it comes to, um, I think the deck of rights situation did kind of burn, plays with people. I did upset a few people. So there are people I imagine in the background who are a bit of war institution now, but like.
00:49:21
Bill
If you want to represent Ireland, if you have the parents to do so, there's very, there's very, well, you can read the rules or not, but there are very, very simple rules in place. If you want to represent Ireland, you have to be born in Ireland or have a parent or grandparent, as simple as.
00:49:34
Conor Glennon
Yeah, we're we're we're not. We haven't gone as far as rugby, I suppose, where you can be, you know, four or five years in the country and and play for the national team because it like.
00:49:41
Bill
No one says the same about it. No one says the same about it because of rugby, but like, like,
00:49:47
Conor Glennon
The only time the only time where I ever see from that this kind of kick up on and that in rugby is if they're from the UK. you know I think we Ireland have a lot of players that have come in from you know Australia, New Zealand, um some Pacific Island heritage, South African heritage, but then you get someone like a ah Billy Barnes who's who was a and the UK born player then it all becomes a problem and I think there's a bit of that in in in the granny rule piece I think if players aren't
Global Scouting of Irish Descent Players
00:50:17
Conor Glennon
English we're a bit more open to it um and I'm not saying that as us as a part I just mean as a kind of a general Irish feeling to it but
00:50:28
Conor Glennon
i i I think we're me and Kylian don't see eyed eye to eye on it. is is i'm I'm fine with any player who wants to play for Ireland if they want to play for Ireland as opposed to, well, I couldn't couldn't get in the England team or I couldn't get in the Spain team or whatever.
00:50:45
Bill
Yeah, um but as well as we might touch on it a bit with people that I see because I kind of just completely ignored your question there as I can go up there asking me in. But like it's it's not black and white. I know I'm part of the artist team right now, pay for England dash, pay for England on the Irish level. And it went down to represent Ireland with distinction. Adam of Robinson was captive under England under 20, never under 21 ever.
00:51:16
Bill
Joe Hajj represented England that at one point in his career. He switched from Ireland to England. He paid for England once or twice, I think. Joe Hajj turned down England to represent Ireland when he was a kid. So like he wants to pay for Ireland. No situation is back away, I suppose. Yeah, I understand what you're saying, but I bring modern, to be honest. If if I cast scouting missions across the world, just anyone that earns blood, I bring them in.
00:51:44
Conor Glennon
Well this is this is Killian's point. Killian wants to to to... I don't know if you said it was a real job or a job you wanted, Killian, but it was kind of like head of the granny rule, basically.
00:51:53
Killian Ginnity
Yeah, I would love it. Like I think, I think genuinely there is, is the mirror to it. Anytime I'm playing football manager and I'm managing Ireland, I get a scout and that's, that's all his job is go and find them players because sometimes the players aren't that aware of it themselves. We've seen times where we all assumed that there was a player that could have been eligible. Um, I think Kalamo Hare, uh, people thought he was eligible, but it was a great grandparents. So it was just worn out, which let's have a guy doing that job. Like.
00:52:22
Conor Glennon
Well that man better and better not be me because I thought Liam Dilap was Irish for far longer than I should have and he is he he is not and I can confirm.
00:52:31
Killian Ginnity
And his great granny's only from over the road, so she has overminality. No, but like I do think like we we could, especially when like if we're going to talk talk about it in a kind of nerdy ah ah business sense, um we could do it with a left back. Dennis Serkin fits that. like i I think we we can't be, and I think Alan Collie said it as well,
00:52:57
Killian Ginnity
Beggars can't be choosers. Like if the player is good enough and we'll get into the team, well, shouldn't we just get a good team?
00:53:03
Bill
yeah
00:53:03
Killian Ginnity
And I don't think anybody was complaining about Alex Bruce going to Northern Ireland after he had three caps at us.
00:53:07
Bill
Yeah.
00:53:10
Killian Ginnity
This is kind of, with with Declan Weiss, this is the kind of the risk you take with these kind of players. And ultimately Ireland has been treated very, very well by this rule long-term.
00:53:23
Bill
Yeah, exactly. It's not either or. We can have both. We can develop our product and our domestic product. by True Investment and continues to search for the last part because like I put up a poll on September 20th, Christmas Eve in 2022. This is on the back of Morocco's Success to Work Up. I said, would you rather have an all Irish barn team and never make determines again or do a morocco and call up every eligible player and possibly make a simifinal now i got dog's abuse from that in that comment section um people claiming that i was saying that you can't be born if you're not born and you're not racist but or no if you're not born in the contest there are Irish people that are born outside of Ireland lads and like i was being flippant and i know the person was being completely disingenuous because if he'd followed
00:54:08
Conor Glennon
Oh, they're just missing the whole point of it.
00:54:17
Bill
Any sort of our content and constantly to the annoyance of actually ever on the internet. Like I'm just after the Lee are the diaspora statement. Like if, so there's, it wasn't that many votes.
00:54:27
Conor Glennon
but What was the result of that, Paul?
00:54:31
Bill
Well, there was a few for 951 votes, 81.9% of people said do a Morocco and 18 sentences said all Irish.
00:54:39
Conor Glennon
Kelly and you got some pals out there.
00:54:42
Killian Ginnity
Well see, this is the other thing and it kind of brings up another element to kind of my Granny Reel Scout idea and it's one of the things that Morocco did with Mounir, the former Barcelona wonder kid.
00:54:57
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:54:58
Killian Ginnity
they got him to be eligible um and chased FIFA down for, I think it was an eye on four years because the rules at one stage said he could swap and then this changed it slightly, which meant he couldn't and then he could, but only one time. Like it was quite complicated, but they fought the fight for the player. And it's not a great way of getting somebody to be loyal to you. It's like to put in the work for them.
00:55:27
Conor Glennon
I think the that poll kind of sums up our pretty much our entire chat this evening on where Irish football is.
00:55:28
Killian Ginnity
i
00:55:34
Conor Glennon
I think we just need to experiment and try and bring in as much good resources we can get our hands on.
00:55:41
Bill
Yeah, I love this.
00:55:41
Killian Ginnity
even when the commenters don't understand what you're asking them.
00:55:44
Bill
If we had the finances to do so, I'd be having brand new accounts. Like, my idea actually, I put up a post before and it was like, having a development, kind of a development, I think it was based, I think I had a link to one of the graphs in the post as well as by having a development team, the brand.
00:56:00
Conor Glennon
Yeah.
00:56:00
Bill
I think we should have a development team in the English system. I kind of, I kind of do myself like a football manager, I did my Irish parents, I did my MK dance actually. But like, I just have to throw all our eligible parents into it, like, um, and to use it as a base of training, base of the team, because I think that would be the bridge between the league round and then, but, um, you need a very wealthy person to do that.
00:56:23
Killian Ginnity
Well, they did it ah for a year in the Philippines. They had had the Azkel's development team, the ADT. And it was basically that bridge between, well, either the teams can't afford to have these players, but we can't afford that to not have them playing.
00:56:43
Killian Ginnity
So stay within the system, learn under our national team coaches and get league experience.
00:56:49
Conor Glennon
see the See, the problem with that is, you like like like Bill said, you need big money for that.
00:56:49
Killian Ginnity
So.
00:56:53
Conor Glennon
And if you're spending big money on Irish football, you want the national team to succeed, it's going to come second for it at all times. You know, it would take a real football purist with bags of cash.
00:57:06
Bill
yeah like
00:57:06
Killian Ginnity
unless as ah as a league, you make an agreement like kind of like we mentioned earlier with the European money that maybe 10% goes aside for something like that.
00:57:14
Conor Glennon
Yeah, we can dream.
00:57:16
Killian Ginnity
We can dream. Bill, it's been an absolute and utter pleasure. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell everybody where to find you?
00:57:24
Bill
thank
00:57:26
Killian Ginnity
and
00:57:27
Conor Glennon
for those For those fools who aren't already following you.
00:57:27
Killian Ginnity
aye
00:57:30
Killian Ginnity
Yeah.
00:57:30
Bill
Yeah. Yeah. And I'll just echo your statement. and I would love to have a second preference.
00:57:35
Bill
But I do.
00:57:35
Conor Glennon
Oh God, enough of that.
00:57:35
Killian Ginnity
whoop yeah
00:57:37
Bill
but
00:57:38
Conor Glennon
I'm joking, I think he'd be unbelievable. I just like Pokefone Achilleanvert.
00:57:41
Bill
well yeah I'm i just one more. hit I don't I have my fears that he'd rather play for last year than. And yeah.
00:57:50
Conor Glennon
where can they Where can they find you?
00:57:52
Bill
um get out though And so our football blog on Twitter or X and in the link to our our post that you have our other socials and partners.
00:58:04
Bill
public grandparent tracker The podcast, my own podcast, which I need to get going again soon, might have you on, let's see. and
00:58:13
Conor Glennon
Anytime.
00:58:14
Bill
But yeah, just the main account for it is sam our show pop up on Twitter at blog Irish and you'll find your way everywhere else from that account.
00:58:23
Conor Glennon
Super stuff. Thanks so many, Bill.
00:58:24
Killian Ginnity
So don't forget to follow there and to turn on post notifications because every post is worth it. Gentlemen, thank you very much for joining me and we'll chat again next week.
00:58:34
Conor Glennon
Bye bye.
00:58:36
Bill
Look.