John Fallon: Matt Taylor's putdown a leveller for League of Ireland
HARSH TRUTHS: Matt Taylor compared the League of Ireland standard to English non-league, aired during praise for striker Georgie Kelly. Pic: Pete Norton/Getty Images
Every so often, an outsider’s opinion gets the dander among League of Ireland folk up and the latest to strike a nerve was Matt Taylor, barely a wet day in the door at Rotherham United as manager.
Him comparing the league standard to English non-league, aired during praise for striker Georgie Kelly, amounted to “shock”, according to one media outlet, the cue for a widespread backlash across diehards.
How we shape up to our nearest neighbours is an inexact science for various reasons but that’s never stopped it becoming a national pastime. It’s more than a generation back but there was nothing more satisfying to indulge a best XI shaded by green when Ireland were qualifying for tournaments that England weren’t — the 1994 World Cup.
Long gone are those halcyon days, unlikely to return, but we can at least take solace from watching the sometimes hoof-ball of the English lower leagues, theoretically if not empirically assuming the better fare is on our doorstep.
Taylor, a no-nonsense centre-back in his day whose brief ceiling was the Championship, gave his take after Kelly’s goal helped him crown his first match as Millers boss against Huddersfield Town with a 2-1 win.
“I’ve been here for two minutes and he’s still incredibly raw,” said Taylor of Kelly, the league’s top scorer last season, recruited as a free agent from Bohemians.
“He’s come from Ireland which, with no disrespect to Irish football, is the equivalent of non-league level in the English pyramid.”
Ouch. No sooner had his words travelled across the Irish sea than a barrage of indignation unspooled.
Sacrilege or an unvarnished reality check? Probably neither in their purest of forms but a reminder of where Irish football is perceived to be within what the FAI like to brand as the ecosystem.
Non-league, as Taylor refers to it, is better known in these parts as Conference football.
Or, to give its modern title, the national league.
The fifth tier of the English ladder it may be but standards and crowds have been on rise as the riches of the Premier League cascade. This year alone, the mothership ringfenced £16m of grants to male and female national league clubs.
Drawing direct contrasts with the League of Ireland is complicated by the format.
Whereas Ireland has 10 Premier and nine First Division clubs, the national league equivalent top-flight comprises 24 teams, propping up two regional divisions beneath.
All clubs are fully professional, compared to seven in Ireland.
The three outfits in the First Division operating that model — Cork City, Waterford and Galway — rebalance the equation to a degree.
Still, the debate is usually settled by the views and performances of players.
Much of the ire directed Taylor’s way from these shores centred around the importance of Chiedozie Ogbene to the Rotherham team.
Unquestionably, the Ireland attacker is one of the Millers’ prize assets but it’s delusional to claim that was the case when Brentford first plucked him from the league almost five years ago.
The Cork native himself has been honest about the development he required, both physically and tactically, to endure and then prosper within the English circuit. Kelly, too, was worked on within a full-time environment before being unleashed.
“He’s right in saying that an awful lot of the Irish boys that go over are technically raw,” Keith Treacy, the ex-Ireland international who figured in all four English divisions, told LOITV on the topic.
“Having played in the LOI, I think Shamrock Rovers would be one better teams in League One.
“The likes of Rovers, Dundalk, Derry City and St Patrick’s Athletic would hold their own in and around League One but to be honest there’s a disconnect in quality in the lower end.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a disrespectful comment but not totally accurate either.”
Talking to any Irish player oscillating between the national league and League Two, a general pattern emerges.
Be it Gavan Holohan, Paddy Madden or Gavin Gunning, they are generally content where they are for professional and personal reasons. Adam Rooney also chose to snub Shamrock Rovers twice in the last year to stay where he was.
Wages, across the board, are superior, as are the attendances. Six clubs have averaged turnouts of 5,000+ this term.
Wrexham, co-owned by Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, lead the way with gates touching 10,000. They have former Ireland underage internationals Thomas O’Connor, Liam McAlinden and Anthony Forde in their ranks, sitting a point off Notts County occupying the sole automatic promotion berth.
Whichever two replicate the feats of Stockport and Grimsby Town by going up this year will bank in excess of £1m, including a grant towards stadia infrastructure.
On offer for Shamrock Rovers if they complete a three-in-a-row is a pitiful €100,000 in prize-money.
What Rovers and three other qualified Irish clubs hold as an annual distinction is access to the European largesse. However, all of the ‘non-league’ teams share the broadcast revenue from the BT deal, while the Vanarama sponsorship that runs till 2024 comes with trickle-down provisions.
“Chesterfield gave me a three-year contract last year when I was nearly 31,” stressed Gunning. “Very few 21-year-olds get contracts of that length in Ireland. I’ve got lots of mates in the League of Ireland and, while the European aspect is tempting, it doesn’t outweigh the benefits players get in England.”
That summary won’t sit well with those harbouring notions of domestic bliss but perhaps it’s easier to tolerate coming from one of their own.
What comes next after a ‘hornet’s nest’ and ‘pub team’ when it comes to Roy Barrett describing the FAI board he’s the chairman of?
Commentary around the Ireland team and its manager Stephen Kenny seems to be exercising Barrett, given the pointed emails he’s been circulating to colleagues after the last two international windows.
It is approaching three years since Barrett was appointed as the first-ever independent chair of the association. Gradually, the independent portion on the 12-person board has risen to reach parity with the six directors elected through football channels but the assumption that a schism exists solely between the two sides is a dangerous one.
All came around to the conclusion last November that Kenny’s rocky opening two years at the helm shouldn’t deprive him a shot at qualifying for the Euros — once the debt-ridden association wasn’t exposed to full compensation by ejecting midflight.
But to believe the dozen are clear of reservations on the manager’s abilities after a Nations League campaign that fell well short of his own target is naïve and out of touch. Discussion surrounding the Irish team’s affairs is a certainty but maybe energies devoted to vindication would be optimised in key areas such as sourcing a main sponsor, the absence of which is far more damaging to the FAI’s balance sheet.
Early risers on Saturday morning will get a glimpse of the hand Ireland are dealt with in next July’s World Cup.
Auckland, one of nine host cities across New Zealand and Australia, will stage the ceremony from 7.30am, with manager Vera Pauw and President Gerry McAnaneny representing the FAI inside the Aotea Centre.
The eight groups can contain no more than two teams from Europe, sparing Ireland crippling combinations such as England and Denmark or Germany and Switzerland.
Meeting either of the co-hosts from Pot 1 — Ireland beat Australia last September — represents the best options but also offers the FAI scope to cash in on friendlies.
While Fifa have increased their minimum prize-money to €1.3m, logistical costs and the players/staff entitlement to 25% of the overall pot in bonuses tumbles the association’s account towards the red zone on this venture.
Boosts from the modest sponsorship deals with Sky and Cadbury will help but finally utilising the national stadium is integral to returning a profit. Four windows exist for friendlies between November and just prior to the tournament, affording time to nail down one of the superpowers for a Dublin friendly. USA’s double-header against Germany, as well as England facing Japan and Norway, wipes four big guns from the November possibilities but either the Americans or England will be sought for next year.
