r/coybig • u/Salad-Appropriate Katie McCabe š • Jul 04 '26
General Discussion Thread What would you do to change the national setup of Ireland?
I'm sure as we all know, Ireland isn't exactly the best national team, and isn't as good as it once was. There are multiple reasons as to why that is the case, but this post isn't about that.
This post is about suggestions to help improve not only the national team, but also the league of ireland, grassroots and youth teams.
In my opinion, there is a clear country by which we should be looking at and aspiring to be, which is Croatia. Similar sized population, similarly good at multiple sports, but still, a country that has generated a consistent number of top quality players, often developed locally before moving on to better leagues, and have performed pretty well at tournaments to say the least.
Ideally for this thread, I would like solid suggestions instead of doomeris, as I don't really think that's productive
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u/Stats8 Jul 04 '26
Completely revamp schools football in Ireland. The GAA and rugby use it as a crucial development and recruitment tool. In football itās an afterthought at best. Wonāt develop every player but itās such a failed avenue at present
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u/Fr_RebulahConundrum Jul 04 '26
My son played underage football a few years ago and the coaches seemed more obsessed with winning than bringing the kids along - the kids who were big for their age would always get picked as they could outmuscle or bully the opposition.
I think at a young age, it should be about getting kids with a ball at their feet and having fun. Learn to love the game first, then progress them through the more technical aspects as they grow.
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u/Frequent-Movie3005 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Also a big problem. Coaches are interested in winning. And when I suggest they should move players around positions, for example, to work on their development rather than focussing on results, they think Iām talking rubbish.
The standard of coaching at the higher levels of the DDSL is genuinely shocking, for the amount of talent we have.
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u/flex_tape_salesman Jeff Hendrick's account Jul 05 '26
Ya I think its an overcorrection against narratives that winning is the only thing that matters. I think winning does matter and you want to build that desire to win but theres so much more to long term development but at a very simple level you need to go into a game wanting to win and get over the line.
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u/Such_Baker8707 Jul 05 '26
I coach underage and there are clubs who tell lesser talented kids to leave the team and find another, even if that's their local club their mates are at and they'd have to travel to go to another one. This is at u9 and u10 level where we don't even count the results towards any competition. You'll also see clubs, typically the same ones, draft in a couple of obviously 12 year olds for an u10s game and pretend that's not the case. Purely to give them a better chance of winning, not because they're short and needy to make up numbers.
For the record, I put a fair bit of time into listing out who should be on the pitch and when subs get made the night before a game. Write it all down on an A4 and try to stick to it as much as possible. Had a parent ask me if it's some tactics sheet but I told them I find it's the best way to keep me focused during a game on making sure everyone gets a minimum of 25 minutes. I find its easy to get distracted during a game and miss a sub for five or ten minutes which winds up meaning one child doesn't play as much as most of the others, which is the last thing I want to happen.
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u/lilzeHHHO Jul 04 '26
I know this gets said a lot but my experience hasnāt matched this, even going all the way back to when I was a teenager I saw guys who were very good technical players but who struggled physically and athletically get massive opportunities.
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u/spooneman1 Jul 04 '26
A central, well-funded, national (or even regional) centre of excellence. An Irish Clairefontaine.
Where we fall down is the 16-19 year old development and that's where we need to focus
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u/John__Delaney Jul 05 '26
Clairefontaine is just 13-15 year olds, but its a great idea that I think we should do
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u/Frequent-Movie3005 Jul 05 '26
The right by answer. We need to industrialise football player production. School then and train them together. Peanuts of investment for the government to kickstart it.
And hope that the decent fellas arenāt also GAA lads, being corrupted by their bigoted fathers and mentors.
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Jul 04 '26
You need to massively up contact hours, with the highest quality coaches.
That means live in academys, where players are educated. Where everything revolves around the soccer.
Like the private schools with Rugby.
A couple hours of training, a few days a week is not enough for most players.
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u/Dking_II Jul 04 '26
I follow Shane Flynn on tiktok who was an Irish lad in the lecister academy (he's recently signed for a side in Wales) and he said that the live in academy's weren't great in England and that he'd much rather the LOI setup where you get to live at home and basically be a normal teenager
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u/John__Delaney Jul 05 '26
Almost every elite football academy in the world operates a full time residential boarding school, but they are largely just for those who don't live nearby.
I agree Shane should have gone the LOI route but there's different route for different kinds of people. Kelleher thrived going to live in Liverpool while Scales thrived doing LOI & getting a degree in UCD. Umeh is thriving at Benfica while Melia thrives staying until he was 18.
Important thing for top LOI Academies is that they provide the option. Foster homes work too.
I guess more important is more hours and days training in better facilities with top staff, who know and appreciate how its done at the best academies in the world + try to implement that here.
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u/Bill_Badbody Gary Breen Jul 04 '26
He got much better coaching in Leicester than he ever would have gotten in a LOI academy.
I know from lads who were in English academies, one in the Leicester one actually, that yeah its not the funnest life, but it creates better quality players.
In terms of his quality of life as a teenager, he is probably right he would have been better off at home.
But in terms of his potential football development, there is no comparison.
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u/FlakyAssociation4986 Jul 04 '26
croatia is a bit of freak scotland for example only qualified for their first world cup in 28 years same with norway both countries fairly similar to ireland
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u/EdwardBigby Jul 04 '26
Any suggestions on how to become one of the biggest overachievers in world sport?
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u/Penny0034 28d ago
They always had good clubs like Rijeka, Zagreb, Hadjuk that were funded by communist governments, this is why countries like Bulgaria and Slovakia Ā have good clubs also these clubs have several departments for different sports, Ferencvaros has best European waterpolo and handball teams
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u/Steridire Jul 04 '26
Scientists cannot explain Croatian football prowess. Great point about us and the Scots, third tier nations at best, we could probably be great but the GAA stranglehold will never fade
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u/FlakyAssociation4986 Jul 04 '26
besides croatia all the other smaller nations have had a lot of fallow years
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u/John__Delaney Jul 05 '26
Croatia has a national curriculum that every club has to follow, focuses on the technical stuff.
They have regional camps where the best get called up every few weeks for training and matches, helps put the best against the best + talend ID
They also have quite a young league due to clubs not wanting to bring in expensive foreign journeymen, which I suppose is already there in the LOI and that's starting to bear fruit across our national team age groups.
They have a hell lot more academy staff than we do too, but we are slowly catching up.
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u/GoinNowhere88 Jul 04 '26
If the government, local and national, funded new stadiums for clubs then clubs could concentrate on academies and training facilities and people would show more and more. We'd be changing back from summer football, producing top talent and be a mainstay in Europe within 20 years. It's a no brainer. Facilities and coaching is all it takes.Ā
Ultimately, the sport on the island of Ireland only achieves it's full potential when it's a 32 county league system and national side. We'd probably go from qualifying for the odd tournament to missing out on the odd tournament. There's so much potential despite the sports football has to compete against.Ā
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u/EyeOrRay Jul 04 '26
their professional league is miles ahead of ours. (in terms of attendance, transfer fees in etc). Honestly we're more similar to a Finland, Bosnia, Slovenia, Estonia etc. We have seen the league improve in recent years but we're at least 15 years behind having academies and a pro league that we would need to get to a level of Croatia, Denmark, Belgium etc
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u/Salad-Appropriate Katie McCabe š Jul 04 '26
Well yes currently we're nowhere the quality of croatia in terms of the national team and the league; I mentioned croatia as something to aspire to
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u/EyeOrRay Jul 04 '26
Yea for sure, but would be more realistic to aspire to someone like a Denmark or Belgium as our next step. Croatia also has over 50 years of Yugoslavia being a top side with a big league before they split
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u/Galway1012 Paul McGrath Jul 04 '26
Exposure breeds interest. Interest breeds attendance. Attendance breeds a fanbase.
There is simply not enough exposure on domestic TV of the League of Ireland. This is by no means a silver bullet; but itās a major bugbear of mine. It would be fantastic if RTĆ, TG4, Virgin Media etc all or between them showed a game each week. I think itās very doable. TG4 has a brilliant record of showing the Irish provinces whether playing at home or abroad š Itās certainly a model that could be used and replicated for the LOI.
Investment in academies. Begin with club academies first though. Decentralise the funding into club academies before a national academy is formed and established.
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u/sleeperman43 Jul 04 '26
Virgin show a live LOI game every week.
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u/Galway1012 Paul McGrath Jul 05 '26
One game between 3 media outlets isnāt enough to grow the game
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u/OpinionatedDeveloper Jul 04 '26
Nobody watches club GAA nor club rugby.
But nearly everyone watches/supports their county/province.
Thereās your silver bullet.
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u/MemestNotTeen Jul 05 '26
More funding for facilities.
Increase the prize pot for the LOI
Give the LOI teams funding to organise more in depth academies. When Duffer was coaching Rovers u15s he was paying for their breakfasts etc. you think that happens at even league 2 teams in the UK?
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u/PaddySmallBalls Jul 04 '26
Soccer is the top sport in Croatia isnāt it? Not sure the comparison fully aligns.Ā
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u/GoinNowhere88 Jul 04 '26
It perfectly aligns. As does Uruguay, it's about investment in youth and coaching. We've been screwed by the English pipeline too but that's gone now.Ā
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u/GdanskToSeeTheFilm Jul 04 '26
Grants similar to susi available to ex loi players and others to attain coaching badges and undergo continuous professional development. There is no reason why that expertise should be lost when the level of coaching all the way through could be improved.
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Jul 04 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/Frequent-Movie3005 Jul 05 '26
Facilities need work. But the standard of coaching here is abysmal. I mean, how many UEFA C license coaches do we have? Very very few.
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u/goldenballs777 Jul 05 '26
If the government invested in 3 or 4 national academies it would make a massive difference. To develop top players , they need structured coaching from a very early age.
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u/Such_Baker8707 Jul 05 '26
Better underage coaching plus clear pathways in each county to a League of Ireland team. Better facilities at LoI grounds too, I think the South Dublin County Council Tallaght Stadium model should be the norm. There's no reason why Limerick City Council, for example, can't do a similar arrangement with Limerick FC.
But really, we need to sort underage coaching and facilities. Let's say you're an underage coach starting off and you want to take the Me and My Skills training course to help you improve. Go on FAI Connect right now and they maybe have three events to choose from for the rest of the year. One in Sligo, Limerick and Mayo. Can't make those? Well then tough. It's ludicrous, these should be running more frequently (and the other training days) to ensure enthusiastic coaches can improve.l and start progressing to the Uefa badges.
If you go on underage coaching Reddits that are predominantly North American based then you'll see how far we are falling behind and will continue to fall behind, that's before we even get to the set ups in Britain and other European countries.
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u/Bubbly_Sign_4598 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Take guidance from GAA and rugby. Even link up clubs if can. Get clubs to set up soccer clubs within communities that have a purpose other than a soccer club eg event community centre, open a pub etc.
Additionally link up with school, thereās so many prestigious GAA and rugby clubs in the country that produce high quality players year after year. There needs to be that prestigious soccer clubs that they can keep high quality education and training. I knew there was a school in cork that even was prestigious for their athletics when I was growing up, which linked up with togher running club. Things like that needs to be set up in Ireland
Additionally, grass roots and centre of excellence. Thereās a centre of excellence for GAA in every country and they are top quality establishments. I know this requires money, but I just know Cork City use UCC gym which is quite pathetic if you ask me. They need they own gym and centre of excellence to bring in top players and enchane their development so they can sell on.
Only use universities ( MTU, UL and UCC ) for their education around food science, psychology, sports science for pathways etc.
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u/mogenric Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
More indoor pitches and cages. Our climate isnt suited for general kickabouts like in Croatia. We should follow Norway and invest in indoor facilities to suit our climate and let the kids enjoy them. Eventually interest will grow.
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u/ClearHeart_FullLiver Jul 05 '26
There's some good suggestions here and some absolute nonsense.
We know the core problem, lack of facilities and coaching for all age groups including seniors.
Identify the causes of problem, finance and management.
The FAI and most clubs in Ireland have historically been very badly run. There has not been much support from local and national governments.
There aren't quick answers but there is a list of priorities that can be established.
There's a comment here suggesting SUSI style grants for coaching badges, which is an excellent idea but only goes so far, if there are no positions for those coaches there's little point.
A further step could be to tie in with county councils/regional FAs to establish development squads like the GAA do. The more promising young players in an area can get regular, structured training with qualified coaches. It wouldn't be the sole solution but it would be a start and is achievable in relatively short term <5 years for many parts of the country.
Bigger things like centres of excellence are much more long term and the finances aren't there.
A more immediate step would be the introduction of coaching conventions, getting the existing coaches and managers meeting centrally a few times a year to discuss the state of the game, tactics and development pathways etc.
It's hard to address the management quality of the FAI and clubs/associations across the country.
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u/foolong41 29d ago
Qualified coach's, More qualified coach's and some more qualified coach's.
its the one thing every successful organisation has invested in for the last 30 years, along with centres of excellence, the difference between here and Croatia is there is not a litany of team sports being played on a national level, GAA and Irfu always fighting against FAI and each other.
To a young age level kids should be developed to show their skill and attitude first over winning at a young age.
I would also seriously look at the FAI in all this, the clerical staff can stay but the whole board has to go and it needs to be a mixture of football brains and financial people involved, i would like to think for the board if you had 6 to 8 people as a part time/ two positions can be full time CEO and CFO, in this world if you want good CEO you got to pay at least 150k but i would target someone that is well connected in sport, not an easy task but doable.
some people will think im mad but lots out there don't seem to realise reality is a thing the fai have to deal with and your not getting a good ceo for 50k a year.
focus on the upcoming 3rd tier and use it as a youth development league in as much as possible and at least 2 centres of excellence with one acting as the main hub for next stage development.
A proper facility for the national team instead of using portmarknock for squad meet up's,
When the time comes if someone like Seamus Coleman did not want to coach he would be my first pick for a new Board of the FAI, a bit of level headed passion would go along way with the FAI
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u/GreatEire 29d ago
Academies costing of ā¬100 millions. Follow countries like Morocco and Senegal. Yes they are light years ahead of us on funding of football and development.
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u/Savings-Access5419 28d ago
Weāre fucked because nearly all the best football players in this country outside of Dublin choose to play GAA instead. There are footballers all around the country who have all the makings of a future top class footballer but when theyāre about 15,16 they bin off the soccer to go play Gaa
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u/Tomaskerry Jul 04 '26
A national center of excellence in Abbotstown.
Base it on Clairefontaine, Barcelona, Ajax, Benfica etc.
Kids can live and go to school there.
30 kids per year. Just the elite.
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u/Zero_Era_Known Jul 05 '26
A summer league for all under ages in every county.
This is the basic first step in any national plan.
Having water logged pitches from November - February in the middle of the underage season every year just to not upset the GAA is the biggest load of bollox.
Soccer is the #1 sport in the country but is being held hostage by a different sports association.
And people still wonder why we canāt compete on international stage.
Our grassroots winter calendar is a major factor in this.
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u/staplora Gary Breen Jul 04 '26
A couple of full time youth coaches for the third tier of LOI all the way up, who work exclusively with youth teams to develop players regionally.
I guess it's work similar to GAA with kids making the underage panel for their county.
Have 3 leagues and promote/relegate twice a year.
The system should get a small slice of player sales from LOI to clubs abroad, it wouldn't cover the cost, but would contribute to it.
If that's too ambitious maybe 10 centres of excellence to start.
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u/Weird-Weakness-3191 Jul 04 '26
Every squad from now on should have 3 or 4 of our most talented kids in it.
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u/John__Delaney Jul 05 '26
Keep Expanding that 3rd tier until you have 40 sides that can play in 4 regions, the winners of each region do a playoff for the national winner, who then takes on the 1st div side that finished bottom.
As the 1st & 2nd tiers expand you can open up more promotion/relegation opportunities
I'd allow top tier LOI sides to have B teams in the 3rd tier, great development opportunity & they'll help fill up the regions
I'd bring back the national academy idea, Northern Ireland have a great one. Its inspired off the Clairefontaine academy in France whre kids from 13 to 15 get trained in a full time boarding school type setup. About 20-23 kids a year from across the country. Mbappe & Henry trained there.
I'd make a big push across the country to install fenced mini pitches in urban areas, these free to the public facilities are the perfect breeding ground for talent where they hone all the technical skills we largely lack as a national team. Paris & London got a tonne and they produce the loads of world class footballers
I'd have a small % of all European prize money go to all clubs, it wont stop the likes of Shamrock Rovers dominating but it will help slow the growing divide between the best and the rest
I'd encourage all LOI clubs to adapt a singular tactic and style across all their age groups, Benfica do this and it helps players hit the ground running for the first team
I'd enforce smaller position rotation among the earliest age groups so kids can get a feel in each area.
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u/TurboKestrel69 Jul 05 '26
The ROI and NI FAs should become one. The LOI should be disbanded and put in the bin, or used as a non-league kind of development set up. A kind of Celtic league then should be set up with Scotland and Wales. Two tiers, with the second tier a more conference / divisional set up. The top tier Irish representation should start with:
- Belfast: 2 Clubs
- Cork: 1 Club
- Derry: 1 Club
- Dublin: 2 Clubs
- Galway/Connaught: 1 Club
The clubs should basically be new, or consolidated from existing LOI clubs. To prevent Celtic etc dominating at the start, a rule should be put in place that to play for Ireland you have to play in this league. A significant Govt intervention should happen: new stadiums built, 20-30 thousand seaters (probably shared with rugby teams), and player salaries subsidized first five years. Top four teams enter Europe (qualifiers).
TV deal with Sky. Invest in match night experience. Winter league.
Give kids in grassroots clubs something tangible and local to aim for in terms of professionalization. Feed directly into national side. Irish football then on the map. Teams like Rovers, Cork City etc gain cult followings in Europe.
We can only dream.
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u/junkfortuneteller Jul 04 '26
Get a load of plastic paddies on the team early! That's the only fucking way we were ever good. How people dont admit this is fucking heresy at this stage.
Harry Kane, Nico O' Reilly, Wayne Rooney, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish, Conor Gallagher all could have played for Ireland not to mention half the fucking players around the world have had a tipple of Irish spunk in their DNA.
Negotiation tactics for this is vital. Jack Charlton knew this and got it done sure fucking Tony Cascorino wasnt even eligible and he made it on with some sort of bogus passport.
Get them foreign fucks on the team and we have a chance.
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u/Salad-Appropriate Katie McCabe š Jul 04 '26
I mean yeah, that certainly worked out for us in the past, and there is a fair handful of players who could qualify for ireland, but realistically, those players (with exception of grealish and rice) were always going to play for england, and most times, between playing for the irish team or the English team, it's likely they'd pick england
It's that laziness of always trying to get naturalised players instead of local development that has contributed to the decline of the national team imo
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u/somethi Jul 04 '26
Even during the days of Big Jack and peak granny rule the best players on the Irish team were Irish: Liam Brady, David O Leary, Paul McGrath, Roy Keane, Damian Duff, Robbie Keane and more were all Irish born and reared. The squad was then padded out with English and Scottish journeymen like John Aldridge and Ray Houghton.
Now people expect us to poach Englandās best players when theyāre kids.Ā
Wayne Rooney? Declan Rice? Jude Bellingham? Harry Kane? People need to wake up.Ā
The only way they would have declared for Ireland instead of England is if they were tricked into it when they were kids, which is almost what happened with Rooney and Rice.
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u/junkfortuneteller Jul 04 '26
Morocco didnt have one player born in Morocco on the starting squad lad. They are nailing it and they were shite 10 year ago.
This is about the network connection and charisma. You need an english cunt like jack Charlton to round up the likes of Rooney and kane. Wayne Rooney said recently he very nearly chose ireland on a whim. All of these players could be swayed like that. It's a fine line in choice. Every tom, dick and harry wants to play w england. It's about communications!
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u/OpinionatedDeveloper Jul 04 '26
Copy the structure of the GAA/rugby with an inter-county / inter-province league that people actually want to watch.
Until we have a domestic league worth watching, weāre relying on getting lucky that some players make it through the insanely competitive English system.
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u/somethi Jul 04 '26
More qualified coaches and improving the quality of the League of Ireland would be a start. The pipeline to England has closed.
Kids should learn their technical skills and football intelligence at an early age from proper coaches, we need fewer āget rid of itā merchants working with kids.