Lisa Fallon: Irish clubs are at their most vulnerable when needing their best players to be ultra-committed to the cause. How is that sustainable? (via IrishTimesSport )
Shamrock Rovers' Rory Gaffney, Dylan Watts and Andy Lyons celebrate a goal. Photograph: Evan Treacy/InphoRare is the wonderful sight of an Irish team comprehensively dispatching European opposition in a Champions League qualifier.
Summer football has proved a benefit for Irish clubs come European competition, especially at this time of year, as Rovers are in the middle of their season, which gives them a distinct competitive edge over almost every opponent. In training it’s vital that coaches prepare players for this and to taper intensity levels to ensure their exposure to the higher demands does not come as a shock. This also has to be factored into training weeks to avoid an increase in each player’s risk of injury.
With the financial stakes so high — prize money will tip over €5 million if Rovers reach the Europa Conference group stages, with a further €500,000 for every win thereafter, while a pot of just €600,000 is shared among the League of Ireland clubs, so there’s an enormous incentive to keep these European nights going.
Back in 2011, when Rovers first qualified for the group stages of the Europa League, they had a wage bill of less than €600,000 annually. In their group, they had Tottenham Hotspur, PAOK Salonika and Rubin Kazan. Financially, these clubs were heavyweights in comparison. PAOK were operating off a wage bill of €7 million. Rubin Kazan were up around the €18 million mark. At the time, Tottenham striker Jermaine Defoe was earning €72,000 per week.
Irish clubs are at their most vulnerable when needing their best players to be ultra-committed to the cause. How is that sustainable? At least they are learning to negotiate fees and sale clauses for potential superstars like Gavin Bazunu — the gift that keeps on giving to Rovers — but most deals are way off the rewards that follow a run of European games.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Irish and UK leaders to meet for first British-Irish Council Summit since Johnson resignationDevelopments in Westminster will be on the agenda as they discuss the political situation in each nation.
Read more »
Irish woman saves man's life after spotting him slumped in carAn Irish woman travelling with a tour group in New Zealand for the Irish rugby tests sprung into action to save a man's life after noticing him slumped in a car with his daughter
Read more »
The Irish political scandals that led to high-profile resignationsWhile the final report did not accuse Ahern of corruption, it stated that “much of the explanations provided by Ahern, as to the source of the substantial funds available to him, were deemed by the Tribunal to be 'untrue.''
Read more »
Investor demand for Irish debt remains high - NTMAThe National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said that because of its multi-year programme of pre-funding and its decision to take advantage of historically low rates in recent years, it now has €30 billion in cash.
Read more »