Getting the house in order
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The furniture may have been moved around and a new sign is hanging above the door, yet this is still the same home of domestic football.
An attempt to do some Spring-cleaning before the guests arrived to see what had changed was haphazard at best, with some of the same ugly features that marred last year’s visit still sticking out.
However, not all of the mess has been swept under the carpet and stuffed behind cabinets. Improvements have been made. While not all of them will be instantly visible, there is certainly an indication that some order has finally been found and that should result in guests staying a little longer when dropping by this year.
Sometimes it can be too easy to find faults when staring at the same structure for so long. So it is good to take look at what the neighbours are doing and pick up on what they are doing to keep their dwelling intact.
Okay, there is no point in peering in at the grand residences that have Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga stamped on their mailboxes. But the homes that the MLS and the A-League inhabit are definitely worth checking out as they have withstood many potential disasters that could have brought it all crashing down.
Adam Hughes can testify to this. The 27-year-old currently plays in the A-League with Adelaide United after spending time in the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers and Drogheda United.
The box-to-box midfielder believes the FAI should look at how the A-League does all that it can to help its clubs rather than waiting to punish them when they trip up.
"In Ireland, the clubs are left to handle all of their own affairs – even when it is clear that they are struggling to stay on top of things. It is different in Australia," Hughes told Insider’s View.
"A good example would be that my current club, Adelaide, were going through a rough patch and there was talk that they might even have to shut down. But the Australian FA stepped in and bought a percentage of the club to ensure they stayed alive.
"There isn’t really a conflict of interests because the league are just doing all that they can in order to keep every team alive. They handle the business side of things and advise the clubs on all matters.
"If the FAI did something similar then I don’t think you would have seen what happened with Drogheda and Cork. The people running the clubs need help and I think the A-League have struck a good balance on that front."
Then again, the current landlords have done much more than just add a new coat of paint to the home of Irish football. By bringing in a shiny new sponsor and setting down strict guidelines, they are making the right kind of renovations.
Some may take longer to get used to, while others will do the boring yet important job of keeping the whole structure together. And funnily enough, some of the neighbours have even ventured across to take note of the improvements made.
"What the FAI has done to advise and regulate the finances of its top-division clubs is a masterstroke of goverance," said Andrew Howard, Club Licensing Manager for the Welsh Premier League.
"The governing body is showing leadership, there’s stability and strength between the league and its clubs, reduced hyper-inflation in the salary market, reduced use of loans to cover operating costs, an increase in availability of funds for core investment and the governing body is targeting a break-even figure for the whole league by 2012."
If one of the neighbours is that complimentary about how the home of Irish football looks, then perhaps we should abandon the insular perspective that keeps our expectations so high.
Maybe it is time to realize that this is actually a home to be proud of – or at least it will be once the core building work is completed.
An attempt to do some Spring-cleaning before the guests arrived to see what had changed was haphazard at best, with some of the same ugly features that marred last year’s visit still sticking out.
However, not all of the mess has been swept under the carpet and stuffed behind cabinets. Improvements have been made. While not all of them will be instantly visible, there is certainly an indication that some order has finally been found and that should result in guests staying a little longer when dropping by this year.
Sometimes it can be too easy to find faults when staring at the same structure for so long. So it is good to take look at what the neighbours are doing and pick up on what they are doing to keep their dwelling intact.
Okay, there is no point in peering in at the grand residences that have Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga stamped on their mailboxes. But the homes that the MLS and the A-League inhabit are definitely worth checking out as they have withstood many potential disasters that could have brought it all crashing down.
Adam Hughes can testify to this. The 27-year-old currently plays in the A-League with Adelaide United after spending time in the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers and Drogheda United.
The box-to-box midfielder believes the FAI should look at how the A-League does all that it can to help its clubs rather than waiting to punish them when they trip up.
"In Ireland, the clubs are left to handle all of their own affairs – even when it is clear that they are struggling to stay on top of things. It is different in Australia," Hughes told Insider’s View.
"A good example would be that my current club, Adelaide, were going through a rough patch and there was talk that they might even have to shut down. But the Australian FA stepped in and bought a percentage of the club to ensure they stayed alive.
"There isn’t really a conflict of interests because the league are just doing all that they can in order to keep every team alive. They handle the business side of things and advise the clubs on all matters.
"If the FAI did something similar then I don’t think you would have seen what happened with Drogheda and Cork. The people running the clubs need help and I think the A-League have struck a good balance on that front."
Then again, the current landlords have done much more than just add a new coat of paint to the home of Irish football. By bringing in a shiny new sponsor and setting down strict guidelines, they are making the right kind of renovations.
Some may take longer to get used to, while others will do the boring yet important job of keeping the whole structure together. And funnily enough, some of the neighbours have even ventured across to take note of the improvements made.
"What the FAI has done to advise and regulate the finances of its top-division clubs is a masterstroke of goverance," said Andrew Howard, Club Licensing Manager for the Welsh Premier League.
"The governing body is showing leadership, there’s stability and strength between the league and its clubs, reduced hyper-inflation in the salary market, reduced use of loans to cover operating costs, an increase in availability of funds for core investment and the governing body is targeting a break-even figure for the whole league by 2012."
If one of the neighbours is that complimentary about how the home of Irish football looks, then perhaps we should abandon the insular perspective that keeps our expectations so high.
Maybe it is time to realize that this is actually a home to be proud of – or at least it will be once the core building work is completed.
About Gareth Maher
Gareth Maher is an award-winning journalist who has covered domestic, international and women's football for the best part of a decade. Previously a columnist for the Irish Daily Mail and Football Editor for Setanta Sports, … View Full Profile