LOI Central

After perhaps the craziest ten days in the history of the League of Ireland, Shels keeper Brendan Clarke and Pulitzer candidate David Sneyd join the lads to talk a crazy managerial merry-go-round, the FAI Cup final, Marc Bircham's Waterford demise, and UCD's playoff win. Our penultimate podcast of the year had to be recorded on Zoom because as Dan was breaking stories, Johnny was breaking his ankle. What did the lads make of the FAI Cup final, and how did it all end like this for the winning team and their manager?

On this week’s super special extra bonus party golf club pod we have PFAI awards nominees Georgie Kelly and Ross Tierney from Bohemians who completely break the mould and stereotypes of footballers as they delve into heartfelt discussions of family, personal loss, mental health, sustainability and economics. They do mention football once or twice too. And on cup final week we also hear from St Patrick’s Athletic star, the award nominated Chris Forrester, who shirks his iconic Ian Curtis lookalike status for a more workmanlike Michael Carrick comparison and talks about how football is giving him joy again. Looking ahead with Dan and Johnny to the cup final, he's bullish about the youngsters at Pats and how they look to cause a bit of an upset. But not as much of an upset as Johnny was feeling after his encounter with the mannequins during the week. Stephen McGuinness helps us to set the scene for the awards and details his own battle. This is episode 37.

Dan is back from the Grand Duchy after watching Ireland turn a corner and negotiate a tricky road. Unlike Johnny who ended up in an ambulance trying to do the same. Dundalk’s Brian Gartland stops by with an old team mate, Dane Massey of Drogheda United to talk about the seismic Oriel Park takeover, the restoration of class and dignity, Mexican nightclubs, 2016 memories, Brian’s book and the Galway Under 14s. Or was that Johnny....I think it was Johnny...

Even if you were at The Beatles in the Adelphi in '64, U2 at The Dandelion in '79, Green Day in The Attic in '90 or Bob Dylan in Vicar St. in '00, unless you were also at the Galway United Under 14 Cup triumph last week your passport is missing a vital stamp. So much so we invited Will Clarke, the FAI League of Ireland Academy Development manager, to join this week's pod where he talks about the plans for developing our young players and clubs as well as his affiliation with Shelbourne. Dan also nabbed Garry Buckley from Sligo Rovers for an extended chat after their 3-0 win against St. Pats on Friday. All this, the latest rumoured Dundalk management trio, The young managers law firm updates and a little bit about Galway.

D Day today! Duffer is in, Doolin and Doyle are out! Amid all the comings and goings, we welcome Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto 'Pico' Lopes to studio to reflect on the title win for the Hoops and give us sketchy details on a weekend of celebrations. The only Crumlin man in the Cape Verde squad has tales of African airports and incarceration in a Santry hotel as well as the low down on today's big news, Damien Duff as Shelbourne's new manager. We have a bit of Damien from his press conference and Paul Doolin on the phone to Johnny lamenting the M50 traffic that caused him to end his spell at Athlone. All this and the usual crossed wires, Galway United trivia, and long lost cousins on the Green Cape.

As Johnny returns from his stopstart trip around Europe, Ireland chief scout Stephen Rice dropped by on his way to Dublin Airport and another week of planes, trains and automobiles for the sake of his country. We talked about his Irish role, playing style and directors box style and managed to fit in a bit of Brexit implications and young manager bingo. Ricer also reflected on his favourite memories of managers although there was a tactical blank when it came to one former boss. Beyond that, we have an FAI Cup review, Walsall trivia and Lithuanian wedding throwbacks so sit back and let Episode 33 take flight.

Allez oop! With Johnny donning his Maillot Jaune in the south of France and dishing out geography lessons from a hotel lobby we return to a more normal running time after last week's Doolothon. Dan is in studio A with Killian Brennan and Mark Rossiter. Old team mates who share stories of crowd chants, hairdryers, dressing room bust ups and silly yellow cards. There's also time to reflect on Stephen Kenny's tenure to date, the cup semi finals, and brothers in football. All of this and squeezed into just over an hour!

Last May, the stars of 'Friends' reunited for a marathon two hour special to reflect on the good times with the added bonus of lining their pockets. This week on the show, Paul Doolin and Graham Gartland came together for the price of a cup of coffee to reflect on their days at Drogheda where the tough taskmaster boss - who is now back in the game with Athlone - kept a dressing room which included Gartland on their toes. Why didn't they get on? Why doesn't Paul pick up the phone? Is tough love the best kind of love? Are they on a break? We get to the bottom of all these questions and more in a discussion that goes to unexpected places for a bingeworthy 2 hours with no ad breaks, no plastic surgery and more laughs than that 'other' reunion.

School's out for Wexford manager Ian Ryan who joins Shelbourne's Georgie Poynton during a free class with a Baku-bound Dan and a Covid-free Johnny. The lads reminisce on their favourite dressing rooms, the Dundalk conundrum, influential managers and Johnny bingo! There's an extra tricky Four Star Pizza question, a truncated fixture review and extra kebabs in Azerbaijan. It's a day early this week and just in time for the last bell.

When Tom Petty ditched the heartbreakers to record the seminal "Full Moon Fever" back in 1989 he actually ended up using most of the band on separate tracks. So as Johnny goes solo this week he zooms Dan in for the first half, where he discusses todays big news as well as the avalanche of reaction to last weeks RTE debate. Then after leaving Dan to enjoy his 5 star hotel and dodge bank tellers he welcomes in studio, Jason McGuinness to discuss his new role as an education pioneer with Shels and Gary Cronin, who's Bray team is competing in a strong and very competitive first division. The lads discuss education as part of the game, the Stephen Kenny saga, the changes within the game, phones in dressing rooms and lots lots more. Oh and there's a Rovers' themed anniversary Four Star Pizza draw all the way from the Kingdom. It's episode 29 and it's early.....