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.

LOI Central 2021 Ep. 34 with Roberto Lopes and Paul Doolin

#LOICentral is a podcast with opinion, analysis and interviews on all the latest happenings in the  League of Ireland, hosted by Johnny Ward & Dan McDonnell

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We've a warchest of stories and an infusion of intellectual capital in this weeks episode. Johnny introduces the Right shoe diaries to Damien Duff in between bouts of cat strangling orgasms and earth burning Gaza rants on short lived marriages. Dan ruminates on what a world would look like if football was golf, introduces Shelabrations to a new world lexicon and takes Louth Dad jokes to another level. A not quite sexagenarian Johnny McDonnell drops by our Oliver Studios to weigh in on the Stephen Kenny at St. Pat's story and why O'Donnell at Bohs is a logical move. There's the usual mailbag dissections and presidential ruminations and although none of our sponsors do custom made laptop bags, the good people at Collar & Cuff, Future Ticketing, Lilly's Childcare and Rascals Brewery do, to their utmost credit, make all of the chaos seem a little bit ordered. It's episode 16, it's nostalgic, it's giddy and, as always, it's striving for relevance.

S08E16 Shelebration Time & Johnny Mc talks Pat’s

It's Saint Stephens Day and he's back on the grass. Our unexpected Episode 15 captures the events of the last 24 hours with analysis of the Stephen Kenny appointment, his opening press conference and badly photoshopped send ups of a certain Independent sportswriter. There's old magazines, more Brian Kerr chat, Stephen O'Donnell not in the nip, the importance of big personalities and the pressure that extra attention brings. It's a hastily produced bitesize episode here to feed your news addiction with the help of Future Ticketing, Rascals Brewery, Collar & Cuff and Lilys Childcare. Hopefully it makes your Friday at work a little less difficult.

S08E15 Saint Stephens Day

So where do we start? The lads reflect on the maddest week of League of Ireland news since last week, with the Stephen Kenny flirtation with a League of Ireland return prompting a review of our St Patrick's Athletic perceptions. Noel King's 25 day stint as Dundalk manager is over, but the legacy of the day may be a tweet that the internet will never forget. In another bulging mailbag, there's talk of political football and Dail visits, the saving of Tolka Park, a new spate of ten match bans and the mystery of Aurora Borealis - and no you won't find him on Wyscout. We then divert to a man who lit up the league before his departure last year with Jack Moylan dialling in to discuss Damien Duff, LOI watch parties in Lincoln & the truth about League One. As Collar & Cuff, Rascals Brewery, Lilly's Childcare and Future Ticketing scramble their lawyers to pore over the transcripts, our advice is to listen now before something else happens or everything is deleted!

S08E14 Kenny Waiting Game, Dundalk Madness & Meeting Jack Moylan

Dan is back, although he's been outdone by producer Derek on the travel front as we attempt to sprint through the events of another manic week but find the path blocked by some substantial news hurdles. What does Jon Daly's departure say about St Patrick's Athletic? How will Stephen O'Donnell function as Alan Reynolds assistant? Is it 'Noel King's Dundalk' yet? We also have Johnny's chat with Ollie Horgan after a big win at Bohemians, with an unexpected Lionel Richie cameo. Beyond that, we have a packed mailbag with all the usual spin-offs. There's the great Stephen Walsh goalscoring debate, an irrational attack on GAA intercounty 'stars', relegation predictions without the predictions and much more. So with thanks to Rascals Brewery, Collar & Cuff, Future Ticketing and Lily's Childcare, the time has come, to raise the roof and have some fun, let the podcast play on, play on, play on.

S08E13 Mayday Mayhem, Managerial Moves & Johnny Meets Ollie

Like Eric B. and Rakim, Sonny and Cher, and The White Stripes, all good duets must come to an end, if even only for a week. Don't fret listeners as soon as the sponsorship cash rolls in Dan will be back strumming harder than Garfunkel in Central Park next week. So for one week only Garry Doyle steps into the virtual studio to mull over the season so far, the always growing  Damien Duff phenomenon and his formative years as an Arsenal fan in the six counties. The Collar and Cuff mailbag is bursting with opinions from Galway for Europe, Roblox LOI, and whether or not Dalymount is more political than Kildare Street. Johnny gets feedback on his stance on chicken rolls, and his quality of football tips, and we have a chat with Finn Harps chairman Ian Harkin on the new stadium plans that were just announced. At just over an hour we're certainly not the never ending story and if you've any complaints please direct them to the lovely people at Collar and Cuff, Future Ticketing, Lilly's Childcare and Rascals Brewery. It's an even dozen and it's live!

LOI Central 2021 Ep. 34 with Roberto Lopes and Paul Doolin

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