Something isn't adding up at Oriel Park, but are the fans right in thinking that those running the club are not giving accurate information, or are those running the club correct in stating that income is just not enough to cover expenditure?
I just want to insert here how sad I am to see the recent departures from the staff at Oriel Park. These people were valuable to our club, and I wish them all well in the future. It is such a pity that we have ended up in this position where there doesn't seem to be any other option.
Some of those commenting on the current situation at the club have a fairly simplistic view of the entire situation. In their eyes the club is being run by a greedy businessman who is pocketing profits from the club while publicly looking for fans to support the club financially.
The club are insisting that they have no choice in implementing recent cutbacks on staff and other expenditure. They state that income is too low (and falling) to cover the running costs of the club.
Nobody can have failed to notice dwindling crowds at home games, where fans of other clubs can no longer afford to travel in numbers and Dundalk fans are also staying away. In the past, Dundalk people always have had an excuse for not attending matches - not enough locals, too many locals, disapproval of some decision or other at the club. The current two main ones are that support is being withdrawn until Gerry Matthews and/or Sean McCaffrey are gone from the club.
While everybody is entitled to their opinion, I can't help but wonder whether people have thought about the consequences of this, no matter what the outcome. There are three possible scenarios that can arise from this current boycott situation, depending on how long it goes on for and whether determination to be right outweighs love for the club.
First possibility is that the club are not exaggerating, that Gerry is not back-pocketing anything and the only option left to the club is to cease operating.
Second possibility is that Sean McCaffrey is let go, which will cost the club even more money that we don't have both in buying out his current contract and in finding a replacement who will work for such a small paypacket and withstand personal abuse on a regular basis.
Third possibility is that Gerry Matthews finally decides he has had enough and leaves the club. Seeing as there wasn't a suitable offer from any party interested in taking over the club when he first asked for expressions of interest, I for one am not confident that there is a person or entity with the interest and the funds to take over the running of the club.
(Obviously the second and third possibilities could both occur, in which case we'd have less funds into the club while trying to find a lump sum and extra money for the wages of a new manager)
From some of the discussion around the club, including on the world wide web, there seems to be an impression that players wages are the biggest (for some the only) outgoing and ticket sales on match night are the biggest income. Unfortunately, the second part may not be far from the truth (6-700 times €10 anybody?), while the first is likely to be a little less true. The club has so many costs on an ongoing basis that seem to be ignored and those are the outgoings that are currently not being matched by income. There is also an impression that once-off payments last season like transfer funds received for Daniel Kearns and Setanta Cup earnings are still hanging around the club unused and should be used to fill current gaps. Surely it's not a stretch to think that this money would have been used to cover shortfalls that occurred last season? When the sums involved are compared to the club's running costs it might be more obvious how it's possible that they might have already been spent!
There also seems to be a notion that Gerry Matthews is bleeding the club dry. If anybody honestly thinks that there is money free in the club for him to take then they haven't been paying attention to many League of Ireland news stories over the past decade or so! This is a man who has poured money (along with time and effort) into the club since he took over, and it seems quite petty to me to see those who he decided were not ready to take the club over when he saw their proposals turn against him with propaganda and what I would call whispering campaigns only there isn't much whispering involved! It's not a personality contest, nobody says you have to like the owner of your club, but credit where it is due he has contributed more to the club than any of us have and all the thanks he is getting is a boot in his back encouraging him to leave!
The club is in a bad place, most clubs are struggling with reduced income etc this season but the campaigns against our owner and manager have emphasised a bad situation and made it worse for us. As fans surely now is the time to get back in the game, get involved and support the club to ensure that we have a club to support next season and beyond? We have a choice, we can stand on the sidelines shouting about what we think is wrong or we can step on the pitch and get involved in the game.
This is not a recent thing, for as long as I've been attending Oriel we've had people who stood back and criticised without either knowing all the facts or offering a constructive solution and we've had internal power struggles which do nothing but distract from the main job at hand. Who knew a place on the board at Dundalk FC came with anything more than stress and responsibility, some seem to have their eyes on a position of power to the point where they are blind to the input, financial and otherwise, required from board members.
With nothing to lose, why not experiment? Why not try getting behind the club, financially and with attendance at matches. Why not try getting behind the team and encouraging them on to do better? We have a squad of young players at our club, which makes us responsible for them in my eyes, and the kind of abuse that they've been subjected to over the past weeks is horrendous. They are our players, they may not be perfect but who is? Screaming something like "you're sh*te" at a player who is just starting out in his career and who is working hard to improve does absolutely nothing positive for them, the club, or the person shouting at them. Shouting "you can do better", as an example, is such a different thing as it lifts a player's head and 9 times out of 10 he will do better the next time as a result.
We have a lot to lose if we don't try doing something different, doing what we have been doing just keeps bringing us back to the same point and only a fool keeps doing the same thing and expecting a different result!
