Gavin sees cup as half full

League of Ireland director Fran Gavin last night dismissed suggestions the contractual uncertainties that have cast a shadow over the preparations of both sides for tomorrow's FAI Cup final at the RDS have reflected poorly on the wider domestic game.

It is generally expected that most of the Longford players who start tomorrow's final will leave the club afterwards. All are out of contract and most have already attracted interest from Premier Division sides attracted by the availability of a group whose performances would have been good enough for eighth place in the table had it not been for a six-point deduction imposed early in the campaign.

Cork City, meanwhile, have still been negotiating with many of their own first-team players during the build-up to this game. The club issued a statement on Thursday evening insisting the issue was a priority but their Ireland international Joe Gamble has described the situation as "a joke" and suggested the way players had been treated indicated a lack of respect.

The Cork manager, Damien Richardson, says he found the way the squad had stayed focused on their preparations for tomorrow's game "humbling".

Richardson's opposite number at Longford, Alan Mathews, observed that the only reason his team reached this final and came so close to escaping the drop was because they were "the tightest group of players" he had ever worked with.

"It's well documented that the club has had its problems this year," he said, "but the coaches, staff and players have pulled together remarkably well.

"Sometimes that sort of adversity can be a powerful unifying force on a team and I certainly can't remember a group of players work harder for each other than this lot."

The team spirit displayed by the two camps may be impressive but it will nevertheless be disappointing for the FAI that the build-up to the season's finale has contained so much coverage of what are essentially financial issues.

Gavin insists, however, that contractual matters are merely issues of "housekeeping" and are not the concern of the league itself.

"Basically, whether the players are under contract for next season or not is a HR issue for the particular club in question," he says.

"Some clubs would see it as a priority that the players they want are tied up in plenty of time while others wouldn't, and while we'd all have our opinions about the best way to go about things, from a league point of view that's just a question of how clubs do their business.

"The job of the league is to make sure the things run smoothly overall and while it's not really for us to judge whether we're a success or not I think the evidence would suggest there has been some progress this year.

"If you take the issue of major disciplinary issues (disputes that led to protracted rows), there were 11 in 2006, compared to two this year.

"Ultimately, we all know we have a long way to go, but it's not going to happen overnight. What we're looking for is steady progress and I think we've seen that over the past year."