Pattern of results is bad news for league

EMMET MALONE ON SOCCER:It is obvious the Irish game is now going down the path of its English counterpart

NOT EVERYONE will have been happy when they heard the news, of course, but a fair few neutrals must have viewed Saturday's result at St Colman's Park with some measure of relief.

On the face of it, the 2-0 win for Cobh Ramblers over Shamrock Rovers provided hope for the locals that their side's home form, so critical to their success last season, can help them to avoid the drop this time around.

Of much broader significance, though, is that in what is already shaping up to be the top flight's most polarised season ever, it was the first win by a club now residing in the bottom six over one from the sunnier side of the divide.

The dramatic growth in spending at the leading clubs over the last couple of years had made the emergence of that divide inevitable but the fact it had taken just five rounds of matches for things to reach a stage where the six shortest priced sides to win the title were all in the top half of the table still seemed a little disconcerting last week.

Of course these are very early days and there is everything to play for during the months ahead but for the most part, the weekend's programme only served to underline the problem.

By close of business on Friday evening there was a four-point gap between sixth and seventh place and the detail of clashes between teams from opposite sides of the divide made for depressing reading.

A total of 21 games had been played with 16 wins for the higher fliers and five draws. Even home advantage has made little difference so far, with eight of the victories and two of the draws secured by top six sides against lower-ranked rivals being secured in away games.

The pattern, if it continues, is bad news for the league in a wide range of ways.

Perhaps the most obvious thing is the way in which it underlines the Irish game's journey down the path long since travelled by its English counterpart to a point where, this year's FA Cup final notwithstanding, only an elite few can seriously aspire to winning silverware.

This is something of a downward spiral because, rather self-evidently, with success comes revenue and better players at less well off clubs, realising that it's their only hope of winning honours or maximising their earnings, gravitate to title contenders now intent on building squads in a way that was hardly ever done here before.

It has serious implications for the quality of the football in the bottom half of the table too. Games against potential relegation rivals take on the appearance of "six pointers" far earlier than used to be the case and the avoidance of defeat becomes a tempting primary objective.

Inevitably, the difficulties are hugely exacerbated when, as happens periodically, it is decided that a quarter of the entire top flight is to be relegated and it is against just this sort of background that managers like Tony Cousins lose their job just four weeks into a season.

The Dubliner was still in work when I saw his Galway United side lose 1-0 to St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park on March 21st and, to be honest, it was only when I saw how passionately he talked up the performance afterwards it dawned on me he already felt under considerable pressure.

I wouldn't have been quite as upbeat about United's showing that night as Cousins was trying to be but it was certainly impossible not to feel for him. Whatever your view on the overall job he did at Galway, a glance at team sheets in Inchicore made it clear how difficult it is for the less wealthy clubs to cope with a few injuries or suspensions in a game against one of the league's would-be title contenders.

For me, St Patrick's looked comfortably the better side even if they were made to work hard for their win. But did their superiority reflect the fact they will spend some three times as much on players' wages this year? Not remotely.

The following week Galway United lost to Shamrock Rovers, with what was widely reported to have been a dismal second-half performance apparently sealing Cousins' fate.

The Dubliners, as it happens, buck trends a little for financial considerations have prevented them from going full-time when the likes of Galway, Finn Harps and Sligo Rovers have all already done so.

Pat Scully's side have, however, benefited to an extent from being the most obvious option for well-regarded players in the Dublin area who don't actually want to become full-time professionals. Darragh Maguire, for instance, arrived after declining to pack in the day job in order to stay at Richmond Park.

For several of those amongst the bottom six, meanwhile, there would appear to be more reason then ever to feel unwanted. UCD's ongoing struggle to improve attendances leaves them vulnerable and even if they defy the odds again to avoid relegation this season the club will probably not have featured in too many mock ups of All-Ireland Premier League tables.

Similarly, the likes of Finn Harps and Bray Wanderers must be concerned that even if they do stay up for the next couple of seasons they will have their work cut out to survive any substantial reorganisation of the league because of their proximity to clubs considered more attractive by the proposed new venture's promoters.

For managers like UCD's Pete Mahon and Bray's Eddie Gormley there is not, in the circumstances, much consolation to be drawn from knowing their teams were hard done by in recent meetings with Derry City and Bohemians respectively.

In reality, all they can do is try to avoid the drop and look to fight their corner in the hotel function rooms where the longer-term future of the league will be resolved. On the field, though, the fact that points are getting harder to come by is reflected in the tallies achieved by the third from bottom side in recent 12-team championships.

In the years immediately prior to the last fling with a smaller top flight a total of around 37 to 39 was generally achieved by the 10th placed side, more recently the figure has slipped to 32 or 34 points. At first glance, then, the statistics suggest it's actually getting easier for clubs to retain their place at the top table. The truth, needless to say, could hardly be more different.