GPA Collectors Item = Polo Shirt for sale.

[Bud Wiser]

I was saying there do'ther day that a parcel arrived for me and when I went to the Post Delivery to collect,  it was a spanking new GPA Polo Shirt.  Since the GPA are now almost gone I think maybe I will auction this on the board as a collectors item.

The Gaelic Players Management company have now lodged their accounts for the last year, 2008 and for the year they lhad losses of 143,843 euro - 3,000 a week give or take a few pints.  There are now three directors including DJ Carey and Brian Corcoran both of whom made a huge contribution to hurling, the best game of all. I am confused as to why these men at this stage in their lives would become directors of a company that is clocking up losses of three grand a week and which by now, based on last years losses could be heading for the quarter of a million figure. 

Brian 'Every Single Ball" Corcoran will be remembered for his book and for of course deciding not to wear a helmet in the 2006 All-Ireland Final, before then going on to endorse his own brand of helmets for the Lidl or Aldi group which were instructed to be removed from the shelves and all ended up in a Greenstar skip because they did not meet safety standards. (At the time I thought there was a bit of political pull involved and I think BC got a raw deal on that one) So unless Brian has another interest in terms of launching other approved GAA gear I am at a loss why he would get involved to the stage of becoming a director.

Then you have DJ, one of the greatest players of all time and I am totally confused as to why as a business man he would sign up to this.  His wife/partner is the lady on Dragons Den who, more than any of the other mentors uses the phrase "I'm Out" after advising some poor fooker that his auto cow milking maching with built in seperator is doomed to failure.  I hope poor ould DJ doesn't get told "Your Out".  This is a huge commitment for DJ to make, and, for to protect the interests of current players, after he has retired?  The only thing I would say in regard to DJ is that if he had profiled the GPA in terms of P.R. from the start they might not be down 148,000 now, or twice that.  Apart from the Right Honourable Desmond nobody knew the names of who was involved and when the names did become available we still didn't know who they were so maybe once again DJ will come to the rescue but I for one doubt it.

So, does anyone think my polo shirt will be a collectors item?

[cornafean]

Three grand a week is some money to lose. No wonder Sean Cavanagh couldn't sleep.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

I'll bid that you give me €1,000 to take it off your hands Bud! Anyone do it for less? 

[DuffleKing]

I find your personal attacks on brian corcoran and dj carey very uncomfortable reading.

Couldn't care less about the gpa but is this what we're reduced to - asassinating the character of our greatest players - to get a kick?

[Bud Wiser]

I find your personal attacks on brian corcoran and dj carey very uncomfortable reading.

Couldn't care less about the gpa but is this what we're reduced to - asassinating the character of our greatest players - to get a kick?

You and your likes, and particularly you, have huge chips on your shoulder and its a pity it is not you that owes the 148,000 euro.
I made no personal attack on either DJ or Brian, I stated fact you fool, but it must have been a long wait to ambush me there with you lying in the long grass since you have issue with every post I make.  Cop on to yourself. 

If you are confused, or better still, totally thick as to what a personal attack is here is a good example from yourself:

1 - o'rourke is the most bitter anti armagh man you could ever meet.
he traded on being the big armagh hater in down for years. i vividly remember his tv interview circa early 2004 claiming armagh were finished and wouldn't be back for a long time. his supposed "motivational skills" are based entirely on monologues surrounding the subjects of red and black blood running through veins, glorifying the history of the down jersey and eulogising sean o'neill, james mccartan et al. The thought that we have handed over the development of our senior team and the integration of our successful minor & u21 teams to this man turns my stomach.

2 - He is a bad manager.
His record with clubs and county is mediocre at best. The most damning critique i heard this week was from a current burren player who was delighted with relief because o'rourke was going to be burren manager again next year. there are a litany of better qualified men to do the job, not only outside but also within armagh. can anyone give me 3 reasons to appoint this man as the manager of the armagh senior team?

[Zapatista]

I found your post humourous

I will offer you a framed picture of -



Camilla Parker Bowles. I will also throw in some old rope.

[DuffleKing]

I find your personal attacks on brian corcoran and dj carey very uncomfortable reading.

Couldn't care less about the gpa but is this what we're reduced to - asassinating the character of our greatest players - to get a kick?

You and your likes, and particularly you, have huge chips on your shoulder and its a pity it is not you that owes the 148,000 euro.
I made no personal attack on either DJ or Brian, I stated fact you fool, but it must have been a long wait to ambush me there with you lying in the long grass since you have issue with every post I make.  Cop on to yourself. 

If you are confused, or better still, totally thick as to what a personal attack is here is a good example from yourself:

1 - o'rourke is the most bitter anti armagh man you could ever meet.
he traded on being the big armagh hater in down for years. i vividly remember his tv interview circa early 2004 claiming armagh were finished and wouldn't be back for a long time. his supposed "motivational skills" are based entirely on monologues surrounding the subjects of red and black blood running through veins, glorifying the history of the down jersey and eulogising sean o'neill, james mccartan et al. The thought that we have handed over the development of our senior team and the integration of our successful minor & u21 teams to this man turns my stomach.

2 - He is a bad manager.
His record with clubs and county is mediocre at best. The most damning critique i heard this week was from a current burren player who was delighted with relief because o'rourke was going to be burren manager again next year. there are a litany of better qualified men to do the job, not only outside but also within armagh. can anyone give me 3 reasons to appoint this man as the manager of the armagh senior team?

you're obviously not familiar with analysing someone's suitability for a job based on their managerial record.

Insinuating that brian corcoran is incomptent in his business affairs, for example, doesn't you too many favours.

[DuffleKing]

You and your likes, and particularly you, have huge chips on your shoulder and its a pity it is not you that owes the 148,000 euro.
I made no personal attack on either DJ or Brian, I stated fact you fool, but it must have been a long wait to ambush me there with you lying in the long grass since you have issue with every post I make.  Cop on to yourself. 

Just so we're clear, you're little guffawing paddy act doesn't amuse me one little bit. That's probably why your posts irk me.

[Lecale2]

Can you post a photograph of said polo shirt Bud?

[Bensars]

I find your personal attacks on brian corcoran and dj carey very uncomfortable reading.

Couldn't care less about the gpa but is this what we're reduced to - asassinating the character of our greatest players - to get a kick?

You are some hypocrite with some of the statements you have come with regarding Paddy O'Rourke

[NAG1]

I find your personal attacks on brian corcoran and dj carey very uncomfortable reading.

Couldn't care less about the gpa but is this what we're reduced to - asassinating the character of our greatest players - to get a kick?

I think you'll find if you dig a little deeper that is is a mercenary streak in both the fellas during their playing days. In fact one of them made a miraculous return from retirement in grand circumstances did he not?

[Rois]

Now now Bud, you know that accounts can be interpreted in different ways, and the profit and loss reserves carried over from last year are adequate to cover this year's losses too.  So perhaps they've spent on something that they knew was on the cards a while back and were conserving reserves for it. 

And most companies apart from publicly quoted companies want to minimise profits in their accounts (incur losses even) for tax purposes.  If the auditor has signed off on going concern, chances are they'll be ok for the next year anyway.

If I was a member, I wouldn't exactly want to see them racking up profits cause it would mean my contributions weren't being used to their full potential.

Haven't seen the accounts by the way - can you post up a pic of the balance sheet (presuming they haven't published a P&L)?

[orangeman]

I'll give you half a hundred of freshly dug spuds for that T shirt ! 

[Bud Wiser]

Now now Bud, you know that accounts can be interpreted in different ways, and the profit and loss reserves carried over from last year are adequate to cover this year's losses too.  So perhaps they've spent on something that they knew was on the cards a while back and were conserving reserves for it. 

And most companies apart from publicly quoted companies want to minimise profits in their accounts (incur losses even) for tax purposes.  If the auditor has signed off on going concern, chances are they'll be ok for the next year anyway.

If I was a member, I wouldn't exactly want to see them racking up profits cause it would mean my contributions weren't being used to their full potential.
Haven't seen the accounts by the way - can you post up a pic of the balance sheet (presuming they haven't published a P&L)?

That's fair enough Rois, I understand where you are coming from.  However, I have a few friends in business who are a little bit behind in their PRSI and Tax and the Sheriff arrived on their doors over the last week or so. At 31 December 2008 GPA Management Company owed €41,509 in VAT and €12,362 in PAYE/PRSI.   I don't know how many are employed in my association but a pension scheme is still in place.  The thing I do notice is that all the Alaskans, the ones who were instrumental in setting up the GPA , have all dissapeared off the directors list, cute fookers that they are and stuck the poor Mexicans with the directorships.

To be honest, I am not sure how they will fare out in the long term but my own feeling is that they haven't got a pot to piss in, or if they have they need all of DJ's accuracy because it seems to be a very small one.  If they had creditors it would be one thing but tax and PRSI is different. 

The question I am more interested in is why would Carey, Corcoran and Liam Hassett get involved in an association that is for looking after players rights when it would be more appropriate for current players to be in charge of such a committee? 

[Denn Forever]

I nsuppose now we can see why the GPA want to be subsumed into the GAA.