That was the case when I was playing and despite the great achievements by Derry in recent weeks, and Shelbourne and Cork City in recent years . . . feats that are hugely admirable . . . you can only look on what they have done and see it as a peak rather than a foundation to build on. There's just a limit to how far you can go when you are an Irish club and people need to realise that. What a few teams have done in the Uefa Cup and Champions League is magnificent but once that happens players want to leave and the clubs can't afford to keep them. We can't match even the lowerleague wages in England and we certainly can't support a full-time game.

It's not all that difficult to see why either. The league doesn't have the resources that it needs to develop players, it doesn't have the facilities, the supporters and, ultimately, the revenue to be competitive. It's very, very hard to see that ever happening. Basically it's not a sexy sport at that level while Gaelic games here and soccer abroad are. You can't even get wealthy people involved anymore because too many have had bad experiences.

Look at Derry, they had a nightmare after they were successful the last time around, so did Shelbourne, so did Bohemians. That list sadly goes on.

That's not exactly a selling point for people with money and, personally, I think you'd want to be mad to invest because no one ever makes money in soccer and the only thing that makes such investment sexy is glamour. Look at the Irish guys who have invested in Sunderland. Why did they bother? The promise of the Premiership. Big crowds. Roy Keane back at Old Trafford with his new club, their club. There's a classic example of wealthy Irish people who wouldn't dream of investing anything in the game at League of Ireland level because you don't get a buzz.

I gave up quite a bit of my life to League of Ireland football in one way or another and for a long time I believed in it, that it could make it at a higher level. But there aren't enough people with ambition and you can't have that at just one or two clubs. It needs to be more widespread. So the problems are obvious.

The solutions, if there are any, are well hidden.

I saw Liam Brady talking about standards in Irish soccer at schoolboy level and he made some very interesting points. We have to have a revolution and model ourselves on the French and the Dutch so we do create technically gifted young players instead of looking across channel and up north and trying to imitate them. There's far too much competition at youth level.

The big kids can kick the little kids out of the team.

There's a lot wrong, and it's heading in the wrong direction as we look for results before teaching kids how to play, right down to undereights and nines. The people who are running the teams have their own agendas and so they pick the young strong guy. I wouldn't have got a game of schoolboy football as it is now, nor John Giles, nor Liam Brady. There'd be a destroyer instead and he'd be the man. You have to protect and nurture talent and that message has to go right down to grassroots level.

If that's done, and over a long period, you will get a supply of players and that's a resource for League of Ireland as well. You can understand the desire of Irish clubs to get success in the now but maybe they could cut back in some areas and invest in and nurture younger guys.

They also need an elite league and stop handing out franchises to every town and city in the country. Even if there is only eight teams, at least you have all the top players together. It's elitist but if you are looking for excellence and success on the European stage, you have to think that way. But even after that, there are no guarantees.

That's why it must be so frustrating for guys like Stephen Kenny and Pat Fenlon and Damien Richardson.

They are hugely talented and while they have made it here they could go much further.

They have great intentions and their achievements, like Derry's efforts against PSG, will become folklore. But to not have the muscle to go any further must be very difficult. There's no quick fix either, if there's one at all.