The likely lads have continued to feed the frenzy around their immediate futures. Detailing their current plight on Twitter this afternoon, the lads have declared that they will be back on air very soon, but they can't say where. The suggestion it seems is that a regular radio slot is where they might land, but there are any number of different mediums that could suit the green fingered five.
Newstalk, Today FM, Phantom and Spin are all ruled out surely, due to Denis O'Brien's Communicorp being heavily involved in each. That leaves the national broadcaster out in Montrose, but RTÉ have told us this afternoon they have no comment to make on the issue and that their position hasn't changed since last week. So other than Pat Kenny's crib, perhaps Classic Hits 4FM? They are the closest thing to a national station outside of Newstalk/Today FM/RTÉ - broadcasting to Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Galway. Looking at their schedule it would appear they could easily fit the Off the Ball team in, with many of the station's employees hosting 4 hour long shows at present. Would Gareth o'Callaghan appreciate nipping home at 6pm instead of 7pm? He's probably easier to deal with than say George Hook.
In this brave new world there is also the online domain and a chance to run things exactly how they want but paying the wages of 5 professionals is a lot to ask of advertisers from the get go. There is no sign that the lads are following in the footsteps of former Phantom FM programming director Simon Maher in setting up their own Digital online alternative but that could also be an option. Offtheball.com is for sale for a mere 18,000
Where next? We will find out very soon, and we'll have it on Balls.ie as soon as it comes out.
