The League of Ireland season proper ends on Friday night but, in reality, the games will just be beginning. Those who haev a contract running into next year are the lucky few. For instance, FAI Cup finalists Sligo Rovers will officially have just one player on their books after their November 22 decider against Sporting Fingal. Matt Blinkhorn might be feeling a little lonely for a while.

By the time final whistles are sounded at 11 grounds, the players at 17 or 18 clubs will be finished for another year. No doubt there will be a ’school’s out’ feel for most but it will probably be replaced pretty quickly by the harsh reality that they will struggle to earn a decent living from football next year, if indeed they can get a contract at all.

Take champions Bohemians who will operate off a budget in 2010 which will be less than half than that with which Pat Fenlon worked for 2008. We all know the economy is contracting but, as always seems to be the case, things happen a little more dramatically in Irish football. Still, Bohs have already shown this season that you can still be successful even if you have the finances at your disposal drastically cut.

When set against the record-breaking season of last year, you could argue that standards have dropped at Bohs but when you consider players and staff had to accept wage reductions and a situation whereby players already there were earning significantly more than the signings brought in, their success was no mean feat.

It does not take a genius to work out that stability is generally a prerequisite for success and that is why Shamrock Rovers had such a good season because everyone at the club knew they were operating off a sound footing, the likes of which other clubs could only dream. When Rovers beat Bohs with six games to go, it looked they would claim the ultimate reward. They fell short but not by much.

That they did was because their long-overdue bad run - and even then it was hardly a slump – came at the worst possible time, especially as it coincided with Bohs showing remarkable ruthlessness which saw them rack up five wins on the trot, scoring 14 goals in the process. That swung the goal difference situation even further in their favour with the end. Bohs could lose 5-0 and Rovers win by the same score on Friday and the Gypsies would still be champions with six goals to spare.

I expect Bohs to win against a Bray side whose relegation was confirmed last week. He did not play last week – with Ladbrokes refunding the stake – but I’m again going to put €5 each way on Jason McGuinness to open the scoring at 22/1. I’m going to put €20 on a Bohs, Sligo and Derry treble for a return of €94.09, €10 on a Wexford, Limerick and Monaghan treble in the First Division and €10 on a draw between Rovers and St Pat’s at 23/10.

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