While it may be true that very little in life turns out to be entirely simple, it's still worth marvelling sometimes how it is that just about everything connected with the Eircom League turns out to be so hellishly complicated.

Take the change over to summer soccer scheduled for next year, with a transition season running from June to December planned. Talks on precisely what form that season will take are still going on with a decision expected before Christmas. The main issues to be sorted out are how many games the newly-reduced 10 team division will play and what form the second FAI Cup of 2002 will take.

The problem with the cup is the present format requires the junior and intermediate competitions to throw up 10 of the 32 teams required for the first round proper but winners are required for the following season's UEFA Cup. Without the required qualifying process it seems next year's second senior cup will involve just the 22 league clubs, an alteration which, you never know, enough of the 22 might come to see as providing an attractive format for the future.

The first issue, meanwhile, looks more contentious, even if the choice is simple with clubs having to decide between playing each other three or four times. With a few weekends set aside for cup matches, three (a programme of 27 games) works out rather neatly over the 30 weeks available. But it seems some of the increasingly professional Dublin outfits reckon a game a week won't provide enough of a return to meet their spiralling investment in full-time players. Those clubs more mindful of extracting their best 11 from day jobs are, on the other hand, less enthusiastic about a fixture list that leaves then facing into at least half a dozen midweek programmes.

Matters are further confused by the fact that this season's relegation arrangements look certain to shift the balance of power towards the big Dublin outfits but with the decision set to be taken in December the four will hold less sway. As always, a row looms.

What few people had allowed for when most of these issues were first touched on, though, was the possibility that Ireland might qualify for next summer's World Cup. During the protracted deliberations over whether a switch to the summer was desirable a suspension of the league during major tournaments had been considered before eventually being rejected. Now the league's bold new venture faces the prospect of being launched one week into the Republic's first appearance at a major championships in eight years.

Overall, it is hoped that qualification will provide a boost to the league, with interest in the game being raised and commercial investment soaring. There are no guarantees, of course, that the latter would spill over into the league but in negotiating its current deals with RT╔ and Eircom the FAI has shown itself to be far more conscious of the senior domestic game and there is some optimism that there will be considerable benefits.

June, though, was always going to be difficult and should Mick McCarthy's men come through their play-offs successfully then not even clubs who defiantly pencilled in midweek games in competition to televised Celtic and Manchester United Champions League matches recently could believe their crowds will be anything other than decimated.

Within the league the hope appears to be that with the World Cup matches kicking off in the morning or early afternoon Irish time, Eircom League games in the evening will still look attractive but even allowing for the fact that none of the club games would take place on the days that Ireland play, the highlights packages and magazine programmes put together by the major broadcasters for the evenings are likely to attract very significant audiences.

The experience of those who went up against the Champions League was certainly negative and in this instance there are further difficulties as RT╔ are already believed to have hinted they will be preoccupied with events elsewhere for the entirety of June while the story is likely to be similar amongst the newspapers.

Given the importance of the launch period going well a straightforward solution would be to shift the league's kick off back into July and, presumably, settle on three rather than four rounds of fixtures. But such a suggestion will go down poorly with those clubs paying their players on a 52-week basis. The fact that two or three of those clubs are also likely to be the ones playing European football during July and August, by which time it was hoped the new calendar would have their players entirely match fit, will not help matters much either.

It looks, then, as if there could be some more tough talking ahead. Although if there's a bright side it's that a rare unity of purpose is likely to keep the recently instigated peace process between Tolka and Richmond Parks on course.

And that would be good news for everybody, of course, except those managers with tabloid columns to write every Tuesday morning.