LOI Series 15 & 12. Premier & 1st Division fixtures.

[monkey9]

Yeah, that's the fixture that would have been played in between the two legs of our European tie. Fair play to UCD.

[Charlie Darwin]

UCD did similar for Rovers during European qualifiers a few years ago and I'd expect them to do the same for anybody else - class act of a club.

Now, onto more important matters... is Ian Baraclough the new Trevor Croly?

[desaintsno.12]

UCD did similar for Rovers during European qualifiers a few years ago and I'd expect them to do the same for anybody else - class act of a club.

Now, onto more important matters... is Ian Baraclough the new Trevor Croly?

Baraclough has shown himself to be a good manager......so no

[Ezeikial]

UCD did similar for Rovers during European qualifiers a few years ago and I'd expect them to do the same for anybody else - class act of a club.

Now, onto more important matters... is Ian Baraclough the new Trevor Croly?

I doubt it - but it gives me a great chuckle that the Hoops opted for first Brian Laws and then Trever Croly over Stephen Kenny.

[Charlie Darwin]

Well they opted for Stephen Kenny over anybody after O'Neill left. They couldn't exactly hire him again after firing him, could they?

I'm completely fine with a manager other than Kenny. Dundalk have been brutal any time they've played in Tallaght this season.

[White Horse]

Dundalk have been brutal any time they've played in Tallaght this season.

Poor performance in the league match. We were the better team in the EA match though.

[Ezeikial]

Well they opted for Stephen Kenny over anybody after O'Neill left. They couldn't exactly hire him again after firing him, could they?
.

Charlie - you are a hoot!



I'm completely fine with a manager other than Kenny. Dundalk have been brutal any time they've played in Tallaght this season.

Glad to hear you are so happy.

Do you realise that Kenny has returned about 30% more league points so far operating off about 30% of the budget Croly has at Shamrock Rovers?

[Charlie Darwin]

Poor performance in the league match. We were the better team in the EA match though.
Can't say I agree with that, but I haven't seen any of your other matches this season so can't comment overall.


Charlie - you are a hoot!



Glad to hear you are so happy.

Do you realise that Kenny has returned about 30% more league points so far operating off about 30% of the budget Croly has at Shamrock Rovers?
I do realise that. I said I'm glad we don't have Kenny, not necessarily glad we have an inexperienced manager who is having trouble dealing with the same pressure Kenny buckled under. I said at the start of the season that Dundalk have done well to get Kenny - he's a good manager who will get the best out of that squad and has an eye for raw talent. If he'd trusted some of the younger players at Rovers he may not have found himself in the self-imposed hole he did. But he was an unmitigated disaster at Rovers and, results aside, Rovers are in far better shape for his absence.

[SkStu]

results aside, Rovers are in far better shape for his absence.

did this make anyone else laugh? :)

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm sure a Bohs fan this season could appreciate how you can make overall improvements without that being reflected on the scoreboard. Sure last season yous were thumping us 10-0 or whatever score it was after my tears finally dried up. Obviously the team lacks cutting edge and Croly has been rattled a few times but the football being played is light years ahead and if the board persevere then I think that will pay off eventually. The title this year is a write-off but Europe is a very realistic goal.

[SkStu]

I suppose you're right.

What made me laugh though is the Rovers fans who were talking about euromillions and decade long LoI dominance are now content with league mediocrity and reachieving stability a couple of seasons later...not as funny as the Bohs situation to some, obviously, but funny nonetheless...!

[Ezeikial]

Obviously the team lacks cutting edge and Croly has been rattled a few times but the football being played is light years ahead and if the board persevere then I think that will pay off eventually. The title this year is a write-off but Europe is a very realistic goal.

So.......

The Rovers board should be patient with a manager and not have a knee jerk reaction if the style of football is better then before and/or shows potential - results don't really matter as long as Europe is a realistic possibility?

Is that a fair summary of what you are saying? :)

BTW, do you realise that last season under Stephen Kenny Shamrock Rovers had more points after 15 league games then this Croly led bunch have?

[Charlie Darwin]

I suppose you're right.

What made me laugh though is the Rovers fans who were talking about euromillions and decade long LoI dominance are now content with league mediocrity and reachieving stability a couple of seasons later...not as funny as the Bohs situation to some, obviously, but funny nonetheless...!

To be fair, a lot of that talk was coming from fans of rival teams. I had to selflessly pull a few out of their beer-soaked myopia myself. The Kenny experiment was an expensive and badly-handled mistake but luckily it hasn't damaged the fundamentals of the club too much. If Croly does manage to get it right, Rovers will be hard to catch and there have been a couple of false starts this season that suggest he's a lot closer than it seems.


So.......

The Rovers board should be patient with a manager and not have a knee jerk reaction if the style of football is better then before and/or shows potential - results don't really matter as long as Europe is a realistic possibility?

Is that a fair summary of what you are saying? :)

BTW, do you realise that last season under Stephen Kenny Shamrock Rovers had more points after 15 league games then this Croly led bunch have?
Yes, if you ignore all the differences they are exactly the same.

Look, I appreciate Kenny is a good manager and a good for Dundalk. I always said he'd do well there. He seems to thrive when allowed to assemble a squad of promising young players with little expectation for success. With all due respect, the Rovers job is a completely different box of umbrellas.

It wasn't working under Kenny - the football was a dire regression on the previous manager and he seemed clueless on what type of football he wanted to play. Kenny is a reactive manager who makes his selection based on nullifying the opposition's strengths, which is completely fine and has worked for a great many managers, but at Rovers the expectation is that the team will go out and play its own game regardless of who is put in front of them. Michael O'Neill completely bought into that but Stephen Kenny didn't.

[White Horse]

Kenny is a reactive manager who makes his selection based on nullifying the opposition's strengths, which is completely fine and has worked for a great many managers, but at Rovers the expectation is that the team will go out and play its own game regardless of who is put in front of them. Michael O'Neill completely bought into that but Stephen Kenny didn't.

Rovers is a big job. No one doubts that.

The Kenny you describe is not the one we have seen this season. Players have a lot of freedom to play and express themselves.

Given the quality of the players he had at Rovers, it is strange that he adopted such a conservative approach.

[Charlie Darwin]

Rovers is a big job. No one doubts that.

The Kenny you describe is not the one we have seen this season. Players have a lot of freedom to play and express themselves.

Given the quality of the players he had at Rovers, it is strange that he adopted such a conservative approach.
I'll bow to your superior knowledge as all I've seen of Dundalk this season is at Tallaght, but I'm going very much on what I saw at Derry too. I hear Dundalk dominated at the Showgrounds last night so perhaps he has turned over a new leaf.

[pineapple stu]

Also, just realised UCD and Pats' next game is against each other again. Wonder how Students will try and psych themselves up for that one?
I can hear Martin Russell's team talk now. "We're never going to lose 5-0 again"