Drogheda Home

[Jofspring]

Bit more optimistic defensively after the st.pats game. Need to be a lot more creative going forward though and Gaffney needs to be supported up top much better.

If we stay solid at the back I think we can win this one.

Limerick 1-0 Drogheda

Great to hear an ad on the radio for the match. More like that needs to be done if we are to expect people to know games are on and to turn up.

[NeverFeltBetter]

It's been said over and over but the goals just won't come with the current set-up. You need more than Gaffney up there, otherwise you're relying on the likes of Tracy's set-pieces or fluke goals. Doesn't seem like there's great potential for scores from other parts of the pitch, the goal against Pats notwithstanding. What's the word on MacManus? Optimistically I'd agree with a 1-0, but I can easily see another 0-0 draw or a close defeat.

[kingpin4]

Only got to see last weeks match tonight, but I have to say that Taylor deserves a huge amount of credit for the tactics. Might not have been a fantastic football game to watch, but we frustrated the hell out of them. Bit fortuitous with not conceding the penalty and our goal was a real bit of individual brilliance from Duggan to pick McGraths excellent run.

Drogheda will be much different, we'll be almost expected to get a result. The formation isn't good for breaking teams down because we don't have the players to play it. A 4 4 2 might work better in giving us a platform to play on, but injury has taken our only natural winger. Unless we're doing a variation of 4 2 3 1 where we have an actual front 4, I can't see us breaking Drogs down. The other side of that is I saw Dave Ryan in goals for them the other night. Had an awful game and was at fault for the goal conceded. He flaps at crosses so surely a set piece will be our best bet at getting a result.

[NeverFeltBetter]

MacManus is signed: https://audioboo.fm/boos/2027755-tam-mcmanus-on-signing-for-limerick-28-march-2014

He's been here for weeks apparently so might feature tonight.

[NeverFeltBetter]

MacManus, Agyemang and Curran all on the bench tonight. Looks like Taylor is sticking with the 4-5-1.

[Jofspring]

Same tactics again and same result again. Toothless going forward. If Taylor doesn't change it up in the next game then his days are most certainly numbered.

Some simple questions need to be answered:

Injuries aside why are we persisting on playing the same way with so many players isolated all over the pitch?

0-1 down with 10 to go and he takes off the left back and replaces him with a left back???

Prince is seemingly a fantastic player but can't seem to get near a run at the moment, why??

Awful stuff to watch tonight in front of a poor attendance that will most likely drop after what was on show.

[NeverFeltBetter]

How did Curran get on?

[bluewhitearmy]

If I see another long throw float harmlessly into the hands of the keeper or fall to the very first defenders head then I'll scream, one of the most pointless things I have ever seen.

Do we have any type of plan going forward? And if so do the players know what it is? All 3 of our midfield very poor tonight.

[kingpin4]

Terrible stuff tonight. Like jofspring said, so many players get so isolated in the system. Barry Ryan should have got man of the match for he saves he pulled off. He kept the score down singlehandedly.
The system is ridiculous at this point and so predictable.
Folan/ Oji get the ball. Play it to full back. Back to centre half, back to full back. Centre mids drop into pockets looking for a pass. Drogs press us and we kick long to Gaffney. Tries to hold up the ball and realises 2 centre mids are about 30 yards away. Gaffney gets crowded out and the ball comes back at us.

UCD is a must win or Taylor will be starting to look over his shoulder.

My thoughts are:

Ryan: excellent stuff for 99% of the game! I don't know if it's harsh blaming him for the goal! I thought Oji and Folan could have done more to protect him.
Kelly: dependable and kept Brennan quiet for most of the game. Should have made more of his chance as it was one of our only real clear chances. Hopefully the knock he took is nothing more than minor.
Oji: he was left exposed a lot with players running at him but did well to handle it
Folan: his passing is atrocious. We pass around the back, then when they press him, he launches a ball for the corner
Nzuzi: was poor at left full. Most of their attacks came down that side
Duggan: had our best chance and really should have scored. Looked like he was in the middle on his own at times and had a huge amount of ground to cover
Hughes: looked busy, but being busy is only good if it's effective. He seemed to be busy in such harmless areas
Rainsford: looked out of his depth. Might be a it harsh, but I can't remember one time he affected the game and it's been like that a lot lately
Tracy: great delivery from set pieces, but didn't really offer a lot else in open play
Gaffney: was isolated so many times and held the ball up well, but the system kills him
McGrath: doesn't have the pace for the wide left role. Was tidy in possession, but he affected the game very little.
Subs
Curran: busy, but lacked sharpness. Looked like someone who has been out injured a while
McManus: hard to judge. Scored an offside goal. Might be a good omen that he took a chance on getting in there.
Williams: seemed a bit pointless bringing him on instead of Coughlan.

Any thoughts? I'm a bit p*ssed off so probably being a tad harsh on some of them, but a poor attendance is only going to get worse with that football. We could be in trouble!

[da bishop]

our midfield 3 were indeed quite poor tonight,but..bar duggan poor and all as he was the other 2 are out of their depth.hard to watch that display without feeling major doom and gloom.poor mistake by ryan for the goal however wouldnt hammer the guy who has saved us time and time again papering over the obvious cracks that have been there for some time.this football is not entertaining its like watching some coaching manual trying to be played out.have already expressed worry about what is happening on and off pitch and tonight enhances those worries.poor crowd for 2nd home match of the season.as for our preseason injury list ...how in anyones name do we have one when we have s....state of the art physios,masseurs,sports nutric,managers ,coachs etc etc.none of the other clubs seem to have one.uncertain weeks ahead .

[bluewhitearmy]

Terrible stuff tonight. Like jofspring said, so many players get so isolated in the system. Barry Ryan should have got man of the match for he saves he pulled off. He kept the score down singlehandedly.
The system is ridiculous at this point and so predictable.
Folan/ Oji get the ball. Play it to full back. Back to centre half, back to full back. Centre mids drop into pockets looking for a pass. Drogs press us and we kick long to Gaffney. Tries to hold up the ball and realises 2 centre mids are about 30 yards away. Gaffney gets crowded out and the ball comes back at us.

UCD is a must win or Taylor will be starting to look over his shoulder.

My thoughts are:

Ryan: excellent stuff for 99% of the game! I don't know if it's harsh blaming him for the goal! I thought Oji and Folan could have done more to protect him.
Kelly: dependable and kept Brennan quiet for most of the game. Should have made more of his chance as it was one of our only real clear chances. Hopefully the knock he took is nothing more than minor.
Oji: he was left exposed a lot with players running at him but did well to handle it
Folan: his passing is atrocious. We pass around the back, then when they press him, he launches a ball for the corner
Nzuzi: was poor at left full. Most of their attacks came down that side
Duggan: had our best chance and really should have scored. Looked like he was in the middle on his own at times and had a huge amount of ground to cover
Hughes: looked busy, but being busy is only good if it's effective. He seemed to be busy in such harmless areas
Rainsford: looked out of his depth. Might be a it harsh, but I can't remember one time he affected the game and it's been like that a lot lately
Tracy: great delivery from set pieces, but didn't really offer a lot else in open play
Gaffney: was isolated so many times and held the ball up well, but the system kills him
McGrath: doesn't have the pace for the wide left role. Was tidy in possession, but he affected the game very little.
Subs
Curran: busy, but lacked sharpness. Looked like someone who has been out injured a while
McManus: hard to judge. Scored an offside goal. Might be a good omen that he took a chance on getting in there.
Williams: seemed a bit pointless bringing him on instead of Coughlan.

Any thoughts? I'm a bit p*ssed off so probably being a tad harsh on some of them, but a poor attendance is only going to get worse with that football. We could be in trouble!

Think you have it about spot on tbh. I don't want to be too harsh on lads but there is one in particular that I think bar one game maybe two last season has never had a positive impact in a game.

[kingpin4]

Think you have it about spot on tbh. I don't want to be too harsh on lads but there is one in particular that I think bar one game maybe two last season has never had a positive impact in a game.

If it's Rainsford you're on about (you don't have to say who) I think he's still living off his hat trick he scored. He must be doing something wonderful in training to justify continuing to play because he doesn't seem to do much in games. I think it'd be worth trying Feeney or dropping Mcgrath back in there and using Hanlon or Coughlan out wide

[bluewhitearmy]

I just wonder what kind of system we could play seen as we don't have any wingers really.

What we have seen since last season is nothing at all like the type of football Taylor promised when he came. I have backed him even very recently but if its the same again against UCD patience will start to get very thin id imagine. Great news with Bruff and all but if the team on the pitch is woeful then it is just a waste of time and money.

[kingpin4]

I just wonder what kind of system we could play seen as we don't have any wingers really.

What we have seen since last season is nothing at all like the type of football Taylor promised when he came. I have backed him even very recently but if its the same again against UCD patience will start to get very thin id imagine. Great news with Bruff and all but if the team on the pitch is woeful then it is just a waste of time and money.

Completely agree. He keeps going on about "we'll go and get it down and play. We'll go pass the ball" but it's the same over and over. I still think he should be given time, but I think I'm in the minority at this point. It was a risk getting a manager with little experience, but he's still finding his feet...the question is will the board/ committee/ Pat O'S have enough trust in him to find them.
Like you said, great to have the infrastructures but not if we're back in the first division. It will look like we put the money in to the wrong place. I think a poor result against UCD will set off the panic alarms in higher up people.

the system? Anything except this 4 3 3. It ends up as a 4 5 1 all the time. Let's actually try play 433 with 3 strikers and just sacrifice the width. Only other option is looking at playing a diamond, but we're still sacrificing width. We should be trying to make thomond park smaller for the players instead of stretching ourselves. We can't keep forcing players into a system they quite obviously can't play. Square pegs, round holes

[bluewhitearmy]

What do people think is a reasonable amount of time to give him?

[kingpin4]

What do people think is a reasonable amount of time to give him?

Ah he deserves to see out his contract. I'd hate to see anyone lose their job in this day and age. Whether he gets the patience from he board and fans, I don't know.

From a business point of view, I could see the club making a change just before the transfer window if we look like we'll be in the bottom two in June. The club is trying to stabilise itself. Getting relegated will cripple us completely.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Let's not get too into this, it's only the fourth game of the season, and the squad's had both injury problems and a reduced budget to deal with. A poor result against UCD next week will certainly raise serious doubts in my mind about the direction Taylor is going (especially now Curran and Macmanus are available) but I think it's way too early to be talking termination of his position. Mid-table was always going to be the goal again this season, and that's not beyond this squad still. If Limerick are mired in a relegation fight after one round of games, then I'd start calling for his head.

[bluewhitearmy]

I dont want him sacked at all would be extremely harsh given he has moved a young family over,. But in saying that if it was to go on with this complete lack of any direction or leadership then there won't be much choice.
Not results worrying me as much as the complete lack of any sign of something happening going forward in the opening 4 games of the season.

[Lim till i die]

Just came in to say, its worth pointing out, in fairness to Stuart Taylor, that he's been sold a pup aswell.

He didn't sign up for this.

He came in for the stability first year, tilt at europe second year, european football third year project.

What he's got is the stability first year, slash your budget because it turns out playing in thomond park infront of no one is expensive EVERYBODY LOOK OVER THERE AT BRUFF second year project.


Not gonna say much else because iv not much good to say!!

[fieldofmarkets]

Games always seem worse when you lose. I didn't think the game was bad actually, both sides had some nice moves including a great piece by Gaffney in the 1st. There were some great saves and they weren't all by Barry Ryan. The table looks bad after 4 games but the team we finished with was probably the strongest 11 we've been able to put out yet, the results will improve. The goal we lost to was more like a try than a goal, Shane Duggan should have scored, ref should have awarded a free on the edge which Tracey likely would have scored and if the game could have gone on longer you could see us equalising. As long as we don't have an injury crisis again we'll be fine.
It might be a tougher season this year though. I think its fair to say we are probably not better than we were last year and all the teams from below and around us last season (Cork, Bohs, Bray, Drogheda, UCD) all look better than last year.

[LK37oldskool]

Once again i cannot fathom Taylors tactics. Watching from the stands you can see a distinct lack of shape and it must be easy for the opposition managers to plan against us. Some players are either not up to this level or seem to have lost their edge. I have been most disappointed with Tracy this season. Pulls out of every challenge and his passing is woeful. Rainsford is not ready for this level yet no matter how well he does in training. Rory is not lone striker and plays much better out wide off a centre forward. Even if Curran & Tam were not fully fit,Taylor could have played one in each half and that would have given us some shape up front. I am beginning to worry about our direction on the field and Taylor surely only has a couple of more games to put things right before measures will have to be taken to rescue our season.

[harpin]

Taylor won't change his system because he doesn't have another one, he plays players out of position in training to fit his system.
Only threat last night was when Duggan broke from midfield unfortunately I don't think Hughes is a good enough partner in there with him to allow this to happen more often.

[Jofspring]

I think the general consensus is that Taylor just needs to change it up a bit to save his job. As I say injuries aside the lack of budging on the way we are playing or trying to play is the most frustrating thing for everyone. The best managers are able to adapt the team when needs be but Taylor doesn't seem to be doing it.

[blueblood]

I bet this football looks great in training, not in real games. It's like we're not expecting to be closed down and when we have the ball the only players making any real effort are the opposition

[kingpin4]

I think the general consensus is that Taylor just needs to change it up a bit to save his job. As I say injuries aside the lack of budging on the way we are playing or trying to play is the most frustrating thing for everyone. The best managers are able to adapt the team when needs be but Taylor doesn't seem to be doing it.

I think the thing with Taylor is, he's a good coach, but not the best manager. I'm sure he has ideas, but is struggling to implement it. And he's finding it hard to get Irish players in who can play to his ideas. He has been restricted budget wise, that's fairly documented. He has to play to our strengths and build a system around the players available...maybe even bring in the Thomond park pitch a bit to stop leaving players so isolated.
Ideal scenario would have been to bring him in as assistant under an experienced manager, with the view that after 2 years (ball park figure) he'd be the manager.
No one wants to see anyone sacked, and I don't think he's anyway close to being so. But if we lose to UCD, lose to Cork, fans will really turn. It's ok for the hardcore group there who are used to it, but we'll never attract new fans as is to help us get to a self sustainable point.

[Sea Bird]

system?? what system I have seen the two home games and the park the bus game against pats which deserves to be commended showed a lot team spirit etc etc but no flair whatsoever and that's all he keeps banging on about but it's pass pass pass pass bang it goes long passing for the sake of it no shape whatsoever I have seen better organised junior teams and they only have 2 hours a week with their players most of these players are full time and for me Taylor is a first class bluffer keeps repeating himself over and over but on the flipside the club have as usual done things arseways started last season with a small squad done ok and them weakened the squad because of budget yet go to Spain for pre-season and have more people on the pay roll than some professional clubs buying land in bruff while we still don't have a home or have the MF developed and they are missing the point if we are not in the premier league people will not come and support the club no matter where we play bar the bunch of die hards who have followed the club thru thick and thin and I feel for them having been given false hope last season and now it's gone backwards for me and a relegation battle looms with a very small squad.. playing in the premier league and getting exposure on national television and we don't have a sponsor what are the people who are been paid to market the club doing??? I hope I am wrong but this is getting very worrying.. who is the number 2 ??? exactly some clown by all accounts and we sign a Scottish journeyman who is well past his sell by date and we are supposed to get excited... rant over

[delboyderis]

system?? what system I have seen the two home games and the park the bus game against pats which deserves to be commended showed a lot team spirit etc etc but no flair whatsoever and that's all he keeps banging on about but it's pass pass pass pass bang it goes long passing for the sake of it no shape whatsoever I have seen better organised junior teams and they only have 2 hours a week with their players most of these players are full time and for me Taylor is a first class bluffer keeps repeating himself over and over but on the flipside the club have as usual done things arseways started last season with a small squad done ok and them weakened the squad because of budget yet go to Spain for pre-season and have more people on the pay roll than some professional clubs buying land in bruff while we still don't have a home or have the MF developed and they are missing the point if we are not in the premier league people will not come and support the club no matter where we play bar the bunch of die hards who have followed the club thru thick and thin and I feel for them having been given false hope last season and now it's gone backwards for me and a relegation battle looms with a very small squad.. playing in the premier league and getting exposure on national television and we don't have a sponsor what are the people who are been paid to market the club doing??? I hope I am wrong but this is getting very worrying.. who is the number 2 ??? exactly some clown by all accounts and we sign a Scottish journeyman who is well past his sell by date and we are supposed to get excited... rant over

was at the game last night,very poor display from limerick.lack somebody in midfield to help shane duggan,jason hughes isnt up to it.taylor released too many players in the off season and didnt replace them.the young guys arent up to premier standard yet.im afraid that its going to be a long season after such a poor start.thomond park has absolutely no atmosphere and even more so with only 855 at last nights game.

[AlanOB]

It wasn't the same 4-3-3/4-5-1 last night. It was a clear switch to a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 system, with Tracy in the number 10 position playing behind Gaffney and Hughes/Duggan playing in a double pivot.

I thought we moved the ball a lot better in this configuration in the first half. Gaffney was not as isolated as in previous games and linked more regularly with the midfield. Unfortunately as mentioned above, we suffered from having to field two centrally minded players on the flanks in Rainsford and McGrath. Not to continue to flog a dead horse here, but we simply have no width and are far too predictable in attack. Someone mentioned our only genuine winger (Galbraith) - when he does come back he won't be utilised as a winger. We all know he'll be on the right cutting in.

Unfortunate for Ryan to be culpable for the goal, but in fairness he saved at least 4 point blank efforts other than that - Gary O'Neil's chance on the break just after the goal, McNally's header, Holohan's chance after Nzuzi was robbed and Fabio's chance after Folan left the ball go over his head late on.

What did we create? The only real chance we made from open play was the one where Gaffney danced through and the ball was worked wide for Shaun Kelly. Kelly is expected to do a lot in this system and in fairness he tries manfully every game. You usually get a shot on target from him at least, but he just doesn't do enough from an attacking perspective. Full backs at this level are not capable of providing all of the width adequately in my opinion.

The most worrying thing was how we lost our shape after the Curran sub. The players seemed to take matter into their own hands and there was massive interchanging and duplication of positioning.

It was even worse when McManus came on and were effectively playing with three permanent strikers and hoofing it up to them.

Of course, Oji was inevitably thrown up there too for the last few minutes.

I have zero faith in this manager guys. He either doesn't learn from his mistakes or isn't capable of instructing the players to right them. I understand the point about the budget/squad but his failure to right simple and glaring wrongs is no longer tolerable.

[4tothefloor]

I missed this game as I was out sick but in truth I missed nothing because I know exactly how it would have looked - loads of huffing and puffing, pointless passing with no end product, hesitant defending and over all just a bland rudderless performance. We play like this almost every game.

Taylor talks a great game, has a repertoire of sound bites, but doesn't really deliver on any of it. Huge questions about him tactically. Stuart do yourself a favour and stop talking about playing good football, because you do not play good football. A team that plays good football plays it in the oppositions half of the pitch, not fannying about with the ball in your own half before hoofing it to no mans land. Stop feeding us and the media with this stuff. You'll earn a lot more respect by being honest and laying your cards on the table. If you have to play more direct, so what? At least be honest about it. Be honest about the squad of players you have. We're not stupid. I stand near the benches in Thomond Park and from what I could see it was Malkey Thompson that was doing most of the organising and orchestrating last season. Malkey is gone now and Stuart seems to be sinking without him. No coincidence there.

There are lots of worrying questions to be asked. Why were Bradley and Gamble released when we didn't have O'Leary signed, a player we eventually lost? Why did we not invest in a striker? According to all and sundry we had Anthony Elding as good as signed, but we pulled out. Why? Why wasn't Bossekota re-signed if we ran out of options? Our assistant manager was released in the off season, and wasn't replaced until the new season had already started. Why? Who's making these decisions? Is it Taylor or is it other people at the club? These are important questions because whoever it was that thought it was adequate to start the season with the likes of Hughes, Rainsford, McGrath and Gaffney as first team players needs their head examined. Barry Sheedy is our back up striker. Those sort of decisions.......you almost deserve to be relegated. If you think about it logically, we finished mid table last season. We've lost the bones of half that team and instead of replacing them all, we've promoted a bunch of third/fourth/fifth choice players in their place. If that's not asking for trouble I don't know what is. Maybe the thinking was that regardless of what we do, we still won't be as bad as Athlone/UCD/Bray?

It's well known that the budget has been slashed this season. Fair enough. But again, where's the logic in not investing in a first team that's playing in a huge expensive stadium that's costing the club considerable money to rent? If you make one or two major signings it creates a buzz about the place and a belief among fans - look at Cork City. If you invest nothing, it creates worry and apathy. Those two big signings would pay for themselves on the gate. Look at the lack of investment in the Limerick squad this season, and look at the corresponding gates so far. No coincidence there either.

There's loads of other off field questions to be asked. We still don't have a shirt sponsor. The club doesn't have a single major sponsor really. It's small, local business (the same ones season after season might I add) that are keeping that side of the show on the road. With that in mind, who's paying for Bruff both now and the future development? Is it Pat O'Sullivan? Or is the club paying for it? As for the Markets Field, that's a basket case that will have it's day in the not so distant future.

It's looking like being a long hard season. I just hope McManus hits the ground running and Prince is as good as he's been made out to be.

[bluewhitearmy]

Jason Hughes has been named in one of those team of the week things based on this match :confused:. Described as "Lims stand out performer".

[sadloserkid]

Shane Duggan made RTE's team of the week too.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I often find those things are trying to achieve a sort of balance by handing out spots to whatever team they can think of who aren't in already.

[Briuk]

Reading this, Im surprised on how harsh you are, considering in how weak your roster is, I think only, Curran, Galbraith, Duggan, Oji and Ryan would be regular starters in other teams of the league, you have many young guys who I doubt are good enough for Premier.

[Jofspring]

Reading this, Im surprised on how harsh you are, considering in how weak your roster is, I think only, Curran, Galbraith, Duggan, Oji and Ryan would be regular starters in other teams of the league, you have many young guys who I doubt are good enough for Premier.

Most peoples problems is with our predictability and how there doesn't seem to be any shift in the way we are trying to play.