Bohs (H) 04-07-14

[kingpin4]

What are people's thoughts?


For me, we really can't draw or lose this game. There is going to be a tiny crowd at it, probably even lower than the UCD game which was so small it wasn't even announced.

There's a fairly depressing atmosphere around the club of late, losing Galbraith has added to that. I would have thought there would have been some movement on at least one of the junior lads training with us at the moment, even just to try get him on the bench for this game.

I'm going to go for a hopeful Limerick 1 - 0 Bohs.

[Lims4ever]

Not optimistic after last weeks display against cork going for a 1-1 draw but need to win without doubt i think if we lose were in big trouble, rainsford in for galbraith shows the depth of the squad

[kingpin4]

Lost 2 1.
i don't know how much you can attribute individual mistakes to Taylor, but my god...the club are going to be busy tonight deleting comments from the Facebook page! 2 mix ups at the back but Taylor is going to take all the flak for it.

[LK37oldskool]

While the 2 individual mistakes cost us ,whatever Taylor said at half time ruined us. They were playing ok,not brilliant but in the 2nd half they were appaling. It's not the first time that we,ve got worse after a half time team talk. Taylor still insists on making the team play the ball backwards all the time,there were several times in the game that we got to the edge of their box and the ball ended up with our keper. I really think that Taylor has taken the team as far as it can go under him and it's very obvious from tonight's attendance that the Limerick public has no faith in him. He has to go I,m afraid.

[kingpin4]

While the 2 individual mistakes cost us ,whatever Taylor said at half time ruined us. They were playing ok,not brilliant but in the 2nd half they were appaling. It's not the first time that we,ve got worse after a half time team talk. Taylor still insists on making the team play the ball backwards all the time,there were several times in the game that we got to the edge of their box and the ball ended up with our keper. I really think that Taylor has taken the team as far as it can go under him and it's very obvious from tonight's attendance that the Limerick public has no faith in him. He has to go I,m afraid.

Realistically though, who would you replace him with?
the players have to take a huge share of the blame too. Like, if they know something isn't working, why isn't anyone trying to change it? I get having a game plan, but surely someone has to have enough common sense to think 'hang on, maybe I should try pass it forward here instead of going back to my keeper'.

The biggest sticks that you can beat Taylor with are that it's his squad that he chose. It's him who makes excuses like blaming the pitch (the other team didn't have a problem with it), injuries (it's his training that's injured them) and the mid season break (Cork had a week off too)

[bluewhitearmy]

Realistically though, who would you replace him with?
the players have to take a huge share of the blame too. Like, if they know something isn't working, why isn't anyone trying to change it? I get having a game plan, but surely someone has to have enough common sense to think 'hang on, maybe I should try pass it forward here instead of going back to my keeper'.

The biggest sticks that you can beat Taylor with are that it's his squad that he chose. It's him who makes excuses like blaming the pitch (the other team didn't have a problem with it), injuries (it's his training that's injured them) and the mid season break (Cork had a week off too)


Pat Fenlon.

[bluewhitearmy]

Its fine saying its individual mistakes but it is always individual mistakes and it is always the same kind of mistakes at what stage do these mistakes start getting fixed? It was only a matter of time before Bohs got the 2nd mistake or not another pathetic performance in the 2nd half.

[LK37oldskool]

Realistically though, who would you replace him with?
the players have to take a huge share of the blame too. Like, if they know something isn't working, why isn't anyone trying to change it? I get having a game plan, but surely someone has to have enough common sense to think 'hang on, maybe I should try pass it forward here instead of going back to my keeper'.

The biggest sticks that you can beat Taylor with are that it's his squad that he chose. It's him who makes excuses like blaming the pitch (the other team didn't have a problem with it), injuries (it's his training that's injured them) and the mid season break (Cork had a week off too)
mick Cooke did an excellent job last year with drogheda, I think on paper we have a decent squad and someone like Cooke might get the best out of them. Certainly the players have lost confidence in Taylor and that is enough for him to go. Fenton would also be a good choice but not sure we could afford him.

[Acornvilla]

Was taking some photos at the match again tonight. 1st half wasn't bad at all. 2nd half was absolutely shocking, couldn't keep the ball at all. Bohs winner was coming..

[kingpin4]

Pat Fenlon.

Is that realistic though? Between paying off Taylor (on anywhere between €70,000 and €100,000 depending on who you believe) for his year and a half. Then agreeing a new contract with Fenlon for similar enough. Plus, increasing the budget for him to get players. It's probably not that financially feasible, if it was a case they sacked him, I imagine the assistant will just take over til the end of the season.

[Lim till i die]

Theres a major operation going on over on Facebook at the moment. If anyone can volunteer their time to help the clubs Facebook guy delete fan comments please contact the club asap.

On tonight little incident near the end summed it up for me.

Notorious foot poster and fellow boo boy gael353 shouted at the field that "This is a ****ing disgrace" To which Taylor turned around screaming "its not a disgrace, ITS NOT A DISGRACE!!"

The pitch Stuart, look at the pitch, and do your ****in job, are 1200 Limerick people all wrong??

[bluewhitearmy]

Is that realistic though? Between paying off Taylor (on anywhere between €70,000 and €100,000 depending on who you believe) for his year and a half. Then agreeing a new contract with Fenlon for similar enough. Plus, increasing the budget for him to get players. It's probably not that financially feasible, if it was a case they sacked him, I imagine the assistant will just take over til the end of the season.

I know he is interested anyway is all I can say on that.

[kingpin4]

Theres a major operation going on over on Facebook at the moment. If anyone can volunteer their time to help the clubs Facebook guy delete fan comments please contact the club asap.

On tonight little incident near the end summed it up for me.

Notorious foot poster and fellow boo boy gael353 shouted at the field that "This is a ****ing disgrace" To which Taylor turned around screaming "its not a disgrace, ITS NOT A DISGRACE!!"

The pitch Stuart, look at the pitch, and do your ****in job, are 1200 Limerick people all wrong??

That has been one thing that's annoyed me... He constantly interacts with the fans, trying to get them to sing or cheer. Malky did it last year too.


I know he is interested anyway is all I can say on that.


If he's interested then fair enough, he has a lot more pedigree and experience than Taylor...but I wouldn't think it'd be too realistic at this point in time. Most realistic option for me is if the club sack him (and I still don't see any point doing so now) then the Assistant will take over til the end of the season. I genuinely don't think the funds are there to increase the budget, let alone pay out over €100,000 as a lump sum pay off.

[bluewhitearmy]

That has been one thing that's annoyed me... He constantly interacts with the fans, trying to get them to sing or cheer. Malky did it last year too.




If he's interested then fair enough, he has a lot more pedigree and experience than Taylor...but I wouldn't think it'd be too realistic at this point in time. Most realistic option for me is if the club sack him (and I still don't see any point doing so now) then the Assistant will take over til the end of the season. I genuinely don't think the funds are there to increase the budget, let alone pay out over €100,000 as a lump sum pay off.

Depends who that actually is cos I don't know what Fennelly actually does.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Very disheartening stuff altogether. Have to measure cost of ditching Taylor now with practical matters. The club might not be in a position to pay out that kind of cash.

[bluewhitearmy]

Very disheartening stuff altogether. Have to measure cost of ditching Taylor now with practical matters. The club might not be in a position to pay out that kind of cash.

The club are also not in a position to keep going on crowds of barely 300 if even that though surely.

[kingpin4]

The club are also not in a position to keep going on crowds of barely 300 if even that though surely.


Of course not. You've been around long enough to know that the only way the crowds will come back will be a new season, with new players and a bit of buzz. Doing such poor business in the off season was the catalyst for all this and they'll stay between 400 and 800 now for the rest of the season.
Pat's a business man at the end of the day. He'll pick whatever option is the most feasible for the club. But he surely must be getting pretty sick of the whole lot too. I've heard rumours he's looking at stepping away at the end of the season, which would be catastrophic for the club as a whole. If one thing has been proven during his time at the club, there is a huge market which the club haven't been able to tap. And to be fair to Taylor, I don't think he signed his contract with the intention of the budget being cut in his 2nd season (even though he has contributed to it). It was always a gamble giving a manager with no experience a 3 year contract on big money...and my point with this is, the board and committee have gotten off pretty lightly in this whole thing.


One other thing, the deleting of the comments is both childish and hilarious in equal measures. You can't request fans feedback when it suits you. Is it better if everyone voices their disgust to the info@limerickfc.ie email address?

[Lim till i die]

In fairness on the facebook thing iv a hunch Pat O'Sullivan wouldnt be too impressed if he knew his facebook lads carry on.

[NeverFeltBetter]

A lot of the comments can get pretty foul-mouthed and needlessly hyperbolistic - it is Facebook after all - and loads of them tend to come from the most fairweather fans (remember last year, when every minor setback was treated like the end of days?). It doesn't surprise (or offend) me that those get deleted. But from what I hear, its more than just that. Whoever is behind the Facebook account has a remarkably thin skin.

I'd be interested in hearing the source of those rumours kingpin.

[gael353]

But has his budget been cut?

[Jofspring]

But has his budget been cut?

Surely. You don't release 8 and only sign 3 unless the budget has been cut in some shape or form?

Now is probably not the time to let Taylor go purely from a financial side of things. The main gripe most of us have is our continued predictability in games. I think at this stage every team knows how to beat us and its just a matter of the opposition enforcing their game plan properly.

A few tactical decisions have been poor as well like not taking off Turner last night. It was the lads first game in months which showed in the second half with his match fitness. He started the game well but due to fatigue started to fall away. That was the time to take him off but instead Ross Mann came off, followed by Prince.

The individual mistakes recently though are pretty unforgiving. Oji having the ball taken off him against Cork for a handy goal. Duggan playing the ball straight to a Cork player for them to score. Cusack kicking the ball straight out to a Bohs player resulting in a goal. McGrath passing the ball back straight to Jason Byrne which resulted in a goal. Robbie Williams letting in Djillali of Sligo at the back post for a handy goal and the penalty last night that he should have been sent off for. Dundalks first goal that no one cleared and was let bounce through to an easy goal from a set piece. Individual error after error. A lot are things that if they happened at junior level you would be dropped or given an ear full over.

When was the last time we had a manager people actually thought was good? Taylor - people call him a spoofer and disgrace, Scully - hoof ball merchant without a clue, Paul McGee - Spoofer and clueless, Mike Kerley - good coach but doesn't know how to manage a team, Noel O'Connor - same as Mike Kerley but people complained he didn't have a clue how to pick a team or change things.

I like the idea of Fenlon down the line but would he operate under a strict budget? His record says no, Shels and Bohs he spent large sums of money, won things but put the club in financial trouble. Derry he was not successful at all. I wouldn't even look at hibs.

The club are doing some great things behind the scenes which no one can complain about but there needs to be balance there. There is no point in having great things happening behind the scenes if no one wants to come out and watch the senior team.

A few of us said at the start of the season that there was no problem with a smaller budget as it was understandable but you run the risk of it totally flipping the opposite way. A lower budget can mean a weaker squad, a weaker squad means poorer performances, poorer performances means weaker crowds and it snowballs from there. Lack of sponsorship again this season on the jersey, looks terribly amateur. No jersey for sale for the first 5 months of the season despite it meaning to be on sale in February. Lack of any kind of advertising outside of social media or buzz created pre-season by signings and again that all causes that snowball affect that sees crowds and interest drop.

At the end of the day people aren't going to pay their €12+ to go to a game because the club have a fantastic academy. Having academies etc.. is always going to be a slow process to see rewards reaped but as it stands the club can't afford that kind of time.

[blueblood]

Anyone know why Prince was taken off? Surely McManus should have come on sooner but replaced a different player!!!

[donnrua]

There's a switch under the back of Taylor's collar that's programmed to take Prince off.

[Jofspring]

Anyone know why Prince was taken off? Surely McManus should have come on sooner but replaced a different player!!!

I can only presume it was because we went 4-4-2 and he wanted Duggan and Hughes in the middle of that formation.

[blueblood]

I can only presume it was because we went 4-4-2 and he wanted Duggan and Hughes in the middle of that formation.

Fair enough but taking your best player off!

[Jofspring]

Fair enough but taking your best player off!

Ya I agree I wouldn't have taken him off.

[Acornvilla]

Here's a link to the photos I took last night. I know it won't bring back any nice memories but sure.. The old man, Mr Quinn is it? Is an absolute gent.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/18143999/Limerick-v-Bohemian-FC-(New-camera)-04714

[da bishop]

long time since i watched a game so poor.both teams hoofing the ball all game and fouling consistently when not.same tired plan from Taylor aimless passing across the back ,a midfielder dropping deep to try collect the ball[invariably possession lost],who AGAIN pass back then one of the centre halfs hoofs it.all the goals from terrible mistakes,no crowd etc etc etc...wouldn,t sack the manager though its got to improve,dont expect us to win every week but i expect to be entertained with some decent football and to comfortably stay in the division.i hope people talking about his assistants taking charge are spoofing a bit,they should be the first to go ,what amazed me last night was how unfit the players looked,think his backroom team are letting him down,he DOES need look at himself and change a few things.our chairman will also be taking stock soon and his first priorty should be to look at all the paid generals who are taking the king for a ride ,the whole operation is gone out of control.

[gaiscíoch]

Just from the outside looking in now. But I don't think playing at thomand park is helping with attendances and overall performance of the team/club as a whole. My belief is if you could get a ground which is more intimate where you could pack a crowd and not be as sparse as thomand would help. There is no atmosphere it's lost on small crowds, pitch doesn't help either. Obviously you may need to accept a short term lose for a long term gain. (Premier league survival) Your going in the right direction a lot better set up than when I was a kid. If you hold tough see the current regime through I think you will come out better. Sacking a manager is the easy solution. Hold on and support him. The young lads may have a lot of the answers you are looking for but they need time. Pro footballer come and go but the youth will bring a new spirit and energy to the team all Taylor needs to do is get safety and start blooding. The players are there at underage. Always have been in limerick. Before the goal was fairview or pike now it's limerick. Bide your time good things are happening.

[LK37oldskool]

Just from the outside looking in now. But I don't think playing at thomand park is helping with attendances and overall performance of the team/club as a whole. My belief is if you could get a ground which is more intimate where you could pack a crowd and not be as sparse as thomand would help. There is no atmosphere it's lost on small crowds, pitch doesn't help either. Obviously you may need to accept a short term lose for a long term gain. (Premier league survival) Your going in the right direction a lot better set up than when I was a kid. If you hold tough see the current regime through I think you will come out better. Sacking a manager is the easy solution. Hold on and support him. The young lads may have a lot of the answers you are looking for but they need time. Pro footballer come and go but the youth will bring a new spirit and energy to the team all Taylor needs to do is get safety and start blooding. The players are there at underage. Always have been in limerick. Before the goal was fairview or pike now it's limerick. Bide your time good things are happening.

agree with a lot of your post. Set up behind the scenes is very good and we have a good squad with a lot of promising local talent. The problem is the manager and his tactics. Taking off the players that are playing well and putting on players in different positions. He insists on making the back four play the ball across the pitch and we have not learned anything from it as we get caught regularly in possession. We have gone in at half time in many games ahead and playing well only to come out after the break, play crap and lose the game. God knows what wisdom Taylor is giving them. I really fear for our survival in the prem league if we get sucked into a relegation battle as Taylor would not be able to motivate the team to grind out results. Looking at recent form I wonder if he has lost the dressing room.

[Acornvilla]

Lads you're closer to fifth than you are last place, wouldn't get too worried about a relegation dogfight just yet.. Things were bad in the 2nd half, but there's still plenty in the tank with this team to stay up comfortably.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I suppose its a measure of how bad the vibes are around the club that so much of the fanbase think we're relegation candidates.

[bluewhitearmy]

agree with a lot of your post. Set up behind the scenes is very good and we have a good squad with a lot of promising local talent. The problem is the manager and his tactics. Taking off the players that are playing well and putting on players in different positions. He insists on making the back four play the ball across the pitch and we have not learned anything from it as we get caught regularly in possession. We have gone in at half time in many games ahead and playing well only to come out after the break, play crap and lose the game. God knows what wisdom Taylor is giving them. I really fear for our survival in the prem league if we get sucked into a relegation battle as Taylor would not be able to motivate the team to grind out results. Looking at recent form I wonder if he has lost the dressing room.

We dont though really.

[kingpin4]

Set up behind the scenes is very good and we have a good squad with a lot of promising local talent.

I'm not being funny, but could you name them?
To my mind, all I can think of is Ross Mann, Tony Whitehead, Shane Costelloe and James McGrath (not really local, but we'll take him)
Coughlan, Sheedy, Hanlon, Rainsford all seem to have stalled (maybe due to lack of games or whatever)
The only other local lads are Tracy, Hughes and Duggan.

I may be forgetting others if anyone wants to add to this.

[LK37oldskool]

ok, point taken, maybe a should have said a few young promising players and left out "lot" & "local". Considered myself told off!