LOI fixtures - 23rd to 27th February 2018

[ToberonaTornado]

Premier Division:

FRIDAY -

Bray Wanderers v Saint Patrick's Ath
Cork City v Waterford FC
Sligo Rovers v Derry City
Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk FC - 8PM

SATURDAY -

Limerick FC v Bohemian FC - 6.30PM

MONDAY -

Sligo Rovers v Cork City
Waterford FC v Saint Patrick's Ath.
Shamrock Rovers v Bray Wanderers - 8PM

TUESDAY -

Dundalk FC v Limerick FC
Bohemian FC v Derry City

First Division:

FRIDAY -

Cabinteeley FC v Wexford FC
Drogheda United v Finn Harps
Galway United v Athlone Town
UCDAFC v Shelbourne FC

SATURDAY -

Longford Town v Cobh Ramblers - 7.30PM

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OFFICIALS : http://www.extratime.ie/articles/20426/match-officials-appointed---week-2/
SUSPENSIONS : http://www.extratime.ie/articles/20425/suspension-list---week-2/
COUPON : https://www.paddypower.com/football/airtricity-first-division
https://www.paddypower.com/football/airtricity-premier-division

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Rovers will play ****e, someone will start a fight yet we'll still somehow manage to score an undeserved equaliser in injury time, giving us false hope that our season won't be another massive disappointment.

[Nesta99]

I doubt there is a much better time (bar last Friday) for Rovers to expect a result against Dundalk. A few injuries still, 10 new signings some with little or no preseason, one at the club a few days, 8 players a week or 2 after having a nasty virus, centre defence partnership not established yet, probable first choice striker with damn all minutes game time since August, players not bothered by sickness/injury/lack of match fitness showing patchy form. Pressure on the side for a perfromance never mind the result. 1st game at home so big suppot. Rovers have had a steady preseason with little disruption, the result last week was in a derby game that is always competative and irritating rather than a catastrophe so players confidence shouldnt be knocked by that. Keep 11 men on the pitch and Rovers are clear favourites!

[Charlie Darwin]

I'll have you know we've kept 11 men on the pitch for a full 90 minutes this season so our disciplinary problems are over!

[sbgawa]

I doubt there is a much better time (bar last Friday) for Rovers to expect a result against Dundalk. A few injuries still, 10 new signings some with little or no preseason, one at the club a few days, 8 players a week or 2 after having a nasty virus, centre defence partnership not established yet, probable first choice striker with damn all minutes game time since August, players not bothered by sickness/injury/lack of match fitness showing patchy form. Pressure on the side for a perfromance never mind the result. 1st game at home so big suppot. Rovers have had a steady preseason with little disruption, the result last week was in a derby game that is always competative and irritating rather than a catastrophe so players confidence shouldnt be knocked by that. Keep 11 men on the pitch and Rovers are clear favourites!

Clarke still suspended 4 or 5 new starters .. a disgruntled crowd, pressure on...I'd take a draw now to be honest.

[Nesta99]

Clarke still suspended 4 or 5 new starters .. a disgruntled crowd, pressure on...I'd take a draw now to be honest.

If Ezekiel uttered these words there'd be nothing but scorn! ;p

[sbgawa]

I meant it in the context of if the match wasn't going well. Like the disgruntled crowd at your bray match. Not in a long term type way just normal home pressure

[El-Pietro]

I think given the make up of both squads and the players missing from Dundaks spine makes Rovers favourites. I was surprised to see the odds were something like 13/5 the other day.
I suspect Rovers will dominate for 70 minutes but only lead 1-0 or 2-1 or something similar. Dundalk will get a couple of chances late on, and the question is whether they can score one or two.

[Ezeikial]

I think given the make up of both squads and the players missing from Dundaks spine ..........

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

At this point we don't know who will be missing for Dundalk other than O'Donnell, and Mountney. Hoare is probably out (he gave himself a chance of being fit in an interview earlier this week).

There are question marks over the well-being post-flu and/or the match fitness of a number of players including Brian Gartland and Karolis Chvedukas who were named checked on DFC website 'Team News'.

If all five are out, it will leave us down to the bare bones with only 19 senior players available for selection.

[El-Pietro]

If all five are out, it will leave us down to the bare bones with only 19 senior players available for selection.
Roughly 11 of whom cover two positions.

[Ezeikial]

Roughly 11 of whom cover two positions.

It look like we will have to play with a fly goalkeeper then

[dundalkfc10]

Roughly 11 of whom cover two positions.

Nonsense

Gannon will be right full, Poynton can play there
Gartland, Folan, Massey, Cleary, Shields (if needed) can all play CB
Jarvis, Massey van play left full
Poynton, Shields, Chvedukas, McGrath, Benson, Adorjan can all play midfeild
Duffy, Mc Grath, Adorjan, Benson, Connolly, Murray can all play out wide
Duffy, McGrath, Adorjan, Benson, Murray can all play number 10.
Byrne, Tagbajumi, Murray Hoban can all play up front

[Ezeikial]

John Fallon shows his anti-Rovers obsession in this article on Rovers in The Times.

I trust that the usual suspects will heap their scorn on him




Bradley needs to start making progress at Shamrock Rovers

John Fallon
February 23 2018, 12:01am, The Times

Late on Wednesday night, in his role of RTÉ pundit, Damien Duff didn’t equivocate when supplying a frank assessment of his former mentor José Mourinho’s tenure at Manchester United but closer to home there is a tenancy that is also attracting its share of analysis.

Stephen Bradley is certainly no Mourinho, yet the tradition and fanbase of Shamrock Rovers make them Ireland’s version of United.

Both managers are in their second full season at the helm and while the Portuguese realises his record of 25 trophies and €350 million net transfer-market spend at a club carries the burden of expectation, Bradley must also accept that second is considered insufficient.

Compounding the challenge for the 33-year-old is the fact that third is their more likely placing in the League of Ireland order and there is no guarantee it will wash.

Tonight’s visit of Dundalk, only their second game of the season, is already been deemed a match that they cannot lose.

Granted, rookie managers tend to be afforded some slack, but last week’s capitulation in the 3-1 defeat by Bohemians, coupled with the party line circulating from Tallaght, threaten to make this a testing season for the local manager raised in nearby Fettercairn.

“We have to understand where we are,” Bradley said last week. “John Caulfield, Stephen Kenny and Kenny Shiels have been there four or five seasons with their squads.”

Not true. Kenny did take over at Dundalk for the 2013 season, Caulfield returned to Cork a year later but the first game of Shiels era at Derry came in March 2016. That is just four months before Bradley was installed as caretaker manager at Rovers in succession to the sacked Pat Fenlon.

“We just need to recognise that last year we made great progress and this year we need to try and better that again,” the Rovers manager said. “That just means closing the points gap on Cork and Derry because they’re ahead of the rest and we’ve to try fight and make it hard for them.”

Progress? It was the word Duff used in referencing Mourinho — contending that there had been none — and there is little evidence to indicate that the team for whom he is on the backroom staff have either.
At the end of his first, albeit half, season, Bradley’s side finished fourth, a full 22 points adrift of champions Dundalk.
Last year, having recruited heavily in the off-season, they leapfrogged Derry into third spot.

However, the gap on the top two remained unchanged.

Cork enjoyed that 22-point buffer and Dundalk, like the Leesiders in the previous season, accumulated 15 points more. This was at the end of a campaign in which reducing the deficit constituted their main target.

Despite this being early days, it is perhaps natural for Bradley to be less bullish on the topic of catching the trailblazers, especially after many of the top-level players that he wanted to enlist opted against moving.

Even the restrained Kenny seemed to take satisfaction by claiming his rivals “threw the kitchen sink” at attempting to lure his right back, Sean Gannon, to Dublin recently, along with Brian Gartland, the centre back.

The ploy had certainly worked 12 months previously when Ronan Finn, another of their mainstays in the surge to the Europa League group stage, made the switch but other, riskier captures disappointed.

For example, two more arrivals from Dundalk, Darren Meenan and Michael O’Connor, are not even in this year’s squad, while Ryan Connolly wasn’t retained after a year.

The Mayo man was presented as one of the “four young captains” on the same day last year but Daniel Devine departed by mutual consent midway through the season and Paul Corry’s injury problems eventually forced him to retire.

Only Roberto Lopes remains of that quartet and he will need to deliver an improved display at centre back to that shown against his former club Bohemians seven days ago.

He wasn’t alone in culpability at Dalymount Park, as the two full backs, Ethan Boyle and Ally Gilchrist, endured challenging debuts.

New signing Sean Kavanagh, in spite of his lack of first-team action, may replace Gilchrist at left back tonight but questions surrounding the decision to ditch Simon Madden, the right back, in the off-season for 21-year-old Boyle, a former Finn Harps midfielder, will linger for far longer. Fans’ favourite Madden was described by his manager as the best right back in the league only 12 months earlier when Cork starting sniffing around him.

Regardless of the personnel, what seemed most disconcerting on the opening night was the one-dimensional tactics adopted against a part-time Bohemians outfit. Aiming to exploit full backs by firing long balls in behind can have merit, only it was clearly ineffective from early in the game.

Rovers, too, are seen by the Football Association of Ireland as instrumental to its strategy of introducing a technically-based programme across the new under-age national leagues.

Since lifelong fan, Ray Wilson, and Pepper Group’s Seumas Dawes invested in the club two years ago to the tune of €1.5 million, much of the emphasis has centred on developing home-produced talent at their training ground in Kingswood and the governing body chipped in themselves with a €180,000 grant towards the facility’s construction costs in September.

Their endeavours to bring about change were highlighted by a social-media campaign during the downtime of Christmas, showing video clips of children exhibiting their skills around the streets of Dublin.

The “Football Loves Us” hashtag went global, helped by the presence in the footage of Duff, the under-15 squad head coach.

Now that definitely represented an example of progress.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bradley-needs-to-start-making-progress-at-shamrock-rovers-529rgkrtf?t=ie

[Ezeikial]

Nonsense

Gannon will be right full, Poynton can play there
Gartland, Folan, Massey, Cleary, Shields (if needed) can all play CB
Jarvis, Massey van play left full
Poynton, Shields, Chvedukas, McGrath, Benson, Adorjan can all play midfeild
Duffy, Mc Grath, Adorjan, Benson, Connolly, Murray can all play out wide
Duffy, McGrath, Adorjan, Benson, Murray can all play number 10.
Byrne, Tagbajumi, Murray Hoban can all play up front

Probably no point in trying to educate El-Pietro further. It has already been explained to him at great length and he appears either unwilling or unable to understand.

Hubris can do that

[dundalkfc10]

Was just up in Oriel, Less than 100 of the 750 tickets Rovers gave us. Great to see

Hope everyone has a **** before entering the stadium

[placid casual]

Is the answer "wash"?

[Ezeikial]

Is the answer "wash"?

LOL - that gave me a chuckle

Might be needed after leaving the ground if Rovers continue their close the toilet policy

[sbgawa]

I've promised myself that win lose or draw tonight I'm going to try to keep a bit of perspective on being either 6 5 or 3 points behind probably cork with 34 games to go doesn't mean the seaso n is over... . :)

[El-Pietro]

No guarantee we win tonight. Waterford look a good side and we are going to have to figure out what to do without Cummins. Very likely Sheppard starts up front and that hasn't worked for us in recent years.

[Ezeikial]

No guarantee we win tonight. Waterford look a good side and we are going to have to figure out what to do without Cummins. Very likely Sheppard starts up front and that hasn't worked for us in recent years.

I'd be amazed (and delighted) if Cork do not win easily tonight

[ger121]

What’s parking like on match nights at Markets Field?

[MattB11]

Drogs Vs Harps called off

[Longfordian]

That’s terrible for both sets of fans. Don’t the FAI still own United Park?

[MattB11]

An absolute farce that 5 minutes before kick off it was realised that the flood lights in United Park weren't adequate

[nigel-harps1954]

Absolute disgrace.

2653

[Nesta99]

They may own it but Drogheda lease it for a nominal fee and are responsible for things like replacing bulbs. When Drogheda were trying to sell United Park to help fund a new ground it was theirs to sell with the blessing of the FAI but if anything needs to be done at the ground or an embaressing postponement like tonight it will be the FAI's ground.

[SeanDrog]

Compete mess and disgrace. Last season people complained about bulbs not getting replaced and then to turn up tonight and clearly see even more bulbs gone and not be replaced.

Disgrace disgrace disgrace!!!!! Some start of season preparation!!! Clearly someone thought to save some beans on bulbs and we got burned badly tonight. (Penny wise pound foolish)

We should cover all Harps costs and forfeit the 3 points to them - it’s the least we could do for this complete farce.

Slow clap Drogs management ... slow clap ....

[osarusan]

What’s parking like on match nights at Markets Field?

Parking on Mulgrave Street, might be some free spaces. There is also parking on the Greenhill Road where the main entrance is, and on roads running off that one, but the farther you go, the dodgier it gets. You could just park closer to the city centre and walk back...it's not far at all.

[osarusan]

Rovers 0-0 Dundalk
Cork 2-0 Waterford
Sligo 2-1 Derry
Bray 1-2 Pats
Limerick Bohs is Saturday

[Lim till i die]

What’s parking like on match nights at Markets Field?

I'd say you're grand to work away.

They're playing rugby on it Wednesday so a few tyre marks won't make much odds. :good:

[El-Pietro]

Comfortable enough win in the end though at half time it was in the balance. Waterford didn't really cause us too many problems today. They had a ten minute spell shortly before half time but I don't recall Nults having to make any real saves. Any difficulty we had seemed to be of our own making.
It would have been an interesting game if Cummins was available. We were a bit neutered with Shep up top. Our lack of depth in that position might be our biggest issue this season.
Good start though. Top after two games.

[Asterix]

Cork will probably win the league easy enough.

[Duggie]

Compete mess and disgrace. Last season people complained about bulbs not getting replaced and then to turn up tonight and clearly see even more bulbs gone and not be replaced.

Disgrace disgrace disgrace!!!!! Some start of season preparation!!! Clearly someone thought to save some beans on bulbs and we got burned badly tonight. (Penny wise pound foolish)

We should cover all Harps costs and forfeit the 3 points to them - it’s the least we could do for this complete farce.

Slow clap Drogs management ... slow clap .... do we expect anything else?? Stuff like this just shows the league up as a joke. We dont need it.

[sbgawa]

Thought draw was a fair enough result tonight ; rovers will be a better team with Finn and Clarke in it dundalk also can improve. We finished stronge r imo Bolger v good , Benson for Dundalk, Connolly??? A lost soul

[Charlie Darwin]

Not sure what to think after that. Dundalk looked blunt but perhaps not surprising giving how many attacking players they've lost. We'd less of the ball than we usually do against them but thought we had the slightly better chances for once. One point and one goal in two games isn't a great return though. Hopefully we can rectify both against Bray on Monday.

[ToberonaTornado]

Hard to know what to make or take really from the match last night in Tallaght.
Dundalk on top early doors without really creating anything up-front in a fairly entertaining 1st half.Rovers played ok in patches.
Awful 2nd half.Rovers hit the bar,hoofed a lot from defence.
Dundalk maybe in control but no punch in the final final 3rd.
Plenty for both sides to work on.All very frustrating.

[Charlie Darwin]

Rovers lumping it forward from the back was very frustrating but I guess the defenders were understandably nervous after how they collapsed against Bohs. I thought McAllister and Bolger looked frustrated at the ball being pumped over their heads when they were looking for it to feet.

[total hoofball]

Shels will be out of the First Division title or play-off running unless they sack Heary after that crap against UCD

[desaintsno.12]

Bray is the coldest place in the world !!

Oh and good to get points , defence still a serious worry.

[mcgonigle]

Thought draw was a fair enough result tonight ; rovers will be a better team with Finn and Clarke in it dundalk also can improve. We finished stronge r imo Bolger v good , Benson for Dundalk, Connolly??? A lost soul

Draw was fair but don't think you finished stronger, from 70 minutes you looked tired and were there for the taking we just had no creativity to take advantage. Neither keeper had a save to make. Pretty dire

[sulywaterfordfc]

Comfortable enough win in the end though at half time it was in the balance. Waterford didn't really cause us too many problems today. They had a ten minute spell shortly before half time but I don't recall Nults having to make any real saves. Any difficulty we had seemed to be of our own making.
It would have been an interesting game if Cummins was available. We were a bit neutered with Shep up top. Our lack of depth in that position might be our biggest issue this season.
Good start though. Top after two games.

First half was quite even, Cork finished the stronger and we just never got going in the second half. Not one good delivery was put into the Cork box all night. Corbett looked poor without having to make any saves bar a misplaced cross and a long distance shot straight into his hands. Looked dodgy all night. Neither seen much of the ball. Expected a lot more from Cork, created next to nothing, two poor goals conceded by us in my view. Neither team really created anything of note, our second half performance was quite poor didn’t deserve it but certainly positives to take. Hery looked a step above at times. Keegan and Holohan had poor games gave the ball away all night. Felt Holohan was trying to over do it at times. Pitch was poor, as were the officials - some laughable at times (Standard for the LOI in fairness). Both teams played nice football I thought. Good to be back in the premier division. More Blue fans in Cork tonight then our average attendance the season prior to last. The PA chap is Cork was diabolical

[Ezeikial]

There was not a lot for either set of supporters to get excited about at Tallaght, other than the hope of improvement.

Dundalk were solid defensively from No1 to No6 with Daniel Cleary having an exceptional debut at centre back.

While pre-season has been significantly disrupted for many of the Dundalk squad, a number of them showed enough to be optimistic about their potential impact - Pat Hoban and Marco Tagbajumi in particular. Other than Michael Duffy - who roasted Boyle throughout, but especially in the first half - there was almost no attacking creativity from Benson, McGrath, Murray or Connolly and Adorjan when they came on

For Rovers, Finn and Clarke can hardly fail to improve the team, unless Bradley continues to insist on his primitive tactics.

I still can't decide whether Bradley is a master psychologist or totally deluded when he heaped praise on Ethan Boyle in a post-match interview

I think Ethan showed tonight why we brought him here - he was defensively unbelievable

Contrast that with this snippet from Paul O'Hehir in the Mirror


Winger Michael Duffy was livey down the left and had the measure of right-back Ethan Boyle who found the going tough for the second game running.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/shamrock-rovers-0-0-dundalk-12079653#ICID=Android_IrishMirrorNewsApp_AppShare

[dundalkfc10]

There was not a lot for either set of supporters to get excited about at Tallaght, other than the hope of improvement.

Dundalk were solid defensively from No1 to No6 with Daniel Cleary having an exceptional debut at centre back.

While pre-season has been significantly disrupted for many of the Dundalk squad, a number of them showed enough to be optimistic about their potential impact - Pat Hoban and Marco Tagbajumi in particular. Other than Michael Duffy - who roasted Boyle throughout, but especially in the first half - there was almost no attacking creativity from Benson, McGrath, Murray or Connolly and Adorjan when they came on

For Rovers, Finn and Clarke can hardly fail to improve the team, unless Bradley continues to insist on his primitive tactics.

I still can't decide whether Bradley is a master psychologist or totally deluded when he heaped praise on Ethan Boyle in a post-match interview


Contrast that with this snippet from Paul O'Hehir in the Mirror

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/shamrock-rovers-0-0-dundalk-12079653#ICID=Android_IrishMirrorNewsApp_AppShare

In fairness in second half Dundalk never got the ball out to Duffy and Boyle done well going forward but anytime Duffy got the ball running at him he was all over the place

Poor game overall, Draw fair result. Rovers playing for a draw with 30 mins to go was a surprise.

We weren’t good enough to break them down, We need O Donnell back big time (he will prob get injured and be about for about 6 weeks after 3 games)

Mountany will be a big plus too but last year he’s injured himself ever second week

[sbgawa]

I thought both teams kept going for the win but didn't create anythijng tangible. We really missed Finn and Clarke for an offensive threat . Interesting season ahead. Monday can't come quick enough

[placid casual]

For the good of the league, we can only hope both Rovers & Dundalk improve immeasurably over the course of the next few weeks, or cork will stroll to the title.

Good to see that the transfer policy Kenny had at Rovers has returned. There's some awful pish players playing for them!!

[Ezeikial]

Good to see that the transfer policy Kenny had at Rovers has returned. There's some awful pish players playing for them!!

Clutching at straws there PC

[sbgawa]

Cork are 4 points clear of dundalk and 5 points clear of rovers with 34 games to go. I'm not throwing in the towell yet :) dundalk will improve and rovers will too. Still reckon it could be a good season

[TonyD]

Good result for Pats last night. We weren't brilliant,but comfortable enough. Dean Clarke looks pretty good, great run from him for the second goal. Conan Byrne and Fagan again wth the goals. It would be an interesting stat to see what percentage of Pats goals over the past four years or so have come from those two.

[Asterix]

Kavanagh and clarke on the left side could be a nightmare for every team. Miele needs a few games on the bench though he has been well off it these two games.

[sbgawa]

Yeah I was thinking that myself. Nightmare scenerio for a rb