Rovers Reserves 1-0 Harps

[1 9 2 8]

Premier league you’re havin’ a laugh :D

Always good to beat Harps

[roversforever]

thought kusten was fantastic.he put some great crosses in.was also impressed with rouse.its good to know we have quality backup for o' hara.not sure about o' dwyer.he had some nervy moments.gary curran will be an excellent player,given time.and what can we say about carlos!i was delighted for him.i think the whole crowd in the showgrounds want him to do well and to be fair to him it looks like he's been working hard.his touch and passing have improved and he was more willing to contest the ball.maybe given time....but still not sure!hope he can build on tonight.

[roversforever]

what did ye make of his celebration?he seemed to be telling the press men to shut up.some of them did give him stick allright.i remember seeing a piece in the weekender after monaghan beat us.the title was "alvarez all at sea in rovers defeat".it then went on to basically give a whole page about how bad he is,which i thought was disgraceful.i have a feeling carlos may have seen it too judging by the celebration tonight!

[Petmuller]

what did ye make of his celebration?he seemed to be telling the press men to shut up.some of them did give him stick allright.i remember seeing a piece in the weekender after monaghan beat us.the title was "alvarez all at sea in rovers defeat".it then went on to basically give a whole page about how bad he is,which i thought was disgraceful.i have a feeling carlos may have seen it too judging by the celebration tonight!

The celebrations for the goal in my opinion were nothing short of a disgrace. If this is the best Sean Connor (an ex-Public Relations man) can come up with well then he should reconsider things. The whole 'celebration' thing was for the benifit of the Weekender's reporter Robert Cullen getting back at him for saying something the rest of Rovers supporters believe. Connor threw a ball to Alverez who stuffed it under his jersey depicting a big belly and then both Connor and Alverez pointed to the pressbox. In my opinion it was way over the top and totally uncalled for and if there's any justice then action will be taken by the club towards these two 'gentlemen'.

[roversforever]

well should he be allowed say things about carlos in the paper,which he can't reply to?

[gustavo]

yea thats fair comment and its a bit unfair on him if he was born in ballymote rather than bolivia he wouldnt have recieved half the critisism from the press.

[Mitch Buchanon]

yea thats fair comment and its a bit unfair on him if he was born in ballymote rather than bolivia he wouldnt have recieved half the critisism from the press.

I agree. He's an easy target being from Bolivia. I wonder will Cullen have the guts now to do a write-up on a certain local who spent most of the game lying on his arse. Doubt it.

Connor's behavior was a bit unprofessional I'll give you that. He refuses to speak to the Weekender now as well. On the plus side though, standing up for your players like that will really get them behind you.

Carlos played much better once he scored the goal and he got some confidence back. Imagine how hard it must have been for him out on the pitch as a 19 year old in a foreign country after just been slated in the press. He must have been so scared of making a mistake I don't know how he managed to play at all. It was great to see him score the winner.

[raginrover]

I seen that piece too and i have to admit i'm not a great fan of Carlos, but he is a young lad and to single him out is way out of order. How would mister cullen like it if we all went to see him when he's doing his stand up comedy bit and started abusing him, i dont think he would be too happy. Also when Ian O Doherty from the irish independant started saying that TABBY was nothing but a karoke singer during the x factor who jumped on the band wagon, mr cullen again saying it was wrong to critise someone so young that was trying to make a name for themself and do there best. There is a bit of a double standard there, so given the type of person were dealing with I think Carlos was spot on in his celebration and if it drives him on to be a better player all the better for us.
ps Great result last night and delighted to see the fringe lads get a run.

[kkontour]

I thought Alverez was usless last night. Cant jump for the ball, Cant hold the ball up, waiting in an offside position for passes. Several times Sean Flan and C O' Grady had to turn back as Alverez was calling for the ball while 2 yrs offside. OK, so he scored the Goal from a filck on at the near post. Blind luck or skill? Who knows. But from what I saw I can form an opinion. He then asked to be substituted 5min later. Did'nt appear to be too much wrong with him, maybe he wanted to finish on a high note.

[rockstar]

Good result for us against Harps, any win against them is welcome,played some good stuff at times,at last we had s ref who was not fussy and let it flow as much as possible,didnt see much wrong with the celebritions. :)

[nephin]

I thought Alverez was usless last night. Cant jump for the ball, Cant hold the ball up, waiting in an offside position for passes. Several times Sean Flan and C O' Grady had to turn back as Alverez was calling for the ball while 2 yrs offside. OK, so he scored the Goal from a filck on at the near post. Blind luck or skill? Who knows. But from what I saw I can form an opinion. He then asked to be substituted 5min later. Did'nt appear to be too much wrong with him, maybe he wanted to finish on a high note.

I have to agree, Carlos had a poor game again. He really didn't give us much of an option up front. However I did feel sorry for him. There was a lot of fans who started shouting "take him off" which really doesn't help his confidence. From what I've seen from him so far this season he doesn't look the part.

[showgies]

I remember Robert Cullen calling yer fat wan who won Pop Idol - Michelle McManus a blimp - the words kettle - pot and black spring to mind.

Having said that, he is entitled to state his opinion on players and I prefer a journalist who says as he sees it......unlike Keith O'Dwyer who is caught between writing programme notes and for the local rag, not the best opportunity to be unbiased.

I am in two minds whether O'Connor should be getting involved in this sort of behaviour, I suppose it shows good team + manger spirit, but shows a lack of professionalism..................it was funny though :D

[d_kieran]

Having read the article and seen Carlos on the pitch, what Mr Cullen wrote in that article everybody in the Showgrounds was thinking / saying at the time. It may be wrong to single someone out, but he's paid to play football and as supporters paying their wages should we not expect our players to at least try, something which I haven't seen him do.

Mr Cullens criticisms were on a professional basis ie. they were about his lack of footballing skills / effort, it was an absolute disgrace for our manager to instigate and get involved in a celebration with a player that was used to attack/abuse someone on their personal appearance.

Remembering that for the 83 minutes that Carlos was on the pitch, for 82 minutes of them he was rubbish / didn't put in the effort.

[akearins]

A few points about last night......As the lads in teh main stand sang "Premier side yer having a laugh" too true Harps are poor and that was against a Rovers second side....Good to see we have a strong squad as illustrated by last night....

But a major factor was the referee.First he was over 25yeras old.....Hearing supporters leave the game they were all saying it was a good game to watch and I agree and this was down to the referee.Ok he did get one decision wrong wehn e should have givena Harps a peno, but he let te game flow and thie produced some good football.At one stage he gave a free against us when Connors thought we won the ball, he remonstared with the ref from the line but he simply passed no heed and nothing happened, if this was in the First divsion game you wopuld have the ref over giving Connors verbals.......

I have said it before in other mails and it may be scoffed at but a refs performance effects the qulaity of the game on show and this effects the numbers going in the gate and in turn the clubs revenue.and after all we are trying to seel the product of football.
People will not go and watch a match that is not allowed to flow and is constantly being interrupted by the ref and lines men..
Imagine going to see a film that kept starting and stopping or a band that could only be heard intermittently.Would you go again,doubt it.

Maybe we got a more mature ref because the firts div ones are studying for their leaving certs...

As for carlos, I said before he will frustrate you but has touches of class rarely seen, I was calling for him to be lugged off and just before he scored I was saying Carlos would never score in the position he was in and was just makinga token effort, up he pops.Didnt get much of a reaction from the crowd when subbed so maybe the jury is still out........we will wait and see and somene wants to teach him the of side rule

[Mitch Buchanon]

Remembering that for the 83 minutes that Carlos was on the pitch, for 82 minutes of them he was rubbish / didn't put in the effort.

I thought he had a poor game too, but you can't say it wasn't for lack of effort. How many times in the 2nd half did he sprint across to pressure the full-back, when Flannery was walking around like a zombie.

Whatever about his ability, he's definitely started putting in the work.

[Da Real Rover]

Remembering that for the 83 minutes that Carlos was on the pitch, for 82 minutes of them he was rubbish / didn't put in the effort.
The critics used to complain about stoichkov and how he was so lazy, but he did what a forward should do above else, he scored goals and lots of them. If Alvarez is a bit complacent and lazy but scores goals i will be all for him. The problem is i thought he had trouble with hitting the back of the net. Im thanking god he has gone some way to proving me wrong.

I prefer a manager like Connor who gets behind his players above else unlike one who does the PR thing. Look at Ferguson, Wenger and above else Mourinho, they do not criticise there players, they support them at every available moment. This builds a solid team spirit cause they know there manager is on there side. Also the saying 'what goes around comes around' applies here aswell.

People seem surprised by Alvins performance, he was brilliant last season and after O'Hara the next best keeper in this league. Also you will not come across a sounder man, hes dead on.

[Rory H]

flannery ---useless

alvarez--got abuse all game and headed the ball in from a yard with a free header...useless...celebration was stupid......cullen doesnt hate rovers...he wants to see the club do well...and his criticism was 100% RIGHT!if connor doesnt want to talk to the weekender so be it...i dont want to read "great effort" and crap like that...i want the truth...carlos' displays have been poor...

it baffles me that those forwards are starting and to me...a better player...gino o boyle was sitting in the stands...he is stronger and has more skill than flannery and alvarez and knows where the goal is...thats just my opinion though

philly.....hurry up and get fit ryan o donnell


felix healy made the di[khead gesture to our fans yesterday


it was funny


cos sligo rovers 1 finn harps 0

dole queue will be getting longer soon...eh felix!

[Redzer]

You cannot take anything away from the effort Alvarez put in last night. His finishing and control is improving. This is a very tough league and it takes time to settle in. FFS even Paul McTeirnan is finding it tough to settle back and he was only gone for a few months. I hav'nt seen him at or near, what he was, yet. But I'm sure it will come. So lets give the lad the chance he deserves.
It was a very good desplay overall. Interesting to see one of the top strikers in the Irish League there last night. :rolleyes: Sean knows none of our strikers is setting the place alive, so watch out for the transfer window.
As for the celebration, it was just a poke at the press. So Fooking What???

[Mitch Buchanon]

flannery ---useless

it baffles me that those forwards are starting and to me...a better player...gino o boyle was sitting in the stands...he is stronger and has more skill than flannery and alvarez and knows where the goal is...thats just my opinion though


I have to agree about Gino. I'd have him there ahead of Flannery in an instant. What is the story with Flannery, he is the most immobile player I've ever seen. Gino at least is nearly unbeatable in the air and a real handful.

I'd disagree about Gino being more skillful than Flannery, as Flannery has the skills and technique, but Flannery should really just retire his body can't take it anymore.

Gino has a great shot too and I could see him causing a lot more trouble than Flannery.

[sligoman]

I have to agree about Gino. I'd have him there ahead of Flannery in an instant. What is the story with Flannery, he is the most immobile player I've ever seen. Gino at least is nearly unbeatable in the air and a real handful.

I'd disagree about Gino being more skillful than Flannery, as Flannery has the skills and technique, but Flannery should really just retire his body can't take it anymore.

Gino has a great shot too and I could see him causing a lot more trouble than Flannery.

Great to see I'm not the only one who thinks Flannery cant handle it.

[Rory H]

flannery shouldnt retire

they should shoot him like the horse that he is:}

we want gino!!!

[sligoman]

So what happens now, we play Derry is it? I thought the next round goes into a group stage? :confused: Also any idea when the next round games are played?

[Rory H]

no idea!no one knows!

all i know is we play longford derry or galway....maybe its the semi in the regional pool 3...thats us pool 3 isnt it?

[The Stars]

Good result last night.
Jalmard was good for the time he was on,will be a good man to have in the squad.
Gary Curran did well considering it was a local derby match.Hopefully he will improve as the season goes on.
Alvin did well in the goals,he throws the bowl out to Low a lot which is a lot better than sending it straight up to the other keeper.
O'Grady was brilliant in the middle of the park.Got through an amount of work. Distribution was excellent and was brave and firery in his tackles.
Alverez idn't do much on the ball but closed down well all night and was very determined to do well.Took his goal well,want to see him do well.
Flannery was.....well ye all know what I think of him.
Gallagher was a disgrace.Peolpe were shouting at Conners to take him off,but he just said "I can't".I think he can now see how bad Gallagher is and will now do something about it.

[martyc]

So what happens now, we play Derry is it? I thought the next round goes into a group stage? :confused: Also any idea when the next round games are played?

taken from cork city official website:-

The draw for the second round of the Eircom League cup will take place tomorrow (June 2nd) at 3pm at the FAI, merrion square.
The four clubs in european competition this season now enter the draw at this stage.

pool A:Cork City, Waterford United, Cobh Ramblers, Kilkenny City
pool B:St Pats Ath, Monaghan Utd, Bohemians, Drogheda Utd
pool C:Sligo Rvs, Derry City, Galway Utd, Longford Town
pool D:Shelbourne, Shamrock Rvs, Ucd, Kildare County

The second round games will take place on Monday 21th June and/or Tuesday 21st June.

[showgies]

I'd fancy Longford in the Showgrounds ..................................

[Rory H]

galway is the easiest obviously

but i want derry.....its been too long since we played them competitivly and the rivalry is fierce....

[1 9 2 8]

Any one see Felix Healy making the di1khead gesture to our fans. If that had happened in England he'd be fined for that. I remember he gave the shed the fingers when it used to be opened too :mad:

[Da Real Rover]

What do you mean by the ******** gesture??

[dancinpants]

galway is the easiest obviously

but i want derry.....its been too long since we played them competitivly and the rivalry is fierce....

:confused: :confused:

[derbycounty]

:ball: :) :ball:

Congrats Sligo on your win against Finn Harps as this proves that the club are going in the right direction.

[Shiba]

Wasn't at the game so don't no much about how they played or What the celebration was about.But from a few stories I read wriiten by Mr.Cullen he can be very cutting and overly critical and " Yes thats his job " but if you continue to critisize then expect a backlash at some stage.I don't rate Alveraze to highly but he is only young coming to terms to a very tough league but why would he pass up the oppertunity of getting one over on someone who so heavily critised you in the press.Would YOU?

[Petmuller]

Wasn't at the game so don't no much about how they played or What the celebration was about.But from a few stories I read wriiten by Mr.Cullen he can be very cutting and overly critical and " Yes thats his job " but if you continue to critisize then expect a backlash at some stage.I don't rate Alveraze to highly but he is only young coming to terms to a very tough league but why would he pass up the oppertunity of getting one over on someone who so heavily critised you in the press.Would YOU?

This whole 'celebration' issue has to be looked at from the club's perspective. Was what happened 'Politically Correct'?
Was there a form of racistism in the gesture?
Are the club not governed by the rules of UEFA and does UEFA not preach that racism should be kicked out of football?

A reporter goes to a game to report on the game, say it as he sees it. That's his job. A true professional doesn't plaster over the cracks - he exposes them.
A professional footballer as,believe it or not, Carlos Alvarez is, puts himself up there to be scrutinised. Critism comes hand in hand with praise. He has to learn how to handle both so proving himself to be a true professional. Critism is never easy to take no matter what your walk in life. A professional footballer is probably more open to critism than any other profession. Anyone deciding to go the route of the professional footballer will know this from very earily on in their career.
A manager on the other hand is at the top of the profession. A manager's job first and formost is to manage and lead by example. The example he shows will filter dowm to the lowest step of the ladder. Every successful manager is rightly a credit to their profession. Football managers are no different. In order for any person to be a successful manager he/she must learn fast. Mistakes are not acceptable.
Last night's goal celebrations was a mistake. A huge mistake. Only time will tell how big the mistake really is.
If Sean Connor, as manager of Sligo Rovers, was leading by example last night then it's God help the future of Sligo Rovers Football Club.

[Martinho II]

i went to yer game as a neutral last night! a massive performance from the last game i seen ye play in st mels. Very impressed with the Croat and Alvarez was impressive.


Harps were extremely poor. We Longford folk are dying to meet ye in the League Cup as we have not met competiviely since the 1993/94 season which is way too long.

Ye should overtake Dublin City. I have my fingers crossed for ye as Sligo is my second team from my time living there from 94-97 when I attended a few games in the good old days of yers.

best of luck

[Supradyn]

Say Alvarez was slagged off by a person in the crowd, should he respond to that criticism by taunting the fan? The last person I remember doing that was Eric Cantona, and that incident disgraced the player, the manager and the club.

[gustavo]

its just not fair cos i dont think carlos would have recieved that kind of critisissm if he was local . the weekender never slags off sligo people really and i respect that just its a bit unrealistic when you see local pop bands getting great reviews for everything when they are quite clearly crap !

[Mitch Buchanon]

its just not fair cos i dont think carlos would have recieved that kind of critisissm if he was local . the weekender never slags off sligo people really and i respect that just its a bit unrealistic when you see local pop bands getting great reviews for everything when they are quite clearly crap !

Totally agree. I've said it before but if Cullen is such a no-nonsense, say-it-like it is journalist I'll be expecting his "****** ********* all at sea" (We all know who) article next Tuesday morning. Or does he have the guts? No pun intended.

[Redzer]

This whole 'celebration' issue has to be looked at from the club's perspective. Was what happened 'Politically Correct'?
Was there a form of racistism in the gesture?
Are the club not governed by the rules of UEFA and does UEFA not preach that racism should be kicked out of football?

Lets not get carried away here. The celebration may have been " politically incorrect" but a jibe at been fat could not be described as racist. it was a heat of the moment thing, so, lets not make it out to be something it's not.
He did the same thing when he scored in Galway, by running straight to Conner in the dug-out. Conner hugged and kissed him then. Now maybe thats "racist" too. :D :D :D

[Da Real Rover]

[QUOTE=Petmuller]

A reporter goes to a game to report on the game, say it as he sees it. That's his job. A true professional doesn't plaster over the cracks - he exposes them.
A professional footballer as,believe it or not, Carlos Alvarez is, puts himself up there to be scrutinised. Critism comes hand in hand with praise. He has to learn how to handle both so proving himself to be a true professional. Critism is never easy to take no matter what your walk in life. A professional footballer is probably more open to critism than any other profession. Anyone deciding to go the route of the professional footballer will know this from very earily on in their career.
QUOTE]
Beedin hell Petmuller, just cause we come to expect footballers to receive criticism doesnt mean we expect them to be a doormat about it. They are men and when someone personnally insults and slurs someone in a public paper, in my eyes they have the right to do alot more than just throw an insult back. No where in Carlos contract did it say for him to take personnall insults with no problems and become the medias very own verbal punch bag. He has pride whether you think footballers should have it or not and he did nothing worse than what Cullen did.

[d_kieran]

Quote : Redzer
it was a heat of the moment thing. END QUOTE

I'd seriously doubt it was a heat of the moment thing with Connor instigating the whole thing by throwing him the ball etc..


Quote : DA REAL ROVER
They are men and when someone personnally insults and slurs someone in a public paper, in my eyes they have the right to do alot more than just throw an insult back. No where in Carlos contract did it say for him to take personnall insults with no problems and become the medias very own verbal punch bag. He has pride whether you think footballers should have it or not and he did nothing worse than what Cullen did. END QUOTE

Nowhere in the article was Carlos personally insulted, he was criticised about his lack of footballing talent and lack of effort. Nobody would have minded if he was to just smile and point up to the press box, there was no need to do what he did.

[showgies]

I too doubt it was heat of the moment action, in fact I'd say they had it well rehearsed...............................unfortunat ely they had to wait a couple of months to carry it out.................

[Supradyn]

Leaving aside whether Carlos was right or wrong, what did you think of Sean Connor's involvement. He shook his fist up at Cullen in the press box for over 10 seconds. I couldn't hear what he was saying above the roar of the crowd, but I bet it contained one or two choice words.

As a manager, who has to set an example to his players and has to be seen to be in control of discipline at the club, was he right to get involved, to point Alvarez towards the press box and stuff the ball under Carlos's jersey?

[Rory H]

alvarez deserved the criticism.....

he played poorly....

so he scores a header and him and connor decide to do this crap.....it was embarassing imo..it was a personal insult,a staged personal insult...connor should grow up and concentrate on his job instead of whats in the local rag.....

[Da Real Rover]

Nowhere in the article was Carlos personally insulted, he was criticised about his lack of footballing talent and lack of effort. Nobody would have minded if he was to just smile and point up to the press box, there was no need to do what he did.
No matter what way you look at it that is a personall insult, i know he has played poor but only as poor as Tosh, Gallagher, and Flannery. There was no need to write a whole article on how ****e he saw him as but he did and he held no punches. You might see that as a good attribute in a journalist but when your dealing with a 19 year old, from bolivia who is obviously lacking confidence that is just plane bloody mindness and ignorance. He was just repaying the compliment in full in a calculated way (it was obviously planned), just like Cullen. Im sure Cullen didnt write that atricle about Carlos in a heated rage.