Games 4th November to 8th of November (The final fence)

[sbgawa]

Wednesday 4th

Shamrock Rovers v St Patricks Athletic 19:45

Sunday 8th (All Matches 19:30)

Dundalk v Sligo
St Pats v Bohemians
Shelbourne v Shamrock Rovers
Finn Harps v Waterford
Cork City v Derry

Friday 6th November
Play off Semi Final
Longford v Galway 19:45

[sbgawa]

In theory if Pats were to lose heavily to Rovers and then also lose to Bohs then a Harps win over Waterford combined with Shels and Derry getting something from their matches Pats could still get relegated via the playoffs........on the other hand win both their matches combined with Harps beating Waterford and Sligo not beating Dundalk by 4 or 5 and they could qualify for Europe :)

I fancy Harps to beat Waterford, Derry to get at least a point in Cork and Rovers to beat Shels which would put Shels in the playoffs.

ANYTHING is possible and if Waterford win and Dundalk lose to Harps then Dundalk will be hoping one of Rovers , Bohs or Waterford win the cup to get Europe for DFC (or indeed themselves of course).
Every match will have something on it which should lead to a few Bumper final day crowds :mad:
I am assuming Derry will forfeit the unplayed match against Rovers.

[kksaints]

In theory if Pats were to lose heavily to Rovers and then also lose to Bohs then a Harps win over Waterford combined with Shels and Derry getting something from their matches Pats could still get relegated via the playoffs........on the other hand win both their matches combined with Harps beating Waterford and Sligo not beating Dundalk by 4 or 5 and they could qualify for Europe :)

I fancy Harps to beat Waterford, Derry to get at least a point in Cork and Rovers to beat Shels which would put Shels in the playoffs.

ANYTHING is possible and if Waterford win and Dundalk lose to Harps then Dundalk will be hoping one of Rovers , Bohs or Waterford win the cup to get Europe for DFC (or indeed themselves of course).
Every match will have something on it which should lead to a few Bumper final day crowds :mad:
I am assuming Derry will forfeit the unplayed match against Rovers.

The Derry scenario is problematic. If they have all gone into self isolation from last Tuesday I don't think they can play against Cork on Sunday. If they forfeit for both matches three nil, it puts them at risk of the playoff position. Forfeiting the Rovers match 3-0 will also cause the FAI issues as the match was originally moved back because of Rovers players contracting covid and having to self isolate a number of players. It seems unfair on Derry if they have to forfeit the match when Rovers got the match postponed and moved back for exactly the same thing particularly when Rovers could have played players from their second team in the Premier Division match as it seems they have registered them in the Premier Division and the second team continued playing at the same time as their first time was unavailable. I'd say the FAI is hoping that Derry don't fall into the playoff spot otherwise there could be a host of issues.

[sbgawa]

The fact that the game was put back becauae of rovers covid cases is irrelevant the rules at the time were different same as when pats galway and wexford had postponements.
Dont disagree its tough on derry though.

[oriel]

A Rovers win over Shels, and FH beating Waterford solves the problem for the Derry scenario.

DFC will prob limp over the line into 3rd, have to be brutally honest here, not even sure post covid if we deserve it, obviously I will be delighted to qualify, but the performances overall in the league have been mostly poor since end of July re-start.

[pineapple stu]

In fairness, if ye get third (which looks likely now) ye'll deserve it if for no other reason than np-one else did.

[oriel]

Well to be fair, 3rd place opportunity was wide open for a host of clubs to take advantage of DFC's decline this year, and especially in August, and little headway was made. I think its actually possible we can lose on Sunday and still come 3rd, a draw definitely seals it though.

[Nesta99]

As the last league matchday thread - Ive given up trying to gauge Dundalk's season. League form always suffers when in Europe, why ye need to hit the ground running the 1st 2 rounds before summer. It was looking ok and even the Rovers game, well we were in front and let it slip and Rovers raised their game but it was no disaster, the better team won on the night but there werent major alarm bells going off, bar that Rovers were the real deal this season and there would be damn all room for error. League postponed and tbh we still dont really know what happened upon resumption. Yeah there was madcap stuff from Bill but the players had stopped playing for VP. A European run out of nowhere along with a manager out of nowhere. He got the players on side, has gotten us defensively working as a full unit front to back (even Oduwa before injury), started squad rotation well and we all thought it was under utilised before.
I think on the balance of things we probably are the third side in the league this season, just about and so should be there. FG can certainly talk the talk, is ambitious and talking up development of parts of the club we feel is weak eg youth development. We have had a couple of 'must win' games to secure Europe for next year but like the entire league season have stuttered, and thats a worry. FG had a decent run of games to bed in initially. The cup might tell us more on a few things like handling win or bust domestic games, where the squad is at having to put back to back results in if there is any chance of a cup win. Who is in and who is out close season. The role of Shane Keegan going forward.

I'll be happy to see the end of the league campaign hopefully with the needed points for third and the relief on that. Enjoy the remainder of the EL group games with the little expectation there all things considered. A cup run, win, however unlikely with the possibility of having to beat two sides ahead of us in league terms, I think is more important than just getting the hands on a trophy as it really could set a tone for 2021 and a manager getting off the mark with silverware is always important.

All damn bizzare in 2020, even with FAI Nua on the go. For all the sniping, winding up, or asterick talk, it has been an impressive league campaign for Rovers. The disruption effected clubs differently but Rovers were relentless. It can be debated to death what might have been over 36 games but there are no real signs to suggest that Rovers couldnt have gone 36 games unbeaten though I think that Dundalk's start to the league was building momentum aslo so could have kept closer. Bohs have once again shown that they are not far off being fully in the mix - time to quit with the poor mouth routine ;p Sligo's recovery was one of the impressive things of this season. Shels shouldnt really be at risk of a play-off position. Harps I still think are a better side than a play-off position too, with a full season and on current form maybe they'd be nice and safe now and looking to a cup run with optimism even from Ollie. Mixed bag from everyone else, O'Donnell might be under a bit of pressure next season if Pats cant get some consistancy. Devine also if Derry look like they are going backwards at all which would be a bit of history repeating itself. Still pretty crazy they way things have ended up for Cork, as much as Fenn grinds my gears still, I thought he'd have had enough about him not to be relegated in a truncated season with 2 or 3 games to go. 1st Division was a breath of fresh air...for the first division, its great to see a bunch of clubs slug it out and shows what a damn hard division it is to get out of. So onwards to securing Europe and the cup!!

[trevy]

The final round of games is moved to the Monday night as the Shamrock Rovers v Derry game is now going ahead on Saturday. It's only fair that Derry are given the chance to play this game. European football is still up for grabs with Dundalk needing a result to guarantee 3rd and Waterford, Sligo, St Pats and Derry all going for 4th. If Dundalk lose to Sligo and Waterford win away to Finn Harps we get 3rd. That's a long shot but the fact that Dundalk still haven't wrapped up 3rd place shows how disappointing their league form was this year.
Our record in Finn Park is poor and with Finn Harps in with a shout of avoiding the play off and the terrible pitch up there if the weather is bad will be hard to get 3 points.

[sbgawa]

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do doooooooooo
Think Steve McQueen in a Harps Jersey

[DCSIL]

Do do do do do do do do do do do do do doooooooooo
Think Steve McQueen in a Harps Jersey

Or in Derry Shirt if we somehow scrape Europe. Won't happen, Dundalk will get the result they need and Waterford come in Fourth, with Pats standing by looking for a loophole.

Good weekend of football now, Friday, Saturday and the league finishing on Monday.

[D24Saint]

Are Galway showing their game on YouTube ?

[atfconline]

It's on FAI YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/FAITV) page.

[Longfordian]

The stream is really good. Having replays and two knowledgeable commentators makes a big difference.

[D24Saint]

The stream is really good. Having replays and two knowledgeable commentators makes a big difference.

It’s very good. The replays are a must for watch LOI going forward a co commentator is a huge plus aswell. The viewing figures aren’t bad three thousand watching.

[joey B]

Any bad goalkeeping you seen last night, Galway's keeper out did it there,shocking.....

[Longfordian]

It’s very good. The replays are a must for watch LOI going forward a co commentator is a huge plus aswell. The viewing figures aren’t bad three thousand watching.

Yeah I watched the Town UCD game streamed by Doppler as well. The stream was excellent and Jamie Moore very enthusiastic on commentary but the co-commentator improves it so much.

[Nesta99]

Am I seeing things or did a Caulfield side just put a few passes together across the back and some nice switch of play from wing to wing. Its not ending up with too much getting the ball forward but less direct that I'd have expected.

[DCSIL]

Good performance from Longford and great goal by Aodh Dervin for the second.

[Longfordian]

He's a cracking little player. Harps will probably be too strong for us if we end up against them. Shels I'd be less worried about actually but then they kept managing to grind out wins against us last year without being particularly impressive.

[Nesta99]

Harps just know how to deal with play-offs (will it be over 2 legs?). Shels are under an awful lot of pressure, relatively expensive squad, so if a Longford fan i'd be itching for Shels. After Fenn leaving Longford (I know broken record and all that) it would be unexpected to have Longford promoted as Cork are relegated. Pettiness in bundles but the irony would amuse!

[Longfordian]

One off game this year which may work in our favour.

[sbgawa]

Great to see bourke back coming into form, nice goal to put rovers 1 up agaist derry

[DCSIL]

Yet again we just can’t score.

[sbgawa]

Would have been ironic if Rovers had converted one of the other chances in the second half to make it 3 nil which would have been the result if the match hadnt been played.

[Martinho II]

If Daire Doyle hadnt walked out on us suddenly last year I think we would have got promoted last season in playoffs. I believe in Karma. I also think harps will avoid the playoffs and we should have a great chance v Shels considering Shels poor form over the last few weeks.
That was the best performance I had seen under Daire and he got his tactics spot on!
I didnt believe a few weeks back when Galway battered us and Wexford beating us but who am I to know? Theres a very strong spirit in our squad as Jamie Moore said last night!
I have to admit if we do it revenge will be so sweet!

[thebronze14]

Yeah I watched the Town UCD game streamed by Doppler as well. The stream was excellent and Jamie Moore very enthusiastic on commentary but the co-commentator improves it so much.
Think Jamie Moore was the lad that did the last two of our matches and was very good. Clearly had done lots of research and was fair and balanced I thought. A weird fetish for towels though

[joey B]

That result today mathematically means 3 teams can end up in the relegation spot, but realistically I dont see Cork beating Derry so it'll be most likely ourselves who end up there but you never know.....

[placid casual]

Another dominant performance from Rovers, albeit a Rovers team that looked in 1st gear for most of the game.
Considering Rovers finished 11 points behind dundalk last season, and are now ahead of them by 19 points says a pot about both teams in my view.
Hopefully Rovers can now remain unbeaten against shels on Monday and make it an invincible league season.

[Nesta99]

Yet again we just can’t score.

There's been plenty of talk about the Dundalk squad and where the club will go with player recruitment - what do Derry need to build consistancy, more goals = new striker but apart from beng hard to find they aint a panacea either. So if ye were Declan Devine what needs to be changed? Bad start to next season especially if he has been given a decent budget he will probably go contract extension or not, the rumblings have already started with fans thinking it was too soon to consider his contract at all yet.

[Nesta99]

Another dominant performance from Rovers, albeit a Rovers team that looked in 1st gear for most of the game.
Considering Rovers finished 11 points behind dundalk last season, and are now ahead of them by 19 points says a pot about both teams in my view.
Hopefully Rovers can now remain unbeaten against shels on Monday and make it an invincible league season.

Invincible Covid league title ;p

As ive mentioned Rovers are relentless a the moment. That is a big swing in points though the lesser games can distort the comparison, probably in Rovers favour where the gap could have gotten wider, who knows!

[DCSIL]

There's been plenty of talk about the Dundalk squad and where the club will go with player recruitment - what do Derry need to build consistancy, more goals = new striker but apart from beng hard to find they aint a panacea either. So if ye were Declan Devine what needs to be changed? Bad start to next season especially if he has been given a decent budget he will probably go contract extension or not, the rumblings have already started with fans thinking it was too soon to consider his contract at all yet.

There’s been too much chopping and changing Nesta. If possible the board and manager need to look long term.

Loads of Derry players doing well elsewhere as you know, Ben Doherty is one of Coleraine’s star men, but looking at the squad...

We’ve not replaced Junior, David Parkhouse or Jamie McDonagh and the 3 who came in as replacements will probably return to England. To replace - look at the IL? Any Irish lads looking to come home?

Look at Adding a Midfielder and Defender too. Goalkeepers we do already.

I don’t think Deccy’s position is under threat(Might change if we lose Monday..) as he seems to be the man the board trust.

[DCWA]

The idea of bringing Derry boys back from IL clubs is tried, tested, failed. They generally move to Coleraine, Glenavon, Cliftonville or Glentoran for a reason (and it’s usually footballing, Conor McDermott a notable exception). It’s a no from me that policy.

We will probably retain no more than 6-8 players from the current squad and it’s a start from scratch game for yet another year.

Can’t see any real improvement unless Phil digs into his very deep pockets.

[Charlie Darwin]

The idea of bringing Derry boys back from IL clubs is tried, tested, failed. They generally move to Coleraine, Glenavon, Cliftonville or Glentoran for a reason (and it’s usually footballing, Conor McDermott a notable exception). It’s a no from me that policy.

We will probably retain no more than 6-8 players from the current squad and it’s a start from scratch game for yet another year.

Can’t see any real improvement unless Phil digs into his very deep pockets.
On the other hand, Josh Daniels went to Glenavon and is now playing pro in England, so it's not necessarily always the case.

[DCWA]

On the other hand, Josh Daniels went to Glenavon and is now playing pro in England, so it's not necessarily always the case.

He is however there still wouldn’t have been a great deal of enthusiasm for bringing him back to Derry and I don’t think Kenny Shiels was wrong to let him go at the time either.

More come back and aren’t up to it really.

Ciaron Harkin started very well but has really faded, even from midway through last season.

Darren McCauley came back from Coleraine with a big reputation and was awful, way off. Michael McCrudden similarly so.

This happens in Derry every few years where we see a few Derry players play well for Irish League clubs (hardly surprising considering the amount of Derry men floating around that league at any given time) and there is a message board / social media based clamber for them to be brought back and develop a “local” team.

The general approach seems to be to forget / ignore the fact that they left Derry or never played for Derry in the first place for a reason, that being that they were not good enough.

[DCSIL]

Doesn’t need to be a team of Derry players we are looking for. It’s more trying to retain the good players we do find.

If a player wants to join Dundalk/Rovers at the end of his contract fair enough but have a go at retaining him. As the replacement might last a year a least before being released, and how much would that cost.

We’ve dipped into the IL before. With Linfield, Glentoran, Larne the big spenders there and the North Belfast sides strong see if we can find any gems from the lower clubs.

[DCWA]

Doesn’t need to be a team of Derry players we are looking for. It’s more trying to retain the good players we do find.

If a player wants to join Dundalk/Rovers at the end of his contract fair enough but have a go at retaining him. As the replacement might last a year a least before being released, and how much would that cost.
.

Completely agree with all of that it’s the higher caliber players that we have lost to Rovers and Dundalk that have been fustrating for a lot of us (if completely understandable).

[Nesta99]

We don't have errortel these days but RTE can still throw up some strange one on their website. Anyone care to explain the difference between defeat or loss?



A win.
Finn Harps not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
Shelbourne not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
A draw and rely on their superior goal difference at the expense of Shelbourne and/or Harps even if they get a draw and low-scoring win respectively.


https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1104/1175880-league-of-ireland-final-day-permutations-dundalk/

[D24Saint]

We don't have errortel these days but RTE can still throw up some strange one on their website. Anyone care to explain the difference between defeat or loss?



A win.
Finn Harps not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
Shelbourne not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
A draw and rely on their superior goal difference at the expense of Shelbourne and/or Harps even if they get a draw and low-scoring win respectively.


https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1104/1175880-league-of-ireland-final-day-permutations-dundalk/

AERTEL is actually still going for some reason. In this day and age it’s a complete waste of money which RTE claim to be short of.

[Nesta99]

Completely agree with all of that it’s the higher caliber players that we have lost to Rovers and Dundalk that have been fustrating for a lot of us (if completely understandable).

Derry was always a hotbed of talented footballers but did end up in that cycle of being a selling club, though there was some decent transfer fees paid. I'm going back a bit and possibly was when there was some mismanagement of finances going on.

I still find it strange the McNamee is at Harps rather than Derry - I know it was said that pt football suited him, but if being bankrolled heads can be turned for a year or 2. It's also odd that Junior found himself at Sligo. Missed by Derry so how is it that he didnt return to Derry - the club making it happen as Derry would surely have been a front runner rather than Sligo initially. Yeah there has been a lot of upheavel DCSIL and with some fruits at the helm, Sheils and Collins, and arguably Fenlon. Shiels signing players and then buying out theor contracts to cut them loose isnt ancient history so Devine is possibly dealing with some legacy issues. Derry has an awful lot to offer both as a club and city (unless you are Niclas Vemellund) so I think should be well capable of getting away from flirting with playoff positions. Devine being sacked seemed harsh last time so there might be a reluctance to pull the trigger this time, but you'd have to see things kicking on next season from this.

[Martinho II]

We don't have errortel these days but RTE can still throw up some strange one on their website. Anyone care to explain the difference between defeat or loss?



A win.
Finn Harps not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
Shelbourne not to win. Derry City can then afford a loss or defeat.
A draw and rely on their superior goal difference at the expense of Shelbourne and/or Harps even if they get a draw and low-scoring win respectively.


https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1104/1175880-league-of-ireland-final-day-permutations-dundalk/

Actually the contributor on the RTE website I actually know him well and he used to be here as a member. I am at a loss of what this is I imagine its a typo error!

[Martinho II]

Think Jamie Moore was the lad that did the last two of our matches and was very good. Clearly had done lots of research and was fair and balanced I thought. A weird fetish for towels though

Thebronze whats that bout fetish for towels? JM a superb broadcaster as I used to listen to his podcasts a lot before he moved to pastures new!

[Nesta99]

AERTEL is actually still going for some reason. In this day and age it’s a complete waste of money which RTE claim to be short of.

That'd be typical, a 'service' that refuses to die!! Havent used it or seen it in years so am surprised, but when exiled was very much appreciated as one of the few ways to get LoI results abroad....usually on a dodgy Sky box some pub had to show the GAA. The season after we were promoted we were top of the league for a few round and I took a screen cap, which is still probably about. Didnt matter that there were only a few games played or maybe top in flipping alphabetical, the way things were it might not have been seen again, if only we knew what was around the corner :)

[Nesta99]

Actually the contributor on the RTE website I actually know him well and he used to be here as a member. I am at a loss of what this is I imagine its a typo error!

Does a draw and defeat fit with the permutations? Unusual to see the typos duplicated although could be cut and paste in haste.

[Nesta99]

Derry was always a hotbed of talented footballers but did end up in that cycle of being a selling club, though there was some decent transfer fees paid. I'm going back a bit and possibly was when there was some mismanagement of finances going on.

I still find it strange the McNamee is at Harps rather than Derry - I know it was said that pt football suited him, but if being bankrolled heads can be turned for a year or 2. It's also odd that Junior found himself at Sligo. Missed by Derry so how is it that he didnt return to Derry - the club making it happen as Derry would surely have been a front runner rather than Sligo initially. Yeah there has been a lot of upheavel DCSIL and with some fruits at the helm, Sheils and Collins, and arguably Fenlon. Shiels signing players and then buying out theor contracts to cut them loose isnt ancient history so Devine is possibly dealing with some legacy issues. Derry has an awful lot to offer both as a club and city (unless you are Niclas Vemellund) so I think should be well capable of getting away from flirting with playoff positions. Devine being sacked seemed harsh last time so there might be a reluctance to pull the trigger this time, but you'd have to see things kicking on next season from this.

*As an aside, I was talking to Paul Curran not too long after Devine was reappointed and he was scathing about him, wouldnt trust him etc. It was a bit more than just thinking it was the wrong man for the job, there must whole lot more to that, but then it was Paul Curran after all....

[redarmyfaction]

AERTEL is actually still going for some reason. In this day and age it’s a complete waste of money which RTE claim to be short of.
No its not. There is a page that resembles but it is just an index for the RTE site.

[pineapple stu]

It is. I can access it on my TV. Page 220 is still football

[Nesta99]

Lol Page 220 was football all right but can you remember the league table page?

[pineapple stu]

222 was LoI results - and 230 was the table? 23-something anyway

[Nesta99]

Yup, 222 was the important page. Phonecall home on Thursday night if playing in Oriel and the routine was to have P222 on and read the results over the phone to me as I cursed waiting for pages to cycle through as I was getting through all my 10p pieces waiting (or curse my family for not being ready with Aertel when I rang home as per routine lol). I kept my own league table and checked in The Guardian as some weekends they the published LoI tables in microscopic font. Then Orielweb among others came online along with Aertel. Pals would laugh at the efforts to get results and tables so always got a slagging about this mickey mouse club and league but I think I mentioned recently that those same people are now watching Dundalk FC on BT Sports playing the likes of Arsenal ha!