Weekend games 19th , 20th March

[sbgawa]

They were awful last night. We should have scored a couple more. But I wouldn't get too carried away one way or another just yet.

well said Ollie :)

[EatYerGreens]

Derry are in serious trouble

A bit silly to write any team off after the first game of the season ? Just like it would be silly to get carried away with the chances of any team for a surprise result.

[Jack B]

Hesitant to read too much into the first week but am convinced Bolger will be brilliant for Sligo. Despite the fact he's frequently acknowledged as one of the best in his position in the league I still find that he's criminally underrated for the most part. Would have killed to have him back at Pats.

Similarly on the note of not wanting to get carried away from such a small sample size I hope that goals aren't going to be hard to come by again this time around. Seems to have been the most widespread concern across the opening weekend that we're all worried about our sides' lack of chances.

[Charlie Darwin]

Hesitant to read too much into the first week but am convinced Bolger will be brilliant for Sligo. Despite the fact he's frequently acknowledged as one of the best in his position in the league I still find that he's criminally underrated for the most part. Would have killed to have him back at Pats.

Similarly on the note of not wanting to get carried away from such a small sample size I hope that goals aren't going to be hard to come by again this time around. Seems to have been the most widespread concern across the opening weekend that we're all worried about our sides' lack of chances.
Absolutely. I'm surprised Bradley let him go and I'm even more surprised Dundalk didn't sing him.

[DCWA]

A bit silly to write any team off after the first game of the season ? Just like it would be silly to get carried away with the chances of any team for a surprise result.

Considering it was a continution of the abject performances of last year and against Longford who were clear favourites to finish bottom of the table not a bit silly imo.

I didn’t expect us to be any great shakes this year but i did say to a few mates on Saturday if we struggle this evening it does not bode well at all.

I think given our performance lacked basically everything that you need to have any chance of winning a game of football I have no need to be sitting on the fence.

We are in trouble.

[redobit]

Hesitant to read too much into the first week but am convinced Bolger will be brilliant for Sligo. Despite the fact he's frequently acknowledged as one of the best in his position in the league I still find that he's criminally underrated for the most part. Would have killed to have him back at Pats.

Similarly on the note of not wanting to get carried away from such a small sample size I hope that goals aren't going to be hard to come by again this time around. Seems to have been the most widespread concern across the opening weekend that we're all worried about our sides' lack of chances.

Be interesting to see how this plays out for Pats. Coughlan will score goals but is he a 10/15 goal man a season, unlikely unless he improves his finishing. I think the Pats move needed to happen for him, things had become stale and he wasn't the fully committed, flying into tackles and chasing down lost causes player that started in the Showgrounds with us. Our fans took to him cause of how he held the ball up and is work rate, but he wasn't scoring many goals. Compare that to someone like Corcoran who wouldn't do a tap of work, which drove fans mad, but he still scored goals. If Coughlan could finish he'd be playing at a much higher level cause the rest of his game is strong.

[redobit]

Awful pity no fans at games. There would have been great crowds for the first round of fixtures. Big loss on revenue for clubs too.

[2 Year Contract]

Compare that to someone like Corcoran who wouldn't do a tap of work, which drove fans mad, but he still scored goals.

He was saving his energy for his GAA matches that year sure ;). Wasn’t aware that was the case while he was with Sligo but it was definitely the same when he joined Pats the following year, 1 goal in all competitions which came in an 8-0 win over Pike Rovers in the cup and that’s just about the only thing he did for us

[patsdad]

Why didn’t Pats hold onto Gibson?

Not good enough. He definitely has a bit of talent but nine times out of ten it takes him into a dead end. He may get past the first player but he tries to beat the second and loses the ball. Finishing not great either. He can certainly look very good in the occasional game but he's not going to deliver for you over the course of a season.

He has been replaced by Matty Smith who looks a far superior player, and we also have a very promising young prospect for the same position in Darragh Burns.

[Jack B]

Be interesting to see how this plays out for Pats. Coughlan will score goals but is he a 10/15 goal man a season, unlikely unless he improves his finishing. I think the Pats move needed to happen for him, things had become stale and he wasn't the fully committed, flying into tackles and chasing down lost causes player that started in the Showgrounds with us. Our fans took to him cause of how he held the ball up and is work rate, but he wasn't scoring many goals. Compare that to someone like Corcoran who wouldn't do a tap of work, which drove fans mad, but he still scored goals. If Coughlan could finish he'd be playing at a much higher level cause the rest of his game is strong.

Hard to come by any strikers in this league who can actually put up totals like that to be fair, I think the main thing for us was putting together a more functioning forward line in general because never mind strikers nobody has been able to score for us remotely consistently in the past few seasons. Even if Coughlan can manage around 10 that'll be grand if he can also click and link with the likes of Smith and King for them to also chip in themselves.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Not good enough. He definitely has a bit of talent but nine times out of ten it takes him into a dead end. He may get past the first player but he tries to beat the second and loses the ball. Finishing not great either. He can certainly look very good in the occasional game but he's not going to deliver for you over the course of a season.

He has been replaced by Matty Smith who looks a far superior player, and we also have a very promising young prospect for the same position in Darragh Burns.

Interesting. Been excellent for us in the 3 games I’ve seen.

[Jack B]

Interesting. Been excellent for us in the 3 games I’ve seen.

For what it's worth I thought he was decent but ultimately replaceable. Hard to get too much of a read on him given both the short time he played for us and how blunt we were in general, but on his debut against Dundalk he looked a real find when playing as a lone striker and he blew hot and cold thereafter. Fantastic energy and always pressed well from the front but the quality wasn't always there to go with it.

[MKMK]

Maybe the soccer team can take a leaf from the rugby teams book and rise to the occasion. Here's hoping for a result like last Saturday

[oriel]

Absolutely. I'm surprised Bradley let him go and I'm even more surprised Dundalk didn't sing him.

After the cup final HT antics ? I don't think so Charlie, plus he didn't cover himself in glory in the spell before, around 2010, seemed to be injured a lot, possibly only one season stint.

[Charlie Darwin]

After the cup final HT antics ? I don't think so Charlie, plus he didn't cover himself in glory in the spell before, around 2010, seemed to be injured a lot, possibly only one season stint.
Ah sure we signed Finn back after he made a point of celebrating goals for Dundalk in front of our fans. Bolger is a good pro who will give his all wherever he goes.

[oriel]

If anyone wants a digi copy of the DFC v FH match programme tonight, send me a PM on this, and I`ll send the link. I got permission from the Editor.

It was sent to all members and ST holders earlier today, nice touch.