Games weekend Friday 19th to Monday 22nd April

[A N Mouse]

Fueling more Kenny rumours, Kenny Sheils though Roddy and Pat deserve another go - well if positing the possibility of Devine for a third spell why not!

Is that your wishlist for next Dundalk boss? :D

I don't know where the next derry boss is coming from, acceptable candidates seem thin on the ground. But on the bright-side we shouldn't be scraping the underside of the barrel.

[Martinho II]

Is that your wishlist for next Dundalk boss? :D

I don't know where the next derry boss is coming from, acceptable candidates seem thin on the ground. But on the bright-side we shouldn't be scraping the underside of the barrel.

Kevin Deery surely would be a great option with his work with Institute or is it too soon for him AN?

[JC_GUFC]

I don't think there any doubt he can limp this underperforming team into europe, 4th most likely, but no fecker wants to watch that. We can't just get rid of him without having someone else lined up, there's notions of POD talking to a former manager, thankfully not the one named Dundalk boss. While I don't see too many other candidates I think that would a retrograde step for everyone.

There needs to be some kind of reponse on Monday, winning ugly isn't good enough, winning ugly is for contenders. Anything short of a resounding victory and he needs to be gone, preferably before Tuesday (if there a replacement in the wings). And a good win buys him to european exit before he's replaced.

Worst case he's still stinking the place up at the end of the season, and with no replacement the squad is picked apart and new manager starts from scratch again next year.

If Higgins makes it to July, we could probably do worse than name Devine until the end of the season, with someone else to come in in November

In some ways I think Derry might be suffering from having too many locals involved. If Higgins wasn't from Derry I'd be pretty sure he'd be gone at this stage. I know he's young but there looks to be absolutely no Plan B for the team. I thought Hoban might have changed this and to be fair the poor form has coincided with his injury. Some of the local players are sub-standard too. I can't be having Shane McEleney in a potentially title winning team.

[Stuttgart88]

Statement win for Rovers.

Big shout out to Leon Pohls. Big saves at big times. The save with his foot early in the second half was crucial. Without it I don’t see us scoring twice in quick succession shortly after.

I only realised Cian Barrett’s lineage last week. I watched his grandad at Milltown!

And Aaron Greene is special.

[A N Mouse]

Kevin Deery surely would be a great option with his work with Institute or is it too soon for him AN?

Think stute are still in with a shout of the play-offs, though it's out of their hands after today. Imagine KD has some unfinished business there next season one way or other. Though him and PML, whatever has occured with him departing, definitely deserve a shot.

But I think it would be unfair on either of them to come in now. Right now what's needed is someone that's going to get this team performing, with anything less than 2nd place finish being failure. I've no idea who that someone is.

Either of those 2 deserve to come in a with a clean slate and less expectation. I see another '3 year project' in the future.

[A N Mouse]

In some ways I think Derry might be suffering from having too many locals involved. If Higgins wasn't from Derry I'd be pretty sure he'd be gone at this stage. I know he's young but there looks to be absolutely no Plan B for the team. I thought Hoban might have changed this and to be fair the poor form has coincided with his injury. Some of the local players are sub-standard too. I can't be having Shane McEleney in a potentially title winning team.

I mean no plan b, and plan a is don't lose when defensively we're regressing at an alarming rate.

He had three years, he knew going into this season he either won the title or that was that. He bet the house on Hoban. In theory he's the missing link, getting three point where we were coming away with one. In reality he's another regular for the physio to worry about.

[Nesta99]

Is that your wishlist for next Dundalk boss? :D

I don't know where the next derry boss is coming from, acceptable candidates seem thin on the ground. But on the bright-side we shouldn't be scraping the underside of the barrel.

I wish we were still in the position of needing a wishlist! All of those mentioned you could argue the toss for even Roddy as a short term motivator that has gotten limited squads at Monaghan and Athlone doing something and has never been relegated!!! Im not sure King has even that. Sbgawa's newly feigned feigning interest in the womans game might shine some light on whether WNL success is in any way a serious achievement thats transferable to the mens game???

[Patrickccfc84]

Finishes Longford 1-4 Cork City. 4 goals shared between 2 defenders Cian Coleman and Charlie Lyons.

[da bishop]

Lively enough affair at Bray,home side well on top first half with two goals and should have had pen.Treaty better in second ,good goal ,had chances ,Bray probably deserved it overall.No win in seven now for Treaty ,Tommy Barrett continually berating 4th official most of the game from my vantage point behind dugouts,surprised both Armshaw and Considine not starting and though second half saw improvement team lacks direction and confidence at the moment,Barretts first real interview in weeks wouldnt inspire condfidence either with the line of lame excuses trotted out...injuries, lack of experience,building a team blah blah.

[ontheotherhand]

Surely golden child Duff has to at least be feeling a bit under pressure now considering Shels have picked up just two points in their last four games? Not suggesting the sack for him - they are still top - but they are becoming a bit predictable and not that difficult to figure out

No. Not even remotely. If they finish top 3 it's a huge achievement.

[Another Bohemia]

Some interesting matches there tonight.

I think Shels vs Rovers hinges on the fitness of Mark Coyle for Shels. They seem to be a very different team without him. If he's missing I would expect an easy win for Rovers.

Derry vs Pat's looks like an important match for 2 teams who will want a win to kick start their season. So naturally enough it'll probably end with a bore draw :D

Sligo and Galway could go either way. Galway will be happy enough to sit back and try to hit on the counter.

It's times like this where I don't really have a skin in the game where I do wish there was a "redzone" option for LOI tv. No matter how impractical it would be for soccer viewing

[legendz]

Shels v Rovers is live on VM Two.

[EatYerGreens]

Think stute are still in with a shout of the play-offs, though it's out of their hands after today. Imagine KD has some unfinished business there next season one way or other. Though him and PML, whatever has occured with him departing, definitely deserve a shot.

But I think it would be unfair on either of them to come in now. Right now what's needed is someone that's going to get this team performing, with anything less than 2nd place finish being failure. I've no idea who that someone is.

Either of those 2 deserve to come in a with a clean slate and less expectation. I see another '3 year project' in the future.

Derry needs a manager with some sort of credible track record. Higgins didn't really have one of his own, and it's not working out. Kevin Deery hasn't done anything at a higher level than the Irish League 2nd tier (apologies if he has ad I've missed it). Deery could very easily turn out to be just another Higgins for Derry, and waste another 3 years for the club. With the money Derry are apparently spending they need a manager who knows how to actually win.

Isn't Klopp free after May ? :D

[ontheotherhand]

Derry needs a manager with some sort of credible track record. Higgins didn't really have one of his own, and it's not working out. Kevin Deery hasn't done anything at a higher level than the Irish League 2nd tier (apologies if he has ad I've missed it). Deery could very easily turn out to be just another Higgins for Derry, and waste another 3 years for the club. With the money Derry are apparently spending they need a manager who knows how to actually win.

Isn't Klopp free after May ? :D

Still think it will be Kenny. Higgins seems to have 9 lives and his last one might line up with Kenny realizing nobody else wants him.

[WoodquayBoy]

No. Not even remotely. If they finish top 3 it's a huge achievement.
Fair enough, was just a curiosity

[brendy_éire]

Still think it will be Kenny. Higgins seems to have 9 lives and his last one might line up with Kenny realizing nobody else wants him.

That would be a surprise, but depends on whether Kenny can get a job abroad or not.

Miserable night on and off pitch on Friday.
Two identical goals to concede, and the third all started from Kelly being put under pressure and sprinting towards his own goal. Rotten, rotten defending. We've the third worst in the league, we'd the best last year.
If we had been defending like we did last season, combined with our increased goalscoring, we'd be doing a lot better.
Off the pitch, and again, a few dozen children from (presumably) the local area have shafted us. Whilst the club aren't technically responsible for whatever goes on outside the ground, they simply need to make it their business to be responsible. It'll cost money, but there's no option at this point. Needs to be sorted.

We'll probably get a draw tonight, as if we really put our mind to not conceding, we can achieve it. Higgins can't afford a loss.

[A N Mouse]

Derry needs a manager with some sort of credible track record. Higgins didn't really have one of his own, and it's not working out. Kevin Deery hasn't done anything at a higher level than the Irish League 2nd tier (apologies if he has ad I've missed it). Deery could very easily turn out to be just another Higgins for Derry, and waste another 3 years for the club. With the money Derry are apparently spending they need a manager who knows how to actually win.

Isn't Klopp free after May ? :D

I don't disagree. I was answering the question about KD, he had/has more of track record than RH, but yeah not what we need right now.

Who are the candidates with a credible track record? Who are the candidates?

Just feel this whole thing is going to end miserably.

[Jack B]

We've played the better football thus far but as is often the case thus season don't look threatening at all, meanwhile Derry scored from the first time they got the ball into the box and look the more dangerous any time they do.

[Martinho II]

From staying over in Derry over the years I know Derry is right beside Creggan which always seems to have lot of marches going on so yeah pity about it!

[kksaints]

Was Derry's 2nd goal offside. There's a player on the line but Hoban is behind the keeper?
Horrible to concede the 3rd after getting one back.

[Calcio Jack]

Decent game in Tolka , Rovers sans Grace, Poom, Byrne, Burke , Farrugia ,McEneff , O’Neiil & Hoare now in second with a game in hand …. Duff has done a tremendous job but unfortunately he’s becoming even more painful to watch

[TonyD]

Was Derry's 2nd goal offside. There's a player on the line but Hoban is behind the keeper?
Horrible to concede the 3rd after getting one back.

I think it was offside. The two lads commentating on LOI tv said it couldn’t be because there was a man on the line. Oh dear.

Frustrating night. We were quite good in possession, until we got to the final third. Never caused them enough problems. Think the key was Derry getting in front. We’d started better, but that just let them sit in.

[kksaints]

I think it was offside. The two lads commentating on LOI tv said it couldn’t be because there was a man on the line. Oh dear.

Frustrating night. We were quite good in possession, until we got to the final third. Never caused them enough problems. Think the key was Derry getting in front. We’d started better, but that just let them sit in.

Whatever about the commentators I hope the refereeing team didn't follow the same train of thought. That 3rd goal was a killer after getting one back, real lack of cutting edge because we're too ponderous in attack.

[Jd2793]

duff with some harsh words in the post match interview for shane farrell

[brendy_éire]

I think it was offside. The two lads commentating on LOI tv said it couldn’t be because there was a man on the line. Oh dear.

We wondered at the time. Watched it back there, it's tight. Maybe Hoban is just about in line with Rogers, and guess that's what the lineman thought, could easily be given the other way though.

Honestly don't know how we went into HT a goal up. Pat's were all over us, and had a notable couple of chances identical to the first two weeks conceded on Friday night. We had one real chance and took it.
Fair play to the management, a noticeable improvement in the second half.
Connolly had a brilliant dummy to get away the shot for the second goal, and the squad really seemed to enjoy it. Relief maybe.
Great to come back after the Pat's goal, the third goal killed the game.
Job done, a much needed boost for the team and Higgins.

A note on off the pitch. A good few police about the ground beforehand, driving around and at the entrances. Young fellas were getting searched, and someone was arrested pre-match, apparently. You don't ever see that really. More steward presence inside the ground too. Happy with that.

[brendy_éire]

duff with some harsh words in the post match interview for shane farrell

Ooph. It's quite personal. You'd imagine he'll be out of there come the summer.

[Jack B]

Really disappointing from us. In general play it was as well as we've performed all season, particularly in the first half, but that's not much use when you struggle to create anything and give up soft goals whenever you have to defend. Have been a fan of Daly but he's not long for the job if results don't start turning quickly, no matter how much he says there's been a lot of bad luck.

[EalingGreen]

That Derry flare incident is just mad, how a kid could run on and pick up the flare and run off with it?? Was it home or away fans that threw it in the fist place? Away fans deliberately threw flares on to the artificial surface in Oriel in the past knowing that it would do significant damage - plastic burns. It resulted in sections of the pitch needing to be relaid due to burning through the surface. The lesson was basically to have a number of fire marshals at the away section with buckets of sand ready to react. The flare was sitting on the pitch in Derry forfar too long with little apparent preperation to respond. It looked bad on so many levels, the FAI are clamping down, Shels have set something of a precedence in how such incidents will be dealt with by them and Derry will be under scrutiny (or away fans if they were the culprits).

What happened after the game, missiles being thrown in to the Rovers fans is absolute scumbaggery of the highest order!! I thought that the element of lawless, ferral scum that attacked away fans and busses around the Brandywell had been dealt with. was on one of those nusses that had windows put in prior to the journey home and it resulted in bus companies refusing to travel to the Brandywell as a no go area. I will forever be grateful to the genuine Derry City FC fans that actually chased off these cretins that were attacking Dundalk fans and sheltered Dundalk fans until they dispersed. Obviously these problem people were just kept at arms length and were there to exploit an oversight in the security arrangments. While it in no way excuses what happened, if the flare was thrown from the away section and was obviously causing serious damage to the pitch, was this some sort of reaction to that possibly or would it have happened anyway in eoples opinion?

There's a report on the incidents at the match here:
https://www.derrynow.com/news/derry-sport/1482243/dangerous-and-unacceptable-derry-city-must-address-this.html

And it seems they carried on after the match, having a go at the police:
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/psni-attacked-during-public-disorder-29030652

[total hoofball]

duff with some harsh words in the post match interview for shane farrell
Not harsh at all when he unprofessionally went out his way to get sent off tonight on top of not putting in any good performances or shifts since about last summer. I'm glad someone finally had the balls around Tolka to burst the "he's one of our own" bubble and even better it's Duff himself

Duff had tough words for Boyd after his wreckless red against Waterford after coming off the bench on the opening night but they were less harsh you would suspect because Boyd is a hard worker which Farrell isn't

[ger121]

Decent game in Tolka , Rovers sans Grace, Poom, Byrne, Burke , Farrugia ,McEneff , O’Neiil & Hoare now in second with a game in hand …. Duff has done a tremendous job but unfortunately he’s becoming even more painful to watch
Burke out again? Also, what is going on with Byrne?

[ontheotherhand]

Burke out again? Also, what is going on with Byrne?

Burke has been playing all season. Picked up a knock on Friday by the looks of it. Had an ice pack on. Hopefully just a dead leg. Pitch and Shels approach to football would have been risky.

Byrne is gargled. Or possibly on the run from the mob. Genuinely wish I knew. Bradley did seem more confident of his return recently tho....but....I've heard that before!

[2 Year Contract]

A frustrating Monday night trip to the Brandywell but for different reasons this time. Pats statistically were the better side tonight in all stats bar the most important one - goals scored. Created a lot more chances than most if not all games this season and should really have gone in ahead at half time but if you don’t take your chances and give away goals as cheaply as they did tonight you’ll struggle to win

[placid casual]

Watched the Rovers Shels match from afar on the stream,and it looked absolute dog$hit to my old eyes- perhaps it was more entertaining in the flesh?
Wether through injury or rotation Bradley put out a weak side against an extremely limited Shels side,and not much was gained
One point,move on, forget about it.

[Stuttgart88]

Watched the Rovers Shels match from afar on the stream,and it looked absolute dog$hit to my old eyes- perhaps it was more entertaining in the flesh?
Wether through injury or rotation Bradley put out a weak side against an extremely limited Shels side,and not much was gained
One point,move on, forget about it.

Pitch was atrocious. Affected both sides. Both keepers made a hash of at least one backpass as a result. I'd have had a lot of sympathy for either if they'd made a bad mistake from a backpass.

Ball was bobbling up just before contact all over the pitch.

Decent point for Rovers. Probably should have won, could easily have lost. Win the game in hand and we're on top. That's quite something after just over one full round of games given the start we had.

Towell is frustrating as hell.

Another really good save at a key time from Pohls. Like ontheotherhand says, there's a good keeper in there. That's two really good games in a row now.

[WeAreRovers]

Decent point for Rovers and good weekend's work overall - keeping title pace despite a ton of missing bodies to contend with. We need to talk about pitches though, Tolka was a disgrace last night and it's far from the only one (including the plastic abominations). All sides are being held back by crappy surfaces and it's simply not good enough.

[Nesta99]

You do realise how expensive it is to keep pitches in the condition you expect. The kit to do so would be the equivalent of about what harps need to raise with the sale of a football ground. If every pitch was lifted and proper underground drainage installed places like Tolka could still struggle. Clubs couldnt afford 24hr atrificial sunlight electricity bills never mind the equipment. In an ideal world every pitch has a surface like a snooker table, never going to happen except with advancements in artificial pitch tech. So pragmatically you play the conditions like very football team must. Im not talking about a pitch being used to augment tactics, not cutting grass, no work done at all cause a cut up pitch nullifies a team that tries to play on the deck. Arguably money would be better spent on having a squad to suit - Towell would possibly be a sensible pick before a brittle Byrne on a heavy and uneven surface. Sometimes it just is what it is and we have to suck it up and know that usually pitches improve as the season progresses. We may need to consider the future impact of more seasonal rain especially along the Atlantic coast and those discussions will come to a conclusion of the lesser of two evils and that is the dreaded artificial surface. Id guess the MFA have at least had a rethink on the abominations! Oriel, Tallaght, Dalymount etc are not on flood prone areas and could/should always have reasonably consistant surfaces throughout the season if use is managed, others are not in such a position. So now we talk...

[Another Bohemia]

I find the reaction to Duff's comments a bit strange. I didn't think he slaughtered Farrell but didn't wave it away either. It's probably a necessary reality check for a player who could be shown the door in July if they don't improve and that type of thing is needed in a lot of cases. I've seen plenty of players at Bohs given chance after chance and just not live up to it so better to let him know now that he's not at the level than ignoring it and telling him to find a new club in the summer

[Jd2793]

will galway hit 25 goals this season?

[nigel-harps1954]

Decent point for Rovers and good weekend's work overall - keeping title pace despite a ton of missing bodies to contend with. We need to talk about pitches though, Tolka was a disgrace last night and it's far from the only one (including the plastic abominations). All sides are being held back by crappy surfaces and it's simply not good enough.

Everyone would need to close their grounds for 18 months and put in proper sand based pitches at a cost of a minimum of €100k, conservatively, possibly upwards of €150k.

Alternatively, you could vastly increase that cost and put in hybrid pitches.

We've had one of the wettest 12 months on record, and pitches are going to suffer from that.

I'm not entirely sure what people expect from groundstaff in this country. The weather has been atrocious. It goes back to my points made previously about winter/summer football, summer football is great until you realise you cannot grow and repair a pitch during the winter off-season.

[Another Bohemia]

will galway hit 25 goals this season?

Scored, Conceded Or both combined?

[sbgawa]

I would have happily settled for 4 points last Thursday so im pretty happy now.
Galway to break the statistical anonomely this weekend??? hopefully not :)

[dcfc_legend9]

Delighted with last nights results. Takes the heat of Higgins for a while longer and puts us back in the mix.

A lot of people mentioning St Pats having more possession and potentially being the better team. If I had a Euro every time i have said that about Derry the last few years id be minted. First time Higgins decided to concede possession by going two men more or less up front allowing us to be short in midfield. St Pats where always going to have the majority of possession due to this.

Delighted though that changing the way we play meant we where a bit more clinical and took our chances when they came.

On a seperate note we look so much more balanced with Coll at left back and Doherty as the left winger opposed to Duffy. The width was there last night with Doherty being naturally left footed. It does work with Duffy cutting in onto his right foot and nor does he offer any defensive help. I would like to see Higgins use Duffy as a right winger this year instead to see how he gets on but for me now I wouldnt be changing Coll and Doherty.

[Buckett]

We missed out on a striker at the end of the winter window. To be 5th at this stage is a lot higher than I expected. Brendan Clarke and the defence in front of him have been superb so far. If we get a decent goalscorer in the Summer we'll finish in the Euro spots! Each game that we've scored in, we've won. It's not pretty but the few pints help!

[cláirseach]

Really enjoy reading detailed posts about pitches and pitch growth (tone: sincere)

[cláirseach]

Certainly enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed the visit to Tolka last night.

[wonder88]

They had a fire brigade (one engine) at the showgrounds pre game last night. I assume they were after watering the pitch, I noticed Alan Keane there, so it is not for lack of effort of clubs that pitches are bad. Also with the ladies league there is extra games being played on some pitches like Tolka. League of Ireland managers have been giving out about the poor pitches after games for many years now (also missing light bulbs, B Kerr), so don't expect the complaining to change.
A very competitive game between Sligo and Galway with I think a draw was a fair result. A really nice and friendly venue to visit. Great work being done by the folks there to keep the show on the road and I am sure they are not too concerned about the opinions of Stephen Bradley etc.
Do people in Sligo think that the gate would drop by much if the kick off time was brought forward to say 7pm, especially for Monday games?

[Nesta99]

Really enjoy reading detailed posts about pitches and pitch growth (tone: sincere)

It could as interesting and useful as watching the pitch grow in Oriel Park! I am a total nerd when it comes to ground development, new build techniques, pitch options type stuff. I also find it interesting that no matter how unpopular artificial surfaces are, there is a pragmatic need for acceptance at times and imo more is needed on improving the simulation of natural grass rather than dismissing or banning artificial surfaces.

The issues with the new Wembley and the pitch I still look out for - height of the stands prevent natural sunlight getting to the pitch, the money spent on design and building sliding stand roofs to try fix the issue along with artifical sunlight sources would build a new ground for each LoI club, and it has been a complete failure. Computer models of air movement, sunlight, wear etc made prior to the redevelopment in 2003 (at a cost of €1.6billion in todays money) were useless. Within 5 years the pitch was laid 11 times and the FA eventually conceded that the pitch would need to be relaid approximately 65 times by last year and developed a seperate business plan to factor this issue in to their ongoing costs. A pitch that doesnt get weekly use!! Not unusual for stadia to relay a pitch with just the surface turf during a season but they cant get it to bed in at Wembley so its not just the average half a mil per laid turf pitch. White Hart Lane learned from it and why they can wheel the pitch out of the stadium when they need to (and have artificial surface overylay the grass for American Football etc. Solution for Wembley long term is to perfect the artificial surface.

Seeee nerd level of interest so I hope the sincere tone was sincere;)

[Another Bohemia]

It could as interesting and useful as watching the pitch grow in Oriel Park! I am a total nerd when it comes to ground development, new build techniques, pitch options type stuff. I also find it interesting that no matter how unpopular artificial surfaces are, there is a pragmatic need for acceptance at times and imo more is needed on improving the simulation of natural grass rather than dismissing or banning artificial surfaces.

The issues with the new Wembley and the pitch I still look out for - height of the stands prevent natural sunlight getting to the pitch, the money spent on design and building sliding stand roofs to try fix the issue along with artifical sunlight sources would build a new ground for each LoI club, and it has been a complete failure. Computer models of air movement, sunlight, wear etc made prior to the redevelopment in 2003 (at a cost of €1.6billion in todays money) were useless. Within 5 years the pitch was laid 11 times and the FA eventually conceded that the pitch would need to be relaid approximately 65 times by last year and developed a seperate business plan to factor this issue in to their ongoing costs. A pitch that doesnt get weekly use!! Not unusual for stadia to relay a pitch with just the surface turf during a season but they cant get it to bed in at Wembley so its not just the average half a mil per laid turf pitch. White Hart Lane learned from it and why they can wheel the pitch out of the stadium when they need to (and have artificial surface overylay the grass for American Football etc. Solution for Wembley long term is to perfect the artificial surface.

Seeee nerd level of interest so I hope the sincere tone was sincere;)

For clarification there isn't anything overlayed on the grass for the NFL games. The regular pitch is actually on top of a purpose built NFL field so the regular pitch is actually removed for NFL games.

You can see the process here ya big nerd ;)

https://youtu.be/ScPBxYAmNtg?si=sHONY6BVmB0gTpwV

[CorribsideSteve]

I would have happily settled for 4 points last Thursday so im pretty happy now.
Galway to break the statistical anonomely this weekend??? hopefully not :)

Indoobleoobleitely. We're well on course to score a grand total of 20 goals by season's end. If we stay up having scored so few it'd surely go into the history books.

[Nesta99]

For clarification there isn't anything overlayed on the grass for the NFL games. The regular pitch is actually on top of a purpose built NFL field so the regular pitch is actually removed for NFL games.

You can see the process here ya big nerd ;)

https://youtu.be/ScPBxYAmNtg?si=sHONY6BVmB0gTpwV

Typo typo I meant 'under-lay not overlay.....:eek:I need to nerd up!!