Weekend 17th of May to 20th May

[pineapple stu]

The Duffer bubble just isn't bursting, is it?

On course for 8 points more than last year, in a division where the bottom side has already got more points than UCD last year (so points technically harder to come by)

Remains to be seen if they have it in them to keep the form up during Europe. But Duff is doing a great job there

[sbgawa]

Great win for Rovers tonight , should have been 2 or 3 tbh. Derry were very poor. Big game now on Friday against shels. Duff doing an incredible job at shels.

[ger121]

Great win for Rovers tonight , should have been 2 or 3 tbh. Derry were very poor. Big game now on Friday against shels. Duff doing an incredible job at shels.

The auld “season defining game” cliche comes to mind about the game on Friday. Should be a cracker of a match.

Hoping Bohs can add to Kenny’s misery on Friday. Is it just me or are Pat’s already starting to remind us of Ireland.

[Jd2793]

The auld “season defining game” cliche comes to mind about the game on Friday. Should be a cracker of a match.

Hoping Bohs can add to Kenny’s misery on Friday. Is it just me or are Pat’s already starting to remind us of Ireland.

hes probably taken 1 session. pats were total dross under daly, he has a serious job on jis hands to make them look competent.

[TonyD]

Late late late win for Shelbourne,not the start SK and Pats were after…..

Gutted with that late goal. However, if I’m brutally honest, we were so poor for so much of that game. After the equaliser we at least had a go, and looked like we might nick it, but even for the winner, Shels just given too much time on the ball. You can’t play for twenty minutes in a game and expect to get anything. We really need to start getting results quickly.

[Calcio Jack]

For the first time this season we looked somewhat like our real selves - as already mentioned should of been at least 3-0… Farrugia got MOTM and already is starting to look unplayable… hopefully a couple more back fit for Friday…. As for Derry , well drilled and a lot of big physical players but zero cutting edge …. They haven’t progressed in any way since last season based on tonight and our previous game against them

[2 Year Contract]

Always a tough one to take losing that late. Just saw the stats from the game which favoured pats in shots, shots on target, passes, % of successful passes and corners won but in truth Shels were the better team first 70 minutes without creating many good chances. Mulraney’s bit of magic for the equaliser came from nothing really but the last 20 mins pats had all the pressure and looked like the only side that were going to grab a winner if there was to be one, but for all that pressure didn’t create many good chances either.

Interesting the see if the FAI grow a pair of balls and issue a behind closed doors home game to shels now after one of their fans threw a flare at Jake Mulraney after the winner. Luckily it landed a couple of yards short of him. With shels having already been punished for it this season it seems the only logical step if their fans are incapable of attending a game of football without attempting to potentially scar a player/official for life

[placid casual]

Derry look impotent up front without hoban,and only for Rovers continuing to be very wasteful in front of goal,the game could have been 3 or 4 nil.
There was a quicker tempo to the Rovers game tonight which suits our style of play, but we need to improve in front of goal to really make it count. A vital 3 points gained and it sets up the opportunity for a good attendance in Friday now - hopefully Shels can bring 1,200 to 1,500 and it'll make for a great atmosphere.

[Jack B]

Would be delighted if the season ended today. A lot of work for Kenny to do.

[total hoofball]

Evan Caffrey you beaut :)

Also does Rob Hennessy have vision impairments? After his horrorshow in the last minute of our away match in Drogheda where he placed Keith Ward's stoppage time free kick outside of the box backwards by 5-6 yards he did the opposite tonight for Pats prior to the brilliantly executed Mulraney free kick giving Mulraney a bonus 3-4 yards advance/2 yards inside

[TonyD]

Would be delighted if the season ended today. A lot of work for Kenny to do.

Yeah, stop the season, I want to get off.

[placid casual]

dundalk fans I take it all back!
As funny as it would be to see you boys get relegated, that would pale into comedy insignificance compared to St Kenny bringing his team into the graveyard division. Pat's have played 2 more games than those around them and at the bottom,dundalk are 7 points behind..... This season is not short of entertainment:)

[Neish]

The Duffer bubble just isn't bursting, is it?

On course for 8 points more than last year, in a division where the bottom side has already got more points than UCD last year (so points technically harder to come by)

Remains to be seen if they have it in them to keep the form up during Europe. But Duff is doing a great job there

Will admit to thinking he was just getting the job on name alone and that he'd be gone within a year. But he has really proved himself. Turning a team from just promoted to real title contenders in just 3 seasons is great no mateer the level. And with a sqaud that on paper lack the quality and quantity than all of their competitors

[oriel]

dundalk fans I take it all back!
As funny as it would be to see you boys get relegated, that would pale into comedy insignificance compared to St Kenny bringing his team into the graveyard division. Pat's have played 2 more games than those around them and at the bottom,dundalk are 7 points behind..... This season is not short of entertainment:)

Plus Pats have now lost one more than Dundalk this season, ah I think you are a little harsh on SK, he def has enough in his locker to keep Pats up.

[oriel]

For the first time this season we looked somewhat like our real selves - as already mentioned should of been at least 3-0… Farrugia got MOTM and already is starting to look unplayable… hopefully a couple more back fit for Friday…. As for Derry , well drilled and a lot of big physical players but zero cutting edge …. They haven’t progressed in any way since last season based on tonight and our previous game against them

Derry losing twice already to Rovers is enough to suggest they won't be the winning the league anytime soon. I still think they can do better than Higgins as the main man, he is a coach not a manager in my view.

Their budget must be huge and it may only return 3rd place, as I do not see Shels dropping out of the top 2 all season.

[Shinkicker]

The Duffer bubble just isn't bursting, is it?

On course for 8 points more than last year, in a division where the bottom side has already got more points than UCD last year (so points technically harder to come by)

Remains to be seen if they have it in them to keep the form up during Europe. But Duff is doing a great job there
This season is on its head. Everybody dropping points. Dundalk beat Bohs and Rovers and remain bottom, as well as others lower down picking up points against teams higher up. The eventual league winners could be a surprise package and the same for the relegated teams.

[Another Bohemia]

Derry losing twice already to Rovers is enough to suggest they won't be the winning the league anytime soon. I still think they can do better than Higgins as the main man, he is a coach not a manager in my view.

Their budget must be huge and it may only return 3rd place, as I do not see Shels dropping out of the top 2 all season.

Shels to their credit are hard to beat. You can only say the same about 1 other team in the league at the moment and that's Galway. Bohs, Rovers, Derry and every other team in the league have lost silly points in games they should be winning. What Shels have that Galway don't is a bit of an attacking game plan. I don't see Ollie Horgan & John Caulfield suddenly developing a high scoring team because it's not a case of just getting a goalscorer it's also getting the ball in the right positions. Shels can easily win the league provided Europe doesn't distract or cause too many injuries. If they lose Coyle for any length of time that could be the end of their title hopes because he is key for them.

[sbgawa]

In fairness to Duffer imagine what he could do if he had the budget of Higgins or Bradley
He is proving himself to be the best manager/coach in the league.
Makng Europe was a great acheivment last year and if he follows up by winning the league it will be unbelievable.
HArd to see Rovers and Derry with the size of their budgets and squads and players coming back from injury not doing it in the end but a long european run for Rovers might level it up for Shels.
We have to start thinking of Shels as title winners the season will be over half over on Friday and they could be 9 clear....but hopefully only 3, then i think we can real them in.....9 and i dont think so unless we bomb out of Europe

[Stuttgart88]

Hoping Bohs can add to Kenny’s misery on Friday. Is it just me or are Pat’s already starting to remind us of Ireland.They certainly seem to have that knack of snatching a narrow defeat from the jaws of an arguably deserved draw. Kenny must be cursing his luck already.

[Stuttgart88]

For the first time this season we looked somewhat like our real selves - as already mentioned should of been at least 3-0… Farrugia got MOTM and already is starting to look unplayable… hopefully a couple more back fit for Friday…. As for Derry , well drilled and a lot of big physical players but zero cutting edge …. They haven’t progressed in any way since last season based on tonight and our previous game against themOn the previous page I rattled off a list of players who have missed games due to muscle injuries. I forgot to include Burke (now back) and Burns. What's the latest with Burns?

Rovers really should have scored a bagful last night. The one that Burke missed after a through ball by Byrne would have been a great goal.

[Nesta99]

This season is on its head. Everybody dropping points. Dundalk beat Bohs and Rovers and remain bottom, as well as others lower down picking up points against teams higher up. The eventual league winners could be a surprise package and the same for the relegated teams.

Beating Rovers and Bohs and should have beaten Shels in a credible drawn match, but lose to Sligo conceding 5, Waterford conceding 4, Galway etc etc. Bottom having not conceded a goal in 6 at home (obviously scoring ourselves is an issue) but yup the margins are fine and its rivoting or car crash where ye can look away. 10 team league has actually been more a positive than I thought. I wont like it this year if we are victims of the relegation battle. It is really what the league should be without a couple of basement dwelling clubs inadvetantly making the Premier Division relegation a non battle where a bad run and you are worrying, a league where you could never say never in terms of a relegation battle. I never realised how much I appreciated UCD and Finn Harps and what they offered until now!!:)

Shels are just well coached and shows what can be done by a good coaching setup. They are grinding out points and picking off wins and doing it consistantly when others are dropping points - its actually quite Mourhino Chelsea like where you have to presume Duffer has taken his coaching lead from. He would be the top target in the league for an English club looking for a coach on a budget that could improve any squad with a bit of spit and polish. Whats a bit mad too is that he didnt want to be anything more than a coach, his foray in to LoI wasnt a platform or means to an end trying to get out and up asap. You wouldnt be convinced that he'd have his head turned that easily by a bigger hitter in the UK. There has been stability in that Shels squad where they have obviously been worked on rather than just raid say Dundalk for a bunch of their former league winners and top goal scorer assuming that thats all the fix thats needed. Duff is a litle more sophisticated in what he is achieving than the Caulfield/Horgan axis of anti-football, he would od more with better quality, JC would sign a fit Jack Byrne and bench him for daring not to hoof - Charlton and Brady of LoI stuff...

[sbgawa]

Dont see Duff going to England although you can never say never i suppose.
Left a better paying job in Celtic to rear his famlly in Ireland.
Wouldnt be surprised to see him ending up managing Ireland or buying a stake in an Irish club

[Nesta99]

Or both!! Keep his Shels projeCt on the rails while bailing out the FAI.

[ger121]

They certainly seem to have that knack of snatching a narrow defeat from the jaws of an arguably deserved draw. Kenny must be cursing his luck already.

The peformances and results already remind me of Ireland. I have a lot of time for Kenny but for some reason he is like the Cooler nowadays. If he didn’t have bad luck he would have no luck. Close your eyes during his 2 Pat’s post match interviews and you think it was an Ireland game the way he is talking.

[2 Year Contract]

The peformances and results already remind me of Ireland. I have a lot of time for Kenny but for some reason he is like the Cooler nowadays. If he didn’t have bad luck he would have no luck. Close your eyes during his 2 Pat’s post match interviews and you think it was an Ireland game the way he is talking.
In fairness you’re probably overestimating how much influence any manager in the world can have on a teams performance in 2 games which he had 1 training session to prepare for each game

[Nesta99]

I dont think anyone seriously thinks that SK wont do well at St Pats, how long it takes form him to break this run really depends on how quickly the squad buys in to his ways. If its a Rovers like reaction then it'll be a tough season until he can drop the dead weight. Ifs its Dundalk like (blank canvas basically) he'd a challenging team built of unknowns and journeymen - few Dundalk fans could believe he held on to Chris Shields after that McCaffrey season, Mountney also. His forté is man management and getting players believinng they are good enough so depends on how battered the St Pats squad confidence or how much battering some egos need. Higgins is an example of how a bottomless pit of money to bring in top players isnt enough, Doolin took an eternity and broke Drogheda with his similar effort. Kenny with the resources of Kelleher will have St Pats always in the hunt for as long as people have patience during transitional times.

[Another Bohemia]

I dont think anyone seriously thinks that SK wont do well at St Pats, how long it takes form him to break this run really depends on how quickly the squad buys in to his ways. If its a Rovers like reaction then it'll be a tough season until he can drop the dead weight. Ifs its Dundalk like (blank canvas basically) he'd a challenging team built of unknowns and journeymen - few Dundalk fans could believe he held on to Chris Shields after that McCaffrey season, Mountney also. His forté is man management and getting players believinng they are good enough so depends on how battered the St Pats squad confidence or how much battering some egos need. Higgins is an example of how a bottomless pit of money to bring in top players isnt enough, Doolin took an eternity and broke Drogheda with his similar effort. Kenny with the resources of Kelleher will have St Pats always in the hunt for as long as people have patience during transitional times.

The challenge is distinctly different for SK this time around. More players are in longer contracts than when he joined Dundalk back in the day. The likelihood of even building a team of LOI journeymen is very slim. Now that's not to say he isn't up to it but more so that he won't have a blank slate like he did in Dundalk. A turn around may take longer than it did in Dundalk and that's probably why he liked the idea of the 5 year contract because it's probably year 3 when the rubber really hits the road in terms of results.

[TonyD]

The peformances and results already remind me of Ireland. I have a lot of time for Kenny but for some reason he is like the Cooler nowadays. If he didn’t have bad luck he would have no luck. Close your eyes during his 2 Pat’s post match interviews and you think it was an Ireland game the way he is talking.

If you’re talking about pedestrian possession across the back four and a lack of penetration once it gets to the final third, only for the ball to go backwards more often than not, then Pats have been playing like that all year so I don’t think it can be laid at Kennys door. Patience in possession is all well and good, and I’m all for it, but there has been a lack of urgency about Pats attacking all season. The last 15 or 20 minutes the other night once we equalised was more like it from that point of view. I honestly thought if anyone was going to nick the win it would be us. Last season we wouldn’t have conceded that Shels winner, as defenders were throwing themselves in the way of those sort of situations in the box.

Stephen Kenny is not going to turn us around that quickly, and we have to be prepared to give him time. One of the reservations I would have had about him taking over is how often the Ireland stuff was going to be thrown in his face (which we can see the beginning of already.) It’s incredibly unhelpful from a Pats point of view, but probably inevitable until he starts winning games. If he doesn’t, well then we have much more serious concerns.

[2 Year Contract]

Also does Rob Hennessy have vision impairments? After his horrorshow in the last minute of our away match in Drogheda where he placed Keith Ward's stoppage time free kick outside of the box backwards by 5-6 yards he did the opposite tonight for Pats prior to the brilliantly executed Mulraney free kick giving Mulraney a bonus 3-4 yards advance/2 yards inside

I think Hennessey is a clown also but in fairness you can see from the clip below that the free kick was taken from pretty much the exact place Melia was fouled.

https://x.com/iandunney/status/1793296313896828969?s=46

[total hoofball]

It wasn't I took screenshots from LOITV of the spot of the foul and Mulraney's spot for the free-kick which was 3-4 yards forward and 2 yards inside lines on Pat's pitch made it easy to see

[sbgawa]

The free was given where melia landed rather than where he was tripped but there was a couple of yards in it at most I'd say.

[2 Year Contract]

I see Shels could be facing a full stadium closure and points deduction according to their SLO, for throwing the flare at Jake Mulraney on Monday (on top of their previous incidents)

https://x.com/ShelbourneFCSLO/status/1793730757774434560

[brendy_éire]

I see Shels could be facing a full stadium closure and points deduction according to their SLO, for throwing the flare at Jake Mulraney on Monday (on top of their previous incidents)

https://x.com/ShelbourneFCSLO/status/1793730757774434560

Deleted already. Someone not happy.

[sbgawa]

9 point deduction would seem fair

[Another Bohemia]

I see Shels could be facing a full stadium closure and points deduction according to their SLO, for throwing the flare at Jake Mulraney on Monday (on top of their previous incidents)

https://x.com/ShelbourneFCSLO/status/1793730757774434560

That is stupidity at its finest. The League seems to be clamping down on most things now and have issued warnings about flares multiple times. You would be fuming as an average match going Shels fan and if the points deduction goes through as a member of the management team and playing staff.

I'd say these idiots won't even regret their actions and simply increase the number of **** the FAI chants during a game. The FAI have their problems and plenty of them but it's hard to disagree with them when they have been vocal about this needing to stop for a while

[Buckett]

Yet they were using images of pyro until fairly recently to promote the league

[Nesta99]

Fine, maybe partial ground closure and suspended points deduction likely, if they go straight to a points deducion there is a good chnce of it being appealed effectig a title run in. Threre is little point appealing a final shot across the bow + the precedence then for other clubs could get messy quickly. Points deduction would give Rover a lifeline if needed, if Shels were deducted 9 Derry would lose the next 3 games.

Maybe there a chance to engage with supporters groups and nominate/formalise those with pyro? Individuals then get lifetime bans.

[Another Bohemia]

Fine, maybe partial ground closure and suspended points deduction likely, if they go straight to a points deducion there is a good chnce of it being appealed effectig a title run in. Threre is little point appealing a final shot across the bow + the precedence then for other clubs could get messy quickly. Points deduction would give Rover a lifeline if needed, if Shels were deducted 9 Derry would lose the next 3 games.

Maybe there a chance to engage with supporters groups and nominate/formalise those with pyro? Individuals then get lifetime bans.

Isn't pyro use in this way illegal in Ireland? So there is no way to formalize or organise this through the clubs/league. I remember LOI central had the league director on a few months back, I want to say it was after the Bohs flare issue in Inchicore where Cian Byrne was hit by our own fans, and he said something to that effect. The directive they give ground staff now is not to put it in a bucket of sand even because you can't know what it is and if it explodes in the bucket it becomes even more dangerous. The visuals of pyro are always great but in a practical sense there's no way they should be in grounds anymore.

[2 Year Contract]

Isn't pyro use in this way illegal in Ireland? So there is no way to formalize or organise this through the clubs/league. I remember LOI central had the league director on a few months back, I want to say it was after the Bohs flare issue in Inchicore where Cian Byrne was hit by our own fans, and he said something to that effect. The directive they give ground staff now is not to put it in a bucket of sand even because you can't know what it is and if it explodes in the bucket it becomes even more dangerous. The visuals of pyro are always great but in a practical sense there's no way they should be in grounds anymore.

A lot of drugs are illegal in Ireland also but there is still safe drug testing facilities at music festivals for example. The idea behind that is, although it’s illegal, people will still find a way to bring it in, so it’s better that they’re as safe as possible while using it.

It’d be good if there was some sort of effort made towards safer pyro usage but I’d imagine it’s unlikely and the attempts to clamp down will continue to fail and there will be continued ‘incidents’ as a result

[Another Bohemia]

A lot of drugs are illegal in Ireland also but there is still safe drug testing facilities at music festivals for example. The idea behind that is, although it’s illegal, people will still find a way to bring it in, so it’s better that they’re as safe as possible while using it.

It’d be good if there was some sort of effort made towards safer pyro usage but I’d imagine it’s unlikely and the attempts to clamp down will continue to fail and there will be continued ‘incidents’ as a result

The distinct difference is that drug use of that type will generally only harm the drug user. Use of pyrotechnics can and has harmed players and bystanders this year. I wish there was some easy solution because as I said they generally look fantastic & add to the atmosphere but if you want to use them safely they are going to need to be used in a controlled environment with plenty of space around them so other fans aren't burned and they are disposed of correctly. The fact that they are being thrown onto pitches & at players/officials shows that those using them don't want to use them responsibly so even if there was the ideal place to use them the people causing the issue are the exact ones who would ignore the protocols.

[Buckett]

Isn't there some sort of "cold pyro", maybe it could be used instead. I don't know a whole lot about pyro but I love seeing it, really adds to an atmosphere

[D24Saint]

Isn't there some sort of "cold pyro", maybe it could be used instead. I don't know a whole lot about pyro but I love seeing it, really adds to an atmosphere

Did a quick bit of googling and there appears to be systems alright for cold pyro. I wouldn't say they are cheap , it could be beneficial if clubs engaged with fan groups. If these systems could be installed in certain parts of the ground for atmosphere it could help cut out the flares.

[outspoken]

Isn't there some sort of "cold pyro", maybe it could be used instead. I don't know a whole lot about pyro but I love seeing it, really adds to an atmosphere

Big in Scandinavia, Martin Connolly said last year he had been looking into it at dundalk but not sure how far that went.