Town 2025

[outspoken]

No complaints. Correct reault. Better team won. Pity we got done in by 2 screamers effectively.

The good run we were on is pretty much over now. Have to pick ourselves up again now. And the next 3 games are all gonna be tough to do that in

Yep, makes last week even harder to swallow, such a tough run of games, could have done with those 3 points last week.

[MoydowMonty]

Same again, better team won. Tho I still think Dundalk will be found out in premier.

3 losses in a row now.. badly need a result against Treaty. Can't go to Tallaght with 4 losses in a row

[outspoken]

Team selection was beyond bizarre

[MoydowMonty]

Happy out with tonight. Can't remember the last time we won a game that comfortably. Dealt with everything they threw at us in the last 15. And a beautiful second goal.

Last season got 6 wins, now we're on 7. 29 points last season and 28 currently. And a full round of games left. Couple more wins and a 6th or 7th place finish would be very respectable considering I had us down to finish bottom at the beginning of the year.

A real test to end all tests next Sunday. Just praying it's something respectable whatever happens

[Longfordian]

Given the budget they're definitely doing as well as could be reasonably expected. Ups and downs as you get with young players but no lack of commitment.

[De Town]

Given the budget they're definitely doing as well as could be reasonably expected. Ups and downs as you get with young players but no lack of commitment.

This is it in a nutshell for me. I was on here early in the season praising the work rate of the team even though results weren't great. That's all you can ask for really. Fair play to the manager though, he has really improved the team as a whole, as well as some individuals too. The likes to Halwax, Yoro, Manuel have really improved since the start of the season, to name a few. To bounce back from 3 tough defeats against the best 3 teams in the division like that is very impressive.

I honestly haven't enjoyed watching a group of players playing for us as much in years (mainly coz we couldn't go when we were promoted!). But still, a really honest, hard working, young group of lads who are giving it their all. A thoroughly likeable bunch.

Obviously likely to get knocked out of the cup next week, but here's hoping for a miracle. Mon the Town!

[MoydowMonty]

Whatever happens tomorrow I just hope the lads put in the effort. I'm really fearing the worst and thinking back to some of the bad losses in last few years to Galway and Cork, I just hope I'm being harsh there. Big ask of them tomorrow though, they'll have to be brave

[MoydowMonty]

Absolutely gutted. The lads can be proud of their shift and only being undone because of poxy penalties. But f**king gutted all the same

[outspoken]

Season over after that, always feared the bounce factor after Sunday. We were NEVER in contention for the PO's, realistically 7th is an acceptable season and anything above a good season. Disappointing to see us below Kerry given they forgot how to play football the last few months.

[MoydowMonty]

I never truly believed we were in a playoff race to begin with, just not consistent enough. Really disappointing after Tallaght. Kinda just want the season to be over now just to have a break from it lol

I had us to finish bottom tbh, so the farther we finish away from there and maybe get to 8th or 7th, that would be some sort of success

[Longfordian]

The only possible positive of a play off would be a little bit of interest for another week or two. But that was never realistic. We're well behind the top First Division teams let alone the bottom Premier Division teams. With the squad we have we're doing pretty well overall. If I can just win that Euromillions we'll be grand.

[MoydowMonty]

[QUOTE=Longfordian;222929 If I can just win that Euromillions we'll be grand.[/QUOTE]

I say I'd like the season to end but I'm actually gonna be bricking it over the winter that JH decides he has had enough..and I wouldn't blame him one bit, but I'm expecting it any year now and I'd be seriously worried for the club if there's no investment sorted by then.

[Martinho II]

I say I'd like the season to end but I'm actually gonna be bricking it over the winter that JH decides he has had enough..and I wouldn't blame him one bit, but I'm expecting it any year now and I'd be seriously worried for the club if there's no investment sorted by then.

Yeah I think JH will go imo. I think that club r better off lookin for outside investment from perhaps a consortium. My opinion on JH is no comment.

[MoydowMonty]

Ah now in fairness it's him keeping the show on the road. I don't want him to pack it in till we (hopefully) get some investment but he has been at it for so long now that no one can blame him if he just has enough and wants to relax

[outspoken]

He's kept it going for a long time now, which makes some of the comments above utterly stupid, I'd be hopeful given he's kept it alive this long he wouldn't just drop it without having something lined up, but Jim or no Jim some fresh investment and ideas into the club is definitely needed.

It's gas, even if a lad did win the lotto tomorrow morning, it would still be very difficult to compete, that's the level of investment it now takes just to sustain a LOI club never mind win anything

[Longfordian]

The club would have died on several occasions without him. He won't just pull the plug but I imagine he may feel like stepping back after 25 years or so. I'm very skeptical of these investors putting money into small clubs. I can’t see how they make any money so I don't see them sticking around for very long.

[De Town]

Truly mind-boggling if any Town fan would want to see Jim Hanley leave. As things stand right now, we're absolutely goosed when he packs it in.

On the Kerry game, we were poor but annoyingly, they were poor too. They took a chance, we didn't and that was that. Fingers crossed things don't peter out and we can keep going til the end of the season and finish higher than 9th.

My first visit to Mounthawk Park. About 15 Town fans there. If there was many more than that, the people who didn't bag a position along the railing wouldn't see a whole lot. Grand little ground for where Kerry are now I suppose. Plenty of room around the grounds to improve things though, here's hoping they do in the coming years.

[outspoken]

Truly mind-boggling if any Town fan would want to see Jim Hanley leave. As things stand right now, we're absolutely goosed when he packs it in.

On the Kerry game, we were poor but annoyingly, they were poor too. They took a chance, we didn't and that was that. Fingers crossed things don't peter out and we can keep going til the end of the season and finish higher than 9th.

My first visit to Mounthawk Park. About 15 Town fans there. If there was many more than that, the people who didn't bag a position along the railing wouldn't see a whole lot. Grand little ground for where Kerry are now I suppose. Plenty of room around the grounds to improve things though, here's hoping they do in the coming years.

Yep, that away end must be a total nightmare when the likes of Dundalk head down there with a few hundred, surely it wouldn't be that big a job to build a few steps with some railings, you're just looking at the back of everyone's head down there

[MoydowMonty]

Sh1te away end. Was excited to go down there for the first time a couple years ago because it was new. But it's not a good ground when I look at it objectively, pitch is fair bad, though it does have potential to improve the surroundings with facilities and stand changes.

I'd fancy a bounceback against Wexford. Not in great form themselves and we're good for 3 points against them more often than not

[culloty82]

I believe the €400k sports grant that was awarded this year will be largely used for re-laying astro, not sure how much it would cost to do up the away end.

[MoydowMonty]

Josh Giurgi now unlisted in FAI Connect. We'll always have those goals against Kerry he was fond of

[MoydowMonty]

Disappointing to let the 2 goal lead slip, but probably a fair result overall. Longford in total control the first half, Wexford the second. And the lads did good to hold out as long as they did.

Sitting on 29 points now, same as last season but with 7 games to improve on it. Hopefully get to mid 30s at least to finish out the season

[outspoken]

Josh Giurgi now unlisted in FAI Connect. We'll always have those goals against Kerry he was fond of

Said it here before, no idea why there's such secrecy around incomings and outgoings. As for tonight, one hell of a game. I didn't actually think we played that well first half, was more a case of Wexford being absolutely stink. Second half their left winger destroyed us, he effectively turns the game by winning a penalty and getting a man sent off. We did well to hold on after that even though it was three points we really needed. Simply have to win Friday now

[MoydowMonty]

Left winger destroyed because Yoro is a poor player. Got caught there time and time again.

I would have fancied getting 4 points from those last 2 games, but all we got is 1. We'll soon be coming up against the top 4 and won't be fancying ourselves against them, so we really need some points off Harps. We don't get Athlone till the final day

[outspoken]

Left winger destroyed because Yoro is a poor player. Got caught there time and time again.

I would have fancied getting 4 points from those last 2 games, but all we got is 1. We'll soon be coming up against the top 4 and won't be fancying ourselves against them, so we really need some points off Harps. We don't get Athlone till the final day

Sounds old fashioned but someone really needed to smash the winger last night, the fact we kept letting him get 1 v 1 against players he'd already proven he could beat was crazy

[LTFC]

2nd from bottom and still dreaming of promotion, you gotta love the GLITW.
Okay, last week our slims hopes vanished when blowing a two goal load against Wexford. Tonight is a test for manager and the squad, are we up enough to challenge Harps who are very much in the mix for the last play off place, can we upset their plans and keep our very slim hopes of 5th alive?

[MoydowMonty]

Anyone still saying the playoff dream is on needs to have their head checked. Too inconsistent to make that run and we still have to play the top 4. Of the remaining 7 games I'd say the max we can hope to pick up is 10 points, and I'd take 6 of those if you offered it to me.

I didn't even cop how good a form harps are on. Even more difficult game tonight than I first realised

[MoydowMonty]

Was thinking by the end we should be winning that game, but then Harps missed 2 big chances in the final minute and suddenly i was happy to take a point. Good effort tonight, bit too much sloppiness letting us down.

I want to talk about Manny. I'll be utterly sour if he ends up leaving because of how little he's playing. And I wouldn't blame him one bit. But if he knows where the net is, is local and fans love him yet is missing out on training because it's too far away which in turn means he misses gametime, then I'm sorry but something is seriously wrong there. Bringing him on against Shams with 30secs of time to go was a massive p1sstake I thought. We should be pulling out all the stops to keep him next year. He also has 5 goals in f**k all gametime. He should be getting more than a few minutes cameos, and he showed that tonight

[outspoken]

I thought that was an absolutely woeful performance tonight.

[MoydowMonty]

Harsh. Compared to some of the sh1te we've been served up with hammerings, tonight was far better. Had our spells where we genuinely put them under pressure. As did they in fairness. But it wasn't woeful

[nigel-harps1954]

Thought it was a dreadful game and I thought Longford were terrible too.

[outspoken]

Harsh. Compared to some of the sh1te we've been served up with hammerings, tonight was far better. Had our spells where we genuinely put them under pressure. As did they in fairness. But it wasn't woeful

It was woeful. We have to eventually get past the "oh they worked their socks off" element every week, that's the bare minimum that should be expected.

We are not leaning from our mistakes defensively, conceding crazy goals in recent months. We put them under pressure for a few minutes after the equalizer but beyond that they hit the woodwork three times.

How many times did we swipe and hack at the ball tonight and present it straight to them. Basic passes going all over the shop, they weren't much better by the way but they did shade both halves. It was a truly awful game and had we not got the late goal we'd all be on here calling it out for what it was, a terrible performance.

We are just about still alive in the play off race after tonight that's the only good news but we'd have to pull out some truly remarkable results in the next few weeks for that to be true.

[MoydowMonty]

Lol I dunno then, me and a friend both enjoyed it, and we've seen the same sh1te this season. The lowest low for me was that 1-1 against Cobh. That was woeful, and tonight was certainly better than that, but expectations are probably that low right now.

I do agree that those stupid mistakes giving the ball away and constantly giving it back to teams does get tiring. And forget about the playoffs, Treaty pulled 2 ponts ahead after their win, it's not happening. We now have more points than last season, the aim should be to get to mid 30s with a couple more wins and end on somewhat of a high. Playing for pride now, nothing else

[LTFC]

I want to talk about Manny. I'll be utterly sour if he ends up leaving because of how little he's playing. And I wouldn't blame him one bit. But if he knows where the net is, is local and fans love him yet is missing out on training because it's too far away which in turn means he misses gametime, then I'm sorry but something is seriously wrong there. Bringing him on against Shams with 30secs of time to go was a massive p1sstake I thought. We should be pulling out all the stops to keep him next year. He also has 5 goals in f**k all gametime. He should be getting more than a few minutes cameos, and he showed that tonight

What is the issue with missing training, I doubt its where it is more about when and how he gets to it. Is it to do with transport, work or college?

[MoydowMonty]

What is the issue with missing training, I doubt its where it is more about when and how he gets to it. Is it to do with transport, work or college?

That I don't know. My guess is he's still based in Longford or somewhere nearby and it's awkward to get all the way up to St Francis to train. Depending on whether he's working or in education that's another factor added in.

But the man now has as many goals as Murtagh and played a fraction of the time. I understand not starting him if he's missing training, but to me he has enough credit in the bank to be deserving of more than a few minutes off the bench.

We absolutely can't lose him. That would just sour a lot of fans.

[outspoken]

I think, and I could be wrong, that he got a promotion or a new position or something along those lines and the hours clash with training, plus trying to get to Dublin as pointed out above. Murtagh is an excellent young player, I've no issue with him leading the line but fully agree Manny should be getting on much earlier in games.

[MoydowMonty]

Yeah Murtagh has earned his starting position in fairness to him. Would just love to see Manny flourish more. I'd also love to try to 2 of them up front together, it often feels like Murtagh is left alone up there to do too much

[LTFC]

Just on Manny, if hes on amateur con then not much you can do. If hes on a pro con, likely very small as is, unlikely we could offer much more so no advantage to the young lad in signing for anything more than 1 year at a time.

[outspoken]

I just want to say I think it's absolutely amazing news that the club is launching a senior women's team. My sister was an incredible soccer player and came up at a time when there were only 1 or 2 girls teams in Longford, they had to play against the boys every week, was no bother to her, they'd often lose 7-3 with her bagging the hat trick, it really improved the girls playing against boys. There were some really really good players in Longford at that time but they pretty much all ended up choosing GAA after the age of 16 as there were no girls teams at that age group. She ended up winning an AI medal in Croker with Longford but I often think of the amount of talent that was lost.

It's been brilliant to see us launch U17/u19 teams and we've already had a player capped at international level.

It's incredible to think of the amount of teams we know have within one club, it's probably a big factor in the first team budget being so small compared to the past.

Given we now have so many families that have a connection with the club, we really should be aiming to increase attendances significantly.

[Longfordian]

It's absolutely a welcome announcement but as you've pointed out it's now very expensive to be a LOI club. Correctly so as the top level of football in the country, but people need to be aware of how much money the club needs each year just to stay afloat. I have major concerns about the sustainability of LOI football in Longford.

[outspoken]

It's absolutely a welcome announcement but as you've pointed out it's now very expensive to be a LOI club. Correctly so as the top level of football in the country, but people need to be aware of how much money the club needs each year just to stay afloat. I have major concerns about the sustainability of LOI football in Longford.

You'd have to take it as a positive though that the board have pushed ahead with expanding the Women's side of the club. Surely they don't do that if any key stakeholders are thinking of walking away?

[MoydowMonty]

Is it senior? Thought it said u-23, which reads like academy talk to me.

Regardless, as good as it is I too have concerns over how viable this is. Its become very clear the last 3 years how challenging it is to run the senior mens team, very much living within their means. I don't see how they can juggle a second senior team. I just hope they've done their planning, crunched the numbers and determined it'll be sustainable

[Longfordian]

You'd have to take it as a positive though that the board have pushed ahead with expanding the Women's side of the club. Surely they don't do that if any key stakeholders are thinking of walking away?

It's actually easier for a small club to be competitive at a national level in the women's game as Athlone have shown. But is there sufficient local interest to support it given how difficult it is to get crowds out to the men's games?

[culloty82]

Is it senior? Thought it said u-23, which reads like academy talk to me.

Regardless, as good as it is I too have concerns over how viable this is. Its become very clear the last 3 years how challenging it is to run the senior mens team, very much living within their means. I don't see how they can juggle a second senior team. I just hope they've done their planning, crunched the numbers and determined it'll be sustainable

It is effectively a Women's First Division, as the ten new senior clubs will join the twelve underage teams in regional sections, even if there will be no promotion or relegation for the first season. In practical terms, though, many of the new sides will themselves be mainly youth squads, as Kerry had been preparing to enter the U19 League, and the same was presumably true of Longford?

[outspoken]

It is effectively a Women's First Division, as the ten new senior clubs will join the twelve underage teams in regional sections, even if there will be no promotion or relegation for the first season. In practical terms, though, many of the new sides will themselves be mainly youth squads, as Kerry had been preparing to enter the U19 League, and the same was presumably true of Longford?

Yes, perhaps I've oversold it describing it as a senior team but it's effecivetly a senior league and there will eventually be promotion to the WPD so tomato tomato eh?

[LTFC]

Really great performance tonight by the Town. Terrific heart and grit and as well as some very good football. Sweet.

[MoydowMonty]

Terrific win, couple of lovely goals. And there's 2 very winnable games left from the last 4. I'd love to end on a high and get close to 40 points and come 7th or that.

I predicted a bottom place finish at the start of the season. That's not mathematically possible now and Athlone won't catch us either. That's a win in itself

[outspoken]

What a game that was. Amazing that we looked the more threatening side after going down to ten. Doran, O'Brien and Ugbesia sensational. Big shout out to Hand and Egan as well, brilliant to see them celebrating at the end, they've been through so much bad stuff in the last few years injury wise

[MoydowMonty]

Reminded me of the last time we beat Dundalk in 2021 when we went down to 10 men then 9 men, and we still looked the better team that night too.
Pity that Cobh f**ked up and that this result means nothing for the title race, would have loved to derail Dundalk's season with that win.

[outspoken]

Got to start nailing down the likes of Doran for next season now..