The significance of todays activities

[Counting Crow]

I know some people are still going on about 3 points from 18 etc but we sould not loose sight of the fact that the team has only played 10 games under Dolan.
I for one think he has done more in the short time he is with us than any of the past managers ( Davey Boy included ).

The club is now seen as a big club despite our recent results.

There were also some interesting things occured today that everyone should take note of:

1. Wimbledon F.C. in recievership in England. There is very little money in the lower leagues in England now. I think we will see more players coming home soon. Also, I don't think Flynny or any of the others ( Behan for instance ) will be going back in a hurry.

2. City loose out in Euro draw. We don't need this ditraction this year. Let's get our house in order this season - plus it's one less shop window for our stars to shine in this season ( yeah, I know selfish but so be it ) - who needs a trip to Mongolia in July anyway.

3. 1-1 vs Pats. Make no mistake this was a big result. To come back at the death speaks volumes for the team. We now have a series of home games and should climb up the League. It is one of the most open championships for years and all the other teams will take points from each other. I think we have ridden our bad luck ( 4 penalties against so far this season with no one sent off means they were close calls and a little harsh )

4. Behan. I've seen him play for both the U-21's and the full team now and I think he will be better than Flynny. He has the skill and metality but he is also a strong ba$tard which will stand to him.
He reminds me of Wayne Rooney.

I think tonight was the turning point in the season for us.

Home to UCD - home win.
Home to Rovers - home win
Away to Waterford - away win

And throw in a Q/F win in the League cup for good measure vs W/Ford.
June will be a good month.

[Dellboy]

Originally posted by Counting Crow

Home to UCD - home win.
Home to Rovers - home win
Away to Waterford - away win

And throw in a Q/F win in the League cup for good measure vs W/Ford.
June will be a good month.
Are you the White Witch in disguise?

[Colm]

Originally posted by Counting Crow
1-1 vs Pats. Make no mistake this was a big result.

I think it's also worth noting that tonight was the first time we have got so much as a point in Inchicore for quite a while.

[Shane]

The notion of ten games is right. He bascially has the same core players from last season with a few exceptions. I think we all know that a player in the middle is needed and I'm sure Pat Dolan knows this and more. To finish in europe would be a bonus i think, it has to be seen as a rebuilding season with more signings on the way.

We all want success know but it will take him time and he is in the best supported team in the country, superb resources and good facilities. He came here for a reason, the guy is a winner and that will come, patience is something none of us have though.

To pick up a point this evening is very important, with our homes games to come we need six points and a decent showing in waterford would be welcome. Roll on UCD.

[steven17]

Originally posted by Counting Crow

The club is now seen as a big club despite our recent results.


not starting trouble but ifwe are concidered a "big team" why are "little teams" getting the better of us waterford (twice) drogs then cobh(played us off the pitch at the cross)

there really hasn`t been a bite in the team since the bohs match i agree that pat is a winner but he is being to nice to players that aren`t putting in a 100% he calls benno a collosis(or better than sol cambell),coner his midfield gem.thats what he said to coner after the bhos game
i think
for the players the dolan buzz has worn off fair play to him for buiding confidance but if a player plays badly then he should be made aware of it just like coner has been droped for the pats game

we need bite from all players

[dalo]

the jury is still out on dolan. some of the results have been very poor. if it was gunther we still be hearing the boring murph out stuff.

as i say it is early days yet but some of ur players are plainly not up to it.

btw is anybody getting a bit of tired of dolans long full page tirades in the paper.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:)

[fonzi]

i think youre
a bit too optimstic in youre predicting the results of our next three matches.
we are not a good dside this year and it'll be proven very soon.

[Trax]

A lot of good points in this thread except for 2 things; 1;No matter what sort of transitional stage we're going through it's still a pity we didnt get in2 Europe,even if it probably would have been against some team that sounds like an eating disorder 2;No way did Quenstown play us off the park at the Cross,Biscuits pulled off 6 or 7 great saves,we shoulda lambed 'em

[Counting Crow]

Don't forget also, that Dolan's hands were tied up to June 1st when the transfer deadline re opened.

Up to then he was stuck with the same squad from last year.

He has said on several occasions that we need to bring new people in.

The 2 week break will see changes - mark my words.

Oh and by the way Waterford & Ramblers were dire against us at the Cross.

We could and should have won both but for excellent displays by their 'keepers.

[Gary]

First off, Dalo? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


secondly, we are doing ok. Anyone who thinks that we can realistically win the league this season is a bit dillusional (is that even a word????).

Dolan is building a nice squad, and is getting te bet out of what we have.

While id agree that Grady isnt performing to what he is capable of, id still say that he will be back soon.

And Bennett. He is growing into the position of centre half by the minute. Can anyone actually say he has been less than very good all season? I seriously doubt it.

[sadloserkid]

Originally posted by GWA
Anyone who thinks that we can realistically win the league this season is a bit dillusional (is that even a word????).

It's 'delusional' GWA - ;) (I think!)

[Éanna]

Some very good points, particularly re Behan. he mightn't be quite as quick as Flynny but he's very strong. he was holding the ball up very well at times on friday against defenders with a lot more experience- good finisher too. I think Dolan will be looking to bring new guys in soon- he said at the start he wanted to give everyone a chance and he has, he's also tried players out in different positions, and dropping players (Gaz, Grady) shows he's not afraid to make changes. I think he has to be given a fair bit of time before we really see a "Dolan team" at the moment he's mostly working with an inherited side. I think he will have noticed (like many of us have) that we ae very poor in midfield: Billy hasn't been doing much, Doyle is a striker, grady has been a shadow of the player he was 2 years ago, and Greg's game is suffering from having to do other people's work as well as his own. IMO, we need 2 wingers an a central midfielder who can knock the ball about.

[patsh]

Originally posted by Éanna
I think Dolan will be looking to bring new guys in soon- he said at the start he wanted to give everyone a chance and he has, .
He hasn't given Dave Warren much of a chance...

[dalo]

Originally posted by GWA
First off, Dalo? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


secondly, we are doing ok. Anyone who thinks that we can realistically win the league this season is a bit dillusional (is that even a word????).

Dolan is building a nice squad, and is getting te bet out of what we have.

While id agree that Grady isnt performing to what he is capable of, id still say that he will be back soon.

And Bennett. He is growing into the position of centre half by the minute. Can anyone actually say he has been less than very good all season? I seriously doubt it.

first off what does GWA stand for? as for saying bennett has been playing well this year come off it- have you seen the goals we have leaked this year?

anyway what would people consider a good season. are we happy to setle for mid table averageness or us challenging for the league?

relastically how do people think we will get on this year?

[tiktok]

i'd hoped for european football, either through a high finish in the league or a cup win. i don't think we're quite there to launch a serious challenge (although we're only a few players off) on the title.

i still think it's very worrying that we've only got three points from eighteen. i'm not saying dolan should be sacked, i think he will be given time, and rightly so. but standards need to be picked up.

[liamon]

Tiktok,
have to disagree with you.
We're well short of a title challenge.
We're strong in the forward department, but our entire midfield is routinely outclassed. Only one of them looks up to the task.
And our defence is leaking too many soft goals.
Switching Woods to defence has been a good move, but we're still lacking.

I think we're headed for mid table obscurity this season.
Rovers, Bohs and Shels all look capable of finishing above us again.

This year is going to be about building for the future.
Unless we get a good cup run.

[tiktok]

as i said i don't think we're in a position to challenge this season, but i do think we are only three players short, the problem is that two of them are midfielders. i think if we hadn't lost reynolds we'd be in better shape, there's nothing wrong with

devine

Hoggie Murray Bennett ?

? O'Halloran ? Woods

O'Callaghan Flynny

on top of that i think doyle and behan will come good for us (maybe next season with more games under their belts).

i think the problem is that hoogie is a right back (and doesn't work particularly well with woods either), we haven't had a good right side (full back and winger) as long as i can remember. Obviously though if the ? next to greg was a good quality creative player we wouldn't be that far off.

fourth in the league could be good enough for europe, i think that's about our level (can't see waterford lasting) like you though i think a good cup run is a more realistic goal.

[Éanna]

Dalo, what does it matter what someones login stands for?! :confused: I'm not a huge fan of Bennett playing at the back, but I think he's improving all the time. I think a top five finish would be acceptable this season, although I'd hope for more. It's the whole glass half full/empty scenario again, we might be down the tablle but it's all very close still, put 2 or 3 wins together and we're right up there again. I don't think we'll finish ahead of any of the full time teams- Bohs, Shels and Pats are too strong right now, and rovers made some excellent signings in the close season, so they'll be strong too. I'm thinking more along the lines of having one or two good cup runs and not getting into the mess near the bottom of the table; then next season we can think about a title challenge,

[@ndy]

Originally posted by Counting Crow

Home to UCD - home win.


Yay...the jinx is on...

[niamh]

I have to say that the performance against Pats was an improvement some recent results. Pat has only been in the job for ten games - that is true.

he deserves a chance but what has annoyed me about the man is his refusal to talk about the problems he has had or the reason he thought we lost the game. we don't need to know that the team are gutted after a defeat...we presume they are and they should be.

he has got a lot of thinks moving at City, for that he deserves credit. He is talking to the fans and promoting openess in the club. what we need know is honest thoughts and not PR from the man himself about the team.

I didn't think we were league winners at the start of the season but I would be very disappointed if City were not at least in the top four at the end of the season.

[niamh]

I have to say that the performance against Pats was an improvement some recent results. Pat has only been in the job for ten games - that is true.

he deserves a chance but what has annoyed me about the man is his refusal to talk about the problems he has had or the reason he thought we lost the game. we don't need to know that the team are gutted after a defeat...we presume they are and they should be.

he has got a lot of thinks moving at City, for that he deserves credit. He is talking to the fans and promoting openess in the club. what we need know is honest thoughts and not PR from the man himself about the team.

I didn't think we were league winners at the start of the season but I would be very disappointed if City were not at least in the top four at the end of the season.

[Real ale Madrid]

apart from Doyle we have absolutely nobody in midfield. Woods plays best at full back and should remain there. O'Halloran puts himself about but is not a very clean tackler and shows zilch going forward, O'Grady is not good enough anymore.

Added to the fact that these four mentioned are our best midfielders. Since Patsy Freyne left the playing area we have failed to replace him. Maybe we should try cloning him?:)

Seriously, effort is brilliant, organisation - great.
back four has looked reasonably solid. how many goals have we conceded from play in the last 3 games = 1.
No problems in the strikers dept either. But unless we bring in at least 3 quality midfielders there is little chance of us being in the top half come November.

[Trax]

Tiktik for your team I'd put Woods at L.B. Doyle on the left wing(I think he's gettin better every game) Drop George back to C.M. next to Greg,put DW on the Right and Behan up front with Flynny.Worth a game or 2 methinks.

[tiktok]

yeah, pretty solid, given where everyone had played and how they've played this season, you'd imagine that side should get a run out at some stage.

i think you can handle greg in midfield as long as you have a creative player next to him, george might leave him a small bit exposed defensively (although he's well capable of putting a tackle in). still, that'd be a good side.

[Shane]

Real - so right. Woods is a spent force, O'Grady just not at the races. Greg needs help in the middle. Doyle at the moment is the only thing the opposition needs to fear from our midfield. Bringing George back to the middle needs looking at with Behan pushing for that spot up front.

[liamon]

I wouldn't put Woods down as a spent force. He's looking good as a defender.
Although this only further exposes our lack of midfield players.

We need to strenghten the midfield considerably.
If we can make the midfield more solid, I think the defence will do ok.

[patsh]

Our Defence has only conceded 10 goals in ten games, and 3 of those were penalties (two of them highly suspect). Only $hels and Scum have less against.
We are pretty solid there.
For all the worry that only J O'F and George were scoring for us. (and now Denis of course) only 3 sides have scored more than us.
So, Attack looks OK too.
So that only leaves the middle.
Even one really decent midfielder could make all the difference here.
We are not league contenders yet, but I think it won't take a lot more to push us up there.

[Counting Crow]

I keep going back to that meeting I had with Dave Hill in my local garage before the first game of the season when I asked him how he thought City would do?

He said we needed to strengthen our midfield.................!

How right he was.

Words of wisdom or what!

[sadloserkid]

Originally posted by Counting Crow
Dave Hill ... Words of wisdom

Too bad he can't solve Cobh's problems as easily then! :)

[Trax]

Originally posted by sadloserkid
Too bad he can't solve Cobh's problems as easily then! :) :D :D :D Queenstown are so bad its almost not funny anymore.Almost!!!