v Shelbourne Friday 30th May

[passinginterest]

Could we have a worse fixture to follow up on the disappointing performance in Kildare and the hammering from Dundalk?

Shels are flying at the moment and our confidence seems to be in shreds. The only plus about the fixture is that the lads will have happy memories of the last game of last season, when they won 3-1 in Tolka.

I'm looking forward to the game but I dread another humiliation. It might take a long time for the lads to recover if they take another trashing.

[higgins]

What's gone wrong over the past few weeks ??
You started off pretty well and I was expecting a tough game.

Don't read anything into the 3-1 defeat of last season, the season was over and most knew they were on their way out the door. The surprising thing was you only scored 3 :)
Only about 5 of last years squad are with us this season.

[wexfordseagull]

this is where i expect to see the character of our team and management we must not show too much respect but we dont want a good beating either,i expect us to flood the midfield and battle hard and come away narrowly beaten:ball:

[oldyouth]

It sounds like a really stupid thing to say, but we are a better team than some of our results suggest. When we are set out in a formation that suits our strengths, we can match anyone on the day. When we start tinkering with our resources, we very quickly get caught out by teams who have been around a lot longer than us and then get dealt with.

[skitz3]

Don't read anything into the 3-1 defeat of last season, the season was over and most knew they were on their way out the door. The surprising thing was you only scored 3 :)
Only about 5 of last years squad are with us this season.

Be blunt Higgins, they threw the game.

[passinginterest]

What's gone wrong over the past few weeks ??
You started off pretty well and I was expecting a tough game.

Don't read anything into the 3-1 defeat of last season, the season was over and most knew they were on their way out the door. The surprising thing was you only scored 3 :)
Only about 5 of last years squad are with us this season.

Wouldn't be reading anything into it other than a happy memory for the lads that might inspire them to play a bit of football.

Some odd team selections, a lack of energy and a lack of confidence seem to have struck in the last few weeks. No doubt the players have improved in many aspects on last season, possibly the management being found out a little sadly. :(

[oldyouth]

Passinginterest, I usually watch out for your opinion (even if you did diss me once in front of L37 posters)
Have you read Mick's View on the official website regarding last Friday's game and what do you think??

[passinginterest]

I'm honoured! :)
I'll try to make sure I'm nice to you in future!

I think Mick is a bit blinded to the step up in level to Eircom League. He seems to think each group of under 18s is the answer to all our problems. Maybe he needs to take more responsibility for picking players out of position, and not playing senior players, that have proved themselves capable.

To be frank, I'm very worried by some of the stuff I've read on Bebo. It's stuff that maybe the lads shouldn't be putting up on pages that can be viewed by the public. I'm not going to reproduce any if it here, or name any of them, but they aren't happy, especially with how the under 18s are being parachuted in, with more senior players moved out of position, or dropped, to accommodate them. I'm really starting to think Mick needs to step aside and appoint a manger for the senior side who will be 100% responsible for selection and tactics.

Obviously the thing is Mick's baby and it'd be very hard for him to make a clean break with the senior side, but I think, maybe similar to Brian Kerr, he deals better with younger players and finds it harder to communicate with them as they grow into more opinionated men.

[oldyouth]

I'm not in to the Bebo thing and wouldn't know how to go about having a look for myself. But, as you say, players should not make comments on a public forum such as bebo or the likes of this site. I would like to think that all of the players would give 100% when picked to play a position they don't consider to be their best, but maybe it is worth consideration.
As for the latest 'Micks View', I surprised the management team has not conceded their role in the last two performances. Given that Mick has given football lovers in Wexford LOI football in one of the best facilities in the Country, I think people feel bad about openlt questioning his position, even if they are starting to think it. Personally, I think the man is well capable of the job, if it was all he had to do. Unfortunately, that is not the case and I don't know where he finds time to do half of it

[Youths4Ever]

As for the latest 'Micks View', I surprised the management team has not conceded their role in the last two performances. Given that Mick has given football lovers in Wexford LOI football in one of the best facilities in the Country, I think people feel bad about openlt questioning his position, even if they are starting to think it. Personally, I think the man is well capable of the job, if it was all he had to do. Unfortunately, that is not the case and I don't know where he finds time to do half of it

That's the problem though he has to many things to give the senior team the time and effort then need and deserve. Mick has said this in the past that we would step down and just carry on with u18 teams and have someone else over the senior and under20 team. That is what is needed someone who is not as close to the players as Mick is and to come in and pick a team on merit as personally I don't think some of the players getting there game week in week out are not good enough with better players on the bench and in the county as a whole.

The jump from u18 to senior level is to big to make in one game plus it was made harder for those playing on friday night as whole new team played. If want the u18 players to develop need to be brought into a settled senior team.

[Raheny Red]

For those of you driving up; remember Celine Dion is playing the same night in Croker so parking and traffic could be a nightmare. Shels to win by 3...

[Black and White]

Please do us a favour again this week but this time keep the flood gates closed!!was at that game last week and to be honest lads...ye were very poor!!!(and thats me being nice)

[Youths4Ever]

Please do us a favour again this week but this time keep the flood gates closed!!was at that game last week and to be honest lads...ye were very poor!!!(and thats me being nice)

No denying we were poor on a very bad run of form but been a Dundalk fan you must be used to that expect yours normally comes later in the season :rolleyes:

No seriously ye looked the best of the title contenders so far not sure if that was our poor display or are a good one by ye. Have to say the Dundalk players are nice bunch of lads spoke to some in club house after game shame same can't be said about some of your fans

A great comeback last night against Fingal

[oldyouth]

No seriously ye looked the best of the title contenders so far not sure if that was our poor display or are a good one by ye. Have to say the Dundalk players are nice bunch of lads spoke to some in club house after game shame same can't be said about some of your fans
Agreed you played us off the pitch and SOME of your fans by far the worst visitors we've had

[Splurge]

Shamelessly nicked from ET:
Anto Flood returned to the role of goal scorer as Shels’ beat a very well organised Wexford outfit at Tolka Park. Flood’s seventy ninth minute goal, his first in four games, finally beat a side who had battled to thwart dozens of Shels’ forays forward.
Flood’s finish came about after Keith Dunne had won possession deep in Wexford territory. His square ball was easily finished by Flood as Shels’ returned to the top of the eircom First Division.
Both Flood and his strike partner David Freeman enjoyed chances in the first ten minutes. A mix-up between Anto Russell and Stuart Lawlor from a long ball released Freeman, his shot lobbed wide, whereas Flood wriggled free of his marker eight yards out only minutes later but his shot couldn’t find the target. James Chambers played in Flood again however he couldn’t beat the keeper from an acute angle as Wexford’s work rate was not rewarding them with any chances.
Danny Furlong tested Dean Delaney on sixteen minutes with a free header from Conor Sinnott’s cross in a rare Wexford attack, but it was Shelbourne who should have opened the scoring through Mark Rutherford two minutes later. Lawlor nipped in ahead of Flood to clear when under pressure however the balled rolled into the path of Rutherford whose shot was drilled wide from six yards.
The home side were livid on the half hour after David McGill chased down a long ball from Flood. In on goal it seemed that he was barged over by Anto Russell, but the referee ignored the well-founded protests. The crowd should have been cheered up four minutes later after a Keely through ball squirmed into Freeman’s path, but he toe poked wide as the visitors were pegged firmly in their own half for most of the forty five minutes.
McGill won the ball on the halfway line just after the break and through Freeman, released Flood down the left. After cutting inside, Jason Russell was called on to tip the strikers curling shot just wide.
Shels’ were destroying Wexford now as the visitors maintained a 4-4-2 formation but locked it in and around their box. The home side pushed and pushed without creating many clear chances until the seventy third minute when Alan Murphy forced his way into the box and squared it to the newly introduced Keith Dunne. As bodies threw themselves in his way the ball rolled into Flood’s path, but his side footed shot rolled just wide.
Crosses were loaded into the visitor’s box but were largely dealt with by the back four as Shels’ began to get frustrated. A Murphy cross on seventy seven minutes was fumbled by Russell only for a Wexford leg to clear to safety. A moment later O’Halloran’s twenty yarder hit the post, rolled across the goal, but the referee blew for an infringement before Rutherford could finish.
Shels’ finally got the goal after a mistake let in Dunne down the right. He rolled the ball into Flood’s path to finish to the massive relief of the fans.
Wexford chased the game down but never looked like equalising, with Shels’ maintaining their threat to the last.
Man of the Match: Patsy Malone. Performing well on a very difficult night for Wexford, he frustrated Flood throughout.
Shelbourne: Delaney, Murphy, Hedderman, Keely, Brennan, Chambers (Mulcahy 45), McGill, O’Brien (Dunne 66), Flood, Freeman (O’Halloran 66), Rutherford
Subs not used: Laurence, Davis Jnr.
Wexford Youths: J. Russell, A. Russell, Lawlor, Kearney, Malone, Sinnott, Dempsey, Rossiter (Doyle 80) Furlong, Fitzgerald (Dempsey 59), Flynn-O’Connor
Subs not used: Wallace, Wadding, McGuire
Attendance: 901

[Splurge]

Well Organised and Patsi getting man of the match, seems it was pretty much backs to the wall stuff though.

Where are all the absentees? Paul Murphy, Hawkins etc?

[Youths4Ever]

Well Organised and Patsi getting man of the match, seems it was pretty much backs to the wall stuff though.

Where are all the absentees? Paul Murphy, Hawkins etc?

It was much improved performance at times it was backs against the wall at times but think we were all expecting that to be honest. We were good on the break and the under 18 players looked a lot better tonight. Still missing something in front of goal though think our strikers need confidence. Pasty did his job well on Anto Flood and he got very frustrated at times.

Those players not selected must have been dropped or unable to make it due to work commitments as there is no one a injured list in match previews.