LOI in Europe 2022

[outspoken]

Anyone know what was the reason for the Pats singing section being in the east stand tonight, while the family section was behind the goal?
Surely it would have made more sense to swap them. You always want your loudest hardcore fans behind the goal!
And it makes for a much better spectacle on TV. With the way it was, the Pats fans were sitting beside the gantry so wouldn't have been very visible on TV. Pity.

Actually thought it was far better having the singing section there. Don't know why it just worked.

[Nesta99]

Whether it was a peno or not it Brockbank making himself big with his arms wide initially, made it easier for the ref to give a peno, Forrester called him on it too. There is a tendency not to be ruthless enough and misses were costly, anyone who gets a really clinical striker in LoI has a rare asset. the concession of the 1st goal was a complete switch off by the defenders, a very basic error really. It was quite similar to Dundalk first time playing BATE at home, missed chances while being the better side, they were scumbagish all game and at full time (0-0) and went through, started a melee with their celebrations, Dundalk players went to shake hands and they started eyeballing and shoving - the worst level of sportsmanship id ever seen. It boiled down to some naivety and same with pats last night, but its a big learing curve and St Pats will be the better for it.

Im not sure about Cotter as a full back or wing back even as his defensive duties can be so inconsistent and wayward passing in dangerous areas. If he was converted to a good old style winger it could suit with his pace and generally good technical albeit raw technical ability. Would then be ok with basic defensive duties with a work ethic which he has.

It hurts when this kind of result happens but Pats fans shouldnt be too downbeat, its a team thats building and this will be a massive boost knowing that they could compete at this level. It will be about how they deal with the disappointment, either bring that level of performance in to the league or let it get under the skin. There will be other big European nights at some point and maybe last night will be the basis of development for going 1 better next opportunity.

[Jd2793]

He was woeful tonight. The more I see of him, the worse I think he is.
Previously I thought he was awful/ excellent in equal measure, but now it's more 70/30 or even 80/20.
Whenever he does something good now I think he's usually just got lucky.
He takes a lot of risky decisions on the ball. When it comes off for him he looks amazing with his athleticism and power. But more often than not he screws up.
Too inconsistent and way too many mistakes to be a top-end LOI player imo.

agree on all that. he was as wasteful with the ball away from home too. just no where near the kind of player rovers/any challenger want IMO. he reminds me a bit of colm horgan , athletic but not very good with the ball but at least horgan could make the right decision once in a while.

[Philosophizer]

Actually thought it was far better having the singing section there. Don't know why it just worked.

They put on a great display, no doubt about that. I thought they were fantastic all game. In my head a singing section just always seem to naturally belong behind the goal. It can convey the atmosphere to the TV audience and I think it can benefit the team actually. A raucous stand behind a goal can sometimes help as it can make opposition defenders and goalkeepers a bit nervy (they're only human after all) and can have an influence on refs too. It's all part of your home advantage - that raucous support behind a goal.
There's a mad stat from a few years back about the amount of penos Liverpool were awarded in front of the kop versus the amount they conceded. It was ridiculous over a long time period. And this was before Klopps time so they were nothing like the supreme outfit they are these days dominating teams.

[TonyD]

Pats scored two goals in four games in Europe - which also included 30 minutes of extra time. Dire finishing cost them. They really messed up on a night which, if they'd managed not to lose, would have been the greatest moment in their history.
On the terrible referee, similar to the Rovers game, we're getting to the point where almost every foul is punished by a yellow card. Ir's just ridiculous at this point.

Yep. Lack of finishing has really been costing us this season. There have been plenty of games where the result has got away because we spurned chances. We are crying out for someone to put the ball in the net. Don’t know about really messed up, because we did play well after the first 15 minutes or so. The penalty decision still stings though. I wasn’t sure having seen it live, but thought it probably was, but having seen it back I’m convinced we were done by the ref. Was just as much a handball by their player, and it came off him first, so never a pen. Ah well. Crucial that we bounce back on Sunday now.

[Philosophizer]

Fair play to you Saint supporters on here for being so calm and level headed about last night. I was apoplectic after that match - and I was there just as a neutral LOI supporter. The ref was dire and shafted Pats all night. Anyone know where he was from?
I wonder is it a common thing that European refs have an idea in their head that a LOI team will just be a bunch of long ball mullockers with little technical ability who go in too hard for challenges?

[kksaints]

Fair play to you Saint supporters on here for being so calm and level headed about last night. I was apoplectic after that match - and I was there just as a neutral LOI supporter. The ref was dire and shafted Pats all night. Anyone know where he was from?
I wonder is it a common thing that European refs have an idea in their head that a LOI team will just be a bunch of long ball mullockers with little technical ability who go in too hard for challenges?

He was Romanian I think. The free leading up to the penalty decision was so awful that I don't see in any way possible how it was given. Penalty in real time wasnt that clear but the replay looks very like the CSKA player hadled the ball first. Ref basically fell for every trick in the book from CSKA and how there was only 4 minutes of injury time was ridiculous with the amount of time wasting, the penalty decision and the substitutes.

Very frustrating not to go through aside from the Ref, Breslin and O'Reilly really should have finished at least on of their chances each. Real lack of clinical finishing from our players all season.

[passinginterest]

I thought the ref was grand for about an hour to be honest. Lost control a bit after that, O'Reilly was a bit unlucky with his yellow, Grivosti was asking for it, he had an earlier tackle very similar to the one he got booked for, it's a style of tackle I hate to see, diving in and off the ground, even if it's not two footed and contacts ball first it's dangerous and it stands out a mile in the modern game. The free in the lead up to the peno was bizarre, not sure if ref or lino called it but it made no sense. The pen itself looked fair, I didn't spot the CSKA handball at the time and neither did the commentary team. Pat's had more than enough chances to have won on the night, apart from the actual goal and the pen CSKA maybe had two other chances, Pat's had at least 2 absolute sitters, two more excellent chances and a few more half chances. O'Reilly was very impressive for the most part, but he's clearly not a natural finisher and I'm not sure how Breslin managed to actually nearly kill all the pace on the ball when any kind of solid connection was a certain goal. It's been all too common with league of Ireland teams over the years to put in decent performances but miss key chances and give up cheap goals, it was the stereotypical performance unfortunately. Hopefully a huge learning experience for them though and they'll be better for it if they make it back to Europe next season.

[Nesta99]

Is it the ref or the 4th official that adds time these days? There was a proposal for the clock to be stopped similar to rugby rather than add time. Not sure id like that idea but there definitely needs to be something done. It was Skhupi's time wasting that allowed Rovers the opportunity to get a late 3rd and domestically last week Derry were undone by the added time for time wasting. Maybe just stricter application of the existing rules is enough!?

[2 Year Contract]

I wonder is it a common thing that European refs have an idea in their head that a LOI team will just be a bunch of long ball mullockers with little technical ability who go in too hard for challenges?

Potentially could be something in that. We all know LOI refs are bad at the best of times but comparing the cards this season, Pats have had 38 yellows and 0 reds in 24 games, compared to 12 yellows and 2 reds in 4 games in Europe. The average of 1.5 cards a game in the league going up to 3.5 in europe shows a clear difference in refereeing style/standards when you consider some of the shocking decisions and bookings handed out in the European games this season. Mark Doyle's red card being one of the worst ones. To me it seems Mura and CSKA being experienced European sides, applied all the cynical tactics they could to get opposition players booked and the referees just bought it in each of the 4 games

[Shinkicker]

Potentially could be something in that. We all know LOI refs are bad at the best of times but comparing the cards this season, Pats have had 38 yellows and 0 reds in 24 games, compared to 12 yellows and 2 reds in 4 games in Europe. The average of 1.5 cards a game in the league going up to 3.5 in europe shows a clear difference in refereeing style/standards when you consider some of the shocking decisions and bookings handed out in the European games this season. Mark Doyle's red card being one of the worst ones. To me it seems Mura and CSKA being experienced European sides, applied all the cynical tactics they could to get opposition players booked and the referees just bought it in each of the 4 games

while the standard of referring in LOI is poor the standard in the Eastern block is worse. Coupled with that players are always play acting, diving and any other skulduggery to win frees, penos and generally waste time. It's ironic that a fellow commarade from a neighbouring country was in charge and fell for the antics.

[legendz]

while the standard of referring in LOI is poor the standard in the Eastern block is worse. Coupled with that players are always play acting, diving and any other skulduggery to win frees, penos and generally waste time. It's ironic that a fellow commarade from a neighbouring country was in charge and fell for the antics.

Are some League of Ireland clubs too green when it comes to the dark arts etc.?

[lofty9]

Are some League of Ireland clubs too green when it comes to the dark arts etc.?

Some. Stephen Kenny's Dundalk were masters of the dark arts.

[Nesta99]

Some. Stephen Kenny's Dundalk were masters of the dark arts.

We learned the hard way!

[Nesta99]

Potentially could be something in that. We all know LOI refs are bad at the best of times but comparing the cards this season, Pats have had 38 yellows and 0 reds in 24 games, compared to 12 yellows and 2 reds in 4 games in Europe. The average of 1.5 cards a game in the league going up to 3.5 in europe shows a clear difference in refereeing style/standards when you consider some of the shocking decisions and bookings handed out in the European games this season. Mark Doyle's red card being one of the worst ones. To me it seems Mura and CSKA being experienced European sides, applied all the cynical tactics they could to get opposition players booked and the referees just bought it in each of the 4 games

I cant remember who against but Dundalk were described as a typically British physical side, or maybe it was not a typically British side!?