Thrown Away

Last night had to be one of the most frustrating ever, 2-0 up against a lower half side missing half their first team.

We simply can't defend set pieces it's been like that the last 2 seasons and we continue to make the same silly mistakes in that back line and when nkollo was racing through at the death I thought that was going to be it and do you know what we would have deserved it.

Nkolo was Mervues number 11 and I just can't believe how much space we gave him, everyone thought he was a brilliant player but it was clear all you needed to do to stop him was go in hard but fair on him he didn't like any sort of contact.

Still amazed Skelly came off last night while Purdy was non existent but fair play to Jean Busimsapa he gave a great effort when he came on something a lot of the others didn't do, they were pulling out of tackles and just not trying hard enough.

And why on earth is Paul Hunt not in goals FFS sure Rouse can't hardly walk let alone run he's the most unfit plater I've ever seen in my life.

Really fearing Limerick away next week could be a thrashing on our hands.

totally agree on those points outspoken. Nkolo was the best player on the pitch only for Graham Dowlings last ditch tackle on him Mervue would have won it with the last kick of the game. I wonder will it be a good time to get Jacques Morley back playin and the sooner Gillespie comes back the better as we miss his experience badly on the pitch. oh for your info its jean biansamba!!;)

Martinho you are wrong too, its Biansumba :-D Jacques were very poor before he got injured, not the player he was at the start of the season so dont know what difference he'd make. As for Gillespie we dont miss him that much, he only had a few decent games, he hasnt set the world on fire and thats not just my opinion. Our problem and it has been all season and last too is defence, we're conceding far too many soft goals and keep making the same mistakes. On the topic of Skelly why was he taken off? Weird decision maybe if he had played with Rovers he might have stayed on.. Outspoken I agree about Hunt, amazed that he was dropped.

Gillespie? he wont play again dont worry about that, why bother playing for a first division club ya couldnt give a fook about when you could sit at home and get the same amount for. As for Morley he is not the player he was at seasons start like Insider said and hel be gone in the off season along with a few others. And as for your Rovers comment Insider it seems to be one a lot of people are making and it has been a problem before I remember when Cronnin was in charge he was accused of favoring Dublin based players, such a load of rubbish if a player is good enough I couldnt care less if they were from Mars.

Anyway Limerick is a game im really dreading can see our heaviest defeat of the season coming if Limerick play any bit of football at all. Cant even see us beating Athlone the way were currently playing.

I dont get the whole Skelly Rovers comment to be fair, Hyland played for Rovers but didnt play, neither did Daragh Satelle, Jeff Flood wasn't even on the bench, Morley didnt play, Walsh was taken off, of our startin XI Walsh was the only ex Rovers player and he was substituted? So a bit of a ridiculuos thing to say

Well there was a connection with Purdy,maybe I should've said if his dad had played for Rovers would he have went off. It's clear that supporters were pretty surprised to see Aussie going off on Sat, no fault to Purdy he's a young guy but he should've been taken off not Skelly. Thats the opinion of a lot of people. Outspoken I was going to make the trip to the wonderful Jackman Park on Fri but if our defence aren't going to show up I don't know if I will. The frustrating thing is we are capable of getting something but we always shoot ourselves in the foot.

What on earth are you talking about, his Dad played for Rovers years ago so what? Thats a ridiculous thing to come up with, to be fair we could have changed anybody at that stage.
It wasnt our strikers that let us down it was our inability to defend 2 crosses.

Very disappointed with the result at the weekend, if ever a draw felt like a loss it was last Saturday night. Time and time again we are giving away goals from set pieces, I mean surely the manager must see this and work on it in training, it beggars belief how many goals we have let in to set pieces.

As regards ozzie, he did well, second goal especially, but he didnt do much after that and looked tired, so wasnt overly shocked he was replaced.

Still dont understand Walsh's inclusion in the team. He doesnt get involved in the play and his positional play is poor for centre mid. I do think Hylo and Sammo are a more settled pairing in the middle. Was gillespie even at the game on saturday night? Surely if he's so experienced he would go to game and maybe have a few words with players before games, if he was bothered at all. I could be wrong and maybe he was there, but I dont think he has represented value for money

Ive a feeling this could be a season that peeters out and i hope thats not the case. 5th will be a great season for us, but if we perform like we did on sat we'll have a job on our hands to remain there.

fair enough point about biansumba being the right spelling. in defence the team sheet in the middle of the program has biansamba if you then go to the photoshoots of the players its biansumba! I know where I will b goin to get my spellin right in future.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Cabs88

Very disappointed with the result at the weekend, if ever a draw felt like a loss it was last Saturday night. Time and time again we are giving away goals from set pieces, I mean surely the manager must see this and work on it in training, it beggars belief how many goals we have let in to set pieces.

As regards ozzie, he did well, second goal especially, but he didnt do much after that and looked tired, so wasnt overly shocked he was replaced.

Still dont understand Walsh's inclusion in the team. He doesnt get involved in the play and his positional play is poor for centre mid. I do think Hylo and Sammo are a more settled pairing in the middle. Was gillespie even at the game on saturday night? Surely if he's so experienced he would go to game and maybe have a few words with players before games, if he was bothered at all. I could be wrong and maybe he was there, but I dont think he has represented value for money

Ive a feeling this could be a season that peeters out and i hope thats not the case. 5th will be a great season for us, but if we perform like we did on sat we'll have a job on our hands to remain there.

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Agree with this from start to finish.

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Originally Posted by L.T.F.C.

Agree with this from start to finish.

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Same here that post sums everything up in a nutshell and no Gillespie was not at the game I hate to always sound like the one having a go but as you said if he really cared he'd be helping as much as he could while he's injured I don't Want to go way off topic here but an example of this is David Beckham - many people accuse him of just going to the US for money but when ever he's not playing he's jumping up and down on the sideline and helping out the younger players and that's coming from a player who has stated he has no intrest in becoming a coach or manager but he does it because he cares about the club or at least makes an effort to make it look that way :) Gillespie doesn't even do that much.

And just on your point about what they are at in training cabs I was talking to one of the players after the game on Saturday and he said that's basically all they do at training is work on the back 4 so I don't know wether the players simply aren't good enough or what's the problem?

Maybe it's that the defence don't have the pace and sit very deep in their own half. This is giving the opposition a lot of room in the middle of the park to pick up the ball. You see it especially when players have been put out on the wings to defend they struggle with the pace. It doesn't matter how much they work on it training until they move up the field to the halfway line we will keep conceding the goals

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Originally Posted by wullie

Maybe it's that the defence don't have the pace and sit very deep in their own half. This is giving the opposition a lot of room in the middle of the park to pick up the ball. You see it especially when players have been put out on the wings to defend they struggle with the pace. It doesn't matter how much they work on it training until they move up the field to the halfway line we will keep conceding the goals

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Yes we lack pace big time but if you push higher up with a lack of pace your gona get done time after time with balls in behind and over the top and dont expect to see rouse rushing out of his goals to stop them :)

But the further you sit on the 18 yard line the more you invite the opposition to attack the goal. Maybe it's time to get new central defenders that can also run or build up the speed of the current defenders we have. It's the one thats calling the line and that seems to be Deans who's not confident, however he does have the pace when required to cover for the full backs.

Ye I agree Wullie we need more pace in our center halfs. Deanzey is a great organiser he's always talking and getting the line in the right place but himself and hope simply have no pace. I think Deanzey would find it hard at this stage of his career to find a drastic amount more of pace, Hope on the other hand might have some hope (forgive the pun).

Was just thinking also that maybe we should offer the back 4 more protection by playing a holding midfielder, Hylo would be the one that comes to mind and perhaps put Walsh at the top of the midfield in behind the 2 strikers - the christmas tree formation as they call it. While walsh has been disappointing this season perhaps playing him higher up would help him score more goals and allow Salmo to go box to box like he always does while Hylo just sits and minds the back 4, after all Walsh did have 2 in 2 before the mervue game and he has a great ling range strike so I could really see him excelling in that role .

Thats a diamond formation your referring to... The christmas tree is 4-3-2-1...
Walsh would look a more natural number 10 behind a striker, as he doesnt have the ability as a midfield player in a midfield pair..
I agree Hylo would be a holding midfielder, but where would Sammo fit in your formation?!

I actually think we defend with a very high line at the beginning of games, inviting balls over the top. Deans can organise a defense but if the line is any way off teams hurt us around the back. Mervue's no 11 was very unlucky with questionable offside calls over the top on saturday.

Invariably once we concede in games its almost as if confidence drops and we just retreat back which does leave extra space in the middle. Thats where someone like deans has to stand up and tell his back 4 where to go

Good spot. Their number 11 was tight off once! Their manager was 100% right to go off on one!

Changed my mind again this would be my line up - football manager brain in overdrive at the moment :)

Hunt
Dowling Hunt Deans Lee
Hylo
Brady Salmo Crawley
Walsh
Aussie