Opinions after Series 1

Every side has now played each other so it will be interesting to see what everyone makes of the sides they've seen play, I know in the 1st division they're already on their 2nd round of games but here we go anyway:

Pats: I've been to all our games, we haven't been great but are slowly getting better, we have a settled side now which surprisingly doesn't include Brennan or Bolger, after a bad start we sit second which is interesting because I believe if we can click soon we'll win the league.

Dundalk: Have seen them live 3 times, twice against Pats (league and LSC) once against Rovers (SSC) and once on TV (the second leg on the Setanta game). They're the best team I've seen so far this season, I thought a few weeks ago they could go on to win the league and felt they would be the most up for it after being so close last season but I feel the loss of O'Donnell will make them fall short.

Cork: Have only seen them once and that was first game of the season so it's hard to judge them too much, they were decent that night, kicked everything that moved but they've gone on to do well since then. They have some tough away games in the next series of games so we'll see how they fair after those.

Shamrock Rovers: Have seen them live against Pats, Bohs and Dundalk (SSC) and on tv a few times, they're a good side, look very good on the counter, I think Croly might be a bit too negative for them to win a league under him. Their season might depend on if they can keep Finn and Mcphail fit because they don't have much cover for them, European contenders.

Sligo Rovers: Have seen them live 4 times all against Pats. A very good side and I'm surprised they have had such a bad start, getting their act together now, they can even afford to leave North on the bench, not a bad option to have. I reckon the title race is between Pats and Sligo.

Derry City: Have seen them live against Pats and on TV against Rovers, they weren't up to much in either game, Roddy already seems to be causing a bit of trouble up there. Will he last the season? I don't think so.

Bray: Have only seen them once and that was against Pats, they're nt a bad side, Mathews has them set up well, they're missing Jason Byrne tho no doubt, they have no real threat going forward.

Drogheda: Like Bray I have only seem them once and that was against Pats, they offered nothing in that game but seem to be tough to beat in other games, I tipped them for a bad season at the start of the season, started well but they seem to be going backwards now.

Bohemians: I have seen them twice (Pats and Rovers) they looked better than the league table would suggest, they have some good players but maybe a little naive the way they are set up, seem to give away a lot of chances.

Limerick:Again I've only seen them once and that was against Pats, they looked to have nothing at all but still got a point, only lost 3 games this season so obviously tough to beat. It just seems to be a lack of goals that's letting them down.

UCD:Only have seen them once and they were brilliant, they deserved at least a draw against us so I'm surprised to seem them doing so poorly. Played a really nice brand of football when they came to Richmond, I reckon they'll be ok this season.

Athlone:Seen them twice, both against pats in the league and LSC, although they're not great they managed to create loads of chances against us, looked doomed already tho.

It will be interesting to see what others make of the sides they've seen play so far.

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Originally Posted by PartySaint

Dundalk: Have seen them live 3 times, twice against Pats (league and LSC) once against Rovers (SSC) and once on TV (the second leg on the Setanta game). They're the best team I've seen so far this season, I thought a few weeks ago they could go on to win the league and felt they would be the most up for it after being so close last season but I feel the loss of O'Donnell will make them fall short.

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The loss of O'Donnell and the performances that immediately followed his injury (late winner at Athlone and defeat in Bray) had most Dundalk supporters similarly concerned. However the powerhouse display against Cork with Shields, Towell and Mountney in central midfield was breathtaking and indicates his absence may not be as crucial as originally feared.

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Originally Posted by PartySaint

Sligo Rovers: Have seen them live 4 times all against Pats. A very good side and I'm surprised they have had such a bad start, getting their act together now, they can even afford to leave North on the bench, not a bad option to have. I reckon the title race is between Pats and Sligo.

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Sligo have a whopping 8 points to make up - not insurmountable, but fairly significant. Pats and Dundalk are both likely to be in contention right to the end. Shamrock Rovers also have the potential to be in contention for the league if they can overcome the handicap that is Trevor Croly

I can't really see any team running away with it, to be honest. There's no team that is noticeably better than any other and I think everybody looks vulnerable to dropping points to teams near the bottom. I think squad depth will become more important over the course of the year though and that would favour Pats and Sligo, unless Cork, Rovers or Dundalk can recruit from England during the summer.

Being an expat, my judgments are entirely based on telly, reports and conversations with people who've been to games. Far be it from me, however, to let that stop me voicing my expert opinions... :)

I think we've probably dropped too many points at this stage. There's a long way to go, but it means we have almost no latitude for slip-ups, and we need to hope that not one but several teams have to hit major slumps. Not sure why you think squad depth favours us, Charlie. I was worried about our depth at the start of the season, and that was before Odhiambo and Maguire turned out to be nowhere near as good as we needed them to be. I reckon Dundalk have the best squad in the league and are the team to beat, and they also have that savage hunger that helped Pats last year and us the year before - but as I say, people closer to the action might be seeing something I'm not.

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Originally Posted by Fivesilver

Not sure why you think squad depth favours us, Charlie. I was worried about our depth at the start of the season, and that was before Odhiambo and Maguire turned out to be nowhere near as good as we needed them to be. I reckon Dundalk have the best squad in the league and are the team to beat, and they also have that savage hunger that helped Pats last year and us the year before - but as I say, people closer to the action might be seeing something I'm not.

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You have options in all the key positions is why. You have less outstanding players than Pats or Dundalk in my opinion, but you have the depth where losing a player doesn't necessarily weaken the team that much, and now that the team is coming into form I think that will stand to them. Rovers, by contrast, the squad is just paper thin outside of the strikers.

Pretty fair assessment by PartySaint.

I don't want to annoy Cork fans but I don't see them staying at the top of the league as the season goes on. They had a great start but work rate and effort only takes a team so far. In my opinion, they lack quality.

Pats have responded well to the Dundalk defeat and that may have been the kick up the pants they needed. They have the quality, they showed that last year.

Sligo are still in it. Yes they have lost a lost of points but they still have to play the teams above them twice. There will be opportunities to peg back the points difference. Shamrock Rovers are a difficult team to read. Croly is too scared of other teams qualities and doesn't allow his team to play. That was particularly obvious in their three games against us.

Dundalk's title challenge will depend on how they cope with the loss of O'Donnell and whether Towell moves to England over the summer. The loss of both would be difficult to overcome.

We're S%!&e

Based on the games against us really Pats were the best team we've played (I'm basing this on the league game rather then when they fielded weak teams in the Setanta). Shams were the next best. Limerick the worst.

Drogs will probably finish where they are in the table now.

I haven't a clue where Limerick will finish. Some days it seems like they've enough talent in the squad to get somewhere comfortable in the 8/7/6 region, others it seems like they might actually be propped up only by Athlone. Makes each game interesting though!

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Originally Posted by Ezeikial

The loss of O'Donnell and the performances that immediately followed his injury (late winner at Athlone and defeat in Bray) had most Dundalk supporters similarly concerned. However the powerhouse display against Cork with Shields, Towell and Mountney in central midfield was breathtaking and indicates his absence may not be as crucial as originally feared.



Sligo have a whopping 8 points to make up - not insurmountable, but fairly significant. Pats and Dundalk are both likely to be in contention right to the end. Shamrock Rovers also have the potential to be in contention for the league if they can overcome the handicap that is Trevor Croly

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Don't think 8 points is a huge difference to make up at this stage (if it's that or greater in 11 games time we're goosed) but we have only beaten the bottom 4 teams so far in the league so need to start beating the teams higher up the table.

Pats: I've only seen them the once and it was the first game of the season - wasn't all that impressed but I think City did a good job neutralising their attacking talent that day, they seem to have kicked on in recent weeks. I think they will be in the top 2 or 3 for definite and may well be favourites along with Sligo.

Dundalk: Haven't seen them, they battered us Friday but I wasn't there. They weren't all that good when they came to Cork last summer, battered us in Dundalk again last October. Don't really know what to take from that. I don't think they will win it (I don't rate Kenny in title challenges) but good shout for top 3

Cork City: I've been to all our home games, saw Derry away on TV and I saw bits of Pre Season. We haven't played well since we battered Shamrock Rovers, we were ok in parts against Drogs and maybe deserved to win that game. Bohs and Sligo should have beaten us (though we were unlucky at the same time not to get 3 points against Bohs). We have a much tougher series of games coming up, Pats, Sligo and Shamrock Rovers all away from the top 5. We won't win the league, but we could finish anywhere in the top 5. I do think we will continue to pick up points we don't deserve based on the balance of play and we will be very hard to beat in general. In terms of depth we do have strikers to come back into the team and we may be able to spend a bit of money in the summer if we can keep our gates high.

Shamrock Rovers: Saw them on TV against Sligo and against us at the Cross. Two different teams. I think they have 3 of the 4 best players in the division in Kenna, Finn and Kilduff, but I don't think they have the consistency to challenge this year. I'm also fairly confident Kilduff will be back in Cork next year...

Sligo Rovers: Best team I've seen this year by a country mile. They should have beaten us comfortably but couldn't take their chances, they seem to have rectified that in recent weeks and I think they will be able to make up the gap to the top 4 before too long. Favourites for me with Pats.

Derry City: Going nowhere fast with Roddy in charge. The sooner they make the break the better. Can't see them catching the top 5 unless we drop off significantly.

Bray: They were pretty good in Turners Cross. We beat them 3-1 but it was a much tougher game than that scoreline suggests. They will be comfortable this year.

Drogheda: Another tough game at the Cross, I think we deserved our victory but only just. Missing the penalty didn't help and it probably would have been a completely different game if Brennan hadn't been so nonchalant with his run up.

Bohemians: They were the better team at Turners Cross (though we should have won) but I'm not gonna read too much into this game. The conditions played a huge part in this game, and got worse the longer the game went on. We were the better team in the first half (not by much) and they were far better than us in the second half, though we were playing into a gale, goalkicks were coming back in on the keeper, and short kicks weren't an option. Byrne is still deadly and will win them points out of nothing.

Limerick: We haven't played Limerick.

UCD: I didn't make it to the Bowl, but it sounds like we held onto a 1 goal lead for an hour fairly comfortably.

Athlone: I don't think they could possibly be as bad as the table suggests, I'm really surprised Cooke couldn't get them more organised and difficult to beat.

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Originally Posted by El-Pietro

Shamrock Rovers: Saw them on TV against Sligo and against us at the Cross. Two different teams. I think they have 3 of the 4 best players in the division in Kenna, Finn and Kilduff, but I don't think they have the consistence to challenge this year. I'm also fairly confident Kilduff will be back in Cork next year...

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Fine players all-right...even if none of them featured in the PFAI Team of the Year last season. Who is the other player in your top four?

Why do you think Kiduff will go to Cork next year?

Towell.

I could be wrong on Kilduff but thats the impression I get based on his time here, he made a lot of friends and all of his interviews since returning to Tallaght have been very reserved, political almost.

Kilduff would have been with Pats instead of Cork this season if he had've had his way. He's not a fan of Croly.

Top 5 now won't change. Think people are underrating Rovers a bit. I thought I was Conor Kenna's biggest fan but someone who thinks he's in the top 4 players in the league is insane IMO

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Originally Posted by Dodge

Kilduff would have been with Pats instead of Cork this season if he had've had his way. He's not a fan of Croly.

Top 5 now won't change. Think people are underrating Rovers a bit. I thought I was Conor Kenna's biggest fan but someone who thinks he's in the top 4 players in the league is insane IMO

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Kilduff is playing pretty much every game this season because it was all Croly could do to stop him trying to leave, even though he's been inconsistent the last few weeks. If Rovers do well this season maybe he could be convinced to stay.

He's barely even in the top four defenders at Rovers right now. I haven't been impressed so far. Even Jaycist looks better than him.

St. Pat's: Showed signs of reverting to form after they bottled bottling the league last year (it was a hard-fought contest with Dundalk, but in the end, Kenny just wanted it less). With Fagan as a focal point in place of good-lad-for-a-big-touch Anto Flood, Pat's have looked pretty slick and European this year. The brilliant Chris Forrester appears to be the result of an experiment to splice together the genetic sequences of Eddie Gormley and a stick of rhubarb.

Prediction: 2nd, forfeit FAI Cup final to Avondale United after fielding an ineligible ballboy.

Dundalk: Despite looking and playing like 4,000 bath-mats held together with yoghurt, the Oriel Park pitch is a technological marvel, eighth wonder of County Louth and has no case to answer, so there. Ritchie Towell is far too good and far too sickeningly handsome for the League of Ireland and will surely be off in July. With or without him, Dundalk will balls it up.

Prediction: 4th

Cork City: Encouraging echoes of Dolan's first season in Cork; big crowds, burgeoning belief, hindered by desperate away form in the English-speaking regions of the country. If trends continue, expect a raft of future internationals to be snapped up by English sides in exchange for a pat on the head and a happy meal.

Prediction: 5th

Shamrock Rovers: Rovers will win the league for two reasons; 1: Their arsenal of attacking talent and power will overwhelm tired opponents at crucial periods of the season; 2: Evil always triumphs. If Rovers are pipped to the title, expect to discover a handwritten amendment to league regulations stating that their B-team's points tally is to be added to their total.

Prediction: 1st; Leinster Senior Cup to get a Europa League spot just in case.

Sligo Rovers: Rocky start to the season after falling victim to an Ali Dia-style scam (if Sean Maguire is employed by West Ham, it's presumably as some sort of training aid for confidence-starved goalkeepers). After years of seriously challenging for the title, Rovers appear to be settling into the role of too-cool-for-school hipster kings. Match nights at the Showgrounds have resembled trendy house gigs this season; lots of noise, a breathless spectacle, and nothing to show for it the next day except a gnawing sense of hollowness.

Prediction: 3rd

Derry City: Athlone was never a suitable home for a man of Roddy's ambition; in a town that small, there are only so many people you can outrage. Roddy's bespectacled look befits his newly-studious approach to the game. He's taken his quest for balance and equilibrium to extremes, going out of his way to alienate both his goalkeeper and his only decent striker, and to draw every game conceivable. I'm hopeful that the final series of The Rod Squad will reveal that his entire career has been a work of provocative and groundbreaking performance art.

Prediction: 6th

Bray: The Carlisle Grounds - where football goes to die, rot, rise from the grave and start chewing your balls when you least expect it. Evil professor Mathews is in the early stages of his usual diabolical project, which involves turning a gaggle of bright-eyed, squeaky-clean and enthusiastic youngsters into a squad entirely composed of balding 34-year-old full-backs called Keith.

Prediction: 11th (reprieved after Galway, Wexford and Longford are destroyed by a series of earthquakes).

Drogheda: Nicest home kit I've ever seen in the league. Gary O'Neill and Fabio are great. Aside from that...you know, those shirts really are quite splendid.

Prediction: 9th

Bohemians: Owen Heary hates goals. His ideal football pitch looks something like the Korean border, with brick walls and barbed wire at either end, and the midfield riddled with landmines and alsatians. Jason Byrne's quest for a goalscoring record takes on a sad, tragic-comic aspect under these circumstances, like an ageing pot-bellied lothario smoothing back his three strands of hair and looking for action in some post-industrial ghost town.

Prediction: 7th

Limerick: The question invariably asked of British recruits to our management ranks is: can they adapt to the unique and trying circumstances of League of Ireland football? In Stuart Taylor's case, the answer is an emphatic "yes". Taylor's relentless bitching, moaning and defensive negativity makes Dermot Keely look like the lost third Jedward brother (don't think too hard about that one).
Prediction: 8th

UCD: UCD appear to exist in some metaphysical pocket of reality untouched by time and space. Everyone knows they exist, everyone knows they have "some very promising youngsters", "play a great brand of football" and "have produced some great players over the years the likes of Tony McDonnell". But can you actually remember seeing a football match in Belfield? Are you sure? A college team with fewer than fifty fans playing in the top division of a European league? Are you positive this wasn't a dream? Have you been under any stress lately?

Prediction: 10th, and an urgent appointment with René Descartes.

Athlone: lol

Prediction: 25th

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Kilduff is playing pretty much every game this season because it was all Croly could do to stop him trying to leave, even though he's been inconsistent the last few weeks. If Rovers do well this season maybe he could be convinced to stay.

He's barely even in the top four defenders at Rovers right now. I haven't been impressed so far. Even Jaycist looks better than him.

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He has been surprisingly poor but I think Pats are missing him right now.

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Originally Posted by El-Pietro

He has been surprisingly poor but I think Pats are missing him right now.

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We were struggling without him for the first few games of the season but Sean Hoare has been superb since he came into the team, we are still letting in more goals than we were last season but that's because our midfield isn't as good defensively as it was last season.

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Originally Posted by PartySaint

We were struggling without him for the first few games of the season but Sean Hoare has been superb since he came into the team, we are still letting in more goals than we were last season but that's because our midfield isn't as good defensively as it was last season.

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Yeah, I wouldn't swap Hoare for Kenna now. Kenna is still the better player but Hoare has massive potential.