This cup is great for EL teams. It will be great for the EL if they can get a result. Fingers crossed and pack the defence!!!
Keddy under no illusions
Sunday July 6th 2003
JAMES KEDDY was under no illusions as he contemplated the Slovan Liberec match, writes Seán Ryan. He was speaking in the immediate aftermath of Shamrock Rovers' splendid 1-0 win over Odra Wodzislaw in the first round Intertoto Cup tie at Richmond Park last Sunday. "We will need to up our performance 25 per cent," he said, "and I'm not sure we can do that."
He was acknowledging the superior form of the Czech Republic side Rovers face in today's second round first leg match in Liberec. Slovan have some impressive scalps to their credit, including a Champions' League defeat last year of AC Milan, and a UEFA Cup defeat of Ipswich Town. They are certainly a step above Odra.
However, there is a lot of improvement in this Hoops side, just as there was in the St Patrick's Athletic team which knocked out Rijeka last year and then did so well against Genk. The European experience brings players on.
The class of the eircom soccer writers' Player of the Month Tony Grant is obvious, as is that of midfielder Jason Colwell, but players like Stephen Grant, Stephen Gough, Terry Palmer and Richie Byrne are all showing the benefit of the Odra games.
It will be a major achievement to keep the tie alive till next Sunday's second leg in Richmond Park, but don't rule it out.
Rovers aim to succeed where AC Milan failed
Saturday July 5th 2003
TO put the size of the task facing Shamrock Rovers tomorrow afternoon into perspective, AC Milan lost five games on their way to winning last season's Champions' League - to Lens, Deportivo La Coruna, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid . . . and to Rovers' Inter-Toto Cup opponents, Slovan Liberec.
Indeed, were it not for an away goal from Filippo Inzhagi during Liberec's 2-1 win then Milan's journey may not have gone beyond the Czech Republic in August.
This, as well as Liberec's wins over Ipswich and Dinamo Tbilisi, is why Rovers manager Liam Buckley is keen to play down expectations.
"We have to be realistic about the game," said Buckley yesterday.
"They're a full-time team with plenty of internationals; we had seven players who had to go back to work last Monday after the win against Odra. Realistically, it's going to be tough."
Last weekend, Rovers made it through to the second round of a European competition for the first time in 21 years with a 1-0 win over Odra Wadzislaw and because of the victory, it's been a relatively easy week on the training front.
"They put in a lot of work for the Odra game so they've had some rest this week," said Buckley.
"There's a healthy confidence in the group that's been there all season, but we're all well aware of how much of a step up it will be."
After the Odra win, full-back James Keddy said: "We've been told that we'll have to up our game about 25 per cent against Slovan. Whether we're capable of doing that or not remains to be seen."
While Rovers have been given some pointers from Ipswich Town about Liberec's strengths, the Czech side's preparations were hampered last Sunday when their scout at Richmond Park mislaid his notes in an Inchicore pub.
Striker Trevor Molloy, who didn't start either game against Odra, is back to full fitness and could start up front alongside Tony Grant, who was yesterday named eircom Player of the Month for June.
Apart from Stephen McGuinness, who is getting married this weekend, Rovers have a full squad to pick from and may stray from the tight, narrow game that they employed to such effect against Odra.
"We've plenty of pace on the wings in Shane Robinson and Stephen Grant so we're going to have to play to that," said Buckley.
"These will have done their homework on us, so we might have to try something different.
"They (Liberec) are not quite in the same tier as the Milans, Real Madrid or Manchester United, but they're probably in the next tier down," said Buckley.
Just what tier Shamrock Rovers fit into should become clearer in the next week
