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A few have disagreed with this on here but I've said a few times after last year that if TNS could get to the EL play-offs, our champions should be able to do that as well. When TNS got by Bohs last year, after going out to Anderlecht they took on CSKA Sofia in the EL play-offs. I've always thought the Bohs of last year or Shamrock Rovers in that position would've given CSKA a good game.
Derry gave that club a good run a couple of years ago, only lost 2-1 on aggregate.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
I don't want to sound like a pr1ck but I did say at the stat of the season that this was the best squad in the loi since Shels went close in Europe and that I could see them qualifying for the EL.
Its like a dream, except for im in the bad part of it and looking at the bright side, im in the car, at home, at work, the newspapers. The wife hasnt spoke to me in 4 months because im down so far in the bunker always on the phone hacking away with some crazy volunteers at our own club when suddenly we see a light a ray of hope, dont know if it will help but i feel like a chilean miner at the first sound of communication from above. Marian Finucane is on Radio 1 with Stephen O Donnell, Michael McMullan and Brian Kerr Today fm...Stephen O Donnell, I hear a lady sports journalist & a Lady dj on 2fm talking about it before rugby , I buy the Sunday Business Post, yes the Sunday Business Post and lo and behold the lads at Rovers are now the beacon of light for the country, I hear CLare Byrne on Radio 1 this morning with a panel of the good, the rich and those lucky enough to work in universitys talking about the incredible 400 club. Words like, Gounded, example to the nation, Persistence, Loyal....
and amazingly its not a dream its the League of Ireland, there are pictures of the rovers team celebrating everywhere, its all over 4 fookin pages of the indo yesterday.
What was once referred to as the "one man and his dog" League is this week a beacon of light & hope for the nation..
Long may it Last, congratulations & thank heavens for Shamrock Rovers you bring hope to us in the doldrums
Hmmm... I'm not so sure. I think this is a classic case of what psychologists refer to as transference. It's as if all the country's economic, social and cultural woes, hopes and potential solutions are transferred onto Rovers' (undoubtedly fantastic) exploits. The groups and people you name - Finucane, RTE Sport, SBP etc - have no grounding, afilliation, relationship to, or identification with, the LOI. This story fits their current interests as they need a feelgood story in order to fulfill their need for a national narrative of ... you guessed it ... woe, hope and potential solutions.Quote:
Originally Posted by geezer
Rovers' win was many things, but it wasn't any of these. As soon as Rovers start to struggle in the group stage, the story will disappear once more, leaving the LOI largely unchanged in the national imagination, reverting to the usual suspects of the GAA, banking crises and whatnot.
Don't get me wrong - I think Rovers pulled off an amazing result; I think it will bring some significant benefit to the LOI; and I hope they do great in the group stages. But it does not herald a significant change in the cultural landscape of Ireland. I hope it brings in a few more fans, but that's the limit of my expectations. To ask it to bear any more than that is to place too much of a burden on it - more than it can ever deliver, or should be expected to.
The surprising part for me was Today FM giving a big segment to it.
Both those games were televised anyway - wasn't it the BBC did the home game and RTÉ the away game?Quote:
Originally Posted by freewheel30
Remember after Shels lost to La Coruna, they went into the UEFA to play Lille. The drop-out in the qualifiers has been around for a while now.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBoss
BBC and Eurosport did the home game. I think we recorded both for some reason. Jackie Fullerton was commentating for BBC and his words "stonewall penalty" left an indelible mark on my mind after Kevin McHugh was brought down in the PSG box but the ref waved play on. I'm not sure who showed the away game but I do remember when I saw the footage, it was in this non-widescreen format that created an odd tunnel vision effect. Whoever was broadcasting it were sure to blame Canal+ anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I was afraid of this too, I thought that all of the gains in recent years might be lost with most (all?) clubs going part time again. To answer the original question to the thread though, the answer is no -I never thought I'd live to see it (of course I always hoped and dreamed it would -I have been playing Euromillions!!!). I only thought this would happen if a billionaire decided to take over an Irish club and sink at least €20 Million into it (that's what happened for the Cypriot teams).Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
True, Irish teams can have a much greater belief. Well done to Michael O'Neill for keeping his players motivated and focused.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
To be honest I have to partly disagree, Copenhagen looked a different class than Rovers (albeit in patches), though I still think a 3-0 aggregate defeat for Rovers was unfair and/or unlucky. The difference between the two sides was in the finishing and little else. I was actually hoping that Rovers would get Copenhagen in their group so as to get a chance to set the record straight.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
As for Partizan it was a similar story, they had a few class players and put together some awesome moves. Rovers won this tie because:
(a) Rovers wanted it more than Belgrade
(b) Rovers scored two world class goals over the tie (let's be honest here lads, they probably don't score goals like that every week).
(c) Partizan were just assuming they would win (much like Shels thought they would beat Hibernians of Malta in 2002)
(d) While Partizan had some top class players, they simply didn't have enough of them
(e) Rovers had some luck on their side -Ryan Thompson gifted Partizan two clear goalscoring opportunities (on in each leg) and was very lucky not to have had a penalty awarded against him in the second leg.
OK, so we don't want to say Rovers got through because they were lucky. Rovers were genuinely brilliant and a credit to themselves, the league and the country. The reality is though that they can't bank on (b) and (e) above every season (though it would be nice if they got super goals like that every year in Europe, as well as the breaks).
A priority now is for Rovers to find a replacement for Thompson as (despite his exceptional shot stopping) he is a massive liability. Otherwise, the Rovers defence should never leave it to him to clear the ball and they should instead put the ball out for a throw in. O'Neill has to tell Thompson to aim for the sidelines for his goal kicks too (seeing as they're so bad).
I was also worried that Turner would get sent off in one of the legs as he is an over-the-top player.
I'd also have worries about Twiggs ability to score in Europe -perhaps he scores so many in the league here because he has more skill than most defenders here, but in Europe that advantage is lost. Kilduff has his physical presence (and looks to have a good touch too) and Sheppard has his pace. Gary O'Neill is also a terrific link player.
Anyway, regardless of what happens from here on, we're into dreamland!
Yes, there've been plenty of times when Irish clubs were savage unlucky. The Derry / PSG game for the penalty above, Bohs late own goals in two ties recently. I think we got the rub of the green with Rovers in the Belgrade tie as I mention above -Thompson gifting two chances that Partizan didn't take and then clattering into one of their players and not having a penalty awarded against him (possibly a sending off too).Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
These two sentences seem to say opposite things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelsman
He's not going to be replaced. Bear in mind he only has 6 or 7 games of football under his belt and he's still young in goalkeeping terms. He is an outstanding shot-stopper and has already improved upon his early displays when he looked very unsure under crosses.Quote:
A priority now is for Rovers to find a replacement for Thompson as (despite his exceptional shot stopping) he is a massive liability. Otherwise, the Rovers defence should never leave it to him to clear the ball and they should instead put the ball out for a throw in. O'Neill has to tell Thompson to aim for the sidelines for his goal kicks too (seeing as they're so bad).
"Massive liability"? Well if he's a "massive liabilty", god knows what the rest are like.
He made a mistake in the first leg, which he made up for, he made another mistake in the second leg, which he got an injury from. That apart, he made 3 or 4 world-class saves, came for every ball, commanded his area, got his punches right, and his clearances out every time. Against Copenhagen, he made another 4 world-class saves to keep us in the tie as long as we were. He was as much a game-winner for us in the last round, as the players who scored.
Footballs a funny old game! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
What I said was: To be honest I have to partly disagree, Copenhagen looked a different class than Rovers (albeit in patches), though I still think a 3-0 aggregate defeat for Rovers was unfair and/or unlucky. The difference between the two sides was in the finishing and little else.
So what I was saying is that Copenhagen can probably play better, but, if they best they can manage is at the same level as their performance against against Rovers in Tallaght then Rovers, on another day, would have a reasonable chance of beating them.
Ultimately I'd/we'd need to see more of Copenhagen to be better able to judge their quality and that's why I was saying that it would be interesting to see Rovers play them again.
To be honest, I think any keeper in any competition who kicks the ball straight to the nearest opposition player in two consecutive games in the same competition has to be considered a liability, especially when he looked to have given away a penalty too.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
So what I'm saying is to play to his strengths and don't expose his weaknesses -so don't pass the ball back to him or leave him to come out for a ball. His shot stopping as I originally said is top drawer.
I hope Rovers do well, I'd love to see them win as many games as possible, I just don't want to see Rovers lose matches because a player presses the self-destruct button (it would certainly be embarrassing and wouldn't win us any new fans).
Every keeper makes mistakes, The two kick outs were his only mistakes so far and they weren't costly, so no harm done. They're not exactly going to happen every week. The Belgrade keeper did concede a penalty, and could have got sent off. Is he a "massive liability"?
I remember when Shels played Coruna, the first goal came after a Shels player lost the ball in his own half. Then the roof fell in, but it was a great adventure for them.
Our last keeper put the ball in his own net, (not for the first time) from an indirect free kick recently. That was very costly, and he's now getting motivated to sit on the bench at St. Mirren. Ryan will do fine, and he'll make many more game-winning saves than costly mistakes.
I still think its funny that Thompson is getting stick for his mistakes, which as you quite rightly point out, all keepers make. The difference is though when he has been called upon he has been magnificent. Some of the last ditch saves he made including that full stretch one where it looked a certain goal were world class.
Hope he has many of those moments to come, in Europe.
In answer to the thread topic, I posted before about clubs from countries ranked lower than Ireland making the group stages. The main point was that while being a mountain that had to be climbed it wasn't insurmountable.
I think the solution to the Thompson dilemma may be to get another player to take the goal kicks. (Not unprecedented). He looks VERY erratic, but 'that' save he made in Belgrade to tip the ball around the post is one of the best I've ever seen. (Incidentally, Mannus is with St Johnstone, not St Mirren).
I've been impressed with Thompson from what I've seen. Every keeper makes mistakes, but shot stopping has to be number 1 priority and in that department he's as good as anyone in the league. He has coaches there to deal with kicking problems. Give him a chance.