Shelbourne v Steaua

Still great to take in that atmosphere - wasn't that long ago Shels lost at home to a Maltese outfit - standard of EL sides improving all the time - in a strange kinda way, good to see people disappointed at Shels only drawing at home to a strong European club. Maybe that old inferiority complex is going out the door - and good riddance to it.
Hard luck Shels on not winning - still proud of you guys and looking forward to being equally as proud by around 10pm Thursday night after Longford and Cork.
Up the EL all the way. :)

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Originally Posted by sirhamish

in a strange kinda way, good to see people disappointed at Shels only drawing at home to a strong European club.

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I was thinking that myself. I'm not happy with the players or manager after drawing with two times EC finalists and one times winners who knocked Valencia out of the UEFA cup last year, it says alot about how far we've come.

Its there for the taking 90 minutes away.

It was there for the taking tonight.

Still, we're not in the worst position by any means, but I expect we'll face a different team over there and we'll have to play a hell of alot better.

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

It was there for the taking tonight.

Still, we're not in the worst position by any means, but I expect we'll face a different team over there and we'll have to play a hell of alot better.

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Agree with you Slash/ED - think Shels will play better football away - Paul Doolin was saying something on the same lines on RTE - when you see the Parkhead side getting hammered by a small Slovakian club, I can see, with progress continuing to be made, the EL passing out the SPL in standards in about 10 years at the longest.

Eoin Heary is awesome and I thought Hawkins and Cahill were great too. I hope Kerr gives Heary a run out with Ireland some day - he's much better than Stevie Carr at marking a winger. or not letting his opponent getting away from him. :)

That was a dissapointing result. We didn't play like we did against Glentoran. Richie Baker didn't play well, should've been taken off, I didn't think Davy Rogers was fantastic either. If we had've pressed more I feel we could've got a goal. Crowe was always the only one in the box, so whenever anyone put in a cross(which were of preety low standard generally) it would have to be inch-perfect to get anything from it. Not only that, but there's about 5 romanians marking the one striker, odds slightly stacked in the favour of the defense there. Poor performance, poor result. I know it shows progress that we're talking like this against quality opposition, but I think it would show alot more progress if we got the results we should be getting. I feel if we played to potential and played more attacking/4-4-2 we would've won 1 or 2 nil.

Over there is gonna be a much different story, they probably weren't playing their most attacking football tonight and will look to win the next game. Will be a challenge for Shels, though I think it's possible.

I thought Heary was well below his usual standards tonight actually, but even so still nothing got down his side though as ever. It's a travesty he has never been capped.

Agree that as a scoreline on a piece of paper it was a decent result but as I said on Shelsweb....

...I was infuriated by a lot of things tonight and most of them had to do with Fenlon. He managed a very poor game in my opinion.

Main problem was the tactics. I have no problem playing five in midfield but this is absolutely pointless if you decided to bypass the midfield at every opportunity. There were even times when we were attacking when the midfield seemed to be holding back and not supporting Crowe up front.

What was Crowe to do? Even when those balls fell to his feet he was completely isolated. Do we expect him to get past three players and ram the ball into the roof of the net?

Also Jason Byrne as a centre-midfielder? Waste of time, he has never played there in his life so why play him there for the first time ever in a game against the best team we will play all season.

As for the subs - unreal?? Jamie Harris up front on his own? You are having a laugh.

We should have played Byrne and Crowe up front together, even if we lost 2-1 and gave it go I would have been happier tonight. We were gutless tonight and it seemed like we were playing for penalties already.

They were there for the taking and we showed a complete lack of ambition. I’m very annoyed and disappointed. They were no great shakes but they hardly had to sweat for what for them was a very good result.

I don’t blame the players, the back four (excluding an uncharacteristically off colour Owen Heary), and my man-of-the-match Alan Moore, played very well.

Others tried hard too but they were given no help by the way the manger lined out the side.

Don’t get me wrong, Nutsy is a legend for winning two leagues in a row, but tonight I feel he got it all wrong, and I think our chances of progressing are now slim to none.
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Where was Ndo tonight ??

Ndo suffers from a problem in that he has real ability and flair so isn't a real Fenlon type player. No hoolahan either, no word of injuries to either pre match all the reports said Harris weas a doubt and Reynolds was out and that was it.

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

Ndo suffers from a problem in that he has real ability and flair so isn't a real Fenlon type player. No hoolahan either, no word of injuries to either pre match all the reports said Harris weas a doubt and Reynolds was out and that was it.

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If you had Ndo, Stewie, Hoolihan and Ryan across the middle ... then there would be a great chance. Crowe and Byrne up front and the back four would be OK again (will Hawkins be in ??) .... thats the way you'll win.

Any other way and i think you wont, hate saying it but football is the only way you'll win.

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

Ndo suffers from a problem in that he has real ability and flair so isn't a real Fenlon type player. No hoolahan either, no word of injuries to either pre match all the reports said Harris weas a doubt and Reynolds was out and that was it.

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They said on RTE that Hoolihan and Byrne were suffering from a stomach bug - same as Hawkins last week.

Where do Shels eat???

Weso was out with a stomach bug (would have started if fit). Not sure about Ndo but he would defo have been on the bench if he was fit.

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Originally Posted by sirhamish

They said on RTE that Hoolihan and Byrne were suffering from a stomach bug - same as Hawkins last week.

Where do Shels eat???

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Abra - nuff said!

It's still quality tho, steak kebab and taco fries? Thank god I'm not a footballer!

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Originally Posted by sirhamish

Yeah, I checked that Welsh channel, Eurosport, Setanta - the whole bloody lot of them - nothing. Wonder would there be anything on BBC Wales??

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Shall I confirm your application for martyrdom then?

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Originally Posted by A face

If you had Ndo, Stewie, Hoolihan and Ryan across the middle ... then there would be a great chance. Crowe and Byrne up front and the back four would be OK again (will Hawkins be in ??) .... thats the way you'll win.

Any other way and i think you wont, hate saying it but football is the only way you'll win.

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I agree except Ryan, not convinced at all, and Baker is not upto it at all. We've a real problem on the right, so I'd move Ndo to the right and play Moore in the middle who was very good tonight I thought. You're right though in that we have to play football and keep the ball, that's the only way we will get anything.

Crawley and Hawkins might be suspended, I think they were both on yellows but I'm not sure, what did RTE say during the game? Could work out alright though, he'll have to play Harris so he can't stick him up front and if he plays Cahill at left back he'll be forced to play Hoolahan.

And no Crawley is a major advantage if you're trying to play football along the ground.

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Originally Posted by TheOwl

Abra - nuff said!

It's still quality tho, steak kebab and taco fries? Thank god I'm not a footballer!

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LOL :D - used to eat in Abra in Baggot Street when I worked up there - love their kebabs. Was such a regular that the manager used to give me extra helpings of everything I ordered - never got a stomach bug though.

Why wasn't Fitzpatrick brought on? - no disrespect to Harris - he looked completely out of position (obviously) and he hasn't had much match practise either. :confused:

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

Crawley and Hawkins might be suspended, I think they were both on yellows but I'm not sure, what did RTE say during the game?

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RTÉ declared in commentary that Hawkins would miss the return as a result of picking up a second yellow, but when Fenlon was interveiwed afterwards he said that, as far as he knew, three yellow cards incur a suspension, not two. No mention of Crawley missing the game.

Why isn't Nailler at least making substitute appearances in these circumstances?? :confused: He's the consummate lone striker. Kills the ball with his first touch every single time and crucifies defenders on the turn. His omission is positively perverse.

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Originally Posted by Sheridan

Why isn't Nailler at least making substitute appearances in these circumstances?? :confused: He's the consummate lone striker. Kills the ball with his first touch every single time and crucifies defenders on the turn. His omission is positively perverse.

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You're telling me :(

It's all the more staggering when you sub off two strikers and bring on two defenders instead. He is getting a very, very raw deal at Shelbourne, impresses every time he plays, popular with the fans yet rarely gets a chance even with injuries.

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Originally Posted by Slash/ED

I think you see a different Byrne to me, probably the best crosser on his weaker foot in the league.

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You're more observant than me Slash/ED/Jammer if you are able to rate the best crossers in the League off their weaker feet
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