If Derry could get Duffy, Pat McEleney and Hoban in a starting xi for a sustained period they'd run away with the league. All 3 so unfortunate with injuriesQuote:
Originally Posted by brendy_éire
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If Derry could get Duffy, Pat McEleney and Hoban in a starting xi for a sustained period they'd run away with the league. All 3 so unfortunate with injuriesQuote:
Originally Posted by brendy_éire
Max wasnt even pulling up any trees for us but still a loss when we’ve a small squad and a good few injuries. Would have taken 8th at the start of the season if offered and nothing has changed since.Quote:
Originally Posted by joey B
If Rob Cornwall didn't get injured in the first game of the season Bohs might have performed better early on and Declan Devine might still be in a job.Quote:
Originally Posted by ToberonaTornado
If Clarke and Farrugia were consistently available maybe Rovers would be more consistent and running away with the league like they should be.
Every team in the league has what if scenarios and it baffling to me that Derry and Higgins get so much benefit of the doubt when it's long known that McEleney and Duffy are injury prone and Hoban is starting to get up there in age and injury profile. It is a shame for the players for sure but if you were to put money on any players getting injured for extended periods of time those 3, Clarke and Farrugia would be among the favourites.
Bradley is getting out -thought by a lot of other managers imho. Galwayand Waterford recently in particular, but it goes way back too. I've always felt Rovers play "technically sound football by numbers" but no variety and showing the same vulnerabilities for years - conceding in transition in particular, but we also struggle to break down deep lying blocks. Both Dundalk goals against us this year have come from being stupidly dispossed deep in our own half. We simply make far too many mistakes too. Shels, Pats, Dundalk x 2, Waterford have all scored against us from utterly brain dead stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa
That said, I think we played a good last 25 mins or so. McEneff played the Gary O'Neill role well, Farrugia looked dangerous. With ourt best players on the field we look good.
Big one tonight. A must-avoid-defeat game for Rovers. I still think we're the only team capable of going on a 8 wins out of 10 type run. A draw tonight still means being top(ish) going into the last quarter of the season is realistic, but losing would make that tough.
"a must avoid defeat" at home to a poor Derry side is a fair enough comentary on how bad we have been this season and how our expectations have fallen.
My fear is our season could be over by Friday and before people start talking about coming from 9 or 12 points behind isnt impossible it is a dream when by Friday we could have 6 wins from 18 matches.
That isnt a run of bad form that is half a season of underperfoming.
Please God we pull it out tonight and Friday but if we make Group stages which we need to Financially then id hate to see thios squad on a league run in and playing in Europe.
We may end up having to throw every European match will be a great look for the league..
Heres hoping the lads turn up , theyve done it before when the chips were down
To be fair, this is a big problem for all of Irish football right now, as shown by European games. Kennys time as national manager was this on bland steroids.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
I think a Rovers win tonight will just quietly reinforce the point to potential rivals that finishing above us should win you the league.
6 points at the of this week is Rovers very much back in form, 4 points would be grand, 3 points ok, but 2,1 or god forbid 0 points from the next 2 games means the problems are persisting.interesting times ahead.
Is Hoban suspended tonight? I think he got his fifth yellow on Friday but I can't see anything about him being out
With a hugely depleted squad … we’re first for goals scored, chances created, passes made & possession…. Our critical problem is number of goals conceded ( due to Grace and O’Neill being absent).Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
So imo the lads who’ve been available have ‘turned up’ - as the sick bay empties I’d expect us to start motoring from this week on
I hope you are right and this team have dug it out before when needed but with half a season gone you ant be complaining about injuries, we signed the players.
Is there any concerns over training or strength and conditioning? Sounds like another thing that could contribute to an abnormally large injury list
There is bad luck and then there is poor S+C work. Whether an injury is a reoccurance or a new injury happening is a bit of an indication. Year on year, same players out with different S+C an medical depts then they are just crocked and should be looking at surgery if at all possible - long term out but when back should be more robust rather than in and out of sides and cameo appearances toward the end of the season racking up 10 appearances or so.
I asked this ages ago and didn't get an answer and in fairness it's probably a difficult one for the average fan to know but one thing that struck me as odd was that towards the end of his time at Bohs it was widely known that Burt was carrying an injury and his training was pretty limited between games as well as his availability for game. When he signed for Rovers it didn't seem come to light for them that he was carrying an injury until after the start of the season? It got to the point it was rumoured he was unhappy after the move to Rovers. I think for all the good Rovers do with the academy side of things their first team medical staff and s&C probably need to be reviewed because none of what's happening to them is an anomaly and it can't solely be due to the players.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
As you rightly point out, it's hard for the average Rovers fan to answer if the S&C dept at Rovers is responsible for the unusually large number of injuries this season. Bradley did intimate that the injuries received this season are mostly "contact" injuries,but also stressed that the % of availability (72% apparently) this season is being investigated to get to the sources of the issue. We'll see what comes of it. As Calcio rightly points out, it's the loss of Grace and O'Neill from the 1st team that's the root of our below expected results this season,it's just that the flair players normally get all the headlines. Grace was Rovers POTY last season for a reason.
Is it just this season though? I feel like the narrative around Rovers the last few seasons has been at some point there is an "injury crisis". Now maybe this year is worse but it seems to be a recurring theme. Now Rovers being champions will usually means more games than most clubs but they haven't been especially far in the FAI cup the last few years & while Europe is certainly a factor other teams can and do manage it better with fewer resources. That's why I would view it as a medical team or S&C issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by placid casual
Definitely imho. It's common every season.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Arsenal used to have terrible injury problems (Wenger era), all muscular, now the same 15 players play every game and at a higher intensity than a few years ago.
I have a vague recollection of seeing an article recently "Was X a fraud?" referring to Arsenal's old S&C coach. Not sure who he was.
Farrugia was contact.Quote:
Originally Posted by placid casual
Grace - muscular
Towell - muscular
Watts - muscular
Byrne - not sure but seemed muscular/ligament related
Hoare - not sure (though not a key injury imho)
McEneff - probably an injury prior to joining
Gaffney - muscular I think
Clarke - muscular (and 2 or 3 times)
O'Neill - muscular (quad)
Something fishy there. Towell and Watts just pulled up after innocuous runs.
Presumably so? I'd guess it's just automatic, and clubs know the story. Nothing from the FAI publicly, mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunny Kelly
It's automatic, happened Dundalk with Bradshaw. Booked against Shels on the Friday, missed the Drogheda match on the Monday.Quote:
Originally Posted by brendy_éire
Late late late win for Shelbourne,not the start SK and Pats were after…..
The Duffer bubble just isn't bursting, is it?
On course for 8 points more than last year, in a division where the bottom side has already got more points than UCD last year (so points technically harder to come by)
Remains to be seen if they have it in them to keep the form up during Europe. But Duff is doing a great job there
Great win for Rovers tonight , should have been 2 or 3 tbh. Derry were very poor. Big game now on Friday against shels. Duff doing an incredible job at shels.
The auld “season defining game” cliche comes to mind about the game on Friday. Should be a cracker of a match.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
Hoping Bohs can add to Kenny’s misery on Friday. Is it just me or are Pat’s already starting to remind us of Ireland.
hes probably taken 1 session. pats were total dross under daly, he has a serious job on jis hands to make them look competent.Quote:
Originally Posted by ger121
Gutted with that late goal. However, if I’m brutally honest, we were so poor for so much of that game. After the equaliser we at least had a go, and looked like we might nick it, but even for the winner, Shels just given too much time on the ball. You can’t play for twenty minutes in a game and expect to get anything. We really need to start getting results quickly.Quote:
Originally Posted by joey B
For the first time this season we looked somewhat like our real selves - as already mentioned should of been at least 3-0… Farrugia got MOTM and already is starting to look unplayable… hopefully a couple more back fit for Friday…. As for Derry , well drilled and a lot of big physical players but zero cutting edge …. They haven’t progressed in any way since last season based on tonight and our previous game against them
Always a tough one to take losing that late. Just saw the stats from the game which favoured pats in shots, shots on target, passes, % of successful passes and corners won but in truth Shels were the better team first 70 minutes without creating many good chances. Mulraney’s bit of magic for the equaliser came from nothing really but the last 20 mins pats had all the pressure and looked like the only side that were going to grab a winner if there was to be one, but for all that pressure didn’t create many good chances either.
Interesting the see if the FAI grow a pair of balls and issue a behind closed doors home game to shels now after one of their fans threw a flare at Jake Mulraney after the winner. Luckily it landed a couple of yards short of him. With shels having already been punished for it this season it seems the only logical step if their fans are incapable of attending a game of football without attempting to potentially scar a player/official for life
Derry look impotent up front without hoban,and only for Rovers continuing to be very wasteful in front of goal,the game could have been 3 or 4 nil.
There was a quicker tempo to the Rovers game tonight which suits our style of play, but we need to improve in front of goal to really make it count. A vital 3 points gained and it sets up the opportunity for a good attendance in Friday now - hopefully Shels can bring 1,200 to 1,500 and it'll make for a great atmosphere.
Would be delighted if the season ended today. A lot of work for Kenny to do.
Evan Caffrey you beaut :)
Also does Rob Hennessy have vision impairments? After his horrorshow in the last minute of our away match in Drogheda where he placed Keith Ward's stoppage time free kick outside of the box backwards by 5-6 yards he did the opposite tonight for Pats prior to the brilliantly executed Mulraney free kick giving Mulraney a bonus 3-4 yards advance/2 yards inside
Yeah, stop the season, I want to get off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack B
dundalk fans I take it all back!
As funny as it would be to see you boys get relegated, that would pale into comedy insignificance compared to St Kenny bringing his team into the graveyard division. Pat's have played 2 more games than those around them and at the bottom,dundalk are 7 points behind..... This season is not short of entertainment:)
Will admit to thinking he was just getting the job on name alone and that he'd be gone within a year. But he has really proved himself. Turning a team from just promoted to real title contenders in just 3 seasons is great no mateer the level. And with a sqaud that on paper lack the quality and quantity than all of their competitorsQuote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Plus Pats have now lost one more than Dundalk this season, ah I think you are a little harsh on SK, he def has enough in his locker to keep Pats up.Quote:
Originally Posted by placid casual
Derry losing twice already to Rovers is enough to suggest they won't be the winning the league anytime soon. I still think they can do better than Higgins as the main man, he is a coach not a manager in my view.Quote:
Originally Posted by Calcio Jack
Their budget must be huge and it may only return 3rd place, as I do not see Shels dropping out of the top 2 all season.
This season is on its head. Everybody dropping points. Dundalk beat Bohs and Rovers and remain bottom, as well as others lower down picking up points against teams higher up. The eventual league winners could be a surprise package and the same for the relegated teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Shels to their credit are hard to beat. You can only say the same about 1 other team in the league at the moment and that's Galway. Bohs, Rovers, Derry and every other team in the league have lost silly points in games they should be winning. What Shels have that Galway don't is a bit of an attacking game plan. I don't see Ollie Horgan & John Caulfield suddenly developing a high scoring team because it's not a case of just getting a goalscorer it's also getting the ball in the right positions. Shels can easily win the league provided Europe doesn't distract or cause too many injuries. If they lose Coyle for any length of time that could be the end of their title hopes because he is key for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by oriel
In fairness to Duffer imagine what he could do if he had the budget of Higgins or Bradley
He is proving himself to be the best manager/coach in the league.
Makng Europe was a great acheivment last year and if he follows up by winning the league it will be unbelievable.
HArd to see Rovers and Derry with the size of their budgets and squads and players coming back from injury not doing it in the end but a long european run for Rovers might level it up for Shels.
We have to start thinking of Shels as title winners the season will be over half over on Friday and they could be 9 clear....but hopefully only 3, then i think we can real them in.....9 and i dont think so unless we bomb out of Europe
They certainly seem to have that knack of snatching a narrow defeat from the jaws of an arguably deserved draw. Kenny must be cursing his luck already.Quote:
Originally Posted by ger121
On the previous page I rattled off a list of players who have missed games due to muscle injuries. I forgot to include Burke (now back) and Burns. What's the latest with Burns?Quote:
Originally Posted by Calcio Jack
Rovers really should have scored a bagful last night. The one that Burke missed after a through ball by Byrne would have been a great goal.