Match Updates: (8th June)

What is the situation with Cretaro at Bohs?
Is he still suspended or injured? I'd say Madden has cemented his place alongside Byrne up front so I'm sure he'll only play a bit part from now on if he isn't offloaded by Fenlon.
He has hardly set Dalymount alight anyways.
Not that I would want the little dirtbox back anyways after his carry on kissing the crest and then his interview after the cup final last year. His ego is bigger than himself.
The Tubber Tornado couldn't make it in the big shmoke eh??:D

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Originally Posted by dong

What is the situation with Cretaro at Bohs?
Is he still suspended or injured? I'd say Madden has cemented his place alongside Byrne up front so I'm sure he'll only play a bit part from now on if he isn't offloaded by Fenlon.
He has hardly set Dalymount alight anyways.
Not that I would want the little dirtbox back anyways after his carry on kissing the crest and then his interview after the cup final last year. His ego is bigger than himself.
The Tubber Tornado couldn't make it in the big shmoke eh??:D

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He had surgery on his shins a while ago. He was "forced" to play with us and big bad Paul Cook wouldn't let him have the surgery. Alot of Rovers fans said he'll be back by August, I don't see it at all, he seems to be doing well in what he has done in Dalymount and the Bohs fans seem to like him, they even stole our song for him.

what poster said.

cant wait to get him back from his injury lay-off to be honest. Has quickly become a crowd favourite in Dalymount after his vital goals in our early season bit of form. I think with him and McGlynn back we might start playing well again.

I was impressed by Cretaro against us in Belfield, Bohs were much better when he came on.

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Originally Posted by dong

Not that I would want the little dirtbox back anyways after his carry on kissing the crest and then his interview after the cup final last year. His ego is bigger than himself.
The Tubber Tornado couldn't make it in the big shmoke eh??:D

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This bitterness towards Raf ill never understand.
One rule for him and then we have open threads pushing Shamey Coleman for beatification.
I know which player has done more for our club and which will continue to attend our games when the playing days are over.
Either way both players moved for either money or the chances of playing at a bigger stage or probably both.
Raf has done enough throughout his career for us to at least not have to be abused by Rovers fans.
I hope all the success for him at Bohs just as long as they arent playing us.

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Originally Posted by Rasputin

This bitterness towards Raf ill never understand.
One rule for him and then we have open threads pushing Shamey Coleman for beatification.
I know which player has done more for our club and which will continue to attend our games when the playing days are over.
Either way both players moved for either money or the chances of playing at a bigger stage or probably both.
Raf has done enough throughout his career for us to at least not have to be abused by Rovers fans.
I hope all the success for him at Bohs just as long as they arent playing us.

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There is no comparison between the two situations.
Coleman went to Everton and who could blame him. The rewards for playing at the highest level in England are massive add to that real prospects of playing for Ireland and possibly at a world cup.
Raf went to Bohs for a few bob extra and behaved like a scumbag as I outlined with his carry on on the day of the cup final, that's what bugs me as a Sligo man. The tone of my post may have suggested otherwise but I have no bitterness towards him and can appreciate his contribution in his last season with us. His goals saved us from relegation.
Apologies for dragging the thread off topic.

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Originally Posted by dong

There is no comparison between the two situations.
Coleman went to Everton and who could blame him. The rewards for playing at the highest level in England are massive add to that real prospects of playing for Ireland and possibly at a world cup.
Raf went to Bohs for a few bob extra and behaved like a scumbag as I outlined with his carry on on the day of the cup final, that's what bugs me as a Sligo man. The tone of my post may have suggested otherwise but I have no bitterness towards him and can appreciate his contribution in his last season with us. His goals saved us from relegation.
Apologies for dragging the thread off topic.

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Firstly whether we like to say it or not Raf had better opportunities at Bohs than with us, just like with Coleman an Everton only to a lesser degree so that arguement is a no brainer.
Secondly I fail to see how he acted like a scumbag. Raf is an absolute gentleman in and out of football.
Even if he did act like a scumbag after the cup final I wont be judging him on one week of a career where he spent his best footballing years with us and ran his socks off for our club week in week out when few else did.
Remember he was the lad that slogged it out for the club when we were in the quagmire of the first division, even rejecting offers from Premier Division clubs such as pats.
He even came back to our club after being forced out of it to Galway, no bitterness with the way he was treated even though many would.
He is heading into the twilight of his career and wants to win something, whether we like it or not Bohs offer a better platform than ourselves for silverware and of course more money since after all this is his career.
Never the less for all the effort he has given our club throughout the years he deserves a shot at the title and I dont begrudge him that.
Your right that Coleman and him are no comparison, Raf has done it all for our club while Coleman just used us a springboard to bigger things.

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Originally Posted by poster

He had surgery on his shins a while ago. He was "forced" to play with us and big bad Paul Cook wouldn't let him have the surgery. Alot of Rovers fans said he'll be back by August, I don't see it at all, he seems to be doing well in what he has done in Dalymount and the Bohs fans seem to like him, they even stole our song for him.

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Correct Poster, he had surgery to clear up issue with shinsplints which was limiting his participation in the X1 (hence lots of sub apperances). Used his suspension and mid season break to limit games missed (shows how much he is rated at Dalyer) Cant wait to see him back as he was by far the best of our "new" signings. Far better player than I rated him at Sligo to be honest (limited viewing etc). I understand Raf has settled in well at Dalymount and would be amazed if he goes anywhere in the close season.

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Originally Posted by Rasputin

Firstly whether we like to say it or not Raf had better opportunities at Bohs than with us, just like with Coleman an Everton only to a lesser degree so that arguement is a no brainer.
Secondly I fail to see how he acted like a scumbag. Raf is an absolute gentleman in and out of football.
Even if he did act like a scumbag after the cup final I wont be judging him on one week of a career where he spent his best footballing years with us and ran his socks off for our club week in week out when few else did.
Remember he was the lad that slogged it out for the club when we were in the quagmire of the first division, even rejecting offers from Premier Division clubs such as pats.
He even came back to our club after being forced out of it to Galway, no bitterness with the way he was treated even though many would.
He is heading into the twilight of his career and wants to win something, whether we like it or not Bohs offer a better platform than ourselves for silverware and of course more money since after all this is his career.
Never the less for all the effort he has given our club throughout the years he deserves a shot at the title and I dont begrudge him that.
Your right that Coleman and him are no comparison, Raf has done it all for our club while Coleman just used us a springboard to bigger things.

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There's a few points there that I wouldn't agree with and you've been kind to Raf in how you perceive things went but sure you're entitled to think and believe what you like about him.

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Originally Posted by Rasputin

Firstly whether we like to say it or not Raf had better opportunities at Bohs than with us, just like with Coleman an Everton only to a lesser degree so that arguement is a no brainer.
Secondly I fail to see how he acted like a scumbag. Raf is an absolute gentleman in and out of football.
Even if he did act like a scumbag after the cup final I wont be judging him on one week of a career where he spent his best footballing years with us and ran his socks off for our club week in week out when few else did.
Remember he was the lad that slogged it out for the club when we were in the quagmire of the first division, even rejecting offers from Premier Division clubs such as pats.
He even came back to our club after being forced out of it to Galway, no bitterness with the way he was treated even though many would.
He is heading into the twilight of his career and wants to win something, whether we like it or not Bohs offer a better platform than ourselves for silverware and of course more money since after all this is his career.
Never the less for all the effort he has given our club throughout the years he deserves a shot at the title and I dont begrudge him that.
Your right that Coleman and him are no comparison, Raf has done it all for our club while Coleman just used us a springboard to bigger things.

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I'd rather forget about Raf now, but:

Pat's never offered him a deal, they were just interested in the player that was getting rave reviews when were finishing 6th every year in FD under D 'OR.

Raf left Rovers because of the manager that was there at the time, the manager in question left and he came back in '07. Was nothing to do with Rovers treating him badly, it was bad man management from the manager at the time.

I don't think you can really say Coleman 'used' Rovers as a 'spring-board' to get to bigger things. We're largely unknown in England and I think if it was the case that he went to a L1/lower Champ team then you could say he was using that team as a spring-board.

Raf's move to Shams in August last year was blocked for whatever reason and Raf had a hissy fit over it. His form started to drop around that time when we played Cork in the cup and we saw him having strops and more hissy fits at refs and his own players during play.

He has done some great things with the club and was my favourite player up to half way through last year, but the way he conducted himself on and off (from what I've heard, and I can only go on what I hear) the pitch really put me off him.

This forum is going to be awfully quiet for the next 3 weeks :(

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Originally Posted by poster

Pat's never offered him a deal, they were just interested in the player that was getting rave reviews when were finishing 6th every year in FD under D 'OR.

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Well I heard differently but im open to being proven wrong on that.

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Raf left Rovers because of the manager that was there at the time, the manager in question left and he came back in '07. Was nothing to do with Rovers treating him badly, it was bad man management from the manager at the time.

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Irrelevant.
Everybody knows it was Mc Donalds fault that he left but the board okayed it and the end result was the same.
Alot of players would have and could have used this as a gripe against their former club but he didnt.

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I don't think you can really say Coleman 'used' Rovers as a 'spring-board' to get to bigger things. We're largely unknown in England and I think if it was the case that he went to a L1/lower Champ team then you could say he was using that team as a spring-board.

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Of course it was a spring board to Everton.
It was a better shop window for the player than St Catherines because its a well known fact English clubs monitor the League over here.
But saying that I dont begrudge the lad his chance with Everton just like I dont begrudge Raf his chance with Bohs.

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Raf's move to Shams in August last year was blocked for whatever reason and Raf had a hissy fit over it. His form started to drop around that time when we played Cork in the cup and we saw him having strops and more hissy fits at refs and his own players during play.

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We could go into great detail about the general amount of apathy and un-professionalism around the club last season including current players at the club.
But I notice these players are no longer singled out for stick any more like Raf is.
What certainly cant be commented on is Raf's performances last season, without him we would have been relegated simple as that.
He was one of the few players to actually try last season and when you looked across our squad and the un-professionalism in it (we all know the storys) is it any wonder he started getting stroppy around players who took the p!ss.

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He has done some great things with the club and was my favourite player up to half way through last year, but the way he conducted himself on and off (from what I've heard, and I can only go on what I hear) the pitch really put me off him.

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I heard some storys but nothing to warrant the bitterness directed at him from some Rovers fans now.
But like I said im not judging him from a week at the end of the season or the last half of last season, im judging him on his many years he has spent running his socks off for our club.
We should be so lucky to ever get another player like him.

Galway and Bohs is on setanta now :D

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Originally Posted by Rasputin

Everybody knows it was Mc Donalds fault that he left .

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It was Sean Connor who let him go. McDonald signed him back at the start of '07.

I still don't think a player can use a LoI club as a spring-board to sign for a Premier League club. Maybe for a L1 or Championship club.

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Originally Posted by poster

It was Sean Connor who let him go. McDonald signed him back at the start of '07.

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Could be right there, I cant remember tbh.

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I still don't think a player can use a LoI club as a spring-board to sign for a Premier League club. Maybe for a L1 or Championship club.

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Of course they can and do.
We could list the numerous players who have gone this route,