Ucd (a) 04-04-14

Away to UCD who seem to be much better going forward than they were last year. They are scoring goal, but are conceding quite a few as well.
For me, it is a must win game. There were shades of improvement in the Drogheda performance, but not enough really to justify getting anything from the game.

We should be starting with Curran and Gaffney this week and McManus from the bench. Centre mid is still a huge issue, but if Williams starts at the back, then it should push Nzuzi in to the middle (not that he has been that effective in there yet) Would be nice to get a look at Prince, but I don't think Taylor will chance him from the start yet.

It is a must win in my eyes, but unfortunately my head is saying a score draw.

UCD 2 - 2 Limerick

Predicitions? Thoughts? Expectations? Anything positive?

This squad should be good enough to get three points from the Students, but I remember they failed to last year at this ground. Considering the start, I really want to see a good performance and three points, but you need the strike force to click. Not sure Curran or MacManus have had enough time to do that. UCD will score going on their recent form. Will Limerick? Who knows.

It's game four. It's not must win which is probably just as well given our form. I'd expect a draw to be honest. The most frustrating part of the Drogheda game for me was that, late on, when we actually went for it we showed far more urgency and purpose. If we approach the game like that from the outset I'd be quite confident going up there. As it is I presume we'll continue to huff and puff and labor against a UCD side who are being a bit over-rated by many (Bohs have beaten them 3-0 twice already after all).

UCD 1 - Limerick 1 for me.

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Originally Posted by sadloserkid

It's game four. It's not must win which is probably just as well given our form. I'd expect a draw to be honest. The most frustrating part of the Drogheda game for me was that, late on, when we actually went for it we showed far more urgency and purpose. If we approach the game like that from the outset I'd be quite confident going up there. As it is I presume we'll continue to huff and puff and labor against a UCD side who are being a bit over-rated by many (Bohs have beaten them 3-0 twice already after all).

UCD 1 - Limerick 1 for me.

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5th league game. And 6th if you count the EA Sports. It's must win for me because I'm expecting the next chance for us to realistically get points will be against Athlone. It's important to keep in touch with everyone above us too.

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Originally Posted by kingpin4

5th league game. And 6th if you count the EA Sports. It's must win for me because I'm expecting the next chance for us to realistically get points will be against Athlone. It's important to keep in touch with everyone above us too.

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Fifth is of course right, apologies! :) It IS important to try and keep in touch with the teams above us, I agree completely with you, it still doesn't make this MUST WIN though. There's enough pressure building with our indifferent form without adding needlessly to it. Even if we lose to UCD (which would disappoint me) we're a few games from panic I would hope.

If we lose this game I will certainly be panicking.

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Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

If we lose this game I will certainly be panicking.

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As is your right. :) For me it would be a bit premature still. If we lose to Athlone as well then I'd probably start to feel a bit worried for us.

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Originally Posted by sadloserkid

As is your right. :) For me it would be a bit premature still. If we lose to Athlone as well then I'd probably start to feel a bit worried for us.

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The biggest problem with losing Friday is we will most likely lose on Monday meaning we are on a terrible run all together going into the Athlone game. Knowing us though we will get a draw off UCD and some how get a result against cork like we did in a few games last season.

Scraped a draw. Something very wrong this season. Starting to get worried myself.

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Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

Scraped a draw. Something very wrong this season. Starting to get worried myself.

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2 ways to look at the result. Credit due for digging it out and having some fight. The other side, should we really be having to dig it out against UCD?
Anyone at the game? Even going by Limerick's twitter updates, it sounded like we were a bit fortunate.

I was there. A draw was probably a fair Result. We had more possession and territory bit rarely threatened their goal, really toothless in the last third (same story) Barry had a very good save in the first half and they had another good chance. We were all over them at the end playing hoofball with numbers in the box. Prince started and has a good touch and pass but looks suspect defensively. He was turned easily a few time. Sammy was a rock at the back, snuffed out nearly everything. If we didn't have him we'd be in big trouble. I think we'll starting picking up more points but I think we're in a relegation battle

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Originally Posted by limunlim

I was there. A draw was probably a fair Result. We had more possession and territory bit rarely threatened their goal, really toothless in the last third (same story) Barry had a very good save in the first half and they had another good chance. We were all over them at the end playing hoofball with numbers in the box.

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Think that's fair alright. Annoying that we didn't wrap it up with a second from one of our three breakaways around 60-70 minutes. After that, ye pinned us back and - annoying as a 92nd minute equaliser is - it's hard to argue ye didn't deserve it.

Didn't want to jinx the thread earlier, but we're way better than the two 3-0 defeats against Bohs suggests. (One of those was a League Cup game, for starters). Going to be interesting down the bottom this season. Already has a strange look with Sligo, Pat's and Derry in the bottom half.

Team was much stronger then in recent weeks with the div 3b standard players (who should have never been signed) being left on the bench. We are always prone to giving away silly goals with the "mistake" making errors at will. In trouble at set plays, ucd hitting the post with an unmarked player from a free and then getting their goal from an unmarked players from another well taken free. Prince is good. He'll be in for the rest of the season. But as long as the "mistake" is on the pitch...we wont dig ourselves out of trouble

Who is it you're not a fan of?

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Originally Posted by fieldofmarkets

Who is it you're not a fan of?

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He is talking about Folan.

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Originally Posted by gael353

Team was much stronger then in recent weeks with the div 3b standard players (who should have never been signed) being left on the bench. We are always prone to giving away silly goals with the "mistake" making errors at will. In trouble at set plays, ucd hitting the post with an unmarked player from a free and then getting their goal from an unmarked players from another well taken free. Prince is good. He'll be in for the rest of the season. But as long as the "mistake" is on the pitch...we wont dig ourselves out of trouble

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in the circumstances a well won point....we will see how Prince performs mon before marks out of ten,the ..mistake...is not the problem with this team,their are more than a few problems both on the pitch and the sideline.

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Originally Posted by da bishop

their are more than a few problems both on the pitch and the sideline.

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Could you elaborate? Just interested to know...

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Originally Posted by kingpin4

Could you elaborate? Just interested to know...

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gamble,bradley,o leary replaced by duggan,hughes,rainsford,...that speaks for itself.no goal scoring threat up front...the signing of a 34 yr old journey player also speaks for itself.5 OR 6 players injured in preseason who when all back will be off the pace for weeks...tactics and style of play given the players the manager has signed....thats just a few.

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Originally Posted by da bishop

gamble,bradley,o leary replaced by duggan,hughes,rainsford,...that speaks for itself.

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Hughes has covered more grass and contributed more in five games already this season than Bradley did in a full year last season. It's telling that Bradley is playing for Lucan now too. Either he didn't want senior football or senior football didn't want him. Losing Gamble and O'Leary was always going to happen. Brunei was always going to be hard to turn down and O'Leary's head was turned by Cork twelve months ago. We do miss Gamble a lot because I don't see anybody there now who'll get stuck in, do the dirty work and has a bit of guile about them. I too would have liked to see us sign a proven LOI midfield player but perhaps Prince will work out? I don't think that Duggan, Hughes, Tracy, Nzuzi (though he was crap against UCD at full back), Prince and whatever young lads are around is a horrendous set of central midfield options. Taylor's use of them is ridiculous obviously.

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Originally Posted by da bishop

no goal scoring threat up front...the signing of a 34 yr old journey player also speaks for itself.

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To be fair he was only 33 in February but I agree that it's not the most mesmerising signing on earth.

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Originally Posted by da bishop

5 OR 6 players injured in preseason who when all back will be off the pace for weeks...

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Leahy, Galbraith, Curran? Who am I missing? Barry Ryan's was nothing to do with Taylor's practices obviously.

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Originally Posted by da bishop

tactics and style of play given the players the manager has signed....thats just a few.

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No argument with that and that's by far the most significant stick that Taylor can be beaten with. Tactically we're flat, laborious and uninspired, there's almost always a big gap between our midfield and forward lines, we're short of wit and invention and only seem to play when we're chasing games.

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Originally Posted by sadloserkid

Hughes has covered more grass and contributed more in five games already this season than Bradley did in a full year last season. It's telling that Bradley is playing for Lucan now too. Either he didn't want senior football or senior football didn't want him. Losing Gamble and O'Leary was always going to happen. Brunei was always going to be hard to turn down and O'Leary's head was turned by Cork twelve months ago. We do miss Gamble a lot because I don't see anybody there now who'll get stuck in, do the dirty work and has a bit of guile about them. I too would have liked to see us sign a proven LOI midfield player but perhaps Prince will work out? I don't think that Duggan, Hughes, Tracy, Nzuzi (though he was crap against UCD at full back), Prince and whatever young lads are around is a horrendous set of central midfield options. Taylor's use of them is ridiculous obviously.

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Having good quality and covering ground are worlds apart. Hughes may be more energetic, but in terms of him unlocking defences, he doesn't hold a candle to Bradley. I know he split opinion, but I know I'd much rather have Bradley if we're trying to break down UCD away from home.
We didn't lose Gamble to Bruneii, we lost him and then he went. He had a huge falling out with Taylor towards the end and told him he was leaving so didn't want to talk about contracts. He's been one that really should have been a priority to replace and Duggan is decent, but he's left on his own in the middle so trying to do too much. If we had kept O'Leary then Duggan could have been left to focus on his own job. When we left Bradley go, we should have made O'Leary a priority, but we messed up his situation.