What the hell happened tonight in dundalk lads? I hope we arent goin to use pitch as an excuse
Printable View
What the hell happened tonight in dundalk lads? I hope we arent goin to use pitch as an excuse
Just posting the result,any report on the game :eek:
Well they were superior to us in every department when they beat us at Rathbane last time round. A lot of people didn't take much notice of Dundalks performance that day, rather our own terrible performance. Dundalk have really come on since that result and hammered Galway 3-0 in Terryland a few weeks back. The result doesn't really surprise me. I'd be interested in seeing who played tonight.
Was just talking to one of the lads at the game. Apparantly it could have been as much as 8-0, Dundalk hit the woodwork at least 4 times....shocking :eek:
Don't be fooled by the result. It wasn't that close. :mad:
Mentally we were a beaten side last night. Protests over the pitch give players an excuse.
The pitch was an inconvenience, no doubt about it. I walked it, and it was a strange surface to say the least. The ball didn't bounce forward at all, just up a little bit, and there was several miskicks from both sides. The little clouds of black soot every time the ball bounced were disconcerting.
This however, cannot be taken as an excuse of any shape or form. Suspensions to both our manager and assistant manager leaving the bench very very inexperienced, the loss of Paul Finnucane, the early miss by Robbie that might have changed the shape of the game, and most importantly, our disorganisation at their set pieces that resulted in two goals from corners and them hitting the post a few times are the real reasons this game was lost.
A disaster yes, but one we should now just put behind us and learn from.
What was the team?
Sorry - just saw it.
Limerick FC: Mooney, Wolfe, Tobin, Molan, Barrett, Sweeney (Buckley, 64), Keating, McGrath, Kelleher (Guerin, 76), Nolan, Donnellan (Kerins, 82).
I presume Wolfe and Molan in the centre and Tobin and Keating at full back. One question jumps to mind. Why was Buckley - a dedicated centre half - on the bench? One thing that was glaring from the match in Rathbane was that they were strong in the air up front. I hardly think Molan and Wolfe could deal with their strikers in the air. From what JoeSoap said it seems set pieces (i.e. challenges in the air) were our downfall. And I reckon he'd downplay it so it must have been really bad. If we knew this why didn't the management?
By the way Joe, it is unrealistic and naive to say lets draw a line under this and move on the morning after a 4-0 defeat to a team lower in the division (at least before the game started). Fans are entitled to pickover the bones of this defeat and talk about it and criticise. This is a fans forum and this is what we do. If the club don't want to hear criticism this result then look away now. :ball:
By the way Joe, it is unrealistic and naive to say lets draw a line under this and move on the morning after a 4-0 defeat to a team lower in the division (at least before the game started). Fans are entitled to pickover the bones of this defeat and talk about it and criticise. This is a fans forum and this is what we do. If the club don't want to hear criticism this result then look away now. :ball:[/QUOTE]
just a point i should make joe soap dose NOT talk on behalf of the CLUB maybe noc but not the club
Tommy Barrett played centre half with Conor. Sweeney and McGrath in the middle with Keatso and Donners out wide. Wolfie and Tobin full backs.Quote:
Originally Posted by LFC in Exile
JoeSoap speaks on behalf of himself and nobody else.Quote:
Originally Posted by willie john
Fair enough. I didn't mean to suggest that he did. :ball:Quote:
Originally Posted by willie john
go on tommy...you'll be in goals soon :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
Makes even less sense IMO. Did Buckley come in at centre half when he came on for Sweeney and push Barrett back into midfield? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
Exactly...eventually went three at the back.Quote:
Originally Posted by LFC in Exile
You could have fooled me joe .Your first post looked as you were .Quote:
Originally Posted by joeSoap
As has already been said above we were completely and utterly flattered by a 4-0 defeat last night. Until the last 20 minutes we created next to nothing and every time Dundalk had a set piece we looked weak.
The team...
Mooney made a few great saves and I wouldn't fault him for much. He may have been a little bit slow to react to the first goal but given that it was a free header in the midst of the area there are other more culpable people to look at anyway.
Wolfe had a few moments of brilliance on and off but seemed to completely vanish sometimes too. This wasn't in the Jamie Nolan 'I don't wanna be near the ball' mode but in more of a 'I'm trying to do too much' way. His distribution, as ever, was cack.
Tobin... was much the same as Wolfe in terms of using the ball. He was solid enough at times but I don't think he set foot in Dundalk's third of the field once.
Conor Molan & Tommy Barrett didn't seem to do much wrong individually but just like the Finucane/Wolfe centre-half pairing we started the season with they never looked comfortable together and seemed to lack that sense of cohesion that you need (inevitable I guess as they possibly haven't played together before). Barrett was also badly missed in midfield I feel (especially against a long-ball team like Dundalk) and it's surely no coincidence that we picked up once he moved forward.
Central midfield was hardly the problem either though. John McGrath looks a very good player. To be honest I was a bit concerned that people were reading too much into the three Villa games and not enough into the Doncaster exit and Kidderminister period. He has a good touch, is calm and full of authority on the ball and reads the game well. In effect he'll be a striahgt replacement for Brendan Sweeney who played his last game for Limerick last night and played with the same tigerish determination and drive that we've been lucky enough to see in a Limerick shirt twice now.
Eoin Keating did well on the right wing, doing the simple thing well, tracjking back and getting stuck in and laying the ball off quickly and mostly effectively. That said I don't think anybody expects him to go past many players and whip in a string of pinpoint crosses and sure enough he didn't. My man of the match in a blue shirt though.
Brian Donnellan wasn't as poor as some people thought. People made a big deal about the fact that he kept cutting in and excusing him because of his natural right foot but I think it had more to do with a lack of support down his flank. That said, he threatened a lot more than he actually delivered.
Robbie Kelleher ran about endlessly again and was unlucky that nothing quite broke for him. His workrate and application were first rate and while there was one chance that he should have maybe put away there's no faulting his performance.
Jamie Nolan on the other hand... even before I look at his performance the amount of times he rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders at team-mates made me surprised that nobody gave him a belt. Perhaps people would have had more patience with him had he not given in a gutless, disinterested, lifeless showing? Jamie Nolan has come on a bit of late and hopefully this game in just a one off aberration so we'll reserve judgement.
A few more points.
1) The starting XI. Brian Buckley on the bench? Why? And before somebody throws out the 'lack of football' line he played 90 minutes against UL on Monday and came through it well enough.
2) The substitutions. Why Brendan Sweeney & Robbie Kelleher? Why not one of the luckless full-backs (Keating could have covered) and the clearly struggling Nolan?
3) The Dundalk subs were a sound bunch of lads too. :) And the fans on our side of the field seemed decent folk too. On the other side... I've never heard as many people singing in English that I couldn't understand. I caught the odd work 'lily', 'hate', 'Celtic FC'... :confused:
4) The loss of Brendan Sweeney. I have no doubt it will be neutralised somewhat by the arrival of McGrath who is going to do well for us. But I would personally like to wish Brendan the best of luck in England and in whatever he does because in addition to being a great footballer for us he was an absolutely top class guy who was always a pleasure to talk to. the exact same comments apply to his family. So good luck to him!
The mascot was a bit flimsy... :D :D
[QUOTE=joeSoap] I walked it, and it was a strange surface to say the least. QUOTE]
did you just "walk it" or did you pretend you were stepping out onto the hallowed turf for limerick fc? or maybe you had a few kicks of an imaginery football, letting on you were scoring against dundalk - just like the actual players i'd imagine. :)
Nah...just walked out on to about 10 yards of it...like walking on a huge hard sponge...weird. And it destroyed my lovely dubarries.... :D :DQuote:
Originally Posted by declan hide
Its all down to a lack of orginisation something which all the other teams have lots of. There not better then us in any way its just weird moves made by us, starting a game against a bunch of hoovers with no outfield player over 6ft.Buckley sitting on the bench? Sweeney taken off maybe cos he has no future with the club but does Wolfe or Nolan? :eek:
As I said to one of the lads last night, Nolan reminds me of Kaka - the s**t, not the player....Quote:
Originally Posted by sadloserkid
NOC..by reports played Tommy Barret centre half.....why do this when he has been the best centre midfielder in the league on his own untill Sweeney came along.
I heard we lost 95% of aerial battles in midfield ..what do you expect from two guys that are just about 5"10 each.
I believe Brian Buckley was the guy to fill Finneys boots for the match because of his height..and leave Tommy as was.
I would wish to know NOC's thinking on the tactics for such a tall and powerfull Dundalk team..hopefully Noel has learned a lesson and we can carry on our push for promotion with our midfielders playing in their proper positions..and lets hope young Jones can compliment Robbie as he needs a little help up front...as in my opinion Robbie is still capeable of hitting double figures by the end of the season.
You'd probably get more if you did away with the stupid Thursday night kick-offs. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by sduffy
Please say that isnt true. I have a piece of your pitch here and ill bring it up to Hogan Park on Friday night for anywone who wants to see it. If you have names of other clubs please spread the word so other fans can hear about it will you?Quote:
Originally Posted by sduffy
That's fair enough mate but your own subs shared our own view that it wasn't particlularly good. We got to walk across it before the match too and it was a bit strange. That said I wouldn't accept that it had any real impact on the final score, it's not as if you lot have been playing on it for months by any stretch and if anybody could blame your pitch for the worrying inability of our team to mark up at setpieces I suspect that their credibility would take a battering.Quote:
Originally Posted by sduffy
Just though I'd mention the charming and not at all worn out "Stab City Ba$tards" chants wafting across from the far over side of the ground along with the smell. :mad: The concept of irony is obviously far beyond the comprehension of your average knuckle dragging, neo-republican scumbag who populates the terraces of Craptown ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by sadloserkid
On the plus side McGrath is looking like a handy Brendan Sweeny replacement :)
They did install it for the start of the season. At least that's what they intended but the plastic grass seeds they were promised didn't show up. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by samuel
By the way, sduffy - relax. Nobody is using the pitch as an excuse and everyone so far seems to accept that the problem is not the pitch per se but the rubber stuff on it - which in time wil bed in apparently. And I have no problem with the plastic surface now - technology has moved on from the horrible carpet-like stuff of the Luton days. I'd prefer if everyone in the league had one then there would be no charges that it is unfair for one team and it would mean excellent playing surfaces for every game. Might even encourage Dublin City to pass along the ground once in a while. :rolleyes:
Or a Noel O'Connor managed side :eek: :)Quote:
Originally Posted by LFC in Exile