Jeez you really have the knives out for Harry, he's not just bad now......... he never was any good :D
I still think of him playing for Rovers in the eighties so he has a good bit of goodwill to burn through with me.
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i was surprised hoe badly Pats are doing, they looked solid enough after beating Cork 1-0 on the opening night.
Cork themselves werent great last friday, they battled well in MF but only one shot which was off target, expected a lot more from them, also read over the weekend, including the Pres Cup, thats 5 wins a row by Dundalk over Cork.
Think that would be a bit premature, new manager and new set of players (by and large) so not that big a surprise it is taking them time to settle. The attitude of some players on Friday did leave a lot to be desired - Forrester had his best game ever for Bohs :D and the red card was amateur stuff.
pats will get better, too any good players not to, but the (overly ?) high expectations of some of their supporters is a way off
The natural order seems to have restored with 5 wins on the spin - including 2 of them at Turners Cross - although the Sean Maguire inspired form of 2017 appears to be long gone.
Even at this early stage of the season, it is obvious that Cork's next league match - at home to Shamrock Rovers - is of enormous significance to them and may give a pointer as to how their season is likely to pan out. A win catapults them back to within 9 points of Shamrock with two games in hand, while a defeat pushes the gap out to 15 points and would leave them marooned in the lower half of the table.
Cork will remain difficult to beat, but it is hard to see them having enough creativity or cutting edge to win many big games.
Pat's last five games:
Two points acquired,
Two goals scored,
Points dropped to the two promoted (and soon to be relegated) sides,
Poor performances against Rovers, Waterford and Bohs.
I'd say their anger is justified.
Thanks for answering the original question. Yes it's a big month for everyone. Rovers definitely in the title race, for the leagues sake lets hope it stays that way. Although the bickering will be unbearable towards the end! So we can all agree that everyone is happy for Rovers to finish a close second to Dundalk? ;)
The last accounts (2017) had Dundalk at €1.8m, Rovers at €1.2m and Cork at €1.1m according to this
https://leagueofirelandfinance.blogs...n-summary.html
My own definition of minimum level of success for the year is to finish a competitive second.
Given respective budgets (whatever about the size of the gap) we couldn't give out to much if we finished second.
The only leeway i'd give on that would be if we had a run of injuries as the squad depth isn't there to absorb it the way Dundalk were able to recently.
On the other hand i would start to demand more if we bring in more players in July to bolster a title shot if one still exists at that stage
Rovers hasn't changed much i'd say, smaller squad now.
DFC have signed and retained some expensive players, McEleney, Hoban , Duffy , Gannon , your new CEO etc i doubt i'm far off at 2.2 -2.4m , but fair fecks to you boys you won the money so off you go and spend it.
I'd be dissapointed if our board did'nt spend money if we had it to spend
But that doesnt mean we cant win the league, as i keep saying best 11 V best 11 we are ok or not far off. Luck with injuries and a bounce of a ball.
This Friday will be very interesting and is a big match for Cork who i expect to be big time up for it.
I'd say best 11 v best 11 would be around 10-1 to Dundalk on head-to-head but I'm a wee bit biased ;-)
it isnt premature anymore. I said it a few weeks ago.... no sing of improvement. Kenny appears to be a totally incapable and out of his depth.
Within 10 and we are friends, joking aside i think Friday away in Cork will see how far we have come we will be kicked up and down dale so lets see if we can keep 11 on the pitch, keep our passing going and convert some of the chances we will i hope create.
Cup specialists beaten on Pennos by Bray.A Richie Purdy scored for Bray, presumably related?
Did Aaron Greene find his scoring touch, as predicted by his manager?
http://www.extratime.ie/articles/226...scoring-touch/