Paul Doolin

[micls]

It was a very poor standard in 2005. Dreadful actually.
Does that statement make it true.

So you dont see the difference between one fan saying it, and the vast majority of fans plus some players saying it......Ok then

Was the Setanta cup poor in 2006 / 2007 because we won it. Was the FAI cup final in 2005 poor becaue we made the greatest league champions ever look ordinary

No. I thought it was a great cup with some excellent games. You see you're completely missing the point. As much as you'd like it to be this is absolutely nothing got to so with Drogheda.

If Pats had won it it would still have been a poor league, for everyone bar their fans, If we'd won it it would still have been a poor league, for everyone bar our fans. Would I have cared? No but that doesnt mean it wouldnt have been a poor league
.

Is this year's better than last, than 2005, than 1986

No idea. I'll tell you when there's a bit more of it played.

[ndrog]

Drogheda had the best squad in the Premier last season by some distance. A seven point margin to second place, unconvincing performances, playing hoofball with quality players did not represent the strength of players at Drogheda. If it wasn't for a midseason blip by Pats they would have won the league. Last season was also one of the weakest in a number of years which also made it easier for Doolo.


With the same players? None of your squad from the '04 season played an important role for Drogheda last season (one if you count Fabio, though he was injured). He's a cheque book manager, nothing else, who has the tactical nous of a chimpanzee.


Exactly. Hard luck this season.

We won the leauge by 7 points with 3 games to go , so inevitably players are gonna take there foot off the gas for the last 3 games . We had some unconvincing performances during the season and also some fantastic ones , we played our nearest rivals st pats off the park in Drogheda .Show me a team who wins the leauge and dosent play poorly on occasion during the season . Hoofball me bolliix ?

[SunderlandBohs]

Yes Doolin spend a lot of money at Drogheda Utd. His budget was greater than anyone else in the league over the past few years. And yes his Drogheda team won probably the poorest Premier Division in a long time. But that doen't mean Doolin is a bad manager! Remember he didn't do a bad job at UCD with no money. Four trophies in five years is a good return for any manager. Yes he plays boring long ball football but it works for his team. It mightn't work at a big club like Bohs, Cork City, Derry City, Rovers or Pat's were the standard is higher. But it works for Drogheda. Doolin can't go out and buy the league but he can go out and buy the players to win it for him. He's not a great manager but he's not a bad one either.

[Schumi]

he didn't do a bad job at UCD with no money.

Yes he did. He relegated us in 2003, for the only time in our last 12 premier division seasons. We lost our first 7 games that year and got 1 point from our first 9 games. After 20 games, when he left for Drogheda, we had 12. At the end of the season, we had 34. The results under Pete Mahon would have had us comfortably in the top half so the early season performances can't be blamed on poor players.

[SunderlandBohs]

Yes he did. He relegated us in 2003, for the only time in our last 12 premier division seasons. We lost our first 7 games that year and got 1 point from our first 9 games. After 20 games, when he left for Drogheda, we had 12. At the end of the season, we had 34. The results under Pete Mahon would have had us comfortably in the top half so the early season performances can't be blamed on poor players.

Sorry Schumi, my mistake. Maybe I should done some research on Doolin's time at UCD. Did he not get you into Europe? The Intertoto cup? It was bad form when he left UCD for Drogheda. It was like the captain leaving the sinking ship.

[pineapple stu]

Nope, Martin Moran got us into the InterToto.

Doolin took over the following year and, at the end of his two and a half year spell, we were scratching U-21 games. I think that says more about the way Doolin ran things than anything else. Oh, and he subsequently remained adamant he didn't get us relegated. Sure he's never gotten a team relegated.

[Schumi]

Oh, and he subsequently remained adamant he didn't get us relegated. Sure he's never gotten a team relegated.

Him and Roddy.

[WindmillWarrior]

It mightn't work at a big club like Bohs, .

Yeah, the football was great from Bohs last season wasn't it!

[John83]

Nope, Martin Moran got us into the InterToto.

Doolin took over the following year and, at the end of his two and a half year spell, we were scratching U-21 games. I think that says more about the way Doolin ran things than anything else. Oh, and he subsequently remained adamant he didn't get us relegated. Sure he's never gotten a team relegated.

The whole incident is recounted here [Government Warning: Pineapple Stu can cause apoplexy].

[pineapple stu]

Actually one of my more reasoned rants!

[Flume]

Yes he plays boring long ball football but it works for his team. It mightn't work at a big club like Bohs, Cork City, Derry City, Rovers or Pat's were the standard is higher. But it works for Drogheda. Doolin can't go out and buy the league but he can go out and buy the players to win it for him. He's not a great manager but he's not a bad one either.

While i appreciate the sentiment in there, its a bit inaccurate to say that we're at a higher standard.They are the champions. From my own personal view, drogheda played great football against us so its difficult for me to see were the few having a moan are coming from because i havent seen this.(Bar the game at the end of the season which was a nothing game)

On doolin i dont think you can really argue with his record but in fairness its what would have been expected at drogheda given the investment im sure?

[ndrog]

While i appreciate the sentiment in there, its a bit inaccurate to say that we're at a higher standard.They are the champions. From my own personal view, drogheda played great football against us so its difficult for me to see were the few having a moan are coming from because i havent seen this.(Bar the game at the end of the season which was a nothing game)

On doolin i dont think you can really argue with his record but in fairness its what would have been expected at drogheda given the investment im sure?

Thanks very much mate .At last someone with a brain who isnt just churning out the old bull**** cliche about us

[Risteard]

Yeah, the football was great from Bohs last season wasn't it!

Think that was his point.

[WindmillWarrior]

Think that was his point.

Eh? And what about when Pats were known as Set Piece Athletic? Its a ridiculous point.

Another thing people are forgetting is the horrendous injuries Doolin had to cope with last season. It really was mental for a large part of the season despite the dept of the squad.

[Jaime]

But the most physical team doesn't always win the league. Cork were certainly not physical when they won the league, and 1 or 2 of the Pats teams weren't either. (SOme of them were)

No they don't always win it, hence I didn't say that they always win it. Cork haven't been short of rough stuff at the back in a while though.

Which Pat's teams were physical and which weren't? Not saying skill is irrelevant - if you're simply a better footballer than your opponent then great - but even the likes of Osam and Gormley were always well able to take it and give it back. Ricky wasn't easily shaken off the ball either. When I say physical I don't necessarily mean dirty.

[micls]

Another thing people are forgetting is the horrendous injuries Doolin had to cope with last season. It really was mental for a large part of the season despite the dept of the squad.

Lets say that was the reason. Will he play a different more attacking style of football so this season? doubt it.

What he does, he does well, it has worked for ye and ye have won, pretty or not.

[DruggyDrog]

Most pointless thread I've read in a long, long time. Full of biased opinions (on all sides) and also some pure rubbish, genuine opinion or not. Drogheda won the league last year because they were comfortably the best team in it. The league table rarely lies. All this about the poorest league in years, etc, was based purely on the fact that none of the so-called big teams were at the business end. If, say, Portsmouth or Villa came out to win the Premiership, the same would be said in England regardless of actual quality. And while I will be the first to admit that at times last season the quality of football played was atrocious by the Drogs, there were also occasions where it was quite exceptional. I'm sure the same can be said of a lot of teams, but I certainly don't remember an occasion last season where I was blown away by the football played by any team. In fact some of the so-called footballing sides are living on reputation alone in that department.

As for the original pointless debate, yes Doolin is as paranoid as they come. Doesn't bother Drogs cos he's winning. Bothers everyone else cos he's winning.

[Coltron]

Perception is not reality. I know a few would like this to be the case and if it is then show me the last example of a goal we scored that was "hoofball" football. And any other two examples from last season where we scored by playing this style. Of the six goals we have scored this year none, that's zero, below one, resulted or were created by a long ball up from either defender or goalkeeper. So better "raid the achieves" lads.

Since many of you have posted that we play "negative football" I have a question. What is negative football?

Of the, what 50 odd, games we played last year this negative football should be obvious to find as it would be there to see in at least sixty percent of them. Did we play negative football when it came to the crunch against Rovers, Pats and Cork to win the league? No. Is this a time to try lots of new ideas? No. This is a time of pressure and in sure a time you stick to what you know so that what's got you so far will get you through. And the football we played was positive. Positive in that it was we who took the initative and played a high tempo attack-minded football.

Your conclusions are wrong so check your assumptions for your faulty opinion.

[derm]

Since many of you have posted that we play "negative football" I have a question. What is negative football?

Of the, what 50 odd, games we played last year this negative football should be obvious to find as it would be there to see in at least sixty percent of them. Did we play negative football when it came to the crunch against Rovers, Pats and Cork to win the league? No.

In the City vs Drogs game on the 22nd July last year I saw the most negative thing I have seen in 18 years of LoI football. City were pressing for a win to get them back in with a chance but lacked the quality, Drogs were happy with a draw, which is fair enough. A very boring match crawled to the finish when Drogs won a corner in the last minute of extra time. My heart sank, convinced that ye'd score a poxy goal and claim an undeserved 3 points. Instead ye kept it in the corner to waste time.

I have never seen a team so negative as to spurn a scoring opportunity at the death. My brother-in-law and his two sons have never returned to the Cross since that match...

[Coltron]

That's a start dern. I can kinda see what you mean. Some things I'm not clear on though.

Negative football is a team sitting back and playing for a draw? I can subscribe to that. This game performance should still be taken in context of that point last season. As Drogs had a number of injuries of a number of key players, like Jasin Gavin, Gartland, Fabio, Barrett and others. So when the balance of any team is disrupted so much, fluidity takes a back seat to the result. Also, I take it your friends were going there to see City and not as potential Drogs fans. So is the real reason they haven't yet come back a reflection on City or Drogheda United?

Again it's one example. So it strikes me more as the exception than the rule. And no examples yet of why we've branded hoofballers.