Nutsy on the look out for Scottish Club

[Derry]

When Fenlon came to Derry, supporters were generally of the opinion that a few good signings and we would win the League. Fenlon then proceeded to sign the following players.

Sick note Alan Moore
Dave Rodgers, less said the better
K Moran, which he immediately sent on loan to Shels
Peter Hyndes
Karl Bermingham
Ger O Halloran
Ola Tidman

None of these players strengthened the team. None of them held down a permanent place in the team. Fenlon did not make any attempt to sign any of those players when he moved to Bohs. Fenlon put Derry City back two seasons at least. That's why Derry City supporters don't like him, and his signings when he hadn't got a cheque book in his hand, shows how good or should i say how bad a manger he really is.

[SkStu]

Any bohs fans care to comment on Fenlon issuing a come and get me in the middle of a title defence?.

from the Sun AN Mouse.

fair comment from any league manager if you ask me.

Fenlon in no hurry to leave Bohs

PAT FENLON has insisted he would not jump at the first chance to leave Bohemians - despite the club's performance off the field.

Fenlon has been mentioned as a contender to fill the vacancies at Motherwell and Falkirk.

But the 40-year-old is not looking to quit Bohs although he despairs at their poor attendances this term, and the club's financial problems.

Fenlon said: "I haven't had any contact from anyone and I'm sure the club haven't either, I'm sure they would have spoken to me if they had.

"There are not many teams in Scotland you would leave Bohs to go and manage.

"I'm still very young as a manager so I'm not going to be naive or foolish enough to jump into something.

"But I'm not going to say that I don't have ambition, of course I have ambitions to manage at a higher level."

Defence

Bohs began the defence of their FAI Ford Cup crown with a crushing 8-1 defeat of Cork minnows Mayfield United on Friday, meaning the club are still challenging on five fronts this year.

Next Monday they will learn who they will face in the Champions League next month, the Setanta Sports Cup is due to get under way in August while they also have a League Cup semi-final date with Sligo Rovers in August to look forward to.

But Fenlon is at a loss as to why there has been no improvement in crowds since he revived the club's fortunes on the field.

Fenlon said: "The situation is disappointing.

"We're top of the League and yet there was no one at our match on Friday.

"It makes you pull your hair out at times. We won a double last year and the next goal is to do well in Europe. Unfortunately, people don't want to watch matches in the League.

"I don't really know what the answer is, but facilities are a huge part of it.

"But I love being here. I am in here every day until five or six in the evening like any job.

"It's not just about things on the pitch. If you're a manager, I firmly believe you have to row in and change things.

"We know financially we're not great, so every bit helps.

"We've changed the club around from a football point of view but we want to try to build from the top to the bottom.

"There are a few things which have frustrated me but that's football and you have to keep working at it.

"I want to be here and try and change the club around."

Although Gary Deegan was withdrawn midway through the second half against Mayfield, leaving Bohs to play the remainder of the game with only 10 men as they had used all three subs, Fenlon is confident he will be fit to face Sligo Rovers on Friday.

[blackholesun]

When Fenlon came to Derry, supporters were generally of the opinion that a few good signings and we would win the League. Fenlon then proceeded to sign the following players.

Sick note Alan Moore
Dave Rodgers, less said the better
K Moran, which he immediately sent on loan to Shels
Peter Hyndes
Karl Bermingham
Ger O Halloran
Ola Tidman

None of these players strengthened the team. None of them held down a permanent place in the team. Fenlon did not make any attempt to sign any of those players when he moved to Bohs. Fenlon put Derry City back two seasons at least. That's why Derry City supporters don't like him, and his signings when he hadn't got a cheque book in his hand, shows how good or should i say how bad a manger he really is.

Give over whinging' it was years ago!

Was anyone from Derry moaning when he first got the job? No! He didnt work out at Derry, big deal, so what?

Fenlon has proved himself to be a top manager in the LOI, albeit a bit reliant on the chequebook, but no manager is going to win the league without being a chequebook mgr of sorts.

bhs

[pól-dcfc]

Was anyone from Derry moaning when he first got the job? No!

Not true. I wasn't moaning, at the time I thought it was a great move, but there were plenty of people moaning at the appointment.

[marinobohs]

from the Sun AN Mouse.

fair comment from any league manager if you ask me.

Fenlon in no hurry to leave Bohs

PAT FENLON has insisted he would not jump at the first chance to leave Bohemians - despite the club's performance off the field.

Fenlon has been mentioned as a contender to fill the vacancies at Motherwell and Falkirk.

But the 40-year-old is not looking to quit Bohs although he despairs at their poor attendances this term, and the club's financial problems.

Fenlon said: "I haven't had any contact from anyone and I'm sure the club haven't either, I'm sure they would have spoken to me if they had.

"There are not many teams in Scotland you would leave Bohs to go and manage.

"I'm still very young as a manager so I'm not going to be naive or foolish enough to jump into something.

"But I'm not going to say that I don't have ambition, of course I have ambitions to manage at a higher level."

.

"We're top of the League and yet there was no one at our match on Friday.

"It makes you pull your hair out at times. We won a double last year and the next goal is to do well in Europe. Unfortunately, people don't want to watch matches in the League.

"I don't really know what the answer is, but facilities are a huge part of it.

"But I love being here. I am in here every day until five or six in the evening like any job.

"It's not just about things on the pitch. If you're a manager, I firmly believe you have to row in and change things.

"We know financially we're not great, so every bit helps.

"We've changed the club around from a football point of view but we want to try to build from the top to the bottom.

"There are a few things which have frustrated me but that's football and you have to keep working at it.

"I want to be here and try and change the club around."

Does not sound to me like Nutsey is looking for work elsewhere (Derry fans can rest easy !). Bohs are happy to keep him so not much point in continuing this pointless discussion. No doubt the "Pat the Rat" banners will be draged out for the next Bohs/Derry game but so what ? lets leave them to wallow in their bitterness while bohs shine up those big trophies

[pól-dcfc]

Does not sound to me like Nutsey is looking for work elsewhere (Derry fans can rest easy !). Bohs are happy to keep him so not much point in continuing this pointless discussion. No doubt the "Pat the Rat" banners will be draged out for the next Bohs/Derry game but so what ? lets leave them to wallow in their bitterness while bohs shine up those big trophies

How are the scrap prices holding up down there during the recession? Might be able to get a few bucks for them when the club goes tits up. Can't wait to see the state of the Bohs squad after the transfer window.

[marinobohs]

How are the scrap prices holding up down there during the recession? Might be able to get a few bucks for them when the club goes tits up. Can't wait to see the state of the Bohs squad after the transfer window.

Your fascination with the Big Club is joyous to see. still, with the League Cup gone there wont be much to cheer in the Brandywell this year so you may as well look South.

[Hairy Bowsie]

How old are you two?

[sonofstan]

every time i read the title of this thread, I have an image of Nutsy standing on his tippy- toes, scanning the horizon for a distant view of an advancing Falkirk or Montrose or the like....

[micls]

Thats an interesting spin on the debate....that Fenlon is a better manager then the most vilified in the league!

Connor was far from the most vilified when he joined Bohs. Some were raving about him.

Personally I would opt for Fenlon over Connor as a manager, but your comment lacks some objectivity.

How so? It was a simple observation.

If the debate is about Fenlons skill to idenitfy and sign players who can win leagues and cups, the point is that the foundation stone for Bohs' double last year was already laid for him (largely by Sean Connor) - the fact that 8 out of the 11 starters in the cup final were already at the club just starkly illustrates that.

The debate is about the ability of the managers.

Fenlon showed he could assemble a great LOI squad, with money available, at Shels. Many of which are now with him at Bohs.

Kenny is clearly better at spotting young talent than Fenlon is. Does Kenny have the tactical edge to actually get the team he put together in Derry over the line to actually win the league? I dont think so. He bottled it in 2005.

Theyre completely different types of managers. Fenlon can manage the egos, motivation etc that comes with a highly paid squad and turn them into winners, even when little is at stake(their game against us last year).

Kenny can assemble a younger squad with less money and have them play decent football.

Depends which you'd prefer.

[dcfcsteve]

Kenny is clearly better at spotting young talent than Fenlon is. Does Kenny have the tactical edge to actually get the team he put together in Derry over the line to actually win the league? I dont think so. He bottled it in 2005.

What is the wierd cliché obsession of people on here with the concept of "bottling it" - without actually even understanding what the phrase means...?

We were second-best throughout 2005 - always the challenger chasing the team above us rather than the team at the top trying to hold their nerve and stay up there. Ergo we couldn't have 'bottled it'.

If you want an example of a manager bottling it in football, you need look no further than Kevin Keegan. Let a 12pt lead half-way through the league campaign slip and clearly lost it emotionally. Now that's bottling it. Continually being in second place, and then finishing-up that way, isn't.....

[Ezeikial]

But if you examine the starting 11 in last years cup final, I think that 8 of these were Sean Connor signings, with only Oman, Byrne and Deegan being Pat Fenlons. (I'm open to correction on this!)

Cup Final Starting 11
Brian Murphy
Owen Heary
Liam Burns
Mark Rossiter
Stephen O'Donnell
Killian Brennan
Glenn Crowe
Neale Fenn
Ken Oman
Jason Byrne
Gary Deegan

And if you look at the difference between what Fenlon got out of that group of players and what Connor got out of them, it'l tell you alot about both managers...

Personally I would opt for Fenlon over Connor as a manager, but your comment lacks some objectivity.

How so? It was a simple observation.

Agreed it is simply your observation. The lack of objectivity is in the inequitable comparisons.

Sean Connor took over at Bohs when they were in complete disarray, languishing near the bottom of the table. He set about reconstructing the team and signed something in the region of 14 new players. Despite the challenges of gelling a new team together he took them from a relegation team to third place, qualifying for Europe, League Cup Finalists and last four in the Cup. Pat Fenlon walked into a very good team which was on the up - this is graphically illustrated by the 2008 cup final line up above. Fenlon deserves plenty of credit for adding to the strong squad and guiding them to the double.

I think it is indisputable that Sean Connor laid the foundations for Bohs susbsequent successes.

[wexfordned]

There is no doubt Connor has a good eye for spotting talent & he did bring the majority of the double winning squad to dalymount.

After that however it's all downhill. His man-mangement skills are appalling, the lack of fitness of some of the players during his year at bohs was a disgrace & his style of football was some of the most boring seen in dalymount including picking 6 defenders for the league cup final up in Derry.

[CMcC]

But Connor used a saturation bombing technique when it came to signing players. I can't remember how many he signed, had on trail or had on loan but it seemed to be every week someone new was with the squad. It was inevitable that he stumbled across a few good ones. To be fair he did introduce a few good ones - Murphy and O'Donnell most notably.

But it is what you get out of them that counts as much as (if not more than) finding them in the first place. In this department Fenlon leaves Connor in the halfpenny place.

[marinobohs]

Kenny is clearly better at spotting young talent than Fenlon is. Does Kenny have the tactical edge to actually get the team he put together in Derry over the line to actually win the league? I dont think so. He bottled it in 2005.

.

Often forgotten but Kenny did win a League title at Bohs (with less resources than Shels at the time) so could not agree with view that he could not take Derry "over the line". simply think that, firstly Shels and now Bohs had/have better players than Derry (due to spending or whatever you like). It would be a major achivement in the circumstances for Kenny to win the League but as Nutsey showed last year it can be done. To be fair in 2005 Derry never had a huge lead so "bottling it" seems a bit much.

[micls]

What is the wierd cliché obsession of people on here with the concept of "bottling it" - without actually even understanding what the phrase means...?

We were second-best throughout 2005 - always the challenger chasing the team above us rather than the team at the top trying to hold their nerve and stay up there. Ergo we couldn't have 'bottled it'.

You were 2 points clear going into the last game of the season.

You needed a draw to win the league.

You're team didnt turn up and your manager didnt motivate them.
Up until then ye had been the underdog, very little pressure and loads of overachievement. When ye were favourites ye didnt cope.

Whatever about the season, but that night you bottled it. You didnt play to your best abilities and lose, you simply didnt play at all.

Often forgotten but Kenny did win a League title at Bohs (with less resources than Shels at the time) so could not agree with view that he could not take Derry "over the line". simply think that, firstly Shels and now Bohs had/have better players than Derry (due to spending or whatever you like). It would be a major achivement in the circumstances for Kenny to win the League but as Nutsey showed last year it can be done. To be fair in 2005 Derry never had a huge lead so "bottling it" seems a bit much.

Im well aware that he won a league with Bohs, I simply dont think he's capable of managing Derry to the league with teams spending more than them.

[A N Mouse]

You were 2 points clear going into the last game of the season.

You needed a draw to win the league.

You're team didnt turn up and your manager didnt motivate them.
Up until then ye had been the underdog, very little pressure and loads of overachievement. When ye were favourites ye didnt cope.

Whatever about the season, but that night you bottled it. You didnt play to your best abilities and lose, you simply didnt play at all.

Im well aware that he won a league with Bohs, I simply dont think he's capable of managing Derry to the league with teams spending more than them.

FFS, do you know nothing?

That was the ref's fault after cork kicked us off the pitch!