Weekend games (30 April)

[passerrby]

we were very poor tonight made very hard work of it, limerick worked there socks off ,still a win is a win

[Tallaght Saint]

Very comfortable win for Rovers tonight, should have been by a lot more than one goal. Pats scored a lovely free kick with one of their only two chances in the whole game. How the Pats player (was it Harris?) wasn't sent off was ridiculous, ref correctly gave a penalty after he barged Stewart off the ball as Stewart was about to head in from 5 yards out, terrible decision to only give a yellow.

Jamie Harris plays for Drogheda. It was Damian Lynch who fouled.

[avvenalaf]

Jamie Harris plays for Drogheda. It was Damian Lynch who fouled.

He's thinking of the penalty they're going to get against Drogheda.

[Jicked]

Harris? Doh, I blame the guinness in Coffeys for mixing the name up with Lynch.

[Charlie Darwin]

I have to say the Airtricity League website is a lot better than the Eircom one ever was.

[pineapple stu]

Mission accomplished for us in Dalyer last night; came for a draw and got it. Bohs are stunningly average; no guile or creativity in the slightest. Most of their threats came from set pieces or our games of "Spot our left back". Really can't see them making any sort of impact on Europe this season.

We've still only had two players score for us this season, and have still conceded seven of our eight goals in the 150 minutes Greg Bolger hasn't been playing. If we could score a goal or two, we'd win this league.

[hoopy]

Bohs are stunningly average; no guile or creativity in the slightest.

Some of us have been saying that from the time Deegan left, it obviously hasn't still registered with the management in Dalymount. However the league in general is average this season so they may still win the league. Very comfortable win for us, thought the scoreline flattered Pats although it was a cracker of a free kick. Hindsight is great but our manager obviously felt Monday's game would be the harder of the two by leaving Twigg on the bench. Should be a bumper crowd in Dundalk on Monday.

[Dodge]

Very comfortable win for Rovers tonight, should have been by a lot more than one goal. Pats scored a lovely free kick with one of their only two chances in the whole game. How the Pats player (was it Harris?) wasn't sent off was ridiculous, ref correctly gave a penalty after he barged Stewart off the ball as Stewart was about to head in from 5 yards out, terrible decision to only give a yellow.

Very rarely players sent off for psuhes in fairness (and I'm not saying thats right). Very few chances in the game at all but Rovers clearly on top. Stewart's finishes were top class

Too many poor performances from Pats. Lynch's push typified his night. Brutal...

[danthesaint]

we are gick last nite, the team setup was all wrong, right back on the left, right winger on the left,

dunno if tiredness is kicking in for us

renters deserved the win imo, they were first to everything, they chased everything and put us under pressure hurrying us into passes and forcing us into our own half
shocking miss for that peno btw, 3 good goals, i think the 2nd one had a hint of offside about it, our goal came late tbh, if we scored earlier, we could have pushed on and got the equaliser.

mckeown is a joke of a ref, did he book any renter players??

is mad when ya think bohs have be gick this season but they are 6 pts behind us with a game in hand

[Dodge]

right winger on the left,

We don't have any left wingers. Guy, Coughlan and Cash are all mainly right footed

[danthesaint]

We don't have any left wingers. Guy, Coughlan and Cash are all mainly right footed

in fairness tho coughlan isnt bad on the left, ryan looks way out of his depth there

[SkStu]

Bohs are stunningly average; no guile or creativity in the slightest..

i think its clear after the first round of games that whichever team wins the league this year will have been an average team. As i said preseason, the quality has spread more evenly throughout the league and as a result teams are a lot closer in terms of overall quality. That said, all it will take is one team to go on a five or six game streak to wrap this league up the way things are going.

As for us, i think its obvious that Fenlon is struggling to find the right team, or the right mix. There are a lot of new players in the squad and, as is often the case, it doesnt always work out as you want or as quickly as you'd like. The Fenlon selection issues and quantity of new players, coupled with the defensive tactics we have faced this season (and which are fine and to be expected), have led to a pretty underwhelming season so far. But i think to write us off as you have, europe or otherwise, is going to come back to bite you.

[Dodge]

There are a lot of new players in the squad and, as is often the case, it doesnt always work out as you want or as quickly as you'd like. The Fenlon selection issues and quantity of new players, .

That can't be an excuse. Bohs have kept more of their squad than anyone. Pats played bray last week with only the goal keeper reminaing from last years squad. Bohs still have the likes of Oman, heary, Powell, Keegan, Byrne etc etc from alst year.

[Ezeikial]

i think its clear after the first round of games that whichever team wins the league this year will have been an average team.

Getting the excuses in already? Are you really that anxious?

As i said preseason, the quality has spread more evenly throughout the league and as a result teams are a lot closer in terms of overall quality.

The budgets have not become more even - Bohs and Shamrock Rovers are both twice the amount of the best of the mid-table group (Pats, Sligo & Dundalk). If the top 6 teams are closer in overall quality (as you say) this reflects badly on Fenlon and O'Neill in particular

As for us, i think its obvious that Fenlon is struggling to find the right team, or the right mix. There are a lot of new players in the squad and, as is often the case, it doesnt always work out as you want or as quickly as you'd like. The Fenlon selection issues and quantity of new players, coupled with the defensive tactics we have faced this season (and which are fine and to be expected), have led to a pretty underwhelming season so far.

The "lots of new players" bit is a red herring and a lame excuse - the core of last years squad remain. Fenlons tactics, team selections, and his management/motiviational skills may be more of an issue

But i think to write us off as you have, europe or otherwise, is going to come back to bite you.

I would not write off Bohs - in fact I believe that they should still win the league if Fenlon has any substance at all to him.

Bob the Builder should be able to manage that squad to another league title!

[Rocketman]

Derry 2 up Deery and Mc Daid after 25mins. Missed a penalty as well.

[dancinpants]

Derry 3-0 up.

McDaid with his second.

[gufc2000]

[SIZE=5]Longford Town 0 - 0 Waterford United
10' - Ten minutes gone in Flancare Park with approx 100 people in the ground. No incidents to report yet.[/SIZE]

From extratime

[Acornvilla]

[SIZE=5]Longford Town 0 - 0 Waterford United
10' - Ten minutes gone in Flancare Park with approx 100 people in the ground. No incidents to report yet.[/SIZE]

From extratime

pity i couldn't have gone tonight we might have made it 101 or2..... no one cares anymore in longford

[SkStu]

That can't be an excuse. Bohs have kept more of their squad than anyone. Pats played bray last week with only the goal keeper reminaing from last years squad. Bohs still have the likes of Oman, heary, Powell, Keegan, Byrne etc etc from alst year.

jeeze, i thought that you would be able to get the fact that its not an excuse but just mentioned as it is clearly a contributing factor to our less than impressive displays. And trying to integrate over half a new first team (2 GKs, Gray, Quigley, McGlynn, Raf, Higgins, Greene etc etc) is obviously going to present some hurdles. And clearly it has. Thats all im saying. I also acknowledged that Nutsy hasnt covered himself in glory in achieving this either. But im not overly worried. He's good enough to turn it round.

Getting the excuses in already? Are you really that anxious?

definitely not anxious. At all.

The budgets have not become more even - Bohs and Shamrock Rovers are both twice the amount of the best of the mid-table group (Pats, Sligo & Dundalk). If the top 6 teams are closer in overall quality (as you say) this reflects badly on Fenlon and O'Neill in particular

i didnt say the budgets had become more even. I said the quality had become more evenly distributed due to the demise of Cork and Derry. Can you not acknowledge that? And im not sure how it reflects that badly on O'Neill or Fenlon or any other manager. There are only so many players any club can sign.

The "lots of new players" bit is a red herring and a lame excuse - the core of last years squad remain. Fenlons tactics, team selections, and his management/motiviational skills may be more of an issue

see my answer to Dodge's post. Not an excuse, lame or otherwise. A point was made that we have been overwhelmingly average. I agree and im offering some reasons why.

I would not write off Bohs - in fact I believe that they should still win the league if Fenlon has any substance at all to him.

Bob the Builder should be able to manage that squad to another league title!

i believe Fenlon has the substance and im not panicking at all yet. Even if we didnt win the league this year i wouldnt get too upset about it, we've been spoilt the last 2 seasons. Dont get me wrong, i want to win more than anything and i think we will. But we will definitely have to improve.

Generally, im a bit surprised over the reaction my post got. It wasnt meant to provoke such a response. You both seemed to pick up on one point i made about new players and isolated it. I thought 2 intelligent posters like yourselves would understand the points i was making.

[Schumi]

5-0 Derry now. Ouch.