Very disappointing day for the league in Europe, not to mention what went on this morning. Really thought Sligo had a chance on home soil but they were on the back-foot from the word "go". I couldn't even listen to the full Pat's game after Lviv got their away goal, I was so unenamoured by the goings on earlier in the day. How were the players received by the fans generally?
Questionable. The Barclay's Great Irish Sporting Public™ are only really interested in the Top Four™ and Celtic. Maybe Spurs at a push or some club like Fulham or Spartak with an Irish player (although McGeady is injured at the minute). Rangers might cause a bit of a stir and actually give Rovers a chance. I'm assuming they'll have a few players suspended for the next round after their awful disciplinary showing against Malmö. They might provide a quick windfall, but "glamour ties" don't do anything for Irish football in the long-term. Shels-Deportivo showed that. Birmingham might be vulnerable at the minute, mind. Whatever tie offers Rovers the greatest chance of progression, even if slim, is the one they ought to be after. What about Salzburg? Bohs pushed them close a few seasons ago and things might have been very different had it not been for a suicidal mix-up of a similar nature to the goal they gave away to Ljubljana in Dalymount this year.
some achievement missing two sitters in the away leg and then killing your chances off in the space of 90 seconds by lazy midefielders not tracking back.
perhaps your manager should have adopted the MON style of coaching instead.
still, you can concentrate on the league now, so all's well that ends well eh.![]()
Shamrock Rovers- Where trophies are won and envy is scarce
The Pats match tonight was horrible.
Half the crowd clapping the players while the other half booed.
Shocking night all around.
Hard luck to Sligo too.....
One thing I noticed before the Sligo game... The Vorskla players were casually taking up their positions around the pitch before kick-off. They just looked confident; the demanour oozed superiority. In contrast, the Sligo players could barely hold still for a team photo. Bar Joey Ndo, they were racing around like nervous wrecks. The game was probably lost psychologically before it even kicked off.
You've gone quiet this evening. Are you prepared to admit your bluster was all rather outlandish now?
It's one achievement more than what Sligo did.Originally Posted by sligoman
Last edited by mypost; 05/08/2011 at 4:27 AM.
NL 1st Division Champions 2006
NL Premier Division Champions 2010
NL Premier Division Champions 2011
Keep Tallaght Tidy, Throw your rubbish in the Jodi
Ten Years Not Out
While it was a good result the background to it was very similiar to Shels-Hajduk a few years before. KS were 20-odd million in debt, about to fold, not paying players, the main stars refusing to line out, Koller (who was magnificent all season beforehand) being punished for speaking out about not receiving 3 months wages. And basically the club was in the sh!t. Hajduk - heavily in debt, players not paid for 6 months, coach being told what to do, internal war and players boozing it up the night before the return leg. Much of a muchness.
Pats did very well to get as far as they did this year, of all the LOI teams in Europe they overperformed and were a credit to our leagues. I hope they get back into Europe next year and get an even better run.
On the topic of full-time vs part-time, from my own experience it's not the amout of training or time you spend in the gym, it's recovery. As a part-timer you're not able to rest up after a hard work out, you have to go to the office or what have you. Plus You land into training straight after finishing your 9-5 and maybe haven't been able to eat properly, or be stressed to the nines etc. Ireland can sustain 8-10 pro clubs if there was a franchise system and it was run properly, though given how we can't even organise our banks and transport infrastructure something as simple as a sports league is never going to work.
Can they draw any of these teams?
PAOK, Austria Vienna, Rosenborg or Metalist might be the best chances of getting through. Birmingham are in the sh*tter as well - that's a big possibility.
How do Rovers fans feel - do they think they can advance or are they looking for the high profile game?
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Karpaty were the best side we've faced in Europe. maybe Steaua but I didn't see the away leg (just the goals).
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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The teams Rovers could get. Not easy, but sure we knew it wouldn't be.
Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)Beşiktaş JK (TUR)FC Metalist Kharkiv (UKR)FK Partizan (SRB)
http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague...d=1656289.html
Got to be looking at Metalist if they want to progress, hard to see a way past the others, very slight outside chance against Partizan or Pana.
In that case, they'd be just as well off drawing Atletico, for the exposure, the experience and the crowd. I think that's a fair assessment.
Edit: Just looking at the groups and both seeds and unseeds, you can see just how big a ceiling the Irish clubs have to break through. Here's hoping!
Last edited by Kingdom; 05/08/2011 at 7:52 AM.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
The plucky Irish side knocked out one of the talented ball-playing Icelandic sides.
The Irish sides started at a later UEFA Cup round than the Icelandic sides - because they were higher seeded (one in the first, one in the second and one in the third for Ireland versus two in the first and one in the second for Iceland) - so not really a surprise that Icelandic teams won more games given they were playing against poorer opposition.
Zilina aren't Champions' League specialists - they've qualified once ever, and lost every game.
Rosenborg were already 5-0 up from the first leg, a score they didn't rack up against LoI opposition.
Other than that, your post was spot on...
Last edited by pineapple stu; 05/08/2011 at 8:10 AM.
our teams really need to score in away ties to have a chance against the bigger sides. not easy but. sligo had 2 great chances to score in ukraine but didnt. game over after 20 mins in sligo then. see who shams get in todays draw, will be tough to progress but at the least they will make some more money which is good for any LOI side.
Good spot PS, Zilina are a club at war with itself, they did well to get into the CL group, but I saw them being torn apart by Aiden and our non-scoring winger could have had 2-3 goals if he'd had a go than turning back around to beat the same man again.
Have to say that Partizan are nothing special at all. Genk beat them over two legs and Genk are not in the same league as Copenhagen for example I think. Saw the first leg - Genk were all over them, eventually won 2-1 after Partizan opened the scoring. They would have a fighing chance there imo.
No chance against the rest, they might put it up to Kharkiv for a while but Ukrainan opponents look too stong for Irish teams. ( no sh!t sherlock )
Damn, I was hoping it would Spurs. Redknapp has been talking as though he has no intention of playing his first team in the Europa.
From those teams, the big draw against Atleti would be nice. Partizan would be interesting. Their confidence can't be high but they'll fancy themselves big time against Rovers.. could be a good thing.
Are the goals from last night's games available to watch online anywhere yet? I just caught one of the goals against Sligo.
Just on Panathanaikos, I'd always wondered what the story was behind the shamrock in their crest. Turns out it may have (somewhat) Irish roots. According to Wikipedia:
In 1918, player Michalis Papazoglou proposed that the club adopt the shamrock as its emblem. He used to have it sewn on his shirt since he was competing for a club in his native Chalcedon, Constantinople. Papazoglou was possibly inspired by William Sherring, an Irish Canadian athlete who had won the Athens 1906 Olympic Marathon wearing a white shirt with a big green shamrock on it.
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