That's right - I thought at first that a good season would at best get us up to 35th (bad season would have left us in 40th IMO) so to see 34th as a (small) possibility is great at the moment. But all those teams behind us - down as far as Bosnia - could still pass us easily before this season is finished.
I always feel that you have to get over 1.000 points before its even a half-decent season, so we are nearly there - fingers crossed!
I edited the previous post - had those placehold figures in before I rechecked them - got them up about 30 seconds before Bert updated his!
http://trophymanager.com/?c=489688
Trophy Manager - online football managment game - I like it - I think I'm getting obsessed with it though.
I have to laugh sometimes,why on earth would any right thinking Dundalk fan..or vice versa,want Cork to do well?? No need to articulate arguments to justify it in my opinion. Just seems natural to not want them to do well. Funnily enough I was rooting for Rovers,Derry and the Northern sides,but it’s hard to break the weekly habit of hoping Cork slip up.
Terrific match tonight played in a brilliant atmosphere at a packed Oriel Park.
Dundalk not brilliant by any means but never in danger either.Tie was in the bag once Hoban nodded home,Duffy's brilliant volley just a couple of mins later emphasising the control we had of the match.
Levadia's goal was one the Dundalk DF will want to forget and otherwise they crated sfa despite the amount of possession they had 2nd half. and Dundalk were willing to absorb that for the most part without havng to do much.Levadia were the same as last week,looked decent but had nothing past mid-field and definitely plenty of durt in them in the tackles!
Notice prices for next weeks match remain the same as league matches
I agree! Have a quiet word with Mark McNulty about it. Its uniquely in LoI where fans tend to rally around all clubs in Europe though as the spoils of competing and progressing in Europe grow, I think those days are numbered. Its hardly a shocker that rival fans have a sideswipe now and again. Going to Dalymount to see Drogheda a decade or so ago and I found myself actually supporting them. I needed ten showers with a scrubbing brush after but it was for the benefit of the league as a whole of teams did well in Europe and rival fans banded together. I wouldnt like to see that end as each club is representing the league and country. Cork were played off the park by Legia though!!
Rovers and Derry loss the ties in the first legs in both games ... We by right should have 3 team in Round 2 buts/maybe/ifs .... we don't! ... That's the push that required to push this league on ... Fair play to Dundalk for getting into Round 2 and we know Cork are lucky with the draw to be in Round 3 - we only have 0.825, that's need to get to 1.5 min this year but I don't think we get there tbh ...
: "Nothing is easy.*We need to play better to beat Larnaca next week. They are a good team. So are we. And we never feel inferior to any team to be honest. We can look forward to that game in Dundalk next week.*
Positive mind. Positive results
Compare and Contrast with the negativity of Caufield(granted he was more positive for once this time around)
Keeps repeating that - sounds like an inferiority complex to me!
In all seriousness good luck to Dundalk next week - *shudders - we lost the tie to Larnaca at home last year - get any sort of result next week and ye will have a great chance. They are decent - very cynical ( no problem to ye ) but not unbeatable.
Rovers paid the price for excess caution in the first leg. Hopefully, this will be lesson they will learn from. It's hard to comment about Derry, they are such a mercurial side. One game they excellent and in the next they are shocking. Looking at it from a distance, I can't help thinking that the fiasco over ticket prices detracted from the first leg.
Both Rovers and Derry are equipped to play European football, they have good passers of the ball in their sides and have pace. However, their managers need to be brave and let them play. Last night they did that, and both teams achieved excellent performances and results.
That was a very different Levadia display last night v the first leg, they literally tore into Dundalk for the first 20 mins, then again why wouldn’t they, it was only 0-1 on agg.
I honestly thought we made very hard work of the match, and conceded lots of the ball in MF and that’s something we haven’t seen much at home in a long time. Levadia worked very hard, but often their final ball was very poor, on numerous occasions a stray pass just ran out of play. Dundalk got to grips with the MF in the second half and Shields put in probably his hardest working shift of his Dundalk career. As for the goals, two quick fire efforts in 2 mins killed the game really, and one of the best I have ever seen at home, from Duffy, most will have seen it by now, RTE uploaded it. A decent header too from Hoban before this to get things off and running. For their goal, I thought it was very sloppy by Dundalk and a poor tackle by Gartland who got booked after the goal for the challenge, that was disappointing to concede like that, and we will need to raise it a fair old notch for Larnaca.
Still lots to be positive for, into Round 2 and any win in Europe is very tough and winning home and away is still rare, only the second time Dundalk have done this I think, Cork did it last year too, but these are not common occurrences for Irish sides.
Well done Derry and Rovers, for me Derry was the result of the night, that’s a decent side too in Minsk, and Stockholm are top of their own league also, just a pity about the home legs.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
Greene's miss summed up for me the tiny margins at play in European football.
There have now been countless occasions when LOI teams missed out on glory by the width of a post, or a single refereree's decision, or a single missed penalty etc. You need a lot of luck for those things to go your way, but I can't think of many times when Irish teams successfully got through a round thanks to similar marginal events going their way.
In short - if we can develop the confidence, quality or whatever that's needed to become like the lucky/jammy sides we often face when it comes to European football, then results could really improve rapidly. The difference between success and failure is often just a tiny margin at that level it seems.
Coleraine had a right go at Spartak Subboteo tonight.
First half they gave them a bit too much respect but when they got stuck in after the break only a great goal keeping performance saved Spartak.
Same story as last week really with an injury time concession and the first goal was just sleepy defending. I don't know how they would have faired if they'd gone to extra time though as the Spartak players looked a lot fitter. Apart from the Japanese midfielder and the guy on the right wing who both were lovely players Coleraine matched and out muscled them especially second half. Fussy refereeing though, must have been paying close attention to the World Cup with the slightest contact in the box getting penalised.
Oran Kearney had a nice tan too.
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