Matches weekend 7th -9th May

**sbgawa** · 05/05/2021, 2:28 PM

Premier Division

Friday
Derry City v Longford 17:45
Dundalk v Sligo 19:45

Saturday (All 18:00)

Waterford v Drogheda
St Patricks v Shamrock Rovers
Bohemians v Finn Harps

First Division
Friday (all 19:45)

UCD v Treaty United
Cork v Wexford
Cabo v Cobh
Shelbourne v Athlone
Galway v Bray

**sbgawa** · 05/05/2021, 2:37 PM

Dundalk v Sligo, Sligo have slipped a bit in the form stakes and DFC are improving (ex Keeper), Dundalk favourites bar another keeper howler or 2
Good chance for Drogs and Derry to pick up points but both Waterford and Longford cant be written off on an individual match basis.
Harps are BIG as well as being good on the ball and bohs are small , set pieces and corners will be tough,
Pats v Rovers , big chance for Rovers to go 5 points clear but id probably take a draw, Pats look good but i can see them dropping more points against other clubs.

First division matches will be all very competitive this weekend Shels Athlone is a chnace for Shels to stamp a bit of authority on the division , points badly needed by Galway and Bray, UCD with a win can can go top if Shels draw or beat Athlone, Cork v Wexford is a real must win for Cork even at this early stage.

**Mr A** · 05/05/2021, 2:41 PM

Harps haven't been great from set pieces this year TBH. We had many many on Monday and rarely threatened at all whereas in the past we generated a fair bit of havoc with them.

**sbgawa** · 05/05/2021, 4:33 PM

Dundalk v Sligo, Sligo have slipped a bit in the form stakes and DFC are improving (ex Keeper), Dundalk favourites bar another keeper howler or 2
Good chance for Drogs and Derry to pick up points but both Waterford and Longford cant be written off on an individual match basis.
Harps are BIG as well as being good on the ball and bohs are small , set pieces and corners will be tough,
Pats v Rovers , big chance for Rovers to go 5 points clear but id probably take a draw, Pats look good but i can see them dropping more points against other clubs.

First division matches will be all very competitive this weekend Shels Athlone is a chnace for Shels to stamp a bit of authority on the division , points badly needed by Galway and Bray, UCD with a win can can go top if Shels draw or beat Athlone, Cork v Wexford is a real must win for Cork even at this early stage

**Mr A** · 05/05/2021, 4:47 PM

Harps haven't been great from set pieces this year TBH. We had many many on Monday and rarely threatened at all whereas in the past we generated a fair bit of havoc with them.

**sbgawa** · 05/05/2021, 5:00 PM

I couldn't believe how big some of your guys were, Sadiki made Lee Grace look like a midget.
At corners the match ups looked very one sided

**mcgonigle** · 05/05/2021, 5:12 PM

Originally Posted by sbgawa

Dundalk v Sligo, Sligo have slipped a bit in the form stakes and DFC are improving (ex Keeper), Dundalk favourites bar another keeper howler or 2

Not sure what makes us favourites here. We've won two games against a part-time team playing their third game in a week and an awful Waterford team. I'm presuming you've only seen us once or twice this season? Even taking the keeper mistakes out of it, we are awful. Things have quietened off the pitch but the players have decided to continue the circus on it

**pineapple stu** · 05/05/2021, 5:28 PM

How are the imports getting on (Abibi aside)?

I've seen mixed reviews, and the scorers tend to be the old reliables (McMillan, Shields, Hoban, even Boyle)

Goals don't tell everything of course, but Dundalk's foreign legion have generally flattered to deceive in recent years, while the old reliables are of course another year older this year.

**sbgawa** · 05/05/2021, 5:30 PM

Originally Posted by mcgonigle

Not sure what makes us favourites here. We've won two games against a part-time team playing their third game in a week and an awful Waterford team. I'm presuming you've only seen us once or twice this season? Even taking the keeper mistakes out of it, we are awful. Things have quietened off the pitch but the players have decided to continue the circus on it

With an average keeper
You would have got a result in Tallaght , drawn with Harps, beaten Longford just off the top of my head and there were others.
i did say favourites without keeper issues

**mcgonigle** · 05/05/2021, 6:40 PM

Hard to tell for most as they haven't had a run of games:

Abibi - lets not go there
Sonni - Hasn't played a league game, got injured on international duty
Jurkovskis - looks a player and has done the best out of everyone, although he's had a run of games. Was very poor on Monday though, hopefully just an off night
Stanton - anonymous the majority of the time he has played, but has shown some nice touches to make you think there is a player there and of course is now injured...
Han - bags of energy, looks a bit headless at times. Played well against the Drogs and you've guessed it, is now injured
Midtskogen - Got injured in preseason, came back and got injured. Is back now wearing a face mask. Has a decent touch for a big man. Mad thing is he's never been played up top, always on the right, seems crazy
Junior - a mixed bag, good in some games, anonymous in others. Another who is being swapped around, right-side, up top. To be fair to him he's getting a few goals and played well on Monday
Jesus Perez - Who???
Zahibo - too early. Looks to have something about him, and a nasty streak....

Having said that it's the established players that have disappointed me most. Other than McMillan (now injured

), Shields (not at his best but still one of our best) and Duffy in patches, the rest have been pretty awful. Are they being affected by the circus behind the scenes? probably, but they still should be doing better than they are.

Injuries are ridiculous also, can't all be bad luck.

The decision not to retain Gannon, Hoare, Mountney and even McCarey is really coming home to roost.

**mcgonigle** · 05/05/2021, 6:43 PM

Originally Posted by sbgawa

With an average keeper
You would have got a result in Tallaght , drawn with Harps, beaten Longford just off the top of my head and there were others.
i did say favourites without keeper issues

Fair enough, I just see issues outside of the keeper. And we don't have an average keeper, one of the calamities has to play. We don't even know if we have a 19s keeper, can't be any worse

**Martinho II** · 05/05/2021, 7:47 PM

I thought that Dundalks GK the other night PC was extremely poor. I wasnt that impressed with Dundalk in Bishopsgate. I doubt Jim Magilton is the answer either. Hes more of a no 2 imo.

**pineapple stu** · 05/05/2021, 8:04 PM

Sheedy is gone now, so that makes the Drogheda game more interesting.

Questions have to be asked about the behind-the-scenes stuff though.

**Longfordian** · 05/05/2021, 8:11 PM

I was afraid this would happen. If they appoint someone with a bit of LOI experience and bring in a few players in the window they could pull away. Not sure we'll have much to play with in terms of money for signings.

**Jack B** · 05/05/2021, 8:25 PM

Expecting a tight one in Richmond on Saturday. Despite having the best squad in the league Rovers usually play about 8 defensively-minded players for some reason and we seemed to have settled on a 3 at the back of late which I can't see SOD deviating on for this one.

**Kiki Balboa** · 05/05/2021, 8:31 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

How are the imports getting on (Abibi aside)?

I've seen mixed reviews, and the scorers tend to be the old reliables (McMillan, Shields, Hoban, even Boyle)

Goals don't tell everything of course, but Dundalk's foreign legion have generally flattered to deceive in recent years, while the old reliables are of course another year older this year.

For me, the worst outfield players this year have been Boyle, Cleary, Shields and Sloggett. Our spine is awful, and we cant defend. Cleary in particular has been awful. Keeping him and not Hoare is a massive mistake.

For the new players, they have shown some good stuff in parts, but mostly none have been fit enough to tell. Juries still out. But the fact we got a heap of unfit expensive players speak volumes of where the club is at the moment.

Ravis looks the real deal, but has gone a bit more quiet since moving from wing back to full back.

**boynemunich** · 05/05/2021, 8:31 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Sheedy is gone now, so that makes the Drogheda game more interesting.

Questions have to be asked about the behind-the-scenes stuff though.

Bad timing for us. Players like to prove a point once managers leave. They will probably have Murphy, Brennan and Ferguson back which makes it a very tricky tie. Hopefully can still manage to get 3 points.

**Nesta99** · 05/05/2021, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by mcgonigle

Hard to tell for most as they haven't had a run of games:

Abibi - lets not go there
Sonni - Hasn't played a league game, got injured on international duty
Jurkovskis - looks a player and has done the best out of everyone, although he's had a run of games. Was very poor on Monday though, hopefully just an off night
Stanton - anonymous the majority of the time he has played, but has shown some nice touches to make you think there is a player there and of course is now injured...
Han - bags of energy, looks a bit headless at times. Played well against the Drogs and you've guessed it, is now injured
Midtskogen - Got injured in preseason, came back and got injured. Is back now wearing a face mask. Has a decent touch for a big man. Mad thing is he's never been played up top, always on the right, seems crazy
Junior - a mixed bag, good in some games, anonymous in others. Another who is being swapped around, right-side, up top. To be fair to him he's getting a few goals and played well on Monday
Jesus Perez - Who???
Zahibo - too early. Looks to have something about him, and a nasty streak....

Having said that it's the established players that have disappointed me most. Other than McMillan (now injured

), Shields (not at his best but still one of our best) and Duffy in patches, the rest have been pretty awful. Are they being affected by the circus behind the scenes? probably, but they still should be doing better than they are.

Injuries are ridiculous also, can't all be bad luck.

The decision not to retain Gannon, Hoare, Mountney and even McCarey is really coming home to roost.

Thats all a fair refelction of Dundalk fans thinking in general i think. Agree on Midtskogen, signed as an additional option up front and even with Hoban and now McMillan injured was still on the wing with Junior up front. That said yeah he is a handful on the wing and does drift inside but at 6'5 or whatever he isnt your traditional type winger!! He should be the foil for Duffy and with Junior maybe making the width. Jurkovskis was signed with a 3 at the back in mind but is just as effective in a far more comfortable back 4. Dummigan was looking very good on the opposite side but came off injured too, Gannon would have been real foil for the front men in his old role if he had been kept. We dont know the nature of the injures generally but why I think strength and conditioning needs looking at when a new manager is in - just seems to be a constant big injury list so something is off imo. If Patching is brought back in July and is interested he could be that bit of spark in attacking central midfield especially when others are not firing. You cant call McEleney out on effort but he isnt pulling the strings like he used to but then again we are now playing with 2 sitting defensive midfielders rather than one and pushing more in to attack. Could have been where Towell would have made a difference in getting midfield threatening again as imo the strikers had to drop too deep to get involved for the last while.

**Nesta99** · 07/05/2021, 12:55 AM

Not totally sure why the other thread was moved?

Derry v Longford
Dundalk v Sligo

Lots to find out tonight!

Satueday

Pats v Rovers the tie of the round for obvious reason.
Bohs v Harps will tell plenty for both clubs
Waterford v Drogheda - Drogs need to target 3 pointsl

**sulywaterfordfc** · 07/05/2021, 1:24 AM

Some positivity at least from the interim manager https://waterford-news.ie/2021/05/06...inst-drogheda/ . Interestingly enough Murphy was dropped over raising issue with the previous management’s training method. To hear the interim speak about how little tactical training etc the team has done is a disgrace. Mike seems like a good guy, I feel him taking over this week gives us opportunity to possibly pick up points the weekend. Incredibly difficult to drop Martin in goal but with with Brian Murphy fit and able our with current form and lack of experience gives us no choice but to have Murphy in there. His experience and presence on the pitch should make a big difference, that’s not mentioning his qualities as a keeper. Martin didn’t put a foot wrong but certainly looks a prospect and seemingly highly rated also, working with a keeper of Murphys experience and quality will no doubt be beneficial for Martin. I’d say having Murphy back on the training pitch alone will make a difference going forward.

Tricky game for us this weekend, hopefully the management changes gives the players a spring in their steps. I’d be hopeful of us winning but on a side note It would be great to see us play with some level of shape and plan and actually look like a football team again.