Games weekend 15th to 18th October

[Nesta99]

Tbh there wasnt much I said in the previous thread page that was a wind up. Rovers do need to improve if they want to stay top of the heap, Calcio has mentioned regularly 2 players that its felt are not cutting it. I dont think Gaffney or Greene score enough or that thir chance to goal ratio is good enough. I'm not saying they are poor players and they may well fit the way Bradley wants to play, but a bit like Mannus being a big piece of the puzzle a consistent 15-20 goal a season striker is needed.

Yes the Worst league ever comment was a nod to how every season is the worst for fans of clubs that finish below the worst champions ever... tongue in cheek. I didnt say that Mannus won Rovers the league, but he was a key signing to close the gap and now former Dundalk and Bohs players have contributed to becoming champions elect. The league this season has been won at a canter, not as much criticism of Rovers than it is of the chasing pack. A numbers of sides have improved but from a lower base and others have dropped off, Dundalk and Cork off the cliff albeit for different reasons, and even Bohs though every season is something of a rebuild and Europe took a lot of focus this year.

Me saying if other sides had shown more consistency they could nick a title is really stating the obvious and that this has been a facile league win for Rovers - I doubt many would disagree as Rovers only had to be slightly better than average to win, so as good as they needed to be - hardly scathing observations. There does seem to be a siege mentality among some Rovers fans especially by former regulars and the odd one now (not really yerself ontheotherhand), even when winning the league. Often assuming criticism ala Cork fans at times, when they felt they didnt get widespread credit for a league and cup double.

[sbgawa]

I think we have struggled to replace jack Byrne and mceneff our two best players and probably the two best players in the league.
We have been lucky that dundalk imploded pats and sligo have never really challenged imo I never really was worried about them. Bohs are saddled with Long and derry started to badly to challenge.
Next year we need to improve to win the league again as derry will improve with the addition of mceleny Duffy patching and Kelly. Pats will be one season further developing, Dundalk.....who knows..

[Northsider]

I’d be more disappointed at letting a ten man team dominate the second half and whilst both sides had chances we had a number of clear ones so you were lucky to hold on , so in fairness the whole team should accept responsibility and not blame the keeper ( albeit it was awful but he did make a number of excellent saves late on)

Dominate? Put the kool aid down lad, Kevin Doyle debunked that Bradley gibberish straight after his interview, teams that dominate don't give up 7 (seven) scoring chances in one half.

I would have been happy with a draw before kick off considering the players we were missing, but it very much feels like 2 points dropped after the keeper howler. Shams hardly threatened at all before that.

But I see you've all decided Bradley is a genius again after that result, hilarious.

[ontheotherhand]

I don't think that necessarily follows. It certainly could point to that, but it could also point to Dundalk being a mess who, for whatever reason, are only capable of producing on any given day, as you say. Bohs have gone backwards this year, Sligo have some decent young players but have been in freefall since the summer break yet are still third. Pat's have improved a lot but Pat's fans will probably say they've been too inconsistent to really launch a proper title challenge. And even Rovers aren't as good as they were last year; I think most Rovers fans acknowledge they've not really replaced Byrne and McEneff.

I know every year is either the best standard ever or the worst standard ever, so I won't go to extremes on this, but I don't see how it can be a stronger league (ie harder to win) than last season.

Well we certainly made it look easier last season! Dundalk are absolutely a mess but I think the other clubs are stronger this season to be honest. We're weaker and they've improved which makes it a harder league to win and has reduced our overall points league. No real pushovers this year whereas last year I think the likes of Cork and Shels would have been way further adrift over 36 games. Shels were one of the worst sides I've seen in the Premier. Longford offered more this year. Last year was tough because of the overall circumstances but we were far better than any other team with McEneff and Byrne in the team.

Bohs are an odd one. I think they are about the same as last season with Devoy, Tierney, Kelly, Wilson and Coote all great additions after they lost Grant and Wright. They might even be a bit better based on what I've seen but I don't watch them outside of the games with us and the derbies don't always paint a clear picture. I think they are struggling in the league more because other clubs have improved than because they've regressed.

I'd agree with Nesta above that we need to improve to have a chance next season but that speaks to the closing pack getting better as much as it does to the impending Derry dynasty and ship steadying of Perth at Dundalk.

[Calcio Jack]

Dominate? Put the kool aid down lad, Kevin Doyle debunked that Bradley gibberish straight after his interview, teams that dominate don't give up 7 (seven) scoring chances in one half.

I would have been happy with a draw before kick off considering the players we were missing, but it very much feels like 2 points dropped after the keeper howler. Shams hardly threatened at all before that.

But I see you've all decided Bradley is a genius again after that result, hilarious.

If you’re going to quote Kevin D as the arbitrator then don’t forget to mention that both he and Sadler thought the red was a dreadful decision….

Bradley isn’t a genius but has improved greatly but has actually underperformed this season as we were more than capable of landing the double and he missed out on that albeit the most important thing is to win the league…of course the above has to be put in the context of our level of what’s acceptable rather than your apparent low expectations from your management team… as for tonight we can differ and I’ll enjoy being 13 points ahead and league almost won because that’s what counts

[sbgawa]

Long is the best thing that's happened to Rovers in a long time. Tactically inept a decent budget plus the st Kevin's pipeline shocking to be so near harps waterford et al. I suppose the craft beer , poetry and bee keeping is going well

[Northsider]

If you’re going to quote Kevin D as the arbitrator then don’t forget to mention that both he and Sadler thought the red was a dreadful decision….

Bradley isn’t a genius but has improved greatly but has actually underperformed this season as we were more than capable of landing the double and he missed out on that albeit the most important thing is to win the league…of course the above has to be put in the context of our level of what’s acceptable rather than your apparent low expectations from your management team… as for tonight we can differ and I’ll enjoy being 13 points ahead and league almost won because that’s what counts

My expectations are grounded in realism Jack, its ludicrous to expect Bohs to challenge for the league when teams like the Shams have a vastly superior budget to us, not to mention the full time vs part time aspect. So you're not comparing apples with apples here.

It's disappointing that we didn't get the 3 points tonight considering the situation we put ourselves in at HT, but we have a bigger game coming up against Waterford on Friday. Hopefully we can get some of our key players back and not rely on the skeleton crew we had out tonight.

[sbgawa]

It's possibly unrealistic to expect you to challenge but then it was probably unrealistic to expect river's to challenge with half dundalk budget but maybe its realistic to expect you to be within 25 or 30 points at the end of the season.
Ditch long and maybe u have a chance but the bee keeper lambert has given him a 4 year contract thank god so good luck. There's only one Keith Long

[sbgawa]

Just curious but if bohs don't win the cup or finish in a European position in what by all accounts is a terrible league would this be reason to sack long.....and maybe lambert as well??

[Northsider]

It's possibly unrealistic to expect you to challenge but then it was probably unrealistic to expect river's to challenge with half dundalk budget but maybe its realistic to expect you to be within 25 or 30 points at the end of the season.
Ditch long and maybe u have a chance but the bee keeper lambert has given him a 4 year contract thank god so good luck.

Is that the 4th or 5th post in a row you've been ranting about Keith Long?

[sbgawa]

Probably 10th or 11th to be honest. He's the gift that keeps on giving. It's a combination of a club that are happy to be gallant losers with a manager with the skills to deliver exactly that. If bohs put their budget the st Kevin's academy and ollie horgon in charge they would be formidable but long is a more comfortable fit for them. Galent losers.
I've huge respect for Dundalk who dragged themselves up by their bootstraps to win multiple leagues, the narrative from long is consistently one of excuses. Long may it last

[Northsider]

Probably 10th or 11th to be honest. He's the gift that keeps on giving. It's a combination of a club that are happy to be gallant losers with a manager with the skills to deliver exactly that. If bohs put their budget the st Kevin's academy and ollie horgon in charge they would be formidable but long is a more comfortable fit for them. Galent losers

I can only assume you are very drunk with the amount of editing you are attempting to do with your incoherent posts.

Good night.

[sbgawa]

No I'm just not great on phone editing , bit like Long and winning matches.

[NFF-Fotball]

Didn’t see the game itself - but I assume Tallaght was full as no tickets for away supporters were available?

[CorribsideSteve]

Good first half, average second half. Rovers had their chances to wrap it up,despite being a man down, but Bohs did enough to hold out. At the time, I thought it was an obvious red card, as Gannon was not going to get there in time, and it felt like Lopez was holding back the Bohs player for a whole minute. The replay's seemed to suggest that wasn't the case, with Gannon arriving very quickly. Still though, I think it probably was a red card. It was a very delibrate intention from Lopez, he knew what he was doing. With Rovers wastefulness in the 2nd half, Bohs would probably have won if not for the keeper's howler. Overall though, despite their goal being a moment of top quality, from start to finish, but there just wasn't enough additional creativity from then on, and they have to be disappointed with they way they flagged and let Rovers dominate for long stretches in the 2nd half.
On a wider point, Rovers are 13 points clear of 9 poor, low-quality teams. 1.6 goals per game. That's a very low scoring ratio for a Champion-elect. They won't mind or care about that, and you can certainly only beat what's in front of you, but the threat carried to them by the other teams has been rarely, if ever, apparent this season. Sligo and Bohs have a win and a draw against them, Pats have got one draw off them. 10 points between 3rd and 9th, and 20 points between 3rd and 1st. A cakewalk season where they've rarely been tested by the teams around them at any stage. Does that not mean that they're just too good, some may ask, and it might be true if they had more goals per game, but a lot of it has to do with how bang-average everyone else has been.

[PartySaint]

Rovers are 13 points clear of 9 poor, low-quality teams. 1.6 goals per game. That's a very low scoring ratio for a Champion-elect. They won't mind or care about that, and you can certainly only beat what's in front of you, but the threat carried to them by the other teams has been rarely, if ever, apparent this season. Sligo and Bohs have a win and a draw against them, Pats have got one draw off them. 10 points between 3rd and 9th, and 20 points between 3rd and 1st. A cakewalk season where they've rarely been tested by the teams around them at any stage. Does that not mean that they're just too good, some may ask, and it might be true if they had more goals per game, but a lot of it has to do with how bang-average everyone else has been.

An 89th minute equaliser in Tallaght and 2 92nd minute winners in Richmond has been the difference between a cakewalk and a decent title race. Pats have matched Rovers toe for toe against the other teams in the league, a bit more quality in our squad and it would have been a lot tighter than it is, I expect next season to be a lot closer with Derry involved as well.

[WeAreRovers]

Not going to get involved with talk of the quality of the league beyond pointing out that Rovers are 13 points clear with 5 games left and will retain the title with ease. Job done for us, happy days.

Did want to point out though that, contrary to one unrepresentative Rovers poster on here, Sean Gannon has been immense since moving to the right side of the back 3 and was just behind Chris McCann as our best player 2nd half last night.

Next season will probably be Cotter/Finn at RWB, Pico, Grace and Gannon back 3 and a new LWB to compete with Farrugia as poor Kavo sadly looks finished.

[Stuttgart88]

I rarely post here but am adding my 2p's worth anyway!

Bradley is a mixed bag imho. Pre-mid-season break Rovers really played some underwhelming football but ground out the results, except for the spell after the Dundalk defeat. Sloppy goals were conceded regularly, often on the counter-attack, and too few goals were scored. Our forwards aren't scoring enough, as said above. Greene and Gaffney have great attributes but aren't prolific. Burke was really disappointing imho. Crucial goals in Richmond and Derry but his season-long contribution was poor even taking injury into account. I don't know if it's that the system doesn't suit him but we're not getting enough goals.

In the first half of the season our goals from set-pieces were relatively low in number I think too, unlike last year when Byrne and Pico seemed to combine well from corners and Byrne scored direct frees a few times. Watts' delivery has been really good lately but in the first half of the season set pieces were worse than last season's.

Mannus hasn't been as solid as last season either. He's still good but his position might be vulnerable.

As champions and firm favourites you'd have expected Rovers to have won more games comfortably. I'd be on my couch on Fridays with my iPad on and my wife would be asking at 9.45pm "is that game not over yet?". Very few games were won by, say, midway through the second half or earlier. Maybe Waterford twice and Sligo last week? Not being arrogant here, but you'd expect league winners to have wrapped games up early more often than this. In lots of games Rovers were flat in the first half and needed a boot up the behind at half time. that has to be a managerial flaw.

I think some smart recruitment is required.

That said, it's also testimony to a very competitive league. Every game is potentially tricky on paper.

And is Long that bad? At their best Bohs play great football. That's down to good coaching imho.

[Calcio Jack]

Did want to point out though that, contrary to one unrepresentative Rovers poster on here, Sean Gannon has been immense since moving to the right side of the back 3 and was just behind Chris McCann as our best player 2nd half last night.

Next season will probably be Cotter/Finn at RWB, Pico, Grace and Gannon back 3 and a new LWB to compete with Farrugia as poor Kavo sadly looks finished.

Re Gannon think you need to review the number of mistakes by him that have led directly to us conceding - e.g. getting done by Ward last night or ball over the top against Dundalk last match…. Perhaps as others have said he’s been played out of position and can’t handle new role but bottom line is that he and Hoare when played together are a liability and the stats show that - I’d love it to be different .

Sadly think your comment about Kavo may be true let’s hope it isn’t .

Rovers will most likely retain all of current squad plus hopefully one/two marquee signings and that should set us up for a good go at a three in a row

[sbgawa]

I'm hoping we get to see Conan Noonan and Aydemo start a few matches in the run in thye both could be big players for us going forward