Play-offs 2022.

[CorribsideSteve]

If Waterford would have been any way useful last night, there wouldn't need to be any wailing, and gnashing of teeth over the fact that UCD are still in the Premier.

[oriel]

Waterford can have no complaints about the result, UCD far better organised all over the park, and defended really well.

The marking inside the box by Waterford was shocking for Lonergan's goal, who to be fair took it well.

Regardless of the teams involved, its always advantage in my book for the PD team, who just wait for the marathon FD play off winners to emerge, and are better prepared.

[nigel-harps1954]

What percentage of the crowd would you say UCD fans made up at the game then ?

The UCD Bowl is 8kms from Richmond Park. It's 162 miles from the RSC. To be overwhelmingly outnumbered in a big game on your doorstep speaks to how small UCD's support is. I appreciate that doesn't please or sit well with UCD fans, and they don't like being reminded of it. But it is still true. Another year of dragging down the PD's average attendances awaits

It's 100 miles from UCD to Waterford, not 162.

You're speaking out of the wrong orifice here currently.

UCD are in the Premier Division on merit, and fair play to them.

[pineapple stu]

I meant do you and others agree with the take The Bowler has on the club and manager in general?

Yeah, I know.

I've disagreed with Bowler here before. Some things could be done better for sure, but hey, it's a really small club. I don't mind the LSL results/fixtures getting coverage on the social at all; it's the same club. Ditto the underage results. Getting everyone involved under the one banner is good. The guys who update it are on the LSL so it's easy for them to add results. But there's big gaps of course, such as any real updates last night (even the teams went up after kickoff), or ticket info going up until Monday (by which time Waterford sales were already into the stand behind the goal)

I don't agree with the personal fiefdom stuff either, and the Myler stuff gets more personal than I'd like (but that's not too say it's not true, technically)

What percentage of the crowd would you say UCD fans made up at the game then ?

I'd say more than 10% and lower than 7547.557%

As pretty much everyone else has said - who gives a ****?

Do you not think Waterford are financially doped up by their EFL backers underwriting their wages? Or Derry or Galway or Longford or others?

[D24Saint]

I was all for UCD bashing in the past but they provide a very professional set up for young players to develop in the LOI. It was a disappointing night for Waterford but that’s football they have to shake off the loss and be ready for another fight next season.

[Poor Student]

I meant do you and others agree with the take The Bowler has on the club and manager in general?

I've disagreed the The Bowler's view in the past that there's untapped resevoir of potential fans in the campus being easily overlooked. It may be my own poverty of imagination but through my own endeavours and those of various individuals over the years I've never seen an initiative that captured the attention of the student base aside from once off alcohol promotions. They just don't identify that strongly with the college and don't see LOI football as something worth spending a Friday night on. It's a hard sell.

Those who run the club run it in spite of the college rather than because of it it in my view. Yes, there's a subvention towards the budget but the college itself seems to have zero interest in leveraging its structures and reputation to maximise the potential of the club. To be fair, it's far from the remit and priority of an educational institution but what it does mean is that it's left to a cohort of volunteers to keep the club functioning and competing in senior LOI football. Is the strategic vision a little stagnant? Probably. Is the club run by a tightly knit group that don't seek to actively bring outsiders into the fold and keep things fresh? Probably although manpower is an issue and there isn't a huge line of volunteers being locked out. Have they kept the show on the road at great personal sacrifice over the years? Undoubtedly.

I can't really speak to the Bowler's views on the scouting and youth structures and linkages, it's just not something I have that deep a knowledge of. I'm not necessarily sure it could be as fortunate and as accidental as good young players just so happen to keep being here and almost falling into the club. There must be something more working than that.

On Myler, I haven't made it to games this year and wouldn't be privy to the kind of info Bowler has on disgruntlement in the camp. I like to see UCD play it on the deck if possible but he's seen us promoted, negotiate two playoffs and survive and finish the season as one of the form teams. Again, I'm not sure if I believe that's all been achieved in spite of him. Let's see if he's here next year.

It's always good to see any conversation going between UCD fans online and someone passionately advocating for growth of the club. I wouldn't want to silence anyone due to my own jaded involvements over the years as someone may always bring something fresh to the table. I'd just encourage putting that energy into volunteering and trying to get your ideas off the ground and seeing if they work.

I don't know if it's the relatively lower volume of activity on foot.ie and the grateful reduction in Cork langers from its halcyon days but it used to be common place to demean UCD and its place in the league whereas I feel our contribution to LOI is a lot more respected now and views like EYG's are rarely expressed here. What truly embarrasses this league are clubs financially imploding and going out of existence or having to re-establish as a phoenix entity. All UCD have done is operate stably over a number of decades and bring through countless talent that has gone on to enrich this league and on occasion even represent the national team.

[pineapple stu]

it used to be common place to demean UCD and its place in the league whereas I feel our contribution to LOI is a lot more respected now and views like EYG's are rarely expressed here.

I think it's also the poster base mellowing with age. Most posters are mature enough now to not take a small club in the Premier as some sort of personal slight, or something that's holding their club and the league back from greatness.

[legendz]

I think it's also the poster base mellowing with age. Most posters are mature enough now to not take a small club in the Premier as some sort of personal slight, or something that's holding their club and the league back from greatness.

Galway, Limerick (Treaty) and Waterford should not be below UCD. UCD are like the cut line of golf tournaments.

[Kiki Balboa]

UCD for me have found a niche in the league and do it extremely well. Its a very well run side on the pitch considering their resources- and play a massive role within the league for developing players.

Its healthy for the league that the best run teams get to the Premier.

[total hoofball]

UCD retaining their Premier Division status is even more impressive that they lost Whelan and Kerrigan for the 2nd half of the season and increased their points in the 2nd half of the season from 9 points adding 17 points without those two

[trevy]

That was a sickener last night. It would have been better if the penalty wasn't given as that miss made the defeat even worse. Silly effort from Junior, needed to keep it simple and get it on target.
Players and fans were devastated. There was silence behind the goal at the end.
I don't have issues with losing to UCD because they have a small fan base. We've had 2 years to beat them in play offs and failed to do so.

[ontheotherhand]

They just don't identify that strongly with the college and don't see LOI football as something worth spending a Friday night on. It's a hard sell.

All UCD have done is operate stably over a number of decades and bring through countless talent that has gone on to enrich this league and on occasion even represent the national team.

Went there myself and had no interest in spending extra hours on campus. Supporting your college isn't an Irish thing. Maybe things have changed a bit but I'd agree it's really tough sell to get the student base interested. The Venn diagram of football fans and people who think it's cool to associate with the college they attend has very limited overlap. I saw it suggested elsewhere (by WAR I think?) that the links with the LSL are actually drawing in fans? That makes more sense in terms of building the club imop. There is a decent local catchment area there and a lot of people who wouldn't be attached to other LoI clubs.

UCD are in the league on merit. The league is nowhere near big enough and the other clubs nowhere near well enough run to be looking down on them.

Thanks for the responses stu and P S. And to The Bowler, I'm not disagreeing with you either, just looking for some insight on Myler really. Some of the stuff you post is at odds with what I've seen on the field and what I've heard from others who hold him in reasonably high regard.

[The Bowler]

Went there myself and had no interest in spending extra hours on campus. Supporting your college isn't an Irish thing. Maybe things have changed a bit but I'd agree it's really tough sell to get the student base interested. The Venn diagram of football fans and people who think it's cool to associate with the college they attend has very limited overlap. I saw it suggested elsewhere (by WAR I think?) that the links with the LSL are actually drawing in fans? That makes more sense in terms of building the club imop. There is a decent local catchment area there and a lot of people who wouldn't be attached to other LoI clubs.

UCD are in the league on merit. The league is nowhere near big enough and the other clubs nowhere near well enough run to be looking down on them.

Thanks for the responses stu and P S. And to The Bowler, I'm not disagreeing with you either, just looking for some insight on Myler really. Some of the stuff you post is at odds with what I've seen on the field and what I've heard from others who hold him in reasonably high regard.

All good stuff lads, that's the purpose of this place, to enable some reasonable debate. Just to wrap on the Myler thing, all I would say really is that you have to bear in mind that he's been on a media charm offensive this season in direct response to his own 'challenges'. Irish football media not exactly known for challenging managers, they just get cut adrift, it's a bit of a mafia type set up really with LOI managers all backing each other in terms of media treatment. Bear in mind I think he's had three lengthy suspensions this year and same problems last year, all for abusing officials. He has a considerably worse disciplinary record than Ollie Horgan, that takes some doing. Not for me to dive any deeper into the internal stuff on a public forum, to be fair to both players and indeed the man himself. But any journalist worth the name wouldn't find it hard to join the dots. So we are done for another season, I'll be the other side of the world next season, but will do my best to keep throwing darts from afar. Happy off season lads.

[ontheotherhand]

Cheers Bowler. Good luck with the move. Here's to LoItv sticking around.

[ger121]

I used to be one of those who thought UCD brought nothing to the league but my view changed over the years. They massively punch above their weight in terms of performances vs budget. The amount of players they have produced (and educated) over the years would be a very very long list. They always try and play football the right way and have a tidy ground with a lovely pitch and personally I enjoy going there when Bohs play them. They have tried to grow their fanbase or at least is seems to be growing in recent years, which is very hard as a University, as Irish ones don’t tend to have a culture of sport following. Hell, they even qualified for Europe on occasions and have had some decent results, even better than some other clubs who have played a similar number of games. I’d argue that they have done more in the league in the last decade than many other clubs. So some of this clubs should get down off their high horses. Anyway, whatever people may think of them as a club, one thing is clear, they ain’t going anywhere, any time soon. See you in the Premier next season.

[oriel]

Have to say I agree with this, I used to think the exact same about UCD.

They deservedly beat us at the Bowl in the summer and won two play offs in a row, definite worthy of their PD place, good set up there and good luck to them.

[Neish]

Waterford can have no complaints about the result, UCD far better organised all over the park, and defended really well.

They wouldn't let that stop them

[2 Year Contract]

They wouldn't let that stop them

I’m just waiting for them to blame pats for the loss because it was played in Richmond. I hear pats club officials told grounds staff to dig up that penalty spot at half time

[Martinho II]

If decent support in the stands is the criteria then Bray, wexfrod athlone Longford should fold up with plenty of others, leaving aside what UCD do for players development on and off the pitch.

I have a kid in UCD , fees are a few grand a year if thats Financial doping ....€60 a week than its definitly the more Panadol version rather than Heroin.

Side effect of tonight is this may cost John Caulfield his job, the Comars might have stuck with him on the basis they were red hot favs for next years first division but now Waterford will look to come up as Champs and avoid another play off defeat. For anyone who hasnt heard Johny Ward on this weeks LOI Central Podcast his rant on Galway is worth a listen, left poor auld Dan speechless.. Suffice it to say he isnt a JC fan

Yeah was brilliant listening strangely enough met JWs mate thats always mentioned on off the ball Julian Canny at football program fair today! I was slaggin him off askin is he gettin commission for each mention on newstalk?

[thebronze14]

Intersting that UCD are one of the best represented groups of fans on this forum. Fair play, they were written off numerous times this and last season and keep producing the goods! Hate going there as we have a terrible record there. Bit of variety to the league is no harm so they may as well keep doing what they are doing as they are more stable than the majority of clubs