Premier & First Division Predictions - 2024

[sulywaterfordfc]

Premier Division
1 Shamrock Rovers. Should be too strong for everyone although a lot will depend on how injury free Farrugia and Clarke stay as they're still very reliant on them.
2 St Patricks Athletic. I think we've enough to overtake Derry with our new signings. Think we lack the quality in one or two positions to really challenge Rovers tho.
3 Derry City. I'm not sure if they improved since last year with Hoban looking in decline last season imo. Kelly is good at his best but is inconsistent. Connolly is a year older aswell and he's a very important piece of their defence.
4 Shelbourne. Jarvis is a very important signing for them and they won't lose very often. But without Moylan I think they're attack is weaker and they will draw too many matches to really challenge for a top 3 finish.
5 Dundalk. Lots of unknowns here but if they click they could be a very dangerous side. However O'Donnells transfer record with players from the UK is inconsistent and the likes of Boyle and Benson need to improve on what they've shown last season.
6 Bohemians. Similar to Dundalk but their outgoings are more damaging with Afolabi a huge loss. Lack of depth in defence could be a problem also. Still think they will go through periods of good form and they've enough midfield quality so they will be nowhere near the relegation spots.
7 Drogheda. Keeley is a big loss but I think they should be solid enough to stay clear of the relegation spots. Pierrot and Kearney are intriguing signings plus they've done very well with their Lincoln loan signings the last few seasons.
8 Galway United. Dominant last season in the 1st division but their transfers haven't stood out and it remains to be seen how effective their style of player will be in the Premier Division.
9 Sligo Rovers. If Mata does rejoin they've a better chance of finishing higher up but bar McGinty it's a weak squad currently.
10 Waterford FC. Some useful signings but still a core of players there who were well behind Galway last season. Think it will be tight at the bottom but I'm not sure if Waterford have improved enough to avoid last.

First Division
1 Cork City. Only full time team and made some solid signings. Should be enough to win the league.
2 UCD. Always hard to know what you'll get from a relegated UCD side but I don't think the rest of the first division is that good so with the talent pool they usually have they should be enough for 2nd.
3 Athlone Town. Lots of unknowns especially with Pierrot gone. But they've kept some of their impressive players and the rest of the division is weak so that one or two good players in the inflow may be enough to get a playoff spot.
4 Wexford. Too many question marks over their defence for them for me to rank them higher but should make playoffs.
5 Treaty United. Usually in playoff contention and I think they've signed well enough to get there again.
6 Bray Wanderers. Defensively should be good but I don't think they'll score enough.
7 Longford Town. Similar to Bray but with even less quality.
8 Finn Harps. Last year was a disaster and they should be better this season but not enough to get into the playoffs. I don't think they'll be very much between 3rd and 9th so it could all be divided by a few points.
9th Cobh Ramblers. Excellent last season but some huge losses in the off season.
10 Kerry. Will be more competitive and will get more wins but hard to see them outside of last place.

WNL- Peamount were something of a surprise winner last season. I think Shamrock Rovers will push them much closer this time. Athlone and Wexford should be much better in the league this season so it should be a competitive title race.

First Manager Sacked- Divine
Top Scorer- Gaffney
FAI Cup- St Patricks

Read during the week our starting 11 tonight is likely to have only 3 from the starting team from the start of last season with another three in the squad. The squad has improved greatly compared to the squad that fell 20+ points behind Galway. Don’t think there’s much between the bottom half to be honest. Don’t think any team will lose every other week. Going to be a competitive season.

[joey B]

Premier Division

1. Shamrock Rovers
2. Derry City
3. St Pats
4. Shels
5. Waterford
6. Dundalk
7. Bohs
8. Drogheda
9. Sligo
10. Galway

First Division

1. Cork City
2. Wexford
3. Longford
4. Athlone
5. Harps
6. Bray
7. UCD
8. Cobh
9. Treaty
10. Kerry


FAI Cup : Shels
Top Scorer:Hoban
First manager sacked: Declan Devine

I’d predict us much lower now with the news yesterday,7th at best….

[sulywaterfordfc]

I was going to ask if Sligo was combining it's LoI and GAA teams into one super-team to make that analogy relevant but then realized both Sligo teams are ****e.

It'll be gas to see how badly you take actual relegation if you're this salty about predictions league relegation. Sadly Mata will probably save you.

Good luck anyway! I'd still rather have a pint with you than a Dublin gaa supporter.

Mata is a super signing for Sligo but it sounds like he won’t be at Sligo beyond the summer break, I think that might end up costing them. If he’s hitting the net as often as his previous spell, losing his goals for the second half of the season could be crucial if Sligo are fighting relegation.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Yeah by all accounts heading home during the summer

[placid casual]

Somebody pi$$ed on that Sligo fans cornflakes eh!.
He has a point ,to a degree. Few on here are predicting Galway and/or Waterford to finish bottom even though they are emerging from a league light years behind in quality .
I was informed a few weeks ago that Galway were 9/1 in PP to finish bottom this season - I'm not that much of a gambler tbh but I couldn't get to the bookies fast enough to put 20 quid on what is for me practically a free money bet .
That being said ,sligo looked woejus from about June onwards (selling their best player's didn't help) and fell over the line in 8th last year - if,and it's some IF, galway or waterford have enough to escape the trapdoor clutches,then Sligo look set for a squeaky bum play off. The coming season will tell all, and I for one can't wait!!
Best of luck to none of your teams, there's only 1 team in Ireland!!

[pineapple stu]

- if,and it's some IF, galway or waterford have enough to escape the trapdoor clutches,then Sligo look set for a squeaky bum play off.

Has to be said too that both Galway and Waterford are significantly more likely to do that than UCD last year

Anyway, first pre-match pint is settling and irrational optimism is growing - best of luck all!

[Calcio Jack]

Awful dirty sh!te from Duns so far …. Can’t compete with us at football so resorting to hacking down players …. And only a single yellow card ( only because lino flagged it) welcome to another season of rubbish refereeing

[Nesta99]

Like hacking down a goal keeper after the ball was cleared...you are sounding like the odd Cork fan that thought tackling their players was an outrage. As far as predictions go, Rovers to have more suspensions over the season than Dundalk - mostly from Calamity Cleary!

[cláirseach]

Ok, let's put it this way Kerry has a population of 150K which puts it close to the median has won 37 SMs while Dublin with 10 times the population has only won 31 while Mayo and Donegal similarly sized, single code counties on the western seaboard have 5 between them. In hurling Kilkenny is similarly dominant yet it has only a population of 100000, clearly there is more than tea involved here but your are such a clever one I will let you figure out the why.

Donegal is such a bad example to choose for this.

[redarmyfaction]

Donegal is such a bad example to choose for this.

Why? pray tell.

[redarmyfaction]

Somebody pi$$ed on that Sligo fans cornflakes eh!.
He has a point ,to a degree. Few on here are predicting Galway and/or Waterford to finish bottom even though they are emerging from a league light years behind in quality .
I was informed a few weeks ago that Galway were 9/1 in PP to finish bottom this season - I'm not that much of a gambler tbh but I couldn't get to the bookies fast enough to put 20 quid on what is for me practically a free money bet .
That being said ,sligo looked woejus from about June onwards (selling their best player's didn't help) and fell over the line in 8th last year - if,and it's some IF, galway or waterford have enough to escape the trapdoor clutches,then Sligo look set for a squeaky bum play off. The coming season will tell all, and I for one can't wait!!
Best of luck to none of your teams, there's only 1 team in Ireland!!

It was I, put up Galway at 9/1 to finish last and on the strength of your score they drifted to 11/1, you won't get that again this morning.

[Nesta99]

So what were these glib comments?

[redarmyfaction]

So what were these glib comments?

Show me the profound and I will show you the glib.

[pineapple stu]

So you can't show any glib comments then?

Nobody mentioned anything about profound. This thread is just a group of LoI fans guessing

[Nesta99]

Show me the profound and I will show you the glib.

Ok

most important reason is tradition we have 19 straight years of PL experience behind us as a club and the experience of that gives more depth in our club institutions than the most of the 6 or 7 that will fight our the relegation spots.

Now for the glib.

[redarmyfaction]

Ok


Now for the glib.

The glib is that that a large sample size has more predictive power than a small one, obvious I would have though to the meanest understanding.

[oriel]

posted on wrong thread.

[Nesta99]

The glib is that that a large sample size has more predictive power than a small one, obvious I would have though to the meanest understanding.

Please go back to your magniloquent posts as Ive no idea what you are saying here, though I suspect its is evasive. I dont recall quantative methods including warnings about glib sample sizes, bias maybe but glib?? I also dont recall any predictions being belittled, on average...

[ontheotherhand]

best predictions thread ever

[Nesta99]

best predictions thread ever

Post of the thread is Oriel's above!!