Weekend Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th

[Knocklyonhoop]

Disappointing to lose a game Shels ever rally threatened to win. Two mistakes, two goals.

dont get me wrong, I’m delighted with that as a Shels fan, they were solid and never looked like losing.

can point to a few games… pats away, 5 mins of madness, pen v Galway, Shels away 1st time, Pats at home. But if consistently drop silly points you don’t win the league. No way we’re pulling back 9 on Shels unless they have a monumental bottle. And they look miles away from a team who be dropping silly point s

[Kingswood Rover]

Well that was grim.
It's not hyperbole to say it does indeed look like the end of an era at Rovers
Shels are doing a Leicester on it in the league this year and fair play to them if it comes about. There is clearly no opposition in the league to their success built on hard work and graft.
Byrne has downed tools since hit getting his move to America last year and clearly want's no part of this Rovers team. The rest of the team look devoid of motivation which could just be the natural reaction after coasting to 4 leagues in a row. The injury situation is now beyond a farce and the management team have lost their ability to inspire them.
In the brightside, dundalk are getting relegated,so there's always that.

That was putrid stuff from Rovers more spark in a box of wet matches. Byrne slowed the game down so much that Shels were able to have a cup of tea and then get into position. Even when we were camped in the Shels half for the 1st 20 mins we never controlled midfield. We dont have a natural leader that can fight get the ball back and pass in the middle. Phols positioning for the ball over Honohan was again poor, he needs to command his box something that was also not really in Alan Manus's toolkit either. Yes we do look uninspired and the injury debate rolls on and on. Conan Noonan injected that bit of Zip that was needed and Byrne going off down the tunnel, sod off. If Duff left shels i would have in Tallaght in a heartbeat.

[Calcio Jack]

That was putrid stuff from Rovers more spark in a box of wet matches. Byrne slowed the game down so much that Shels were able to have a cup of tea and then get into position. Even when we were camped in the Shels half for the 1st 20 mins we never controlled midfield. We dont have a natural leader that can fight get the ball back and pass in the middle. Phols positioning for the ball over Honohan was again poor, he needs to command his box something that was also not really in Alan Manus's toolkit either. Yes we do look uninspired and the injury debate rolls on and on. Conan Noonan injected that bit of Zip that was needed and Byrne going off down the tunnel, sod off. If Duff left shels i would have in Tallaght in a heartbeat.

We do have a natural leader who can fight get the ball back in midfield in midfield and pass it - Gary O’Neill- his absence ( and Grace) has been a major cause of our recent dreadful run -
If Shels lost Coyle for a long period I suspect they’d suffer the same .

I think it’s now Shels league to lose - but this is where Bradley and his coaching team need to step up and show what they are made of- I’m confident they’ll give it a good go

[placid casual]

Is Bradley brave enough to bench Jack Byrne though..?
Completely agree that O'Neill is Rovers engine and his lack of availability is hurting us. Glad to see Grace back on the pitch anyway, Cleary is no loss.

[Calcio Jack]

Is Bradley brave enough to bench Jack Byrne though..?
Completely agree that O'Neill is Rovers engine and his lack of availability is hurting us. Glad to see Grace back on the pitch anyway, Cleary is no loss.

Don’t think he should bench Byrne - he’s only just back after a long layoff and clearly still ‘rusty’ but despite that some of his play has been brilliant ( through ball to Burke against Derry and pass last night that lead to chance which Kenny missed at 0-0)

[Nesta99]

We do have a natural leader who can fight get the ball back in midfield in midfield and pass it - Gary O’Neill- his absence ( and Grace) has been a major cause of our recent dreadful run -
If Shels lost Coyle for a long period I suspect they’d suffer the same .

I think it’s now Shels league to lose - but this is where Bradley and his coaching team need to step up and show what they are made of- I’m confident they’ll give it a good go

More excuses CJ? Not even PC is daring to push such bs at this stage.

As for Dundalk, it was called preseason that relegation was a real possibility, realist rather than negative observation and it is coming to pass and there are no excuses - a mismanaged club that is reaping what has been sowed and for some fans getting what they called for. Even if we overtake Drogheda at season end Id not be banking on a relegation playoff great escape. But to take a leaf out of CJs book, we have been down before and came back to win more leagues and cups after than many clubs have ever, for our entireity, as bad as things have got, we've never been liquidated and that is testament to the resilience of a club. As the late great Jim Murphy said it that this is the clubs greatest achievement of all!

* Shels will really have done it the hard road back if they win the league as I dont think they ever went the examinership route and cut lossess and are back from years of austerity rather than some form of phoenix club. Bohs I dont recall going in to examinership for all the slagging of selling things twice? For all talk of boom and bust over the years or clubs being liquidated, of 18 different league winners over 102 years agruably only St Pats, Sligo and Dundalk havent either gone in to total financial meltdown (Im sure it got close) or cut losses via examinership at some point. 8 no longer exist at all and some like Waterford, Derry, may not be directly the same club eg after European exclusion as new entities. Cork City have 1 from 3 titles as a sevco model. It is mad when put in a nutshell.

[Onapointoforder]

Harps down an awful lot of bodies tonight, but that was a horrendous result for us.

8 of our players tonight were under 21, including a 15 year old, 17 year old, two 18 year olds and two 19 year olds, but it's no excuse for a really rotten performance.

We have a very poor record against Kerry, and it doesn't look like changing any time soon.

…and a “no manager” bounce for Bray

[DCSIL]

Dreadful night for Sbgawa, Rovers North lost too!

[da bishop]

Well deserved point for Treaty in TC ,defended well and tbh i was surprised how pedestrian Cork were ,lacked ideas with too many sideways pass,s.On the other hand full time or not its crazy to think that at the moment they are romping this league with what are mostly kids.14 not out for Treaty now .

[Calcio Jack]

More excuses CJ? Not even PC is daring to push such bs at this stage.

As for Dundalk, it was called preseason that relegation was a real possibility, realist rather than negative observation and it is coming to pass and there are no excuses - a mismanaged club that is reaping what has been sowed and for some fans getting what they called for. Even if we overtake Drogheda at season end Id not be banking on a relegation playoff great escape. But to take a leaf out of CJs book, we have been down before and came back to win more leagues and cups after than many clubs have ever, for our entireity, as bad as things have got, we've never been liquidated and that is testament to the resilience of a club. As the late great Jim Murphy said it that this is the clubs greatest achievement of all!

* Shels will really have done it the hard road back if they win the league as I dont think they ever went the examinership route and cut lossess and are back from years of austerity rather than some form of phoenix club. Bohs I dont recall going in to examinership for all the slagging of selling things twice? For all talk of boom and bust over the years or clubs being liquidated, of 18 different league winners over 102 years agruably only St Pats, Sligo and Dundalk havent either gone in to total financial meltdown (Im sure it got close) or cut losses via examinership at some point. 8 no longer exist at all and some like Waterford, Derry, may not be directly the same club eg after European exclusion as new entities. Cork City have 1 from 3 titles as a sevco model. It is mad when put in a nutshell.

You think my observations are bs ; sure time will tell

[Nesta99]

You think my observations are bs ; sure time will tell

but life's was too short...

[Calcio Jack]

but life's was too short...

Not sure what the above means ( nor interested.
As you clearly didn’t understand the subtlety of the previous post and also for the week that is in it:

“Sure time will tell who has fell
And who gets left behind
When you go your way
And I go mine”

[Jolly Red Giant]

FFS. Another injury time goal conceded. Beyond frustrating. Bohs put a lot of balls into the box late on in fairness to them, but it looked as if we’d hold out. If fact there were a couple of opportunities to sel it on the break. Rogers just seemed to be caught out with the way the ball bounced up off the ground.

Long road ahead for the rest of the season. I suppose on the bright side we did quite well for a lot of the game, but Jesus, we need a win.

Bohs deserved the draw - the fought right to the end of the game.

However, Melia was the one player that made the difference until he was subbed - the kid was a class above every other player on the pitch last night

[trevy]

It's good for the league to have different challengers as one team winning the league every year is boring. Shelbourne in a good position now. I've never been convinced in Higgins at Derry. He seems to do enough to keep his job but I'd expect more.
It's asking a lot for Shamrock Rovers to make up a 9 point deficit especially on current form.
Waterford being talked up as a contender for Europe and Galway as well.
Interesting league this season.

[placid casual]

Couldn't agree more, trevy,and I say that as a Rovers fan.
Both waterford and galway impressed me with their togetherness and willingness to work hard for their teams - as strange as it may seem Europe is a possibility for waterford,I think galway won't breach the top 4 ( I have €20 in them to go straight down .doh!),but they should both be safe from the relegation trapdoor.
I'd have no issues with shels finishing ahead of Rovers,if they do so it'll be richly deserved. They have the look of a Rovers team from 2019 and look hungry for success- The Rovers team looks overfed and slow in comparison.
Halfway through the season and every team has something to aim for,which makes for a stimulating league, irrespective of people's opinions on the quality or lack thereof.

[Buckett]

There's a long way to go yet, talk of Galway Utd in Europe is a bit premature. We'll see where we are a few games after the transfer window closes.
The women's side of the club, which only started last year, have been very impressive so far. All-Island cup champions last year and top of the WLOI this season. We could get a Champions League trip with them next summer!

[legendz]

Talk of European football is premature. It has been some first half of the season for Galway and Waterford. Sligo and Drogheda were always the more likely to be the most impacted by the two promoted sides doing well. Dundalk's terrible start currently looks like saving them from the drop. Daly has a lot of work on his hands there to turn that around.

[Shearer]

The women's side of the club, which only started last year, have been very impressive so far. All-Island cup champions last year and top of the WLOI this season. We could get a Champions League trip with them next summer!

Have done well. In fairness they're in the third year of their cycle with the vast majority of the last Galway WFC squad carrying over which has stood to them as has having three of Treaty United's best academy players in recent years.

[Stuttgart88]

That was putrid stuff from Rovers more spark in a box of wet matches. Byrne slowed the game down so much that Shels were able to have a cup of tea and then get into position. Even when we were camped in the Shels half for the 1st 20 mins we never controlled midfield. We dont have a natural leader that can fight get the ball back and pass in the middle. Phols positioning for the ball over Honohan was again poor, he needs to command his box something that was also not really in Alan Manus's toolkit either. Yes we do look uninspired and the injury debate rolls on and on. Conan Noonan injected that bit of Zip that was needed and Byrne going off down the tunnel, sod off. If Duff left shels i would have in Tallaght in a heartbeat.

I don't think it has been mentioned yet but that's the second match-winning goal Shels have scored against us directly as a result of a simple long goal kick by Kearns. In game one at Tolka, Cleary just let one sail over him and again on Friday. Honohan and Pico just messed it up. I don't blame Pohls for it. Both CBs were asleep imho. Unforgivable for it to happen once in a season, but twice against the same team is just ridiculous. That's 4 points for Shels, and 2 fewer for us. So the league table is what it is because of two GOAL KICKs. FFS! Amateur hour.

All any opposition manager needs to say to his players these days is "keep things tight, Rovers will beat themselves".

Yet another goal given away in transition too. That's about the 5th already this season and it's a feature of the whole Bradley era.

Infuriating because we were dominant for 20 mins and finished really strongly.

We still have Shels at home and only one more game at Derry so still every chance of going on a run, but we need to win 7 or 8 of the next 10 and no more defeats.

[TonyD]

Bohs deserved the draw - the fought right to the end of the game.

However, Melia was the one player that made the difference until he was subbed - the kid was a class above every other player on the pitch last night

Yeah, Melia was super. Makes a difference when he’s not asked to play as the focal point up front on his own. He tends to get bullied out of it by centre halves when that happens, I don’t think he’s quite ready for that. Different story when he plays with Keating, or even Kavanagh.