QuoteHe should be out for 6 weeks, awe
Slavia missing captian & couple of others through injury.
Uefa.com
He should be out for 6 weeks, awe
As I say, we're just young & a bit nieve.
If I were cork I would give them videos of Tinky winky and po when they get over to Ireland and look for the worst pitch in cork and hire that out to them as well.
Cork get on with preparations despite hosts' acts of pettiness
Strahov Stadium, 7.0 On TV: RTÉ 2
Uefa Cup first round, first leg/Slavia Prague v Cork City: The Cork City players and their few supporters wandered almost unnoticed through the streets of Prague yesterday as the more numerous visitors from Amsterdam did their best to distract the locals. Emmet Malone reports from Prague.
In a handful of instances Ajax fans became involved in skirmishes with police ahead of their Champions League game at Sparta last night and the hosts were bracing themselves for more trouble.
For the Irish the only battles were of a very different sort. As City continued their preparations for this evening's game Slavia officials sought to hinder them with acts of pettiness ranging from a refusal to provide the customary videos of their team in action to sending them off to substandard training grounds and then, almost unheard of at this level, billing them for their use.
Through it all City's stand-in manager, Dave Hill, quietly got on with things. His players trained twice yesterday and between the sessions and his ongoing efforts to assess this evening's opponents, the Englishman has been in regular contact with Damien Richardson back in Cork. A call this afternoon should finalise the visiting side's starting line-up.
Slavia's main attacking threat comes from wide men like Karel Pitak - their top scorer this season with three goals - and Tomas Hrdlicka while their manager, Karel Jarolim, hopes his son, Lukas, will get forward from central midfield. The home team's most experienced striker, Stanislav Vlcek, misses tonight's game through suspension.
"In the circumstances it's a little hard to say what they'll be like," observed Hill yesterday, "but against Djugardens we realised early on how mobile their midfield was and adjusted things to take account of that after which we coped well. It might be a little like that again in this game, the first 15 or 20 minutes will tell us a lot."
For City, the only doubt remains Alan Bennett who continues to get through training without any apparent problems but who would represent quite a gamble for Hill and Richardson to start with as he hasn't played since pulling a hamstring in the second Djugardens game.
Bennett's pace and composure under pressure could prove invaluable this evening but a recurrence of the injury could prove hugely damaging, not just tonight but during the weeks ahead as Cork resume their pursuit of a league and cup double.
No decision on his participation will be made until today but if he is left out then Derek Coughlan looks to be the favourite to start there although the 28-year-old's lack of speed might well tempt Richardson into dropping Greg O'Halloran into the centre of the back four.
That, however, would have a knock-on effect in midfield with Joe Gamble then obliged to start alongside George O'Callaghan with Roy O'Donovan on the right.
The youngster has been something of a revelation for the southerners this season but he may have to settle for a place on the bench at the outset this evening.
"Whatever we do in the end, the general approach will be more or less the same," said Hill.
"If you try to change your game for one-off matches you can become undone. It's going to be a challenge, you only have to ask the lads who were here about the footballing lesson this lot gave Cork 11 years ago.
"They're a decent side but we hope to show them that the Eircom League, our players and Cork City have all come a long way since then."
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
CORK CITY: Devine; Horgan, Coughlan, Murray, Murphy; Gamble, O'Callaghan, O'Halloran, Kearney; Fenn, O'Flynn.
SLAVIA PRAGUE: Kozacik; Svec, Latka, Holenak, Zboncak; Pitak, Suchy, Gedeon, Jarolim, Hrdlicka; Fort.http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/spo...1SOCCORK1.html
Cork have a good chance with those slavia injuries. Corks only worry being bennet. A 1-1 draw is a very real prospect
Irish times does sport so much better IMOHill sticks to plan
ADVERTISEMENT
Click here!
CORK CITY assistant manager Dave Hill has vowed to maintain the same approach which has served the team well as they head into their UEFA Cup tie with Slavia Prague.
With manager Damien Richardson ill, Hill will be in charge for today's game in the Czech Republic. A 0-0 draw with Swedes Djurgarden saw Cork progress to the first round proper courtesy of the away goals rule following a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg.
Hill said: "We will approach it exactly the same as our previous two games in Europe.
"We will go out and play our own game. We have scored both times away from home so hopefully we can do that again and get an away goal but we don't want to concede."
Tonight's first leg sees the Eircom League leaders play in the Evzena Rosickeho Strahov Stadium before returning home for the second leg at Turner's Cross two weeks on September 29.
Slavia have had a mixed start to the season, winning only one and losing two of their first five games but Hill refuses to read anything into their form.
"It is very early in their season," he said. "But we cannot afford to be too complacent."
Instead Hill insists he is looking forward to the game - even if he will be without manager Richardson who is having treatment to a clot on the lung.
Hill was in charge for Cork's previous game - a 3-0 win over Bray Wanderers - and he will be joined by goalkeeping coach Phil Harrington.
"Damien is the manager and he will pick the side but during the game myself and Phil Harrington will be making the decisions," added Hill.
Alan Bennett (hamstring) is Cork's biggest injury concern but he travelled to Prague and will be monitored, while Dan Murray and Neale Horgan should have recovered from the dead legs they received in the game with Bray.
Slavia Prague v Cork City
UEFA Cup 1st Rd (Live RTE 2 7.0)
Injuries15/09/05
Slavia forced to rely on reserves
By Liam Mackey in Prague
SLAVIA PRAGUE manager Karel Jarolim looked and sounded like a man under pressure at his eve of match press conference. And understandably so.
Ahead of the UEFA Cup clash against Cork City, his side has been so badly hit by injuries and suspension that the former Czech international has been forced to recall a player he had consigned to the reserves for turning up at training still feeling the effects of a night on the tiles.
Striker Pavel Fort was so disgusted with Slavia's elimination from the Champions League by Anderlecht last month that, after the 2-0 home defeat in an aggregate 4-1 victory for the Belgian side, he drowned his sorrows over a long night in this city of many bars and strong beer.
Described by local journalists as appearing "tired" when he showed up for training the next day, Fort was promptly demoted to the reserves by his furious manager. The player will make the bench as cover tonight but, yesterday, Jarolim made it clear that had all his first choice players been available, Fort would not even have been considered for the squad.
Six players, including club captain and central defensive midfielder Gedeon, are out of tonight's game; at least four of them would have been considered certain starters.
As well as a reprieve for Fort, Jarolim, whose son Lukas plays in midfield for Salvia, has also been forced to call up a handful of young reserve players to fill out his squad for a game which, as one local journalist put it to me, couldn't have come at a better time for the visitors.
In 1994, a Damien Richardson-led City were given what stand-in boss Dave Hill described as a 6-0 "footballing lesson" over two legs by Slavia Prague.
Billy Woods, the only player in the current squad to have been involved in that tie, recalls that the Czech side, which contained household names in the making like Smicer and Berger, were "frightening."
But that was then and this is now. Slavia, currently 12th out of 16 in the league and with no senior Czech international in their ranks, are clearly not the team they used to be. And more to the point neither, as Karel Jarolim conceded yesterday, are Cork City.
"We are definitely going to play different opponents from 11 years ago when we won easily," he said. "My assistant saw their most recent league game and we have also seen videos. They have very good players, including their two central midfielders and a number of U21 internationals. They are opponents we will have to be very careful against."
Jarolim rated his side as 60/40 favourites for the tie and admitted that, having already been knocked out of the Champions' League, he could not contemplate elimination from the UEFA Cup now before the group phase. However, he added warily, if that did happen, "life would go on."
Enormous pressure is on the boss to revive the club's fortunes. Slavia Prague had a full house of 19,000 for the second leg of the Anderlecht game, which they lost 2-0, but tonight's tie is expected to draw a crowd of just 6,000 and that's two thousand more than the club's average home league gate.
Up to 400 footsoldiers of the Rebel Army will be part of the attendance, all of them hoping to see Cork City give Slavia Prague even more reason to drawn their sorrows.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/w...aewFBADppk.asp
BBC
Keep them coming...Cork City boss Damien Richardson hasn't travelled to Prague because of illness
Uefa Cup first round - first leg
Date: 15 September
Venue: The Evzena Rosickeho Stadium
Kick-off: 1900 BST
Manager Damien Richardson's illness means assistant boss Dave Hill will take charge of Cork City in Thursday's Uefa Cup tie against Slavia Prague.
Richardson hasn't travelled to the Czech Republic because he is having treatment to a clot on a lung.
Alan Bennett is Cork's biggest injury concern because of a hamstring problem.
Dan Murray and Neale Horgan should be available for selection for the first round first leg tie despite picking up leg injuries in the 3-0 win over Bray.
Richardson will pick the team for Thursday's first leg and will be in phone contact with Hill but the assistant boss and goalkeeping coach Phil Harrington will make any tactical adjustments during the game.
Hill has vowed to maintain the same approach which has served the team well as they head into the game.
In the previous round, a 0-0 draw with Djurgarden IF saw Cork progress courtesy of the away goals rule following a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg.
That came after a 2-1 aggregate over Lithuanian club FK Ekranas in the first qualifying round of the competition.
The players must get Damien the result that means the tie is still there for him in two weeks' time
Cork assistant boss Dave Hill
Hill said: "We will approach it exactly the same as our previous two games in Europe.
"We will go out and play our own game. We have scored both times away from home so hopefully we can do that again and get an away goal but we don't want to concede."
The Eircom League leaders play in the Evzena Rosickeho Strahov Stadium on Thursday before returning home for the second leg at Turner's Cross on 29 September.
Slavia have had a mixed start to the season, winning only one and losing two of their first five games but Hill refuses to read anything into their form.
"It is very early in their season but we cannot afford to be complacent."
Hill was in charge for Cork's previous game - a 3-0 win over Bray Wanderers - and he will be joined by goalkeeping coach Phil Harrington.
While admitting Richardson's absence is a blow, the former defender insists the players have to apply themselves to the job in hand.
"Yes, his influence is a big loss but the players must turn that negative into a positive and get Damien the result that means the tie is still there for him in two weeks' time when, hopefully, he is back."
Good luck to Cork for tonight,are there many travelling over for the game??
MOT
Went to the FAI's site to see what they had in their match preview of City vs Slavia Prague. NOTHING......ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Lead story is "U-17 squad named". The biggest European game in Cork City's history and the FAI couldn't give s**t....Rico was right about getting no help from the FAI in european matches. Do they even know it's on?Originally Posted by pete
FAI website is sh!te. Not specific to eL bias. Links don't work, tables not updated, structure incorrect etc etc...
Football365
"we cannot afford to be too complacent."Cork City assistant manager Dave Hill has vowed to maintain the same approach which has served the team well as they head into their UEFA Cup tie with Slavia Prague.
With manager Damien Richardson ill, Hill will be in charge for Thursday's game in the Czech Republic in what is a milestone for football in Ireland after Cork became the first Irish team to reach the first round proper of the UEFA Cup.
A 0-0 draw with Djurgarden IF saw Cork progress courtesy of the away goals rule following a 1-1 draw in Gothenburg.
Hill told PA Sport: "We will approach it exactly the same as our previous two games in Europe.
"We will go out and play our own game. We have scored both times away from home so hopefully we can do that again and get an away goal but we don't want to concede."
Thursday's first leg sees the Eircom League leaders play in the Evzena Rosickeho Strahov Stadium before returning home for the second leg at Turner's Cross in two weeks on September 29.
Slavia have had a mixed start to the season, winning only one and losing two of their first five games but Hill refuses to read anything into their form.
"It is very early in their season," he said. "But we cannot afford to be too complacent."
Instead, Hill insists he is looking forward to the game - even if he will be without manager Richardson who is having treatment to a clot on the lung.
Hill was in charge for Cork's previous game - a 3-0 win over Bray Wanderers - and he will be joined on the bench by goalkeeping coach Phil Harrington.
Hill said: "Damien is the manager and he will pick the side but during the game myself and Phil Harrington will be making the decisions."
While admitting Richardson's absence is a blow, the former defender insists the players have to apply themselves to the job in hand.
He told the Irish Examiner: "Obviously Damien is a big loss but the players are all full-time professionals.
"They know, and Damien knows, the way they will take this is `we've got to get on with the job'.
"Yes, his influence is a big loss but the players must turn that negative into a positive and get Damien the result that means the tie is still there for him in two weeks' time when, hopefully, he is back."
The 39-year-old's own playing experience of European football came with Cork and Bohemians, with highlights including knocking Aberdeen out of the UEFA Cup with the latter.
However, this is his proudest moment so far and he insists Cork are not content to rest on their laurels but have their sights set even higher.
"We want to go on and achieve even better things," he said.
"We have got to get a winning mentality. We only went out to Nantes last year (in the Intertoto Cup) which is very respectable.
"It (the Eircom League) is a good standard but it is fair we have got the underdog tag here as Slavia Prague have a very good tradition."
Alan Bennett (hamstring) is Cork's biggest injury concern but he has flown to Prague and will be monitored in training, while Dan Murray and Neale Horgan should have recovered from the dead legs they received in the game with Bray.
I love it!!!
The glass isn't half full or half empty it's just too damn big!
THe FAIlure is a joke.
wait, they uploaded this
Cork City chase historic win in Prague
Cork City will need no reminding of their previous visit to Prague when they run out to play Slavia Prague in the first leg of their first round tie tonight (7 pm kick-off).
It was in 1994 that Cork last played Slavia in a competitive tie and they were sent packing, beaten 6 — 0 on aggregate.
Damien Richardson was in his first spell as manager of Cork at the time and he admitted that the talented Slavia had impressed him so much that they changed much of his thinking about the game and how it should be played.
Richardson will miss tonight’s first leg as he is indisposed and will have to watch on TV while his charges face up to a critical test. His assistant manager, Dave Hill, will be in charge for a tie that offers Cork an opportunity to create a little history.
Cork will go into the group stages if they can out-score Slavia over the two legs and they would become the first Irish team to advance this far in Europe were they to pull it off.
Cork can take encouragement from several factors:
1. Slavia have no current senior internationals in their squad;
2. They are 12th in their domestic league after five matches, their worst start to the season in nine seasons, and;
3. Slavia are without six first-choice players because of injury and suspension.
There is every reason to believe that Slavia will not present Cork with the same intensive challenge they were faced with eleven years ago.
That Slavia team contained particularly talented players in centre-back Suchoparek, midfielders Smicer and Berger. All three played for the Czechs in the final of the European Championship against Germany in 1996.
Cork have virtually a full squad of players available, centre-back Alan Bennett is the only fitness doubt. He damaged a hamstring against Djurgarden of Sweden in the qualifying round but he is back training and Cork will wait until shortly before kick-off before making a decision on team selection.
Derek Coughlan has deputised for Bennett in domestic competition and he has proved a capable partner for team captain Dan Murray at centre-back. He scored an important goal in Cork’s most recent win over Bray Wanderers.
The fact is, however, that Cork have had to rise through the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup to get this far, Slavia were involved in the Champions’ League qualifying competition. They were eliminated by Anderlecht of Belgium and the UEFA Cup offers them a parachute landing after that expensive loss.
Their low-key start to the season led local observers to predict a modest attendance of 6,000 at tonight’s match in contrast to the 15,500 who attended the Sparta Prague v Ajax match in the Champions’ League last night.
Cork can look forward to appealing to a greater number than that if their qualification hopes are still alive when they play the second leg in two weeks, but they will have to reach a peak of form tonight if they are to achieve that against a team that is certain to be technically adroit and vigorously ambitious.
Cork’s team is expected to be:
Michael Devine; Neal Horgan, Derek Coughlan, Dan Murray, Danny Murphy; Joe Gamble, Greg O’Halloran, George O’Callaghan, Liam Kearney; Neale Fenn, John O’Flynn.
UEFA have this
UEFA Cup forges fresh identity
Tuesday, 13 September 2005
by Michael Harrold
e-mailPrint
The UEFA Cup kicks off on Thursday, intent on making itself heard above the clamour of the UEFA Champions League. The UEFA Cup may not boast all the very biggest names in the game, but with 80 clubs competing across the continent it represents the core of European football.
Dream realised
Thirty-one nations will be represented in the first round, and five former European champions will rub shoulders with sides who have come this far for the first time. Last season's inaugural group stage involved KSK Beveren, Egaleo FC and German second division outfit TSV Alemannia Aachen, clubs for whom the opportunity to stage top-class European football had previously been a distant dream.
'Prestige and honour'
"Money is not important, it's the prestige and the honour first," says Brian Lennox, chairman of Cork City FC who are visiting SK Slavia Praha this week. "We're the only team left in from Ireland so we're representing our country. We're very proud."
Centenaro's task
Creating a healthy competition that appeals to both big and small is not easy. The key, according to UEFA's head of club competitions Michele Centenaro, is to forge a unique identity. "We don't want to make it another Champions League," he said. "Nevertheless we see an opportunity for the UEFA Cup to develop and become a very high level competition."
Profile raised
The competition's format "may have to be fine-tuned in the future", but the group stage is here to stay. Introduced last season, Centenaro believes it has helped raise the competition's profile and potential. "Since 1999/2000, when the Champions League format with two group stages was introduced, there has been a constant decrease of audience interest and revenue production in the UEFA Cup," he says.
Group stage succeeds
"But what we noticed last season, especially in the first half in the new group stage, is a clear reversal of that trend in terms of broadcast coverage, stadium attendance and revenue production. The trend is reverting hopefully back to where we were before."
"We made some good connections in a lot of countries through the UEFA Cup"Werner Edelmann, Basel
Basel benefits
Two clubs involved on Thursday who took part in the group stage last season are FC Basel 1893 and FK Partizan, both of whom speak positively about their experiences. "We made some good connections in a lot of countries through the UEFA Cup," said Basel's Werner Edelmann. "I think that's one of the most important things, realizing that sport connects throughout the world."
Positive Partizan
Partizan president Ivan Curkovic said: "It's true that we have travel costs and bonuses to pay the players, but we have climbed up UEFA's list, improved our image in Europe and were able to sell one or two players. It's not negative, it's very positive."
Classic finals
It is a refreshing attitude, and one that has perhaps contributed to some memorable UEFA Cup games in recent years. Two that spring to mind are Liverpool FC's 5-4 golden-goal win against Deportivo Alavés SAD and the 2005 final in Lisbon when PFC CSKA Moskva claimed Russia's first major club trophy with a stunning comeback at the home of Sporting Clube de Portugal.
'Commercial rewards'
A new centralised marketing campaign run by UEFA from the quarter-finals onwards will help maximize revenues from 2006/07, and the competition will be more vigorously branded this season. Everton FC chief executive Keith Wyness says: "It's a good exercise in terms of supporting the club's ambition to be at the top level, and it's still showing we're one of the more successful teams."
"Being in the UEFA Cup helps me through TV exposure"Graham Fordy, Middlesbrough
Widespread audience
Middlesbrough FC's commercial director Graham Fordy says his side made a profit from their first season in Europe last year and added: "It is important for the club to be seen in that light. Being in the UEFA Cup helps me through TV exposure, and bringing my team to the attention of youngsters as far away as Aberdeen and Bristol."
Centralised campaign
Of course, many clubs will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Villarreal CF, LOSC Lille Métropole and FC Schalke 04, who have all stepped up to the Champions League after playing in the UEFA Cup last term; but that does not preclude making the most from the UEFA Cup on the way up. Feyenoord were European champions in 1970 and the Rotterdam club continue to set their sights high. UEFA Cup winners in 2002, no one at De Kuip takes the competition lightly.
Shining example
"The Champions League might be the main tournament, but the UEFA Cup also contains a lot of high quality teams," Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman said. "It also gives the club a name throughout Europe and the players the chance to show their qualities on the European stage. That's a very special bonus you have to enjoy."
©uefa.com 1998-2005. All rights reserved.
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Ki...Id=338187.html
FAI article is very negative focusing on all the Slavia weaknesses & has to remind everyone how poor eL was in the past.
Uefa consistently give great coverage of eL sides in Europe with preview, quotes & even pictures.
Well,are there?
MOT
This is true. As a representative body they kick the shnot out of FAIlure
"I don’t want to tempt fate, but Thierry Henry is not having one of his best nights." - RTE co-commentator Jim Beglin, minutes before TH struck the stunning winner.
Hard to tell really. Slavia seem to be expecting 1000 but who knows where they got that figure. I do know that people who could not got o other games are making this one so i'd expect 300 as a minimum.
300-500 i reckon
819
Is this the same thread for the return leg too?
Injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere - Martin Luther King Jnr.
bought a ticket in the horseshoe a couple of weeks ago and nver asked where in the ghround it was for...usually stand to the left of the shed so cant go there...so where can/cant i sit?
you gowl!
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks