Where are the goals going to come from?

[UCD_4_Life]

Three games in and we are the only team in the league yet to score a goal.

This is really worrying because even during the awful start we had last season we still looked capable of and did score goals. We don't have Doyler anymore and haven't replaced him properly either.

Gallen looks feckless, Sean Finn isn't a goalscorer, Robbie Griffin looks low on confidence his miss against Cork is proof enough of that, he hasn't looked that dangerous anyway, Robbie Martin is badly, badly needed back as he is the only player on the books at the moment who looks as if he can score.

Goals obviously won't come from midfield either. Cawley couldn't finish his dinner, Gav Whelan doesn't get into those sort of positions, McNally for one reason or another doesn't score, Johnny Martin tends to stay wide.

That's almost the entire midfield and frontline and with the exception of Robbie Martin (who even if he can recreate his old form can't carry the team) we don't have one player who can be relied upon to score goals...

[@ndy]

OK, i too agree that we need a decent striker, however that isnt the whole problem. Looking at the game last night, in which for the last 20 minutes we had rovers pinned back by playing not great football...i realised what we lack. What doolin needs to do quite urgently is sort the midfield out. Alan mcNally is one of our most experienced midfield players. I can understand him wanting to place Tony Mac in the midfield after our poor start, but surely McNally needs to be there aswell. Young Niall Donnelly is a big lad and has looked good when he has come on. I think it is time for him to get a chance to prove himself and i hope doolo starts him against waterford.

Originally posted by UCD_4_Life
Gallen looks feckless

I have to disagree. Alan Gallen is a tall gangly forward. He looks akward alright, but he is growing in confidence in every game and it is now clear that doolo wasnt just playing him to send a 'message' to the rest. Last nights game was the first since Derry at the end of last season (i think) that Gallen did not start. He is our top scorer for the last 5/10 games i'm sure. When he came on last night he held the ball up well, and with the help of Hugh Davey and Cawley on fresh, was the only player to really test the rovers defence. Our last two chances were our best. Cawley's cross which Gallen met only for a rovers player to get his head in the way and send it narrowly over, then from the resulting corner again Gallen headed a good shot from a weak cross low and to Bazza's right. That was the most difficult save Ryan had had to make all evening, and his kick out was the last of the game.

Originally posted by UCD_4_Life
Goals obviously won't come from midfield either. Cawley couldn't finish his dinner, Gav Whelan doesn't get into those sort of positions, McNally for one reason or another doesn't score, Johnny Martin tends to stay wide.

They wont be scored from midfield, but they must be created from here, otherwise we may aswell play hoof ball like most of the rest of the league. Rovers last night when they did attack, the had players who could hold the ball up and cross really well with pace. Cork have a deadly striker and a sound defence, so they bypass midfield.

We on the other hand have no really deadly striker, so we must use our midfielders...who i think are of high quality compared to other teams and are capable of matching any side on a good day, including bohs, to create chances for Gallen/Martin/Finn or Griffin to put away.

After the skonto game i was really optimistic, because Johnny Martin and Sullivan were working really well together down the wing. We scored 3 in that one game remember! I think if they can get back into things, and Cawley who has not had a full game yet...who also can score goals, can re establish his relationship with Darragh Ryan down the left, then we will have our wings on form. If Tony mac and Alan mcNally can then combine in midfield, then we will have a strong attacking middle as well as two lively flanks. I mean, against skonto and then against bohs, there was no panic when we attacked...Whelan looked very calm when on the ball as well as Finn and martin, and they would hold up the ball rather than play a rash pressured pass as in the last two games we saw time and time again.

It is then up to the forwards to compete for the two up front spots. Right now i'd give it to Gallen and Finn. I think Finn is our deadliest striker...quick, bright and precise. Think of it as a quinn/keane type arrangement, where gallen would score from the crosses and hold up play for Finn to finish most of the chances. If they could both pass the 10 goal mark, and between the midfield we net a further 10, then we'll be doing quite well.

It is goals we need, and we're not gonna get em from the strikers alone. When we play well we shock teams. I think this is what we must do to improve this season.

So to sum up...i would start on Friday pending fitness...

Jennings.
Ryan
McAuley
Donnelly
Sullivan

Cawley
McDonnell
McNally
Martin

Finn
Gallen


I must also point out that we are quite weak in the squad. It is great that Hugh Davey and Donnelly and Gavin Whelan and also Griffin have come in and made their presence felt, but with Mahon out for the season... and Tony so so needed in the midfield, and no clive...Rob McAuley is looking stressed in the centre. I hope there are a couple of youngsters we don't know about who we can call on if necessary.

Roll on waaatherford

[Schumi]

Originally posted by @ndy
He is our top scorer for the last 5/10 games i'm sure.

With 1 is it?

I think part of our attacking problems are that Johnny Martin is playing much deeper this season than he was before. When he's pushing forward and getting crosses in, he's very dangerous but picking the ball up at his own box makes it much more difficult to cause problems.

Gallen seems to be improving. He looked better against Rovers than I've seen him before. He had two decent headers that could have got us a goal but there was a serious lack of service from the wings.

As for the team yesterday, Cawley has to start. He did much more than Micko when he came on. Playing McNally at the back just didn't work, his heading wasn't good enough and Tony had to keep tracking back to help him out.

Robbie Martin looked OK before the match so hopefully he'll be able to play against Waterford or Derry. If he can score a few goals and get his confidence up, he could have a good season.

[@ndy]

Originally posted by Schumi
With 1 is it?

Well, i mean we havent scored this season and he got goals in the pre season games....

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by Schumi
Robbie Martin looked OK before the match so hopefully he'll be able to play against Waterford or Derry. If he can score a few goals and get his confidence up, he could have a good season.

Was he on the bench? That's excellent news if so.

With regards goals, Alan McNally scored five or six from midfield two seasons ago, so there's no reason why he can't supply a few more this season. Johnny Martin and Tony Mac both scored 3 last season, second top behind Doyle. Doesn't make them 20-goal-a-season players, but they'll chip in with important goals, which is what the midfield has to do. Gallen, Cawley and Whelan have been creating brilliant chances all season, which we'll start taking sooner or later.

If Doolo could get one class striker from England, we'd come mid-table.

[@ndy]

Originally posted by pineapple stu
Was he on the bench?

No, he was in the stand.

Originally posted by pineapple stu
Gallen, Cawley and Whelan have been creating brilliant chances all season, which we'll start taking sooner or later.

Ya think...i think we've been dreadful at creating openings. We played awful vs Cork and not great vs rovers until 5 mins to go.

Originally posted by pineapple stu
If Doolo could get one class striker from England, we'd come mid-table.

If my granny had balls she'd be my grandad!

[John83]

Originally posted by @ndy
No, he was in the stand.



Ya think...i think we've been dreadful at creating openings. We played awful vs Cork and not great vs rovers until 5 mins to go.



If my granny had balls she'd be my grandad!

That reminds me...
You remember the "Oh Kevin Hunt, looks like a girl..." chant at the Bohs game? We started singing it for a few others like Ryan too. Only the last line doesn't work for Bobby Ryan, so I was wondering if, should we use the chant again, we should change the last line when we're singing about anyone except Hunt, to "and he plays like my granny". If you sing Hunt last, it's even better.

[@ndy]

OK John. We'll let you start that one so :P

No seriously, it was a complete p'ss take...we sang and hunt's name sounds like fanny each time...we also sang it for Simon webb...

[John83]

Originally posted by @ndy
No seriously, it was a complete p'ss take...we sang and hunt's name sounds like fanny each time...we also sang it for Simon webb...

I know. It's just it sounds a bit dumb to sing that Webb and Ryan's names "sound like a fanny" (will Schumi "moderate this, I wonder ).

We have a reputation to maintain.

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by John83

We have a reputation to maintain.

It's a Cork song originally anyway!

[@ndy]

Originally posted by John83
I know. It's just it sounds a bit dumb to sing that Webb and Ryan's names "sound like a fanny"

But we didn't

[Schumi]

Christ, it wasn't that complicated.

The non-Hunt songs were:
"Oh (name) looks like a girl
Oh (name) looks like a girl
And Hunt's name sounds like a fanny
Oh (name) looks like a girl"

[John83]

Originally posted by Schumi
Christ, it wasn't that complicated.

The non-Hunt songs were:
"Oh (name) looks like a girl
Oh (name) looks like a girl
And Hunt's name sounds like a fanny
Oh (name) looks like a girl"

Doh! I heard it as "and his name...", like the original. My bad.

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by John83
My bad.

[@ndy]

Okay then

[lefty]

I dont think any decent 1st Division forward in England would decide to go to UCD. However if Doolo gets some cash we could hit teams in the Second Division that are being relegated such as Cheltenham.

Also this year as there is 2 teams from the 3rd Division getting automatically relegated to the Conference. We could hit these teams. We all know that Carlisle have some good Irish players and also Exeter have two good young Irish players like Rainier Moor and Cronin both good attacking players and it looks as if Exeter look set for relegation and im sure they would rather play in the Eircom League than the Conference.

There are a lot of good pros playing in the lower leagues in England and also there are players to nab from the Scottish and Northern Irish Leagues.

I hope we get someone in May/June become we are very much lacking in firepower at the moment. I think we need 2 forwards not 1.

[lefty]

I dont think any decent 1st Division forward in England would decide to go to UCD. However if Doolo gets some cash we could hit teams in the Second Division that are being relegated such as Cheltenham.

Also this year as there is 2 teams from the 3rd Division getting automatically relegated to the Conference. We could hit these teams. We all know that Carlisle have some good Irish players and also Exeter have two good young Irish players like Rainier Moor and Cronin both good attacking players and it looks as if Exeter look set for relegation and im sure they would rather play in the Eircom League than the Conference.

There are a lot of good pros playing in the lower leagues in England and also there are players to nab from the Scottish and Northern Irish Leagues.

I hope we get someone in May/June become we are very much lacking in firepower at the moment. I think we need 2 forwards not 1.