Five games, five defeats...

[UCD_4_Life]

and we can't score for love nor money. Although Dessie Baker made an impact (apparently) he's only here 'til the end of May and isn't a solution (not a long term one anyway) to our problems.

Playing Shels on Friday isn't a great prospect either and there's every chance that we could go six games with six defeats.

[lefty]

Yes it doesnt look good at all now. We can always hold on to the thought that we might raid England but the lose to Derry was a huge blow. I hate being a pessimist but I think our cards are marked.

[@ndy]

Originally posted by UCD_4_Life
[BDessie Baker made an impact (apparently) he's only here 'til the end of May and isn't a solution (not a long term one anyway) to our problems.

Playing Shels on Friday isn't a great prospect either and there's every chance that we could go six games with six defeats.

[/B]

We have been given Dessie Baker on loan for the rest of the season. He cannot play against Shels on Friday as that is part of the deal. This is an excellent boost and i have to say, it is very necessary and i'll take my hat off to Doolo for pulling it off. We can't just go buying top name players, this is a big scoop. Last night, although in his first competetive game for a while, and slightly heavy, Baker looked a class above anyone else on the pitch. His hold up play was excellent and when he had the ball, he was always patient and intelligent with what he did with it. I think if he can develop a good relationship with the likes of Sean Finn, Whelan, Cawley, Martin, Griffin etc, we could start penetrating teams. According to a very good source inside the club, Dessie needs first team football which he won't get at shels for the moment. Fenlon was to offer him to a first division side, but Baker didn't want this. As long as he is happy to stay he will be there for the season, how ever either party can pull the plug at any time.

It's been a disastrous start to the season, and there are no easy games coming up, if there are any at all! I Hope Doolin uses the league cup games to straighten out the team and fix the middle and back. Baker will now be first name on the list. The feeling around is that Tony and Robbie Mac (who was dropped from the squad last night, for Niall 'Hopper' Donnelly, should start at the back. Darragh Ryan, contrary to what you might think was also dropped, not injured. The two were sitting beside us at the bradywell and i spoke to Robbie before the game, who was quite disappointed. Hugh Davey started at left back in place of Darragh. He had a good game. Sullivan was ever solid and eager to attack. The back four had a good game, we never looked like conceding. Niall Donnelly however was left standing by a Derry striker in the first half and put in an awful late tackle down below us inside the box. Everyone knew it was a penalty, but the ref didnt have the stones and gave a corner!!! He also committed a professional foul late on and escaped with a yellow. He played well, but i think he deserves to be first reserve.

As for the midfield, Doolo stuck with Micko on the left and Johnny (who is playing well, apart from the fact that he has had 75% of our chances...and our best ones in the opening games and barely hit the target) on the right. Johnny missed two sitters. Robbie Griffin looked commanding and calming in the middle alongside Alan Mcnally who some say looks a little lost at present. The midfield tho really didn't figure as Derry turned the game into a kick 'em game. Micko didn't look good, and in fairness, he hasn't really looked the part yet this season. The lads know how much i rate him as a so solid stalwart player, but he's not the man we need now, and i think personally Cawley has to be given a chance, starting the next few games...so again i say doolo...use the league cup games to get it sorted!

Up front, as i also say, Baker will start every possible game. Friday may become a trial to see who gets to partner him. Last night it was Robbie Martin who was kicked out of the game. Maybe Gallen would be a better choice, giving us height, maybe Griffin? Hopefully Doolo will find this out asap and we can just sit and watch, and start smiling for a change.

The one thing i have left out is that what everyone was quietly whispering about after the game was PJ. He was having a vey good game, but for the goal he only managed to push a free kick on to the underside of the bar, and when it dropped it was stuck home by Ciaran bloody Martyn! (I suppose at least it wasnt liam coyle again). People at the club seem to be running out of patience with PJ, unfortunately he is making a mistake a game, and with four defeats by a goal, it's costing us matches. We have no points!

So i stick to what i said before this game. If we have 6 points after ten i will be happy, however we will probably still be bottom of the league. A slow start cannot become a Monaghan/Kilkenny season, but if things don't brighten up, all of a sudden it'll be mid July and we'll be barely into double figures and looking at B and Bs in Cobh on the web!

I suppose although it's getting increasingly difficult, we have to keep calm, get behind the team, and hope that they settle and stop the rot. The important thing is to stop losing. The victories will come, but we need to start picking up points. We can't afford to keep losing games. Anyone who thinks we can do what we did last season has a screw loose. That was the bazza and clive show, and unless you have a few hundred grand to spare...that show is over.

C'MON COLLEGE...

[@ndy]

Something i'd like to stress is that Dessie baker, like Derek Swan is our lifeline for the season. Do not take it for granted. As fans we need to make sure that he feels at home and enjoys playing for us, because at the end of the day he has a choice between first team football at belfield, or bench warming at tolka. If he gets p'ssed off the latter might start to seem more attractive. Lets make a big effort as fans to let him know we appreciate him and we hope he sticks around, even if his haircut looks like a storm troopers hat

[pete]

Can only go on our 3-0 win at Belfield but UCD looked very very weak in midfield for that game.

Eventhough ye lost to Derry i think they probably in a worse situation. Not being patronising or anything but ye are kinda used to the bottom end of the table whereas Derry will probably implode if can't get a few more wins.

[Schumi]

I think (hope) that Dessie Baker could be the make or break factor for our season. He looked very good last night and was causing Derry lots of problems (I hope he cuts his fúcking hair though!). As said above, we have him for the season, barring $hels matches, and on last night's showing I think he can get us a good few goals and create some space for whoever is playing with him. Personally, I'd have Robbie Martin up front with Baker as I think he has the potential to do a lot more than Gallen or Griffin. The only reservation I'd have about that is that he's a similar player to Baker and maybe Gallen could complement him better (better in the air and holding up the ball). Hopefully, whoever gets the nod will be able to form a decent partnership with Baker, who has to be first choice IMO, and improve on 1 goal in 5 games .

We looked very hesitant up front last night; people didn't seem prepared to take shots. There were so many occasions when someone would get the ball on the edge of the box with some space but just wouldn't shoot and the opportunity would be lost. Robbie Martin was pretty anonymous although Derry seemed to have singled him out for some special treatment. I lost count of the times he was upended from behind with no attempt to get the ball. Nobody else with the exception of Baker did much going forward either however.

The midfield was very disappointing, McNally did very little in a game where we needed to try to dominate Derry in the middle. Griffin was no better and Mick O'Donnell was awful. Cawley will have to start on the left in future, he creates a lot more just looks more dangerous every time he gets the ball. Finn should start in the middle ahead of Griffin as well. Johnny Martin did OK on the right but again missed a fairly easy chance by a long way.

Defensively, we did quite well although Donnelly needs more experience before he'll be comfortable. Any time a player got past him, he looked in trouble and apparently should have given away a penalty (I thought he got the ball but no-one else does so I'll go along with them!) and got a red card for a professional foul although that was marginal and a yellow was probably fair.

Derry were bad though so I can't see them getting too far away from us unless they improve drastically. I can't see them getting much out of Bohs, Rovers and Cork in the next few weeks so a few points against Longford, Drogheda and Pats should keep us reasonably in touch and I think that we have a good bit more potential for improvement than them.

[pineapple stu]

Have to go along with that. Derry weren't particularly vicious, but the made sure you knew about them if you got the ball. Robbie Martin was down for a couple of minutes when taken out from behind very early on (and then booed when he returned to the action!), while Hutton amazingly got off with a warning for nearly raking his studs down Griffin's legs. That tackle was the first of three particularly nasty ones in the space of three minutes, and they only got one yellow for them.

Derry played a hack-them-close-them game which saw us harried down to their level. This won't work against better teams like Shels and Bohs, so they are going to be involved in the relegation dog-fight at the end of the season. I'm looking forward to seeing Dessie Baker when he gets a couple of games under his belt and we're playing against a proper footballing side - I'd say himself and Robbie Martin or Sean Finn could be a very good partnership.

At the back, Jennings played much more solidly than against Cork or Waterford. Made a couple of good catches from crosses, and the goal, while it may have been his fault, wasn't a huge blunder like Waterford. Robbie Mac should start instead of Donnelly.

Micko had a very poor game and probably should make way for Cawley, but with the proviso that he comes straight back in if Cawley doesn't perform. Johnny Martin wasn't too bad - the chances he missed weren't sitters like in Dalymount, but you would have expected him to get them on target. There seems to be some tension in the squad at the moment, but Baker must be a hugh boost, which will do us well over the season.

Derry are in trouble though. They played brutal (literally!) football, and with Bohs, Rovers and Cork to come in the first series of games, are actually worse off than they look. They only really survived last season on the back of 10 wins in 13 games when David Kelly was there - apart from that, they started awfully and finished awfully. Wih no Kelly, it's quite possible that they could go through the season awfully. In which case, the crowds will start dwindling and they'll feel the pinch big time. Can't see how signing David Forde and Billy Clery - half of Galway's defence the year they went down - is going to help them much.

We can and will stay up again, but the sooner we get that first win, the better.

[UCD_4_Life]

Personally I think that McAuley has been exposed by Clive's departure. He doesn't have anyone with Clive's aerial ability to cover for his lack of it, for a Centre back he's one of the worst headers of the ball I've ever seen, at times you'd swear he was in the opponents box rather than in front of his own!

A Donnelly - Tony Mac partnership may be the answer especially against the teams that prefer to just hoof it up and hope it sticks.

Also where did yis here about Dessie's loan being extended? I can't find anything about it...

[pineapple stu]

We were talking to some officials at the game and they said the one-month loan reports were rubbish - he's here for the season.

[pineapple stu]

Don't reckon Donnelly's ready to replace Robbie Mac yet though - he was short of pace at times, should have conceded a penalty and then hauled yer man back on the edge of the area as well - far too dodgy to have playing regularly yet. But he does seem to have a future with us though.

UCD v. Shels -

Jennings (can't see the point of throwing Andrews in for that one)
Sullivan
McAuley
McDonnell
Davey
Cawley
McNally
J. Martin
Griffin
Baker
R. Martin

Subs:
Andrews
Finn
O'Donnell
Ryan
Gallen

[Gary]

Out of interest lads, what hope do ya honestly reckon ye have of survival. I mean ye have scored what, 1 goal in 5 games, 0 points. It dont look good.

i know ye had a terrible start as well last season, but this looks bad to say the least for ye.

[SIZE=1]not that there would be any tears to see the back of ye[/SIZE]

[pineapple stu]

Looks bad, but sure it looked bad last year.

We've played Bohs, Cork and Scumrock in those five, and only been well beaten by Cork. Jennings is making some mistakes which are costing us, so if we can sort that out, we'll be picking up the 0-0s soon enough.

Dessie Baker and Robbie Martin both have it in them to score 10/15 goals over the season which will be a major help.

Waterford, Derry, Drogheda and Pat's all look as bad as us, and teams are picking points off everyone else at the moment, so it doesn't look like a 10 point gap will build up too quickly.

Overall, disappointed with the start, but optimistic that there are two worse teams than us.

[UCD_4_Life]

Originally posted by pineapple stu
Don't reckon Donnelly's ready to replace Robbie Mac yet though - he was short of pace at times, should have conceded a penalty and then hauled yer man back on the edge of the area as well - far too dodgy to have playing regularly yet. But he does seem to have a future with us though.

UCD v. Shels -

Jennings (can't see the point of throwing Andrews in for that one)
Sullivan
McAuley
McDonnell
Davey
Cawley
McNally
J. Martin
Griffin
Baker
R. Martin

Subs:
Andrews
Finn
O'Donnell
Ryan
Gallen

Baker can't play though.

[UCD_4_Life]

Originally posted by GWA
Out of interest lads, what hope do ya honestly reckon ye have of survival. I mean ye have scored what, 1 goal in 5 games, 0 points. It dont look good.

i know ye had a terrible start as well last season, but this looks bad to say the least for ye.

[SIZE=1]not that there would be any tears to see the back of ye[/SIZE]

In all honesty I think we're better than at least Derry.

Waterford can't (and won't) keep winning games and I think they'll slip as Drogheda did last season.

I'd fancy our chances in a play-off as we've got players who are experienced in such a situation.

[pineapple stu]

Originally posted by UCD_4_Life
Baker can't play though.

Doh! Forgot that.

Sean Finn in then, Gavin Whelan on the bench.

[hayser]

[Aberdonian Stu]

Right I wasn't at Derry but just a few general observations...

Micko should never start this early inthe season, the reason being that he's a classic example of an impact player can't play consitently well for 90 minutes but can give the team a boost for 30 but as impact players go he's fitter than most (just ask the lads on the team) so he can prove to be even more useful at the arse end of a season.

Tony Mac lacks the aerial dominance at centre-back, say what you like about Robbie but Tony should be able to use his height more, he's much more use ful in the middle and yes I do realise that this doesn't solve the centre-back problem.

Bizarrely enough James Timmons (who is around Kevin's height) was considered one of the best player's for winning headers on the team despite his clear height disadvantage.

[The Sheliban]

Honestly, lads, I don't think you've much to worry about. Okay, ye've lost your first 5, but you haven't been hammered. You won't be as unlucky all throughout the season. Losing key players always takes a bit of adjustment, but you've got the best manager in the league and he'll turn things around.
I think you'll get a draw against us on Friday, if not better. We're very much flattering to deceive at the moment.

[pineapple stu]

Hopefully Jason Byrne will pick up a freak inury on Thursday which will rule him out for two days! 'Cos I've no idea how we're going to succeed where every one of Shels' opponents this season have failed and stop him from scoring.

Apart from that, I do reckon it'll come good for us - but the sooner it does, the better...

[Schumi]

I'd start Whelan ahead of Griffin for the $hels game, I don't think Griffin has done well in the last couple of games.