Irish football this weekend (19-20/09/08)

SectionF

19 Sep 2008 Bohemians :cool:7:45 Finn Harps Dalymount Park
19 Sep 2008 Bray Wanderers 7:45 St Patrick's Athletic Carlisle Grounds
19 Sep 2008 Derry City 7:45 Drogheda United The Brandywell
19 Sep 2008 Galway United 7:45 Shamrock Rovers Terryland Park
19 Sep 2008 UCD 7:45 Sligo Rovers Belfield Bowl
20 Sep 2008 Cobh Ramblers 7:45 Cork City St Colman's Park

Nalz

3:0 | Bohemians Finn Harps Dalymount Park
1:2 | Bray Wanderers St Patrick's Athletic Carlisle Grounds
1:1 | Derry City Drogheda United The Brandywell
1:1 | Galway United Shamrock Rovers Terryland Park
1:0 | UCD Sligo Rovers Belfield Bowl
1:2 | Cobh Ramblers Cork City St Colman's Park

SectionF

Trilla wrote: »

3:0 | Bohemians Finn Harps Dalymount Park
1:2 | Bray Wanderers St Patrick's Athletic Carlisle Grounds
1:1 | Derry City Drogheda United The Brandywell
1:1 | Galway United Shamrock Rovers Terryland Park
1:0 | UCD Sligo Rovers Belfield Bowl
1:2 | Cobh Ramblers Cork City St Colman's Park

Best odds anyone? I just found some money I forgot I had in my Paddy Power account. Must be lucky

gimmick

Battle of the have nots at St Colmans Park tomorrow night. I honestly see City absolutely thrashing Cobh 0-5 or 0-6.

Plus we get to sing "we filled your ground for you".

Nalz

gimmick wrote: »

Battle of the have nots at St Colmans Park tomorrow night. I honestly see City absolutely thrashing Cobh 0-5 or 0-6.

Bohs scoreline > Cork scoreline

SectionF

3-0. We are invincible!

Bring on Shamrock.

ratinakeg

Bray were unlucky again, same ould story.81st min goal. I think we will still survive. Just about:)

Nalz

SectionF wrote: »

3-0. We are invincible!

Bring on Shamrock.

Very poor performance though. I thought Crowe and Heary were the only ones who put in a decent run out in the first half. Anto Murphy, O Donnell and Powell(surprisingly) were awful. Even Brian Murphy had a mini f'uck up in the first half.

applehunter

Strange that bohs are so far ahead. There not really that good

Pure Cork

applehunter wrote: »

Strange that bohs are so far ahead. There not really that good

I'm amazed tbh. It shows how poor the competition is this year, just like last year when Drogs won. Drogs fell apart this year, Pats concentrated more on Europe, Derry aren't spending anything like as much as Bohs, Shams are a mid-table club at the moment, and City are having a disastrous season. Nobody challenged them.

bohsman

Never would have thought Id see Cork fans being bitter. If you only concede 8 goals in 26 games your going to be up there. I would say Derry arent too far off our wage bill.

Pure Cork

bohsman wrote: »

Never would have thought Id see Cork fans being bitter. If you only concede 8 goals in 26 games your going to be up there. I would say Derry arent too far off our wage bill.

Bitter? No, just observing how there hasn't been a competitive league since 2006. Nobody has challenged Bohs this season, or Drogs last season. When the bigger clubs aren't at the races it's a cakewalk, and it explains the defensive record of Bohs and Drogs. Derry are considering going part-time next season.

bohsman

The league record for goals conceded is 8 by James Gate in the very first season of the league, they only played 20 games. I know Derry are going part time next year but doubt they are far behind the 4th biggest wage bill in the league this year.

Pats have given us a far stronger challenge this season than anyone did Drogheda last year.

SectionF

Pure Cork wrote: »

Bitter? No, just observing how there hasn't been a competitive league since 2006.

How do the points totals stack up?

applehunter

Never seen league champions being outplayed so often in a season. Not being bitter. And jason mcguiness in a record breaking defence is another weird one.

Nalz

applehunter wrote: »

And jason mcguiness in a record breaking defence is another weird one.

Ah come on now thats a bit harsh

gimmick

Cobh 1 - 1 City. A truly awful game. No redeeming features whatsoever. On the upside, it was a marvelous day of booze.

estebancambias

Bohs are just strolling to the title now. I wonder can they keep Kalonas?

I fancy them to do well in Europe next season if they are lucky with the draw(i.e BATE and Famagusta)

Jonny Arson

applehunter wrote: »

Strange that bohs are so far ahead. There not really that good

a bit like the first division, Dundalk are ****e but they're that bit less ****e than Shels, Waterford and Fingal

however for Bohs to only concede 8 goals in 26 games is an unbelievable achievement not matter how debatable to strength of the competition may be (IMO the top 6 this season are stronger than last)

SectionF

Whatever about Cork, Derry and Drogheda, I don't think anyone could argue that Pats this year are worse than last.

Interesting that our bitter Cork friends claiming a poor league to make themselves feel less rubbish still haven't found the points stats to back it up.

Pure Cork

estebancambias wrote: »

Bohs are just strolling to the title now. I wonder can they keep Kalonas?

I fancy them to do well in Europe next season if they are lucky with the draw(i.e BATE and Famagusta)

Conceding 3 to Rhyl and losing to Riga would fill you with confidence?

SectionF wrote: »

Whatever about Cork, Derry and Drogheda, I don't think anyone could argue that Pats this year are worse than last.

Interesting that our bitter Cork friends claiming a poor league to make themselves feel less rubbish still haven't found the points stats to back it up.

How does claiming a poor league make me feel less disappointed by this season?
City - disastrous season
Drogs - fallen apart this season. But they won a poor league.
Derry - They're not good enough to win the league at the moment
Pats - Europe has been a distraction. They've underachieved domestically this season. They were the only team capable of challenging Bohs this year.

SantryRed

Pure Cork wrote: »

Conceding 3 to Rhyl and losing to Riga would fill you with confidence?

Maybe Fenlon's record in Europe has something to do with it?

I know Bohs fans won't wanna say this, but a lot of credit must go to Sean Connor for how good they are at the back. They were as strong at the back last season. Just couldn't score for their lives.

bohsman

SantryRed wrote: »

I know Bohs fans won't wanna say this, but a lot of credit must go to Sean Connor for how good they are at the back. They were as strong at the back last season. Just couldn't score for their lives.

Connor deserves praise for sorting out the defence and made a few very good signings however he treated the players like kids and fell out with several of them - he tried to offload Owen Heary and Joxer to Pats.

Pure Cork you can only beat whats put in front of you but player for player this is the best squad Ive ever seen in the EL.

Pure Cork

bohsman wrote: »

this is the best squad Ive ever seen in the EL.

I've seen a lot better, but football is all about opinions.

SantryRed

Pure Cork wrote: »

I've seen a lot better, but football is all about opinions.

Name one so.

Pighead

Pure Cork wrote: »

Conceding 3 to Rhyl and losing to Riga would fill you with confidence?



How does claiming a poor league make me feel less disappointed by this season?
City - disastrous season
Drogs - fallen apart this season. But they won a poor league.
Derry - They're not good enough to win the league at the moment
Pats - Europe has been a distraction. They've underachieved domestically this season. They were the only team capable of challenging Bohs this year.

Fear not, Pure Cork. It'll be a more competitive and exciting league next season with Dundalk FC back in the mix.

applehunter

Bohs have an amazing pro in owen heary. As good a keeper as weve seen in loi. A reborn neil fenn and the set piece ability of brennan. The rest of the team is filler.

Pure Cork

SantryRed wrote: »

Name one so.

Just one? Shels 2003, 2004. Cork City 2004, 2005. Derry 2005, 2006. Just some recent years off the top of my head.

Pighead wrote: »

Fear not, Pure Cork. It'll be a more competitive and exciting league next season

The First Division will be an exciting place next season.

Publin

applehunter wrote: »

Strange that bohs are so far ahead. There not really that good

Bit of a contradiction there... what makes you think we're not that good, seeing as how we're so far ahead?

Pure Cork wrote: »

I'm amazed tbh. It shows how poor the competition is this year, just like last year when Drogs won. Drogs fell apart this year, Pats concentrated more on Europe, Derry aren't spending anything like as much as Bohs, Shams are a mid-table club at the moment, and City are having a disastrous season. Nobody challenged them.

Drogs are going well in the Setanta, did very well in Europe and were only put out of the FAI Cup by Bohs.
Pats have had a great run in Europe (so far), and are still in the Cup.
Cork put up a strong challenge until the financial collapse and sale of Mooney.
Derry are going to win their tin pot cup again
Don't even know why you mentioned the Shams .

Drogs are a mid-table team this year and yet look at what they achieved in Europe (along with St. Pats). Bohs fans could just as easily use this to argue that it's a stronger league than in the past. Anyone saying it's a poor league and Bohs aren't that good are bitter or in denial, or both. Bohs have been class this year, and we have a fantastic squad and manager. If we weren't that good, we wouldn't be this far clear.

To be honest, this is the best LoI team I've ever seen and to suggest that it's solely down to other teams being weaker than previous years (which I'd strongly dispute), is ungracious and grossly unfair.

applehunter wrote: »

Never seen league champions being outplayed so often in a season. Not being bitter. And jason mcguiness in a record breaking defence is another weird one.

Are you referring to the current league champions or to Bohs? If it's Bohs, then that contradicts what your Cork buddy was saying about there being less of a challenge this year from other clubs. If we're being outplayed, and are still winning so easily, that says a lot about Nutsy's tactics and was he has the team set-up and the effort the players put in.

McGuinness is a top eL centre half and I've no worries about him at centre half. He should never have been dropped at the start of this year for Oman, who has been disappointing. McGuiness has been excellent both last season and this season and is keeping T. Heary and Oman out of the team on merit. He's also popped up with a couple of important goals, including 2 in the last 2 games.

estebancambias wrote: »

Bohs are just strolling to the title now. I wonder can they keep Kalonas?

Not having a go at you mate, but people are getting carried away about Kalonas, many having rarely if ever, seen him play. I've seen him a couple of times now for Bohs and he hasn't been overly impressive. He's been good, yes, but as for standing out or being above the league? Not yet anyway from what I've seen. Just because he's an international I'm not going to get carried away and presume he's brilliant. I'll judge him on what he does for us on the pitch. He looks to be skillful and an intelligent player, but I'd be worried that he's too weak/light for this league and won't be able for the physicality of it. I think maybe a role in midfield as opposed to up front may suit him better as he doesn't strike me as an out and out finisher.

Pure Cork

Publin wrote: »

Drogs are going well in the Setanta, did very well in Europe and were only put out of the FAI Cup by Bohs.
Pats have had a great run in Europe (so far), and are still in the Cup.
Cork put up a strong challenge until the financial collapse and sale of Mooney.
Derry are going to win their tin pot cup again
Don't even know why you mentioned the Shams .

Drogs are a mid-table team this year and yet look at what they achieved in Europe (along with St. Pats). Bohs fans could just as easily use this to argue that it's a stronger league than in the past. Anyone saying it's a poor league and Bohs aren't that good are bitter or in denial, or both. Bohs have been class this year, and we have a fantastic squad and manager. If we weren't that good, we wouldn't be this far clear.

To be honest, this is the best LoI team I've ever seen and to suggest that it's solely down to other teams being weaker than previous years (which I'd strongly dispute), is ungracious and grossly unfair.

Drogs are doing well in the Setanta Cup? Cliftonville and Dungannon are tough opposition alright :rolleyes:
As I said, Pats got distracted with Europe.
City were never going to challenge this year. We started very badly, drawing loads of games, conceding late goals, and nothing has really changed. We only had one half-decent run of form this season.
As you said yourself, Derry and Shams weren't going to challenge.

Your argument that Drogs performing well in Europe, despite being a mid-table team this season, indicates the quality of the league is interesting. Bohs conceded 3 against Rhyl and lost to Riga. I know the Intertoto doesn't count for coefficients, but it's still European competition. We lost 6-2 on aggregate. Pats had a good run, but that's coming to an end it seems.

Using your argument that the performance of LOI teams in Europe is a benchmark for the standard of the league: This year we have a coefficient of 2.166 so far. It's unlikely that we'll improve on that. In 06/07 we had a coefficient of 2.833.

Bitter or in denial? No. I'm just observing how the quality of the league hasn't been as good as it has in recent years. For better teams than the current Bohs one, have a look at my post above yours.

Enjoy your success, but don't get carried away.

Nalz

applehunter wrote: »

Bohs have an amazing pro in owen heary. As good a keeper as weve seen in loi. A reborn neil fenn and the set piece ability of brennan. The rest of the team is filler.

So you're calling Powell, Rossi, Kalonas and Crowe fillers?

Get the boat will ya

applehunter

Yes. Powell is a def weak link in that defense. Crowe is a spent force. Kalounus is not a regular. Dont know rossi.

bohsman

Rossiter is class, definitely Sunderland and the Premierships loss, Powell a weak link, maybe but hes still a regular u21 international and Wolves were very interested last year, he has his ups and downs, better than Shels weak link - Crawley. Crowes game has improved massively in the last few years, does huge amounts of work off the ball and as shown in Turners Cross he still has the killer instinct.

Deegan looks fantastic. Anto Murphy is keeping Joxer and McGill out of the starting lineup, does a great job at right back aswell. O'Donnell is good at what he does, if Paul Keegan is signed as is rumoured he will probably lose his place. Liam Burns was great last year but has been immense this season since he lost weight. McGuinness as mentioned is keeping last seasons best defender of the year Ken Oman out of the team.

applehunter

Give me a 20 goal a season crowe anyday.

SectionF

applehunter wrote: »

Kalounus (sic) is not a regular.

Been busy -- scoring against Romania

applehunter wrote: »

Dont know rossi.

Any LoI fan who says that cannot be taken seriously.
Take a look at the first 25 secs of this.

bohsman

As long as theres goals coming from all around the pitch I dont mind. Despite not having a 20 goal a season striker we've outscored all teams this season.

Nalz

bohsman wrote: »

O'Donnell is good at what he does, if Paul Keegan is signed as is rumoured he will probably lose his place.

I hope so, I dont rate O Donnell at all.

SantryRed

Shels Waterford on in Tolka in an hour.

On my way now.

Another huge game.

Second in four days.

applehunter

Rossi!!!!!

I thought you were talking about some Italian you had signed.:rolleyes:

You mean Mark Rossiter.

Yeah he's a makeshift midfielder for yee. He has hit a few thumpers but Owen Heary is a better player. So yes more filler.

And in his MNS interview he came accross as a right asshole. Don't forget where you come from.

Nalz

Applehunter, you mentioned Fenn. You do know he hasnt featured in an awful lot of the games from the start this year? Isn't that your reason for stating Kalonaus isnt up to it

applehunter

Kalounus has played 3 games. Fenn 20.

Nalz

applehunter wrote: »

Kalounus has played 3 games. Fenn 20.

Kalounus only joined and I'm pretty sure he's played more then 3 games... plus he was missing for the internationals. Fenn has been in and out of the starting line up all year, as is Jason Byrne.

applehunter

Check stats on walkthechalk website. All there to see. Btw never said kal was a bad player. Hes only just arrived

Nalz

Kalonas has played in 6 games (3 as a sub)
Fenn has started 15 (and 5 as a sub) - less then Joxer who's also not considered a first team player anymore.

SectionF

applehunter wrote: »

Check stats on walkthechalk website. All there to see. Btw never said kal was a bad player. Hes only just arrived

Yeah right.
You said he was filler, and that he was not a regular.
Since he's arrived, afaik, he's played every game for which he's been available.
As for Rossi, he's as sound as a bell.

bohsman

Gained a hell of a lot of respect for Rossi when I saw him playing football with the 3 mascots for a good 20 minutes before one of the games he wasnt starting in.

Applehunter, yea a lot of those players are filler but theyre 10 times better than any filler we've ever had before.

applehunter

If this turns into a jimmy aggrey bashing, im leaving this forum for good.

monkey9

bohsman wrote: »

Gained a hell of a lot of respect for Rossi when I saw him playing football with the 3 mascots for a good 20 minutes before one of the games he wasnt starting in.

Applehunter, yea a lot of those players are filler but theyre 10 times better than any filler we've ever had before.

The mascots ran rings around him, did they?