Sporting Fingal FC Supporters' Thread - IMPORTANT: Read Post #1

The Hill Billy

Just to add to Beasty's comments - If there are any further offensive posts in this thread lengthy bans will be given without warning.

This is a community forum read by young and old alike. Show some respect.

HB

ViperGTS

Unbelievable! To be so comfortable in a game and be playing against 10 men and to concede twice is beyond me. Just can't come to terms with it yet to post anything further. Saw the team out for a warm down afterwards Paul. Mind you it was after a lengthy spell in the dressing room so I'm sure what had to be said was a lot!

Lamper.sffc

Tonights match =

Thats it till i calm down

FINGAL FAN

Really enjoyed this piece.
http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/its-a-father-and-son-thing/

Lamper.sffc

According to the Fingal website Ger O Brien will be out for only a week or so. Good news:). At the time it looked like it was a lot worse.

TangyZizzle

S'craic lads. How much are tickets? Can I buy them at Morton Stadium or do I'v to order them online somewhere?

T-b0n3

TangyZizzle wrote: »

S'craic lads. How much are tickets? Can I buy them at Morton Stadium or do I'v to order them online somewhere?

You can get tickets at Morton.

60 mins in vs Limerick still 0-0 not great!

Any one hear how they getting on?? My friend hasn't text back with any updates yet.

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

According to the Fingal website Ger O Brien will be out for only a week or so. Good news:). At the time it looked like it was a lot worse.

Oh and I heard hes on crutches at the moment and he'll be more than a week unfortunately. Hopefully he can recover fast. Not too long left in the season now.

Edit: Betting on paddypower has been disabled, assuming there has been a goal. Better be for us!

Edit Edit: Looks like still 0-0, must have suspended it for a different reason.

Paulw

T-b0n3 wrote: »

Any one hear how they getting on?? My friend hasn't text back with any updates yet.

Oh and I heard hes on crutches at the moment and he'll be more than a week unfortunately. Hopefully he can recover fast. Not too long left in the season now.

http://www.extratime.ie/liveupdate/ Still 0-0.

I think Ger will be out for 2-3 weeks. He had an old ankle injury, so that hasn't helped.

TangyZizzle

So how much are tickets?

JohnNightmare

15 euro for an aldult
10 student and oap

we are against bohs this friday k.o 7.45 in morton, shud be a cracker of a game

TangyZizzle

Nice, thanks.

ViperGTS

Extra time at the min. Was talkin to Ger the other day and he said he was to get another x-ray today. The 1st one on friday said no break but the 2nd said a small break. Either way he thinks 6 weeks is a possibility. He's still hopeful of making the cup final in 11 weeks Saw on MNS toinght it was the Limerick no.12 that fell on him after what looked like a dive from a McFaul nudge. McFaul off injured toinght aswell

JohnNightmare

fingal win 3-4 on penos:)

FreeOSCAR

Good result last night but I feel we are shooting ourselves in the foot by playing all of these games.

Good we kept a clean sheet and seem to have some cool headed peno takers

Paulw

FreeOSCAR wrote: »

Good result last night

I have to say, I have yet to feel we've really had a good result this season.

A good result would be 3-0.

We've had good displays, with poor results.

How many games have ended in a draw? 12?? That's far too many, especially when many of those should have been comfortable wins.

It's not about the skill of the players either. The talent is there. The players are there. It's the mentality. A lack of concentration or just lack of co-ordination, and suddenly it's a draw rather than a good win.

I've been to almost all home games and a number of the away games. So far, I feel frustrated. The team has the skill and ability to run away with the league. There's nothing to fear. We play good football, attractive football, skillful football, and yet ... there are too many draws.

Yes, it's great to be in to the next round, and even away to Pats, there's nothing to fear.

Roll on Fri.

Lamper.sffc

Paulw wrote: »

I have to say, I have yet to feel we've really had a good result this season.

A good result would be 3-0.

We've had good displays, with poor results.

How many games have ended in a draw? 12?? That's far too many, especially when many of those should have been comfortable wins.

It's not about the skill of the players either. The talent is there. The players are there. It's the mentality. A lack of concentration or just lack of co-ordination, and suddenly it's a draw rather than a good win.

I've been to almost all home games and a number of the away games. So far, I feel frustrated. The team has the skill and ability to run away with the league. There's nothing to fear. We play good football, attractive football, skillful football, and yet ... there are too many draws.

Yes, it's great to be in to the next round, and even away to Pats, there's nothing to fear.

Roll on Fri.

I feel exactly the same. Totally frustrated. I was at the game last night and we where lucky, very lucky. They had ten men for basically the whole of the second half (the guy was sent off after few mins in the second half) We really should have put the game away at this point but we never really had enough chances, a lot of posession yes but not enough guile in front of goal to put the ball away.

Sometimes it was hard to tell who was down to ten men, we where that slugish. They should have made it 1-0 at one point (with 10 men I might add) when they cracked the ball off the crossbar and their lad knocked the the rebound over when it was easier to score. Very frustrating game to watch and credit to limerick they where great on the night. They didnt even have a full squad out and where playing some of their youth players due to the fact some of their players where cup tied aparently.

All in all im delighted to get through but im starting to worry about the mental strength of the team. Lovely as it is to watch the team play football, its very disheartening to see us concede silly goal after goal to teams we should be beating. I havent seen us outplayed in many games this season esp the top 4. Tbh our first game against Galway this season has been the one team iv seen outplay us for a good period of the game and for once it was us who got the undeserved late equaliser in that one.

Last season while great, I feel papered over some of the cracks in our team. With the squad we had, we should have walked that division and we didnt. Now thank god we got up through the playoffs and the brilliant bonus of winning the cup but its evident we dont have enough leaders on the pitch.

Im hoping Hawkins can make a bit of a difference and his experience may be what we need. Hopefully he can talk a few of the younger players through the game because it doesnt seem like others are. He was very good last night and im hoping he and Browne could make a very good partnership in the future.

There is no reason we cant play nice football but also know when it is time to just huff it out of defense when under pressure and also just put a cross in or a strike when there is an opportunity to do so.

Ah, Thats feels better:)

Paulw

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

I feel exactly the same. Totally frustrated.

All in all im delighted to get through but im starting to worry about the mental strength of the team.

Im hoping Hawkins can make a bit of a difference and his experience may be what we need.

There is no reason we cant play nice football but also know when it is time to just huff it out of defense when under pressure

I agree there.

We have a good squad. Ok, there are a few (very few) players that I don't like, and don't think they have what it takes to be a Fingal player. But, we do have a good enough squad to win the league and retain the cup.

Hawkins was a very smart buy. He is very experienced, and it shows in the team. He is liked and respected. He (and Crowe too) are a great influence and guidance to younger players.

Sometimes, I think the back line play too much ball. There definitely is time when it's best to get the ball away. As Mick McCarthy says, "you don't see someone scoring from row Z". Just get the damn ball out of there.

I know the coaching staff are very frustrated too. But, they just have to keep pushing the plans for the team, and how the team should play.

While I am concerned and frustrated, we're in a good position to finish strong in the league (top 3) and have the talent to retain the cup. The season isn't over yet, and I am still (quietly) confident of a good finish.

Lamper.sffc

Paulw wrote: »

I agree there.

We have a good squad. Ok, there are a few (very few) players that I don't like, and don't think they have what it takes to be a Fingal player. But, we do have a good enough squad to win the league and retain the cup.

Hawkins was a very smart buy. He is very experienced, and it shows in the team. He is liked and respected. He (and Crowe too) are a great influence and guidance to younger players.

Sometimes, I think the back line play too much ball. There definitely is time when it's best to get the ball away. As Mick McCarthy says, "you don't see someone scoring from row Z". Just get the damn ball out of there.

I know the coaching staff are very frustrated too. But, they just have to keep pushing the plans for the team, and how the team should play.

While I am concerned and frustrated, we're in a good position to finish strong in the league (top 3) and have the talent to retain the cup. The season isn't over yet, and I am still (quietly) confident of a good finish.

There is no questioning the talent alright but who gives the team a kick up the behind when its not going well. We need a midfield enforcer. A tackler, a screamer, some cranky fup(:)) who get the lads in order. I dont know how vocal Hawkins will be as iv only seen him in last nights game but hopefully he can help in this regard.(not that im saying he should play midfield)

Im still hopefull and that will never change untill we are out of the cup and mathimatically we cant qualify for Europe.

Just a word on the Europe thingy. If a team who finishes in the top 3 win the cup as well then that means 4th spot in the league will get into Europe aswell.

Anyway, I really hope the team can show their true potential this friday and finally beat the Bohs. Its long overdue that we beat one of the top teams. God knows our play deserves it.

Hopefully we can get a good crowd out on Friday and that the fingal community will get out for this one. We are battling it out with Bohs for that Euro spot and id imagine this will be a great game with a big atmosphere.

JohnNightmare

watching mns last night and the lads said fingal play the best football in the league, they pass( long and short range) not afraid to shoot from distance and score some v good team goals, only problem is they cant sit back and hold on to the lead, they keep pushing for another goal and end up geting caught and drawing the match, if not lose the match,

they compared us to bohs, they said bohs can play great football until they score, then dey sit back and defend and win the game by a goal or 2 which is boreing to watch but they win leagues with that style,

fingal play great football start to finish and are v exciting to watch, especialy for the neutral fan who wants to see great football, passing, going forward not holding back etc... being played, but for the fans and coaches its heart break to see them throw away leads in the last few mins because they keep goin forward insted of sitting back and defending. thats why fingal will more than likely not win the league this year,

they concluded by saying fingal are the most exciting team in the league and they should stay that way but when there winning in the last 10/15 mins they should fall back and defend and make sure they get the 3 points insted of 1.



if and buts and all that kinda stuff but drawn 11games ( most of which we let the lead slip ), 11points insted of a well possible 33,,,,,,, still though i much prefere the way we play to bohs style, but i do wish we could do better in defence.

just to end on a good note, we have got great cool headed peno takers and on there day great goalkeepers which is a great help in the cup

holster

las not going to bore ye here now,but ye got out of jail last night,limerick played way above themselves,hopefully they will meet ye again next year in the premier.good luck for the rest of the competition.

FINGAL FAN

Reading this debate with interest. Of the 11 draws this season few if any were points salvaged from losing positions. Most were draws from winning positions or indeed defeats from winning positions e.g. St Pats last week.
The down side of wanting to pass,pass,pass the ball is that mistakes will happen in dangerous areas.
On the whole though for a first season in the Premier we are doing well . 4th in the league and in the quarter finals of the cup. If we can keep the bulk of the squad together for next season we've a lot to look forward to.
One thing I would like to see is a little more rotation of the squad. Brian Gannon had a super game in the away tie with St.Pats about a month ago and hasn't featured since.

Lamper.sffc

Here are the fixtures and results so far this season.

http://www.extratime.ie/fixtures/teams/10/ Scroll down on the top right section (team fixtures) to find Fingal s

How many of those games have we been the ones to score first only to concede an equaliser. Some we went on to win, some we drew and some we lost, but an alarming amount we have scored first and then conceded. Its a really poor trend, in that we fail miserably at keeping leads. Its a major problem that has been happening all season and if not addressed soon, a very good squad of players will end up with nothing to show for their qualities.

I also wouldnt just put the problem down to bad defending either. Our finishing (esp of late) has been terrible. Our goals to chances made is not good enough. Iv lost count of the amount of chances we have missed in the last 4 or five games.

ViperGTS

I'm not gonna throw in my 2 cents as such as most of it has been said already. I'll have to disagree with you though John. In the words of the great man Dave "ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!" I don't think its the fact that we need to sit back and defend a lead (as has been said, its not interesting football) its that we get into the lead, feel comfortable and get complacent. When we're a goal or 2 up we need to keep pressure on the opposition and hunt down some more goals. Take the recent Rovers game as an example. At 2-1 we we're very comfortable and in control of the game and had them on the ropes. Byrne on the right, instead of heading up the wing and attacking, he turns back and gives a dreadful ball to Browne (trying to keep possesion I presume) and the ever quick thinking Twigg pounces and gives them the equaliser and confidence to take the lead. Defensive troubles will be sorted and the return to fitness of Hawkins and Fitzgerald will be a big boost. Schoolboy errors in defence have been in abundance this season and we just have to learn to get things in order. As a centre half, my motto is and always has been "If in doubt, get it out". 10 mins to go with a 1 goal lead......a nice 50yd attempted pass will do me just fine :rolleyes:

ViperGTS

By the way. Mc Faul has been diagnosed with soft tissue damage. thankfully nothing too serious and he's hoping to be back in a few weeks.

Lamper.sffc

ViperGTS wrote: »

I'm not gonna throw in my 2 cents as such as most of it has been said already. I'll have to disagree with you though John. In the words of the great man Dave "ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!" I don't think its the fact that we need to sit back and defend a lead (as has been said, its not interesting football) its that we get into the lead, feel comfortable and get complacent. When we're a goal or 2 up we need to keep pressure on the opposition and hunt down some more goals. Take the recent Rovers game as an example. At 2-1 we we're very comfortable and in control of the game and had them on the ropes. Byrne on the right, instead of heading up the wing and attacking, he turns back and gives a dreadful ball to Browne (trying to keep possesion I presume) and the ever quick thinking Twigg pounces and gives them the equaliser and confidence to take the lead. Defensive troubles will be sorted and the return to fitness of Hawkins and Fitzgerald will be a big boost. Schoolboy errors in defence have been in abundance this season and we just have to learn to get things in order. As a centre half, my motto is and always has been "If in doubt, get it out". 10 mins to go with a 1 goal lead......a nice 50yd attempted pass will do me just fine :rolleyes:

Totally agree, its when we are are up by one or two that the mistakes start to happen. When its 0-0 we tend to defend quite well for the most part.

This trying to run the ball out of defense at times and getting caught is criminal. Quigley even did it twice in last nights game (and hes a goalkeeper:o) and nearly got caught. Maher got caught doing it as well. There is a time and a place to pass it out from the back and then there are times when you shouldnt do it.
Im guessing the message to the defenders is to keep possession and not just hoof the ball back to the opposition all the time like some LOI sides do but its knowing when to play this way and when not to. It doesnt have to be one way or the other. It can be a blend of both. When there is time, play it out from the back. When there isnt, hoof the damn thing:) or at least not try something that has a high risk of a fup up

Paulw

I had an interesting evening yesterday. I went along to the FAI/FCC/NDSL/Sporting Fingal coaching workshop. I had a chat with John Devine about things at this event. A few jokes were cracked about the comfortable 4-3 win on penalties. This was a workshop for football coaches (geared towards those working with kids). It was hosted by Packie Bonner, Liam Buckley, John Devine and the NDSL. They talked about the processes of getting your coaching badges, all the way up to the pro levels.

The whole idea was to get kids comfortable on the ball, and to pass. Very much the way that Fingal play. They broke it down, from 11 V 11 to 7 v 7 and then 4 v 4. They started off with 4 v 2. So, you have 4 players passing the ball, trying to hold possession and then 2 "defenders" trying to get the ball.

It was exactly how Fingal play at the back.

Yes, it does give you more of the ball. It does give you confidence to control the ball, BUT .... there will always be times when the opposition come at you and get the ball from you. No team in the world can continue to hold on to the ball. But, the important thing, is what you do once the ball is taken from you. It's that transition phase, from attack to defence, where it's critical. This is what costs goals.

In the LOI, too many teams hoof the ball up. We play good football. We play attacking football. We play attractive football. I think, playing foreign teams, we'd have a much better chance than most LOI clubs.

But, when we play Irish teams, they do chase you down. I think Fingal don't attack enough. I think we sit back too much. Most goals seem to be from mistakes. Yes, some are from very good play from the opposition and I can live with that.

We also need to score more. It's great to see Williams and Finn having a run at the box and taking shots. It's great to see Conan break in from the wing and have a shot. It's great to see O'Neill/Zayed/Crowe get on the end of a cross from Byrne. But, there are times when we try to walk the ball in to the net.

I think we've a great team, great coaches and great potential. I am optimistic for the future. If we can cut out the silly mistakes and can score a few more, it's all there for us. There's no reason why we can't win the league, no reason why we can't win the cup and no reason why we can't progress in Europe ... but these things may not happen this year.

With the injuries - McFaul isn't as bad as expected, but will be out for a few weeks. Ger O'Brien is also less serious than expected but again it'll be a few weeks. Hawkins is back playing so slowly but surely he'll slot back in to the team. Lorcan Fitzgerald is fully training so should be back soon. Otherwise, it's looking good.

I continue to be positive and optimistic about the team.

fingalgooner

Okay my turn.
Agree with most that has been written here, complacency, lack of concentration and for me most of all that killer instinct. That back bone of a team that says today we ain't loosing no matter what! We ain't comin out of here with anything less than 3 points!
In our first season we had Dave Rogers, he was not our captain,(Paul Caffery was for that season) but that was a player who hated to loose and i mean hate it.
It's not that our players like to loose or to concede a lead. But there ain't no Dave Rogers out there to put the boot up everyone's ar$e to get that goal or to defend the life out of our half.
Mc Faul is a player i like a lot as is our present Captain Wiliams but neither are type of player to grab O'Niell or Byrne or Zayed by the throat and roar them into kicking it up another level.
Kenny Browne could be, for me that lad has been outstanding this season and his row with Quigley the other night at the Limerick home tie reminded a little of Rogers, he showed how much he hated to loose.
But for me the away game to Limerick was the first time i got to see Hawkins and that is a player that really showed me what we could have in the team to balance out the nice play and skillfull play. He roared at everyone and did not shirk away from telling some of the more established players what they were doing wrong nor did he care what they thought of him because he never gave up shouting at them.
And that is what i think the younger lads lack, because they don't want to be at each other they sometimes look as if they would feel uncomfortable shouting orders at others.
Hawkins ain't, I think Browne is coming to the fore on that front, Alan Kirby is similar as is Lorcan Fitzgerald. Get these boys playing regularly together along side the immense skill we possess in midfield and now we have balance. And now we have grit.

Cue the soundtrack to Braveheart and y'all have a nice day now.

TangyZizzle

Lads what are the chances of tickets being sold out for the match on Friday? Im thinking of going to my first match in Morton and dont wanna be turned away on the night.

Paulw

Highly unlikely. I doubt you've much to worry about. While I expect (and hope for) a great crowd, I've never yet seen the place sold out.

TangyZizzle

Good stuff, cheers.