Greatest League in the World 2024 [new thread available]

ben.schlomo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122317471#Comment_122317471

There's no way the second bottom team should be losing to the First Division side this year, it's a poor division again outside of the runaway leader.

CSF

I thought Dundalk looked fairly decent each time we played them. Obviously that’s only a 3 game sample, but I’m a bit surprised that they’ve done as badly as they have.

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122316349#Comment_122316349

You can show him respect for skipping to 4 titles with very little in the way of a challenge but it doesn't make him a good manager. He's just not totally incompetent.

At no point has he elevated his side in the same way the likes of Kenny did, despite at times having what some would describe as a LOI dream team with full internationals in its ranks. He couldn't even get close to Vinny Perth's team in 2019, nevermind Stephen Kenny.

He has consistently failed to achieve anything noteworthy in Europe apart from the season they were parachuted into the group stages after beating Maltese and Macedonian opposition. Their biggest European result is still probably beating Brann about 5 years ago. I think that is the only time his side have won a tie against a team in a league ranked above ours.

He'll fall flat on his face in his next job when he isn't blessed with the same gulf in talent and resources that he has had in Tallaght.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122317579#Comment_122317579

Like I can’t take any of the specific points you’re making and pick them apart or anything like that, but I still feel like the overall conclusion derived from those particular aspects of his tenure is a little bit harsh.

I don’t think he will go down as an LOI great manager or anything like that, but I think he has done a good job there. 4 in a row will not be the over/under marker for what he was expected to be achieved there, even with the resources he had to work with.

Oat23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122317124#Comment_122317124

Lovely scenes at the Showgrounds this afternoon as he passed through with all the players and fans there to pay their respect.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122317631#Comment_122317631

Football would be nowhere near as interesting if we all agreed anyway!

Hodors Appletart

Looks like Shane Farrell is away to Drogheda.

It's a pity he couldn't kick on to the standard we need at the moment, but he was great for us up to this season.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122321373#Comment_122321373

Look, everyone will have heard the reasons why he stopped being successful by this point.

Drogheda will likely benefit from this in the short term, as he will likely have a fire in his belly to prove people wrong, but I’m happy to see him leaving.

CSF

Word is that Harry Wood will be announced in the next day or 2. That’s a big one for us.

PGE1970

Alicha Ahui signs for Drogheda until the end of the season.

Great to have him back.

deisedude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122321882#Comment_122321882

Fire in his belly isn't much good beside all the chicken fillet rolls

The Golden Miller

Shane Farrell was given a raw deal. People forget he was our best player in Duffs first season. He was played out of position carrying an injury, and was exposed badly at the back. Something happened between them after that.

The following season he was continually played out of position and then dropped. He went from being our best player to not, over night. Can't fault Duff as a manager, but Farrell should never of started where he did in that cup final.

I head Hakiki could be heading to Drogheda too. Definitely not happy with that if its true. Maybe a loan though for him

Hodors Appletart

the Hakiki one is a loan, and makes sense to me. I still think he has a future at the club though, we'll see if he can kick on or not, himself.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122324382#Comment_122324382

He is out of contract at the end of the season. If he has another offer to sign elsewhere, hard to imagine he’d be that eager to stay, when you consider his amount of minutes, and the depth we have in attacking areas.

ben.schlomo

We've confirmed the signing of Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe. Good addition, hopefully.

ben.schlomo

And Pat's supposedly signing our ex loanee Kazeem. A pity for us, but we've signed Burns who'll slot in there you'd think.

Randomfriend

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122324981#Comment_122324981

Himself with Anang could be real game changers for Pat's just in time for Europe too, wouldn't be surprised to see them come 4th, although there's a lot of work to do.

It'll be very interesting to see how Waterford/Rovers and Galway finish the season. At least one big club is going to miss out really unexpectedly on Europe this year, for Rovers especially it would be very painful and cause a lot of issues you'd imagine.

CSF

Pats are 6 points behind Waterford who have 2 games in hand on them. They’re yet to get going either ,so how many points can they even afford to lose from here?

Cup has got to be the most promising route to Europe for Pats at this point. If they beat Derry, and one of Rovers and Bohs are obviously going out, the competition will be whittled down significantly.

Randomfriend

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325549#Comment_122325549

Indeed 3rd is probably a stretch too far, but they do play this weekend! That's why I suggested 4th, and that Rovers could be who misses out. The cup draw is interesting, and half the favourites will be gone after one round, but having said that I'd still expect some usual suspect in the top 4 (or Waterford) to win it. Rovers are spiraling a bit and it very much feels like the end of an era, and they will have a lot of churn in the off season. Definitely wouldn't be surprised by Pats coming 4th and winning the cup honestly, I think getting a keeper and left back are massive pieces of the puzzle and a big reason why they have struggled.

Anyone going deep in Europe could hold a huge bearing yet, Pat's playing Vaduz probably means they have the best chance of anyone reaching a 3rd round thou, it's such an unpredictable league this year there's probably no point guessing what will happen but it is fun :D

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325564#Comment_122325564

Pats have won 2 games from 8 under Kenny and are 3 points behind Rovers who also have 2 games in hand on them. Anything possible in football, but it’s a bold prediction.

Randomfriend

Whatever about what happened with Ireland, Kenny knows how to win in the league and improve players/teams and build squads at this level, I think LB/GK were two major weaknesses for Pat's and they've quickly attempted to solve it, that alone will likely mean improved results. They'll do better but they might run out of games is how I see it going! I do think they're lucky to even be as close as they are to the top end, but that's just a sign of how tight the league is, I think it's likely everyone will continue to throw points away, and anyone who can get a bit of consistency will be golden.

They have almost two weeks without a game after Thursday, difficult to know if that will help and it can be a mini pre season or if they're going to go in to extremely tough cup games out of match practice.

CSF

Hakiki gone to Dundalk, hopefully he will do some business against Derry and not against us.

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122325620#Comment_122325620

I think the signs are beginning to seem more positive for Pats. Thought we played well on Friday, and had the chances to win it. Europe via the league might be a stretch, and away to Derry in the cup is a horrible draw, but you never know. Two good looking signings, but I think right back has probably been more of a problem than left back, where Breslin is solid enough. If Sjoberg can stay fit that will be like another good signing. Having Grivosti back to resume his partnership with Joe Redmond could also be crucial.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122321882#Comment_122321882

Harsh. He was a good player for Shels. Been keeping an eye on him since the first division days. Disappointing that he didn't kick on from what was early potential and I am sure he is more disappointed than anyone.

Young quiet lad that Duffer shoul never have thrown to the wolves like he did. That said it is probably the correct decision for everyone but I am sad to see him gone.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122327368#Comment_122327368

Going off what I’ve heard, and from people who have been reliable in telling me other accurate things, he brought his decline on himself.

If you want to be a successful professional footballer, you have to behave like a professional footballer.

No interest in going over the Duff comments from a few months ago again, but him being sent onwards is the right decision imo (although I sincerely hope we’re not letting the deal be done in time for him to play Thursday)

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122323248#Comment_122323248

2 and a half years. I am giddy.

PGE1970

Shane Farrell confirmed for Drogheda.

Good signing.

Hodors Appletart

Wood!

I'm delighted

CSF

We may not be an attacking team by nature, but Will Jarvis, Harry Wood, Liam Burt, Ali Coote, Sean Boyd, Matty Smith, Evan Caffrey and John Martin is the kind of attacking depth I would never have thought possible even like a year ago.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122327379#Comment_122327379

Not doubting it but still sad to see a young lad not make it.

Good news on Wood. Surprised that it is permanent

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122327575#Comment_122327575

Ah absolutely. Young enough to get it all back on track, and maybe the possibility of being the main man again will be the thing that drives him on.

PGE1970

Hayden Cann signs permanently for Dundalk.

He had a few good games for us but overall the two Lincoln lads were disppointing this season.

No doubt he'll score the winner against us in a couple of weeks!

Ohmeha

I'm buzzing to see Wood back in a Shels shirt, just have to make Jarvis permanent now….

Sad to see Shane and Jad leave but they looked to have hit their ceilings at the club and with both of their contracts up at the end of the season best for all parties to move on now

ben.schlomo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122327558#Comment_122327558

Burt, Martin and Jarvis as a unit were good the last night against us, especially first half. Great movement and link up, in particular Burt and Martin.

Hodors Appletart

Yeah, I love Burt's directness, he always looks to drive on, always looking for the positive option. It's mad that you've picked out Burt and Martin as the particular stand outs in the link-up play there, when I saw Smith and Caffrey as the main men in that respect (I think you are talking about the match last Friday v Galway Utd yeah), just different perspectives I suppose.

ben.schlomo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122328858#Comment_122328858

Ya Smith was the other I meant to mention.

Pawwed Rig

Burt seems to have some great moves and skill but I often find his final ball is lacking or he ignores better options to shoot himself. Given that he has the same amount of goals as Mark Coyle (2) he still has something to prove imo.

Hodors Appletart

I'm not dismissing your point, but I do think he just has that bit more willingness to try something a bit more direct then the other players, sure he might lose possession or have a wild shot, but it's something else for the defences to think about.

I don't mind a bad final ball in the last third, Coyler will just win it back anyway, be grand.

Ohmeha

Burt is a rare breed of an exciting to watch attacker in the LOI but his erratic ball retention and end product can be frustrating. It will be interesting to see if Duff will try to sign him permanently from next season as he is a good fit with Jarvis, Smith, Martin, Boyd but now with Coote and Wood added to that attacking equation it is getting crowded for this 2nd half of the season in a good way

Hodors Appletart

I'd love him to re-sign tbh, there was a game a few weeks ago where he didn't start and we were struggling to create anything and I said to my mate at the game that it needed Burt to inject something into the attack.

The Golden Miller

Doubt Jarvis will stay with us. Wood is back because his loan was a disaster and no one else wants him in England. Whereas Jarvis will have far more doors open and a better prospect.

I remember the Hull lads saying last year, when we were raving about Wood, that Jarvis was actually the better prospect. As the season closed, Jarvis got better, Wood got worse tbh. Be interesting to see how Wood does coming back. But can't see Jarvis in this league next season

CSF

There isn’t a good argument to say that Wood got worse. He is the same player he was in November, he just picked a move that wasn’t the right one for him.

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122337293#Comment_122337293

No just meant Wood was on fire when he started with us. Was hard to keep that form up. Was still good at the end of the season.

Jarvis and Wood play well together, and Wood will add alot up front. Along with Coote coming, we must be the strongest team in the league at this stage? Big squad now with alot of quality dept on the bench

Hodors Appletart

Can't say we are the strongest until we see how the players settle in - the good thing is that apart from Molloy, anyone else who left wasn't really close to the starting eleven, and it looks like the additions are of better quality.

I was really happy with the clean sheet against Galway, and between Kam and Shane Griffin I think we are adequately stocked there. Galway are no pushovers and to keep them scoreless was a good indication that we probably won't miss Molloy too much.

My biggest concern is that our first game back after the July madness is Derry, it's at home, but a draw in that game would be an ok result.

I hope the last game isn't a title decider.

topmanamillion

https://www.sligorovers.com/funding-application-lodged-for-masterplan-project/

It would be the first Cat 3 stadium outside of Dublin. A damning indictment of the FAI and the lack of infrastructure nationally at all levels.

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338415#Comment_122338415

Probably a criticism of the Irish football ‘supporting’ community more than anything. Easy to ignore something politically that so few people really care about.

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338512#Comment_122338512

100%, expecting the FAI to finance category 3 stadiums is fanciful

CSF

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338615#Comment_122338615

It’s not if the interest is there. The government is there to use taxes to fund things that are of significance to its people.

League has made some big strides since COVID but we are absolutely not there yet. Right now, any infrastructure spending by the government in LOI grounds is more like an act of charity rather than a proper investment in the communities.

To reference Sligo here. Their 2756 average attendance this season (assuming the figures I’m looking at are correct) are quite decent by LOI standards, but it’s also like 2% of the population of the county right?

We could talk about other charitable/pointless government spendings probably and people would likely make some arguments with merit there, but I don’t think it changes the reality there.

We exist in a fake catch 22 situation where large numbers of the people who don’t go to games, will spend their time saying that it’s because of the stadium facilities.

Pauliedragon

Why are all the matches on tonight lads instead of tomorrow?

Dr. Bre

the euros I presume

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122338796#Comment_122338796

expecting the national football association to finance club stadia nevermind category 3 stadiums is fanciful anyway. Doesn’t happen anywhere, not a national associations responsibility.