Monday's eL Ackshun

Roar

League leaders Cork face the first of
four away games without top-scorer John
O'Flynn who is likely to be out for
another week at least after stretching
his groin in the warm up to Friday's
shock home defeat to St Pat's.

Gareth Farrelly and fellow midfielder
Mark O'Brien return from suspension for
Bohs who are chasing fourth place and a
possible European spot.

Farrelly must wait on defender Stephen
Rice and his current front two of Tony
Grant and Stephen Ward who all picked
up knocks at Belfield on Friday.

SHELBOURNE v BRAY WANDERERS
Colin Hawkins returns to Shels' back
four as they go for a ninth win from
ten games.

The champions are now just six points
behind joint-leaders Cork and Derry
with four games to play.

'We were seventeen points behind not so
long ago,' said Shels' boss Pat Fenlon.
'We've wrapped up third place and we
just have to keep winning and see what
happens.'

Bray, safe now, remain without skipper
Jody Lynch (ankle) while David Tyrrell,
on loan from Shels, is ineligible.

UCD v DERRY CITY
College striker Robbie Martin misses
out after suffering concussion in
Friday's 3-1 home defeat to Bohemians.

Boss Pete Mahon welcomes back son Alan
to the right-back berth following
suspension as UCD search for the win
that should see them safe.

Derry expect Gary Beckett to start
after he failed a fitness test ahead of
Friday's home defeat to Waterford.

'If we win our four games, I believe it
will be good enough to win the league,
but all we can think about is UCD right
now,' said Derry boss Stephen Kenny.

Roar

Two very big games tonight for the title contenders.

I reckon bohs will take points off City tonight, 1-1 draw is the way i'm going.

Derry will beat UCD comfortably I'd say, 3-0.

Shels could have a say though.. you never know. also 3-0 there v Bray

MrJoeSoap

Weather in Dublin ain't the best, I'm hoping it clears up later for a good evening of football. I'm hoping for a big convincing Shelbourne win, to let us fans know that they won't give this league up yet. 3 or 4 nil sounds good to me.

MrJoeSoap

Hmmm... Just realised that the bank-holiday trains stop around 6 o' clock. That means I'll have to do a couple of hours travelling either side of the match... (I would cycle but I've a feeling my bike might be used on a bonfire if I park it around the area).

Shelbourne FC, if you are reading this, I don't want to be disappointed.

PS - Anyone else expecting shockingly low attendances today?

Töpher

Aye, attendances will be low, but once we hammer my new local side I don't give a flying feck! Weather's beautiful down here!

Shelbourne 4-1 Bray
UCD 1-1 Derry
Bohemians 2-0 Cork (They can't score to save their lives!)

That'd leave:
Derry 64 (3 games left)
Cork 63 (4 games left)
Shels 60 (3 games left)

I can pray! I think!

[Jackass]

I've a bad feeling about the Cork match alright...I reckon Derry and Shels will win handy enough..Which would really throw the league on it's head!! :eek:

I deffenatly want cork in CL next season, not Derry.

Töpher

Thats true, Cork would be better representatives I would imagine. I'm chewing my nails to bits already, this run in is fcuking incredible!

Raskolnikov

I expect City to bounce back from the lacklustre preformance against St. Pats, it certainly isn't going to be pretty, 1-0 I reckon.

MrJoeSoap

Bohemians 1-0 Cork City 4.00
Bennett o/g 4


GET IN THERE !

(what an unusually great way to celebrate my 2,500th post - cheering a Bohs goal)

Roar

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......

come on boys get it together...

MrJoeSoap

1-1, Ken Oman repaying the favour.

Come on Bohs!!!

Roar

magic stuff.. come on city!

Roar

yeeeeeessssssss!!!

2-1 city, captain dan murray

MrJoeSoap

Just on my way out the door to Tolka and I hear this. Talk about a buzz killer. League over for Shels, for definite now.

Come on UCD!

blu_sonic

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Bohemians 1-0 Cork City 4.00
Bennett o/g 4


GET IN THERE !

(what an unusually great way to celebrate my 2,500th post - cheering a Bohs goal)

can you ever be forgiven?

KdjaCL

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Talk about a buzz killer. League over for Shels, for definite now.

Its halloween not the 4th of July, but i can see how you got mixed up with all the fireworks and stuff.


kdjac

blu_sonic

cork pulled that from the fire, (is wrong that i'm glad?)

MrJoeSoap

Delaney 6
Heary 9
Cahill 9
Rogers 10
Hawkins 8
Ryan 8 (Moore 9)
Hoolahan 10
Ndo 9
Crawford 7 (Fleming 8)
Byrne 9
O'Neill 8 (Crowe 7)

---

Outstanding performance, by far and a way the best of the season. Can't describe how happy I am after seeing that. The sending off was completely justified, could have been a straight red. Hope Bobby Ryan is alright, it didn't look too good that it took 7 or 8 minutes for him to move from the spot after he got injured. Terrible terrible challenge.

Can't say enough good things about Wes. This guy would be the star player if he played for Ireland. It makes me so annoyed that it would probably take a move to England for him to get noticed. It tears me up inside because I know he deserves his chance, but England beckons and to be honest, it can only be a matter of time.

The league is over for us now, any little glimmer of hope is now gone. I won't give up second place just yet though.

PS - Got the European DVD. The buzz off it is unreal. Our time will come again, especially with performances like tonights.

gimmick

City pulled fúck all from the fire. They played the 90 minutes and had the luck, the luck of champions.

Though with Derry also winning and Shels anhiliating Bray, its still all to play for. November 18th will be some day. I hope I can get some valium!

And to think there are tossers on this board/country thinking the eL aint 'worth' supporting!

MrJoeSoap

KdjaC wrote:

Its halloween not the 4th of July, but i can see how you got mixed up with all the fireworks and stuff.


kdjac

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

And to think there are tossers on this board/country thinking the eL aint 'worth' supporting!

I watch a massive amount of football, far too much if I'm honest, but tonights Shelbourne performance was one of the best I have seen in a long time.

To quote "Dunphy" on the Apres Match video:

"Forgive them Gimmick, for they know not what they do..."

gimmick

Mr Joe Soap wrote:

Can't say enough good things about Wes. This guy would be the star player if he played for Ireland

And he will be seen in the positive light he needs when he is in a Cork City jersey next season :eek:

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

And he will be seen in the positive light he needs when he is in a Cork City jersey next season :eek:

Don't you be cursing us, especially on the night thats in it! You never know what might come true!

gimmick

^ meh. No curses.

Alls I hearing is that a bid has been put in for Wes, and he wants to move south.

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

^ meh. No curses.

Alls I hearing is that a bid has been put in for Wes, and he wants to move south.

:eek: Where'd you hear this? :mad:

gimmick

^ Ive heard it, and it could well be true.

The only thing which will stop it from happening is Shels' refusal to leave him go for a rival. From what Im told, he wanted to go to City at the last transfer window but a fee couldnt be agreed.

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

^ Ive heard it, and it could well be true.

The only thing which will stop it from happening is Shels' refusal to leave him go for a rival. From what Im told, he wanted to go to City at the last transfer window but a fee couldnt be agreed.

If he leaves I hope its for England. I couldn't handle seeing him with you, no offence.

gimmick

So you would prefer see the Irish football 'brain-drain', than Wes coming to Cork? And why England?

[Jackass]

I'll believe it when I see it!! I think he's just about the last player shels would let go ... Cork would need to table a massive bid for it to be considerd!!

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

So you would prefer see the Irish football 'brain-drain', than Wes coming to Cork? And why England?

I'd rather see him going to a team that we don't play 4 or 5 times a season to be honest!

I said England because I figured that would be where the bids might come from. There was a rumour of Motherwell being interested but, imo, that would be a step backwards altogether.

Put it this way, if your favourite young CCFC player (whoever it may be) said they wanted to leave, would you rather they went to a team like Shels or Derry, or completely out of sight to England in an effort to further their career, make more money and get into the international set-up?

Also, I can almost guarantee you that the next Irish manager will have little or no interest in watching domestic Irish soccer, and picking domestic players.

---

BUT ITS ALL SPECULATION AT THE MOMENT

---

gimmick

And who is to say a mad bid hasnt been put in? At this point, Wes is looking for City to make another bid. He isnt happy at Shels, and wants out. There is talk of a falling out with the manager.

---

BUT ITS ALL SPECULATION AT THE MOMENT

---

It suuuuuuuure is.

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

And who is to say a mad bid hasnt been put in? At this point, Wes is looking for City to make another bid. He isnt happy at Shels, and wants out. There is talk of a falling out with the manager.



It suuuuuuuure is.

Ah now! Its the 1st of November, not April!

gimmick

Lets not hide behind dates now, shall we?

Dont get me wrong, Id love to see Wes playing for City, and wont be surprised if he is in a few months, equally its just as likely that Shels will not leave him go, and accept a simliar, if not lesser, bid from a foreign team.

MrJoeSoap

Just out of interest. How much do you reckon he's worth?

Don't use Kevin Doyle as a price-guide!

gimmick

As a Kevin Doyle price Line, I reckon he is wortk €100k ie slightly less than Doyler.

In reality, I think he is worth at least 2.5million.

Irish domestic football has to look at Scandinavia as an example for how to develop, then sell their players. Ideally this shouldn have to happen, but it does.

MrJoeSoap

gimmick wrote:

As a Kevin Doyle price Line, I reckon he is wortk €100k ie slightly less than Doyler.

In reality, I think he is worth at least 2.5million.

Irish domestic football has to look at Scandinavia as an example for how to develop, then sell their players. Ideally this shouldn have to happen, but it does.

I'll go along with that, although my rose-tinted glasses would put him level with Doyle of course.

I just watched the first-half of the Deportivo match for the first time since I was actually there. It really does make amazing viewing, especially when you think that Luque has since joined Newcastle for a massive sum and the value of the Deportivo team that night must have been over €100m. Compare that to Shels whose squad might make €1m in the transfer market (if they were lucky). On that night, and I do realise it was only for 90 minutes and I don't want to make it out to be anything it wasn't... but on that night, we were every bit a match for them.

Same with Cork in Europe this year, every bit as good an achievement. Looking at it in terms of population, which isn't the best way to compare football leagues I do realise, we should have a league (in terms of stadia and facilities at least) capable of matching Scotland and countries of a similar size. It's very hard to undo many many years of inertia on our part, but those European results (and future ones I'm sure) give us a great platform to build on.

Okay, completely OT rant over. Thats my bit of positivity for the month over and done with within the first hour.

_blank_

gimmick wrote:

^ Ive heard it, and it could well be true.

Could well be, lads, he even took the time to text me all the way out in Oz with this news. Anything he has to say regarding rumours about the eL, and especially City are generally pretty accurate.

I'd be gutted to see Weso leave, especially to Cork City.

I have to say, I wish I left for the other side of the world about three months earlier, Shels have scored more goals, and won more games since I left

MrJoeSoap

seansouth wrote:

I have to say, I wish I left for the other side of the world about three months earlier, Shels have scored more goals, and won more games since I left

Thats only 'cos they don't have the pressure of you watching...

Töpher

There was rumours of wes going to Motherwell in a half a million deal, that seem to have vanished. He has also apparently just bought a new house up here, so I'm hoping its all lies! He was in pieces after we lost in Cork, and I'm hoping thats a sign of how much he loves this club!

KdjaCL

No way in hell Cork could afford Wes, even if by any small chance Shels sold him to an El club the fee be 500K+. So i assume Cork will put in a bid to appease their fans altho fully knowing there is no chance he will sign.


Lets be honest they have 3 or 4 players leaving at the end of the season so some will come in, if its a player that Shels want also who will get him?
Same for Derry they may win the league but if Shels offer cash to any of their players they are gone.


kdjac

Jonny Arson

I'd be absolutely distraught if Weso left Shels but on the other hand I'd be delighted to see him play at a higher level which he deserves to..... and by that higher level I mean the Premiership as he is that good.

Töpher

Deportivo copped that anyways! I doubt they had specifically planned substitutions to man mark him before they came face to face with the footballing genius that is Weso Hoolihan!

KdjaC, I'll take McCourt please!

MrJoeSoap

Einst&#252 wrote: »

Deportivo copped that anyways! I doubt they had specifically planned substitutions to man mark him before they came face to face with the footballing genius that is Weso Hoolihan!

KdjaC, I'll take McCourt please!

We need defensive cover if anything (although I'd swap Ryan or Baker for him)! Our midfield is already jam-packed. Any other transfer stories or rumours floating about the eL?

KdjaCL

MrJoeSoap wrote:

We need defensive cover if anything (although I'd swap Ryan or Baker for him)! Our midfield is already jam-packed. Any other transfer stories or rumours floating about the eL?

Only one that i care about and i wait to see IF signs before i get happy


kdjac

MrJoeSoap

KdjaC wrote:

Only one that i care about and i wait to see IF signs before i get happy


kdjac

Oh, the suspense! Another prolific Norweigian goalscorer?

Töpher

We're apparently to sigh OHalloran, and/or Kearney. Why more wingers? WHY?!

blu_sonic

he's leaving? thats a loss

KdjaCL

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Oh, the suspense! Another prolific Norweigian goalscorer?

Nope theres a bargain bin down Tolka now, 2 for €6 or 3 for €10 (ollies maths).

Be interesting to see how Shels try buy their way back to the league title, using amanger who has bought in all the super performing all stars there now.


kdjac

Slash/ED

I find it hard to believe that Cork, a side who have never previously splashed the cash, would suddenly be able to afford what would surely be far and away the most expencive el team to el team deal in the history of the league. I also find it even harder to believe that Wes wants out, he's one of the most committed players we have and one of the few who always sweats blood for the shirt no matter what, and has even played through injury for us. ffs the man was close to tears in Derry, some claim he was actually crying, he's one of the few who really cares.

And if he does leave Shels he could do better than Cork if his agent is worth his salt, he's good enough to play at a much higher level. Of course, he wont be as good as Alan Quinn, Graham Barrett or Kevin Kilbane until he signs for Torquay or some world beater like that.

blu_sonic

ain't that true, and this will be reflected in his fm2007 stats lol

Töpher

No dissing of his 2006 stats! He's top class in it, always gets MOTM for me!