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Greetings and welcome to another Friday, in which the weather seems to be back to it’s horrible best and a trip to Cork is what’s on offer for the Drogs today. I was hoping that we could go into this game with 3 points in the bag from Monday, but as we all saw our lack of muscle and creativity in the centre of the park is costing us in results and our position in the table is a fair reflection on how we’ve performed this season. What will tonight have for us, who knows?

The one area that is giving me hope for this evening is that Cork are probably worse than us at the moment and on the large playing pitch of Turners Cross, if we can use the open space to our advantage then we may be able to create some opportunities and hopefully convert them. From a selection point of view, we’re going to be still without club captain Prendergast and midfielder Foley, who I think we’re missing badly as our passing and creativity has been very inconsistent of late. Just look at how Towell for Dundalk was able to take control of the ball on Monday night and get them moving forward quickly, that’s what we need as at the moment we’re the masters of the sideways pass. It’s like they’re playing infront of a glass wall and can’t move forward!!

Doubtful for tonight is Fabio and Quigley which is a slight worry as Fabio is the only person scoring goals for us this season, well he’s probably the only one we can count on at the moment. Hopefully he’ll be passed fit as if GON is left up front again on his own then the Cork keeper will have a very quiet night between the sticks. Mick seems to be pleased with the performances over the past while which is slightly concerning so I wouldn’t expect any major changes this evening unless it was for injuries.

Here’s what the boss had to say during the week:

We have lost the last four games by the odd goal, it’s a very tight margin. But I’m happy with our performances. We were denied by the brilliance of Peter Cherrie on Monday night, it’s disappointing to lose the local derby, but I wasn’t disappointed with the way we played.

It’s a bit game for both sides, we both need the win before going into the break. I think Cork haven’t had much luck recently either, but If we can get the three points it will make the two week break that bit better.

I can’t say that I totally agree with him on Monday’s performance and I suppose he has to be try and keep the morale high but at the same time you can’t keep sticking your head in the sand for the sake of team spirit. Maybe it’s only a public thing and he’s telling it as it really is in the dressing room but I can’t agree that all the performances have good. He’s also referring to luck as something that we haven’t had much of and which seems to be the cause of our poor results this season. Really, it’s the lucky card that we’re resorting to? Luck can’t blamed for the brutal defending that’s been going on since March, luck can’t be blamed for players being muscled off the ball too easily and luck can’t be blamed for sticking with a formation and tactic that simply doesn’t work.

I do believe that teams/players get the rub of the green the odd time but saying that it’s this lack of good fortune that has caused us to drop points this season is nonsense. See the problems for what they are and address them, don’t pussyfoot. In the red and green corner, Cork will be missing Behan and Healy and some others but as I haven’t seen a lot of them this season then I can’t really say if they’ll be missed. The games that I have seen them play, Limerick away & Rovers at home, I’ve noticed that they can be quite a quick team. We seem to struggle against speed and on the bigger spaces of Turners Cross then it may be an issue. I’ve also read that one of their supposed star players Daryl Kavanagh has been throwing a tantrum in the dressing room lately so hopefully that’ll affect his performance seeing as he’s one of the better quality players down there. Daryl Horgan is the other danger man to look out for and if we can keep those two players locked up for the 90 minutes then I think we’ll have a chance of getting a result.

With all of that, what can we expect? I can’t see us winning, purely after Monday night but I think we may sneak a draw. It really depends on how Cork play as if they don’t turn up then we will score and will probably take 3 points but if they do take the game to us then we’ll have to dig in and hopefully claim a draw. I’m expecting a 2-2 draw, RB and Fabio on the mark. We don’t have the greatest of records in Cork so even when they’re not playing well I would still expect us to find it difficult to get a win so I’m sticking to the draw. Betting for the draw is 11/5 which isn’t too bad and might be worth a couple of Euro if you throw in a goal scorer as well.

As usual if you’re making your way to Cork, enjoy the game as after this we head into the mid-season break for a couple of weeks. I’m also on holiday for a few weeks, heading to Alaska to watch bears steal picnic baskets and get up to all sorts of other skulduggery, so I’ll have a match review over the weekend and then I won’t be back until the beginning of July.

Again if you can’t make the game there’ll be updated via Twitter and Facebook so keep an eye on that as well as Extratime.ie and possibly some Cork radio station may have live match updates. I’ll see if I can find out.

Enjoy the game.

COMON YOU DROGS

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I hate it when we lose and especially when we lose to that lot. I knew as the game went on that we’d concede and lose the game. We’ve been doing it all season and didn’t create any decent chance of note and I said on Monday that the game will be decided by either a moment of genius or a moment of madness and unfortunately for us, it was the latter that officially killed the season for us. We’re only half way through the season and it’s already over for us and that’s just shocking!

I don’t want to be a doom and gloom merchant but how else can you react after watching that shite on Monday? I mean the players hardly looked interested at all and there was only one team who were remotely trying to play football and it wasn’t the home side. I really thought that after the success of last season that we could push on even though I was a little concerned that our midfield could be weakened with the departure of Paul Crowley, I had trust in Mick that he’d make the right decisions and that we’d see even more progress made this season. With any football team, the most important part is the midfield as if you have a great defence and a great strikeforce, that’ll only count for a short time but it’s a midfield that will define a team and at the moment ours haven’t done a lot of defining.

So on the game itself, I think most of you will already have seen and read plenty on the game itself, so there isn’t much need for me to go over anything specific. We played shit and we lost, simple as. It is however interesting to read some of the comments from other supporters regarding the performance and the squad in general. Here are a few snippets from the messageboard:

No bite in the midfield. Midfielders not developing, going on their last five games they are going backwards. Get the ball and they don’t know what to do with. GET IT FORWARD. Half the time goes sideways, the other half the player has to take three touches before moving it on. TOO SLOW. This all follows on from having a clear plan of attack.

Where players have clear instructions. We had this last season but it seems to have got lost in the mix when all these supposed better players have come in. Well they are not playing better. Players getting in team from last season not doing it either, though.

A lot of the players, and the staff have to take a long hard look at themselves and sort this out. Losing 7-1 in a final. Not even half the season gone and the Top 4 are well out of our reach. Closer in points to the bottom of the table than the top. I can’t imagine what the score will be in our European games.

Centre midfield has been the big problem area of the year. We miss Crowley or a player like him who will get stuck in and win the ball. I don’t think O’Connor is a bad player but he’s the type who needs to be further up the field behind the front 2 and at the moment we can’t afford that luxury. R.Brennan had his worst game for us last night. Don’t think he made one successful pass all night and danced about rather than getting stuck in. I thought Brady and Marks did ok and I’d probably stick with them going forward. 

Unlike the performances this season the above comments show a lot of consistency and all the fans are seeing the same problems, why hasn’t the manager? One of main points which I think is very important is the lack of a consistent first eleven in games. I’m not a subscriber to this squad rotation business and playing different players every week, unless it’s a Leinster Senior cup game, simply doesn’t work and doesn’t allow for teams to achieve consistent levels of performance that are required to be near the top of a league. I wonder if even Mick knows what his first eleven should be? I’ve lost count the amount of times the back five has changed, with the exception of injuries obviously, there really hasn’t been a stable defence for the keeper to play in front of this year.

When you’re winning, everything is rosy and the plaudits are endless and nobody questions your ability, but when the chips are down it’s when questions start being asked and when the real fighters need to stand up. I’m not saying that the manager should walk, that’s just nonsense but I do think that a lot of reflection is needed after our final game before the summer break and a lot of analysis is needed on what is the best way to proceed for the remainder of the season. Let’s be honest, the season is over, forget about top 4 finishes, that dream is a exactly what it is, a dream. Our only salvation is for a cup run and something exceptional happening in Europe, but if we play like we did on Monday then we’re going to be embarrassed by milkmen, postmen and plumbers plying their trade in some unknown league!

Another thing to consider is the question of the relationship between players and management? I’ve heard some rumblings that there could be an air of discontent and I’ve also heard that one player in particular has raised some concerns over certain aspects of the club. I’m not naming names as it’s just pure speculation but with the way things are going now, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if something is brewing among the group. Hopefully not as the last thing a manager needs is the lack of support of his players and if that happens that an already disappointing season will end up being a complete disaster!

But onwards and upwards I suppose. We go to Cork on Friday with some hope as even though we’re bad, they’re even worse, so with some luck then we might sneak a result, but don’t count on it.

Anyway, that’s my lot for today, if anyone has a recording of the game on Monday then please let me know as I’ll reluctantly stick it on the website and on a final note it was encouraging to see a healthy attendance (1,400) at the game. Hopefully some of them will come back……hopefully!

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Good day to you all! It’s Monday which normally means that I take a look back at the action from the previous Friday however due to Robbie Keane scoring the most goals against shit opposition the world has ever seen, the Louth derby was moved to tonight and it’s on the telly as well. Tonight’s game will be very close, as all the derby’s seem to be, but with both teams pretty evenly matched then it will really go down to who makes the least amount of mistakes to decide where the 3 points go. Hopefully being at home, we’ll have a slight advantage!

After the weekends proper football action, we could really do with a win after Rovers beat Cork down in Turners Cross on Saturday. We’re 5 points behind them and any more dropped points will leave us seriously out of touch with the main pack. Cork are tumbling big time and as we have them up next, this week provides the perfect opportunity to possibly grab 6 points and really give us a boost going into the mid-season break.

What can we expect from tonight’s game? Well for one, expect plenty of errors, flying tackles and probably a red card as that seems to be trend in these games over the years. I’d expect the game begin fast and furious with the ball being pinged from box to box and defenders letting the opposing strikers know that they’re there. It’ll probably die down a little and then it’ll be a case of which team can hold their nerve the most and make the breakthrough. In last year’s encounter, when the now Dundalk player, John Sullivan, scored the winner in the last minute, the game had everything and was a great derby clash, so if we can have more of the same this evening then I won’t be too unhappy, once we win!

Team news wise, it looks like the team that started against Bohs will probably get another run out with Cassidy, Sava out due to suspension and Prendergast and Foley not available because of injury. Jason Marks did well in the cup game in creating chances so he may get the nod ahead of GB this evening and I really hope that Mick sticks with Hynzy and Fabio up front. You all saw last Friday week that his strength in and around the box will always cause problems for defenders and create opportunities for us with Quigley and Hand benefiting from his ability to hold up the ball very well. From what I’ve seen of Dundalk this season, they are a quick team with players who like to move the ball forward as soon as they get possession, so if our midfield are sloppy and careless then they are going to leave the defence very exposed and vulnerable which is the last thing we need.

Dundalk will be missing some key players tonight with O’Donnell and Shields both suspended and injured respectively which is great for us as they’ve been fairly important in the good run of form that they’ve had this season so far. They will however have Towell available who has been taking the league by storm this season. There’s always some debate on who is performing well and turning heads in the league each season and this guy seems to be doing that at the moment. If we give him time on the ball then he’ll hurt us, so whoever starts in the midfield tonight will need to be on his heals from the 1^st minute until the 95^th as he can produce that bit of magic that can decide these type of games.

I really think that we can win tonight, I mean on paper we should be winning this game. We have the better players, bigger squad and we’re at home. We’ve showed how good that we can be and have players with much more experience when it comes to big games like this. However, as we all know, football doesn’t really work like that and don’t expect anything to follow the form book, well hopefully from the away sides point of view. Dundalk should probably be more confident going into this game as they have an incredible away record, quite similar to ours last season, and so expect them to show the initiative early on which hopefully we’ll be able to control and defend against.

We really have to win this game! I won’t be able to stand the gloating from that shower if they come away with the 3 points and like I said a few weeks ago, if there’s one thing that we do this year, it has to be to finish above Dundalk in the league, no matter what. If don’t finish above them then I’ll be very disappointed!

My prediction for tonight, well my heart if telling me we’ll win but my head is suggesting a draw. I think we can beat them and seeing as they have two key players missing I think we’ll sneak by the odd goal in three, 2-1 Drogs, Fabio on the double!

Right you lot, seeing as the weather has been exceptionally un-Irish over the past week, hopefully you’ll get out there and enjoy some pre-match beer garden refreshments and drag as many people up there to get a proper derby atmosphere going which a Louth derby deserves.

If you can’t make it, then Setanta Sports will be showing the game live on the box and if you’re not in Ireland, then there’ll be a stream somewhere online available. Keep an eye out on my Twitter and Facebook pages for links for catching the game online.

Enjoy the game!

COMON YOU DROGS!  

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Hello and welcome to another Friday. The weather has been fantastic and it actually feels like a proper summer now. It’s amazing what a bit of sunshine can do for the morale. The lads get their legs out and the girls get there…well you can only use your imagination for that! Tonight we’d normally have a game but apparently the FAI are pre-occupied with something in D4 this evening which nobody will turn up to. So if you bought a ticket for tonight’s game then, unlucky, as there will be plenty of others who will get in for free!

Right so the squad will have had a nice long break since the cup game last Friday which will hopefully do them the world of good. There was a training match during the week against Navan Cosmos where apparently a fairly full strength team played and won 8-0, which is nice but nothing to get carried away with. An interesting incident happened apparently where one of the Cosmos players grabbed Cassidy by the throat, was then being subbed at the request of the referee and then proceed to shout foul and abusive language at the ref who then sent him off. A very strange incident indeed.

The build up to the derby game on Monday has been quiet to say the least and I don’t envisage a massive crowd turning up but I could be wrong and seeing that the weather has been quite pleasant, the excuse for people to get out on a fine summer’s evening might actually work. We’ll wait and see though as with current trends the likely hood of a decent crowd turning up is slim to none. It would be great for a bumper crowd to flock through the turnstiles as it’s been quite a while since the old ground has been packed out and it’s going to take something special to get it packed out again.

There are some rumours that a lot of money was lost on the Trabzonspor fiasco which is unlucky but seeing as how West Ham and West Brom are coming over to play Cork in the next month or so and Aston Villa also making a trip to Tallaght, I would have thought that we could have jumped on that bandwagon and try and get some big English club to play us and generate a few bob. I wonder what links are being created or if there has been any attempt to arrange such a game like that as at the end of the day, whether we like it or not, the League of Ireland will always be a selling league and the best players will always go on to bigger and better clubs and leagues, so if those clubs want to snap up our talent on the cheap the least that they can do is come over and attract more people through the gates. I think as a club who just about keeps their head above water, arranging such games should be a priority each year because of the potential money that can be made from it.

The club could maybe get a temporary licence or get some publican to run the clubhouse bar for pre and post match hospitality and make an absolute fortune from it, as well as all the other merchandise and crap that barstoolers will buy. I know it’s easy to say that but surely the club have decent contacts with people who can organise these things? I mean the football business is a very incestuous industry and everyone knows everyone so I’m sure something like this could be taken up as a little project and worked on. This season fair enough it would probably be difficult considering that we’re in Europe and the games will begin to build up in the league but at the end of the day money is what keeps the club afloat so I’m sure making some sacrifices wouldn’t be too difficult for this to be a runner.

It’s just another idea and it’s just one that I’ve seen from observing other clubs and how they go about their business. Often the simplest of idea’s, no matter how cheesey it may be, is the best option. Imagine if there could be something arranged each summer for a fairly big club to come over and play in United Park, on a weekend too. That would be just pure PR gold. You could milk the shit out of it and make it an annual event, even have other events around it and all DUFC related. You could have something like a Drogs Weekend where on the Friday there’s the league game, Saturday there’s something like the Duck race in the town and then on Sunday the glamorous friendly and then throw in some swanky dinner so that all the lick arses can get up close and personal with their hero’s! I mean we already have the Arts Festival and Samba Festival and seeing as the town is so focused on driving this tourism strategy then why not have a Drogs Festival?

It would take a lot of work and planning but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility and something that I’ve always thought would work well in the town and area.

Anyway, that’s my view on it anyway, maybe someone will read it, maybe nobody will but sure, all that I can do is throw it out there.

That’s me for the week, I’ll have a match preview on Monday for the derby and as a side note, if any of you watch The Graham Norton Show and know me then watch tonight’s show on BBC as you might recognise someone J

Enjoy the weekend, talk to you Monday!

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Welcome to the middle of the week! The weather has been fantastic, everyone’s in a good mood however there’s not much chat going on regarding football. It’s been pretty quiet bar the whoha over the international team and all the League Of Ireland followers drooling over themselves over the amount of ex-LOI players in the squad. We’re approaching an important part of the season where we’ll either be completely left behind or we can keep somewhat in touch with the leading pack and hopefully rescue a disappointing start to the campaign.

So what’s been happening this week, absolutely nothing that’s what. It’s funny how there always seems to be lots to activity when something goes wrong but it all goes quiet when the good times roll! Even the club’s Facebook page has been a little dormant since last Friday’s game, not even a match report for us to mull over. I know everyone’s a volunteer but seeing as we’re approaching the 2^nd Louth derby of the season, the first one at home, you’d think that there would be some PR push to try and get people through the turnstiles considering that it’s going to be on TV which will have a major affect on the attendance. There was a nice little video put up on YouTube showing a behind the scenes look at the squad in training and then some of the League cup game against Longford. I think stuff like that on fairly regular basis is really good and gets us supporters a little closer to the players and understanding how they actually go about their training sessions.

I know it’s easy to say this from behind a keyboard but what about having some interviews after each game with selected players, the manager etc and even in the lead up to games as a way to build it up. I know it’ll take someone to volunteer to do this but it’s not exactly something that would require an abundance of time and expensive equipment. I mean even the best smartphones nowadays can shoot pretty good video. If someone was able to take up the mantle and setup a type of “Drogs TV” on the website then that would make weeks like this a lot more interesting and probably drive more traffic to the website as well which will be music to the ears of the sponsors. I’d love to manage something like that and would jump at the chance to do it but alas being in a different geography prevents me from embarking on such a project!

In the build to the game next Monday, I’ve had a mooch over on OrielWeb to see what the neighbours have been saying and again nothing much of note apart from the fact that some reckon they’ll bring more in support than what we’ll have. Well, if they do then fair play, I think the club will be happy to take all their money but considering it’s a Monday night and on the telly then I doubt that they’ll bring no more than a couple of hundred at most. We’ll be struggling as well but we should easily outnumber the poor little souls!

So we’re only a month away from playing our first European game in 5 years, how exciting, and the seedings have been set. See the full listing HERE along with our co-efficient, which isn’t great by the way! We’re obviously unseeded and in the First Qualifying round there are some teams in the seeded listing that we seriously need to avoid. I’ll go into more detail nearer when the draw is being made but the main teams to avoid will be the likes of Rosenborg, Inter Baku and Malmo. All for footballing reasons but Inter Baku purely for travelling reasons as it’s in the arsehole of nowhere. Ideally we’d want to get Linfield in the first round which will give us a great chance of progressing and then in the second round, where our participation will end, I’d love for us to draw maybe Sparta Prague, purely for the away day value. That would be a magic trip!

Derry the lucky beggars got a free move into the second qualifying round due to Chelsea qualifying for the Champions league and winning the Europa League, which is nice for them and also gives them an extra week to concentrate on domestic matters which will give their title push a real drive, especially as Pats will be involved in the first round.

Also we’re only a few weeks away from the transfer window opening and with the European excursion to start shortly after, I wonder if Mick and the backroom staff have any plans on changing the personal of the squad and bringing in more experienced players? At the start of the season he said that he wanted to bring in more experienced players to help with the league and also Europe but so far with the exception of GON and Fabio, there really isn’t anyone else with that experience. Europe is a different kettle of fish than the league, no matter what level of opponent you play, so I wonder if Mick has anyone in mind come the beginning of July.

That’s my two sense for today, if I hear any news on anything, keep an eye on my Facebook and Twitter pages as I’ll update there. And also if you notice the website doing some funny stuff then don’t panic as I’m looking at changing it and making it more of a slicker looking site and more interactive. Watch this space!

I’ll be back on Friday with a preview to the weekends football!

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Good morning and a happy bank holiday Monday to everyone! I hope the good weather has stayed and you’re all nursing some nice hangovers from some Sunday night drinking! Also how many of you went to the Ireland game yesterday? Not many I’d imagine as I briefly tuned in to see what the attendance was like on the telly and I laughed, a lot! I looked on Twitter and there were people handing out free tickets before the game as well, shocking! When will the FAI ever learn?

Anyway, back to more important matters and on Friday night we played Bohs in a game which I was a little worried about as we haven’t been playing very well lately and also I hate when we go out of the cup in the early rounds. However my fears were somewhat dispelled as we came away with a nice 3-0 victory and in the hat for the next round. The one thing I think that is hugely important in these type of games is the early goal and for the first time in a long time, we managed to get it. Last season we seemed to score a lot of early goals which gave us a little head start on teams who would normally take us apart and as a result we managed to hang on to get a result or push on with more confidence.

Mick again with the 4-4-2 with Fabio and Hynzy up front which makes me very happy. Hynzy was involved for the first and third goals and Fabio scoring the second just shows that their partnership last season wasn’t a fluke. It’s a pity that it’s taken about 20 games to find that out but I suppose when new players come in they have to be given a chance but at least now it seems that the manager has realised that this is the winning formula, well for now anyway. I know Bohs are not the toughest of opponents but we still couldn’t beat them at home and they’ve got good results against some other teams, notably Rovers, so a 3-0 win is very rewarding. I also love the cup and it would have been gutting for us to go out at this stage as barring a miracle the league campaign is all but over so if we can concentrate on the 2 remaining cup competitions and not get hammered in Europe then I’ll be happy come the end of the season.

So it’s the beginning of June, half way through the year and the mid-season break is nearly upon us which could be a shame as if we continue the form from Friday into the derby game next week and then against Cork after that then the momentum could be killed. In saying that though, the past few weeks have seen us play only 1 game a week for the first time all season really. For the first 3 months of the season we were playing 2 games a week, which early should have been fine but it probably has taken it’s toll on the squad and results have reflected that. The tactics used is definitely another factor but as always hindsight is always great when reviewing previous performances.

Hopefully now with the break, the batteries can be recharged and then with only 1 game a week until Europe comes along we can hopefully make some dent on the league table and begin to catch the leading pack. Dundalk should falter at some stage, well they said that about us last season I suppose, but they don’t have as good a squad as we had in 2012, so I can’t see them lasting the pace too much especially with their not so great home record. As I said a few weeks ago, once we get above them this season then I’ll be happy as I don’t think I could stomach the gloating if they managed to finish in a higher position come October.

I’m looking forward to seeing the goals tonight on MNS and to briefly speak about the rest of the ties in the round, all the teams that were expected to win, did, so no cup shocks to account for really. The draw for the next round will be on the 17^th June on MNS and hopefully we can get one of the non league teams at home and some of the other big teams can draw each other to make our path to the final a little easier!

Next Monday the 10^th June, we’re up against Dundalk at home, which is live on Setanta and moved due to the International game on Friday night and tv coverage. There’s a nice gap in the meantime to rest and recover so I expect a fully fit and motivated team to take the field then. Let’s hope so!

Talk to you Wednesday!

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Happy FAI Cup Friday everyone. Thank’s be to Jaysus that it’s the weekend so that I can indulge in more arsing about and doing nothing! It’s a Bank holiday weekend in the Emerald Isle so hopefully the weather will be kind for you and more importantly hopefully we’ll get a result to move us into the next round of the FAI Cup. Tonight we face Bohs in Dalymount which on paper is a game which we should be winning but with the way we’ve been playing lately then nothing is a certainty and it’s going to be a tough encounter this evening.

Team news is thin on the ground this week but one definite absentee from the game tonight will be GB through suspension. It’ll be interesting to see how we get on down the left hand side as even though he hasn’t been firing on all cylinders this season he still has created some opportunities for us, notably Fabio’s second goal last week against Bray. I would presume that Jason Marks will slot into that role or Mick might opt to play Philly Hand as he was deployed there for some games last season. I think Sava and Cassidy are suspended but not 100% as I’m not sure of League suspensions carry over to Cup games, but even still I’d expect changes to be made there.

When everyone talks about cup games they always say that it’s results that matter and it’s true it is. I said so last week that in cup games, performances go out the window the majority of the time and that getting through the tie is all that matters. HOWEVER, with the way we’ve been playing lately, we NEED a performance to get a result. It’s not like last season anymore where we could have some mediocre performances but still get a result and use that as a platform. This year we’ve been punished time and time again as we have simply haven’t put in the performances that deserve better. We need to be literally on the ball for 90+ mins and have to see games through. So for tonight’s game, I think we really need to have a performance if we’re to stand any chance of getting a result. I don’t think relying on the quality of the individuals we have is enough for us to win anymore, it will need for the whole group to really work hard and ensure that no mishaps occur.

So what can we expect from Bohs tonight? Well they’re going to be up for it and as they’re a fairly young side they’ll have all the enthusiasm and guile that inexperienced players have. They’re also at home, will have the crowd behind them and on the big Dalymount pitch will look to play in a quick counter attacking way. They are not great though and the game about a month ago at home we should have won but again through poor defending, we dropped 2 points. They have some experienced campaigners namely, Heary and Mulcahy, in their ranks but we should have enough to make sure that we’ll be in the hat for the next round come 9:30pm tonight. It’s not going to be easy but I’m confident that we’ll scrape it.

When the draw was made for fixture, my mind was immediately drawn back to that infamous encounter in 2003 when Paul Doolin took charge in his first game in a Cup ¼ final against a Bohs side littered with star league winning players. I remember in the week leading up to the game, which was on a Sunday I think, there was a huge PR push to get much more people through the gate and to create an atmosphere that could get us an unexpected victory. I remember standing on West St taking turns holding one of TIFO flags like a complete gobshite but it was all for the sake of the club. The sacrifices we make eh? I remember someone hiring a car with a loud speaker and driving around estates promoting the game, well I think that happened as it was definitely talked about among the group.

In the end, a huge crowd showed up for that cup game, it was amazing. I hadn’t seen the Crosslanes terrace that packed since the Galway playoff game and the colour, noise and weather was incredible. As for the game, all I remember were that we competed very well with Bohs who were far stronger than us but we put up a good fight and then Myler crossed for Fabio to give us the lead! The crowd went absolutely crazy and the dream of a semi-final was becoming a lot more real. Then the incident that turned the whole tie happened. We were awarded a penalty, down in the Crosslanes end and that man Andy Myler who up until then never missed a penalty for us, stepped up, decided to be cheeky and chip it down the middle and hit the bar and missed! That was probably one of the most gutting moments ever of watching the Drogs as I knew, by the reaction of the Bohs players, that they were given a second chance.

The game continued and entered into injury time where it went to 5 mins and Bohs had a throw in as far as I know. The ball was whipped into the box and with the last kick, or header in this case, Simon Webb (who would later join us) guided the ball into the back of the net to break Drogs hearts and send the Bohs fans into ecstasy. The replay was a non event as we were completely outplayed and hammered 3-0 in Dalymount but that day in United Park will always stay with me as one of the most memorable games that I’ve watched.

Hopefully tonight will not have as much drama as that game 10 years ago did and that we manage to comfortably get the result that is needed.

If you’re going to the game then enjoy the hopefully good weather that is expected and cheer on the lads. If you can’t make it down then there’ll be the usual updates through various channels via Twitter, Extratime.ie & Facebook.

COMON YOU DROGS & get the result!!

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Morning all, now there’s a turn up for the books with the results last night in the league. Who would have thunk it, that our old foes from up the road would claim all 3 points in Sligo? It’s seriously like some sort of paralell universive in that we’re looking at the 2012 team through some glass window and wondering how a team put together at the last minute can be playing so well and beating the league leaders? It’s defintley weird and really frustrating that our lot can’t do the same but we all anticipated this at the start of the season so I suppose it isn’t THAT much of a surprise.

What about Dundalk though, what are they doing that we’re not? Simple, they’ve got a bust gutting and tough tackling midfield who don’t give the opposition an inch. In O’Donnell and Towell they have two really decent players who would get into most teams in this league. Towell especially has been getting plenty of praise from the pundits and seems to be capable of that bit of magic that is needed to decide games. We could do with someone who can provide that magic, creativity, a through ball to the strikers who can finish a game off for us. Until we get someone like that or at least unless someone in the current squad can become that player then we’re not going to do any better this season. David Cassidy was supposed to be that player after the season he had with Shels in the previous year. He is a technically decent player, gets into good positions and can create opportunities but it just doesn’t seem to be working this year so far. Last Friday he was kind of harshly sent off, but to be fair, if it was the opposition player doing that then I’d be calling for a second yellow and red.

That’s one thing I noticed as well about Friday in that in the post match interview Mick was talking alot about the ref and not much about the performance which I don’t like in a manager. Look, fair enough you can be agrieved about a referee’s performance or a decision that he’s made but at the end of the day if the team doesn’t perform then you only have yourself and the players to blame. This business of passing the buck of blame is getting tired and let’s hope we won’t have to listen to Mick, who is fairness hasn’t been like that, carry on in that manner.

It is pretty quiet on the news front, even across the league. Bar Alan Matthews leaving Shels and Johnny McDonnell taking over there hasn’t been much happening. I suppose tonight’s game at Wembley has been on the minds of the media and everyone else for the past couple of weeks so I’m sure there’ll be plenty of talk in the next couple of days on the result and performance. I’m no big international fan as I think international football has lost it’ soul, well most countries anyway, but it’s funny to see the build up to this game from the English perspective, in that, they don’t actually care what he result will be. Acutally when I spoke to some of my mates at our weekly 7 a-side last night, most of them forgot that the game was on, and these were guys all wearing England jerseys! Whatever the result, I’m sure the “Best fans in the world” will be written about in the paper for the next few days with all the cringeworthy praise you’d expect from shit journalism.

So back to the Drogs and as I was browsing the club’s website, I see they have the application for the Dream Team 50 competition open now. They also have a list of players as a reminder of who you can choose from and there are some great names listed right through from goalkeeper to striker. So to pick your Dream Team, you have to select 11 players, 5 subs and a manger. Because I didn’t see the players pre 2000 then I can’t say that I can choose any players from that era however I will choose my squad from the my time standing in United Park. It may be controverisal but if this team lined out in the League of Ireland, all fit and in their primes then we’d see some seriously sexy football!

GK: Gary Rogers

DF: Brian Shelley   DF: Jason Gavin   DF: Danny O’Connor   DF: Stephen Gray

Mid: Shane Robinson  Mid: Darren Beasley  Mid: Paul Keegan  Mid: Shaun Gallagher

ST: Andy Myler  ST: Fabio

Sub: Graham Gartland

Sub: Simon Webb

Sub: Sami Ristilla

Sub: Jermaine Sandvliet

Sub: Dan Connor

Manager: Paul Doolin

Some of you won’t like it and some will but for me those were the players that I enjoyed watching the most from the past 13 years. One player, Darren Beasley, didn’t get the chance to show what he could really do as his career was cut short due to serious injury but from the glimpses of what he showed us back in 2003, he was incredible. He was the Zidane of the League of Ireland and it’s a shame that a player of that quality can be lost so easily while wasters can go on and have a long career.

As for manager well for me there’s only one man who showed how to prepare a team to win and that was Doolo. Many criticise him but he is the only manager to win us the league and instill a character that made it hard for teams to play against us. It wasn’t always pretty, I’ll agree, but it was effective and to be honest, I like effective football rather than attractive football at the bottom of the table.

If you want to enter then click the DREAM TEAM 50 link and you can create your favourite Drogs team ever.

Have fun with it and I’ll be back on Friday with a match preview of the cup game against Bohs!

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Well that’s it, the season is officially finished. Another defeat on Friday night has most definitely put paid to any hope of us emulating the high league finish of last season. Another 3-2 defeat and more poor defence play results in us suffering again. We can’t defend, simple as and it may sound like a knee jerk reaction but a serious look at the squad is needed once the mid-season break kicks in as even though hindsight is great, it looks like the wrong players left and not replaced with the players that were needed.

I said last week that we needed more bite in our midfield and that we didn’t seem to have the same amount of red cards or bookings like we did last season. Well, that was fixed on Friday night now wasn’t it? When I said I wanted to see players getting stuck in more and possibly picking up a booking, I didn’t mean for the goalkeeper to be handling the ball outside his box!! Now from the reports I’ve read, there hasn’t been any absolute confirmation that it was a clear hand ball however with the lack of protest on the supporters forum then I can only presume Sava’s guilty. To be fair, it’s not the first time he’s come close to doing in over the past year so it did seem only a matter of time before he literally stepped over the line!

The season is really over now and all that we should be looking forward to is the cup competitions. I think if we really concentrate on the cups, League and FAI and prove successful again in one of those then it’ll slightly rescue an already disappointing season. We’re 6 points from second bottom which is shocking really when compared to how we played last season. The one plus point that has to be taken from the game is that Mick started with a 4-4-2 and if we managed to keep 11 players on the field then we probably would have won so I suppose we can’t be too judging from that perspective, but hopefully he’ll keep with that formation for the forthcoming games. It was good to see Hynzy get a start with Fabio upfront but he was the one to make way after Sava decided to do his best South American goalkeeper impression! I really do hope that we stick to that formation now for the next few games, I mean what’s there to lose? The previous tactics clearly hasn’t worked so we may as well try something else which was so successful for us last season.

One other plus point is that Fabio is scoring goals despite some of the not so great performances this season we still seem to be able to hit the back of the net. But of course without Fabio then we’d be really in the shit and if he can stay fit and hopefully develop that partnership that he had with Hynzy last season then we might just see some more favourable results over the coming weeks. If you want to go through the pain of seeing us lose again then click here for the highlights from MNS last night.

So we move onto Friday and again we’re away from League action when we take on Bohs in Dalymount in the FAI Cup. I’d love if we could get a run in this competition and to be honest, I would be happy to finish in mid-table obscurity now and get to the final and possibly win the cup. Let’s be honest, we’re not going to challenging for the league this year or even the top 3 so if we can make the most of the cup competitions then that’ll make the season for me. It’s going to be a lot to ask but as we’ve shown already this year, in a one off game we can be capable of getting a result and that’s what I’m clinging onto at the moment. Bohs are a team who we should be beating comfortably on paper but with the way performances have been this season who knows what the result will be on Friday night. It’s tough one as on the one hand in cup games, performances don’t matter it’s simply the result while at the same time you’d hope that a good performance could result in a change of fortune for the following games. Either way, a result is required and hopefully we’ll get that on Friday.

3 games left before the mid-season break and it’s badly needed. Let’s hope we can get some positive results to go into it and reassess the goals for the season.

Enjoy your day, I’ll be back tomorrow.

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Good afternoon on this fine Friday, well fine in so far as it’s a bank holiday weekend over here in the UK and a badly needed one as well! I’m glad I can write about the football tonight as the hysterics of some people over the past few days over the incident in south London is getting seriously ridiculous. Some of the comments people are making are getting out of the control and if there isn’t something in place to calm the situation then we’re going to have another riot like in August 2011. Anyway as I said, it’s back to football tonight and we take on Bray in a game which we should really be winning and really need to win if we’re to make any dent on the top 4 positions.

So the team news for tonight isn’t exactly riveting with some injury concerns to a number of players namely, Gannon, Prendergast, Foley and GON. After our big win against Longford on Monday it would be really disappointing if Foley is unable to start tonight after putting in a good performance. Granted it was against a Longford side who made a lot of changes but playing well breeds confidence and having to sit out a game straight after putting in a good performance is really frustrating. Prendergast will be missed if he’s out but McNally hasn’t seen any action for a while now, well regular football anyway, so hopefully if he starts then he might start to regain the form that made him such a great defender last season. It’s been hard on him to be fair after picking up injuries this season but hopefully he’s fully recovered now and we might finally see a clean sheet this evening.

Mick was of course dishing out the usual clichéd pre-game statements that you’d expect from most managers:

Bray have had some good results and Pat Devlin will have his team well setup for tomorrow night. We won’t take anything for granted

Is it me or are statements like the above so dull and unimaginative? I mean I know he doesn’t want to go into detail into his tactics but at least give us some indication on how you’ll approach the game and what you think the opposition will offer. I mean you’d get more detailed information from playing Football Manager or FIFA for goodness sake! Anyway, little rant over, tonight will be a tough game considering Bray had a decent win down in Cork last weekend. To be fair, Cork have been absolutely muck of late so I wouldn’t be overly concerned that a win down there means much but in saying that it’s their first win in a while so I’m sure they’ll be a little more confident going into the game tonight than if they had lost. The main person to look out for will be Marty Waters, he’s their main man, the danger and if he is given any room around the box then we’ll be punished and let’s be honest we haven’t exactly made teams work hard for goals this season.

Fabio is back…….and with a goal too!

Again and I’m fed up repeating myself all season long but the midfield will be vital again tonight. If they are not making the challenges and on the ball most of the time then they’ll be putting the defence under so much pressure that we’ll be in danger of letting in sloppy goals again. If GON isn’t available then Fabio must start, end of. He’s our top scorer and the only one who has shown how to hit the back of the net this year and hopefully he can bag a couple more tonight.

I reckon we will win tonight and I’m not confident that we won’t concede but I think we might have too much firepower for Bray to handle, 2-1 Drogs, RB and Fabio on the scoresheet.

So for my weekly accumulator, rather than going for the usual 8 game, no chance of winning, bet I thought I might start doing the trebles as let’s be honest there’s a better chance of that coming in than the longer odds. So for my treble this week, this is what I’m sticking a tenner on;

Drogs, Waterford & Mervue to win @ 15.1/1, so a nice little earner if it comes through. Well it’ll cover a few pints tonight anyway!

Right that’s it from me today, if you’re heading to the game then enjoy the cold and wind down by the seaside and if you’re not going then there’ll be various text updates via Twitter on the clubs account and Extratime.ie. I won’t be tweeting any updates as I’ll be out on the lash tonight but will be closely monitoring the score via the wonders of smartphone!

COMON YOU DROGS!!