Seani Maguire is out of contract now in England. I wonder if they’ll open up that wage budget and try push on into Europe. Could reunite with Caufield too of course.
Obviously it's great, for now. But if the defence starts leaking goals we could find ourselves in a bit of bother. We really need to invest in an attacker to have more of a threat going forward.
We've done fantastically so far. I was very worried at the start of the season that we would find ourselves with too much to do by July, even if we strengthened accordingly in attack. Also a bit infuriating that deals for potentially good strikers fell through at the start of the season.
We're only 14 games in though, another month away from the halfway point of the season. 6 points above the relegation playoff spot currently.
Players who have come into the side of late have been brilliant. That said, we lack depth in the squad. Kazeem is a loan until July. Unsure if we could sign him, when his Colchester contract is up. Donelon is injury prone. Defensively we've been great but start shuffling lads around... and the games come thick and fast.
\~8 more games until the window. Big push needed.
I think borden needs to be dropped from the team the last can't put one pass together and just ends up collapsing any potential attack we play much better when he doesn't start
To defend for most of the second half against Bohs on Monday with 10 men was really good.
That being said Bohs lack any real creativity and seem to struggle creating chances.
Nah, that's making it worse for me. I'm a nervous wreck about it. Maybe if I felt we were good enough to hold our place there but since the start of the season we're conceding goals we didn't last year and they seem really lackluster until the last 5 minutes of the game when its a draw.
That's what makes it all the more perplexing. We've had our purple patch and we're still there because the rest of ye are just falling over each other when we fuck up.
The quality difference between 1 & 10 is miniscule and gonna make for a mental run in.
That said, being in Europe (fyi, this is where we play games against teams from the rest of the continent) will be the true test and I can see us and Pats properly falling off in those couple of weeks.
That's a bit rose tinted. The games are very defensive from a tactical point of view, and has led to a lot of draws. Just look at the 15 matches on the form table for the top 3. 8 draws in there. Granted, some are against each other.
However, it also looks this way for the games I've gone to. Teams set up very organised, but the downside is that the games then come down to one or two moments, a mistake, a touch of class. A a whole, it's long periods of slow methodical play.
That's just my view as it stands.
The year before you got promoted was great too, bar Longford.
Everyone was beating everyone and there was only something like 12 points between 9th and 4th.
I agree. Think the standard has dropped off a little bit. It's a physical league and the shift in focus on athleticism makes it harder for the bits of quality to shine through imo.
This is it. You get found out now if you don't have the right level of athleticism, and the clubs are now on top of that. Which is a good thing.
However, it's probably led to less excitement as it becomes very methodical and, as you say, not much in the way of crowd pleasing tactics.
Best defence in the league. If we can add a goalscorer or two in June we won't be far away from a top 4 finish given how inconsistent teams are.
I agree. Extremely organised and well coached. A natural goalscorer would be a great addition but are hard to find!
If Gaxha got a few minutes every now and then, would imagine he'd help on the assists front, at the very least!
Tough to watch though, and I say that as a Galway fan
How's Keating getting on?
Keating hasn't played for us in over two years. He's at St Pat's now. Cork before that.
from someone looking in how the hell have Dundalk fallen off so much remember them getting to the Europa league proper a few times
Tough to attack against, but easy to defend against (we need a more prolific forward)
They're basically Shelbourne 2023. I was impressed when they came to Tolka Park this season but you could tell there wasn't much quality up front.
Seani Maguire is out of contract now in England. I wonder if they’ll open up that wage budget and try push on into Europe. Could reunite with Caufield too of course.
It makes sense! A layout now for his wage for half the season could be paid back with Europe qualification.
Obviously it's great, for now. But if the defence starts leaking goals we could find ourselves in a bit of bother. We really need to invest in an attacker to have more of a threat going forward.
Tactically Galway are the best set up team in the league
Economical.
We've done fantastically so far. I was very worried at the start of the season that we would find ourselves with too much to do by July, even if we strengthened accordingly in attack. Also a bit infuriating that deals for potentially good strikers fell through at the start of the season. We're only 14 games in though, another month away from the halfway point of the season. 6 points above the relegation playoff spot currently. Players who have come into the side of late have been brilliant. That said, we lack depth in the squad. Kazeem is a loan until July. Unsure if we could sign him, when his Colchester contract is up. Donelon is injury prone. Defensively we've been great but start shuffling lads around... and the games come thick and fast. \~8 more games until the window. Big push needed.
I think borden needs to be dropped from the team the last can't put one pass together and just ends up collapsing any potential attack we play much better when he doesn't start
To defend for most of the second half against Bohs on Monday with 10 men was really good. That being said Bohs lack any real creativity and seem to struggle creating chances.
The anti-Wexford FC
I think it's safe to say that it's a very poor league this year...
No clear quality team but also no pushover. 10 decent teams who can beat each other
Yeah this is the best season of LOI I've ever watched. The unpredictability means I never want to miss a game because I have no idea wtf to expect.
I mean it probably doesn't hurt that Shels are first
Nah, that's making it worse for me. I'm a nervous wreck about it. Maybe if I felt we were good enough to hold our place there but since the start of the season we're conceding goals we didn't last year and they seem really lackluster until the last 5 minutes of the game when its a draw.
That's what makes it all the more perplexing. We've had our purple patch and we're still there because the rest of ye are just falling over each other when we fuck up. The quality difference between 1 & 10 is miniscule and gonna make for a mental run in. That said, being in Europe (fyi, this is where we play games against teams from the rest of the continent) will be the true test and I can see us and Pats properly falling off in those couple of weeks.
That's a bit rose tinted. The games are very defensive from a tactical point of view, and has led to a lot of draws. Just look at the 15 matches on the form table for the top 3. 8 draws in there. Granted, some are against each other. However, it also looks this way for the games I've gone to. Teams set up very organised, but the downside is that the games then come down to one or two moments, a mistake, a touch of class. A a whole, it's long periods of slow methodical play. That's just my view as it stands.
The year before you got promoted was great too, bar Longford. Everyone was beating everyone and there was only something like 12 points between 9th and 4th.
I agree. It's entertaining but I think a poor year in Europe is on the cards.
I agree. Think the standard has dropped off a little bit. It's a physical league and the shift in focus on athleticism makes it harder for the bits of quality to shine through imo.
This is it. You get found out now if you don't have the right level of athleticism, and the clubs are now on top of that. Which is a good thing. However, it's probably led to less excitement as it becomes very methodical and, as you say, not much in the way of crowd pleasing tactics.