Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk | League Round 11 | Mon 18 April 2022 ko 19.00

[Johnnybegood33]

Totally agree with you Martin , you have read that game perfectly , Stephen knows what he has to work on , the amount of balls given away was more than criminal , it was alarming , no composure , just get rid of it , anywhere , that is way , way off , where we want to be.

[Wexford White]

Excellent interview from Stephen . We have had . great days in Tallaght in recent years , & we go there expecting to win . Rovers just got over the line . The reality was , that we were missing Robbie & we need Mountenay back . It seemed the lads were a bit tired , & Rovers seemed a bit quicker to the ball. It is a work in progress . One disappointing thing for me , was the amount of times the pass didn’t find a Dundalk man . That is the first thing that needs to be looked at , in the video . They lacked composure on the ball . I would say the ball was given away well over 20 times or more , ( unforced errors ). When you do that ,you are inviting the opposition to come at you . So the two things for me , Don’t give away the ball cheaply , find a man . Even Shepard kicked it straight to a Rovers player ( short kick out ) & composure in front of goal . We know Davy & Pat have that , so we look at this is a minor bump & a big learning curve . All teams are going to be taking points of each other , look at Derry dropping 5 points in last 2 . A long way to go. Heads up & onwards & upwards . Cmon the Town.👍

Thank you for this post which more or less expresses my own view of the game. I was astonished when I saw the starting XI but I trust in SO'D. He never promised instant results and overall I must say that I am happy with progress so far.
As an aside and in spite of the result I enjoyed the game. Tallaght is a beautiful stadium, lovely to watch a match in comfort.

[DanielSexton]

I felt if we had to make two enforced changes (Benson and Williams) then making three more and changing the system was too much (assuming Boyle, Bradley and Hoban were fit). The pity is that some of our best passages of play this season were against them at home when we went with a surprise 4-4-2 and took it to them but then we go there and played with no recognised striker and another body in the middle as if we were afraid their midfield would overrun us. That Rovers defence can be got at and yet we gave them a free pass to play further up the pitch and hoped one pass to Kelly would do them on the break.

At this stage I think anything less than third would be a disappointment. Our rivals are Bohs, Pats and Sligo and they’re all mediocre and will drop a lot of points. I think we have it in us to do it. We have the best striker in the league, a competent keeper, we’re solid defensively (but maybe lacking pace) and all our signings have settled pretty well. What we seem to be missing is a solid quick passer of the ball in the middle who always hits his man and can get us on the front foot.

[mike]

I still don't understand why Hoban AND McMillan were on the bench, the former especially was just bizzare leaving him out, his hold up play is second to none in the league.

As soon as I saw the line up I knew we were going to be in trouble.

MF almost non existent, real pity no bite in there, plus I`d be looking to move Mountney into the MF now instead of right full, Benson was just a huge loss too last night.

[Richie87]

Mountney has missed a 1/3 of the season. He'll probaly get back in next few weeks, but would take him 4 to 6 weeks after that, to get upto match speed.

Should they not have signed someone who was available and fit.? It's not like it's a big Squad

[oldfogey]

Mountney has missed a 1/3 of the season. He'll probaly get back in next few weeks, but would take him 4 to 6 weeks after that, to get upto match speed.

Should they not have signed someone who was available and fit.? It's not like it's a big Squad

I think it's safe to say that everybody - especially John - is disappointed that he is not back playing yet. It just reinforces the point that everyone is different in terms of recovery from a serious injury, and that nobody is a mind reader. If he had signed for someone else and been tearing it up with another team, there would be lots of complaints about the fact he wasn't signed. 20-20 hindsight is what it says on the tin, nothing more.

As regards signing someone else, it's easy to forget that O'Donnell was one of the last managers to be in a poistion to start recruiting. At least Mountney gets it, he wants to play for the club, and for the manager. Signing some average midfielder to sit on the bench in case we get a double injury blow is a waste of money. In my opinion, fitness and availability (alone) are insufficient grounds for signing a player.

The Richie Towell experiment in Tallaght bears that out.

[Richie87]

Not really. John Mountney got injured last August. It's an ACl injury too,that takes 9 months recovery minimum.
Look how long Virgil Van Dijk was out and missed the Euors last summer as a result.

John Mountney wasn't going to be houdini and be back quicker..