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League of Ireland Premier 2011 - Two Horse Race?
League of Ireland Premier 2011 - Two Horse Race?
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Replies: 137
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You are extremely lucky wonky I cannot afford to take you on,because with every respect I wouldn't have to do much to get your money off you.Still I suppose the without bookies and Hegarty will get it as usual
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sligo for me. shams will drop too many points in dublin derbys.
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nobody to push us newmanix ....bohs no threat, pats average , ucd not good enough ...fingal no team ...only danger are sligo and with the strength of our squad they will find it hard to get points off us ....
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I can't understand WHY Sligo are so short. I just can't have them winning the Title. I know they may have a better team now than when I used to play against them but still don't see them as Championship winning club. As stated earlier Derry City will finish above them
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http://www.rte.ie/
aertel/images/235-01.gif Back where we belong. On top!  |
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Battle set to commence in Airtricity League
Monday, 28 February 2011 18:26 By Rory Houston The Airtricity League returns on Friday for what promises to be another fascinating year of football around the country. As ever, all the league needs to do is match the off-the-field drama of the winter months to make it a success. The inevitable end of the Sporting Fingal story was disappointing and it has had a major impact on the outlook of the Premier Division. Bohemians, Drogheda United and Galway United also struggled through the last few weeks but they have made it to the new season. It is difficult to just dismiss the failings of Irish football clubs as unfortunate incidents. Every year there are teams struggling to make it to that first game. Credibility is at an all-time low. The FAI works hard to assist the clubs but both parties make so many mistakes. There are few signs that lessons are being learnt. The FAI remains the best governor of club football available and if they get it right, in association with the clubs, then fans can get back to enjoying the football rather than dealing with these never-ending money woes. There are positives in the league and they are represented by some of the favourites to win the Premier Division title. Shamrock Rovers are the leading lights in the Airtricity League and Tallaght Stadium is certain to host some wonderful nights in the coming months. Michael O'Neill has put together a squad capable of challenging on every front, including in European qualifying rounds. The first focus will be retaining a title won in unconvincing fashion in 2010. They squeezed over the line but, with a much more talented squad this year, it should be back-to-back wins for the Tallaght side. The only concern is that O'Neill has signed too many players. He might need time to find out what is the best Rovers XI and, inevitably, there will be many fantastic players wondering why they are sitting in the stands. As long as O'Neill finds the right mix, the rest of the league will be playing catch-up from an early stage. Sligo Rovers will look to mount a title-challenge this season after winning two cups in 2010. November's FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium was a special occasion. In front of a crowd of 36,000, Ciaran Kelly saved four Shamrock Rovers penalties as the Bit o' Red claimed a glorious double. The next step for Paul Cook is challenging for the title. Jason Mc****ss, Raffaele Cretaro and Aaron Greene will certainly add quality to the Sligo squad. They may need some luck with injuries as the panel is light compared to that of the title holders. Time will tell if they can mount a long-term challenge. There is still a great buzz about Sligo Rovers and, if they start well, momentum could keep the Bit o' Red going. St Patrick's Athletic, Derry City and Dundalk will fancy their chances of competing with the two Rovers. Fingal's disappointing demise has served to enhance the squads of the top clubs and, while champions Shamrock Rovers have profited most, it has given the likes of Pat's and the Lilywhites a much needed extra body or two. You can never discount a team managed by Pete Mahon. The Saints boss is hard-working, passionate and will have his team believing they can finish this year with a trophy. They ran out of steam in 2010 but the new squad looks a bit stronger. There is a concern over where the goals will come from. Danny North will contribute a fair share and David McMillan should also do reasonably well. However, they are unlikely to produce a spectacular return. Mahon will look to keep a consistency in his defence and midfield. If he finds it, then Pat's will be near the top come November. Dundalk have made some big-name signings, with Ian Foster looking to combine youth and experience at Oriel Park. They look strong in certain departments, particularly in attack. The talented possessed by Jason Byrne and Mark Quigley is undoubted. However, one wonders how much desire remains after recent disappointments at Bohemians. Quigley is a brilliant player who has never delivered on a consistent basis. He should be looking at being the top striker in the country this season. It is a fresh start for 25-year-old and, with time still on his side, anything is possible. Foster will look to get the best out of the former St Patrick's Athletic man and if he does, he will lauded for making the signing of the season. In defence, they've brought in Colin Hawkins. It is a risky move, considering how injury-prone the former Sporting Fingal man is. Shane Guthrie has also joined on loan from St Patrick's Athletic, which is another worthwhile signing. Keith Ward and Greg Bolger were excellent for UCD last season and should settle in well at Oriel Park. It is easy to forget Foster is still a very young manager. This season should bring about an improvement and a push at major honours. Derry make a welcome return to the top flight and unsurprisingly look reasonably strong. Gareth McGlynn, Ruadhri Higgins and Eamon Zayed are their big name signings and they will aim to lead a young team that did so well in the First Division in 2010. Patrick and Shane McEleney will be very exciting players and ones to keep an eye on over the year. With some of the old guard like Kevin Deery still on board, who knows how far Derry can go? Stephen Kenny will enjoy this season. The Premier Division is where Derry belong and it is a brilliant league to compete in. Even if the Candystripes don't get involved in the title race, they have a very bright future and will definitely claim some notable scalps over the coming months. There were times when it looked as though Bohemians would not survive the off-season. It has taken some incredible work by their fans and other stakeholders to get this far. Included in that is the patience of several (now former) players who went weeks without wages. It was a disgraceful situation and Bohs are lucky to be lining out against Bray Wanderers on Friday. Pat Fenlon has stuck around and put together a decent team. The Gypsies will not be challenging for the title but they will be competitive and could finish in the top half. Fenlon has not yet finished in the transfer market. At the time of writing it looks as though they will be strong at the back, with Ger O'Brien, Aidan Price and Owen Heary committing to the club. Ollie Cahill and Anto Flood are some other familiar names who have been brought on board. Bray Wanderers have done something absolutely crazy in Airtricity League terms. They have re-signed the vast majority of their squad! There are also a few new additions to the panel, with Graham Kelly and Stephen Last arriving from clubs in Britain. The likes of Jake Kelly and Shane O'Neill are really exciting young players who will benefit from another season of Airtricity League football. Wanderers will try to avoid the battle at the bottom. That is never easy in the Premier Division and they'll certainly need a good start to this campaign. Fortunately for Pat Devlin and his colleagues, they face much-weakened rivals. You have to fear for Galway United, UCD and Drogheda United this year. Galway struggled to obtain a Premier Division licence. They only achieved it through appeal and it has left them in a bad situation for the 2011 season. It was a culmination of years of poor decision-making by the club's board. Galway United is now in the hands of the Supporter's Trust and, consequently, a newly-formed Management Committee. They have a long-term plan for success at Terryland Park but there is no escaping the task they face with a very small and weak squad this year. On any given match night at the UCD Bowl, the away team usually carries at least one former Student. It must be incredibly frustrating for UCD managers to see their talented players leave after finishing at the college and that is the reality facing Martin Russell this season. UCD were fantastic in 2010. It wasn't just about their league finish. The football they produced was a joy to watch and the Bowl was always a great place to visit if you wanted to see a decent game of football. Bolger, Ciaran Kilduff and Evan and David McMillan are just some of the players that have departed. No disrespect to the likes of new signings Dean Marshall and Darren Meenan, but it's a massive step back for College. It will be a much harder year. Finally, there is Drogheda and their new manager Mick Cooke. Bobby Browne proceeded to put a squad together at United Park and then resigned last Saturday. Cooke has been lured away from Monaghan United for a monumental challenge with one of the poorest Premier Division panels seen in a long time. Cooke's decision to leave Mons for Drogheda has been questioned. Regardless of the squad, it is top-flight football and a manager has to have faith in his own ability. With Galway and UCD also having their squads decimated, it is not mission impossible. So it looks like it is Shamrock Rovers' title to lose. Cook, Foster, Kenny and Mahon will have something to say about that. Let battle commence. |
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Typical RTE Rovers bias.
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Show time!
This is a good link for updated squads. http:// www.extratime. ie/squads/ |
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Keeping the peace
Michael O'Neill has added a host of talent to his title-winning squad - but will he be able to maintain a happy Hoops camp? Friday March 04 2011 THEY stumbled over the line last October to secure a first league title since 1994, yet a short few months later there is a widespread expectation that Shamrock Rovers will regain their crown with plenty to spare. It's a different kind of pressure. Tonight at Tallaght, Michael O'Neill and his players start their journey with the visit of Dundalk, opponents who proved to be their bogey team in 2010 and who also have pretensions to challenge at the right end of the table this year after some notable winter acquisitions. However, with the resources at O'Neill's disposal, the reality is that a key factor in this year's title race will be his ability to keep a talented squad happy while identifying his strongest team. Every week, he will be forced to leave coveted individuals on the sideline, even if a relatively congested fixture schedule should provide all with plenty of opportunities. Take the striking department as an example. The Hoops have retained the services of Gary Twigg, the outstanding player in the domestic game over the past two seasons, and the top scorer in last year's charts with 21 goals. renowned Over the winter they added Ciaran Kilduff, the joint second top scorer with 14 goals, Gary O'Neill, who scored 11 with the defunct Sporting Fingal and is renowned for his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play, and Karl Sheppard, who grabbed nine for a poor Galway side. To put it into context, of the top 10 marksmen in the 2010 charts, only six remain in the Airtricity League and four now ply their trade in Dublin 24 -- Bray's Jake Kelly and Dundalk new boy Jason Byrne are the others. Rovers also added Dean Kelly from Oldham, although O'Neill points out that "he can play wide as well". And they've got plenty of wide options too. "I think there's more versatility in the squad than what we had last year," O'Neill says, with perfect understatement. Nevertheless, the Rovers manager feels that his charges face a severe test to make it two in a row, pointing out that the demise of Sporting Fingal, in addition to the trauma at Bohs, has resulted in a spread of talent around the other clubs. "The majority of the best players from the last two years are still in the league," he states. "Okay, there's a few who might have emigrated, but the majority are there. It's just probably harder to attract players from outside the league now. "It's going to be difficult. The tag of favourites comes from outside the club, but we'll deal with it. The league is the priority, but we want to be competitive on all fronts as well." It was old foes Bohs who pushed Rovers to the wire last time, but Pat Fenlon starts the new campaign in Bray tonight with a shadow of his former squad. O'Neill reckons it would be unwise to write them off, though, even if Sligo, St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk look to have stronger claims. "They've got a lot of people with experience in this league," he warns. "They may not have the depth of squad, but if they keep everyone fit and available, they'll challenge." Sligo begin their year in Derry, where a big crowd is expected as the Foylesiders welcome back Premier Division football. St Pat's are in Galway, where a good turnout is needed to reward the efforts of the Tribesmen supporters who saved the club in the off-season. Meanwhile, neither Drogheda United nor manager Mick Cooke were planning for Premier Division football until the last fortnight. Cooke, recruited from Monaghan last weekend after Drogheda's reprieve due to Fingal folding, is working with a modest budget, but is confident he can perform. "The budget is realistic enough from where the club is coming from," he says. "Hopefully if I do alright between now and the window, we'll be able to bring in a few players then." It is a world away from the dilemma which O'Neill faces. Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk, Live, RTE 2, 7.35 |
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Keep it all on the "won" thread!
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Derry and St Pats look decent bets to me and maybe Shamrock Rovers as well.
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cork city and sham rvs double tonight for me
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At the risk of putting a jinx on it i think Dundalk are way overpriced @ 9/2 with lads.
Having beaten Rovers 3 outta 4 times last year the players wont fear them and although Rovers had added some good players but so have we and hopeful the extra competitive games in the setanta cup will stand to us. |
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SHHH punkha!
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Ha Giant yeah usually the kiss of death tipping on here but price looks massive.
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Just go with the 3/1 dnb in Spoils and double your bet.
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Shamrock Rvrs beat Dundalk a couple of weeks ago in The Presidents Cup
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THE WHA!?
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Rovers had a reserve team and Dundalk a full team and it was pretty embarrassing to watch to be honest.
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You were at it!!??
 No bearing on tonight imo. O`Connors been pulling the strings for them in pre-season and he`s out tonight. Back to basics for Rovers. I wouldn`t hex Dundalk by backing them, but the price is an insult. |
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Interest handicap market here.
http://www.paddypower. com/football/irish-football /airtricity-league-premier -division?ev_oc_grp_ids=420549 Bohs plus 19. Cheeky! |
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Dunno im still to be convinced that Rovers are all their cracked up to be,really fell over the line last year.
Some big starts in the handicap gotta say St Pats +22 jumped out at me. |
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Absolutely. Surely will finish within 22 of Rovers.
You not going to Tallaght? |
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No unfortunately working tonight.Pity cos going to Tallaght for a relations party tomorrow would have made a good weekend.Cheers for pointing out the DNB missed it cos not on oddschecker.All we need now is a good result :)
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Fair enough.
Enjoy and GOOD LUCK! |
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good luck to all teams starting out the new season tonight ....may the season ahead bring good football, good banter between fans ,enjoyment , and at the seasons end may the great shamrock rovers sit at the top of the league ....
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Have you not left yet?  |
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Run along now.
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just backed rovers at 1.99..to win tonight ...great price for us considering we beat them up there recently with a reserve team ...you not going to bray giant ....?
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I know what`s good for me wr!
Going to Portadown on Monday instead. Enjoy. THE DEFEAT! |
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you might as well dream there as in bed mate.....bet you wont like it at the bottom ......
champions champions champions....rovers rovers rovers ....here we go here go here we go............it's like been back in milltown ..... |
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Bookmakers clearly think the Hoops will have things all their own way, but Racing Post SPORT’S League of Ireland tipster Johnny Ward reckons Sligo, who beat Shamrock on penalties in last year’s FAI Cup final, could run the holders close.
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Derry v Sligo not in-play! [>o]
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Harsh decision that red card for the keeper
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Probably the right one tbh.
Bohs one down.  |
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It`s gonna be a loooooooooooooong season!
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1-1
We`re up and running |
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Dundalk one up.
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FFS
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2-1 Bohs on top!
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