St. Patrick's Athletic v Derry City Match Thread

[brandyball]

"Manager's " view

https://audioboom.com/posts/8312312-its ... ruaidhri-h

[Keyser Soze]

Is that another mistake tonight?

How many more do we plan on making? Are we just going to continue playing for the rest of the season they way we have up to now?

If so, I think we could be battling for 4th.

A real worry tonight was how bad the defence was. It is usually our strong point, but it was shocking. We could easily have conceded 6 or 7.

[PauliAlonso]

We were top of the table only a week ago and we've got a "Ruaidhri out" brigade already? You people are clowns.

Higgins is chopping and changing the line-up too much. Some is due to injuries but more often than not it's tinkering and it's not bringing us anything. He needs to settle on an XI, especially in key positions like striker, and work with it. It's not a coincidence that we can't put attacks together, when there've been four different styles of player in starting striker positions.

[Paul_C]

He's making changes to make improvements but can't get the rub of the green due to injuries and players not performing to expected levels when its next man up. We missed Connolly for so long, then when he's fit for a return we lose Shane. Dummigan was out, returns and then Fats gets a bad run of injuries. Whelan comes in, scores two in two and gets crocked again. Duffy also suffering. That's the core of our starting team that haven't even playing/performing due to injuries with no depth to cover their loss.

[DerryDerryDerry]

We were top of the table only a week ago and we've got a "Ruaidhri out" brigade already? You people are clowns.

Higgins is chopping and changing the line-up too much. Some is due to injuries but more often than not it's tinkering and it's not bringing us anything. He needs to settle on an XI, especially in key positions like striker, and work with it. It's not a coincidence that we can't put attacks together, when there've been four different styles of player in starting striker positions.

The football Derry play is terrible even when they win, that's not good enough with the quality of players available. It's been like this all season, it's not just the last 3 games.

[joe3576]

Look, I don't anyone wants to see anyone lose their job and we all have no doubt that the manager is trying his best for the club, the players and us fans. The cup win last year was a brilliant success. Changing manager would be crazy at this stage of the season.

But there are genuine concerns that a number of fans have and I believe that they are genuine concerns, and how they will sort themselves out is also worrying. Our season will very much be decided in June.

1. The style of play is very very dull. Now this goes back to when he took over in April 2021, results have been decent, but the majority of games are very dull. At home especially, the games are very tedious. This season especially - to be absolutely honest it is brutal.

Maher is taking far too long at the back. Connolly and Shane will pass back and forward to each other 4-5 times, before either attempts a long cross field ball that is normally intercepted, as the other teams know what we are going to do, so they let Shane and Connolly have the ball and then drag their wide players back to mark the space in front of Duffy and Graydon - rendering the long cross field ball a waste of time.

It is possession based, but possession for possession's sake - does not win games nor score goals.

The last goal last night brought real anger amongst the fans.

We had a free kick deep in our own half with minutes to go - clearly it needed drilled down into the channel to Cain Kavanagh - instead Boyce goes 60 yards across the pitch to the other full-back (possession for possession's sake), McJannett does well to bring it down and instead of him sending it up to big Cain Kavanagh, he goes inside 5 yards to Brandon Kavanagh who in turn goes 3 yards inside to Adam O'Reilly who gets robbed. Absolute shambles of a goal but it showed 3 players who are mentally discipled to just keep the ball for possessions sake - until this changes, more nights like last night will happen.

2. The system never changes - one up front and no changes, despite what is happening on the pitch. I was present last night and at 3-1, it was game over, we all knew it, so with 25 minutes to go, I thought why not go with a second striker and see how it goes, we might actually learn something / see something. But no - he didn't give McGonigle a run. It meant no sense, to just try something for 20 minutes he could have seen something, but no. What does Jamie think if in a game that we are losing 1-3 with 25 minutes to go, then he cannot get a run.

3. It is clear at present, with an average of 5 changes per game, he does not know his best line-up. The constant changing and rotation of players reeks of self-doubt and uncertainty. Clearly, he likes certain players, and appears at times to play certain players in different positions/at the expense of others - to get the players he wants onto the pitch.

Sligo away - putting Dummigan into right back instead of Boyce - made no sense.

Ben Doherty - outside right in games ?

Fats as a holding midfielder ?

O'Neill as a false number 9 ?

Jordan McEnuff scores goals and plays well, but as soon as Fats is fit - he is dropped once again.

Coll, McEnuff and Brandon Kavanagh (at times) have been very hard done by in terms of selection.

O'Neill is going back to Fulham in 10 days time, he has shown zero in his time here - so why give him 45 minutes last night ? Last night he showed no effort, no desire, it was obvious he just wanted to avoid any injury and get back to Fulham in 10 days.


4. Players are clearly being rushed back from injury to get them back into the team.

Connolly is clearly not fit.

Fats (and I reliably heard 3 weeks ago has quite a major achilles issue and should not be playing) - yet is rushed back and now he is likely done for the season.

Dummigan also - does not seem right since returning, and he also now may be injured again.

Duffy - doesn't seem right either, and apart from a spell in mid may - to be honest hasn't really been flying all season.

We are not getting injuries through tackles etc - but it is muscle strains which either is a fitness issue or players playing when not quite ready to play.


These issues are worrying, fans are getting fed up as the standard of football is dire. There is little change in the system or how we play - and the team is being constantly altered to accommodate certain players playing at the detriment of others.

While no-one wants a manager sacked or changed - how will the above change, as over 26 months, very little has changed, results have glossed over a lot of issues, but I fear that the results may now drop off and then everything is lead bare for all to see - as was the case last night.

We now have Bohs at home, Rovers away and then Shels away 3 days later. I worry how we will stand after this - 4th seems likely. With the league gone by the end of June, I just wonder what fans will think and what POD will think. As possibly then, there is a real debate that the money being spent by POD is looking seriously disproportionate to the standard of football / results / fans empathy.

[brandyball]

Look, I don't anyone wants to see anyone lose their job and we all have no doubt that the manager is trying his best for the club, the players and us fans. The cup win last year was a brilliant success. Changing manager would be crazy at this stage of the season.

But there are genuine concerns that a number of fans have and I believe that they are genuine concerns, and how they will sort themselves out is also worrying. Our season will very much be decided in June.

1. The style of play is very very dull. Now this goes back to when he took over in April 2021, results have been decent, but the majority of games are very dull. At home especially, the games are very tedious. This season especially - to be absolutely honest it is brutal.

Maher is taking far too long at the back. Connolly and Shane will pass back and forward to each other 4-5 times, before either attempts a long cross field ball that is normally intercepted, as the other teams know what we are going to do, so they let Shane and Connolly have the ball and then drag their wide players back to mark the space in front of Duffy and Graydon - rendering the long cross field ball a waste of time.

It is possession based, but possession for possession's sake - does not win games nor score goals.

The last goal last night brought real anger amongst the fans.

We had a free kick deep in our own half with minutes to go - clearly it needed drilled down into the channel to Cain Kavanagh - instead Boyce goes 60 yards across the pitch to the other full-back (possession for possession's sake), McJannett does well to bring it down and instead of him sending it up to big Cain Kavanagh, he goes inside 5 yards to Brandon Kavanagh who in turn goes 3 yards inside to Adam O'Reilly who gets robbed. Absolute shambles of a goal but it showed 3 players who are mentally discipled to just keep the ball for possessions sake - until this changes, more nights like last night will happen.

2. The system never changes - one up front and no changes, despite what is happening on the pitch. I was present last night and at 3-1, it was game over, we all knew it, so with 25 minutes to go, I thought why not go with a second striker and see how it goes, we might actually learn something / see something. But no - he didn't give McGonigle a run. It meant no sense, to just try something for 20 minutes he could have seen something, but no. What does Jamie think if in a game that we are losing 1-3 with 25 minutes to go, then he cannot get a run.

3. It is clear at present, with an average of 5 changes per game, he does not know his best line-up. The constant changing and rotation of players reeks of self-doubt and uncertainty. Clearly, he likes certain players, and appears at times to play certain players in different positions/at the expense of others - to get the players he wants onto the pitch.

Sligo away - putting Dummigan into right back instead of Boyce - made no sense.

Ben Doherty - outside right in games ?

Fats as a holding midfielder ?

O'Neill as a false number 9 ?

Jordan McEnuff scores goals and plays well, but as soon as Fats is fit - he is dropped once again.

Coll, McEnuff and Brandon Kavanagh (at times) have been very hard done by in terms of selection.

O'Neill is going back to Fulham in 10 days time, he has shown zero in his time here - so why give him 45 minutes last night ? Last night he showed no effort, no desire, it was obvious he just wanted to avoid any injury and get back to Fulham in 10 days.


4. Players are clearly being rushed back from injury to get them back into the team.

Connolly is clearly not fit.

Fats (and I reliably heard 3 weeks ago has quite a major achilles issue and should not be playing) - yet is rushed back and now he is likely done for the season.

Dummigan also - does not seem right since returning, and he also now may be injured again.

Duffy - doesn't seem right either, and apart from a spell in mid may - to be honest hasn't really been flying all season.

We are not getting injuries through tackles etc - but it is muscle strains which either is a fitness issue or players playing when not quite ready to play.


These issues are worrying, fans are getting fed up as the standard of football is dire. There is little change in the system or how we play - and the team is being constantly altered to accommodate certain players playing at the detriment of others.

While no-one wants a manager sacked or changed - how will the above change, as over 26 months, very little has changed, results have glossed over a lot of issues, but I fear that the results may now drop off and then everything is lead bare for all to see - as was the case last night.

We now have Bohs at home, Rovers away and then Shels away 3 days later. I worry how we will stand after this - 4th seems likely. With the league gone by the end of June, I just wonder what fans will think and what POD will think. As possibly then, there is a real debate that the money being spent by POD is looking seriously disproportionate to the standard of football / results / fans empathy.

^^^^This^^^^

[Marty]

Dummigan is a full back.

[MINTER]

Look, I don't anyone wants to see anyone lose their job and we all have no doubt that the manager is trying his best for the club, the players and us fans. The cup win last year was a brilliant success. Changing manager would be crazy at this stage of the season.

But there are genuine concerns that a number of fans have and I believe that they are genuine concerns, and how they will sort themselves out is also worrying. Our season will very much be decided in June.

1. The style of play is very very dull. Now this goes back to when he took over in April 2021, results have been decent, but the majority of games are very dull. At home especially, the games are very tedious. This season especially - to be absolutely honest it is brutal.

Maher is taking far too long at the back. Connolly and Shane will pass back and forward to each other 4-5 times, before either attempts a long cross field ball that is normally intercepted, as the other teams know what we are going to do, so they let Shane and Connolly have the ball and then drag their wide players back to mark the space in front of Duffy and Graydon - rendering the long cross field ball a waste of time.

It is possession based, but possession for possession's sake - does not win games nor score goals.

The last goal last night brought real anger amongst the fans.

We had a free kick deep in our own half with minutes to go - clearly it needed drilled down into the channel to Cain Kavanagh - instead Boyce goes 60 yards across the pitch to the other full-back (possession for possession's sake), McJannett does well to bring it down and instead of him sending it up to big Cain Kavanagh, he goes inside 5 yards to Brandon Kavanagh who in turn goes 3 yards inside to Adam O'Reilly who gets robbed. Absolute shambles of a goal but it showed 3 players who are mentally discipled to just keep the ball for possessions sake - until this changes, more nights like last night will happen.

2. The system never changes - one up front and no changes, despite what is happening on the pitch. I was present last night and at 3-1, it was game over, we all knew it, so with 25 minutes to go, I thought why not go with a second striker and see how it goes, we might actually learn something / see something. But no - he didn't give McGonigle a run. It meant no sense, to just try something for 20 minutes he could have seen something, but no. What does Jamie think if in a game that we are losing 1-3 with 25 minutes to go, then he cannot get a run.

3. It is clear at present, with an average of 5 changes per game, he does not know his best line-up. The constant changing and rotation of players reeks of self-doubt and uncertainty. Clearly, he likes certain players, and appears at times to play certain players in different positions/at the expense of others - to get the players he wants onto the pitch.

Sligo away - putting Dummigan into right back instead of Boyce - made no sense.

Ben Doherty - outside right in games ?

Fats as a holding midfielder ?

O'Neill as a false number 9 ?

Jordan McEnuff scores goals and plays well, but as soon as Fats is fit - he is dropped once again.

Coll, McEnuff and Brandon Kavanagh (at times) have been very hard done by in terms of selection.

O'Neill is going back to Fulham in 10 days time, he has shown zero in his time here - so why give him 45 minutes last night ? Last night he showed no effort, no desire, it was obvious he just wanted to avoid any injury and get back to Fulham in 10 days.


4. Players are clearly being rushed back from injury to get them back into the team.

Connolly is clearly not fit.

Fats (and I reliably heard 3 weeks ago has quite a major achilles issue and should not be playing) - yet is rushed back and now he is likely done for the season.

Dummigan also - does not seem right since returning, and he also now may be injured again.

Duffy - doesn't seem right either, and apart from a spell in mid may - to be honest hasn't really been flying all season.

We are not getting injuries through tackles etc - but it is muscle strains which either is a fitness issue or players playing when not quite ready to play.


These issues are worrying, fans are getting fed up as the standard of football is dire. There is little change in the system or how we play - and the team is being constantly altered to accommodate certain players playing at the detriment of others.

While no-one wants a manager sacked or changed - how will the above change, as over 26 months, very little has changed, results have glossed over a lot of issues, but I fear that the results may now drop off and then everything is lead bare for all to see - as was the case last night.

We now have Bohs at home, Rovers away and then Shels away 3 days later. I worry how we will stand after this - 4th seems likely. With the league gone by the end of June, I just wonder what fans will think and what POD will think. As possibly then, there is a real debate that the money being spent by POD is looking seriously disproportionate to the standard of football / results / fans empathy.

Absolute nail on the head there man..couldn't agree more

[stevebradley]

Last night has put to bed the myth that we're a different team away from home than we are at the Brandywell. And with that the associated notion that it's the Brandywell pitch that is holding us back and also causing all our injuries.

The reality is that it's our tactics, structure and style of play that's the issue -whether at home or away. We're too predictable in our play and too timid in our structure. Plus we have key players getting injured whether at home or away - possibly by coming back from injury too soon ? Either that or just sheer bad luck.

Higgins needs to earn his corn now by shaking thinsg up dramatically for Friday. We need to see real change before we risk a gradual slide out of the European places.

[joe3576]

Steve - that is not right either.

The home pitch is rubbish, our form is rubbish on it and we are still getting a horrific amount of injuries related to it.

Any decent performances that we do make are away from home.

Shels on friday night was a typical home performance going back now 4-5 seasons. The pitch is slow, ponderous and impossible to quicken up - the sight before the game of a guy with a wheelie bin and a garden hose trying to put water on it, while the water simply blows off into the distance is embarrassing to be honest. Richmond Park and Sligo recently were two brilliant surfaces and is what we should have.

The players hate the pitch, as does the management, the medical staff and the owners - all want it gone.

The problem with the pitch is that it was put down over a concrete base, so it is rock hard, so the issue with injuries is that it constantly puts a strain on joints and muscles, knees, ankles, hamstrings, achilles, etc - this is clearly represented by these types of injuries. Fats has a severe achilles issue, so playing on 3G only puts extra stain on the problem, which weakens it, then bang it goes 2-3 weeks later.

I played a game on the pitch a few weeks ago and a lot of boys still felt the effects up to 4-5 days afterwards. It is not good at all.

[stevebradley]

Richmond Park and Sligo recently were two brilliant surfaces and is what we should have.

You may be right about the pitch. But if our performances on Richmond Park and the Sligo Showgrounds are anything to judge by, we'd be better off keeping the current Brandywell surface

The players hate the pitch, as does the management, the medical staff and the owners - all want it gone.

Where is the evidence that the council want rid of the pitch ?

[Keyser Soze]

Let's hope this season is the last for it.
It needs to go, for many reasons.

[marcoloco]

I can't help but think we let the wrong players leave over the summer. Thomson and Akitundi would both improve our squad if they were available to us now. Both gave 100% and offered bags of energy, chipped in with goals and Aki's hold up play has not been replaced.