The Sofia Syndrome: Part I

Is it wrong to feel disappointed after the defeat last night? It is a testament to how far we have come, that there is that niggle that we gave away a sloppy goal. Sofia were probably value for the win, as they had the lions share of the possession and more of the chances, but we were far from routed. I think back to when I started travelling to Derry games in Europe when it was more a pre-season training camp than a realistic expectation to win a game, never mind a tie.

The game is very much in the balance for the second leg in the Brandywell and the side have a real chance to go and make history. All the travelling support would have taken a narrow defeat prior to the game yesterday and nothing we saw last night would overawe us for the return. The number 10 Todorov is a danger, the way he comes deep and brings others into the game. Lekonov, number 73, posed a few dangers down the flank but superb defensive work from City meant that CSKA were mostly restricted to long shots.

I don't want to go all “football was better in my day”, but some of the diving last night was absolutely ridiculous. I got all the Bulgarian papers this morning and there is one picture which perfectly illustrates it. One of the home side players has thrown himself in the air, while Clive and Higgins are several feet away from him. The Turkish referee produces a series of decisions which varied not from the sublime to ridiculous rather from the ridiculous to the absurd. There was one case where Derry cleared the ball up to Farren and he had his back to goal. He was completely manhandled off the ball and yet a free in was given. Bring back Stokes, all is forgiven. Well maybe not.

All it all though, it was a great trip. The results gives a fighting chance and when facing a side which on papers is seven times more successful than us, that is all we can ask for. I'd say there were only about forty Derry fans that travelling and the small group led to great camaraderie between the supporters. It was definitely an older crowd, with only a few of the “Youngertones” amongst us. Indeed less than ten of us had made our way to the game independently of the club charter. Kudos to me da, Danny, Brendy C, Matt, Macca, the Kealeys amongst others for their efforts in getting there. I know the turnaround/cost deterred a lot of people who had been in Riga. Having missed that one, there was no way I was missing this one.

We landed early Wednesday morning and the charter crowd had been well settled since Tuesday evening. The Radisson was on Parliament square and the hotel bar became base camp for the time there. We'd been in Sofia six weeks earlier for the Ireland game and therefore there wasn't much left on the cultural trail, so I spent most of my time in the environs of the hotel. The weather was superb for all our time there, and the terrace of the bar was constantly populated by the Derry support. There wasn't much mayhem, as it was an older crowd but there was a great vibe and great craic for the duration of the time there.

Me da had to head to the official reception on the Wednesday night and was suited and booted for the night. He got back decent gifts which is always a bonus from these things. Meanwhile, whilst he was away meeting the great and good we ended up having an impromptu with the head of the CSKA support. You know that someone with the nickname “Il Duce” must carry a bit of clout and this guy was no exception. Mentalist. His mates at the table weren't far behind and they were telling us that they plan to travel to Derry overland by bus. Good luck lads, wouldn't wish that trip on anyone. They were serious, with the tatoos to prove it. However I think we worked out the “Last of the Summer Wine SC” weren't looking for a rumble and we had a good nights craic with them.

The bar in the hotel closed about 12 and you were encouraged into resident's lounge, which was about 300% more expensive. However everyone still decamped there en masse on the Wednesday night, bar a few lads who decided to head to a strip club. Wallets significantly lighter, they beat a hasty retreat. The arrival of the Kealeys, bolstered by the entry of Matt and Macca about 12.30 kept the spirits high and we stayed on in the lounge until 4am.

Which is all great and good, until you remember that the person that are sharing a room with went to bed at midnight and is up to go for a walk at 7am. I'm not a morning person at the best of times and two nights in a row with 4 hours sleep was taking its tool. I managed to get up for 9am and down for breakfast. The biggest surprise there was the appearance of Jack “Dracula” McCauley and his consumption of 4 boiled eggs, a slice of melon and coffee. Obviously the secret of his phenomenal stamina.

Me da and I tried to visit the sports museum in the stadia on the morning of the game, but after a lot of “Niet” and a bit of shouty shouty we established that it was closed until 2 o'clock. Me da headed off to the Ethnography museum, whislt I opted to try and catch up on some of the sleep I had missed out in the last few days instead. Suitably refreshed, it was back to the terrace bar to shoot the breeze for another couple of hours. I was now starting to get nervous, as the game drew every closer. An appearance on Radio Foyle with Eric White helped to pass the time and as the day got warmer, the confidence began to grow. The eternally optimistic nature of the football fan kicked in and talk of away goals and score draws began to creep into people's match predictions. We knew nothing of the CSKA setup, but why would that stop us.

Those on the charter were leaving straight after the game so there were getting checked out of the hotel etc, while the rest of us were able to just kick back and enjoy the rays. At this stage I started to get really nervous. I just wanted the game to start, or even just for it to be over. Bizarre that you have travelled so far and spent a small fortune and next thing you just want the match to be over. The players left for the stadium about six or so, as we cheered them off. This was really the first outbreak of noise on the trip and the adrenalin was flowing.

WE were bussed to the stadium at 7, and after a farcical ticketing issue we were finally in the stadium whilst the players were still warming up. We were at the opposition end from where we were for the Ireland game and it really emphasised how few had made the trip. We were in a section which could held 4,000 and there were about forty of us. However lack of numbers never got Derry men down and we launched into the Brandywell songbook. Next up was the European Conga round our section of the ground. It was at this point we realise that the folks at home must have discovered an internet stream, as the text message began to poor in. The general sentiment of them was summed up in the one which read “McDaid, state of your dancing. Shape of ye.”. The home crowd began to make their way into the ground and the place began to bounce. The ultras in the southern stand began to make some serious noise. We merely waited for a lull and then launched into the chants of our own.

Game on. The first ten minutes seemed to take an eternity and I could already feel that my heart rate would be fairly high for the duration. The European Conga pre match didn't help mind. After the first ten the team settled and bar one chance, City mostly kept CSKA to long shouts. Indeed we had a few half chances of our own with Stewart and another header wide. The texts from home seemed to indicate that the general thoughts that we were doing alright. Talk turned to ensures we remained hydrated and the risk of fatigue in the second half. This was the support we were talking about, not the players.

The second half followed the same pattern. We were very ropey in the first ten and then settled and seemed to be frustrating them. However the diving continued unabated and you got see it was starting to really frustrated some of Derry players, Deery in particular. CSKA threw on a few subs and half way through the second half we were still level. And then, just when you dared to believe, they scored. Derry had just made a sub and I think were unsettled by it. The ball broke to Lenokov at the edge of the box and to be fair, he caught it absolutely superbly. Doherty, a hero for the 90 minutes, didn't have a chance with it.

Derry still a chance of their own, with a goal mouth scramble and also Farren skying it from 18 yards when he really should have hit the target. At this stage the talk was of keeping it to 1-0 and despite a few late scares it finished up 1-0. The throats, destroyed at this stage, were roused into one final effort to salute the efforts of the players. We trooped back on to the bus and back to the hotel. All the supporters had to come back, as a few of the journalists had to file stories via the hotel internet.

The supporters departed for the charter flight home, while the Independent Brigade once more took up residence in the hotel bar for one last hurrah. We celebrated the performance, the celebrated the Pats results, we celebrate European football in general. Whilst a few of the older head sloped off to bed, the rest of us continued down into the City centre. Refused entry into a karoake bar, despite Matt's best efforts at bribery, we found and open air bar and stayed there until 3 or so. My flight was at 9am this morning, so I called it a night at that stage and headed back to the hotel.

Roll on Thursday, where we have history at our fingertips. We need a massive performance on and off the pitch and we need to blitz the town into Europa League fever just like the summer of 2006.

Go West! No, East this time.....

People at work think I’m mental. Well, that’s a given, but specifically in relation to shelling out the cash to head to Bulgaria for three days to watch Derry City. To be honest, I could spend the time and effort to try and explain it to them but they still wouldn’t get it, so I just grin and nod when people ask me if I am really going.
Finish work today and dive for the airport to get to London. Tomorrow the adventure really starts. Don the colours and hit the airport. There will be no army heading tomorrow, just a crack team of troops. For others, the turnaround time and the finances didn’t allow another trip so soon after Riga. For those of us who couldn’t make Riga, or those with plenty of spare cash it is the second trip in three weeks. The airport tomorrow will see people staring at the crest, trying to work out the team or wondering why there are people bedecked in red and white gear at 5.30am. The odd brave soul might ask who your support, other may know the badge and know your destination.
Don’t underestimate the task we face. People may not have heard of CSKA in the same way that they heard of PSG but they have a coefficient which is about 5 times that of Derry’s current one. People were raving about the result that Bohs got away to Red Bull Salzburg, but CSKA have a coefficient more than double that of RBS. They have serious European pedigree and we are really going to up against it for this one. The CSKA fans who have invaded the Derry message boards on mass since the fixture predict a crowd of 10,000 plus for this one. The stadium may hold 40,000 odd but the way these lads support, there will be serious noise. The City support on the other hand may number about 100.
The horrific injury list is another major problems as options are going to be seriously light on the ground. I can’t remember another season when we had two players sustain broken legs. We are down to bare bones and it will be a case of the last man standing for Stephen Kenny. Given the success of the system you’d have to think a 4-5-1 system will be employed. I’d guess that McManus may start up front with Farren replacing him as the Scot tires. The engine room will be critical and we need to man up here. Tracking men, making tackles, putting in the hard yards will all be required and we need a heroic effort to give ourselves a fighting chance. In the heat this will be difficult, we were there for the Ireland game and it was still fairly hot after 8pm.
The fans travel in hope, as if you don’t travel in hope then what’s the point? You must believe. We’ll hopefully win more friends round Europe and carry the reputation of the Red and White Army into South Eastern Europe. We were inches away from a famous goal here over a decade ago. If that chance had been converted we would have been through to the next round. There is no Anthony Tohill in the squad this time round but we will need a team of giants, metaphorically and physically. There is no room for shrinking violets on this one, the spirit of Gothenburg and Fir Park is needed for this one. Play like we have done in some of the domestic games this year and we’ll be on the end of a cricket score.
The team left today and the fans will be making their way to Sofia over the course of the next few days. I was packing the bag last night and the spring was in the step. This time last week I was telling all and sundry that I wasn’t going. No way, wasn’t spending this amount of money to go back to Sofia. And then, like Skonto Riga’s defence, my resistance crumbled and five minutes after the final whistle in the Brandywell I was booked. This is history, this is what it is all about. What if I hadn’t gone and we get a result? That would have been very hard to take, given you’d follow them anywhere else.
Donning the colours and hitting the road. The heart swells with pride. This is what it is about. Our team, our city, our people. People going “Oh aye, you beat Skonto Riga” and then it heads into a discussion of the merits of Derry City. The look on the taxi drivers wherever it is you are going to, when they realize you are here for the football. The buzz. That’s what it is, you can’t explain it. Different people get their kicks different ways, this is mine. Belting out “Teenage Kicks” or “The Town I Love So Well” as people look on bemused. The belonging, this is our tribe and while we mightn’t be perfect, you wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Sack it. When I enter the ground all talk of coefficients and reputations will go out the window. One only has to look at events on Leeside to see just how fragile clubs can be. It is about shared stories, shared passion, shared memories. That is all a football club, it is only as strong as the people that make it. This is merely eleven players against eleven. Us against them. It is all about the pride and the passion, the ninety minutes. 11 heroes from the edge of Europe against a side that could buy and sell us with loose change. Roaring yourself hoarse as this is your team. You’re not a customers, you’re not a demographic here. You’re Derry City and that team on the pitch is you. I once saw a great banner at a game which read “You live our dream, now play as in our dreams” and every time I think about it I think it brilliantly encapsulated what support is.
So passport in hand once more we hit the trail for European glory. Hit them Derry!

Hit them Derry......

Another European night in the Brandywell and another night to make history. Derry City have been in existence for more than eighty years. We have been participating in European competitions for forty five years. In that time we have been entered 12 times, we have progressed three times. Three times in 45 years. Tomorrow we have the chance to make that four times. That's history, that's something that you can stand over and say “I was there”. There are Derry fans that have followed the team for years and never had the chance to see their team play in Europe, never mind have the chance to progress.




It isn't going to be easy. We have the away goal but that means nothing. Skonto score, we're back to square one. William James once said “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” That is the mindset we must adopt as supporters tomorrow night. I'm not going to peddle some hocus pocus about a 12th man having some magical effect. At the end of the day, it will be the players on the pitch that make the difference but what can we do to help them. Is sitting meekly in your seat, or abusing Sammy Morrow or whoever the fates have chosen is going to get the abuse going to help? What the team needs is that explosion of sound which they hear as they exit the dressing rooms and walk towards the pitch. They need the wall of noise which makes the hair and the back of their neck stand up when they cross the dog track. That Brandywell roar that never ceases, never falters just drones on and on, louder and louder for the whole ninety minutes.

We've haven't had it for a while. We had it for a brief time in the Bohs game but mostly it has been lacking. Well if we ever needed it, we need it now. Sack the team, we all need it. That's what its all about, that feeling of coming away from the game with your throat killing you and your head pounding because you just kept singing. The atmosphere so intense that you forget all about everything else. You aren't checking your phone every five minutes because you are bored, you aren't looking round you. Your hands are sore because you have been clapping for so long and it sounds like you are singing “Reudenheightnarmy” as you have been chanting it for so long. So follow the advice of William James and act as if what you do does indeed make the difference.

12 times since the mid sixties we have been in Europe. The game is early so there is probably only time for a quick one(if even) before the game. Make sure you have your jersey, your scarf, your flags, whatever it is you take. Round up a posse tomorrow and get them to go. This is history, everyone wants to be part of history. Get in early. This is not one for filing in late and taking your seat. We could be out of the competition this time tomorrow night, lets get in early and really get the place buzzing. If you are given a flag wave it. Wave your scarf round your head. Roar your head off, what you can do for the atmosphere, do it.

Right, you're sick of the petty actions of councillors. You're sick that we are still playing in a shitty stadium. Your pissed off that our League title challenge may have come off the rails. You're tired of the stick that “proud Derry men” give you for supporting your team, whilst these patriots look east for their fix of soap opera. You're fed up with news of job cuts and doom and gloom. Forget it all, this is a chance to show that one aspect of Derry City fears no one. No one in this island, no one in Europe. So let's show it. Let's give a massive message on and off the pitch that we'll never be broken and this little corner of Europe fears no one.

We are Derry City. Everything else in your life may change but you'll always be City. You may waver at times, you may wonder you do it at times, but you're always City. You might be driving back from Cork/Waterford/Dublin after a defeat and moaning, but you're always City. You always look at the fixtures to see how you can fit it round holidays. You'll text home or seek an internet cafe for the results. People ask you who you support, you say Derry. You don't have to think about it, there is only one answer. People ask you who you really support and you think “What does this clown mean” and just go, Derry. Tomorrow night is a chance to enjoy yourself, throw off the shackles of any of the rest of your problems and just go mad. Let the Premiershite brigade wet themselves over another weekend of televised bollix. Brandywell, 7pm, that's what it is all about.

You'll spend tomorrow checking here, checking the news, chatting about the game. As the time ticks on you start to get the butterfiles, the nerves. People will be asking you to do stuff, but you'll be worry about what the midfield will be. Who will start up front, will this be the day that Morrow gets back to form? Then it will be time to go.

Grab your gear, jump in the car. Head for the Brandy and see the lights. You're nearly there and a bit of nervous laughter to calm you down. Lock the car and start the walk. See the faces, hear the noise. Vincent shouting about programmes, half time draw tickets on sale. Enter the ground, take a deep breath. See the friendly faces and the people you know to nod to. Take you seat(or not). Have a chat with those around you. Feel the buzz again, the nerves start to build. Thumb the programme, not really concentrating. The place packs up, the tension is really starting to build now. The drum begins to sound out from Block J and the chants start up. This is it. This is what it is all about.

There will be times when we'll worry. The ultimate test of a man comes not from where he stand in times of comfort, but in times of challenge and controversy. Those are the words of Martin Luther King. Tomorrow night is about raising a massive flag to the rest of the world. We're here, we exist and we will face any challenge. Ask people anywhere over the world about Derry and you'll get references to Bloody Sunday, the Troubles, pick whatever you want. Say the world Brandywell to people and to most it will draw a blank. To those that do know it, it means football. It means Derry City and the famous red and white stripes. It means trebles, it means PSG and Gothenburg, it means atmosphere and passion. Tomorrow night, and every other European night is about making more and more people home and abroad aware of what Derry City and Brandywell means.

Who are we? We're Derry City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9ImCgiTV6I&feature=related

We love you, we love you.......

Back to Bulgaria

So City have a trip to CSKA Sofia to look forward to, if they can get past the Lativans that this. Hardly the cash cow that the club would have been looking for, and on a personal level not a great trip either.

Sofia is grand, but I was there in June for the Ireland game for four days. We saw everything there was to see at that stage and therefore it would be a fairly quiet trip if we go this time.

A lot of the usual suspects have already opted out of the next round for various reasons so I'll have to see who is going before I make my own decision of whether to head or not. Flights are from £200 upwards from London so they aren't horrendous, but enough to make you stop and think.

Still, could be worse, Pats are heading to Russian if they make it through.

City do the job

RTE Match Report

The tie is far from over, but the away goal is a massive help.

All who travelled seemed to have a good time.

In other news

http://www.derryjournal.com/derry-sport/Skonto-defeat-would-signal-disaster.5456330.jp

Derry City in financial difficulties. In other news, scientists believe that the sun will rise and set tomorrow.

In all seriousness, I'd probably break the blog with my rants about our financial stupidity. Anyone who have seen me in the last few years will know my views, I not waste your time and mine with it.

Derry City 0 Drogheda United 1

Another blog, another defeat. However I believe that the non performance of the team has more to do with the defeat than my nonsensical rantings in cyberspace. Thus I’ll persist with it, if even for my own sanity.

Originally I wasn’t even going to bother coming up the road for the game. After the shocking performance in Dundalk the plan was to stay in Dublin and head to watch the cricket and GAA over the weekend. However I got the news that I had passed my exams on Friday morning and was given the nod that I could head on early. Therefore I made a last minute decision to head north and take in the game.

It was all going so well, sun shining and empty roads as I whizzed towards the Brandywell. In fact, it was going perfectly until I hit total gridlock at Magheramason. I’d had my iPod on in the car and hadn’t heard any news, so I was blissfully unaware of the bomb scare which had brought the City to a halt. I should have paid attention to this and just not bothered with the match. However that would be much to rational a decision for me, so I used every bad road and shortcut I knew to get to the Brandywell. The game had been delayed so I only missed the first fifteen minutes or so. OK, so we were back on track.

I grabbed a programme and heard about the manager’s dissatisfaction with a piece in the programme. It wasn’t mine, and to be honest I think that SK got it completely wrong. The piece mentioned lack of commitment but it was a balanced argument and far from a rant. I left the lads and head for commentary duties.

Scrambled my way up into the Old Stand where Greengo and Kev conveyed the news that the internet wasn’t working, so there wouldn’t be an iCandy. So it was just a case of watching the match. Derry weren’t bad in the first half, we created a few chances but the same problems which have been self evident for the last few weeks continue to remain. The unbeaten spell prior to the summer break seem to have papered over the cracks but with two defeats on the spin, the issues can no longer be ignored.

City couldn’t break the deadlock and it was level at the break. I was down to hand out scarves to people who paid me, so I was floating around the shop area at half time. I got a chance to have a look at the new kit up close and to be honest I am not a fan. I can understand the thinking and I appreciate rewarding the people who put their names in the sponsorship draw. However on an aesthetic basis, it can hardly be described as a cult classic.

The second half continued in the same vein, though the away side continued to grow in confidence. As City failed to beat the Drogs down the away side began to look more and more dangerous and seemed to have more creativity going forward than us. Greengo reckoned that the Drogs might nick one, and I said the same to JOT when he phoned me with about fifteen minutes to go. The introduction of Molloy seemed to give us a bit of bite in the middle, but we appear to be very one dimensional going forward. These shortcomings are multiplied when Farren, Morrow and Stewart seem to have lost their scoring touch. Morrow in particular appears to be having a horrible season.

I was down finalising the Man of Match award and missed the Drogs goal. We were trialling the Man of the Match thing for the first time and therefore I had to sort it, which meant I was in the club office when the goal was scored.

I went back up and sat with me da and JMC for the last few minutes but haven’t failed to break down the visitors for 85 minutes, the remainder was little different. I met the Drogs support after the game and it was heartening to see how many youngster their was, so passionate about their team. They outsang the home support for long periods of the game and it reminded me of following Derry through the “wilderness” years. The results mightn’t have been great but the craic was, and the away trip were a blast. Our support has really fallen away in recent times and it has lost “the buzz”.

I headed to the Oak afterward and met up with Chalks, Matt and McCole. It turned into a bit of a venting session and it once again realised how many things annoy me about DCFC at the minute. I have real problems with the deferred income schemes of selling season tickets now amongst other things and I “went off on one” as we’d say in Derry. People are completely busting their balls to raise money yet the players haven’t taken a pay cut. Crowds have fallen off, advertising has collapsed and yet instead of cutting our outgoing we are just asking fans to pay for this early.
I’ll not bore you with the details now but suffice to say it went on for several hours.

I’ll not be in Riga but I fear that on the basis of the last two weeks the tie could be dead and buried before we even get back to the Brandywell. I hope not, but we could get canned by a team that actually play football. I wish all the lads that are going a great trip, and hopefully a great result, and I wish I was amongst them.

Drumaville/West Brit Ltd: Any Clubs for sale?

Vainly, I had hoped that the current recession might have brought an end to the shamelessly bandwagon jumping and event junkieism which characterises many an Irish football fan. The initial signs were good, with a fall off in the number of leprechauns in Bari and Sofia. However the front page of yesterday’s Tribune showed that the species is alive and well.

“Pub owner Chawke in bid to buy Newcastle United” screamed the Page 1 headline. The article went onto quoted Chawke, who confirmed his interest in purchasing the club from Mike Ashley. The ball park figure to gain control at St James’ Park is reckoned to be £100m sterling, with Ashley prepared to take a massive hit to get out of the club.

Chawke was part of the Drumaville consortium that purchased Sunderland a few years ago, before selling out their remaining sake to Ellis Short at the end of last season. There were a few choice quotes from the piece, none better than
"This is a better and bigger club. Bigger support, bigger team. It has no debts. It's a great city as well."

This is nothing more than shameless opportunism by the consortium involved. Buying one club shortly after selling ones is bad enough, but buying their biggest rivals. It shows that Chawke and his mates have no interest in the soul of football but want to suckle at the teet of the celebrity circuit once more.

However English football is so in thrall to the money required to keep the circus show on the road that they can’t turn down any serious offers. Whether it is former politicians from the Far East with questionable human rights records or mysterious Russian oligarchs then the door is opened and they are welcomed in.

Louis Fitzgerald is one of the other moguls quoted in the piece, saying
“To have a stake in a well-known club like this would be fantastic. They were in Dublin playing Shamrock Rovers this weekend but if it all works out, we could be in Newcastle in the near future watching them at St James' Park."

The concept of irony is obviously lost of Fitzgerald, as he mentions one of Ireland’s best known clubs and then in the same breath speaks with giddy excitement about investing in a foreign club instead. The consortium seem to be drawn to the bright lights of the Toon Army, in the same way that the club’s emblem, the Magpie, is draw to shiny things.

£100m. A staggering figure at any time, particularly for a loss making leader in a time of deep recession. What is it about business people losing all their business acumen when they get into a football boardroom. Somehow people who have made millions in their jobs take a deep sniff of nitrous oxide and go mad when put in charge of a football club.

Newcastle are now in the second tier on English football and the reality is that it is going to take a multimillion pound investment to get them back to challenge the elite in the game. Yet Chawke and his merry brand of paddywhackery think they are men to do it.

Now think what an investment of £100m in the Irish game might do. In fact scrap it, think what an investment of £10m would do for a domestic team. An investment of that size would virtually guarantee domestic silverware and would provide the side with a real chance of a major European breakthrough into the group stages.

No, instead these proud Irishmen will once again pump their cash into a foreign side, play the green card to attract the “Oirish support”, enjoy the company of their £100,000 a week players and watch defeats to Peterborough. Meanwhile the domestic game struggles for scraps.

I hope John Delaney is drawing up a black list for people to those who should be refused entry to Lansdowne Road following redevelopment. Chawke and his acolytes should be top of the list and I sincerely hope their fortunes are scuttled by the Fog on the Tyne.

Bad night for the coefficient

Bad night for the coefficient with Sligo, as the seeded team, crashing out against their Albanian opponents. In this world of modern technology we were able to watch the Albanian TV broadcast of the game via the internet, even though we hadn't be able to watch the "home" leg.

Sligo had plenty of possession and more than enough chances but the 1-1 draw wasn't enough. The damage was defiantely done in the home leg and despite throwing the kitchen sink at it the Bit'O'Red crashed out on aggregate.

Up North, Linfield and Distrillery continued the proud tradition of the Irish League with a cumulative 18-1 defeat between them. I usually want local sides to do well, but the continued arrogance of the team from "An Pairc Whinger"(see what I did there) means that sympathy is in short supply for them.

Next week Derry, Pats, Bohs, the Glens and the Crues are all in action and we'll be hoping for an upturn in fortunes.

Memories of "lo Scudetto"

Great article about the Samp side that won the title(and my support) in the 90/91 season.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jun/25/sampdoria-1991-rob-smyth.

FAI Accounts....what's the story?

The FAI AGM was held over the weekend and Monaghan and passed over with little or no incident.

There was some comment relating to the €16m deficit in the accounts with an one off payment of €10m in relation to the construction of Lansdowne Road.I found the comments of Jack O’Neill from Bray Wanderers interesting. He was critical of the fact that the association’s decision not to release the accounts to members until the Saturday morning. I assume that the decision was based on minimising leaks to the media. However his comments that the association needs to “grow up” seems to be on the money.

If the association are so confident in their figures then they can stand over these in front of public scrutiny. The current approach smacks of minnowism and of an association that has something to hide.

http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/fai-cagey-on-debt-at-agm-1807833.html

Tips for the weekend

Timidly entering into the betting tips arena.

For the weekend ahead a draw in the Dundalk v Bohs game looks good value at 9/4. It was available at 12/5 earlier in the day and you still might get that on the exchanges.

Rovers, who are looking impressive, are also worth a look at 19/20 away to Bray. The Seagulls have started to fall away badly and you sense the momentum is with the Hoops.

Is the blog a hex?

My blogging had been periodic before the mid season break and it seems that when I didn't blog, we won. However the moment I made comment on the games here, City would fall to defeat. The rational side of my brain told me to wise up, and the idea was to blog solidly for the second half of the season. However after the reverse in Dundalk on Friday I'm thinking of bowing to superstition and just letting the tumblweed blow through here on Friday night.

There's been a lot of negative reaction to the defeat in Dundalk and rightly so in my view. I've been at every away game in the League this season and it was certainly the worst I have seen this season. We played significantly better away to Cork and Rovers, when we were down to ten men!

It was very similiar to the game in the Brandywell, with Dundalk playing a physical pressing game. Derry didn't seem to have any answer and it seemed much more likely that the home side would get a second than Derry getting back into the game. Derry just never seemed to get to grips with the opposition or with the much talked about surface.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/kevinmcdaid/DundalkVDerry#5354981590092531650

In my view the game didn't tell us anything we didn't know, ie that a Martyn/Higgins midfield axis will not win us the League. That area was completed bossed by Turner and Collins and without the platform, we neverly reaclly looked like scoring. Indeed Gerard Doherty made a number of really good saves.