SINKING FASTER THAN THE SPANISH ARMADA OFF THE SLIGO COAST

 

“This is the song that Doesn’t end, it just goes on and on my friend…”
This song that first aired on the kids programme “Lambchop”  encapsulates how us Bohs fans are feeling right now,

When was the last time a team had 72% possession and 21 shots at goal, compared to just 6 for the opposition and LOST a game 2-0?
Maybe the time Ireland beat The Netherlands on the way to World Cup 2002 had a similar outcome, but that’s it.

While it is undeniable that things went stale during the end of Keith Long’s reign at Bohs,I remember us once losing  1-0 at Half Time to Finn Harps in Dalyer, about half way into his reign.
Subs were made at Half Time, tactics were changed and we ran out 3-1 winners at the final whistle.

At the moment the team is akin to a dog that keeps chasing it’s tail – Do the players even have something which even remotely resembles a “Plan A”?
So many times the players just played a nothing hit it and hope ball into the box; hoping the ball would by itself land in the back of the net, as  time after time it ping ponged  between players in the box.


If we were a team with just a group of young inexperienced players, who were merely turning up in return for bus far and a ham and cheese sandwich, you could sort of excuse things,

But with the squad we have, it is obvious that they are not being given the on field instructions that could fully unleash their collective talents and see us win games we previously would have blindfolded.
It's like a General into war using the exact same tactics as were used in the previous battle he oversaw, where his aemy was roundly defeated.

I’m sorry to say it, but those of ye who still have any notion that this managerial team will turn things round – there is more chance of Russia pulling it’s troops out of Ukraine tomorrow.

No doubt there will be people reading this and exclaiming to themselves “Yeah sack the manager, but who else is there who we could get that would improve things?”
The situation is akin to that of the ice caps in the Arctic;
We don’t know for sure if taking serious climate change measures will fully reverse the damage we have done to the earth, but it will definitely improve things for sure.

After 7 games, we are just 2 points away from the relegation zone.
A squad with the individual talents of the likes of Mousset, Tierney, Devoy et all IS 2 POINTS AWAY FROM THE RELEGATION ZONE!!!

I have said it to others that a quick and ready to move replacement I would like to see become our new manager is Liam Buckley.tc would be required.
No compensation would be needed.
To me he is a manager who know what it takes to grind out a win, to change tactics depending on the opposition if required.

Some have nearly choked on their curry chips at my suggestion; but regardless of who it is, we need to stop the rot right now, by removing the completely dead wood of Reynolds and his backroom team.

I fear the Bohs ship might already be doomed to sinking into the First Division, by the time the board take the correct course of action.

“This is the song that doesn’t end, it just goes on and on my friend…

HATS OFF ON A DEISE-NT PERFORMANCE AT THE RSC

 

When the final whistle blew 7 days ago, I was amongst the chorus of very anxious boos as Drogheda somehow managed to snatch all 3 points in Dalyer (PSG fans know our pain)
We had almost 3 times more  passes than the opposition, but we were like a dog chasing it’s tail, while a cat with a limp leg, just stood there staring at us.
The fact that our only proper chance on goal in the first half, came via a  deflected head of a Drogheda player, forcing a great save from Luke Dennison – truly summed up just how awful a night it was.
For their goal. Our defenders were renacting scenes from The National Wax Museum, by the looks of things.
(The Referee being a 12th man for Drogheda, giving them countless number of Free Kicks for no apparent reason, did not help our cause either)

Given the quality we have in our squad, we rightly expected a lot more;
But last Monday night was akin to being seated in a Michelin Star Restaurant and being served badly burnt toast.
So as I prepared to exit the home of Irish Football, others shared my fears our star studded squad would be baaaing like the proverbial lamb to the slaughter down in Waterford.

But thankfully, how wrong I and so many others were!
I could not make it down to the match, but from what I saw it certainly encouraged me somewhat,
We bossed the game in large parts and set a beautiful tone early on courtesy of a “worldy” from the hat-trick hero Colm Whelan, who rifled the back of the net from some way out.

A scary thought in the round:
The two penalties were 100% warranted and we deserved to get them;
However had such incidents occurred at home v Drogheda, I genuinely fear the Referee would have waved them away.
Serious question:  Who is supposed to referee our referees and why do they not seem to be raising the flag when the stary offside?

If you had told anyone last November that 5 games into the 2026 season, Drogheda United would be top, Waterford 2^nd and Derry City bottom – They’d have urged you to demand a refund from the Fortune Teller.
This has made things very exciting for the neutrals and has seen higher attendances across the board which is great.

Next week we are back by the Camac, as we play many pundits tip for the title Saint Patrick’s Athletic.
I have a funny memory of the time we once beat them 1-0 in Inchicore in a top of the table clash.
When we scored every Bohs fan – bar one -  was wildly celebrating.
The exception was our beloved Barry, whose newly bought chips and coffee were knocked to the ground in the celebratory melee.
As everyone else chanted the goalscorers name, Barry with hands outstretched in despair was oblivious to it all as he repeated “7 feckin euro, that cost me… 7 feckin euro”
 Both sides are brimming with talent, but underperforming overall thus far, with both lying in mod table.
How both sides would dearly love to get Another 3 points on the board, to put their title bids properly back on track.

With  - on paper at least -  top notch strikers and swashbuckling midfielders on both sides, we could be treated to a goal fest on Friday night.
However given the topsy turvy displays from both sides in their last 5 outings, we could be watching 11 men behaving as if they were in a giant bath, sinking down a swirling plug hole.

So us Bohs fans will get another signpost to indicate as to whether another little shop of horrors awaits this season; or that the team has finally blossomed as we sprout into genuine title challengers.
Thank you Colm Whelan for restoring some faith, and making us Bohs cautiously daring to believe that we might finally have turned the corner,

THE GRAND OL DUKE OF DALYMOUNT...

Déjà vu is something us Bohs fans are very familiar with these past few seasons.
A great performance leaving us on Cloud nine for a few days, before a lame duck performance in the next match, bring us back down to earth at breakneck speed.

Due to issues logging in (I gave up when I realised the clock had struck 19.46) so I ended up listening into the excellent radio coverage on BBC Foyle.
And from what I heard on the radio, backed up by post match observations from people who were at it, I was glad my eyes were spared having to see fluffed chances in front of goal and a team seemingly strolling along in third gear,


If you are a neutral, what a captivating start to the season, from the record attendance in The Aviva last week, to Galway ripping the predictions book by beating many pundits favourite to win the league, St. Patrick’s Athletic.

When the dust settled and I began to look at the game in The Brandywell in a somewhat rational guise, I took stock of the fact that we have a number of new players on the first XI.
While they individually are very talented players, it might take a bit of time for the whole team to properly gel.
(Keeping my fingers crossed they don’t end up like the Wales international team of the 1980’s; They had a team with individual players of fantastic talent, Neville Southall, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes, Barry Horne.
But they never seemed to properly click and astonishingly never qualified for a Europan Championships or World Cup)

Next up, we travel to a ground that holds a hoodoo over us, Turners Cross.
I’ve lost count of the many times we have lost on the Rebel City and anytime we did win it was usually by one gall, oi my memory served me right.
Cork’s game against the Hoops in Tallaght was called off.
So while their players will be better rested than our troops and have more in the tank come 80 minutes, might they be overly rusty and there for the taking?
Personally I would like to see Bucko start and for the club to play two up front, with Moussey and Whelan leading the line.
We’ve all lost count of how many times a winger whipped in  great cross, only for the ball to bounce aimlessly across the box, as we gnash our teeth with hands on head,  that no one was there to simply poke it home.

I am still having to remind myself I am not dreaming and that we really did sign Lys
 Mousset.
Here's hoping he gives us 10 million reasons to worship him come the end of the season, with us top of the tabl