ANYTHING WE CAN DO, SLIGO CAN DO WORSE…

 

At last! I get to write a blog following an actual win for my beloved Bohs.
Who would have thought that 8 games in we would be in a potential relegation 6 points?
Give the squad we have, it is simply inexcusable that we find ourselves in this position.
It is very welcome that we won on Friday and have moved up the table, but let’s be abundantly clear;  It was down to individual brilliance in front of the opposition box and not any tactical nous, that saw he run out 4-2 winners after 90 minutes,

We were understandably in ‘pinch me dreamland’ after going 2-0 up so early in the game, but it was alarming to see how easily we let Sligo get right back into the game.
You oft hear of trams falling asleep, we definitely went into a deep snooze for the rest of the first half.

Up until the point we scored the 3^rd goal, it looked very much like it was going end in a stalemate, like cars meeting each other on a small country road, and neither driver seeking to a way to get past the other.

Much like Liverpool FC have done a few times in the recent past, individual brilliance meant that we managed to goals practically out of nowhere.
Once again the lads traipsed round the pitch like headless donkeys, giving it a lot of huff and puff, but it was akin to an army laying siege to a goal, but the cannonballs keep landing in the moat to the left and right of it’s walls.

4 days from now we take short 2.6km walk to Richmond Road, to take on Shelbourne at Tolka Park.
I was chatting to a work colleague who is a Pat’s fan and he was saying the Reds were very ordinary in Richmond Park last Friday and that Pat’s had plenty of chances to win the match, but frustratingly for him, they didn’t convert.
The Champions are another side who have a number of players with the ability to win a match on their own.
They are also a side who have a fairly mean defence, so it is going to be quite the task for the away side to come away with any sort of a result come 21.45.

We seem to very much be  in “A stopped clock is always right twice” phase, and despite the win don’t see us in anyway properly getting out of our rut anytime soon,.
It's like the person who gets 2 Question right in the cash builder on The Chase, but they were two complete and utter guesses.

So the largely ineffectual managerial setup just about lives to fight another day, but how much more must this farce go on, before common sense prevails?

Honestly I would love to eat my hat (shaped cone full of Ice Cream) in a few weeks as de Boez defied most peoples predictions and racked up a number of back-to-back wins on the trot;
But all things weighed up, Friday could yet be another very false dawn…

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,