LOI preview: Cork at low ebb as Hoops keep motoring
Unreliability has been a fabric within this year's SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division but perhaps two of the more predictable sides will clash at Tallaght Stadium tonight.
At points this season nearly all of the chasing pack to Shamrock Rovers have put together a period of form to indicate they could be challengers, or at least move into the European positions.
The bottom two sides are the exception and undoubtedly the team sitting in the automatic relegation position have found it hardest in most recent times.
Cork City have recorded just two wins in 19 matches and last week's loss to Bohemians was a real low point in their year.
They make the journey to south Dublin tonight as huge outsiders against a team that are looking like coasting to the title.
With no clean sheet all season, City have been consistent in letting goals in.
The positive is they've scored in 16 of their 19 games so the problem is quite evident.
How they attempt to solve it will ultimately decide their campaign and games such as this one may not prove decisive.
The manner in which they succumbed to Bohs would have had alarm bells ringing for the Rebel Army watching on.
Anything they can take from Tallaght would be a massive bonus.
The Hoops are in juggernaut mode at the most crucial time of the season. With the games coming thick and fast, they have gone 10 without losing ahead of a double-round of matches over three days.
Their lead is nine points and Monday's derby with Bohemians could really turn the title race into a procession.
For now, Stephen Bradley wants his side to improve on a 1-1 draw against City in Turner's Cross.
"I'm nearly sure I played against Ger (Nash) back in the day with Ipswich v Arsenal. I did a few courses with Ger also, he's a very good coach and I'm sure he'll do good things with Cork. You can see little things he's trying to change already, it won't happen overnight, but I'm sure he'll be very good there. I had a few conversations with Ger on those courses, he knows his football and he's clever, so I think he'll be very good at Cork.
"When you have Sean Maguire, Djenairo Daniels and Cathal O'Sullivan, their attacking threat with those three is as good as any in the country. Seán Maguire's movement is very similar to Padraig Amond, very good and very clever, O'Sullivan is a very good young player and Daniels causes real problems so they must be respected and Cork as a team must be also."
Adam Matthews is the only other absentee for the home side.
Bohemians are the next in line to challenge the Hoops, with a match in Waterford their latest challenge.
The Blues were on a winning run of four matches but have hit a minor slump, including a loss in Sligo last week where they struggled to create chances despite dominating the ball.
Alan Reynolds is visiting his hometown club, with eight wins out of 10 games a remarkable turnaround in their season.
One of those two loss came against this weekend's opposition where it was Waterford hanging on for victory.
Reynolds feels he knows what to expect at the RSC: "Waterford are a good side. They had a great record against us last season and they've beaten us already in Dalymount this season, so it's another game where I think we're going into it with something to prove.
"That means we need everyone to be at their very best once more if we want to keep the run we've been on going.
"But as I said last week, we have a really determined group of players who keep pushing each other week in week out to get even better.
"They've had the dark days at the start of the season and they've had the good days on the run we've been on over the past two months, and they are desperate to do everything they can to keep it going and to build on it."
St Patrick's Athletic are at something of a crossroads in their season.
With the European campaign to come, which has given them hope of putting a run together, their league hopes have taken a battering.
Stephen Kenny is trying to inspire a performance ahead of a visit to Galway United.
He said: "We've got to rally around, everyone, the players, the staff, and the supporters to get behind each other and the team. It will be difficult game in Galway, we've got to go down there and try to get a big result. We are capable of getting two results on Friday and Monday and we've got to aspire to do that.
"Now is the time for us to show our strength in adversity. When I was Under-21 manager of St Pat's many many years ago in my first ever coaching job, the slogan around the club crest at the time was Ni Neart Go Cur Le Cheile, meaning "There's No Strength Without Unity" and that is still synonymous with the club now and that's an important thing for us to remember."
Damien Duff and Tiernan Lynch have lots in common as Shelbourne host Derry City in Tolka Park.
Both managers have used the quote "it is us against the world" in their media work in the last four days.
Siege mentalities are one thing, but points on the board have proved elusive for both sides in recent matches.
Shels received a massive lift by defeating Pat's last Monday, with Duff feeling it can be a springboard to move back towards the top four.
He said: "We spoke about that break being a bit of a reset and a chance to draw a line under what's come before. Granted, it started with a poor result against Shamrock Rovers, but the lads are in a good place mentally.
"There's brilliant togetherness in the dressing room, as you'd expect, and more importantly, there's belief. How can you not be excited with the games we have coming up?"
Duff was referencing the Champions League clash with Linfield in July in that thought. Europe is the last thing Drogheda United want to hear about as Sligo Rovers visit Sullivan and Lambe Park.
As the European draws took place this week, hearts broke in Louth after seeing dreams dashed.
The late defeat to Aaron Greene's goal for the league leaders on Monday only added to their woes.
Sligo visit Drogheda tonight looking to stay off the bottom of the table.
Manager John Russell has brought in Seb Quirk from Accrington Stanley this week and more new arrivals are expected.
The Rovers boss is hoping to build on their victory over Waterford: "There's a long way to go this season and we made sure the players' feet were kept on the ground this week. This is going to be a really tough game for us as Drogheda is a really tough place to go.
"They create a brilliant atmosphere up there and you need big players and big voices to get through that. On the back of last week's win, we're really looking forward to this one."
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The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Duff, Kenny and Bradley face different battles with Europe on horizon
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Dan Clohessy / INPHO Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO 'I keep on saying the dirty side but it's a beautiful side, I love it. I feel like we lost that, we went away from that side and just to show that side again I think that was the most pleasing thing,' Barrett said of Shels' ability to put their bodies on the line for the win over Pat's in the second half, after outclassing them in the first. 'Look, nobody said it to me, nobody's pulled it up. I just think it did leave us. And I think that's why obviously results haven't been going our way. We've been conceding sloppy goals, individual mistakes, collectively. That's not us. We grind out results when we need to. Hopefully going forward we can still keep on showing that side when it's needed.' No wonder Duff looked so enthused to have Barrett back in the heart of defence. The European draws over the following two days also brought into focus a new dynamic to the season for three of the most high profile managers in the country: Duff, Bradley, and Stephen Kenny at St Pat's. Even before they drew Linfield in the first round of Champions League qualifying, Duff didn't agree with the assertion that a positive European campaign could energise his players and lead to improved performances domestically. He bristled at such a suggestion and instead chose to put the emphasis on players needing to have the mentality to go and attack every game regardless. Duff already turned down one approach from an English club to discuss their vacant manager's position earlier this season and masterminding the kind of European success that Kenny and Bradley have proven capable of will surely increase the profile of just how impressive a job he has done at Tolka Park. Beating Linfield ensures three ties as a minimum in Europe (due to the champions' path) and would mean the least Shels can look forward to is a play-off to reach the league phase of the Uefa Conference League. That is the kind of forward thinking everyone except managers and players talk about. Duff's stature as a player with Chelsea and others in the Premier League, not to mention 100 caps for the Republic of Ireland, was never something he sought to use a shortcut. He has been earning his stripes since the 6am training sessions with Shamrock Rovers' U15s and there is no doubt that taking Shels into the league phase of European football would bring a different kind of spotlight. Bradley got a sense of that when Millwall came looking for him in the days before Rovers played Chelsea just before last Christmas. They still had the knockout stages of the Conference League to come and a repeat of such an achievement would feel even greater this year given there is no room for error once they start in the second qualifying of the competition against either Cliftonville or St Joseph's of Gibraltar. Other job opportunities have also been passed on by Bradley and he spoke with Off The Ball in a series of interviews recently about ending a video interview with the FAI top brass over the then vacant senior men's manager's job because they were 15 minutes late for the call. That was down to basic respect but also a man who knows his value, and a trust in his ability borne out be achievements that others are aware of it too. He's only just turned 40 and could potentially take charge in a third European group/league with the same club that he has on course for a fifth league title in six seasons. By any metric that is a clear indication of a managerial star on the rise, and masterminding more tactically astute and confident performances in Europe will only serve to reinforce the sense that Bradley is someone whose story has barely begun. So what of the post-Ireland chapter for Kenny? It definitely felt as thought Europe enthused him as he began to adapt to life with St Pat's back in the League of Ireland. Some of the performances and results harked back – somewhat – to the days at Dundalk ahead of their Europa League adventure in 2016. Mason Melia stood out to such a degree that Everton, Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur all firmed up their interest, with the latter eventually agreeing a transfer that could eventually rise to €4 million for a striker who is still only 17. Kenny took St Pat's to the Conference League play-off against Istanbul Basaksehir and, had they not lost 2-0 in Turkey after a goalless firs leg in Dublin, would have been the first Irish club that weren't champions to reach the group/league phase. Pat's are at a low ebb after Monday's defeat and while those two images involving Duff and Barrett stood out there was a third that also told a story as Kenny and his players went on a lap of appreciation around a ground that seemed restless and frustrated. Lithuania's FC Hegelmann are first up and the Saints really could do with a repeat of last year to provide the impetus required for a strong conclusion to this season. 'It definitely helped us because the tempo and level you were playing and you were bringing that into your league form so it definitely was advantageous, but there's no guarantees you're replicating that,' Kenny said on Monday night. 'You've got to earn the right to do that.'
