February 2012

League of Ireland 2012: Season Preview (Part Two)

As SC1 Sports’ season preview continues, one of the most notable factors emerging in light of the coming season is that the majority of teams will attempt to play attractive football. At this stage it is worth noting the considerable advantage enjoyed by League of Ireland clubs in playing Summer football, as given the likely state of the pitches in the winter months, the quality of the subsequent product would suffer enormously. View Part One Monaghan United Roddy Collins’ men achieved promotion to the Premier Division via the play-offs in 2011, outclassing the abysmal Galway United over two legs. Having knocked on the Premier Division door over the past number of seasons … Continue reading →

League of Ireland 2012: Season Preview (Part One)

The 2012 League of Ireland begins on Friday 2nd March and this season promises to be the most competitive and memorable one for a long time. Whilst Shamrock Rovers have emerged as clear favourites to win the title, the return of Cork City and Shelbourne should lead to an increased sense of competitiveness among league clubs. Meanwhile, several teams, particularly Bohemians and Dundalk will begin the 2012 season with an almost entirely transformed squad. A noticeable trend of the league in 2011 was that it continued to be a production line for the English Premier League, English Championship and SPL. Whilst the league was sorry to see the back of players like … Continue reading →

Five For Dinner

The ultimate sporting dinner table. Any five you like, past and present, dead or alive. Who would offer the most to you throughout the course of a meal? Conan 1. MARTIN O’NEILL To have O’Neill around to dinner and have the opportunity to pick his brain about not only working under Brian Clough, but also the feeling of winning the European Championship and sitting on the bench for Forrest’s first triumph, would be as insightful as any footballer could ever offer. And, to allow his genius to flourish whilst talking that excellent game that he talks, would be a true privilege. Taking advice from one of the best man-managers of our generation … Continue reading →

St. Patrick’s Athletic v Cliftonville: A Look at Two Full-Backs

Cliftonville came out on top in Monday night’s televised Setanta Sports Cup fixture with a 1-0 away victory against a ten-man St. Patrick’s Athletic to give the Reds a 2-0 aggregate victory. Having led 1-0 from the first leg consolidation was all that Cliftonville sought, so Tommy Breslin’s men will have been especially happy having come away with yet another victory over their League of Ireland counterparts. St. Pat’s dominated the first half and had several opportunities to take the lead.  John Russell came particularly close on 17 minutes, striking the post with a fantastic effort from the edge of the box. Christy Fagan also had a very impressive game for St.Pat’s … Continue reading →

Chelsea’s Non-Existent Midfield

In the first half of Chelsea’s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Napoli, their midfield trio of Ramires, Meireles, and Malouda had completed a tame total of 33 passes between them – 33 passes in 45 minutes. The last analysis of an English team that I did involved Paul Scholes stringing together over 70 passes in the same time-frame throughout United’s FA Cup exit at Anfield. And it wasn’t as if Ramires and Meireles were being used to simply grind out an away result because, if anything, they were more of a hindrance to Chelsea in both defence and attack through their loose play in every aspect. Meireles often looked to make something … Continue reading →

Derry City v Lisburn Distillery: A Closer Look at Ruaidhri Higgins

In Monday night’s Setanta Cup preliminary round second leg, once again Derry City proved too much for Lisburn Distillery as they ran out 3-0 winners on the night and 7-0 winners on aggregate. Derry lined out in a 4-4-2 formation. It was accompanied with dynamism and a quick tempo, which were central to their display. The first goal of the night came from a low drive by the brilliant Patrick McEleney who terrorised Distillery all night with his skill and persistence. The score was 1-0 at half-time, but it should have been a lot more. In the second half, Derry were more clinical and Stephen McLaughlin doubled Derry’s lead with a ferocious … Continue reading →

Defending Andy Carroll (Finally)

Yes, this post is written by a Liverpool fan. Yes, sometimes I can be slightly biased (although I would like to think I can be fair most of the time). And yes, I am actually about to praise Andy Carroll and defend him. Ok, firstly I want to try and be honest and fair about Andy Carroll’s Liverpool career to date. It started with insanely huge pressure. It was a massive transfer fee for a player who was in decent form, taking the famous no.9 jersey of Liverpool, replacing the club’s once golden kid, Fernando Torres. Big things were expected. For half a season of some promise, of course 35 million was … Continue reading →

James McClean, GAA, Setanta Cup, and Race For Fourth

From the poor promotion of the Setanta Cup to Mick McCarthy’s successor. From Trapattoni’s omission of McClean to whether Liverpool can really push for 4th. We get our teeth into a host of hot topics this week and are joined by a very special guest. Setanta Cup, GAA and James McClean

Donegal’s Problems

Are they using posts in Ballybofey? When I heard that Donegal had been toppled once again on Sunday, I assumed that Laois had also found a way around what was once an unbeatable system. Having now fallen to 6 consecutive defeats on the competitive intercounty calendar, I believed that my analysis of the Derry game in January was on the money and that Donegal had well and truly been worked out. Maybe the players have lost a bit of hunger, maybe they aren’t as fit as they were, maybe McGuinness’ set up needs some form of refresher. But, after closer inspection of Tír Chonail’s second National League game, it became clear that … Continue reading →

Bohemians v Portadown: Daniel Joyce v Neil McCafferty

Bohemians recorded a hard-fought 2-1 victory at home to Portadown in the 1st leg of the Setanta Cup Preliminary Round tie between the sides. Bohemians, who under new manager Aaron Callaghan have a new-look squad comprising largely of young, inexperienced talent faced a tough challenge against a robust Portadown, who currently lie in second place in the Irish League. Bohemians lined out in a 4-2-3-1 and it was clear from the first whistle that Aaron Callaghan’s men would attempt to play a technical, passing game. This style is to be commended and it should see Callaghan’s men develop into a good footballing side as the season progresses. Portadown adopted their regular 4-4-2 … Continue reading →