tolka

The gods have spoken, it's time for a bald Hibs boss.

What makes you say this? Has he struggled with injuries? Hadn't heard that at all.

What's the script with you lot playing in Dublin in a couple of weeks? I heard it was due to an issue with the money men in the original host venue (Singapore maybe?) Seems odd.

I was very happy to see Rossi go to Motherwell as it seemed like a great fit for him off the park, which is what matters most. He's not someone that I'd like to see hopping around too much. Having said that, physically he is what he is and there's no point in a manager having him if he doesn't have a role for him.

Is Jamie Watson any use lads? Is he usually a right back?

To be fair to him he tried his heart out at Harps. It didn't help much, but he certainly worked.

Ah my mistake! It is allowed over here in the LoI without real issue but is only used by the non-league teams with smaller grounds, in part because some of the better (Dublin) Junior & Intermediate teams play in council parks.

Finn Harps signing this boy with the idea of him being suitable to play in the LoI Premier was absolute madness. Never a surer sign that a hard relegation was on the cards.

Isn't reversing cup fixtures an actually semi-common occurence?

I didn't see the reported move for Dan Casey coming. There was no word of it here, everyone was sure he was for the MLS.

Aside from other physical issues, Markievicz Park has fewer seats than the Showgrounds and it would be fewer again once you needed to segeregate its sole stand. If you count Donegal as out west there are several 'soccer' towns there where Gaelic has yet (even post 92) to make a serious impact, from spots like Buncrana and Ramelton to even Arranmore. Of course the BBC was also accesible there! Sligo for all of its credentials as a 'soccer' town had a serious issue with producing senior players or decent school / junior teams for decades before the recent brilliant work with their academy started paying fruit (not that this is at all limited to players from the town). The areas below Sligo are very Gaelic orientated. Sligo's captain, Greg Bolger, was supposed to sign for Motherwell when he was at St Pats but the clubs weren't able to agree a fee. He's had a very good career in the LoI but to be honest he is showing his age a little this season and it is arguably part of the issue with this Rovers team. The two up front are useful on their day - Mata is hit and miss but quite skilful and Keena has totally revived his career over the past couple of months and seems much happier. Other than that they're quite average with an exceptional keeper.

Sligo are a poor enough team in poor enough form. Anyone watching tonight will have noticed that they have an excellent keeper in McGinty though I expect him to leave soon and Luke McNicholas to take over. They seem to have spells where they just get overrun. A lot of people online seem to be quite annoyed with the ticket allocation but I'm not sure how many tickets they were expecting. It's a decent town with some nice areas close by though and those who get tickets in the raffle will enjoy their trip. Two fan owned clubs too!

Your line on this is absolutely correct by the way.

This a big expense for clubs that have a hundred better things that they could be spending the money on. It won't improve the lives of supporters, staff or those in the community.

I can't imagine being a teammate and watching the two frees and the other shot he ballooned over.

Not the greatest of games. The coverage was decent and the commentator seems like he likes his work but he was handed a sore task tonight. Hibs look a lot more solid lately, which is great and I'd say he has a plan for the next stage but there might be a bit of shopping to do before the goals roll in.

A list of shows I love and one I haven't watched, which is the ideal list tbh. Cheers.

Can't think of a better club for Tierney to go to. Lots of community focus and projects in both clubs, quite a similar ethos. Very confident that he's in the right place and that he'll do very well. Caught the two games this week and I think he'll slot in nicely on the pitch too.

Russell was a good player for Harps, especially at LB / LWB. He had a few strong performances against some of the better teams in the division.

I quite like that Hearts kit tbh. It doesn't have much in common with the 90s kit but that's the type of meaingless advertising copy they often throw at these launches.

Brilliant for yous. Enjoy it.

Thought the standard was quite high overall. Lots of good work done on the technical side and I quite enjoyed some of the presentation / commentary / analysis contributions too. If anything it was some the very slick 'professional' heads that I found a little irritating.

That was incredible.

It's a long time ago and probably not reflective at all of where he's at nowadays but winning half your games with Rovers is quite poor tbh.

That would be a lovely trip and as long as you get the weather then I'm sure that you'd get great enjoyment from it.