We begin where we left off. A visit to UCD resulted in an appalling 2-0 defeat. At this point, I’m looking at a D rating and insecure job status. The next match – Shamrock Rovers at home. Top of the table and reigning champions are coming to town and honestly, we’ve nothing to lose.
I have gone balls to the wall with a gegenpress 4-2-4 positive tactic. And much to my surprise and probably anyone else’s too, we looked miles better! Ryan “The Red” Flood scored an incredible David Beckham style free kick (except he’s left footed) from about 26 yards to take the lead and while the lead was lost within a minute, we went in at half time looking in a much better position that we have all season.
In the second half, Flood almost did it again but hit the crossbar and the game finished 1-1. It’s still not the win we are desperate for but with an xG rating of 0.79 to 0.78 in our favour, it shows that if we give it a go then we can compete. It was a feel good result that will hopefully improve the morale and help create the “positive dressing room atmosphere” I am being judged upon.
A crack in the clouds reveals blue sky! I don’t know about you but the international break is just what I needed. The trip to Kaunas was a resounding success. Now, granted Lithuania are no major scalp, but we trounced them 6-0 on their own patch so it is something to be proud of. Goals came from Kevin Zefi of Inter Milan, Sean Roughan of Lincoln City and a brace each from Darragh Burns of MK Dons and my new favourite name again – Armstrong Oko-Flex of Zürich.
Now we wait for the European Championships to happen, the transfer window to open and to see if we can strengthen the Finn Harps squad ahead of the second half of the season.
Back down to Earth now. The transfer window is open and we’re in for left winger Jason McClelland from St Pat’s. He’s on the transfer list for €180k and we’ve had a bid accepted for €75k up front with a further €90k in two 6 monthly instalments. A- rating, 3.5 stars. Our 4-star left winger Ronan Manning is on loan from Galway United and not doing very well. I’ll keep him on but he might have to get used to the bench for the time being. That superb free kick against Shamrock, by the way, earned Ryan Flood the goal of the month award: from villain to hero after his red card shenanigans earlier in in the season.
First match back was at home vs fellow strugglers Cork City. This was one we really could have done with winning to keep in touch with them and Cobh. Sadly, we lost 1-0 and Cobh won too. Things are looking bleak on the table. However, we were actually the better side in this match. We had 60% possession and the higher xG. Sadly, we couldn’t hit a barn door throughout the whole game. We desperately need a goal scorer.
On that front, I have taken a Lebanese guy called Omar Bugiel on trial. This fella, by Irish footballing standards, is incredible. He’s 30 years old, 4.5 stars and is in the Lebanon national side. I could probably get in the Lebanon national side myself but that’s not the point; I’m going to make him an offer because we are seriously dry on the goals.
Next up was another home game, this time against Sligo Rovers – our “local” rivals, remember. It was another closely fought game ended in defeat though. We lost 1-2 and all the goals were in the first 13 minutes. Ours was from fringe striker Stephen Doherty who I gave a chance to and it somewhat paid off, for him at least. Jason McClelland signed in time for that game. A 6.3 rating didn’t blow me away but “debuts are never easy and I felt he coped well with the expectations”.
Our Lebanese friend has joined us, he’s being paid a fairly hefty sum if I’m being honest. He and McClelland have wiped out our transfer budget but we are still on track with the wages so the board are happy. Apparently our chairman is elected. How very democratic! The same guy got in again, I think he was the only candidate…how very Russian! Anyway, he didn’t fire me so all is well…for now.
I hope you’re sitting down for this next paragraph…we won!! Our next match was away to Shelbourne. Having clocked up 12 matches without a win, this had all the feels of a Shelbourne Ultimatum, but what transpired was more of a Shelbourne Supremacy. 138 fellow Harpists (if that can be the nickname of our fans please) made the three hour journey to Dublin to watch Tony McNamee fire us to a hard fought 1-0 victory. We had a token red card in the second half to make things doubly hard. Cheers Gordon Walker… But we hung on and that is all that matters.
For those wondering about the European Championship, by the way, France beat Belgium 2-1 in the final. The tournament was still going on while our season was. We only actually broke for the duration of the group stage.
Next up in our season is the Senior Challenge Cup. We have landed an away tie at Ringmahon Rangers, who after some investigations I have found are from Cork and play in the Munster Premier Division. It has banana skin written all over it doesn’t it?!
Another lad on trial, Argentinian central midfielder called Lucas Antonicelli. Previously been at Boca Juniors, most recently been in Spanish lower leagues. Solid 4 stars but can’t speak a word of English. Or Gaelic for that matter. Definitely an improvement on what we have but see how he gets on in the reserves for a game. We still have approximately €8k spare in the wage budget so a deal may be possible.
I rested a couple of players for this cup game but not gone mad, we want to do well and get the morale up with a big win. Obviously, we went 2-0 down early doors. Jason McClelland scored a good free kick to get us back in the game, and soon after half time we equalised with a header from Alex Cetiner. We scored the winner on 86 minutes with a header from Patrick Ferry who came on as a substitute. It was no less than we deserved over the course of the game as we absolutely battered them even though the scoreline suggests a closer game. We finished with 72% possession, 21 shots (11 on target) to their 4 (2) shots and the xG at 2.54 to 0.65 in our favour. The highlight was a young winger I played called Sean O’Donnell getting two assists and a 9.3 rating. Lots of praise for him in the dressing room and afterwards personally. Give that lad a slap on the back!
That’s back to back wins, we’ll all be getting nosebleeds soon! So we’ll save there and finish on a high. While we are on the good news train, defending champions Shamrock Rovers got knocked out of the cup at home on penalties to amateur side Crumlin United from the Leinster Premier Division – happy days. Not so lucky shamrock after all. In the second round, we drew Longford of the first division at home. Bring it on!
Heart of Football 
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