Our latest visit to our noisy neighbours on Friday night didnt go as planned, another narrow defeat meant that we have now lost twice in Head in the Game park this season, and while this result is always a bitter pill to swallow, leaving Drogheda on Friday night i didnt feel the usual disapointment after a defeat.
We are still second in the league with a game in hand, if you had told me at the start of the season that in July we would be sitting in second place, I would have laughed at you, especially given the season we had last season.
So lets take a look at were we have come in a year. A reality check if you will.
A Year Ago….
This time last season we were sitting in sixth position after a 1-0 win over Finn Harps in Oriel Park, the aim at this point was to “steady the ship“, avoid relegation and prepare for our european campaign opener against New Town of Wales.
The ship was far from steadied at this point, our league position was fluctuating between 6th and 9th on a regular basis and with rumours of pre-contract negogiations between Patrick Mc Eleney, Michael Duffy and Will Patching with Derry City emerging, the news that Fats had agreed terms and was leaving Oriel Park sent shockwaves through the supporters.
Chris Shields had also anounced this depature from Oriel Park during the July transfer window, the band was being broken up and our owners were letting it happen.
We beat New Town of Wales quite easily over the tie with an aggregate score of 5-0, and we headed into a tie with Levadia Tallinn, it was a close tie but the Lilywhites clinched the win with a Will Patching goal in injury time giving us a 2-1 win over the tie.
We were drawn against Vitesse of Holland in the next round, a seasoned premier league team in the Dutch Eredivisie League, it would be a tough fixture.
A masterclass by Patrick Mc Eleney in the away leg earned us a 2-2 draw, with the home leg in Tallaght stadium, the result didnt go our way, we lost 2-1 but Vitesse knew they had escaped from Tallgaht that night knowing that they were luckly, extremely lucky.
The signs were there of a revival, but things were still not right off the field, it only came to light recently in the new book by Brian Gartland, One Last Shot, that the team were ready to boycott the Vitesse fixture over details with bonuses and other issues with the clubs owners.
We finished the 2021 season in 6th position, narrowly missing out on Europe and with an uncertain future ahead, we didnt even know if we would be in a position to participate in the 2022 season.
Thankfully, in November the club was back under local ownership and the rebuild started.
Expectations.
At the start of the 2022 season the expectation wasnt high among the supporters, after the previous season we had we would be happy to see the team perform for the supporters and do their best, the squad was thrown together in the weeks prior to pre-season and we all knew it would take time to gel.
The talk among the supporters was that if we could get into the european spots then it would be a great season. Its safe to say at this stage that the management team and the squad have blown those expectations out of the water, we are now in second position, 10 points behind Rovers, with a game in hand.
There is talk that we are in a league title challenge and I suppose if we are sitting in second position its hard to say that we arent in one, but we need to remember where we were this time last year.
We cant put too much pressure on the new management team and squad at this stage, as much as people may not want to admit it, we are in a rebuild process and it will take time.
What the stats say.
If we take a look at the stats between last season and our current standing this season, we are well on course to out perform last season, last season we lost 14 games overall, drew 9 and won 13 with an average loss percentage of approx 39%.
Compare that to this season, we have won 11 games out of the 22 played, with only 3 losses, giving us a current loss percentage approx 10% and we currently have least games lost in the league overall.
If we also compare our stats for our table positions, we are currently top of the league form table, second on Home performance with Rovers 2 points ahead and we are 7th position on away performances, this is the area we all agree needs improvement.
We have scored a total of 31 goals this season so far, 23 of them at home with 8 away on the road, thats not a bad return if you compare that to Shamrock Rovers who currently have 37 goals scored with 21 at home and 16 on the road. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but given the comparison in squad sizes and financial resources, its not that bad.
And, if we compare that to our goal scoring record last season, we scored 44 in total, 24 at home and 20 on the road!
Finally, if we also compare our goal scoring stats for this season with our next nearest challenger, Derry City, they have scored 38 goals in total with 19 at home and 19 away, so we are well in the mix with the teams around us.
So, while we are in the league position we find ourselves at the moment, we need to remember that we are currently rebuilding our squad, that will take time, we need to remember that we have a new management team in charge who for the best part are still finding their feet and we also need to remember that we dont have the resources at our disposal that we once had, therefore, we must manage our expectation based on that.
Look, I would love to see us challenge for the league title and put it up to Rovers, 1 million percent, but when it comes down to it at the start of the season we would have all said that if we finished in the european spots it would be a great season. Lets hold on to those expectations and enjoy the journey for the rest of the season.
Strap yourselves in.
C’Mon The Town.
End.