Reflections on reaching the Setanta Cup Final

 

Like so many Derry City fans last night, I was delighted that Decky Devine's men had secured their place in the Setanta Cup final at the expense of Shamrock Rovers. They now face an interesting tie at Windsor Park with Irish Premiership outfit Crusaders, who disposed of Sligo Rovers in a thrilling encounter, on Saturday May 12th. However, despite the elation of reaching the final of the Setanta Cup for the first time, it was also pointed out that, on the night, City lost 0-2 at home, making that two successive home defeats and four defeats overall in all competitions.

Granted, four defeats in 15 competitive games is not a despicable record, by any means - Derry have impressively won eight of their games and drawn three. The real concern for Candystripe fans however, is that three of those four defeats have come in the league, meaning that Derry are already chasing the pack. The Foylesiders currently sit in sixth place in the league, with 11 points from eight games, trailing league leaders Sligo Rovers by nine points.


But before the anxiety really sets in, it is vitally important for the fans to consider that the season is still in its early stages. In that context, reaching a cup final, disposing of Irish giants such as Linfield and Shamrock Rovers on the way, is a marvellous achievement. It is all the more remarkable when you take into account that Declan Devine is, after all, still in the process of finding his feet as a manager and that he has been grappling admirably with the problems associated with having a thin squad; injuries are mounting up, with several key players such as Stewart Greacen, Shane McEleney, Rory Patterson ruled out and others playing, as Devine says, "through the pain barrier".

Dealing with such a small squad is not ideal for a club of Derry's stature, a club that hopes to challenge for honours, but one thing that it seems to have fostered is a great sense of team spirit. Almost in spite of the injury set-backs and some surprise defeats, the squad is, nevertheless, demonstrating a bit of character. That said, character doesn't always win trophies and Devine will have to ensure that his team maintains their focus as they head into another crunch fixture with Shamrock Rovers this Friday at Tallaght.

All things considered, if Declan Devine can bring the Setanta Cup to the Brandywell and consolidate a respectable league position in his debut season, perhaps even sneaking a European spot, then the fans, and the board, should be reasonably content. The framework for long-term success is in place and Devine believes that Derry are capable of beating anybody. My only hope is that the squad shares his confidence.

Silly Soccer: the importance of focus in football

 Rooney and Giggs argue with official

Soon after Sylvain Distin's terrible back-pass error which gifted Luis Suárez a goal in the 2012 FA Cup Semi Final, Séamus Coleman entered the fray, having been intensely briefed by David Moyes as to his role on the right wing. Presumably, Moyes must have felt that an injection of the Irishman's boundless energy would have lifted his team's lethargic performance and carried them to an historic victory, but unfortunately it was to be an atrocious display by the Donegal man, and one which demonstrates exactly why a player must always stay focused during every minute of every game – not least one as high-profile as a cup semi-final.

Coleman was not long on the pitch before he was shown a yellow card for a piece of utterly frantic defending outside the Everton box,which saw the 23 year old desperately attempt to grab the ball. Then, with just four minutes remaining, he committed a foul on Steven Gerrard near the corner of the pitch and should really have been given an early bath for his troubles. More importantly, however, Andy Carroll scored from the resultant free-kick and Everton's hopes of an FA Cup final appearance were cruelly extinguished.

Everton's captain Phil Neville took to Twitter to express his feeling of devastation at the result, saying that no individual can take the blame for the result, but it was, in fact, a game which hinged upon individual errors, something which was readily admitted by both Distin and Coleman, once again via the medium of Twitter, after the game.

In Ireland the evening before the semi-final, Derry City played Sligo Rovers in the Sligo Showgrounds and a number of Derry's players similarly exhibited an alarming lack of focus. Midway through the second half, with the score precariously at 1-1, Derry's 19 year old prodigy Patrick McEleney gave away what can only be described as a lazy foul in the Derry half. As Sligo prepared the free-kick, instead of concentrating on defending, McEleney was much more concerned with berating the referee for his decision. As the young attacker was giving the referee an earful, Sligo took the free-kick quickly, passing the ball straight past McEleney, who with his back turned to the ball, was not paying attention.

Luckily it did not cost the Candystripes the game. Nevertheless, it could have, and manager Declan Devine will probably have had some stern words with the City players in the dressing room after the game.

Football really is a mind game; get your head in the game.

Sligo Rovers 1-1 Derry City: Some post-match thoughts

I came away from Derry's game away to Sligo feeling like the Candystripes could have nicked a victory, but a draw at the Showgrounds is nothing to be sniffed at. As it stands, with seven games played, Derry sit in sixth position, six points behind Sligo and five behind Shamrock Rovers and with a series of difficult games to come over the next fortnight, Declan Devine will have to work hard to ensure that the team remains focused.

Indeed, focus was severely lacking in some of the players' performance this evening and were it not the tireless work ethic of the likes of Barry Molloy, Eddie McCallion and David McDaid, Derry could well have capitulated to a strong Sligo outfit.

On the left wing, young Stephen McLaughlin, who has recently become the object of interest from a few British clubs, and new signing Dermot McCaffrey struggled to keep tabs on Sligo's Alan Keane, whose ceaseless marauding runs from the right back spot caused the Derry defence a multitude of problems. It should really have been nipped in the bud in the second half, but Keane continued to threaten due to a seeming lethargy in the tracking back of McLaughlin. Thankfully McDaid dropped deep to take the pressure off the midfield, but it should not come to one player doing the work of two.

The skilful Patrick McEleney showed flashes of brilliance tonight, playing some deft passes and even cracking the under side of the cross bar with a shot from 20 yards out, but overall his contribution was minimal. He too lacked focus, as was demonstrated in the second half when, instead of running a Sligo player to the line, he lazily impeded his man, conceding a free kick in the Derry half. Seconds later, as McEleney was more concerned with moaning to the referee about his decision (I never could understand that; get your head in the game!), he allowed Sligo a free run into the Derry box only to be let off by Sligo's poor finishing. McEleney was soon substituted and it would not surprise me if it emerged that he was taken off as punishment for such complacency.

Kevin Deery had somewhat of an “off” night – he almost seemed uninterested in the first half - which is never something you want to see from your captain, but he improved as the game wore on, taking the lead in the midfield shut down with Barry Molloy. Strangely, Devine introduced the normally prolific Rory Patterson after the 70 minute mark and subbed him just before the final whistle due to an aggravated injury that the Northern Ireland international is carrying. 

Granted, Derry are down to the proverbial bare bones due to a spate of injuries to key players, but we need Patterson to be fit - he is no good to the team if he is playing games half-fit. Ideally, he should be rested for the Setanta Cup game away to Shamrock Rovers in three days time and hopefully he will be fit come the second leg at the Brandywell. In the meantime, David McDaid showed that he has the requisite credentials to cover this evening by slotting in a penalty and running himself into the ground for the team.

Respect cultural diversity? You're having a laugh!

On Wednesday the 11th of April, UTV reported that a proposal to fly the Irish tricolour alongside the British flag at Stormont would be discussed as part of a debate on "good relations". 14 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement - a document that is driven by the desire for "good relations" - and we're still not quite sure what "good relations" means. Well, at least some of us.

Or perhaps there are those who know what "good relations" actually means, but choose to ignore the idea. A disingenuous politician? I hear you cry, No way! Yes way.

Unsurprisingly, DUP politician and Orange Order member Peter Weir has been vocal in his opposition to the proposition, remarkably suggesting that merely flying the national flag of the Irish nationalist community alongside (not instead of, you note) the national flag of the the Irish unionist community will turn Stormont into a "cold house for unionists". Which surely raises the question, does flying only the union flag turn Stormont into a cold house for nationalists? Answers on a post-card, please.

Adopting the Irish tricolour is more likely to cause harm than to build bridges, says Weir, who was also at pains to dismiss the significance of the proposition by saying that, "[a]t the Assembly, basically anyone can put forward any proposition on any subject...". You must remember that issues such as respect for identity and "good relations" are trivial, after all.
 
Commenting on the issue, Sinn Féin's terrier-like Barry McElduff said that the proposition was ultimately in the interests of promoting equality, of acknowledging and respecting the diversity of cultural identity that exists in the north. The wee Tyrone man stressed that he was not interested in "bulldozing" or omitting the symbols and artifacts of unionism, such as the totemic statue of Edward Carson which stands before Stormont building. Sounds fair enough.

However, at the root of Weir's objection lies a deeply engrained intolerance. For the likes of Weir, Ulster is British and remnants of the ugly old attitude of "an Orange state for an Orange people" seem to bubble to the surface. For Weir's constituency, this proposition only signifies a further sop to Irish nationalists and a dilution of the Britishness of the north. Nationalists are told to forget "good relations", and to sit down, stay quiet and swallow some British symbolism.


 

Rebuilding "the nation"

Just under a century on from the Easter Rising in Ireland, revisionism rears its head much more profoundly than ever as we saw politicians from all parties latch on to the momentous event, commemorating the men who fought and died so that Ireland might be freed from British rule, or in other words, vaunting dissident physical-force republicans. As Jude Collins recently wrote in his blog, "It's all different now, of course".

In Galway, Éamon Ó Cuív spoke of rebuilding the "nation", summoning the "courage, foresight, optimism and belief in the ability of the Irish people" that was supposedly held by the "1916 generation".

It will come as no surprise, however, that Mr Ó Cuív was not really talking about rebuilding the Irish nation. What he appeared to be talking about was rebuilding the failed 26 county republic.

What appears to be missing from most of the rhetoric surrounding the tribute to the fallen rebels of 1916 is what they were actually campaigning and fighting for: the freedom of Ireland and its people to govern their own affairs.

Perhaps, instead of using the occasion to utter soundbites and display pseudo-patriotism, these politicians should advocate some education as to what was enshrined in the Proclamation.

The 1916 dissidents said:

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people.

A failed republic later, perhaps it is time for another proclamation?