Greatest League in the World 2025 [LOI Thread]

Drogs have not ruled out the possibility of catching bohs yet lads! If we beat rovers on Friday we'll only be 1 point behind bohs, and they'll then have a tricky trip to sligo on Saturday… who knows...

You’re just trying to kill our buzz now. 😄

On the run in, I think Rovers have the best chance of winning their three games. Pats could certainly do the same, but that would be nine wins on the bounce, which just seems unlikely. I think Shels are due at least one win, and I’d fancy them to beat Waterford on Friday. Looks like it will go to the last day anyway, with maybe as many as four teams still in it. Would make for a terrific (and nervy) final day.

It's highly highly unlikely.

Your goal difference is worth a point. We'll need to take at least five points from matches against Dundalk, Rovers and Shels and for you to take nothing from three games.

It simply won't happen.

9 wins in a row seems very unlikely before the run starts. It doesn’t seem as unlikely when you’re two thirds of the way through and you’ve just won three away Dublin derbies.

That table looks crazy, with the form lines in there

I'd see Pat's knocking Derry out of it for sure. Then it's up to Drogheda to cause an upset v Shels and Rover's.

Derry were awful Monday night. That pitch looked like it was in a township in Africa.

They've one win in 10.....I'd be flabbergasted if Shels take 6 points from their last 3 games.

Do you think Duff will hang around if you don't win the league? Hard to come back from being top pretty much all season and then losing it in the last few games.

Fair [points. You'll have Europe anyway, and with Europe more importantly comes money, which you'll need if you want to continue to challenge for titles. Rovers and Pat's have plenty of it so imperative you bring in some new faces during the winter.

On a sidenote, you guys have a massive catchment area for young talent. You'd hope that Shels have plenty of scouts out at LSL, u17's,18s and 19's games

At the start of the season, the stated aim was to achieve Europe on our own steam and not rely on a cup final result to qualify from 4th, I think that's doable even now, and if that is done, then Duff stays.

I think he deserves another crack at Europe personally, as I think the results we got this season were in or around what you'd expect them to be, win at home draw away vs the shíte stella maris, and then a draw at home and a loss away to the Swiss team.

On paper they were a set of results that Duff can stand over and say yeah, job completed as expected. Next summer, depending on the draw of course, the expectation might be 2 wins in the first round, but that's only if the opponents are of similar standing, and whether or not a win is needed in the away leg of course, should the home leg be first and a comfortable win for example, then a draw away is acceptable. After that, again draw depending, we judge the results on their merits.

As for this season, calling what is happening to Shels a "collapse" is bizarre to me - sure the first round of games was unbeaten, but that was a mad anomaly imo and I don't think anyone expected it to last, in the second round of games just before the summer it was more of an equilibrium and results normalised, but then we had our bad patch and other teams had their good patch. I don't think there was a major performance fall off from the team, but we did lose Molloy and Jarvis, two of the best players in the league, and no matter what Duff tries to do, that sort of talent is in reality irreplaceable in the short term. Those players gave us the marginal gains vs other teams that we just don't have anymore, and I don't think anyone can seriously blame Duff for that - we got lucky with Molloy and Jarvis (and in truth Moylan who's goals have never been replaced), but unless you've a budget like Rovers, Pats or Derry you aren't keeping players like that for any length of time and you need to be constantly be in a rebuild. That means up and down results. How can it not.

I don't think anyone is writing off Shels.

I think people are to an extent in a way.

Nobody is saying that it is anything resembling a mathematical impossibility, but you don’t have to look too far up in this thread to see someone say they’d be flabbergasted to see us take even 6 points from the last 3.

And I don’t think they’re alone on an island with that viewpoint.

Well by that token, derry are a write off too. The form of the top 2 is shocking, and apparently noone can see either of them now winning a few consecutive games.

So it's Rovers title to lose then. Get the house on them, they were still 2/1 in the bookies the other day.

Looks like the bookies caught themselves on. I definitely seen Rovers were 2/1 this week. Think it was Sunday or Monday.

Must have been a pile on of money.

I think the bookies have the order of it about right, which isn’t a big shock.