Mahon rallying call for large Euro support
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‘Great European Nights’ are often recalled fondly by fans- and inevitably, there always seems to be a few more who say they were at a match than there were fans actually at the match.
But Pete Mahon wants a big crowd tomorrow night in Richmond Park- the Pats manager has called on all Pats fans, and all football fans in Dublin, to get down to Inchicore tomorrow night for the match against IBV. “I’m hoping that there’ll be a big crowd here, all the Pats fans who haven’t been here in a while will come back again and give the team a bit of support.”
Pats are 1-0 down from the away leg in the southern Icelandic town on Vestmannaeyjar and Pete Mahon is clear about the game plan for the home leg. “If we get to half time and it’s 0-0 I wouldn’t be too disappointed, but then in the second half we’ll have to go for it. It’s no use losing 1-0 or drawing 1-1-we’re out. So we’ll have to go for it and we will go for it.... We’ll be a bit cautious at the start of the game because the last thing we want is to go a goal down.”
The tactical approach for Pats is also clear-cut in Mahon’s eyes. “It’ll be 4-5-1 at times and 4-3-3 when we’re attacking,” Mahon said, “so we’ll do a bit of work on that again tonight and hopefully get it right for Thursday.”
One of the areas in which Pats will be looking to assert their superiority over IBV In is stamina- given that the Icelandic side are only eight matches into their domestic season. “Definitely, we finished very strong [in the away leg] and they were on their hands and knees at the end” he said. “We have a training regime here which has stood to me down the years- any of my teams are always fit and I think they’re organised.”
But what can Pats fans expect to see from the opposition on Thursday evening? According to Mahon IBV are “a very good technical team, [with] great rotation in midfield and up front. They’ve some very good players” he adds. “They’ve got a fixture of Icelandic, Swedish and English with a fella from the Ukraine- a very good player. They have Ugandans- a bloke in midfield who’s a very good player. They’re a good team and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”
Photo taken by Darragh Connolly
Asked to measure IBV against the teams he’s used to facing in the Airtricity League, Mahon says that there isn’t “much difference.”
“I’d say the top teams over there are similar to the top teams here” he continued. “The likes of Sligo and Derry would play a similar style of football to them. They’ve the same type of players in midfield- if you look at Sligo there’s Ndo, Richie Ryan, Alan Kirby. They have a similar type of player- bigger and more physical very good technically. They’re obviously well coached too- they slot into positions and pull you all over the place.”
Mahon freely admits that he would like to have a bit more depth to his squad now that they are competing across so many different fronts. “We’re lacking a bit of quality which I’d like to have in one or two positions,” Mahon said, “because we’ve been flogging the same players week in week out. I’d love to be able to bring new players in during the transfer window but I can’t really see that happening.”
The domestic form showed by Pats this season has impressed many observers, so where does European progress go in the list of priorities for Mahon? “I want Pats to stay in the competition for as long as possible” he stated. “You go into sport to win every game, sometimes you come out winning and sometimes you come out losing. That’s what makes sport the great spectacle it is.”
“I want to stay in this as long as possible,” he reiterated, “and let the league look after itself. I think realistically that it would be hard for us to win the league this year. I know we were on top there for a week, but I looked at Rovers there last week and I looked at their bench and said to myself that to be on top of the league we’ve done really well. We have to be realistic- I know the fans expect this and that- but I’m looking at the big picture here and I know what’s going on. I think we’re just a couple of players short of a title-winning team.”
Back to the issue of attendances, and Mahon says that he has been a bit underwhelmed so far this season. “Yeah I’m disappointed with the attendances overall” the Pats manager says. “Even Rovers haven’t filled Tallaght. There was a great crowd there on Sunday and it would be great to see that kind of crowd there every game, every week... I’ve gone to League of Ireland games this year and you wouldn’t even know there’s a game on- the place is dead.”
But Pete Mahon wants a big crowd tomorrow night in Richmond Park- the Pats manager has called on all Pats fans, and all football fans in Dublin, to get down to Inchicore tomorrow night for the match against IBV. “I’m hoping that there’ll be a big crowd here, all the Pats fans who haven’t been here in a while will come back again and give the team a bit of support.”
Pats are 1-0 down from the away leg in the southern Icelandic town on Vestmannaeyjar and Pete Mahon is clear about the game plan for the home leg. “If we get to half time and it’s 0-0 I wouldn’t be too disappointed, but then in the second half we’ll have to go for it. It’s no use losing 1-0 or drawing 1-1-we’re out. So we’ll have to go for it and we will go for it.... We’ll be a bit cautious at the start of the game because the last thing we want is to go a goal down.”
The tactical approach for Pats is also clear-cut in Mahon’s eyes. “It’ll be 4-5-1 at times and 4-3-3 when we’re attacking,” Mahon said, “so we’ll do a bit of work on that again tonight and hopefully get it right for Thursday.”
One of the areas in which Pats will be looking to assert their superiority over IBV In is stamina- given that the Icelandic side are only eight matches into their domestic season. “Definitely, we finished very strong [in the away leg] and they were on their hands and knees at the end” he said. “We have a training regime here which has stood to me down the years- any of my teams are always fit and I think they’re organised.”
But what can Pats fans expect to see from the opposition on Thursday evening? According to Mahon IBV are “a very good technical team, [with] great rotation in midfield and up front. They’ve some very good players” he adds. “They’ve got a fixture of Icelandic, Swedish and English with a fella from the Ukraine- a very good player. They have Ugandans- a bloke in midfield who’s a very good player. They’re a good team and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”
Photo taken by Darragh Connolly
Asked to measure IBV against the teams he’s used to facing in the Airtricity League, Mahon says that there isn’t “much difference.”
“I’d say the top teams over there are similar to the top teams here” he continued. “The likes of Sligo and Derry would play a similar style of football to them. They’ve the same type of players in midfield- if you look at Sligo there’s Ndo, Richie Ryan, Alan Kirby. They have a similar type of player- bigger and more physical very good technically. They’re obviously well coached too- they slot into positions and pull you all over the place.”
Mahon freely admits that he would like to have a bit more depth to his squad now that they are competing across so many different fronts. “We’re lacking a bit of quality which I’d like to have in one or two positions,” Mahon said, “because we’ve been flogging the same players week in week out. I’d love to be able to bring new players in during the transfer window but I can’t really see that happening.”
The domestic form showed by Pats this season has impressed many observers, so where does European progress go in the list of priorities for Mahon? “I want Pats to stay in the competition for as long as possible” he stated. “You go into sport to win every game, sometimes you come out winning and sometimes you come out losing. That’s what makes sport the great spectacle it is.”
“I want to stay in this as long as possible,” he reiterated, “and let the league look after itself. I think realistically that it would be hard for us to win the league this year. I know we were on top there for a week, but I looked at Rovers there last week and I looked at their bench and said to myself that to be on top of the league we’ve done really well. We have to be realistic- I know the fans expect this and that- but I’m looking at the big picture here and I know what’s going on. I think we’re just a couple of players short of a title-winning team.”
Back to the issue of attendances, and Mahon says that he has been a bit underwhelmed so far this season. “Yeah I’m disappointed with the attendances overall” the Pats manager says. “Even Rovers haven’t filled Tallaght. There was a great crowd there on Sunday and it would be great to see that kind of crowd there every game, every week... I’ve gone to League of Ireland games this year and you wouldn’t even know there’s a game on- the place is dead.”
About Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell is our correspondent at Tolka Park, covering the goings-on at Shelbourne. You can visit Niall's website for further information and contact details- niallf.net. View Full Profile