A Season in Review - Bohemians

League: 7th

FAI Cup: Quarter Finalists

EA Sports Cup: Second Round

Player of the season: Evan McMillan

Young player of the season: Kevin Feely

Top scorer:  Evan McMillan (8)

Goal of the season:  Evan McMillan v. Cork City, Dalymount Park.

Highlight of the season

Without doubt the highlight of the Gypsies season was the 4-0 smashing of arch rivals Shamrock Rovers in late June.

Lowlight of the season

Possibly their European exit to Icelandic second division side Thor Akureyri , and an embarrassing 5-1 reversal when the sides met in Iceland, after an encouraging 0-0 draw in Dalymount.

Summary of the campaign

It was the Gypsies first season without long term manager Pat Fenlon, who had been in charge since 2008. “Nutsy” helped Bohs to two league titles, one FAI Cup and a Setanta Cup, before departing for Hibernian in December 2011.

The position as manager was filled by ex St Pat’s coach Aaron Callaghan. Callaghan quickly began to assemble a squad of younger players, with a couple of older heads like Dave Mulcahy, Derek Pender and Bohs skipper Owen Heary for balance. A tight budget after financial strains over the off season and in the 2011 season meant Callaghan’s main objective was to keep Bohemians head above murky relegation waters.

The season did not start well for Callaghan and his team, however. Bohs were knocked out of both the Leinster Senior Cup and the EA Sports Cup, all before Callaghan had registered a league win. That changed soon however, as a 1-0 home victory over Cork City led to five wins in their next eleven league games, culminating in the terrific 4-0 win over Shamrock Rovers, which would have probably endeared Callaghan to the Phibsboro faithful alone.

The Europa League run came to an abrupt end at the first hurdle, with Thor Akuryeri halting the Gypsies. By this time however, Bohs had amassed enough points to sit nicely in mid table, and more importantly out of any relegation trouble.

Defeat to Dundalk in the FAI Cup in mid-September signalled the end of all cups for Bohs, with just the league season to finish out. Eight points from the last fifteen available was probably the best way to sum up the Gypsies season.

With Callaghan staying on as manager, Bohemians can hope to build on what was a decent first season for the new boss. Star performer Evan McMillan, playing at one stage as an auxiliary centre forward, bagged some spectacular goals, whilst midfielder Karl Moore has a pretty good season too by all accounts. The stand out young player was by far the towering centre half Kevin Feely. Feely performed fantastically throughout, and has since moved to Charlton Athletic. Keith Ward has left for Dundalk.

In short, Callaghan must look to retain most of his squad, whilst trying to add a few and keep developing the youth he has brought in.