I enjoy going to Jackman Park on alternate Friday nights. Someone somewhere gave someone at the club that Killler's album "Hot Fuss" and it's been played ever since. The line "I just don't know now baby please but all I want to do is try" continues to swirl around my head for days after the game and every week without fail someone in our party utters the words "that song is becoming something of an anthem around here now, isn't it". For me what the song loses in gloss, it makes up for in it's new found soul since first being played over the loudspeakers at the temporary or permanent home of Limerick FC.
Jackman Park is owned by the (LDMC) Limerick District League and technically the club itself is homeless. It wouldn't be the greatest stadium in the world by any stretch. There isn't any seating and one small covered stand wherein the hardcore Limerick supporters gather to sing about being "Limerick til I die", "Who are you?" to any visiting player who makes a mistake, "You fat bastard" usually at a portly referee or linesman and old favourites such as "you're just a small town near England" and "junkie scum" on those great occasions when teams from Dublin come to visit. I'm sure they have some songs for us too but I can't remember them.
More recently and rather misguidedly I think they have taken to singing "we're going to be promoted" and "there's only one Pat Scully".
Seen as there are no designated areas to the ground as such, except that you can either be in the small stand or outside it, it always surprises me that the away fans from every club stand in the exact same spot pretty much diagonally opposite the stand on the other side of the pitch. The away support varies from none up to a couple of hundred depending on who's in town.
For my part I stand near the away supporters behind the dugouts. I like to hear the abuse from the away fans and more importantly what the managers are saying. There is always a bit of drama on the bench and it's a good place to shout down any overly vocal travelling manager especially if he has a problem with a ref giving hometown decisions or the over-zealous tackling of any of our players. Like I say I enjoy those Friday nights at Jackman Park. It's a good opportunity to let off some steam.
Behind us the club flags are proudly displayed, telling us that the Super Blues were champions of Ireland in 1960 and 1980. Other than that, good ways to waste time are to hoof the ball into the bus station on one side or people's backyards on the other.
That's about it really. Last Friday night saw Pat Scully's third home game in charge. It came on the back of two good victories away to Wexford Youths and home to bottom club Kildare. Waterford were just ahead of Limerick in the league and it was a game which was seen as a good barometer of where we might finish up at the end of the season.
Waterford had barely missed out on promotion last year but Limerick had given them a lesson towards the end of last season when we beat them 5-1 at home. Limerick played great football for latter part of that season in particular. You came away from every game feeling entertained even if we didn't always get the result. That's important. Good football is all the supporters really want to see. It entertains us and puts us in a good mood. It allows us to endure the freezing cold evenings and driving rain with good humour because we know we are seeing good football.
I take no pleasure in reporting that there was no good football played last Friday night and Limerick were well and truly defeated. The 2-0 scoreline does not tell the full story. The pitch at Jackman Park is poor but all the same it is as though the ball has a life of it's own. It constantly bobbles and bounces away from the players who struggle vainly to get it under control before invariably belting it out for yet another throw in.
It's sad to see Limerick playing 4-5-1 at home to Waterford. It's sadder still to see them hoofing long balls every chance they got up to our lone and very isolated centre forward who is not exactly a Geoff Horsfield type player (though I'm sure one is on the way in the transfer window). We didn't have players who would put their foot on the ball and try to pass it. There was little attempt to find a player in space. Just some half arsed attempt at a percentages game by hoofing balls into apparent danger areas. The players were totally devoid of ideas and it was a very disappointing performance.
As Limerick chased the game, they became even more direct, thumping (I'm running out of ways to say long ball but there were a lot of them) long balls in on top of the goalkeeper at any opportunity. The ones that made it were easily dealt with but most of them ended up going out for throws or goal kicks. It was not what we had come to see.
I fear that the footballing philosophy which was so evident last season is being lost to a more pragmatic, ends justifying the means approach this year. That is simply not good enough. The least a Limerick football supporter should expect, considering what he puts up with off the field is good, flowing football on it. I can forgive the Waterford performance as an off-night. We were missing a few players, others were just coming back from injury but I hope it's not an indication of what is to come this season.
Limerick deserves a decent League of Ireland team, not a return to the bad old days when dull, boring 0-0 draws were about the best we could expect.
Come on, Pat Scully- entertain the fans. We suffer enough as it is.
Jackman Park is owned by the (LDMC) Limerick District League and technically the club itself is homeless. It wouldn't be the greatest stadium in the world by any stretch. There isn't any seating and one small covered stand wherein the hardcore Limerick supporters gather to sing about being "Limerick til I die", "Who are you?" to any visiting player who makes a mistake, "You fat bastard" usually at a portly referee or linesman and old favourites such as "you're just a small town near England" and "junkie scum" on those great occasions when teams from Dublin come to visit. I'm sure they have some songs for us too but I can't remember them.
More recently and rather misguidedly I think they have taken to singing "we're going to be promoted" and "there's only one Pat Scully".
Seen as there are no designated areas to the ground as such, except that you can either be in the small stand or outside it, it always surprises me that the away fans from every club stand in the exact same spot pretty much diagonally opposite the stand on the other side of the pitch. The away support varies from none up to a couple of hundred depending on who's in town.
For my part I stand near the away supporters behind the dugouts. I like to hear the abuse from the away fans and more importantly what the managers are saying. There is always a bit of drama on the bench and it's a good place to shout down any overly vocal travelling manager especially if he has a problem with a ref giving hometown decisions or the over-zealous tackling of any of our players. Like I say I enjoy those Friday nights at Jackman Park. It's a good opportunity to let off some steam.
Behind us the club flags are proudly displayed, telling us that the Super Blues were champions of Ireland in 1960 and 1980. Other than that, good ways to waste time are to hoof the ball into the bus station on one side or people's backyards on the other.
That's about it really. Last Friday night saw Pat Scully's third home game in charge. It came on the back of two good victories away to Wexford Youths and home to bottom club Kildare. Waterford were just ahead of Limerick in the league and it was a game which was seen as a good barometer of where we might finish up at the end of the season.
Waterford had barely missed out on promotion last year but Limerick had given them a lesson towards the end of last season when we beat them 5-1 at home. Limerick played great football for latter part of that season in particular. You came away from every game feeling entertained even if we didn't always get the result. That's important. Good football is all the supporters really want to see. It entertains us and puts us in a good mood. It allows us to endure the freezing cold evenings and driving rain with good humour because we know we are seeing good football.
I take no pleasure in reporting that there was no good football played last Friday night and Limerick were well and truly defeated. The 2-0 scoreline does not tell the full story. The pitch at Jackman Park is poor but all the same it is as though the ball has a life of it's own. It constantly bobbles and bounces away from the players who struggle vainly to get it under control before invariably belting it out for yet another throw in.
It's sad to see Limerick playing 4-5-1 at home to Waterford. It's sadder still to see them hoofing long balls every chance they got up to our lone and very isolated centre forward who is not exactly a Geoff Horsfield type player (though I'm sure one is on the way in the transfer window). We didn't have players who would put their foot on the ball and try to pass it. There was little attempt to find a player in space. Just some half arsed attempt at a percentages game by hoofing balls into apparent danger areas. The players were totally devoid of ideas and it was a very disappointing performance.
As Limerick chased the game, they became even more direct, thumping (I'm running out of ways to say long ball but there were a lot of them) long balls in on top of the goalkeeper at any opportunity. The ones that made it were easily dealt with but most of them ended up going out for throws or goal kicks. It was not what we had come to see.
I fear that the footballing philosophy which was so evident last season is being lost to a more pragmatic, ends justifying the means approach this year. That is simply not good enough. The least a Limerick football supporter should expect, considering what he puts up with off the field is good, flowing football on it. I can forgive the Waterford performance as an off-night. We were missing a few players, others were just coming back from injury but I hope it's not an indication of what is to come this season.
Limerick deserves a decent League of Ireland team, not a return to the bad old days when dull, boring 0-0 draws were about the best we could expect.
Come on, Pat Scully- entertain the fans. We suffer enough as it is.
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