FAI Cup: Game 2

Dundalk 5-1 St Mochtas

What kind of week has it been?

There were some struggles in the first 45 minutes of the tie with St Mochtas but the lads eventually figured it out and won pretty comfortably. The 2nd 45 minutes on the night felt like bliss compared to our previous couple of league matches and will feel like a week at the beach compared to how we’re going to feel on Friday.

Things have deteriorated on the field in the past few weeks. The reaction to being eliminated from Europe has not been what we would have wanted and coupled with a severe collection of injuries and laughable transfer ‘policy’ we’ve found ourselves having the dreaded “too good to go down” label attached to us.

There is still a possibility that things on the pitch turn around. There is still a possibility that we can put some daylight between us and the relegation positions. We’re all tired of saying how we know there is quality there. We’re all tired of saying ‘if they can only replicate the European performances they’d be grand’.

Maybe some people are tired of hearing about the mess and the circus and the embarrassment that our club has become. I don’t blame you. I’m absolutely tired of writing about it. Unfortunately though, it needs to be called out. Things need to be challenged.

I don’t enjoy doing this, I don’t revel in this. I’ve said several times previously that this blog was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be lighthearted and jovial. It was supposed to make people, or at the very least myself, laugh. But how can any of us have a conversation about Dundalk FC at the moment without it descending into the abyss?

If we win on Friday night against Waterford, there will be voices claiming that we shouldn’t be complaining and we should enjoy a win for what it is and we should get behind the team. Don’t be negative and stop trying to undermine the club and the manager by writing about this or talking about that.

We all want the team to win. We all want what’s best for the club. While we might disagree on what we see as being the best for the club we do all want them to win. I’m amazed that this has to be said but it does, just because you criticize the club and ask questions of them doesn’t mean you don’t support them or you want them to fail.

There are decisions being made within the club that are adversely affecting its connections to the very community it thrives on. There are decisions being made that are driving a larger and larger wedge between the supporters and the club. There are decisions being made within the club with are leaving the future of the football team in an extremely precarious position.

It feels like most of this season has been spent raging at the dying of the Dundalk FC light. A light that isn’t burning out due to natural causes but a light that is going out because no one is paying the bill to keep it on.