Loved the game last night, despite the result. And despite the fairly shite football from City.
They definitely didn't look like they were at the races, but the fact they could regather for a bit, ten minutes at the end of the first half they showed a bit and the last twenty or so minutes would tell me they have some amount of quality. I think the defence will always be a bit poor, especially compared to the top talent. The attack will be fine when someone is feeding it. The midfield were atrocious. All stuff pointed out by RTE but their first touch, ability to keep the ball and win the ball just wasn't there. When you can't do that, actually get the ball in the first place, the idea of stringing passes together is a big ask, but they were doing that by the end. Keating was definitely the best of them, but Healy saying they changed formation at half time would tell me they just got it wrong in how they approached the whole thing from the off.
As for the keeper, I felt he played his way into the game a little. There was some decent stuff from him after he left the second goal in. Whether he'll always play with nerves and mistakes I don't know, but I think he does have enough quality to take part. Whether you can suffer X bad games while he "gets up to speed" is a different question.
Finally, on a separate note, does anyone know what the story is with LOItv. It's €120 for the season pass, which is fine, but there's no real way to spread it out over the course of the season. Instead it's a lump sum all up front, and I'd prefer not to do that. Also, has anyone tried "sharing it with a friend?" I know some of these things let you watch on two devices at once, in two different places. Say my brother who definitely lives with me wanted to watch the games in an apartment he just happens to be in literally every friday night, would that work?