Drama has been the consistent theme of the 2024 League of Ireland season with multiple storylines filled with twists and turns that don’t seem to be stopping.
The previous Republic of Ireland manager has returned to his roots. One of the greatest players the nation has ever produced is leading Shelbourne to heights they haven’t seen in two decades.
St Patrick’s Athletic and Dundalk are involved in a managerial merry go round with Jon Daly's move last night.
The Lilywhites had a three-week appointment of someone who had even more than 20 years out of the men's club games, while the Saints have recorded back-to-back losses under the helm of the league’s poster boy.
There has been more uncoupling than Love Island and all the while teams have reached halfway in their season with nothing lost.
The top three look set to contest the title, with the four sides behind in contention for Europe, and the bottom trio trying to avoid the drop.
It remains to be seen if that landscape continues and tonight will have a huge say on the very top of the tree.
Shelbourne face the biggest test of their credentials as a title challenger when facing Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght tonight.
They hold a six-point advantage going into the game; there is no denying the enormity of the fixture.
The team sandwiched in the middle, Derry City, will be very confident of making inroads in the table when struggling Sligo Rovers visit the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
Derry's performance in Tallaght on Monday was very disappointing and a real missed opportunity.
Patrick Hoban returns to face a Sligo side with one win in their last nine matches.
Stephen Kenny goes in search of his first points as St Patrick's Athletic manager when facing Bohemians at Dalymount Park.
It hasn't been a nice seven days in charge for Kenny, albeit with two tough fixtures to start with.
Bohs were pleased with a 3-0 success in Sligo and have eyes on breaking into the top four.
Jon Daly will watch on as his new side Dundalk face Galway United in Eamonn Deacy Park.
It was a surprise announcement as, just two weeks after leaving the Saints, Daly returned to management.
Galway continue to ride high on their return to the Premier. John Caulfield will see this game as a chance to push further clear of the relegation places at the halfway stage.
Waterford beat Drogheda 4-2 last night to move back inside the top four. Galway would return to that position with victory in this game.
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne, Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm
Whenever you doubt Shamrock Rovers, they step up to the plate.
Victory for Derry in Tallaght on Monday would have opened up an eight-point lead on the team they have tried to topple in the last seasons.
The Hoops were excellent and profited from a poor Candystripe display to win comfortably even at 1-0.
Having taken on Shelbourne on their own patch, Stephen Bradley is ready to face them on his terms.
"There wasn't much in the two away games. We know with the last game in Tolka, the pitch effectively killed the game as a spectacle.
"There was no quality in the game at all and there was nothing either team could do about it. In the first game we didn’t start for the first 20 minutes and they punished us. So we know we need to focus and be ready for Shels. They’re top of the league on merit and there for a reason. We need to be ready for them and respect them."
"They've improved season on season. They’ve scored a lot of late goals and stay in games. And when they stay in games they have quality. So, if you don’t respect Shels and what they’re really good at in the game, you get punished and beaten. We have to make sure that we’re really focussed from the first minute."
Seán Kavanagh is set for a spell on the sides. Dylan Watts, Richie Towell, Lee Grace and Seán Hoare are doubts.
Rory Gaffney, Darragh Burns and Gary O’Neill remain out.
Damien Duff holds no fear going to Tallaght, saying it's "time" his team deliver in the venue.
"We've played well in spells there. They’re the best team in the country for a reason, so you won’t have it your way for 100 minutes. We’ve gone there and played well for 45, 60, 70 minutes. Not quite sure we’ve put in a 100-minute performance yet. I think it’s time we do that.
"The word energy was used again. In any sport in the world, any team, if you don’t deliver energy along with your performance, you won’t win any football matches.
"With the game on Monday, it’s been about recovery, preparation, and being ready to bring your best on Friday. Everything for the last 24 hours, 36 hours, were parked to let the guys recover and bounce into tonight ready to deliver."
Liam Burt misses out for the visitors against his parent club.
Bohemians v St Patrick's Athletic, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
It has been a whirlwind period for Stephen Kenny as he takes charge of a third game tonight.
Opponents Bohemians are a bit ahead of Pat's as their own new manager Alan Reynolds is also assessing the situation of his squad.
There is no doubt both managers will make considerable changes in the near-future.
But 2024 will still bring opportunities.
Bohs beat Pat’s 1-0 in their first league meeting, while the Saints won the previous game in the FAI Cup final convincingly.
Kenny saw green shoots in the loss to Shels: "I thought the players were tremendous against Shelbourne and we didn't deserve to lose the game in the way that we did with 20 seconds to go.
"After Jake Mulraney's brilliant free-kick, and in the period after the goal, we looked like the team that would go on to win it, but we shouldn't concede the goal that we did, we should have defended it better, everyone is very disappointed but the players can learn from that.
"The players have given everything in the two games so far and I'm pleased with them.
"We've faced the top two teams in the league at the moment (Derry and Shelbourne) in my first two matches and there was very little in the games, both were very evenly-contested.
"I've been very encouraged by a lot of what I saw, and the players can take confidence from that.
"I've only come in since last Thursday and we had two games in three days on Friday and Monday and we've got another big game on Friday, so the players have had some recovery time, and we had our training session on Thursday to get ready for the Bohs game."
Tom Grivosti will be in the matchday squad, a year after his last appearance.
Bohs are without the injured Jordan Flores, Dayle Rooney, Luke Matheson, Brian McManus, Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley. James Clarke is suspended.
Reynolds said: "St Pat’s are a good side. Much like Bohs, they haven’t had the start they wanted this season but it is a very close and congested league table, and there is a lot more football to play.
"Stephen is barely there a week, and wouldn’t have had a lot of time to work with the team until this week but he will have learned a lot from his team over their past two games.
"Pat’s are a good side. They finished third last year and won the FAI Cup and you don’t become a bad team overnight.
"They have quality players who can hurt any team in this league so we will need to be at our very best to get a result against them."
Derry City v Sligo Rovers, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm
Derry City have just two defeats from their last 11 games - both coming at the hands of Shamrock Rovers.
They've been particularly strong at home apart from the losses to the Hoops and Galway.
A 0-0 draw with Sligo offered little indications of the team early in the season, yet they have gone in different directions.
Manager Ruaidhri Higgins told the Derry Journal: "We need to try and capitalise on it [Sligo's poor form and home advantage].
"Our home form has been much better this year and we need to try and maximise it and get the crowd right behind us and give them something to get behind and try and get a big home win.
"You've seen throughout the league campaign this year that there are results that throw up surprises to a certain extent. Nothing surprises us in this league anymore really. We need to be really well prepared and try to get a big, big home win."
Bit O' Red boss John Russell did not hold back on his team's display in losing 3-0 to Bohemians last week.
They will be down to the bare bones if a number of player fail fitness tests.
Rovers will be without central defensive pair John Mahon (Achilles) and Nando Pijnaker (ribs), while wingers Simon Power (groin) and Will Fitzgerald (foot) will also sit this one out.
Ollie Denham, Wilson Waweru and Owen Elding will be assessed before kick-off.
Russell said: "We were very disappointed with our performance last week against Bohs,
"We all sat down during the week and reviewed the game and to be honest, there were some hard truths.
"Yes, we are down bodies at the moment with so many injuries but that was no excuse for the performance against Bohs.
"The staff and I are looking for a big reaction from the players. We still have a lot of quality in the squad and in whatever team we send out on Friday against Derry. I want to see the fight and desire necessary to pick up points in this league."
Galway United v Dundalk, Eamonn Deacy Park, 7.45pm
Jon Daly will watch on from the stands as his new side go in search of a first away win of the campaign.
Interim boss Liam Burns is suspended from the sideline so Dave Mackey will be in the dugout tonight.
Last week's 1-0 injury-time win over reigning champions Shamrock Rovers has completely changed the mindset at Oriel Park.
Now with last season's FAI Cup-winning boss in charge they will be confident of a much improved run of results.
Galway are close to two months unbeaten, and while they didn't perform overly well, late goals secured the victory over Drogheda last week.
Dundalk's Robbie Mahon and Dara Keane are injured while George Shelvey is suspended.
