St Pat's can 'shock' under-pressure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Besiktas

RTÉ News​

5 days ago

St Patrick's Athletic have the potential to pull off a shock result against an under pressure Besiktas in the Conference League, according to RTÉ soccer analyst Alan Cawley.
Stephen Kenny's side survived what would have been a dispiriting exit in the second qualifying round against Estonian outfit Nomme Kalju, Joe Redmond's injury-time goal rescuing their European campaign, with Jake Mulraney firing a somewhat fortuitous winner early in extra-time.
The 3-2 aggregate victory teed up a third round clash with the illustrious Turkish club, who are currently under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with the likes of Tammy Abraham and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain in their ranks.
On paper, it looks a very tall order for Pat's, whose home leg again sees them decamp to Tallaght as they did for the home tie against Istanbul Basaksehir in the play-off round last season.
That game finished in a very creditable goalless draw for Pat's and they were highly competitive in a 2-0 defeat in the away leg the following week. That European run ultimately proved a springboard for Pat's stunning finish to the 2024 season, which improbably gave them an outside chance of a league title with a few rounds remaining in the run-in.
With Besiktas and their manager under pressure following a disappointing 2024-25 season, Cawley believes that Pat's will relish the opportunity.
"I think they can (pull off a shock) to be honest with you," the former Pat's midfielder said on the RTÉ Soccer podcast. "You often find in games like this where they're obviously the underdogs going in, players raise their levels, and it will really turn them on.
"Most European games do, but this will really turn them on playing against Besiktas with a couple of household names, most notably the manager but Tammy Abraham as well is in the squad. I don't think (Alex) Oxlade Chamberlain is going to feature with the injury.
"Just with the name and the pedigree they have, Besiktas, it will certainly turn Pat's on.
"And they're (Besiktas) under a little bit of pressure coming into the game whereas Pat's on the other hand have hopefully turned a bit of a corner.
"You point back to this time last year where the European run really kick-started their season and they went on an unbelievable run towards the end.
"They were under a bit of pressure themselves before these European games. They were really struggling. But all of a sudden the European games clicked them into a little bit of a gear.
"Of course Stephen Kenny has an unbelievable record in Europan games as we know. He'll really fancy this as well.
"Besiktas, we know the pedigree they have. But they finished fourth in Turkey last year, 33 points behind Galatasaray. They were a long way off the champions.
"I do think Pat's might be able to do something and I'd love to see it."
Former Republic of Ireland international Keith Treacy is more circumspect about their chances, stressing the international and European pedigree of the Turkish outfit.
Besiktas, 16 times Turkish champions, last won the title in 2020-21 and reached the knockout stages of the Champions League as recently as 2017-18.
However, Treacy says Pat's can take succour from their showing against a roughly comparable Istanbul Basaksehir side last season (one place behind Besiktas in 2025) and says they won't lie down in the face of the Turkish side.
"I think they'll be licking their lips. I think they'll also be realistic in terms of the opposition they're coming up against.
"There's a boy there, Rafa Silva, that has 25 Portuguese caps. There's Joao Mario, 56 Portuguese caps. Tammy Abraham is a really, really good player. They lost 6-2 to Shakhtar in the last round (of the Europa League) so they do concede goals.
"But I think there's levels in this game and I hate usng that phrase. Besiktas are a couple of levels above St Pat's.
"Is it beyoind the realms of possibility that Pat's get something out of the game? No, it's not beyond the realms of possibility. But if Besikts turn up and they put any sort of performance together and play to the levels they can do, then it's going to be a very long night for St Pat's.
"One caveat I would be saying in the Pat's dressing room is they played Istanbul last year... that's their reference point from last season and they were well in that game. So why not go and have a cut off them?
"They had a player called Gedson Fernandes that they sold to Sprtak Moscow for €20m. There's not an awful lot of League of Ireland players that go for €20m, so there's big levels in it, but I don't think you should be sitting there afraid of it.
"I don't expect Pat's to go through but I also don't expect Pat's to lie down."