Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Eh?

Where you getting that from? Neil's full on twitter but I'd say that's a joke.

boxer.fan wrote: »

Ah sure, hand over the reins to Cass. He seems to know what hes on about :pac::pac:

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Pretty much more of the same........

Oi, you stole my post .

Well said, it's pretty much in line with my own thinking.

First half was a disaster really. Second half was lit up by the goal and the sending's off should have helped us, but in reality Dublin were comfortable throughout and playing keep ball against us is a pretty obvious tactic to employ at this stage. This malaise has been in the team since the 2014 All Ireland Final, the blame for which cannot be laid at the current manager's door, but he has had two years to come up with an alternative approach and I've seen nothing new.

Despite the overly defensive display, I was proud of the lads for having a go. The real disappointment for me this year was the Ulster Final. Anyone who was there yesterday will have seen Tyrone ain't all that. That was a game we should have won (as was the 2014 Ulster Final....).

Big mystery on MacNiallais. That's consecutive All Ireland Quarter Finals where he has not made any (positive) impact on the game. Was overmatched against Keegan last year, no idea what happened this year. I *hope* it turns out he was injured yesterday because there really is no other excuse for such a performance.

Kick it into Murphy they say. Well, two things. One, we are told that is a waste of time in Ulster because there are three men hanging off him. Well, it didn't stop Mayo trying it (successfully) against Tyrone yesterday. Secondly, if you are going to do it, it needs to be practiced. When tried yesterday, it was clear we are no longer able to do so. Back to basics please.

So Colm Anthony is gone. A fine player, but frustrating at times, and would have been better to call it a day last year, he had no part to play this year. 2012 was his best ever year and we should be thankful for that as well as those for all those years that he toiled in for the cause before Jim. Fare thee well.

Rory K will 'probably' retire (again) and it's probably the right choice as he never looked able for 70 minutes this year. At the same time, he was the only one who looked capable of catching a long kick out yesterday.

No idea on where the likes of E McGee, Lacey, Big Neil, Christy and David Walsh stand. You can probably throw the likes of Frank and Tony into the will they/won't they camp, although it will depend on personal circumstances as opposed to anything else for the latter two. Eamon had a fine game yesterday.

One positive yesterday (aside from Ryan McHugh of course) was our new keeper. He has shown signs of development. The fundamentals are sound, the kick out will continue to improve hopefully.

But look, we cannot keep relying on the same players. We need to introduce more new faces next year, especially in the League, where we can get some sense of whether or not they are good enough. I'd like to see Gillespie, Eoin Ban, Carroll, Ciaran Thompson and Stephen McBrearty all get significant time and maybe throw in McGonagle, O'Brien and Mulligan at stages as well. Such wholesale change will mean performances will suffer in the short term, but it's only the League. Come Championship, whoever gets a jersey should be there on merit and not for the sake of change. In any case, change tends to be by evolution rather than revolution, so if we even get one new starter for next June we will be doing well.

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of senior players decide to return. Ulster is competitive, but very winnable for Donegal.
As to the manager, my views are clear enough. Unless he changes his approach we will continue to be predictable and beatable. It's probably stating the obvious, but we need to set up our defence higher up the pitch rather than inviting teams onto us such that those with good footballers will be able to pick us off at will. In addition, we need to bite the bullet and make better use of our two outstanding forwards in their natural positions. Easier said than done I'm sure but a tactical genius will surely find a way.

tl;dr Good luck to the Minors.

bob skunkhouse wrote:

No space here for Hugh McFadden?

bob skunkhouse wrote:

The problem is, and it's been a problem all year, is that we can't win our battles in midfield. The goose is cooked regarding the short kick out. When Dublin pushed up on the kick out, I recall only one clean catch by Kavanagh along the Cusack stand sideline. Every other long kick out we lost. You'll find more teams doing this to us next year. Until we can get a player that can at least hold his own in midfield we'll end up playing the same type of ballgame next year. If we could only find ourselves a midfielder - a la Matty Donnelly, we'd be in a better position to mix things up - style wise.