Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

megadodge wrote: »

I always thought O'Mahoney was an excellent manager, but his last stint over Mayo was a disaster. Anyway, I don't think O'Mahoney would ever manage Roscommon to be honest. Whether anyone wants to hear it or not, he has quite a history of anti-Roscommon bias, so I really don't think he'd be interested.

I'm not sure Fergie will be taking it either. He has other things on his mind at the moment.

By some considerable distance, Kevin McStay was the best manager I worked under (that's not necessarily saying much though). Very organised, very thorough, very knowledgable, positive and in general is very well-liked by players. If you ever listen to his analysis on TV, it's accurate, well-thought out and never ultra-negative. Having said that, I wonder how badly he'd want it, as he only recently went for the Mayo job, which shows where his loyalties still lie. He doesn't strike me as the bitter type who'd like to get one back on the Mayo CB by leading a Ros team to beat them, so I'm far from confident he'd take it.

Who that leaves us I'm not sure, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Well, it looks like I was about as wrong as it gets. But I don't mind, I really rate Kevin. However, along with others I'm wondering about the 'joint' bit of the equation. Although they are nice guys and very passionate about their football, both Fergie and Kevin are used to being THE man, so it will be interesting to see if that causes any friction behind the scenes. Hopefully it won't.

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

What would Roscommon fans consider a successful 2016? What is the minimum McStay / O'Donnell would have to achieve to be considered a success?

i can't speak for every roscommon person but for me, i would consider retaining division 1 status and a connacht championship a successful season

i think the minimum requirement should we go down would at least be putting up good performances and not have something like 2008 happen again where we got beaten out the gate in matches when we got promoted to a higher level. a connacht final or 4th round of the qualifiers at the very least (should we lose early in connacht to mayo or galway) has to be the aim for the championship..otherwise people will start to question whether getting rid of evans was a smart idea

rossie1977 wrote: »

i can't speak for every roscommon person but for me, i would consider retaining division 1 status and a connacht championship a successful season

i think the minimum requirement should we go down would at least be putting up good performances and not have something like 2008 happen again where we got beaten out the gate in matches when we got promoted to a higher level. a connacht final or 4th round of the qualifiers at the very least (should we lose early in connacht to mayo or galway) has to be the aim for the championship..otherwise people will start to question whether getting rid of evans was a smart idea

Should be aiming to beat Galway next year to be quite honest. Decent young, developing team, no more than ourselves. Better management would have us as far down the line as they are

Mayo's another story obviously, especially as next time we play em it's due to be in McHale.

Rawhead wrote: »

Roscommon are in a difficult position. In order to have any hope of staying up in Div 1 ye will need to be flying fit in February and even then it might not be enough as all the other teams will target yourselves and Down as the soft targets for 2 points.
Come championship time in June or July when everyone else will be coming into their prime ye will be wrecked from trying to stay in Div 1. Add in Mayo in Castlebar should ye get that far and the fact that ye have failed to beat either Mayo or Galway since 2001, it could be another short year for the bus.
Not to mention the whole joint manager fiasco.

'Fiasco'?

Already?

They haven't even played a match yet, give them a chance.

Roscommon or New York will face Leitrim in the Connacht Quarter-Final.
The winners of the QF play Sligo in the semi Final.

We got the good side of the draw again,hopefully we make a better fist of it in 2016.

I tried to access the stolensheep.proboards site today, but can't access it, and says that it has been shut down by the admin. Pity if it's true as it was a handy place to pick up bits of news, even of one or two posters tended to try to hog the discussion.

Try this link.

http://stolen-sheep.proboards.com/

stolensheep doesn't seem to be working, U20 final Strokestown beat Pearses in Woodmount in dreadful conditions 2-5 to 0-9, wet St Stephens day, a pitch that just about held up, no neutral umpires and no trophy, ah sure at least the County Board got it played anyway.

Very sad to hear of the passing of the great Gerry O'Malley.

I knew Gerry very well from his involvement with our club St. Maurs in Rush Co. Dublin. I was only a child back when Gerry worked as an agri advisor in the late 60s around north Co. Dublin and was talked into coaching our football team who were junior with a few very talented players. Gerry worked his magic, the players loved him he coached our Club to Dublin Junior and Intermediate titles in 1972 and 73 to bring us senior for the first time.

Gerry deeply loved his native Roscommon and spoke of the many great players he played with and against. An absolute gent to the core with a beautiful manner and a great way with people. Gerry we would call an honorary Rush man, he could walk into any farm yard, kitchen or Glasshouse. At our annual mass Gerry would always be last to leave as everyone wanted to chat and so did Gerry over a cup of tea. I have met many great people in my time but I dont know anyone else who commanded such respect.

Gerry was regular in Croke park no matter who was playing and his analysis was always worth listening to outside the Hogan stand.

Deepest sympathy to all Roscommon folk, you have lost a legend. May he rest in peace.

Lovely post LeoB. Thanks.

As a matter of interest, has anybody here any information on Gerry's injury which he received very early in the 1962 All-Ireland final?
It was reputedly off the ball and ended with Gerry staying on the field in a terrible state until he was inevitably taken off early in the second half (I think), having been unable to contribute virtually anything.

The reason I ask is because it's never mentioned 'officially', but years ago while working in Dublin an old Dub I was friendly with who really knew his GAA, told me all about it, as he had been at the match. I've heard different versions since, but they're rare as it happened so long ago.

Is the pitch at the Hyde waterlogged?

megadodge wrote: »

Lovely post LeoB. Thanks.

As a matter of interest, has anybody here any information on Gerry's injury which he received very early in the 1962 All-Ireland final?
It was reputedly off the ball and ended with Gerry staying on the field in a terrible state until he was inevitably taken off early in the second half (I think), having been unable to contribute virtually anything.

The reason I ask is because it's never mentioned 'officially', but years ago while working in Dublin an old Dub I was friendly with who really knew his GAA, told me all about it, as he had been at the match. I've heard different versions since, but they're rare as it happened so long ago.

Met Brian Carthy in Parnell park last Sunday and he told me he was with Gerry on Christmas eve.

Gerry said "Brian, I am ready to cross the Jordan"

That is a man who understood time and life

Got the score at half time and then at full time.
How did that happen?!

PressRun wrote: »

Oof. The kick out that led to the Conor McManus goal right at the end was disappointing. Felt like Roscommon deserved to get something from that match.

Heard Fergal o Donnell interviewed after the game, he reckoned Roscommon deserved to get nothing out of it and said they carried the ball into contact too much. Monaghan are a tough team to beat, well coached and never give up.

Disappointing result today.

I tend to agree with Fergie's assessment above. The losing of the game was the ridiculous amount of turnovers in our own half during the second period. A lot of them were from bad decision-making rather than any savage pressure. Monaghan got a number of scores directly from these turnovers and even their first goal came after a Roscommon lineball taker stepped over the line, Monaghan won the resulting scramble following the throwup, ball went in and (fortunate) goal, but it should never have happened.

These are the type of mistakes that are consistently punished at the top level, so Roscommon have to learn to cut down the error count if they want to stand any chance of staying up.

On another note, how come Cathal Shine was able to come on for the last five minutes? He's absolutely vital for Roscommon, but if he was able to play why didn't he, or if he was only able to play a certain amount of time, why only five minutes?

Syferus wrote: »

What a result. Bossed the game against the wind in the second half despite one of the most woefully biased displays of refereeing I've seen, and I get to see a hell of a lot of Marty Duffy so that's saying something.

So many injuries so going down to Killarney and picking up a win was special and important to our chances of survival. Hopefully the break means a lot more players can come back fit and healthy for the Cork game.

Cathal Cregg and Enda Smith were stellar today. Fintan Cregg is continuing to fulfill his potential too.

Congrats on the win. Wouldn't worry about the referee (even though he was brutal ) enjoy the win. This will bring the team on a lot and ye still missing a few lads. Great displays from Smith,Cathal Cregg and Niall Daly in particular. Was Fintan Cregg on that Roscommon winning minor team in 06?

Syferus wrote: »

Yep he was. So was Devanney and Cathal McHugh. Both back this year as other 06 players line Donie Shine, Higgins, Keenan and Carty are out injured or not match fit yet. For a single minor team they've given some service to the senior team. Domican is working in the Middle East or he'd be on the panel this year too. Ormsby and O'Gara have also played many games for the senior team off that minor side.

Fintan would have got looks a few times under just about every new manger but didn't stick far beyond a league campaign or two. Always been the star man for his club Elphin who once were the number two team chasing St. Brigids in the county. This year he's going from strength to strength, where he'd lay off a lateral pass in years past he's going for it himself and he's rooting out so many dirty balls. It's great to see a lad making good on their talent.

a couple of distant relations on my mother side played on that Roscommon minor team. Colm and Paul Garvey. Tommy Walsh, Johnny Buckley, David Moran and Shane Enight played in that minor final for Kerry in 06 and played today. Roscommon must be their bogey side Peter Domican big loss for Brigids and Roscommon. David Flynn the captain and centre back was good player on that team who didnt play much senior

Great win. Roscommon kicked some absolutely brilliant scores.