Donegal GAA Thread

Redsoxfan

LeoB wrote: »

Did Jim and Cass meet last Friday night? What was the outcome?

This will I believe be sorted by end of this week if my info is correct

Cassidy made it pretty clear on Friday night on Seo Spoirt that he wasn't coming back and McGuinness hasn't indicated that he's actively looking to have him back, and that was also pretty clear from the interview on Sunday, so if you have any info that suggests otherwise, we'd love to hear it.

LeoB

Redsoxfan wrote: »

The interview took place before the game, not after the game. The Indo had their facts wrong, but nothing new there.

TG4 clearly tried to sensationalise the issue

There are clearly enough of the meeja who have an issue with McGuinness/Donegal at this stage, whether they accomodate a marginal broadcaster like TG4 is not going to make much difference to people's perception of the team.

I actually think Donegal have more admires than you think, what people didnt like and I think it cost them in the end was the unwillingness to change their style and put Murphy and McFadden closer to goal. They had the players further out the field to achieve this and as Dublin found to their cost when you only have plan A...................

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Cassidy made it pretty clear on Friday night on Seo Spoirt that he wasn't coming back and McGuinness hasn't indicated that he's actively looking to have him back, and that was also pretty clear from the interview on Sunday, so if you have any info that suggests otherwise, we'd love to hear it.

I didnt see or hear the interview but someone pretty close to the team set up (former panelist) said it would be resolved this week, Maybe it will be put to bed for once and for all and Cassidy wont retuirn.

I would admire McGuinness for standing by his decisions especially where it concerns such a talented player.

Important to note. The former panelist has no gripe by the way and was only a fringe player who admires bot McGuinness and Cassidy

Redsoxfan

Kevin Cassidy on Newstalk now - asked by Tommy Carr would he apologise for the 'incident' if it meant being asked back to the panel - he doesn't feel he did anything wrong so no, he won't be doing that. Sounds like he would like to be asked back onto the panel, but doesn't look likely unless McGuinness has a change of heart.

Redsoxfan

Details here

http://donegalnews.com/2012/02/18/glenswilly-gaoth-dobhair-the-stand-out-tie/

Glenswilly v Gweedore the stand out tie I guess, but Eunans v (potentially) Kilcar could be interesting as well.

Redsoxfan

So, anyone at the Cork game on Sunday? Great to get back to winning ways. The low score is a concern, even if we held Cork to single digits (this didn't do us much good in the All-Ireland semi-final, so I see it as a necessary, but not sufficient condition to be consistently successful), but I think any kind of win was the important thing given our from of late. Jim did acknowledge afterwards that we kicked too many wides and balls into the keeper's hands.

Looks like Jim McGuinness took my advice re. TG4

http://www.hoganstand.com/Donegal/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=163509

I'll be heading to Killarney for the game on Sunday and will try and get my match report up late Sunday or sometime on Monday.

overshoot

yea thought accuracy has been a problem so far... although im only basing it on tv. (reckon the dublin game is all il get to during the league...damn college) still stopping teams scoring could be enough to keep us in the division. we are a long way ahead of Down and 8 better off than laois.
think the kerry game will give us a better indication where we are, murphy and mcfadden have a inter county game under their belt. (i wish i could pick a easier game but then its mayo, dublin and armagh so dogfights all around),

Redsoxfan

I hear you. The fact that we only lost by the odd point to Down and then came back into it late against Laois counts for a lot. If we don't beat Mayo or Armagh (or both) at home, we don't deserve to stay up, but assuming we manage 4 points, scoring difference could be important. I just reckon that in the long run, we need to get more than 10-12 points (total) out of a game.

Would be great to win in Kerry and Dublin, but I think we'll catch Dublin at a bad time, and surely Kerry won't lose to a team that plays football like Donegal in front of their biggest mouthpiece. We were thinking of making a banner for Sunday.......

Pat Spillane

Can't
Understand
Northern
Tactics

Too subtle?

overshoot

long run definately but for this weekend if happily win 2pts to nil for that his sake:D (that grin wouldnt be big enough watching him respond)

was trying to think of something else for the banner but its good. plain and simple and honest whatever way you read it!

Redsoxfan

Well now, that was a big disappointment and the type of scoreline I'd associate with the bad old days that I thought were behind us for at least a few years...

Hard to say what went 'wrong'. Excellent start, moving ahead 3 points to nil and playing well. But then Sheehan starting hitting frees and Kerry got the goal to leave them 4 points ahead, scoring 1-4 without reply. We went in at half-time 5 down, and I felt the 2nd half would be an uphill struggle, but I didn't expect an 11 point defeat. The penalty (no argument with the decision, but hard to see what the booking given to McNulty was for) was given and scored early in the 2nd half and Durcan was unlucky not to save it, getting a good hand to it.

I guess I'd summarise it as follows:

• We probably didn't face a team as good as Kerry at any point last year.
• Brian Sheehan is a deadly free taker. The only league game we lost last year, MJ Tierney frees were the reason.
• Kerry had so many players comfortable on the ball and they tended to pop up all over the place. Donegal seemed to struggle to stay with their movement.
• Our scoring rate just wasn't good enough and we missed some easy chances. A goal chance 'blown' by Lacey in the 1st half may have been the turning point.
• E McGee's sending off (2 yellows) didn't really have an impact on the game as Kerry were pretty much out of sight at that stage, but it made a comeback all the harder.
• Hard to take many positives, just a bad day at the office, and a lot seemed to go right for Kerry. They're a good team and were very much up for the game.

Some might say this was a victory for 'football'. Maybe it was. But as I wet my whistle on Sunday afternoon in O'Connor's pub, I noticed a poster celebrating the Kerry 4 in a row of '78-'81 2 scorelines caught my eye:

1978 All-Ireland Final Kerry 5-11 Dublin 0-9
1980 All-Ireland Final Kerry 1-9 Roscommon 1-6

LeoB

Redsoxfan wrote: »

I noticed a poster celebrating the Kerry 4 in a row of '78-'81 2 scorelines caught my eye:

1978 All-Ireland Final Kerry 5-11 Dublin 0-9
1980 All-Ireland Final Kerry 1-9 Roscommon 1-6

What caught your eye about that?

LeoB

LeoB wrote: »

What caught your eye about that?

Pretty obvious Mr Jack O'Connor

Can
Understand
Northern
Tactics

No subtlty required

overshoot

LeoB wrote: »

What caught your eye about that?

im guessing the low score, especially the 1980 result... wonder does spillane count that medal? 64 frees in that game too according to wikipedia... and he complains about us!

LeoB

overshoot wrote: »

im guessing the low score, especially the 1980 result... wonder does spillane count that medal? 64 frees in that game too according to wikipedia... and he complains about us!

Very hard to compare like with like. iTS 31 years since the Roscommon game and from what I remember of it the day was dull and it had been damp. The game in 78 was a battle and when you look at the defenders on show in both finals it was hard to score against them, Paudie O'Sé Tommy Doyle, Jimmy Deenihan, Tim Kennelly from Kery, Danny Murray, Harry Keegan Roscommon and Dublin with Robbie Kelliher, Gay ODriscoll all top class teak tough defenders. Team then won a lot of ball around mid field and forwards had to often fight win their own ball much more so than today.

Nothing wrong with the Kerry total of 5.11 against Dublin on a poor pitch in poor conditions.

I think in fairness to Pat Spillane he finds the Donegal style frustrating to watch as I do and many others also. Donegal would in my opinion have been in All-Ireland final last year had they attacked more and kept their forwards closer to goal. It must be very frustrating on Murphy and McFadden to be over 60yards from goal when they get possession and see a wall in front of them especially when they had the players to win enough ball to get into them. Most Dubs felt had Murphy been closer to goal it would have caused Dublin serious trouble.

Redsoxfan

Trolls be trolling. GAA Forum is here.

overshoot

LeoB wrote: »

Very hard to compare like with like. iTS 31 years since the Roscommon game.....

or it could have been the cork AI quarter final in 2009 where we conceeded 1-27 and had only scored 3pts at half time but we will never know!... although 9 of donegal starters against dublin played that cork game
and ffs the kerry thing as a joke!

LeoB

LeoB wrote: »

It must be very frustrating on Murphy and McFadden to be over 60yards from goal when they get posssession.... Most Dubs felt had Murphy been closer to goal it would have caused Dublin serious trouble.

This was the view around Dublin FACT. Donegal have 2 of the best forwards in Ireland Fact. I said it before the match last year Dublin would struggle to hold either of these lads but Donegal gave Dublin the platform to defend

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Trolls be trolling. GAA Forum is here.

If I was going to throll I would be saying nasty things not just giving an opinion.

If you listen back to Spillane and O'Rourke, McStay and Davis they gave Dublin a fairly hard time especially 4 or 5 years ago when Dublin could win Leinster but then get thumped in Last 8. They are paid "expences" to be entertaining and controversial but when you listen back to them quite a bit of what they say makes sense, but I think Spillane can over do it. They were right about Dublin in the end, a more mixed game suits them better but I still dont like it.

The only point I am making as a football fan is, I believe in Lads like Ryan Bradley, Rory Kavenagh and Molloy Donegal have exceptionally good ball players who can win ball and get it into the danger area quicker where Murphy, McFadden and McBrearty will do damage against any team. If they have the ability to play this current style surely they can also be more attacking? Which I think will bring them greater rewards. The defence is strong with McGee, Lacey a match for anyone.

Donegal have plenty of admirers outside of their county but please dont annoy me by suggesting Throll for giving an opinion

K-9

LeoB wrote: »

This was the view around Dublin FACT. Donegal have 2 of the best forwards in Ireland Fact. I said it before the match last year Dublin would struggle to hold either of these lads but Donegal gave Dublin the platform to defend

If I was going to throll I would be saying nasty things not just giving an opinion.

If you listen back to Spillane and O'Rourke, McStay and Davis they gave Dublin a fairly hard time especially 4 or 5 years ago when Dublin could win Leinster but then get thumped in Last 8. They are paid "expences" to be entertaining and controversial but when you listen back to them quite a bit of what they say makes sense, but I think Spillane can over do it. They were right about Dublin in the end, a more mixed game suits them better but I still dont like it.

The only point I am making as a football fan is, I believe in Lads like Ryan Bradley, Rory Kavenagh and Molloy Donegal have exceptionally good ball players who can win ball and get it into the danger area quicker where Murphy, McFadden and McBrearty will do damage against any team. If they have the ability to play this current style surely they can also be more attacking? Which I think will bring them greater rewards. The defence is strong with McGee, Lacey a match for anyone.

Donegal have plenty of admirers outside of their county but please dont annoy me by suggesting Throll for giving an opinion

Wella big criticism of Donegal in the first 2 matches was being too open. Neill Gallagher came back and was deployed as a FF and a midfielder, though no Murphy or McFadden.

It's the league, can't read too much into it. Ideally Gallagher will be back in top form for the Championship, thus leaving Kavanagh to go to the Half forwards and Murphy and McFadden in the FF line, with Murphy coming out when the HF line is in bother, even midfield the odd time, a bit like Cavanagh with Tyrone.

That could make a big difference, as long as they stay fit!

Minister Boyce

The League does not seem to be a massive priority to the Jim. Certainly, they will want to stay in the Division to compete and learn against the Top Teams but survival in the Division will be a must and can be counted as a job well done if we manage to win 2 out of the next 3 games.

Our system has served us well but we need at least one more marquee forward. Murph and Mc Fadden are two of the best going, BUT Murphy serves a number of purposes, in Midfield, Half Forward therefore you need your remaining inside men to take up the slack when he moves outfield. Mc Fadden can be devastating but has a tendency to shoot on sight, which sometimes leads to numerous wides, balls dropping short, shooting from impossible angles etc..

If we had one more prolific forward it would def help. Brick does have potential but tends to waste possession at times. Mc Brearty is still only young, but with his pace, perhaps he should be deployed on the Half Forward Line. Jim will have our path mapped out fairly well. Its all about the cavan game at this point and im sure the heavy training will reap divedends later in the year

Redsoxfan

Mc Brearty has been the better forward than McFadden of late. Faster, stronger, more accurate. I recognise that McFadden has been injured, but I do think he is lucky to be keeping his place these days as he is a pretty one dimensional player much of the time. He even missed a free he really should have scored in the 1st half when we were still very much in the game. And didn't manage any kind of score over the 70 minutes vs 2 points from play for McBrearty. If we are to play 2 inside, I'd like it to be McBrearty and Murphy, with McFadden available as an impact sub - we have no forwards on the bench that I feel comfortable bringing on.

In saying that, neither Brick nor Griffin proved worthy of a starting berth based on what I have seen live and on TV so far. That for me was the real disappointment of the league so far - when Murphy and McFadden were out, nobody (bar McBrearty) stepped up and took their chance.

I don't expect too many changes the next day to be honest, but in saying that, you never know with Jim. Reilly, Toye and McElhinney could all be in contention. McElhinney certainly looked good against Down in limited action and I'd like to see more of Reilly. The game had probably got away from us when Toye came on the other day, but he was poor. He does need to get some games under his belt however as a lot of other fellas have been playing Sigerson etc.

Anyone else for Ballyshannon? I'll be heading over myself. Looking to see how we react to last Sunday's result. Anything but a win and we are almost certainly headed back down to Division 2, which I certainly feel is a step backwards, and I feel it will benefit us more to stay up.

Redsoxfan

So a much better day out on Sunday. A poor start led to much frustration in the stands, and I felt that we were actually playing worse than we had done in Killarney. 2 points and a man down at half-time didn’t fill me with confidence. But Donegal were a different team in the 2nd half. McFadden moved to half forward and was much more effective as a playmaker than a full forward – bear in mind that all 7 points were from frees. Whether he gets the same time and space at half forward in another game remains to be seen. I’ve seen him at half forward before and I don’t think he’s mobile enough. Paddy McBrearty chipped in with 2 more points from play and next to Murphy, he’s our main scoring threat at the moment. Murphy himself was excellent, and only for some brave goalkeeping would have had a goal to go along with his 5 points.

The backs were brilliant, not least Thompson who along with Neil Gallagher has been our most consistent player this season so far. Neil was very good again at midfield, making several excellent catches. There will be some tough choices to be made at midfield and in defence assuming everyone gets fit. No harm.

Apart from the 17 points, the most pleasing thing about this win was that management saw where we were going wrong in the 1st half and made the adjustments at half time. Good to see that their thinking isn’t as inflexible as many assume (me included). Mayo were really awful in the 2nd half, so I wouldn’t read too much into Sunday, but it was good to see a performance on the back of the result in Killarney. One thing we are missing this year is any degree of consistency, which doesn’t bode well for Saturday. But, if we can continue from where we left off on Saturday, I would feel better about our chances than I did after Killarney.

RMDrive

It was a good win all right. I'm not convinced about Colm Anthony as a playmaker either, but no denying he did well on Sunday. I though we got glimpses of Leo McLoone coming back to his best. He made some very strong direct runs from the HB line which Mayo struggled to deal with. Big Neil was excellent - some really spectacular catches in the 2nd half in particular. Durkans kick-outs were generally good too.

Mayo had thrown the towel in early so no point getting too excited about the game. The (wounded) duds on Saturday will be a different proposition.

Redsoxfan

Let's not forget that this was our springboard in 2010. Donegal (3/1 underdogs) take on Tyrone in Omagh. McBrearty and Molloy in the forwards. Highland will have first half updates and 2nd half live. Throw in is 8pm.

RMDrive

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Let's not forget that this was our springboard in 2010. Donegal (3/1 underdogs) take on Tyrone in Omagh. McBrearty and Molloy in the forwards. Highland will have first half updates and 2nd half live. Throw in is 8pm.

Dear Jesus, blow it up now!!

Redsoxfan

RMDrive wrote: »

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Let's not forget that this was our springboard in 2010. Donegal (3/1 underdogs) take on Tyrone in Omagh. McBrearty and Molloy in the forwards. Highland will have first half updates and 2nd half live. Throw in is 8pm.

Dear Jesus, blow it up now!!

Disappointing result. Left ourselves too much to do in 2nd half and wound up chasing the game and making mistakes. Seems like we were wiped out in midfield in 1st half and that gave Tyrone the springboard to build a 5 point lead at the half. Donegal made the change Martin McHugh was looking for at half time and Donegal improved somewhat.

Oh well, on to the real thing...

Minister Boyce

RMDrive wrote: »

It was a good win all right. I'm not convinced about Colm Anthony as a playmaker either, but no denying he did well on Sunday. I though we got glimpses of Leo McLoone coming back to his best. He made some very strong direct runs from the HB line which Mayo struggled to deal with. Big Neil was excellent - some really spectacular catches in the 2nd half in particular. Durkans kick-outs were generally good too.

Mayo had thrown the towel in early so no point getting too excited about the game. The (wounded) duds on Saturday will be a different proposition.

Would pretty much agree. One thing that stood out on Sunday - First half a few hail mary's and hit n'hope balls hit into mc fadden. Not much come off it. Same kind of ball (if not worse) into Murphy in the 2nd - scores on the board.

Mc Fadden is a very diff kind of forward to Murphy in terms of how we wins ball. Murphy has brute force and height to win ball. Mc fadden makes diagonal runs and prefers ball played in front of him.

Murphy is sooo good that it means the outfield players do not need to be so called 'playmakers' or excellent passers. Very simple hoof into the FF Line is all you need with Murphy and he does the rest.

overshoot

very harsh result tonight with the 2 dublin goals coming in injury time. think it was mcbrearty who drew a good save out of cluxton too just before them(was at the other end...could have done with glasses!) hopefully murphys injury isnt too bad either, he played for a while after picking it up so hopefully not. hit a howler of a free in that period tho.
shooting coming up short again is a major problem, 3 efforts in the first half that fell into cluxton's hands that really should have been over, all pretty close range.
forwards could work harder to get out ahead of the defender too, lot of balls forward that they left themselves with no chance of getting. a bit more movement wouldnt hurt.
paul isnt going to be matching stephen cluxton either when murphy goes either!:pac:

Redsoxfan

It didn’t look too good at half time, but the guys showed well in the 2nd half. Feels like a missed opportunity – Dublin were missing quite a few players. The late goals flattered them a little I guess, but Durcan had to make some good saves in the first half, so they had other chances. Murphy going off affected us of course, but the most pleasing thing about last night was the spread of scorers – we still are overly reliant on Murphy, but others showed that they can kick a point which is always good to see.

overshoot wrote: »

forwards could work harder to get out ahead of the defender too, lot of balls forward that they left themselves with no chance of getting. a bit more movement wouldnt hurt.

I’d agree to an extent, but I’d also say that we tended to play a lot of longer passes to men who were covered, which tends to give defenders a better chance. It would probably help if we had a more conventional half forward line.

paul isnt going to be matching stephen cluxton either when murphy goes either!:pac:

Durcan took 2 kicks against Down too and wasn’t successful with either. I’d like to think that he is at least practicing is 45s in training – maybe it didn’t really matter last night, but the misses against Down were important.

Redsoxfan

Worrying news on Murphy - 'surgery' surely suggests that he will not be available for the Armagh game, and must be a doubt for Cavan. Looking at our form in the first 2 league games while he was out and after he went off on Saturday and you start to get concerned.

Redsoxfan

Right who's for Ballybofey today? Can't make it myself unfortunately. Think it's important to be on Division 1 - it's not the end of the world if we're relegated but I think it's a bit of a letdown after last year. With Michael Murphy out and Armagh having a few of the Cross boys back (Jamie Clarke the most important) it will be tough - but if we really are among the top few teams in the country then we should be winning this game.

Redsoxfan

Donegal win a key game without N McGee and Murphy, sending Armagh down in the process and now Cavan have no manager and Stevie McDonnell has retired.

A good week for Donegal!