Galway GAA discussion thread

Diabhal Beag

ladybike wrote: »

Wouldn't bring them in now, don't change the winning formula, but in a "perfect" world

And why exactly can we not play Limerick can someone explain??

Limerick are playing Dublin because Dublin can't play the other losing provincial finalists. Galway played Dublin already so we can't play them in the QF.

Basically two qualifier teams can't play each other.

RealityCheck

ladybike wrote: »

Wouldn't bring them in now, don't change the winning formula, but in a "perfect" world

And why exactly can we not play Limerick can someone explain??

Its just the way its structured. Semi final losers cannot meet each other.

They start off in the qualifiers playing other semi final losers (Clare, Wexford etc) The winners stay on different sides of the draw. Each winner plays one of the teams that wins the other qualifiers (i.e the ones with the pre semi final losers, Cork Antrim, Laois, Westmeath etc)

They still can't meet in the quarters as they are also separed, and as the provincial winners are also separated at the semi final stage the semi final losers can't meet there either. Only the final it seems.

God its needlessly complicated!!

spiritcrusher

Just back from Navan now, really enjoyed the match in spite of the dire football. Had great craic with a few meath supporters around us, they couldn't believe the shocking display either. Never seen anything like the game I saw tonight, Meath did their best to give Galway the game, yet we still couldn't win.

In the first half I though the full backs got off to a very nervy start, especially the two young lads, but in fairness they seriously picked it up in the second half. Hanley was definitely one of the Galway's best today. Duane also had a good 2nd half.

Trouble again in the half backs today. Sice was particularly anonymous, he did absolutely nothing, would probably have forgotten he was playing only for he was on the wing in front of us for the second half. Bradshaw again tried hard, but ball kept falling out of his hands and he did a lot of slipping. Blake was the best of the HBs and did fairly well.

Delighted Bergin got taken off at last, waste of pitch space. O'Curraoin and Flynn had him almost shut out anyway in the second half, as they settled and played off each other reasonably well.

Half forwards struggled a bit as well for times, Flynn was essentially a midfielder but he came forward with a bit of purpose and was able to pick out some nice passes. Hehir was absent in the second half but was making space in the first half, CF is probably a bit much for him yet. And Clancy, well before the match I wasn't too happy about him being picked but he proved me wrong big time. Once Bergin went off and the U21's were left alone in midfield he played super off them, gathered a ton of breaking ball and was one of main reasons we nearly robbed the match. I'm starting to wonder if maybe it was poor midfield players that have limited him as he played great off Flynn and Curraoin.

On the flip side the full forwards were atrocious, absolutely awful. Bane had a shocker, and not for missing a one on one chance at the end. He was off it all day. Padraig was nowhere really either, bar a few frees. Breathnach was a poor call to replace Meehan with, who I hope isn't too badly injured.

As for the management, I can't understand them at all, very inconsistent. I don't get why he stuck with some players all year to drop them at this stage, when he should have been doing it all along. Bringing on Boyle and Cummins at the very end was confusing, as they should have been on earlier when it was obvious the forwards were struggling. Had he given those players a run against Mayo we would have been no worse off and they would have had senior level experience going into today. Maybe a light has finally clicked, the increase in ball being broken and picked up by Galway players once Bergin went off was incredible. It's got to be time to drop the old guard and build with the new guys.

Hammer Archer

mars bar wrote: »

I wonder is there a clip of Canning's ridiculous back flick with his hand in the second half. We were over that side of the pitch and we were left gob smacked with the vision and execution of it. It was outstanding!

Just saw it on RTE there. Words cannot describe how amazing that was.

Diabhal Beag

So apparently no Croke Park for the QF's. Likely Thurles.

tang1

tang1 wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Westmeath man with a Connemara father here, Tomas O is going to ruin Galway football if hes left in charge for any length of time. Galway football has always been based on playing "proper" football, not afraid to kick the ball. Tomas O is far to defense minded to bring the county on, Westmeath probably had its best group of players ever when he took over them and look at then now, he ruined them. What Galway county board were thinkin putting him in charge is beyond me. What ever standard of footballer is on the panel atm, current management is not going to help it improve. Know few of decent Westmeath footballers were delighted to see him go (not many of them tho). Only my two cents worth from experience and what i've heard.

Think Galway needs a local manager or new one at very least, as i said my old man is from Galway but i'm living in Meath and have seen a fair bit of club football here. Meath are rubbish, with capital R, Kevin Walsh wud be a massive improvement on TOF, hes not going to bring the footballers any at all, sorry.

Clemon

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

So apparently no Croke Park for the QF's. Likely Thurles.

Was really hoping for croker. Waterford never perform in croker. Thurles is like a 2nd home for them, its where they play best

RealityCheck

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

So apparently no Croke Park for the QF's. Likely Thurles.

It was always likely to be Thurles. I know we don't tend to have our best games there and getting there is a pain but there's no reason why we can't play well there. We've done so a few times in the last few years. Yes, Waterford love it but they are in disarray. We have the forwards to casue their FB line a lot of trouble. Won't be an easy game but given the fact we lost to them 2 years ago we should be itching to get one over them and to put them to bed.

gandroid

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

So apparently no Croke Park for the QF's. Likely Thurles.

How is it apparent? Care to share?

Diabhal Beag

gandroid wrote: »

How is it apparent? Care to share?

It will be a double header along with Lim/Dub and Dublin can't have home advantage. Has to be a neutral venue.

RealityCheck

tang1 wrote: »

Think Galway needs a local manager or new one at very least, as i said my old man is from Galway but i'm living in Meath and have seen a fair bit of club football here. Meath are rubbish, with capital R, Kevin Walsh wud be a massive improvement on TOF, hes not going to bring the footballers any at all, sorry.

What I feel we need to do is coordinate the managers at all levels from U21 through to senior, so that there can be continuity over the next few years. I see Tommy Joyce is managing the minor teams. I'd love to see people like Padraic Joyce, John Divilly, Kevin Walsh, Alan Mullholland involved in the various set ups. If you look at the Tipp hurlers as a model they have great continuity from U16 to U21 to Senior. In our case I see Alan Mullholland as the right man for the senior job. He's followed players through the ranks, similar to Mickey Harte at Tyrone ten years ago. If we appoint him we must ensure we have the right managers following in the U21 and Minor positions. In a couple of years ideally Tommy Joyce would become U21 manager. Then maybe leading to Senior as a selector or as manager. It would be great for the young players coming through if they could feel a seamless transition between underage and senior. As it happens Tommy Joyce managed one of the Tedd Webb teams at U16 before he became Minor manager so maybe the county board have copped on to the idea. Pity they appointed an outside manager for the senior gig though.

gandroid

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It will be a double header along with Lim/Dub and Dublin can't have home advantage. Has to be a neutral venue.

I'm not so sure it couldn't be in Croke Park for that reason. As HQ it's anomalous in terms of neutrality. It would be good for all sides for it to be in Croke Park too and I doubt Limerick would have an issue with it either.

It may well be Thurles anyway though as it's geogaphically cental for the four competing counties.

Diabhal Beag

gandroid wrote: »

I'm not so sure it couldn't be in Croke Park for that reason. As HQ it's anomalous in terms of neutrality. It would be good for all sides for it to be in Croke Park too and I doubt Limerick would have an issue with it either.

It may well be Thurles anyway though as it's geogaphically cental for the four competing counties.

I thin Dublin/Limerick was on before the last Galway/Waterford match in Thurles. I'd love for it to be in Croker but I doubt it'll happen.

gandroid

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I thin Dublin/Limerick was on before the last Galway/Waterford match in Thurles.

It was...but what difference does that make?

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I'd love for it to be in Croker but I doubt it'll happen.

Me too!

Diabhal Beag

gandroid wrote: »

It was...but what difference does that make?

It won't be a neutral venue if Dublin are playing at home in Croke Park.

gandroid

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It won't be a neutral venue if Dublin are playing at home in Croke Park.

But as I already said the neutrality issue is anomalous when it comes to Croke Park.

The Dublin footballers played at home in the Leinster final yesterday and often do.

I don't think that is the reason the same quarter-final match ups were in Thurles 2 years ago. As far as I'm aware these matches could have been in Croke Park then and could be again this year.

Chances are they will choose Thurles for pitch and the anticipated attendance. We'll know in the next couple of hours in any case but all I'm saying is that neutrality would not be the reaon they would be put to Thurles.

premierstone

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It won't be a neutral venue if Dublin are playing at home in Croke Park.

Parnell Park is Dublins home ground not Croke Park.

yop

premierstone wrote: »

Parnell Park is Dublins home ground not Croke Park.

Thats true, yet they moved their home league games to Croker?? Its home matches every week for the Dubs, not that it makes any difference anyway

gandroid

gandroid wrote: »

I don't think that is the reason the same quarter-final match ups were in Thurles 2 years ago. As far as I'm aware these matches could have been in Croke Park then and could be again this year.

There was no hype around Dublin then, however after the league this year they moved the Offaly game to HQ in anticipation of a bigger attendance.
We would have played them at HQ as well had it not being booked out to Take That in the height of the Championship(:rolleyes:)

If they think they can top the capacity of Thurles then it will be HQ imo..... but I don't think enough Dubs would show myself after the Leinster Final

Kojak

So has it been announced for definate where the 1/4 finals will be played?

Diabhal Beag

Kojak wrote: »

So has it been announced for definate where the 1/4 finals will be played?

If you don't know yet its in Thurles.

aidan24326

Super performance from the hurlers. Incredible transformation since the Dublin game. Keep playing like that and they'll take some beating.

As for the footballers I think it's time for a clearout. O'Flatharta is not going to take them anywhere. We have good young players coming through, and I think Alan Mulholland deserves a crack at it now. Build it around the U-21s and maybe we'll be competitive again in the next couple of years. We have the likes of Peadar O'Griofa and Shane Maughan to come through aswell so it's not all bad. The current managemant have to go though.

Kojak

aidan24326 wrote: »

Super performance from the hurlers. Incredible transformation since the Dublin game. Keep playing like that and they'll take some beating.

Even thought I'd say I would be one of their harder critics on here, I will give credit where it is due. They have recovered well from that debacle above in Tullamore, albeit against a very naieve Clare team and a Cork team who are in major transition. I would have liked them to have scored more goals the last day - there was 2 or 3 more chances for goal when points were taken. We seen what Tipp done when the opportunity presented itself on Sunday, that kind of ruthlessness is still missing from the hurlers. If they can reproduce what they against Cork and Clare for Waterford, we should win. But consistency, especially at the business end of the championship has been Galways biggest problem for years. Hopefully this us starting to change - the 24th will tell a lot. I'd still see KK and Tipp being well ahead of us, but if we made a 1/2 and put up a good performance, then the year could be classed as slight progress.

aidan24326

Kojak wrote: »

Even thought I'd say I would be one of their harder critics on here, I will give credit where it is due. They have recovered well from that debacle above in Tullamore, albeit against a very naieve Clare team and a Cork team who are in major transition. I would have liked them to have scored more goals the last day - there was 2 or 3 more chances for goal when points were taken. We seen what Tipp done when the opportunity presented itself on Sunday, that kind of ruthlessness is still missing from the hurlers. If they can reproduce what they against Cork and Clare for Waterford, we should win. But consistency, especially at the business end of the championship has been Galways biggest problem for years. Hopefully this us starting to change - the 24th will tell a lot. I'd still see KK and Tipp being well ahead of us, but if we made a 1/2 and put up a good performance, then the year could be classed as slight progress.

Kilkenny and Tipp are still a bit ahead for sure, but the way Galway played on Saturday Kilkenny will be wary I can assure you. Saying Cork are 'in transition' is not the whole story. Ok Cork aren't as strong as they might have been in the past but that's still not a bad Cork team and Galway really put them to the sword. They should now beat a demoralised Waterford team and then it's on to Kilkenny, who I have to admit looked ominously good against Dublin.

But normally we're used to giving out about the hurlers so it's nice to be saying positive things for a change. That performance on Saturday was up there with what we've seen from KK and Tipp this year. On that form we we'll give Kilkenny a serious test.

premierstone

aidan24326 wrote: »

They should now beat a demoralised Waterford team and then it's on to Kilkenny, who I have to admit looked ominously good against Dublin.

Not taking anything away from Galways last two wins which were very impressive but this is the trap Galway have been falling into every year since 1988, do not take a wounded Waterford for granted, old warriors like Tony Browne, John Mullane, Brick, Moran etc will not go out in a whimper, their pride will be hurting over the next two weeks, a bit like the Galways players were after the Dublin game.

Diabhal Beag

Waterford have nothing to lose going into the match. Galway start off nervy. We will be found out lads and the space won't be as free as it was against Clare and Cork.

O.A.P

This game is a potential bannana skin for Galway no doubt about it and I would take a one point win at this stage. I hope they win it comprehensively and on form they should, but having to go to Thurles to play a Waterford team who will be playing to restore some pride after the hammering on Sunday, form goes out the window.

aidan24326

premierstone wrote: »

Not taking anything away from Galways last two wins which were very impressive but this is the trap Galway have been falling into every year since 1988, do not take a wounded Waterford for granted, old warriors like Tony Browne, John Mullane, Brick, Moran etc will not go out in a whimper, their pride will be hurting over the next two weeks, a bit like the Galways players were after the Dublin game.

That would be the only worry from a Galway perspective, that there might be a Waterford backlash, that they'll want to show they're not as bad as they looked on Sunday (and in fairness they aren't).

But I don't see it going like that. I think this Waterford team is finished as a major force, for now anyway. The likes of Browne, Moran, Walsh and Mullane have alot of miles on the clock, and then you have old warriors like Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn who've already retired. These are the players they turned to over the last decade and now most of them are either retired or entering the last chapter of their career.

Confidence means alot in sport. Galway will have their tails up after the last two wins while Waterford will find it very hard to pick themselves up after such a humiliating defeat to one of their big rivals. I wouldn't write Waterford off completely as you do so at your peril, but I'll be amazed if they can resurrect themselves from the ashes of Sunday's walloping. The mood in the camp can't be good after that.

(I know Galway picked themselves up after the Dublin game, but the nature of that defeat was nowhere near as bad)

Mountainlad

aidan24326 wrote: »

That would be the only worry from a Galway perspective, that there might be a Waterford backlash, that they'll want to show they're not as bad as they looked on Sunday (and in fairness they aren't).

But I don't see it going like that. I think this Waterford team is finished as a major force, for now anyway. The likes of Browne, Moran, Walsh and Mullane have alot of miles on the clock, and then you have old warriors like Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn who've already retired. These are the players they turned to over the last decade and now most of them are either retired or entering the last chapter of their career.

Confidence means alot in sport. Galway will have their tails up after the last two wins while Waterford will find it very hard to pick themselves up after such a humiliating defeat to one of their big rivals. I wouldn't write Waterford off completely as you do so at your peril, but I'll be amazed if they can resurrect themselves from the ashes of Sunday's walloping. The mood in the camp can't be good after that.

(I know Galway picked themselves up after the Dublin game, but the nature of that defeat was nowhere near as bad)

Moran is 24. Brick is 28, and with him restored to centre back you'll see a vastly improved performance. His best game this year was in the league against Galway. Tony Browne was our best player on Sunday. Mullane will be itching to set the record stright. To be honest, he could maybe do with some time off he's had a long year.

The confidence is the one thing you'd be worried about. I don't think we're really any worse than Galway, but certainly they have definetly the better form.

aidan24326

Mountainlad wrote: »

Moran is 24. Brick is 28, and with him restored to centre back you'll see a vastly improved performance. His best game this year was in the league against Galway. Tony Browne was our best player on Sunday. Mullane will be itching to set the record stright. To be honest, he could maybe do with some time off he's had a long year.

The confidence is the one thing you'd be worried about. I don't think we're really any worse than Galway, but certainly they have definetly the better form.

Didn't realise Moran was that young. I'm not writing Waterford off at all believe me, but I just think they'll find it hard to pick up the pieces after Sunday. It's an intriguing game though where both teams have questions to answer.

For Galway it's a case of whether they can maintain the form of the last two games. Always a big if with Galway.

For Waterford it's a test of character now to see if they can bounce back from Sunday's disaster.

On current form it's a game Galway ought to win, but I've been following Galway hurling teams long enough to know that it rarely works out as easy as that. I'm confident though. With Canning and Hayes on fire and Farragher and Tannian and David Burke playing really well Waterford will have to up their game an awful lot if they're to win this one.