Footballer of the Year?

gearoidc

Karl Lacey?

Very deserving imo especially considering the way he was nobbled last year.

washman3

Surely the media will push hard for one of their "beloved" Brogan brothers.
Must be Paul's turn this year............:D

Dirty Dingus McGee

I'd give it to McFadden.He was more consistent than Lacey this year.In every match he played well and was Donegals most important forward by a mile this year.Lacey was quiet enough in the ulster championship and although his performances have been excellent in the all ireland series I think McFadden deserves it slightly more.

gearoidc

washman3 wrote: »

Surely the media will push hard for one of their "beloved" Brogan brothers.
Must be Paul's turn this year............:D

Don't get me started.
I had Darran O'S at 66/1 last year.

Justin10

Awh ye Dublin are the media darlings

Alan deserved it last year, he was brilliant.

Brain Stroking

I'm sure the Donegal team will be on the Late Late this Friday night like the Dubs were last year

starlit

Darran O'Sullivan or Colm Cooper - Kerry
Colm McFadden or Michael Murphy - Donegal
One of the Brogan brothers - Dublin

Few good players around the country including cork

Couple of good goalkeepers and those that put ball in goal, some superb strikes during this years season Championships.

Ristiano Conaldo

There's no way in hell any of the Brogans will win it, they were useless!! Colm McFadden was the best player in the championship this year IMO.

starlit

It be a Donegal Player I say that will win Footballer of the year this year I say. Bernard Brogan, A goalkeeper, goal scorer, A Cork Player, Darran O S/Gooch likely to be nominees.

Dirty Dingus McGee

doovdela wrote: »

Darran O'Sullivan or Colm Cooper - Kerry
Colm McFadden or Michael Murphy - Donegal
One of the Brogan brothers - Dublin

Few good players around the country including cork

Couple of good goalkeepers and those that put ball in goal, some superb strikes during this years season Championships.

O'Sullivan, Cooper or the Brogan brothers haven't a hope in hell of being nominated for player of the year.They wont get next nor near getting all stars either and rightly so.They all had mediocre years

Footballer of the year nominees.Will be McFadden,Lacey and McHugh.

cgpg5

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Footballer of the year nominees.Will be McFadden,Lacey and McHugh.

Mc Loughlin I'd say

ProudDUB

washman3 wrote: »

Surely the media will push hard for one of their "beloved" Brogan brothers.
Must be Paul's turn this year............:D

Oh wow. Bitter much?

A Donegal player will and should get it this year. You'd be very hard pressed to find any Dub who would disagree with that.

shiibata

Would be thinking Lacey will get it although would like to think my own club man will be in the running too, Frank McGlynn.....

JFlah

shiibata wrote: »

Would be thinking Lacey will get it although would like to think my own club man will be in the running too, Frank McGlynn.....

Great shout he has to be in the running has been more and more exceptional as the season progressed

wonga77

How the hell could anyone think one of the Brogans could be nominated? Has to be mcFadden surely?

shiibata

wonga77 wrote: »

How the hell could anyone think one of the Brogans could be nominated? Has to be mcFadden surely?

Have gone for Lacey, McFadden in the mix too alright.. he done something yesterday, he would have never done this last few years...a high ball came in one time in 2nd half, nowhere near him but by jaysus, he got a hand to it, broke it and then got it and won a close in free..pure determination, would have not even contested the wayward high ball other years..

K-9

shiibata wrote: »

Have gone for Lacey, McFadden in the mix too alright.. he done something yesterday, he would have never done this last few years...a high ball came in one time in 2nd half, nowhere near him but by jaysus, he got a hand to it, broke it and then got it and won a close in free..pure determination, would have not even contested the wayward high ball other years..

He has done that I'd say in nearly every match, the most improved footballer in the country for me.

I think Lacey was quiet enough up the the Ulster Final. McGlynn for me, I don't think he played a bad match, I'd sayhe'd be a fan favourite but these things are often decided on reputation. Lacey probably deserves it for service to the jersey over the years.

shiibata

K-9 wrote: »

He has done that I'd say in nearly every match, the most improved footballer in the country for me.

I think Lacey was quiet enough up the the Ulster Final. McGlynn for me, I don't think he played a bad match, I'd sayhe'd be a fan favourite but these things are often decided on reputation. Lacey probably deserves it for service to the jersey over the years.

Ye, Lacey was well in the running last year til um, he ran into a few clumsy tackles:p and that was that....
Ye, Frank has been very consistent, 1-4 I think and would say going by soccer terms, a good few assists too, Donegals last point yesterday being one...thought he covered some ground yesterday..he was prob the main link up man yesterday as Lacey was occupied with Dillon most of the game..

Joekers

washman3 wrote: »

Surely the media will push hard for one of their "beloved" Brogan brothers.
Must be Paul's turn this year............:D

When they won their awards they won them fair and square because they were footballers of the year Nothing to do with being the darlings of the media.

Would love to see Karl Lacey getting it this year

shiibata

Paddy Power says;

K Lacey 2/5
Colm McFadden 15/8
F McGlynn 12/1
Michael Murphy 16/1

homerjay2005

i think mcfadden should get it....Lacey probably will though.

boxer.fan

As a Donegal man this is a tough one to call. I think Karl Lacey has had another top drawer performance this year, however, it may not have been as visible as other years since the rest of the team have had some wonderful performances also.

Lacey has been consistently excellent over the years, while McFadden has pulled it all out of the bag this year and shown he is a top class forward. Frank McGlynn will no doubt land an All Star.

Young Player of the Year - surely McHugh

cgpg5

boxer.fan wrote: »

As a Donegal man this is a tough one to call. I think Karl Lacey has had another top drawer performance this year, however, it may not have been as visible as other years since the rest of the team have had some wonderful performances also.

Lacey has been consistently excellent over the years, while McFadden has pulled it all out of the bag this year and shown he is a top class forward. Frank McGlynn will no doubt land an All Star.

Young Player of the Year - surely McHugh

Too old. It'll be McBrearty

AGC

boxer.fan wrote: »

Young Player of the Year - surely McHugh

Donal Keogan for me with Lacey getting the main award and fully deserving IMO.

The talk of Brogans is from one smart comment, they won't come close but were both nailed on the last 2 years.

Kojak

shiibata wrote: »

Would be thinking Lacey will get it although would like to think my own club man will be in the running too, Frank McGlynn.....

McGlynn was excellent all year long, and could well get a nomination for the award, but it seems Lacey has it in the bag already. Which I find strange as I felt that up to the final, Mcfadden was the favourite to win it.

Also, who are the contendors for Young footballer of the year? McBrearty, Cillian O'Connor - after that????? McBrearty shouldn't win it - he was a worker, not a marquee forward as such. O'Connor was more influential to Mayo, but had a poor enough final. Any other contendors/

Ceist_Beag

I think on his semi final alone Cillian O'Connor should get the young player of the year. Lacey for me is the outstanding footballer over the past number of years. I think McFadden would be the most worthy winner this year but I think Lacey will probably win it and I certainly wouldn't begrudge him it.

Fr Tod Umptious

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

I think on his semi final alone Cillian O'Connor should get the young player of the year. Lacey for me is the outstanding footballer over the past number of years. I think McFadden would be the most worthy winner this year but I think Lacey will probably win it and I certainly wouldn't begrudge him it.

Cillian O' Conor got it last year, he is not going to get it again.

Utopia Parkway

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Cillian O' Conor got it last year, he is not going to get it again.

Only scored 0-2 from play all Summer as well. As good a free-taker as he is he needs to be contributing as lot more from play than that.

Qwerty Dub

washman3 wrote: »

Surely the media will push hard for one of their "beloved" Brogan brothers.
Must be Paul's turn this year............:D

Can you honestly say that Alan didn't deserve POTY in 2011 & that Bernard didn't deserve it in 2010. Honestly?

ArielAtom

If going on this year alone then it's McFadden. Lacey has been consistent over two seasons but not footballer of year in either of them. You'll find the correct decision has been reached in the last couple of years and hopefully will be again this year.

ayeboy

Colm Anthony for me.....IMMENSE all season.

curry-muff

Qwerty Dub wrote: »

Can you honestly say that Alan didn't deserve POTY in 2011 & that Bernard didn't deserve it in 2010. Honestly?

Yes

ArielAtom

curry-muff wrote: »

Yes

Totally laughable. Not enough LOL's to be had for this.

RGM

When is the decision made?

ProudDUB

Night of the All Star awards I think.

Benjyyy

Lacey for me. I'm a bit biased probably from seeing the way Lacey has played for us for years now he deserves it. He is a true leader and now is surely Donegal's greatest ever player, it would be a fitting tribute to him. He hasnt missed a championship game since 2004 I think it is. For years he was the firefighter for us, always put on the oppositions most dangerous player.

McFadden has been brilliant this year but out of his total only 2-12 has been from play over 7 games. Some great scores in there but I think forwards have won enough of these awards and its about time a defender got some credit. Especially with the running game that Donegal have played, Lacey typifies our game.

He may not have had the best game in the final but only by his standards, which shows how high his standards are! He played the ball into Murphy for his goal, he was involved in the buildup for the 2nd goal playing a lovely cross field pass to open up the play. He then played the ball into Murphy which almost resulted in a 3rd goal for McFadden. He also was responsible for a couple of crucial turnovers, 1 which led to a score with about 10 minutes left.

I just think it would be a really fitting tribute to someone who is now an all-time great (this will be his 4th all star)

downthemiddle

Benjyyy wrote: »

Lacey for me. I'm a bit biased probably from seeing the way Lacey has played for us for years now he deserves it. He is a true leader and now is surely Donegal's greatest ever player, it would be a fitting tribute to him. He hasnt missed a championship game since 2004 I think it is. For years he was the firefighter for us, always put on the oppositions most dangerous player.

McFadden has been brilliant this year but out of his total only 2-12 has been from play over 7 games. Some great scores in there but I think forwards have won enough of these awards and its about time a defender got some credit. Especially with the running game that Donegal have played, Lacey typifies our game.

He may not have had the best game in the final but only by his standards, which shows how high his standards are! He played the ball into Murphy for his goal, he was involved in the buildup for the 2nd goal playing a lovely cross field pass to open up the play. He then played the ball into Murphy which almost resulted in a 3rd goal for McFadden. He also was responsible for a couple of crucial turnovers, 1 which led to a score with about 10 minutes left.

I just think it would be a really fitting tribute to someone who is now an all-time great (this will be his 4th all star)

Donegal have had four stand out players this season, Lacey, McGlynn, McHugh and McFadden. Three out of the four would be comfortable wearing any jersey from 2 to 15 while Colm Anthony has kicked outstanding scores and won a lot of dirty ball, something he didn't do previously.
There have been others who have also had excellent seasons such as McGrath, Thompson and E McGee, while Neil Gallagher won himself an all star in his last two games.
I suppose I have a slight leaning towards Lacey because he has been the best player I have ever seen in a Donegal jersey. He is the model player with an excellent attitude and never let the county down, even in the dark days.
However, I would be quite happy for any of the other three to win the award either.
There has been some very lazy analysis in the last few days. People picking McHugh as a half back on their all star teams fail to recognise the importance of his role for Donegal. He could never play that role as a half back and Lacey could not be as effective as he is without McHugh's ability to read situations and take the correct options.
It has also been said that playing in the Donegal full back line is an easy job as you have twelve defenders in the team. However it is the inter changing of the Donegal players that make them so effective. This was shown with the final score on Sunday when McGlynn passed to Thompson to set up Gallagher, all within 40 metres of the Mayo goal. The full back line and half back line have a licence to attack in numbers because of the role McHugh, Bradley and McLoone play on the team.

Hulk Hands

curry-muff wrote: »

Yes

Whatever about Alan last season, Ive rarely if ever seen a forward dominate the year before like Bernard did. Even though they lost at the semi final stage, he was the most deserving footballer of the year winner for a long time

aidan24326

I know Mark McHugh has been mentioned as a possible YPOTY contender, and he may be too old for that. But what about as a contender for POTY outright? He's been so instrumental in everything that Donegal have done. He gets his hands on a huge amount of ball and I'd struggle to think of an instance where he wasted possession. His stats in terms of ground covered, ball won and pass completion would be pretty impressive I'd imagine.

Benjyyy

aidan24326 wrote: »

I know Mark McHugh has been mentioned as a possible YPOTY contender, and he may be too old for that. But what about as a contender for POTY outright? He's been so instrumental in everything that Donegal have done. He gets his hands on a huge amount of ball and I'd struggle to think of an instance where he wasted possession. His stats in terms of ground covered, ball won and pass completion would be pretty impressive I'd imagine.

Mark McHugh has been great this year but I would have Lacey, McFadden and McGlynn all ahead of him

gallyer

Benjyyy wrote: »

Lacey for me. I'm a bit biased probably from seeing the way Lacey has played for us for years now he deserves it. He is a true leader and now is surely Donegal's greatest ever player, it would be a fitting tribute to him. He hasnt missed a championship game since 2004 I think it is. For years he was the firefighter for us, always put on the oppositions most dangerous player.

McFadden has been brilliant this year but out of his total only 2-12 has been from play over 7 games. Some great scores in there but I think forwards have won enough of these awards and its about time a defender got some credit. Especially with the running game that Donegal have played, Lacey typifies our game.

He may not have had the best game in the final but only by his standards, which shows how high his standards are! He played the ball into Murphy for his goal, he was involved in the buildup for the 2nd goal playing a lovely cross field pass to open up the play. He then played the ball into Murphy which almost resulted in a 3rd goal for McFadden. He also was responsible for a couple of crucial turnovers, 1 which led to a score with about 10 minutes left.

I just think it would be a really fitting tribute to someone who is now an all-time great (this will be his 4th all star)

Agree with pretty much all of that! The only thing I'd say is I don't agree that Lacey didn't have a great game in final (as you say - only by his own high standards) I thought he was excellent everything good for Donegal in the first half went through him, I can't remember him mis-placing a pass in first half - and unusually a lot of it was foot passing rather than his usual hand-passing and running on to take the return. As you said the first goal came from him and he also started the move for the second goal. Second half he was a bit quieter, but I think that had more to do with keeping Dillon quiet. He did lose possession about three times in the last ten minutes, and thats probably more than he's given up possession in the last two years combined!!

Would love to see him get it, and think it will be between himself, mcGlynn and McFadden.

mick.mcg1

mark mchugh has it in the bag

downthemiddle

mick.mcg1 wrote: »

mark mchugh has it in the bag

"Well lads,
Im a 17 year old"

Says it all really :rolleyes:

mick.mcg1

downthemiddle wrote: »

"Well lads,
Im a 17 year old"

Says it all really :rolleyes:

your point?

downthemiddle

mick.mcg1 wrote: »

your point?

My point is that you have made a bald statement of fact without anything to substaniate it. Perhaps you would like to tell us why McHugh is more likely to win it rather than Lacey, McFadden or McGlynn.

mick.mcg1

as he was the heart-beat of that Donegal team.. He made the Donegal team click..Was their play maker!!.. Everything Donegal done was mostly through him!! Need any more detail??

downthemiddle

mick.mcg1 wrote: »

as he was the heart-beat of that Donegal team.. He made the Donegal team click..Was their play maker!!.. Everything Donegal done was mostly through him!! Need any more detail??

Some would say that you are describing the role Lacey or McGlynn played for Donegal this year.

mick.mcg1

that's you're own opinion. But McGlynn was not a play maker. He was an effective defender. Lacey had a very good year but i do not think he was the best footballer this year.. McHugh was the man who started most of Donegals attacks this year.. But to be honest i think you defiantly could consider Mc Loughlin Higgins or Cafferkey from a mayo point of view

K-9

He didn't have a great final though and that will come into it. Lacey was quieter in the second half, probably because of 2 hard cynical knocks he took.

Tbh, based on the season it's McFadden, top scorer, some inspirational points when really needed and missed very few frees. I'd say him and Murphy probably had over 90% accuracy from frees all season, exceptional stuff.

shiibata

mick.mcg1 wrote: »

that's you're own opinion. But McGlynn was not a play maker. He was an effective defender. Lacey had a very good year but i do not think he was the best footballer this year.. McHugh was the man who started most of Donegals attacks this year.. But to be honest i think you defiantly could consider Mc Loughlin Higgins or Cafferkey from a mayo point of view

Would be thinking Frank set up a good lot of scores and scoring 1-4 in the process too.
In nearly every game, he has nearly been on the shortlist for man of the match, very consistent player..

Benjyyy

K-9 wrote: »

He didn't have a great final though and that will come into it. Lacey was quieter in the second half, probably because of 2 hard cynical knocks he took.

Tbh, based on the season it's McFadden, top scorer, some inspirational points when really needed and missed very few frees. I'd say him and Murphy probably had over 90% accuracy from frees all season, exceptional stuff.

I think the hits did affect him a bit. That hit he took off Vaughan was bone shuddering stuff on the slomo! He got dispossessed once (could easily have been a foul to be fair) and then he gave a poor pass near the end. Then I thought to myself when was the last time Lacey misplaced a pass like that....and I honestly can't remember. Considering the amount of ball the man gets on its incredible that he almost never loses it.

McFadden was very accurate this year but I think player of the year should do a bit more. From play he was a bit quiet in the final, the goal was a good finish but expected really it was on a plate for him. He missed the other good goal chance and hit a monster early point. And he won a free in the 2nd half but that was it really. Stats show he only had 7 possessions on the ball which was 1 of the lowest on the pitch. To score 1-1 from play and win a free is a pretty good return on that I suppose.