2013 - Hopes and Expectations

Tom Joad

Bored at work so thought this might be a bit of fun and we can look at this again during the year to see how things panned out.

So theory is for your county, set out your hopes for how they will do next year - can be realistic hopes and wildest dreams - Go Mad!!

I'll start the ball rolling -

Cavan (Football)
Realistic hopes:
Ulster title at Minor level
Ulster title at U-21
All-Ireland final appearance at either level
Senior: Beat Armagh and reach Ulster final
Club level: A Cavan team at senior level to win a match in Ulster
League: Promotion to Division 2.

Wildest Dreams
Two All-Ireland's (Minor and Under 21)
Ulster title and AI Semi-Final appearance at Senior level
County Board implement Quinn Report and restructure County Championship

Expectations
Think Under 21's will win Ulster and Minors will reach Ulster finals
Seniors to miss out on league promotion to Meath and Monaghan
Seniors to lose to Armagh (2-3 points) and win one qualifier game but then to lose to a top ten team by 3-4 points.
Club level - Gaels to win county and get tanked in Ulster with at least 3 sent-off - county board does lots of navel gazing and decides we need more senior clubs not less.

Cavan Hurling
Nothing major here but increase numbers playing at schools level and keep progressing on Hurling Development plan. Oh and County final to be played

Fr Tod Umptious

Mayo
Realistic Hopes
All Ireland

Expectation
All Ireland

Worst Nightmare
Loss to Galway in May or loose another All Ireland final

cormac halpin

There is no hope. This is what I expect.

Defiler Of The Coffin

Mayo:
Give those Galway scoundrels a good beating in Salthill

iDave

From a Meath point of view, promotion from Div 3. Decent run in Leinster, get to the final hopefully. QF in the All Ireland is best we can hope for.
Another hope for 2013 would be for someone to swiftly end any talk of Mayo winning the AI

tacofries

Mayo at least make it to final, with the aim and potential ro winning it. If we don't win this year than 2014 will definitely be ours! Cannot wait!

Draydis80

Limerick Football

Get out of Division 4
Run Cork close
Win a few games in the qualifiers

Limerick Hurling

Promotion in the league
Win Munster anything after that would be a bonus

Fowler87

Funny one from Mayo perspective as last year was a great season both in league (recovered from potential relegation to reach league final) and championship (Retained Connacht and unreal run to AI final defying odds again with great football in latter stages in Croke Park).. So to improve upon that will be hell of alot difficult to repeat next year. As long as they keep the core team system going along with adding more depth to squad and keeping the same mentality; not getting notions like Mayo teams in the past, I'm sure another League final, AI semi final at least is on the cards

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Not too sure of the point of doing hopes and expectations, surely the hope should be a Celtic Cross in September.

Galway Football:
Beat Mayo, go on to win Connacht and get to the AI SF.

More realism:
Just beat anyone from outside of Connacht. If we were to get to the QFs through the qualifiers I would be ecstatic, but really, anything after a win against non-Connacht opposition would be a bonus. Shows how far we've regressed in the last decade.



Galway Hurling:

Beat Kilkenny in the All Ireland final. That's really the only improvement possible after last year. I fully believe we're capable, we have shown we have the hurlers to match them, and with a few new faces in the panel next year, along with the return of Barry Daly and others, we should be able to push on and clinch Liam for the first time in 23 years.

randd1

Here is my predictions for the year for Kilkenny.

Kilkenny Hurling

Minor Leinster Champions
Minor AI Semi-Finalists
U21 Leinster Champions
U21 AI Finalists
NHL Finalists
Leinster Senior Champions
AI Senior Champions

Kilkenny Football

Look up football in the dictionary

Clareman

Clare Football
Some underage success.
Promotion out of Division 4 in the league.
Reach Munster Final. Win a playoff game.

Clare Hurling
Retain Division 1 Status, with the favourable draw I'd be hoping for playoff game.
Beat Waterford in first round. Reach All Ireland Quarter Final at least.

premierstone

Tipp Hurling :

Thurles Sars to win the AI
Seniors to restore some pride and hopefully reach the AI final.
Minors and U21's will be both very strong so provincial and nathinal titles would be fantastic and achievable.

Tipp Football:

Win Division 4 of the NFL
Win Munster U21 title
Good run in the qualifiers after putting it up to Kerry.

platypus

Laois football

Realistic hopes
Win division 2
Reach Leinster final
Reach all Ireland quarter final

Wildest dreams
Win division 2
Win Leinster
Reach all Ireland semi

Expectations
Be in top 3 in division 2
Beat Louth, think it will be very tight if v Wexford and Meath if we meet them
Reach qualifier round 3 or 4

Underage winning at least one game each at minor and u21 would be nice. At club level I would like new champions, if portlaoise win again I would like to see them win an all Ireland

Laois hurling

Realistic hopes
Win division 2
Reach Leinster semi, and establish ourselves as best of the Laois/Antrim/Carlow/Westmeath type teams
Run Offaly or Wexford close if we meet them, keep it respectable v anyone else

Wildest dreams
Beat Offaly or Wexford if we meet, give any of the bigger guns a fright for 60 mins

Expectations
Win division 2 and we should have a chance of reaching Leinster semi
Keep it respectable in qualifiers v Offaly or Wexford , anyone in top 8 will destroy us

Underage I'd like a couple of wins at minor and u21, think a title is well beyond us. At club level I'd like to see champions win a Leinster championship game v one of the established county's champions

ReacherCreature

Tipperary hurling

Realistic hopes

I expect the team to have a good year. O' Shea is an intelligent, experienced, and popular (judging from Sheedy's tenure). An All-Ireland semi-final is within the team's grasp. Nearly every player from the last year is back. There's some fantastic hurlers on this team and if we're good, they'll be recognised. Or the opposite could happen and the year could be a work in progress/rebuilding but there's an element to O' Shea's interviews that we're going to compete straight away.

Wildest Dreams

We win the All-Ireland, dismantling every team in the country on the way to routing Kilkenny. Tipperary sends a swathe of players to the All-Stars. Pride and hope as at an all time high in The Premier County - all teams below senior dominate. Begins the six in a row until we take a break and allow Limerick to win it.

Expectations

Similar to realistic expectations really.

I expect Tipperary footballers to have a good year. Quietly, last year they progressed far but were ultimately defeated. The league isn't out of their reach at least this year.

dastardly00

Kilkenny Hurling:

The realistic expectations would be for the Senior team to be there or there abouts come September 2013. U-21 and Intermediate teams should be very competitive again, while the minor team mightn't make it too far in the AI series.

Wildest dreams would be to win senior, U-21, intermediate and minor AI championships

Kilkenny Football:

Eh'll ...... *scratches head* ...... I'll get back to ye on that one!

Brain Stroking

Mayo for Sam

Hammer Archer

Meath Football
We simply have to get out of division 3. Anything less than that will be a disaster.
We should be aiming for another Leinster Final given that we're on the "easier" side of the draw, hopefully winning it this year.
Failing that, I think a quarter final appearance would be something to build on.

Hopefully the minors can get some silverware this season.

Meath Hurling
Think we have a good chance of getting out of division 2B. We won't make a hell of a lot of progress if we're stuck against mediocre teams like Armagh and Roscommon.
We were robbed of a chance to make the Christy Ring Cup final last season having been on the end of an awful red card decision in the first half of the semi final. We've made the semi final a few times now, have to make a final at some stage.

DARK-KNIGHT

Kildare (Football)
Realistic hopes: to bring silverware home of some kind
League: really hope we get a good run. div 1 is so tough though hoping we can stay up there with the big guns tbh.

Wildest Dreams
Win the All Ireland... 1928 1928 1928 FFS

Expectations
I expect kildare to step it up this year and surprise the begrudgers. so many passionate fans love following the county, think pride was hurt last year after johnston affair etc. but this year ted this year lol

Kildare Hurling
hurling in the county is forgotten by most such a shame as some lovely hurlers in the county. dont know what to say apart from im not expecting too much

Prop Joe

Football

Minor

Mickey Ned to get us to an AI Final would do wonders for the grade in Kerry,In the last 6 years we have been knocked out in the minor by the eventual winners,But the Kerry minors have a big monkey on there back with no minor title since 94,A final appearance would do alot to remove that

U21

An AI win under Dara is what we need,Again we need a winning mentality coming through for our teams,Big performances in the grade from the likes of James Walsh,Conor Cox,Padraig McCarthy,Fergal McNamara,Paidí óg,Pa Kilkenny & Damien Somers.


Seniors

A Munster title and Fitzmaurice to get to an AI final i think is realistic,I could see another Dublin/Kerry saga beginning with Jim Gavin at the helm in Dublin.

Fitzy to get Kerry back playing football the way we want it down here,Fast long ball football.

The likes of Brian Maguire,Peter Crowley & Jack Sherwood to make serious push at a few of the aging Kerry backs.

David Moran to come back and have an injury free season

Brian Looney,Mikey Geaney.Daithi Casey & Paul Geaney to strengthen our options up front

Club

Crokes to finally win the AI,But a return to strength of the divisonal sides in the county championship & also the sleeping giants Strand Rd,Laune Rangers

Hurling

To fight it out with Laois for the 2A title,2A is quite a good strong league ahead of the CR.

Win the Chrisy Ring and go hell for leather and enter the Leinster Championship pre-lims next year and battle it out with W'Meath,Carlow,London etc.

blue note

Waterford hurling.

Hopes
Some of the younger players to make the step up from being decent or promising young players to being someone you could see winning an all star, particularly up front. Gavin O'Brien, Mahoney, Shanahan - all decent players, but not feared by anyone. As regards where we get to, u don't really care too much to be honest. No-one in Munster is unbeatable for us, so a Munster title is possible, similarily other than Kilkenny, we could get the better of anyone on our day, so an ai final would not be impossible (although with so many games 50/50 we'd surely get knocked out en route). But, I'd rather lose with the younger guys impressing than have mullane and brick drag us over the line in a Munster final.

Expectation
A similar year to last. Possible relegation from the league, but not certain. then we'll lose one of those 50/50 games in the championship, possibly Clare, possibly someone like limerick in the qualifiers. The young players will probably be similar to last year in terms of quality.

Fears
Mullane to finally show the miles on the clock and the younger players to not step up. We could truely be toothless up front and could lose to anyone.

CorkWalsh2012

Cork Football

Expectations:

League: Win 4 in a row
Munster Championship: Reach Munster Final
All-Ireland: Reach Semi-Finals

Hopes:

Win Munster
Win All-Ireland

Cork Hurling

Expectations:

League: Reach Final
Munster: Reach Final
All-Ireland: Reach Semi-Finals

Hopes:

Win League
Win Munster
Win All-Ireland

henke

Donegal Football

Expectations:
Become the first Donegal team to win three Ulster titles in a row.
Reach at least an AI semi-final.

Hopes:
Win another Ulster.
Be the first Donegal side to retain Sam.

Ando's Saggy Bottom

2013 Hopes and Expectations:

I hope Waterford win the All Ireland. I expect to be disappointed.

Mal-Adjusted

Clare Hurling
hopes: Stay in div 1A, reach Munster final, get to semi-final in AI.

expectations: will probably be a harsh league campaign, might just stay afloat.

Clare Football

They play football in Clare? :eek:

realistically, getting out of div 4 would be counted as a success.

manofwisdom

Prop Joe wrote: »

Football

Minor

Mickey Ned to get us to an AI Final would do wonders for the grade in Kerry,In the last 6 years we have been knocked out in the minor by the eventual winners,But the Kerry minors have a big monkey on there back with no minor title since 94,A final appearance would do alot to remove that

U21

An AI win under Dara is what we need,Again we need a winning mentality coming through for our teams,Big performances in the grade from the likes of James Walsh,Conor Cox,Padraig McCarthy,Fergal McNamara,Paidí óg,Pa Kilkenny & Damien Somers.

Even though Kerry minors reached the semi final this year they weren't overly impressive and probably should have lost to Roscommon. Unless there's a big improvement i can't see them reaching All Ireland final Kerry haven't won Munster minor championship for a few years that's a more realistic target.

At U21 level Tipp having won two in row minor titles must be the team to beat in Munster?

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Mayo
Realistic Hopes
All Ireland

Expectation
All Ireland

I can't imagine many Mayo supporters have the expectations of winning All Ireland. Mayo have now lost 6 senior All Ireland finals in a row shouldn't the realistic hope be to reach another final and hope you can finally win it?

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Clare Football

They play football in Clare?

With Micko around i think we'll hear plenty about Clare football next year.

Davin Stand

manofwisdom wrote: »

Even though Kerry minors reached the semi final this year they weren't overly impressive and probably should have lost to Roscommon. Unless there's a big improvement i can't see them reaching All Ireland final Kerry haven't won Munster minor championship for a few years that's a more realistic target.

Kerry minors were beaten 3 times in last year's Championship, so reaching the semi final made them appear a lot better than they were. I am sure they will be better next year, but they will need to improve a lot to be in contention for an All Ireland title.

Clareman

manofwisdom wrote: »

With Micko around i think we'll hear plenty about Clare football next year.

The players are putting in a great effort already, I met a friend of mine who's on the panel the other night, he's a rake of weight lost, he has been put on a special diet and the training is fairly severe, they are back training on Stephen's Day.

Fr Tod Umptious

manofwisdom wrote: »

Even though Kerry minors reached the semi final this year they weren't overly impressive and probably should have lost to Roscommon. Unless there's a big improvement i can't see them reaching All Ireland final Kerry haven't won Munster minor championship for a few years that's a more realistic target.

At U21 level Tipp having won two in row minor titles must be the team to beat in Munster?



I can't imagine many Mayo supporters have the expectations of winning All Ireland. Mayo have now lost 6 senior All Ireland finals in a row shouldn't the realistic hope be to reach another final and hope you can finally win it?



With Micko around i think we'll hear plenty about Clare football next year.

What mayo teams did in 89, 96, 97, 04 and 06 has feck all bearing on 2013.
But I'm not sure that this is the thread to discuss and dismiss other posters expectations for the year.

I'll start a predictions thread in the new year

Happy Christmas

Syferus

Davin Stand wrote: »

Kerry minors were beaten 3 times in last year's Championship, so reaching the semi final made them appear a lot better than they were. I am sure they will be better next year, but they will need to improve a lot to be in contention for an All Ireland title.

In all honesty it was essentially four. I know I'm biased but everyone, even the Kerry supporters were amazed they won the Roscommon game. They really were second best on the day in every single regard besides the scoreboard, but obviously that's the only one that decides who goes through or not.

I was at their semi versus Dublin too and were it not for Dublin having a second half snooze the score-line would have been a massacre rather than the comfortable margin it ended up being for the Dubs.

I think Kerry did astoundingly well to make an AISF and maybe it'll give them heart for next year but only Niall Sheehy stood out and he managed to get sent off in the Roscommon game and yanked in the Dublin one. Winning a Munster would mark a good season for Kerry, really.

Kerry aren't a county where underage success is a huge focus, everything seems geared towards players peaking at senior and it's hard to argue with the intelligence of that tact when there's 36 All-Irelands sitting in their cabinet.

Always_Running

Syferus wrote: »

Kerry aren't a county where underage success is a huge focus, everything seems geared towards players peaking at senior and it's hard to argue with the intelligence of that tact when there's 36 All-Irelands sitting in their cabinet.

They aren't however, without the success at U21 level in the mid 90s i doubt Kerry would have won what they won at senior level.

In regards to Mayo. Over the last two years the lack of expectations and pressure gave them the opportunity to express themselves people were writing Mayo off before games which was a great team talk before games. Now it will be totally differrent anything other than semi final appearance will be deemed a failure, how Mayo handle the huge expectations levels in 2013 will make or break them.

dandynamo

Laois Football
To contest a Leinster Final and possibly winning it. Tough ask. But an improvemnet from last year hopefully

Laois Hurling
That the set up is more professional and the best hulers in the county are available and commited. Rathdowney Erril had it in them to win a leinster title this year which would have been a boost. Yet none of these players made themselves available for laois

ShamoBuc

Cork

Football - Sam

Hurling - semis

Underage - to be better than some of the utterly chronic results in recent years.

RoscommonTom

ROSCOMMON
WIN CONNACHT AND SURPRISE A FEW WITH A GOOD RUN MAYBE AS FAR AS THE SEMIS IF THE DRAW IS RIGHT. COULD SEE US GIVEN A FEW TEAMS A RUN FOR THERE MONEY BUT NEED TO AVOID DONEGAL OR CORK TOO EARLY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. NEW MANAGER AND TOP CLASS YOUNG PLAYERS SO WE ARE IN A GOOD STATE, HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL,

Syferus

For da Ros:

At underage we've got good draws that should mean two Connacht finals and an AIQF at minor and with the talent that's available at both levels Connacht titles, and particularly at u21, an AI run isn't beyond the realm of possibility. Fergie's taken over the minors again so they'll be in very good hands next season.

The seniors' season really boils down to three games, Monaghan and Meath at home in the league are likely to decide if we'll be playing Division 2 football next season and the away game to Mayo (or Galway, surprise us, lads!) in the championship presents one of those everything-to-win scenarios. It's been 12 years since either Mayo or Galway have been overhauled by us so it is due but it's hard to expect it this coming year, especially at this point. Two wins out of three from those games will represent the basis for a good year for us.

Oh, and Brigids to win the AI. Sorry, Cross/Crokes/Kickhams! :pac:

ProudDUB

The Dubs to bring Sam home again.

RoscommonTom wrote: »

ROSCOMMON
WIN CONNACHT AND SURPRISE A FEW WITH A GOOD RUN MAYBE AS FAR AS THE SEMIS IF THE DRAW IS RIGHT. COULD SEE US GIVEN A FEW TEAMS A RUN FOR THERE MONEY BUT NEED TO AVOID DONEGAL OR CORK TOO EARLY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. NEW MANAGER AND TOP CLASS YOUNG PLAYERS SO WE ARE IN A GOOD STATE, HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL,

Any chance you could turn your caps lock key off there boss?

MaroonAndGreen

Mayo Football

Realistic hopes:
Connaught Title for the 3rd year in a row, although I really expect Galway to give us a big battle in Salthill. Winning that game is crucial, we dont want Qualifiers Round 1.... After that, I want us to give Donegal a real shot in the AI Semi (Mayo v Donegal is scheduled to be a Semi if both teams keep winning). And if we make the final, well the hope of course is to end the wait!!!

Wildest Dreams
Sam Maguire. Simple as.

Expectations
I expect to reach at least the AI Semi. Though if we dont win Connaught, I doubt we will.

Be well and win

Cork senior hurlers to start to make some progress with their youngsters and at underage level

Carlow hurlers to survive in the League and create at least 1 upset in the year. Great progress made there with a tiny pick and it doesn't get recognised. Be good to see them have a run at minor and u21 level as well

nicodemus93

I hope Cork county board wakes up for the upcoming year

wadacrack

Cork hurlers to improve yet again next year

WallyGUFC

Galway football: Just win a game in the Championship! Game against Mayo should be a real battle. If we could produce performances like we did against Roscommon last year we'd be laughing but there's some serious mental baggage in that team with all the 1 point losses. If Mayo lost to us, I'd fear that it'd really set them back and all these expectations of an All Ireland would be in ruins.

Hurlers: Win the All Ireland. As was said, they're very capable. The Leinster final took us all by surprise, but the 2 All Ireland's showed that we can live with Kilkenny. Hopefully beat them in the final, deny Shefflin the 10th medal and begin a new era in Galway Hurling!

blackbelt

Dublin footballing expectations would be mid table in league or reach the semi final playoff.Its hard to know how the players will blend and what players will be lining out.Hopefully Gavin won't go too experimental. Leinster wouldbe a minimum expectation with a semi final place perhaps.

As for my expectations for the rest, I think Donegal will slip back a bit naturally.I just think like us, their game planis based on sheer teamwork rather than individual skill and natural footballing ability.I just don;t see Donegal being able to apply it again this coming year.All the celebrations from winning Sam takes it toll and Jimmy will be distracted with Celtic.Hopefully Jimmy will be losing matches on the western front.

I think Mayo will be out to prove themselves and I expect them to make the league final again this year and possibly the all ireland again.Cork will probably winthe league as they usually do and then fail to flatter when it really matters.For all the hype this Cork team have, they have only won one All Ireland since Kerrys regression.

Kerry will be out to gain ground again next year but I do not see it happening.I think they will get to the league semi along with Mayo,Cork or Dublin/Donegal but the fact is,the experienced players are getting on and there isn't much to suggest they are being replaced by players of equal or greater quality.

After the big guns, I am expecting the likes Of Laois,Sligo,Limerick and Roscommon to give their provine a real push or have a good run in the qualifiers.They all showed promise last year.Meath have good players but my concern for them is that Division 3 is not apt preparation for the championship and a new manager coming in is a big change.I may be wrong.

Kildare I feel will make the last 8 without winning Leinster.Even with ourselves going back a bit last year, Kildare should have had enough to beat Meath and make the Leinster Final and really push us like they usually do when they play us.I do not know what impact the Seanie Johnston saga had but one has to realise that one player is not bigger than the team and this should not have distracted players aiming to perform at the top level.

As for the minnows looking to have a dream run of games in the championship, I think Clare under Micko will be ones to look out for and maybe even Fermanagh who have had a couple of years under Canavan.

meath12

blackbelt wrote: »

Dublin footballing expectations would be mid table in league or reach the semi final playoff.Its hard to know how the players will blend and what players will be lining out.Hopefully Gavin won't go too experimental. Leinster wouldbe a minimum expectation with a semi final place perhaps.

As for my expectations for the rest, I think Donegal will slip back a bit naturally.I just think like us, their game planis based on sheer teamwork rather than individual skill and natural footballing ability.I just don;t see Donegal being able to apply it again this coming year.All the celebrations from winning Sam takes it toll and Jimmy will be distracted with Celtic.Hopefully Jimmy will be losing matches on the western front.

I think Mayo will be out to prove themselves and I expect them to make the league final again this year and possibly the all ireland again.Cork will probably winthe league as they usually do and then fail to flatter when it really matters.For all the hype this Cork team have, they have only won one All Ireland since Kerrys regression.

Kerry will be out to gain ground again next year but I do not see it happening.I think they will get to the league semi along with Mayo,Cork or Dublin/Donegal but the fact is,the experienced players are getting on and there isn't much to suggest they are being replaced by players of equal or greater quality.

After the big guns, I am expecting the likes Of Laois,Sligo,Limerick and Roscommon to give their provine a real push or have a good run in the qualifiers.They all showed promise last year.Meath have good players but my concern for them is that Division 3 is not apt preparation for the championship and a new manager coming in is a big change.I may be wrong.

Kildare I feel will make the last 8 without winning Leinster.Even with ourselves going back a bit last year, Kildare should have had enough to beat Meath and make the Leinster Final and really push us like they usually do when they play us.I do not know what impact the Seanie Johnston saga had but one has to realise that one player is not bigger than the team and this should not have distracted players aiming to perform at the top level.

As for the minnows looking to have a dream run of games in the championship, I think Clare under Micko will be ones to look out for and maybe even Fermanagh who have had a couple of years under Canavan.

kildare are on the same side as dublin in leinster so meath wont be playing kildare in leinster unless we both reach the final

Fr Tod Umptious

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Mayo
Realistic Hopes
All Ireland

Expectation
All Ireland

Worst Nightmare
Loss to Galway in May or loose another All Ireland final

F**k it, that came true

Tom Joad

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

F**k it, that came true

Sorry Fr - I done a ninja edit to delete my post as I forgot about Hurling replay :eek:!! Obviously not quick enough though

Fowler87

I said league final and AI semi at least so Mayo had another very good year as I expected. I know we've lost two consecutive AI's (again ) but the progress we've made under JH and underage in 3 years since 2010 has been fantastic. Here's to another good 2014.

And hopefully club football in Mayo gets more compeitive outside the county championship. Would give football in the county and even bigger lift