Mayo GAA Discussion - Part 4

km79

Brusna wrote: »

Why is it that almost all Mayo supporters are loath to give any credit to Stephen Coen. He was very good today as he usually is but never gets a mention. Maybe in time we will begin to appreciate the work he puts in, like tracking runs and cutting out options for the opposite team. Well played again Stephen Coen!

Well said
He wasn’t captain of minor and u21 all ireland winning teams and a sigerson winning team for nothing !
Having said that I never ever want to see him in the attacking third again and I don’t think he wants too either

wirelessdude01

km79 wrote: »

Well said
He wasn’t captain of minor and u21 all ireland winning teams and a sigerson winning team for nothing !
Having said that I never ever want to see him in the attacking third again and I don’t think he wants too either

Do I remember him once clinching a Sigerson Cup title for UCD with a point scored with his left leg while off balance?

I agree though that it's like he gets a nose bleed once he crosses the halfway line and ****s himself.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Barlett wrote: »

I thought O'Shea played very well, his two quick offloads in the second half should have resulted in two goals.

Just like Coen last week, Keegan should have put a ball across the square for him to tap in for an open goal.

I still think a well served and supported Aido is Mayos best chance of doing damage this year.

Green&Red

Brusna wrote: »

Why is it that almost all Mayo supporters are loath to give any credit to Stephen Coen. He was very good today as he usually is but never gets a mention. Maybe in time we will begin to appreciate the work he puts in, like tracking runs and cutting out options for the opposite team. Well played again Stephen Coen!

Think Coen is very reliable and steady


I’d make him captain

Brusna

km79 wrote: »

Well said
He wasn’t captain of minor and u21 all ireland winning teams and a sigerson winning team for nothing !
Having said that I never ever want to see him in the attacking third again and I don’t think he wants too either

I look forward to the day we make him Captain of the senior team!

Blackjack

km79 wrote: »

Well said
He wasn’t captain of minor and u21 all ireland winning teams and a sigerson winning team for nothing !
Having said that I never ever want to see him in the attacking third again and I don’t think he wants too either

Yeah he’s definetly a good baller alright. Well able to keep his man quiet. Doesn’t have much pace but makes up for it in other ways. Certainly a fella I prefer to see staying our own side of the pitch though.

NabyLadistheman

Green&Red wrote: »

I don’t think Mullin is as good as is being made out. I think he can be but the three games I’ve seen have told me he is not tight enough.

That’s alright when it’s a Kilmeena forward you’ve to mark but when you’re marking IC forwards I don’t think it’s good enough but I’m sure he’ll learn

Likewise nothing I’ve seen from Eoin McLaughlin tells me he’s good enough.

Ryan O’D, Brian Walsh and Jordan footballers all look like nice footballers but not really good enough to have us really competing. All are young though

Thought Keegan was much better in the second half, as was Durcan.
Was impressed with Loftus at midfield

Cillian obviously MOTM, outstanding

Jesus thats harsh enough. It's not Mullins fault Kilamine were junior, talk about a low blow. Nothing you've seen form either Mullins or McLoughlin tells you they are good enough?? Well I've seen the plenty that tells me they will be good enough. Year after year people are crying out for fresh blood in the team and as soon as 7 new debutantes are launched they are written off straight away. If all the old timers were playing we all know what would be said.

These young fellas are been dropped into Senior championship and it is the only place they will learn. Mullins has done alright in a team that is driving forward at every given minute. Imagine Mayo were some bit defensive and there wasn't oceans of space in front of him? He was practically a one man defence for long spells yesterday. Whatever happens this year will stand to them for the years ahead

NabyLadistheman

mayo londoner wrote: »

I'll hold my hands up, Cillian was brilliant today, still maintain he could go well at CHF, kicked a couple of excellent 45s. Conditions sure as hell didn't suit the lighter players anyways.

This nonsense of AOS at FF has to stop, He's a midfielder, an area where we are really struggling, even against Leitrim. TBH, conditions didn't suit but I thought he was fairly awful today regrardless, has missed opportunities from a couple of marks he's taken in the last few games and is not a natural scorer, which is a full forwards no.1 duty. If D Coen had as bad a game as him he would have got the curly finger at HT you can be sure of it. Flynn not good enough at this level I'm afraid, we've much better options, Boland seems to have disappeared altogether and presume Moran and O'Hora were injured. Carr did ok when he came on and O'Donoghue got on a lot of ball the first half.

Wouldn't be overly confident of us taking the Rossies with how our midfield in particular are performing, move AOS back to his natural position and we can break even at the very least there, I think one of Carr/Coen will start in full forward line the next day.

O'Shea awful?!? Id say he had a hand in more than half our scorers. Again it's not his fault we have nobody to do a job out the field. Thats the problem he's needed everywhere

Green&Red

NabyLadistheman wrote: »

Jesus thats harsh enough. It's not Mullins fault Kilamine were junior, talk about a low blow. Nothing you've seen form either Mullins or McLoughlin tells you they are good enough?? Well I've seen the plenty that tells me they will be good enough. Year after year people are crying out for fresh blood in the team and as soon as 7 new debutantes are launched they are written off straight away. If all the old timers were playing we all know what would be said.

These young fellas are been dropped into Senior championship and it is the only place they will learn. Mullins has done alright in a team that is driving forward at every given minute. Imagine Mayo were some bit defensive and there wasn't oceans of space in front of him? He was practically a one man defence for long spells yesterday. Whatever happens this year will stand to them for the years ahead

This isn’t an attack on Kilmaine, no sort of a low blow, Kilmaine are a junior team, that’s a fact. Playing junior football is a LOT different to senior football, you get away with looseness and mistake that you’d be punished for in senior football. I’d imagine IC is a massive step up from senior club football.

Disagree completely that senior championship is where these lads will learn. That’s what the league is for.

His primary job is defending, he hasn’t done that too well in the three games I’ve seen him in. He looked great going forward against galway but Conroy got three points from play off him. He got destroyed defensively against Tyrone.

The best backs we have had in the last 10 years took care of business at the back, Mullins isn’t doing that at the moment

wirelessdude01

Remember Mullin is still learning his trade. Was u20 this year.

Those giving out about McLaughan, remember he is only playing football in any serious fashion for the past two years after he decided to give up cycling.

mayo londoner

Barlett wrote: »

I thought O'Shea played very well, his two quick offloads in the second half should have resulted in two goals.

Thought Aido gave away a lot of ball in particular in the first half, conditions were atrocious but we play much better overall when he's at midfield.

He will be snuffed out against the likes of Dublin and Kerry as per usual if we get that far, it's been done to death at this stage. Can talk about setting up a score or two all you like, a full forwards primary duty is to score heavily, look at Clifford, Stephen O'Neill, Con O'Callaghan, Canavan, Geaney, Murphy, all All Ireland winning full forwards (bar Clifford but he'll get there no doubt) who score heavily from play as well as set up scores, do we honestly think Aido is going to contribute enough on the scoreboard from full-forward to get us over the line in an All Ireland? Would ye not rather have a forward line of Conroy, Coen/Carr and Cillian with Aido at midfield dominating kickouts?

RedDevil55

Green&Red wrote: »

This isn’t an attack on Kilmaine, no sort of a low blow, Kilmaine are a junior team, that’s a fact. Playing junior football is a LOT different to senior football, you get away with looseness and mistake that you’d be punished for in senior football. I’d imagine IC is a massive step up from senior club football.

Disagree completely that senior championship is where these lads will learn. That’s what the league is for.

His primary job is defending, he hasn’t done that too well in the three games I’ve seen him in. He looked great going forward against galway but Conroy got three points from play off him. He got destroyed defensively against Tyrone.

The best backs we have had in the last 10 years took care of business at the back, Mullins isn’t doing that at the moment

Mullin was marking Ian Burke against Galway. McBrien and Keegan were marking Conroy.

RedDevil55

mayo londoner wrote: »

Thought Aido gave away a lot of ball in particular in the first half, conditions were atrocious but we play much better overall when he's at midfield.

He will be snuffed out against the likes of Dublin and Kerry as per usual if we get that far, it's been done to death at this stage. Can talk about setting up a score or two all you like, a full forwards primary duty is to score heavily, look at Clifford, Stephen O'Neill, Con O'Callaghan, Canavan, Geaney, Murphy, all All Ireland winning full forwards (bar Clifford but he'll get there no doubt) who score heavily from play as well as set up scores, do we honestly think Aido is going to contribute enough on the scoreboard from full-forward to get us over the line in an All Ireland? Would ye not rather have a forward line of Conroy, Coen/Carr and Cillian with Aido at midfield dominating kickouts?

In fairness Aidan at full forward is trying to do a Kieran Donaghy role, not David Clifford. He's coming into the Autumn of his career now so probably needs to readapt as a target man full forward. We need to find a young physically dominant player to play midfield.

flasher0030

Some ridiculas comments being posted here. I know it’s all a matter of opinion. But no point in being negative for the sake of it. In their first main season, these new guys have done fantastic. Oisin Mullen in a fine footballer. I saw him in one of the league games in Castlebar at the beginning of the year, and it was clear that he was going to make an impact. He is only starting out on his intercounty career. He’s enthusiastic. Wants to impress with runs up the field. It’s natural and great that he has the confidence to do so. I think he’s primed for a wing back though, but in whose place, I don’t know.
I don’t know how a bad word can be said against Eoin McLaughlin. I think he’s done fantastic. Great pace and strength. And confidence too. And Conroy – great first year.

And then we had calls for Cillian O’Connor to be dropped. Like I said last week, I’m pretty sure we would have beaten Tyrone if O’Connor was on the pitch. He brings players into the game like none of the other Mayo forwards can do. I know people will say “shure it’s only Leitrim”, but his performance yesterday in awful conditions was absolutely subline. A second half pass into Carr (I think it was him) for a goal chance was unreal.

And someone complaining that Aidan O’Shea was terrible yesterday???? I thought he was very good. Scored a few. Some lovely quick hands in the forwards that nearly resulted in goals. And good tackling. His role in the full forward line is not necessarily for him to score. It’s to cause a bit of panic in the backs when they see high ball coming across diagonally, to draw 2 defenders on him, and maybe free up room for the likes of Conroy, O’Connor etc. to reap the rewards. If it was executed properly, it could be lethal. But for some reason, over the years Mayo haven’t been able to do it. Even yesterday, with the benefit of a second half breeze, there was very little high ball pumped in.

flasher0030

mayo londoner wrote: »

Thought Aido gave away a lot of ball in particular in the first half, conditions were atrocious but we play much better overall when he's at midfield.

He will be snuffed out against the likes of Dublin and Kerry as per usual if we get that far, it's been done to death at this stage. Can talk about setting up a score or two all you like, a full forwards primary duty is to score heavily, look at Clifford, Stephen O'Neill, Con O'Callaghan, Canavan, Geaney, Murphy, all All Ireland winning full forwards (bar Clifford but he'll get there no doubt) who score heavily from play as well as set up scores, do we honestly think Aido is going to contribute enough on the scoreboard from full-forward to get us over the line in an All Ireland? Would ye not rather have a forward line of Conroy, Coen/Carr and Cillian with Aido at midfield dominating kickouts?

The problem there is that he does not dominate kick-outs. In the modern game, any goalie worth his salt will easily keep kick-outs away from the big man. So we'll have Aido huffing and puffing running around in circles trying to get hold of the ball, but getting nowhere. And we don't have a keeper who can deliver a proper kick-out to him. And even if we did, it's easy for opposition management to counter that by just piling into the back of him, stand on his toes, hold jersey etc. We've seen it all before.

mayo londoner

flasher0030 wrote: »

The problem there is that he does not dominate kick-outs. In the modern game, any goalie worth his salt will easily keep kick-outs away from the big man. So we'll have Aido huffing and puffing running around in circles trying to get hold of the ball, but getting nowhere. And we don't have a keeper who can deliver a proper kick-out to him. And even if we did, it's easy for opposition management to counter that by just piling into the back of him, stand on his toes, hold jersey etc. We've seen it all before.

He scored two points from full forward against Leitrim, a division 4 team.... One from a mark and missed another handy one, gave away the ball a good 4 times in the first half, I'm a huge fan of Aido (at midfield) but he's not immune to the odd bit of criticism. As I said above, a full forwards primary duty is to score heavily, set up scores is secondary. Only big score Aido has registered at full forward was against Sligo. You say 'If it was executed properly, it could be lethal. But for some reason, over the years Mayo haven’t been able to do it. Even yesterday, with the benefit of a second half breeze, there was very little high ball pumped in.', 'If' being the main word there.

It's been tried the guts of a dozen games down through the years and it just hasn't worked. If anything, with the amount of ball that is pumped in at him, it's more common for it to come straight back out and alas we've wasted possession, especially against Dublin. This is a big reason why we have not gotten over the line in All Irelands, fire in a natural scoring full forward like the ones I mentioned in previous post and we would have gotten over the line in at least one. Bar Cillian, the only other natural full forward that we've had since 2011 has been Freeman and he got a raw deal in 2013. Now we have Coen and Carr as options, who are much more mobile, natural scorers and on a given day can easily knock over 5 or 6 points.

Only two midfielders I can recall breaking even or getting the better of Aido from kickouts are David Moran and Armagh midfielder last year (name escapes me). Agreed Aido will struggle mobility wise in either position but this is why Ruane and one of DOC/Durcan/Keegan should be playing as a 3rd midfielder to give extra options for kickouts. I actually think next time we play Dublin Eoghan McLaughlin will be the man to track Fenton and put him on the back foot. Played a good bit at midfield for Westport this year, he won't be able to compete in the air but he'll put Fenton on the back foot that's for sure.

Sebastian Dangerfield

mayo londoner wrote: »

It's been tried the guts of a dozen games down through the years and it just hasn't worked. If anything, with the amount of ball that is pumped in at him, it's more common for it to come straight back out and alas we've wasted possession, especially against Dublin. This is a big reason why we have not gotten over the line in All Irelands, fire in a natural scoring full forward like the ones I mentioned in previous post and we would have gotten over the line in at least one. Bar Cillian, the only other natural full forward that we've had since 2011 has been Freeman and he got a raw deal in 2013. Now we have Coen and Carr as options, who are much more mobile, natural scorers and on a given day can easily knock over 5 or 6 points.

I'm pretty sure the last time it was tried was in 2015 under Connelly and Holmes. He destroyed Sligo with 3 goals, had a good impact v Galway, and got a huge goal versus a good Donegal side. It ran out of legs in the semis versus Dublin due to lack of support and poor service. He was triple marked constantly, there was no one there to win the knock downs and none of the free men made their space count.

To say it has never worked is just wrong.

Green&Red

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Remember Mullin is still learning his trade. Was u20 this year.

Those giving out about McLaughan, remember he is only playing football in any serious fashion for the past two years after he decided to give up cycling.

Wireless to me these are reasons these lads need to be eased into IC football

Mullins is still learning his trade, very few players walk into this Mayo team. Cillian and AOS are two that jump out, Paddy Durcan to a certain extent. But McLoughlin, Keegan, Boyle, Andy, Doc, Barrett etc all served an apprenticeship. In and out of the team. I’m not staying these guys aren’t good enough but they’re not good enough at the moment to start IMO. Mullins isn’t minding his business at the back and Eoghan McLaughlin is too loose tackling, too many over the shoulder arms in, handy foul. He’s doing that cause he’s lost his positioning and is trying to get back.

Both will learn in time but it’s their first season and I don’t think either are ready for the real business

Green&Red

On AOS - he’s not going to score 1-9 from full forward, that’s not his game.

His game is bringing others into it, taking pressure off other forwards. He’s score strong he can have two or three lads around him and it releases others. Plus he’s smart enough to see the moves others are making.

To criticise his lack of scoring shows a lack of understanding of what his point in there is

mayo londoner

Green&Red wrote: »

On AOS - he’s not going to score 1-9 from full forward, that’s not his game.

His game is bringing others into it, taking pressure off other forwards. He’s score strong he can have two or three lads around him and it releases others. Plus he’s smart enough to see the moves others are making.

To criticise his lack of scoring shows a lack of understanding of what his point in there is

I very much understand what the thinking is having him in there Green&Red, my point is that we are not going to win an All Ireland with Aido in at full forward when we have scoring forwards of the calibre of Coen and Carr warming their holes on the bench.

Green&Red

mayo londoner wrote: »

I very much understand what the thinking is having him in there Green&Red, my point is that we are not going to win an All Ireland with Aido in at full forward when we have scoring forwards of the calibre of Coen and Carr warming their holes on the bench.

The quote below doesn’t suggest you do understand it. Not all full forwards do put up massive scores. I hate comparing him to Donaghy but he is a good reference point here. He allowed Gooch and O’Donoghue to score big. By having him in there he provides space for those lads and allows Cillian to put up massive scores

mayo londoner wrote: »

He scored two points from full forward against Leitrim, a division 4 team.... One from a mark and missed another handy one, gave away the ball a good 4 times in the first half, I'm a huge fan of Aido (at midfield) but he's not immune to the odd bit of criticism. As I said above, a full forwards primary duty is to score heavily, set up scores is secondary. Only big score Aido has registered at full forward was against Sligo.

Sebastian Dangerfield

mayo londoner wrote: »

I very much understand what the thinking is having him in there Green&Red, my point is that we are not going to win an All Ireland with Aido in at full forward when we have scoring forwards of the calibre of Coen and Carr warming their holes on the bench.

What did Coen and Carr do v Dublin last year? That seems to be the stick thats used to beat AOS at full forward by a lot of people; who has done better?

We have lots of forwards who drift in and drift out, and can be interchanged with each other without too much noticable effect. AOS is the one forward we have who can do something the rest cant, who other teams have to come up with a plan to handle specifically.

mayo londoner

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

What did Coen and Carr do v Dublin last year? That seems to be the stick thats used to beat AOS at full forward by a lot of people; who has done better?

We have lots of forwards who drift in and drift out, and can be interchanged with each other without too much noticable effect. AOS is the one forward we have who can do something the rest cant, who other teams have to come up with a plan to handle specifically.

Coen didn't get a game against Dublin last year....

Carr scored a point and was our most dangerous forward throughout until he was very harshly taken off. Whereas Aido has drifted in and out to full forward against the Dubs numerous times and won nothing truth be told

flasher0030

mayo londoner wrote: »

I very much understand what the thinking is having him in there Green&Red, my point is that we are not going to win an All Ireland with Aido in at full forward when we have scoring forwards of the calibre of Coen and Carr warming their holes on the bench.

Why do you keep referencing Darren Coen as being our saviour. Darren made his Mayo senior debut EIGHT years ago. Has nowhere near nailed down a position in the intervening years. What's different this year? He's around 28 now.

mayo londoner

Green&Red wrote: »

The quote below doesn’t suggest you do understand it. Not all full forwards do put up massive scores. I hate comparing him to Donaghy but he is a good reference point here. He allowed Gooch and O’Donoghue to score big. By having him in there he provides space for those lads and allows Cillian to put up massive scores

I'd safely say Donaghy has better scoring stats and assists than Aido from full forward. He played there for donkeys years, Kerry effectively tailored their game around him and had players of the calibre of Declan O'Sullivan feeding him good quality diagonal ball in high, whereas Aido has been drifting in an out of full forward for years with little to no effect against the big sides. Cian O'Sullivan and McMahon mopped up any ball that came into them any time Aido went into full forward with ease and gave Dublin an easy platform to attack from.

Horan's teams tend to play a running game with pace and overlapping wing backs, not launching 50/50s in on top of a full forward. We haven't had a player of the calibre of Declan O'Sullivan in CHF feeding Aido with ball like Donaghy had, so unless Mark Moran/O'Donoghue are going to start in first 15, and launch quality ball in on top of him we are going to be left with the same result over and over again and wondering why when we have natural, scoring full forwards on the the bench.

mayo londoner

flasher0030 wrote: »

Why do you keep referencing Darren Coen as being our saviour. Darren made his Mayo senior debut EIGHT years ago. Has nowhere near nailed down a position in the intervening years. What's different this year? He's around 28 now.

Does he or does he not consistently score? Which I believe to be a full forwards job.....

Personally I'd prefer Carr but at least Coen has the balls to take on a shot or two when many others wouldn't, seem to recall him being excellent against the Rossies last year in bad conditions till he was called ashore, scored 4 or 5 outrageous points, scored two versus Meath I think, 2 against Kerry, 3 or 4 against Galway. That's what you want your full forward to be doing.

Sebastian Dangerfield

mayo londoner wrote: »

Coen didn't get a game against Dublin last year....

No, because he had a shocker against Meath (subbed at HT) and another one against Donegal (before HT).

The fact that Horan, who seems to have a fondness for AOS in midfield, feels the need to put him at FF probably speaks volumes about his opinion of Coen.

That's no disrespect to Coen, who on his day can be dangerous. But Mayo have enough forwards we have to cross our fingers and hope it's their day. It's a large part of the reason why this group haven't gotten over the line. AOS gives us a consistent platform to build the rest of our attack around. I agree his shooting can be wayward at times, but he offers so much more that Coen and others don't.

Anyway no point flogging a dead horse, we can agree to disagree.

flasher0030

mayo londoner wrote: »

Does he or does he not consistently score? Which I believe to be a full forwards job.....

Personally I'd prefer Carr but at least Coen has the balls to take on a shot or two when many others wouldn't, seem to recall him being excellent against the Rossies last year in bad conditions till he was called ashore, scored 4 or 5 outrageous points, scored two versus Meath I think, 2 against Kerry, 3 or 4 against Galway. That's what you want your full forward to be doing.

Surely if he consistently scored, he would consistently be on the team. We've all seen Darren's contributions over the years. Can score fab points every so often. No denying that. But overall not a team player. First instinct is to go for a score. Will seldom pass and never looks for a player in a better position. It's great when all goes well. But then when it doesn't go well, and he hit couple of no-hopers, it's detrimental to the team - throwing away possession. Doesn't have a cute football brain for someone who is one of the seasoned players on the panel at this stage. It's a pity, cause he has a deadly punt of a kick when it goes well.

It's all bravado saying he has the balls to take on a shot. That's no good for a win against the better teams when he's ballooning shot after shot wide.

I think James Carr could do with a lengthy spell in the team. I think he has that bit of X-factor. At one point yesterday, looked like he was lining up for a shot, but instead dinked in a pass to the area around the goal, took a return pass and punched it over the bar with his back to goal. I think he was going for goal. Anyway, that's the kind of cuteness needed by our forwards. If that was Coen, he would have taken the first shot straight away, and it could sail over the black spot, or it sould hit the corner flag.

Out of cusiousity, was it yourself who thought that Cillian O'Connor was on the downward slope?

mayo londoner

flasher0030 wrote: »

Surely if he consistently scored, he would consistently be on the team. We've all seen Darren's contributions over the years. Can score fab points every so often. No denying that. But overall not a team player. First instinct is to go for a score. Will seldom pass and never looks for a player in a better position. It's great when all goes well. But then when it doesn't go well, and he hit couple of no-hopers, it's detrimental to the team - throwing away possession. Doesn't have a cute football brain for someone who is one of the seasoned players on the panel at this stage. It's a pity, cause he has a deadly punt of a kick when it goes well.

It's all bravado saying he has the balls to take on a shot. That's no good for a win against the better teams when he's ballooning shot after shot wide.

I think James Carr could do with a lengthy spell in the team. I think he has that bit of X-factor. At one point yesterday, looked like he was lining up for a shot, but instead dinked in a pass to the area around the goal, took a return pass and punched it over the bar with his back to goal. I think he was going for goal. Anyway, that's the kind of cuteness needed by our forwards. If that was Coen, he would have taken the first shot straight away, and it could sail over the black spot, or it sould hit the corner flag.

Out of cusiousity, was it yourself who thought that Cillian O'Connor was on the downward slope?

Agree with you on that Coen can be gung ho and not take on the better option on occasion, and thus give away possession, although I'd argue similarly we've given away possession more often than not kicking balls into Aido at FF down through the years which is every bit as bad, if not worse than kicking a wide.

I said I felt with his injury troubles he would be a better option at CHF supplying ball into FF line or coming off the bench in the 2nd half with 20mins to go with his experience. He had a stormer yesterday granted, albeit against much lesser opposition but looked much fitter than the previous 2 years. Actually thought he was superb the year he played CHF for a couple of games spraying ball everywhere, hence why I said he would be an option for there if we persisted with Aido at FF.

Anyways as the previous poster said, we'll agree to disagree, time will tell if Aido works at full forward against the big boys, we all want the same thing at the end of the day so no point getting worked up about it.

Blackjack

mayo londoner wrote: »

Agree with you on that Coen can be gung ho and not take on the better option on occasion, and thus give away possession, although I'd argue similarly we've given away possession more often than not kicking balls into Aido at FF down through the years which is every bit as bad, if not worse than kicking a wide.

I said I felt with his injury troubles he would be a better option at CHF supplying ball into FF line or coming off the bench in the 2nd half with 20mins to go with his experience. He had a stormer yesterday granted, albeit against much lesser opposition but looked much fitter than the previous 2 years. Actually thought he was superb the year he played CHF for a couple of games spraying ball everywhere, hence why I said he would be an option for there if we persisted with Aido at FF.

Anyways as the previous poster said, we'll agree to disagree, time will tell if Aido works at full forward against the big boys, we all want the same thing at the end of the day so no point getting worked up about it.

Not looking to stick a dog in the fight but for me, Coen isn't a starter, for all the various reasons outlined already. Plus, I don't think he has a full 70-80 minutes of game time in him so has to be pulled ashore after 45. I recall an article where Mickey Conroy noted him for his talents but the underlying message was that Coen was a little lazy.
He can certainly score some outrageous points but I think Horan has always been a manager to have a very specific process in mind, and all players have to be able to track their man back. I'm fairly certain that's what caused Freeman to get the curly finger in the 2013 final too.