Enjoy!!
Old thread here......
https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057962937/mayo-gaa-discussion-part-4#latest
Threadban list
Green Peter - Permanent
Man Vs ManUre until 9/05/23
Some amount of speculation on that blog, Cavan, Limerick, Hyde, Tullamore all mentioned also, pure guesswork at this stage
Drawing Kildare is fine. Glad we avoided Donegal/Armagh/Roscommon. I'd much prefer it to be played in Hyde.
Any thoughts on the venue?
Speculation on Mayo GAA blog it'll be a double header in Croker with Donegal-Armagh
Probably ideal, I don't think drawing Limerick would have been of much benefit and I'd have taken Kildare over the others.
It’s Kildare .
I would have Loftus in there myself. I think he offers a lot more around the middle third (did fairly well in mf last year).
Not to be harsh but I still don't know what Walsh brings to the table. I'm a big fan of Boland as a player but I think he needs an open game to shine, and there's not many of those games these days.
This is it, really, and despite his obvious talent, it’s why he (Borland ) doesn’t fit into the current gameplan. I watched the warm ups before the Kildare game, there were some 5 vs 5 or the likes going on, Fergal just wasn’t at the races and was too easily outmuscled in those exercises. Now I appreciate when he gets his chance he does usually impress but I’m wondering if there’s a danger of him becoming the next Richie Feeney. I’d have him starting ahead of Walsh myself but I don’t see what goes on in training and I’m not formulating a game plan so it’s easy for me to say that on the internet and pontificate on how right I might be.
Diarmuid, Carney and Orme were all starting yesterday! Flynn will be once fit. Don't think Doherty has the legs for wing forward anymore.
That role against Kerry suits Boland much better. Playing as an orthodox wing forward he just gets lost in midfield and his lack of physicality becomes a problem.
I can't understand how Walsh and Orme are starting ahead of Boland or Coen either. Neither have shown anything to date.
I commend Orme for having the guts to take on that last minute point attempt against Galway, but still question why he was brought on ahead of Coen.
You can throw Jordan Flynn, Diarmuid O'Conner, Jack Carney, Darren McHale, Aidan Orme, Jason Doherty and Conor McStay (potentially Frank Irwin too if he was called back up to the extended panel when the 20s finished up but haven't heard word on that either way) into the list of potential wing forwards.
Boland was wearing 13 against Kerry but we played 2 men inside (Orme and O'Donoghue) with Aiden playing deep swapping from 11 to 6ish, as we did for most of the league, and Boland dropping back to right half. As meaningful as any of that is when you're likely to see anyone turn up on the edge of either square the way the games flow these days. That said, wouldn't disagree with playing him in a more advanced role. He certainly does his best work going forward. He had a solid game that evening in Tralee but his failure to track Adrian Spillane's run leading to the Brosnan goal was a breakdown in our defensive setup we haven't tended to see from Diarmuid or Jack playing a relatively defensive wing forward role.
In fairness he has only made the starting 15 three times this year and we've won all 3! Darren Coen isn't half forward so not really a fair comparison.
Walsh is competing with Loftus, McDonagh, Boland, Conor O'Shea and maybe an aging Kevin McLoughlin for a starting spot. Not a stellar list. I think Boland is better as a corner forward too personally. That's where he played vs Kerry in the league and got 3 points. Was completely lost vs Tyrone around the middle third.
I’m going to be blunt - how does Brian Walsh keep making the starting 15?? I’ve seen him several times now. And each time come away thinking that he hasn’t done anything in the game. He has no pace. No strength. And he doesn’t shoot.
sorry I know that’s harsh. But there are other players who could at least contribute something. Such as Boland who was mentioned. Or Darren coen who can be hit or miss. But at least will try to get on the ball.
Fergie was (shockingly to be honest) played as a wing back up in Omagh that evening so never got much chance to take on the Tyrone half backs that evening. On a team that was in a very heavy training block and where very few came out of the game with much credit he certainly wasn't the weak link that evening and absolutely nothing close to 'inept' (we did have a few performances you'd describe like that, but Boland wasn't one of them).
Not sure why comparisons are being made with O'Brien or Scully. The only question is if he might be starting or coming in ahead of lads on our side, with the obvious comparison today being ahead of Bryan Walsh (who I'd imagine, though open to correction, would have less upper body strength than Boland). On a day where we only scored 6 points from play and only 2 of those came from named forwards (Cillian and Jack Carney with 1 each) the answer would be a yes from me.
I don't think Boland is the answer either, especially against a packed defense like Monaghan. Harsh as it sounds, he lacks pace and physicality. Very few top intercounty players around without 1 or both of those traits. That's also the reason Eoin O'Donoghue never quite made it and Neil Douglas in previous years.
Orme has decent pace and is a good ball winner, just hasn't much confidence shooting. Loftus was good off the bench vs Monaghan but I wouldn't start him tbh.
Jordan Flynn could be an option in the half forward line when he's back, or maybe play him midfield and move Mattie forward to change things up? Getting Ryan back on the pitch is also vital.
Got through thats the main thing, Will be a quick turnaround with quarter finals next week.
Next up either Donegal Kildare Limerick or Roscommon.
boland scored 3 points vs Kerry. Started the next game vs Tyrone. Was totally inept. Couldn’t compete with the Tyrone half backs when they were attacking us and isn’t strong enough to take them on when we’re attacking Personally I don’t think Orme , Boland , Loftos are strong enough. Don’t have the steeliness of a Niall scully or the directness of a Stephen Obrein for example.
Correct
the only contentious one was the last one. And it could well have been given ……
I think the ref got all the big decisions right as far as I can tell.
McManus was a black card day long: correct call
It was a foot block for the Mayo penalty: correct call
Coen's foot block for the Monaghan penalty call was further away and was by his calf in any case: correct call
Keegan challenge in the end: 50/50 at most, would have been very very harsh: correct call.
One of those ‘take the win and move on’ type of games. Full forward line badly wanting in terms of movement and offering an outlet for a kick pass, so many times our runners had little option but to turn and recycle, that will happen I suppose without our natural forwards like RoD and Tommy. But you could see the frustration and choice words aimed at the forwards when they had to recycle the ball. Thought Carney did well, Walsh wasn’t great. Durcan class and Aido played well, game suited I’m. What does Fergal Boland have to do to get a look in though, clever footballer and can chip in with scores, would have him in ahead of a couple of our starters this evening.
Happy enough with that.
Thought the team looked short on scoring power when named, but we did well against Banty's negative tactics.
More random observations:
I thought AOS had his best game in a long while.
The big missed goal chance (McLaughlin?) at the start of the 2nd half could have been very costly.
Carney was ok I guess...could have done with some more long ball in.
Orme showed the odd flash but still seems to be a work in progress.
I haven't seen a lot of Brian Walsh so wasn't sure what to expect, can't remember him doing anything of note tbh.
Great to have Durcan, COC and Mullin back and looking fit...another couple of weeks and hopefully a softish draw (Limerick, Kildare) will give them time to really ramp up sharpness.
And fair play to the players for staying on the pitch to sign jerseys etc...can't be easy after running around for 75+ mins in searing heat
My initial reaction was it was a foot block. I'll need to see the replay - angle from the stand certainly made it look like a pen to me.
I thought we were lucky(ish) - black card was very soft.
Would have been a very soft penalty if it was given against Keegan, the Monaghan lad went down way too easily and the ref wasn’t going to buy that. Have seen them given all the same. The other call they were shouting for was a peno for a footblock by Coen. It wasn’t a footblock, there was too much distance for that to have been called a footblock. I’ve seen those given, incorrectly too, in the past.
Ref had a shocker dont think i was a penalty but was a def black card
Much better performance than the Kerry and Galway games but lots of room for improvement.
Monaghan possibly had a strong penalty shout near the end (?).... couldn't really see from where I was but it looked dodgy.
Horan was irate as well near the end with the ref. Got a couple of stern warnings from Gough the linesman.
I’ll take that. Lots to work on and fairly big improvements needed. Some annoyed Monaghan fans appeared to want words with the ref afterward.
Much improved but a couple of passengers up front
orme and Walsh mainly
Carr playing on patches as usual . Frustrating player
Mod Note
Some posts deleted.
Any chance we could get back to Mayo chat and keep the Personal Nonsense out of the thread.
Horans gone cold on him of late, but his form hasn't been great in all fairness despite his talents..
Big game for the likes of A Orme, B Walsh today .
They're yet to show that they belong at this level, as ok-ish needs to bee replaced with clutch moments.
Mod Edit
Warning issued.
