The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

Brilliant post - we used to have ambition in this county when the likes of Nicholas Walshe, Peter Donnelly and co were involved.. It would seem they were facilated by a very good chairman in Tom Reilly too . These men were creating structures for long term success which has been completely destroyed over a period of time .

Now our seniors are an absolute mess.. You know it's bad when people are reminiscing about Galligan. A man with no managerial experience at any level was far superior in the role to McCabe who has been coaching for over 15 years.

Well I'd say McEvoy should be on the panel absolutely ridiculous how things broke down there. James Smith stepped away but was it for personal reasons or was it because of who the manager was. I would also argue for the likes of Enda McGuire probably deserves another chance given his performances for in the senior championship last year. Mullahorn and Ballyhaise were very good later especially at midfield. Are they the answer possibly not but we should be rewarding players doing well for their clubs.

The bigger issue is we don't have any underage success in recent years, developments squads are basically extra training sessions with very little else, there needs to be serious investment in youth structure, young lads coming through must want to play for Cavan. The rot is long set in, how many lads decide not to play, or walk away early, what was Jack Brady for example when he packed it in 24???

The 2020 Ulster was an incredible achievement a real chance to inspire the next generation that fell flat, and instead they are going to build a new stand, seat the terrace and suck the life from the county ground and for what, the occasional Ulster Final or All Ireland quarter final ? Maybe a concert or two?

The only saving grace is some clubs are gone big and are really investing in youth. "Good U14s make good Seniors" is something I hear a bit but we need the structures to give the top players at that age level a pathway to the intercounty set up. That means quality coaching, extra sessions which focus on lifestyle, s&c and skills.

Its also shocking that they have let Terry Hyland out in the cold since he left. Surely there was room in the youth structure for him ?

As for managers McDermott was in the running but pulled out when he was told his backroom team would be selected for him..

I would say an approach to the likes of Niall Lynch, who has a habit of getting the best from teams. Two time All Ireland winner bringing multiple clubs together with Virgina College.

Look once McCabe showed interest the county board were not going with anyone else, everyone knew this.

well I was completely wrong. Dominated . This loss is not on the players. How did he get that so wrong. Was that about a 15 min spell we couldn’t win a kickout. How did he not start Brady from corofin against a big midfield, we needed a man like him claiming and breaking ball. When he came on we finally got grips with kickouts.

how did he not see that? Some poor individual performances none the less. Paddy lynch is our household name in the country but he was invisible for 90 percent of the game.

Thankfully Meath bet Kildare well we can still stay up depending on their results and if we beat Offaly

What a goal that was from Louth, to give them their dues. Keeper to net using 4 kicks only. I suspect we'll be seeing it on goal of the year reels unfortunately. Lots of media attention on their expansive play but I thought Louth's defence was robust and well organised. They snuffed us out several times and always seemed to have us shooting under pressure.

The only silver lining after last nights results is that we have Kildare on the head to head even though they are a point ahead. Unless they can get something out of Cork or Louth, it still may come down to us getting that win in Tullamore.

Absolutely need to win in Tullamore. Offaly are very poor. Derry is a write off. Good chance Kildare mightn't pick up another win. A draw for them still puts us ahead. Only other county we can jump is Tyrone, but that would take a crazy set of results. So am I right in saying that we're more or less guaranteed to be in TC?

That's actually as good as it can be for us. We don't belong in AI competition. We'll get a good enough gauge, or maybe harsh lesson, of where we're at competing in Ulster. After that if we could get a good run in TC, while also maintaining Division 2 status (Kildare as TC champions must compete in AI), it wouldn't be the worst position to be in building for next year and beyond. Only fly in the ointment there is management 🤔.

No your wrong should kildare get relegated the 2nd team in Div3 misses out.

Do promoted division 3 teams not play TC ?

Several times yesterday our front 3 had backs turned and drifted back towards goal when we were attacking. Probably knew it wouldnt be kicked in.

I have heard the above re parents saying what you said - no confirmation. Lads finding out in school their friend got an email/text whereas they didn’t.

The squads have been in trouble for a while now as you can see from underage results. For a few years there, they had fathers running them and it made a joke of them. Even club trainers of the same age level was wrong as they were just trying to look after their own. The lads and dads approach as I’d label it. All a cost saving measure to avoid paying proper coaches so we can do structural redevelopment that isn’t needed. In all fairness too, a bit of effort could have been put into actually approaching people rather than just sending an email for people to hold their hands up.

The main issue I’d have is the credibility of the squads was destroyed. You had 4 or 5 lads from a low Division team making squads whereas you could have Division 1 or 2 teams with only 1 or 2 representatives. Then you had lads who wouldn’t start on a school team making it ahead of others who would in the same school. Even on the squads then, you allegedly had inexplicable decisions made by coaches involving players from their own clubs.

20 years ago I remember a group of lads got called up to the Cavan team and went to Liverpool for the Champions League final celebrations rather than go to county training. I remember thinking a few years back we’ll be at that level again.

I tell you one thing that i heard from the horses ("Bulls") mouth. Him and the coaches in Breffni cannot develop players for a county team from the development squads as they only have them for 40 something hours a year.

That structure change has 0 to do with Brady or McCabe it is all down to the youth board.

what did he say?

He said they lost nine games by one point but that they have good management this year.