Galway GAA discussion thread

MfMan · 27-03-2012 03:31PM

Whatever about the pros and cons of Tuam v Salthill, last Sunday's hurling league game v the Deise really should have been moved to Athenry. Pearse stadium is just too bumpy and uneven for hurling.

c_man · 27-03-2012 04:21PM

Not wishing to get too deep into this but how can you give out about 'sunshine supporters' in Pearse, yet openly admit that the crowds would be bigger if held in Tuam?

Anyways we'll all be shouting on the lads in two weeks yeah?

InchicoreDude · 27-03-2012 09:11PM

Inchicore Dude – I find your comment very blinkered and slightly insulting. The matter of fact is that we don’t have the population that north Galway has. We still enjoy playing football, watching football and talking about football and are just as knowledgeable as our north Galway counter parts. Your telling me that if you were in a pub in An Spideal, Indreabhán, An Cheathru Rua, Moycullen, Oughterard, Leitir Mor, Ros Muc, Carna, Killanin or in Galway City - Taffee’s, Monroe’s or PJ’s that they would be able to Talk about football. Get out of it!!!

I disagree. I used to be a regular in Monroes in Galway and never once heard a football conversation in there!

If you are suggesting that football is not more popular around the Tuam area (Even if it is just because of population), then you are the one who is blinkered... Not entirely sure how Tuam has a greater population than Galway city though....

But even if the reason is merely down to population, that just adds to my point, that you would get bigger crowds in Tuam. And my point was: If I was a Galway player, I would prefer to play in front of bigger crowds in Tuam. I dont see how that is unreasonable...

Not wishing to get too deep into this but how can you give out about 'sunshine supporters' in Pearse, yet openly admit that the crowds would be bigger if held in Tuam?

In fairness, my point wasnt well made. And the term "sunshine" supporters is vague....
I meant you get people who just go to the championship matches, know nothing about football (Never mind Galway football) but think they are experts. These are the guys I consider sunshine supporters.

On the other hand, in Tuam, you attract guys from clubs like Corofin, Caherlistrane, Milltown, Kilconly, Dunmore, Mountbellew, Barnadearg etc. that would know the club scene inside out. They may not go to many county matches, but their knowledge is more intimate than any the sunshine supporters. They will not make any plans to travel to Pearse, but may decide on the spur of the moment to go to Tuam if the game was there. Thats just the way it is. The same could be said for the Connemara clubs, but they are still a long way from Pearse. So they could not decide at ten to two "Oh, Ill go into Pearse for a look". But guys from the Tuam area would do so....Its a matter of geography more than anything....

There just seems to be a lot of the first kind of people at matches in Pearse.

I firmly believe you would get bigger crowds in Tuam than in Pearse. It would be intersting to see a comparison of the attendances between Tuam & Pearse.

They should redevelop Tuam. I think both sides can agree on that. It has more historic value than Pearse Stadium and a better atmosphere. But at the same time nobody wants to sit on a damp plank of wood in the Winter and you don't get that in Pearse Stadium. Until people pony up for the redevelopment you're gonna see the majority of home matches in the League and the home championship matches in Salthill.

hmm, well whats the point in having 2 top notch grounds? redevelopment should be limited in tuam, to ensure proper facilities and build a decent stand. But there is no need to redevelop it up to Pearses standard. Pearse should retain championship matches; it has been built, it may as well be utilised. But I do think it would be good for Tuam to host the likes of the Galway v Kildare match.

Starie1975 · 28-03-2012 10:36AM

I never said that football is more popular than around Tuam. 100% agree with you that a lot of senior clubs are based around Tuam, that’s a matter of fact. But Galway is a huge county, with football fans in ever part of it just because you’re from the Tuam area doesn’t make you more “Knowledgeable” than people from outside that area, that’s the point I’m making.

I believe the reason you sometimes get bigger crowds in Tuam for FBD or league matches is that people from outside that area to go all matches, yet when matches are in Salthill (and you have openly admitted it) the people around Tuam won’t to go Salthill. That’s a “Sunshine” supporter.

Going by other forums, the Kildare supporters are delighted that the match in on in Salthill. This match was always going to bring a big crown as it’s on Easter Sunday and a bank holiday. The league should be split 50-50 between Pearse and Tuam. I do feel sorry of the Tuam Stadium committee – I mean that as a GAA person.

I’d like to make another point.

FBD Games – I think these games should be played in club grounds around the county. What do others think?

Shans28 · 28-03-2012 11:02AM

I like the atmosphere around Tuam for a game and I have no problem with games being in Tuam if it is up to standard. If its not, for both players and supporters, then games should not be held there until it is. You can't have teams travelling for games from other counties or our own county and them not being able to have at least a decent shower after the game, if thats true.

As regards "supporters" from North Galway(or any part of the county for that) not bothering to travel unless the game is in Tuam or wherever suits them, that just goes to show how fickle football supporters in Galway can be, which is a shame, especially for such a big game (and its not just football either, the hurling team hardly fills Pearse either).

I was reading on another fourm that already Kildare seem to be bringing a huge support on Sunday week and are talking of turning Pearse white. I wouldn't be surprised if they outnumber Galway supporters on the day. I hope I'm wrong. Regardless of where in the county you live, we need to get ourselves into Pearse Stadium on Easter Sunday and support the lads.
Gaillimh Abú!

Starie1975 · 28-03-2012 11:10AM

Shans28 wrote: »

Regardless of where in the county you live, we need to get ourselves into Pearse Stadium on Easter Sunday and support the lads.
Gaillimh Abú!

I think we all should pass this message on to everyone and turn Pearse maroon on Eater Sunday.

Diabhal Beag · 28-03-2012 12:21PM

Seriously has to be done. It was embarrassing enough seeing Meath fans outnumbering Galway fans.

Starie1975 · 28-03-2012 12:59PM

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Seriously has to be done. It was embarrassing enough seeing Meath fans outnumbering Galway fans.

The TribesmenGAA football supporters page had started a campaign on it's Facebook page and twitter page @tribesfootball

#turnpearsemaroon #getbehindthetribes

InchicoreDude · 28-03-2012 01:07PM

I never said that football is more popular than around Tuam. 100% agree with you that a lot of senior clubs are based around Tuam, that’s a matter of fact. But Galway is a huge county, with football fans in ever part of it just because you’re from the Tuam area doesn’t make you more “Knowledgeable” than people from outside that area, that’s the point I’m making.

I am not getting into a whole North Galway v West Galway debate here. It sickens me when Galway are doing poorly and a supporter from North Galway suggests "There are too many lads from the West on that team". Similarly, when a West Galway supporter says the same about North Galway. It should not make a difference where you are from; the best 15 should be picked....

The fact remains: there is a higher interest in football around the Tuam area. This means that more people would attend a match in Tuam than in Pearse. Therefore, by having more people at the match, you are playing in front of an increased amount of knowledgeable people.

I never meant to imply that people from west Galway know nothing about football. I know that they do. But football is more popular in Tuam, thats just the way it is.

The motivation for redeveloping Pearse Stadium at the time was to encourage more Gaelic Games in Galway City. I am not so sure that it has achieved that....

I believe the reason you sometimes get bigger crowds in Tuam for FBD or league matches is that people from outside that area to go all matches, yet when matches are in Salthill (and you have openly admitted it) the people around Tuam won’t to go Salthill. That’s a “Sunshine” supporter.

So you get insulted with me for stereotyping Non Tuam supporters, and you come out with this kind of ****? So everybody from the non Tuam area goes to every game and the Tuam people only go to Tuam matches

In actuality, people from Tuam do go to Salthill. But more would go to Tuam; this is natural - for some people, travelling to Salthill is too much.

The same could probably be said for West Galway; they go to Salthill, probably less are willing to go all the way to Tuam.

I also disagree with your view of sunshine supporters. Take the following example:

I am in charge of distributing tickets for a hotly contested AI final. I have 1 ticket left to give out. Two people approach me for it:

Person 1: I have been to every inter county championship game this year for my county. But have never attended a league or FBD game. Or very few club games.

Person 2: I havent been to any inter county match this year. I have been to many local club championship matches. I have trained my local minor team, collected the local GAA lotto etc.

Which one would you give the ticket to? To me, person 1 is a sunshine supporter. Person 2 is not. I would give the ticket to person 2. Person 1 comes out for the sunny championship games. Person 1 is there working for GAA through long winter nights.

I know a number of people like Person 2 who just dont bother travelling to Pearse [For county matches] for whatever reason....

Going by other forums, the Kildare supporters are delighted that the match in on in Salthill.

Surely, that is a bad thing from a Galway point of view???

FBD Games – I think these games should be played in club grounds around the county. What do others think

I agree with you on this. But this has happened to a degree. I have been to FBD games in Dunmore & Corofin in the past.

I was reading on another fourm that already Kildare seem to be bringing a huge support on Sunday week and are talking of turning Pearse white. I wouldn't be surprised if they outnumber Galway supporters on the day. I hope I'm wrong. Regardless of where in the county you live, we need to get ourselves into Pearse Stadium on Easter Sunday and support the lads.
Gaillimh Abú!

Im pretty sure Kildare will have a bigger following. They have one of the most loyal support bases in the country and Salthill on a bank holiday weekend.... I would be surprised if Galway have a bigger following on the day - Not if it was in Tuam though!

MickySticks · 28-03-2012 01:11PM

Maybe if Nicky Joyce bulked up a bit he would improve a lot. He is very slight, but a brilliant footballer all the same.

Great to see P Joyce back in action, it seems like the man has been around for 30 years. Legend

aidan24326 · 28-03-2012 01:42PM

MickySticks wrote: »

Maybe if Nicky Joyce bulked up a bit he would improve a lot. He is very slight, but a brilliant footballer all the same.

The issues with Nicky are nothing to do with his bulk. He's never had a problem with strength or anything like that, nor with his ability. It's an attitude thing with him.

Great to see P Joyce back in action, it seems like the man has been around for 30 years. Legend

That I won't argue with. Mulholland apparently wasn't too concerned about whether Joyce came back or not (in fairness he's looking to build his own team) but I bet after Joyce's performance last Sunday he's well happy to have him back.

InchicoreDude · 28-03-2012 02:16PM

That I won't argue with. Mulholland apparently wasn't too concerned about whether Joyce came back or not (in fairness he's looking to build his own team) but I bet after Joyce's performance last Sunday he's well happy to have him back.

Be interesting to see if he starts the next day. After the changes he made against Monaghan, it asks a lot of questions about team selection the next day, like:

- Will P Joyce start at no. 11 where he was so influential against Monaghan? If not, will he persevere with D. Burke there?

- Will N. Joyce automatically get back onto the team? Hehir did nothing to suggest he should be selected ahead of Joyce. But perhaps Boyle will be given a start there?

- Will he start with a 2 man full forward line and go with 3 midfielders in order help out our ailing midfield?

- Will he give Martin / Bane another chance? Both very harshly subbed in the Monaghan game.

- Will Higgins start?

I think the same 6 backs will be selected. But from midfield up, it is tough to know which team he is going to go with....

Diabhal Beag · 29-03-2012 09:47PM

Team
1. Jamie Ryan
2. Declan Connolly
3. David Collins
4. Gerard O'Halloran
5. Tony Og Regan
6. Fergal Moore
7. Johnny Coen
8. Davy Burke
9. Brian Flaherty
10. Joe Cooney
11. Niall Burke
12. Andy Smyth
13. Damian Hayes
14. Iarlaith Tannian
15. Barry Daly

Subs
16. Feargal Flannery
17. Padraig Shiels
18. Niall Donohue
19. Paul Gordon
20. James Regan
21. Bernard Burke
22. Davy Glennon
23. Cyril Donnelan
24. Aidan Harte
25. Niall Healy
26. Conor Cooney

Dunno would I have kept O'Halloran in there

aidan24326 · 30-03-2012 02:01AM

InchicoreDude wrote: »

Be interesting to see if he starts the next day. After the changes he made against Monaghan, it asks a lot of questions about team selection the next day, like:

- Will P Joyce start at no. 11 where he was so influential against Monaghan? If not, will he persevere with D. Burke there?

- Will N. Joyce automatically get back onto the team? Hehir did nothing to suggest he should be selected ahead of Joyce. But perhaps Boyle will be given a start there?

- Will he start with a 2 man full forward line and go with 3 midfielders in order help out our ailing midfield?

- Will he give Martin / Bane another chance? Both very harshly subbed in the Monaghan game.

- Will Higgins start?

I think the same 6 backs will be selected. But from midfield up, it is tough to know which team he is going to go with....

Higgins surely has to start. Be strange if he doesn't.

And yes I would pick Joyce at 11. Putting him there instead of Damian Burke is surely a no-brainer, assuming PJ is fit to go 70 mins (I expect he is)

As for Martin and Bane it's hard to know. With the exception of Paul Conroy and a couple of decent perfromances from Nicky, the rest of the forwards have been inconsistent to say the least. None of them have made a strong case for nailing down a definite starting place.

Next day I'd go with:

8.Higgins 9.Bergin

10.Bane 11.PJ 12.Boyle

13.Cummins 14.Conroy 15.Nicky

BTW, where's Owen Concannon? He injured or something?

InchicoreDude · 30-03-2012 10:54AM

10.Bane 11.PJ 12.Boyle

What about Sice? He has been superb at number 10 recently. He does not deserve to be dropped.

Higgins surely has to start. Be strange if he doesn't.

I'd have thought the same about the game v Monaghan as well though and he didnt start...

13.Cummins 14.Conroy 15.Nicky

Not sure about Joyce in that full forward line. From what I have seen of Cummins, he seems better in a two man full forward line. He thrives on space. Actually, I think Martin is the opposite where he is more at home in a 3 man full forward line.

aidan24326 · 30-03-2012 03:04PM

InchicoreDude wrote: »

What about Sice? He has been superb at number 10 recently. He does not deserve to be dropped

Yeah good call, for some reason I forgot about Sice. You're right he doesn't deserve to be dropped. So he'd be at 10 with Bane at 15 and Nicky out to 12 instead of Boyle.

Not sure about Joyce in that full forward line. From what I have seen of Cummins, he seems better in a two man full forward line. He thrives on space. Actually, I think Martin is the opposite where he is more at home in a 3 man full forward line.

Nicky Joyce can be equally effective (or ineffective depending on the day) in a half or full forward line.

I can see how a two man full forward line would benefit Cummins. Usually does with pacy run-into-the-space kind of players like him.

It will be interesting what 15 AM picks for this game. With the fact that it's a promotion decider and with championship looming on the horizon it should give an indication as to what he has in mind as a starting team for the Roscommon game. Or something close to it anyaway.

Is there any other possibilities to join the panel after the league or any other players who might get a call up?

InchicoreDude · 31-03-2012 07:57PM

Nicky Joyce can be equally effective (or ineffective depending on the day) in a half or full forward line.

hmm, not so sure about this. He is a bit too lethargic for wing forward I think. I always hate seeing him pop up in defensive areas which will happen when he is playing in the half forward line. And his demeanour is far too casual when he is back there - you want to see get the ball forward but he takes a solo where he shouldnt etc.

Diabhal Beag · 31-03-2012 08:08PM

He needs the ball for him to have confidence. Putting him in full-forward is a bad choice when he works well in the half-forwards.

ShamoBuc · 01-04-2012 10:00PM

As good as KK were today I was somewhat shocked at how brutal Galway were. They seemed surprisingly willing to give the ball away - all over the field, but especially in defence.
Did they have the Dublin match in their sights? It is very hard to turn it on and off on any given week. Following Waterford and now KK, I expect the Dubs to stay up.

Diabhal Beag · 01-04-2012 11:12PM

Cunningham has his eyes set on the championship but he clearly didn't expect to be in the relegation play-off.

Shane St. · 02-04-2012 12:43AM

Hey Inchicore dude I find ur comments very misguided and ignorant. There are some parts of Galway further away from Tuam timewise than Galway City is from Dublin.
Therefore, Salthill is a natural ‘halfway’ meeting point.
Also, having matches in Tuam doesn’t develop the game, it just allows those with more interest to get there easier. It doesn’t do anything for the development of football in the rest of the county, esp the city. Running away and blaming foreign sports isn’t the way to develop Gaelic games, take a positive approach.

aidan24326 · 02-04-2012 10:38AM

ShamoBuc wrote: »

As good as KK were today I was somewhat shocked at how brutal Galway were. They seemed surprisingly willing to give the ball away - all over the field, but especially in defence.
Did they have the Dublin match in their sights? It is very hard to turn it on and off on any given week. Following Waterford and now KK, I expect the Dubs to stay up.

You're not the only one Shamo!

That was as bad as I've seen Galway in a long time. The ease with which Kilkenny picked off scores was almost embarrasing. It was like a routine training session for them at times.

24yearslater · 02-04-2012 10:56AM

ShamoBuc wrote: »

As good as KK were today I was somewhat shocked at how brutal Galway were. They seemed surprisingly willing to give the ball away - all over the field, but especially in defence.
Did they have the Dublin match in their sights? It is very hard to turn it on and off on any given week. Following Waterford and now KK, I expect the Dubs to stay up.

Absolute disgrace yesterday - was ashamed to be a Galwayman leaving the ground. Cunningham has some serious questions to answer now, I wasn't to impressed with the way he was laughing & joking with Cody on the pitch afterwards either. Every single player should be barred from wearing the shirt ever again - they rolled over & let kilkenny walk on them. They have no guts, no pride, no spirit, no shame, no moral decency and no self respect. They seem to treat the Galway jersey as some way to get free gear & a free pass into the city nightclubs - they're obviously too busy to train properly. The only effort I saw on the pitch yesterday was at the end when our heroes ran around the pitch after the kk lads asking them to swap jersies. When I saw the result printout last night on the news, I thought you could substitute Galways name with any county like Carlow, Donegal, Roscommon, Tyrone or any other Nicky Rackard county, and you would probably see the same hiding. That's where we're at now - Nicky Rackard standard (the competition, not the man). another couple of trouncings like we got in Tullamore & Thurles await us this summer again.

I hope now that Dublin bate the living sh*te outta us in the playoff - we're not a div 1 side, nor should we keep codding ourselves we are. That's me done following those lads around - the last 2 games showed that they've no real heart for a battle, they've a big collective yellow streak running down through them. I don't mind them being beaten, God konws I'm well used to it from trekking around after them for more years than I'm willing to admit to, but I'm effed if I'm going to waste my time on lads who clearly couldn't be arsed. It's clear that Dub, tipp & cork weren't trying taking things too seriously earlier on.

Fk the lot of them.

aidan24326 · 02-04-2012 12:56PM

24yearslater wrote: »

Absolute disgrace yesterday - was ashamed to be a Galwayman leaving the ground. Cunningham has some serious questions to answer now, I wasn't to impressed with the way he was laughing & joking with Cody on the pitch afterwards either. Every single player should be barred from wearing the shirt ever again - they rolled over & let kilkenny walk on them. They have no guts, no pride, no spirit, no shame, no moral decency and no self respect. They seem to treat the Galway jersey as some way to get free gear & a free pass into the city nightclubs - they're obviously too busy to train properly. The only effort I saw on the pitch yesterday was at the end when our heroes ran around the pitch after the kk lads asking them to swap jersies. When I saw the result printout last night on the news, I thought you could substitute Galways name with any county like Carlow, Donegal, Roscommon, Tyrone or any other Nicky Rackard county, and you would probably see the same hiding. That's where we're at now - Nicky Rackard standard (the competition, not the man). another couple of trouncings like we got in Tullamore & Thurles await us this summer again.

I hope now that Dublin bate the living sh*te outta us in the playoff - we're not a div 1 side, nor should we keep codding ourselves we are. That's me done following those lads around - the last 2 games showed that they've no real heart for a battle, they've a big collective yellow streak running down through them. I don't mind them being beaten, God konws I'm well used to it from trekking around after them for more years than I'm willing to admit to, but I'm effed if I'm going to waste my time on lads who clearly couldn't be arsed. It's clear that Dub, tipp & cork weren't trying taking things too seriously earlier on.

Fk the lot of them.

While I think you may be going slightly ott, I do agree with the general sentiment. The way Galway capitulated so tamely yesterday was shocking. It's the same story every year. We produce loads of fast, nippy, skilful hurlers but with one or two notable exceptions they seem to have very little heart or fight in them.

It was galling to see Kilkenny players waltzing through almost untouched to fire over easy points. Sylvie and Pete Finnerty and Tony Keady would have smashed them in two rather than let them saunter through the defence like that. So far there's little evidence of any progress being made (at least with the footballers there's a sense that Mullholland is going in the right direction - whereas the hurlers seem to be stuck in reverse).

InchicoreDude · 02-04-2012 01:06PM

Also, having matches in Tuam doesn’t develop the game, it just allows those with more interest to get there easier. It doesn’t do anything for the development of football in the rest of the county, esp the city. Running away and blaming foreign sports isn’t the way to develop Gaelic games, take a positive approach.

I never said it did anything for the development of football. But the motivation behind the building of Pearse was to develop GAA in the city.

I dont think it has worked. I do not believe the development of Pearse stadium has done anything to progress GAA in the city.

There are some parts of Galway further away from Tuam timewise than Galway City is from Dublin.
Therefore, Salthill is a natural ‘halfway’ meeting point.

Thats a moot point really. You could just as easily argue that as the majority of home championship matches for Galway will be against Connacht opposition, that Tuam is a more natural meeting point....

Bear in mind that I actually dont think championship games should be moved from Pearse. It has been built - it should be used. Doesnt take away from the fact that Tuam would get larger crowds.

CyberDave · 02-04-2012 01:50PM

As regards yesterday's game against Kilkenny, I can understand the frustration, but don't overreact. They were hugely disappointing. I was afraid this might happen all week. Nobody learns better from their mistakes than Kilkenny. We will be doing very well to make a Quarter-Final this year on this form. I really don't think the size of our players is a huge factor. If you're good enough, it shouldn't matter. Look at Tommy Walsh. It's the heart and the will to fight like animals for a win that our lads are missing. New set of players, same problem. A real stand out problem from yesterday, was the appalling first touch of so many of our players. All three Kilkenny goals came from silly errors by Galway players. I was at the fame last week and it was baffling how much space the Waterford backs had to catch and clear the ball every time it was played into the FF line. Same problem yesterday. Tannian has done enough now to be finally dropped. He hasn't had one stand out moment in this year's league and yet he is still being given chances. He was second to every single ball yesterday. Tony Og Regan, the same. He has been found out time and again in the heat of Summer, yet he is still there and despite one fine catch yesterday, just is not good enough. Our corner-backs have been well and truly found out in the last couple of games as well. Connolly just could not handle Mullane last week and Fennelly went to town on O'Halloran, who just doesn't seem up to it at this level. Collins is not a FB, nor is Moore a CB. Why haven't Lydon ir Gordon got a chance at CB in the League? Not much point still having them on the panel unless they are tested against the best. If they are not good enough, then leave them off. Dublin will blow us away, like they did last year in Tullamore, if they perform like that again in two weeks time. Maybe they would be better off if they did have to spend a season in 1B. It might be the kick in the arse some of them need.

CyberDave · 02-04-2012 01:51PM

As regards yesterday's game against Kilkenny, I can understand the frustration, but don't overreact. I was afraid this might happen all week. Nobody learns better from their mistakes than Kilkenny. We will be doing very well to make a Quarter-Final this year on this form. I really don't think the size of our players is a huge factor. If you're good enough, it shouldn't matter. Look at Tommy Walsh. It's the heart and the will to fight like animals for a win that our lads are missing. New set of players, same problem. A real stand out problem from yesterday, was the appalling first touch of so many of our players. All three Kilkenny goals came from silly errors by Galway players. I was at the fame last week and it was baffling how much space the Waterford backs had to catch and clear the ball every time it was played into the FF line. Same problem yesterday. Tannian has done enough now to be finally dropped. He hasn't had one stand out moment in this year's league and yet he is still being given chances. He was second to every single ball yesterday. Tony Og Regan, the same. He has been found out time and again in the heat of Summer, yet he is still there and despite one fine catch yesterday, just is not good enough. Our corner-backs have been well and truly found out in the last couple of games as well. Connolly just could not handle Mullane last week and Fennelly went to town on O'Halloran, who just doesn't seem up to it at this level. Collins is not a FB, nor is Moore a CB. Why haven't Lydon ir Gordon got a chance at CB in the League? Not much point still having them on the panel unless they are tested against the best. If they are not good enough, then leave them off. Dublin will blow us away, like they did last year in Tullamore, if they perform like that again in two weeks time. Maybe they would be better off if they did have to spend a season in 1B. It might be the kick in the arse some of them need.

Kojak · 02-04-2012 02:18PM

That was typical Galway yesterday - when the going gets tough, they fold very, very quickly. the 3 goals, plus about 5 or 6 points were easily stoppable. I'm not saying that Galway could have won, but at least if they showed a bit of pride/passion, they we wouldn't be too downbeat about them loosing to KK. The players more or less accepted their fate from about 5 minutes in. Disguisting - no matter how bad, say, Waterford, were going this year, they didn't throw in the towel (Tipp match aside, I suppose) and when it came to the crunch were able to get the wins that they needed.

On the basis of their spectacular fall from grace, Dublin will horse Galway out of it in 2 weeks time and will probably end up winning by 6 or so points. Also, up to now, Cunningham has been quick to make changes that made some sort of sense, but I couldn't for the life of me understand why he replaced the entire full-forward line when it was obvious that the half lines and midfield needed surgery.

I would be angry, but unfortunalty, these kind of "displays" have become common place for Galway hurlers for some time now. This league campaign is reminding me of last year where the hurlers only needed a point from their last 2 games to make the final (i think), but got walloped by Tipp and then couldn't beat Waterford, even though they had enough chances to do so. And we all remember what happened in the championship after that - I fear that the same fate awaits us this year.....

24yearslater · 02-04-2012 02:41PM

CyberDave wrote: »

As regards yesterday's game against Kilkenny, I can understand the frustration, but don't overreact. They were hugely disappointing. I was afraid this might happen all week. Nobody learns better from their mistakes than Kilkenny. We will be doing very well to make a Quarter-Final this year on this form. I really don't think the size of our players is a huge factor. If you're good enough, it shouldn't matter. Look at Tommy Walsh. It's the heart and the will to fight like animals for a win that our lads are missing. New set of players, same problem. A real stand out problem from yesterday, was the appalling first touch of so many of our players. All three Kilkenny goals came from silly errors by Galway players. I was at the fame last week and it was baffling how much space the Waterford backs had to catch and clear the ball every time it was played into the FF line. Same problem yesterday. Tannian has done enough now to be finally dropped. He hasn't had one stand out moment in this year's league and yet he is still being given chances. He was second to every single ball yesterday. Tony Og Regan, the same. He has been found out time and again in the heat of Summer, yet he is still there and despite one fine catch yesterday, just is not good enough. Our corner-backs have been well and truly found out in the last couple of games as well. Connolly just could not handle Mullane last week and Fennelly went to town on O'Halloran, who just doesn't seem up to it at this level. Collins is not a FB, nor is Moore a CB. Why haven't Lydon ir Gordon got a chance at CB in the League? Not much point still having them on the panel unless they are tested against the best. If they are not good enough, then leave them off. Dublin will blow us away, like they did last year in Tullamore, if they perform like that again in two weeks time. Maybe they would be better off if they did have to spend a season in 1B. It might be the kick in the arse some of them need.

It's hardly an over-reaction, and every thing you said in your subsequent mail seems to back up my comments. The fact is that any of the third-tier counties mentioned in my earlier post would have probably been beaten by about 25-30 pts by kk yesterday. And at least they would have tried. Every single player who wore the maroon & white yesterday gave up after the 2nd goal went in - that makes them cowards in my book. They don't deserve to ever get selected again. If I was Joe Byrne I would seriously look at Cunninghams role in the debacle too, and there has to be a serious re-evaluation of his position. Mind you, the co boards' role in picking him while he was still involved with the westmeath footballers shows a serious lack of leadership at the very top - can you imagine Cody or JBM double jobbing in their roles, or even being allowed to?

Last week there was a rerun of the Tony Keady laochra gael documentary on tg4 - it showed some snipets of the great '85-'90 team. No cowards there - I accept they lost numerous matches they should have won, but at least they died with their boots on doing so. The bunch of yellowbacks I watched yesterday aren't fit to carry their hurls, never mind wear the same jersies.

Not that I give a sh*te about them anymore - they can go fk themselves as far as I'm concerened.

Diabhal Beag · 02-04-2012 05:04PM

Lads we all know Galway hurling is nothing without Canning at the moment. Although it's only the League I am obviously worried about the Championship. Cunningham has the attitude of "shur don't mind the aul League" but yesterday was the awakening of the crisis.

Skehill's worth his weight in gold I guess now because he threw Ryan in at the deep end and he drowned against the best side in the country by a mile. Should have started more than one game just in the scenario of having a bit of experience prior to yesterday.

The fullback line was atrocious despite Collins having a decent spell for 10 minutes there. How O'Halloran hasn't been dropped is actually embarrassing. He doesn't play well at senior. Thanks and all but he should be gone.

Halfbacks are useless without Moore to lead them on a good day. He had a nightmare though and the backs were destroyed.

Midfield. Why? Barry Daly doesn't cut it, Davy Burke doesn't cut it, Smith doesn't start there enough so he doesn't cut it. The rotation of midfield to half-forward is shocking and genuinely the main problem in this side. I don't rate Regan at all but he was thrown in there and moved up because the poor lad was dead in the water.

Half-forward line. Didn't do great but at least did some work. No midfield = no half-forward line. Niall Burke has spells of class but he had a wide there that an U-10 would have cooly slotted over the bar with his eyes closed.

Full-forwards just die a death because it's a two man full-forward line. How is Damien Hayes going to create anything in a 2 man full-forward line? He's still a great player but he's being shutdown tactically.

We wanted to change the game yesterday. Aidan Harte was our answer. We must have misheard the question I guess. But the subs are a great indicator of a team's ability. This team can't rely on the subs because they're all average at best if we're being honest.

That said I'm not going to be over-dramatic and claim they don't deserve to wear the jersey because they do have good days (Cork, Clare) but I think a lot of anger comes from the false notion that we're on the same level as Waterford come championship time. At the moment we're Offaly-level IMO. But I will give Cunningham his due. It's his first year and he had Dessie Dolan issues on his mind.

Worst case scenario Dublin beat us. Relegation. It could be what this team needs. I think the footballers will benefit from the drop-down this year.

Galway GAA discussion thread

Comments