Galway GAA discussion thread

sean555 · 03-08-2014 10:34PM

Very frustrating today, Kerry were there today but we could not take them. Management seem think that if they put Gary O Donnell marking space that counts as a defensive plan. The problem is Gary does not know where to stand, when to move forward, when to move back he spends the game ball watching. Too easy to blame him for that as in fairness he always tries his best and is a very honest player. The fault lies with management in not picking someone who can read a game better. Finian was excellent today until his attempted punch of the ball when it could have been caught. 2 corner backs roasted but given no help at all. Gareth Bradshaw great going forward, a liability going anywhere else, in the last ten minutes he gave up marking Keane and gave the responsibility to Lundy who then had 2 men to mark.
Paul Varley did pretty well esp. defensively. Fiontain played very well in midfield, Tom Flynn played well in patches and did score an excellent goal.
Lundy had a great game, Shane Walsh for a 20 year old played very well but will play even better in Croke Park next time he is there. John O' Brien started quite well, had one bad moment then gone for the second half. Michael Martin never got going and while he did get some good ball gave it away too often cheaply. Paul Conroy by his standards was not good at all, showed well but too often took wrong options, Danny Cummins just looked nervous , he got 3 or 4 good passes in the first ten minutes took one ridiculous shot and twice the ball bounced off his hands or chest. Subs Damien Comer looks decent,strong, tries hard confident, Seán Armstrong did pretty well too,2 points, nice pass for the goal.
There is a the bones of a very good team there but we need agression, passion and structure.

Fireball07 · 03-08-2014 10:46PM

That Lundy guy was very good, haven't really seen much of him before. What age is he?

He was your best player imo.

Stanza2 · 03-08-2014 11:31PM

Danny Cummins was taken off for Armstrong after about 60 mins v Mayo and then about 50 mins v Tipp and then 35 mins v Kerry. He was second highest scorer in the championship with 2-9 up until today (all from play) with only Shane Walsh ahead of him (who scores lots from frees). If he doesn't rate him then don't pick him.

No wonder he was nervous, the manager has hardly shown faith in him ! he kicked one wide, but everytime he makes a mistake he is taken off. The second half with the wind behind was made for him. The whole full forward line, Paul Conroy included were bypassed in that first half, it was harder into the wind. Kerry worked it out better and worked the ball into better scoring positions than us.

03-08-2014 11:36PM

Like against Mayo comfortably beaten, played some good football at times and highlighted weaknesses in the opposition but only briefly threatened a revival which was pretty much quenched straight away.

Mulholland is a good guy and blooding younger players is never painless, there are good days and bad but defensively we have continued to be weak and naive this year and a lot of that has been down to tactics, we don't have the personnel for a quality defensive unit so we need to be defensively well setup. Once again we make a hero out of the corner forward for the opposition due to schoolboy tactics. Kerry have undoubted class in their forwards and no matter what system you devise they will kick some excellent scores but going out with no effective defensive plan leaves you open for them to tear you open as they did.

In terms of our forward play, there just isn't enough movement, hasn't been all year, we worked some good scores today but really a lot of the time we had no idea what we were doing. Kerry's defence is extremely average and very susceptible to pace which Galway have. That weakness will be exploited if not by Mayo then by Dublin yet they were able to keep Galway at arms length comfortably enough particularly in the first half. We saw what happened against Mayo, imagine facing a team like Donegal or another of the northern outfits where space would be at a premium, the speed and movement of the team has to be increased several levels before we can hope to make the next step forward. If you are dilly-dallying hand passing it over and back on the 45 waiting for a chance to appear it won't, even the weakest defences are able to filter enough men back these days.

I think Mulholland deserves credit for getting these young players experience and the players seem to respect him but really after 3 years in charge, its very hard to see him taking us any further. If Mulholland is staying on, things will have to get much more professional behind the scenes and the backroom staff improved. To me the whole setup behind the scenes in the Galway camp looks amateur compared to a lot of other sides and that has to change if we are to give this group of players a fair crack of the whip.

Outside of tactics, management and overall setup, there is no doubt we are still a good few players short, particularly in the backline but competition for places looks stronger in most positions than it has for a long time. Maybe the likes of James Shaughnessy and these lads can be blooded in the league next year, we'll have to see will Daithi Burke commit to either or both codes.

We've got back to some kind of semi-respectability but the difficult part is yet to come.

Cosmo Kramer · 04-08-2014 11:54AM

Borders No. 2 pretty much bang on the money there with his comments I think. There is a real amateur feel about the Galway setup still. My own opinion is that if yesterday's semi-decent performance was enough to get Mulholland another year then it will have done more harm than good because, for me, he is not improving them - they are simply improving gradually as players by themselves as they get a bit older.

There is though the undeniable problem that you can't magic up good backs - they have to be in the system to begin with. I couldn't believe Mulholland started Donal O'Neill on O'Donoghue after the roasting he got off Cillian O'Connor but I guess there must be nobody else to come in. The only obvious solution to that is to drop more men back but will the Galway public accept a more defensive approach?

nootroc · 04-08-2014 12:36PM

Think O'Neill does not get enough help from halfbacks. What was Hanley doing punching a ball he should have caught easily enough.

RobbieRuns · 04-08-2014 12:40PM

A lot of very good points being made, I particularly agree with the statement that the players are improving by themselves, as they get older, fitter, stronger etc. We do have good footballers. They have proved it at underage.

I think that a lot is down to confidence and the lack of it throughout the squad. We all talk about rubbish backs, but Mulholland needs to get them feeling like they are world beaters, thats his job, he is always putting the dampner on expectations for the whole group. The point about Danny Cummins is well made as his confidence is blown for some reason, it should'nt be he is a fine player and the fact that he kept getting subbed probably had a lot to do with it. He is a forward and puts himself up there as they all do to be judged on his scoring ability so he has to take the bullets when they come, but I do think that he was taken off to early v Mayo and at half time yesterday was harsh as his pace should have come into its own as the game opened up. He deserved a bit longer on the pitch for me. Armstrong does not offer more (did not get 2 points either Sean555) and was as guilty of giving the ball away at times as anyone.

The midfield was a big plus this year the two lads have shown that they can do it and they are very young with good years ahead of them. Always been the key for me the centre field and that is brilliant going into next year.

The big decision is if Mullholland stays or goes. The team is a good one, there is real potential. The current management were always saying that a quarter final was a good step, for me we should be looking for more. Bringing in outside managers is fraught with danger. There is a former Galway player who cut his teeth with Sligo who should get the job!

Utopia Parkway · 04-08-2014 02:04PM

Mulholland took over at a difficult time having to introduce a whole raft of young players with some of the older lads retiring or simply being let go. In that respect there are a lot of young lads there now who have got some intercounty experience behind them. However I don't think Mulholland is the man to bring them forward. He is obviously an intelligent guy who runs his own business but he doesn't seem to have a clue about setting up a team tactically to hide it's weaknesses and showcase it's strengths. From watching the Kerry game it was clear he learned precisely nothing from the Mayo game because he repeated many of the same mistakes. Including leaving his corner-backs completely isolated on the opposition's most dangerous player.

Personally think it would be best to thank Alan for his services, for steadying the ship somewhat and moving on from him.

04-08-2014 02:58PM

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

From watching the Kerry game it was clear he learned precisely nothing from the Mayo game because he repeated many of the same mistakes. Including leaving his corner-backs completely isolated on the opposition's most dangerous player.

It's even going back further than that, was the same case last year against Mayo and Cork and Waterford nearly finished us in Salthill.

The record since 2012 has been poor with only a notable win over Armagh from the traditional stronger counties.

We were the only team yesterday who didn't employ spare men in defence.
That's Junior stuff and that's supposed to be the difference between Junior and Senior/County level.
Even if they didn't work on it during the year it was clear after 10mins that we needed to stop man marking, drop extra men back and primarily hold the space in front of the corner back positions.
Kerry were just bringing everyone in front of the Galway goal then leading out the wings into the space that was opened up.

RobbieRuns wrote: »

The current management were always saying that a quarter final was a good step, for me we should be looking for more. Bringing in outside managers is fraught with danger. There is a former Galway player who cut his teeth with Sligo who should get the job!

If he does get another year.
That will be exactly why, in that others would agree based on 2002-2013.
It's like since we've dropped so far for so long, that regardless of how much better the panel could be(their U21 success would point to them being better than a making a quarter being a good year) currently we should be happy to just make the last 8 of a 32 team.

Past failures shouldn't be the gauge for current expectations, but a lot are using it currently.

I remember reading either the Sentinel of the Tribune after the Mayo game and they actually used the tagline ''Pride restored to Galway football'' after getting a 7 point drubbing.

Are we supposed to be happy with making the final of the weakest Provincial Championship?
For a county who comes 3rd in the Roll of Honour I don't think losing convincingly in the final is a restoration of Pride.

Sure we didn't make it since 2008, but it wasn't good enough any of those intervening years either. Mulholland seems to be getting a pass due to the failings of his predecessors.

You'd even argue he has a better pool to draw from yet we're more uncompetitive against the stronger counties now than we were with weaker teams in the 2006-2012 years.
We put it up more to a stronger Kerry team in 2008 with a far worse panel.

IMO the weakest Galway teams should be regularly making Quarter finals due to the population gulf.
This is the case with Mayo, Dublin, Cork, Kerry and even average Meath and Kildare teams.
So seeing as I don't think this is our weakest level it's a disappointing year IMO.

WallyGUFC · 04-08-2014 04:20PM

Who can come in if he goes though?

Whatever happens, the team needs to spend the winter in the gym and bulk up. They need to become mean as well, and learn how to tackle effectively. 3-14 against Mayo, 4-12 against Tipp, 1-20 yesterday. That's not acceptable. We coasted to a QF by beating 3 pretty poor teams. We never had a prayer yesterday, Kerry didn't have to get out of second gear. We are years behind the likes of Mayo, Dublin and Donegal in the conditioning stakes. Nice teams don't win All Irelands anymore, you have to be ruthless. And this team is just too nice.

Utopia Parkway · 04-08-2014 04:44PM

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Who can come in if he goes though?

Whatever happens, the team needs to spend the winter in the gym and bulk up. They need to become mean as well, and learn how to tackle effectively. 3-14 against Mayo, 4-12 against Tipp, 1-20 yesterday. That's not acceptable. We coasted to a QF by beating 3 pretty poor teams. We never had a prayer yesterday, Kerry didn't have to get out of second gear. We are years behind the likes of Mayo, Dublin and Donegal in the conditioning stakes. Nice teams don't win All Irelands anymore, you have to be ruthless. And this team is just too nice.

I can't remember the last time I saw a Galway player level someone with a hard shoulder. I think it might have been Damien Burke in the Connacht final back in 2008. Too much of our tackling is of the weak arm variety where an arm is dangled out there in hope rather than expectation. Mayo obviously work hard at their tackling and they always try and strip the ball from the opponent and it creates a pile of turnovers.

The worst thing in the last 15 minutes yesterday was Kerry forwards having all day to kick over points with nobody within 5 yards of them and nobody closing them down with any real intensity.

I actually thought Bradshaw attacked with real purpose yesterday and was one of the only Galway players that wanted to make direct runs forward to slice open the Kerry defence but he just doesn't want to defend. Barry John Keane came on as a sub and kicked 0-3 from play with nobody within an asses roar of him. Pretty sure he was meant to be Bradshaw's man.

Diabhal Beag · 04-08-2014 05:08PM

After seeing both games yesterday I do think we need a new management team. Have a feeling that the next in line is Tommy Joyce or Kevin Walsh. That Galway team has the makings of a potentially very good team but tactically it was tough to watch yesterday. For 10 minutes it was pot shots that they didn't have the confidence to score and short handpasses that the Kerry backs would've loved to have seen instead of movement off the ball. At the back all game it was a horror show but only when Keith Kelly came on for Joss Moore did it really show the full extent of how limited Galway are when it comes to defenders. Martin and Cummins just didn't look right out there and we needed them to have strong games.

Bradshaw just doesn't have any intentions of defending but he offers a lot in attack and was one of the few runners who caused hassle. Lundy was excellent and looks a great prospect. Thought Hanley had one of his better games in spite of O'Neill. Flynn could be one of the best midfielders in the country if he starts looking at taking points rather than short handpasses and this year he really has an eye for goal that you can tell he has worked on. Ó'Curraoin had good spells. Didn't think Moore was too bad either and it really showed when Kelly had a nightmare cameo. Comer was very impressive and Walsh was good when he got confidence back.

Healy can't really take a lot of flak. They didn't respond to the big breeze in the middle of the second half and Kerry won a lot of ball. He was on point for two good goal chances too.

I really agree that this is a side that is improving individually moreso than due to management but no doubt Mullholland took a side devoid of confidence and brought them on particularly for the Armagh win. Think Tipp are being under-rated a bit by a lot of folk in comparing them to Sligo or London. Tipp are no worse than the Wexford's, Westmeath's and Antrim's that have beaten supposedly good Galway sides in the last decade.

Utopia Parkway · 04-08-2014 10:43PM

Depending if Mulholland stays or goes I wonder who the main candidates to take over would be? I'm sure Kevin Walsh would be one anyway. PJ has said he wants the job eventually but maybe a bit too early for him yet. An outside bet might be Tommy Joyce who has been producing extremely well drilled and coached Galway teams in the Ted Webb. I see his Galway north team romped to another Ted Webb final win on Monday over Roscommon by 1-18 to 1-7.

By the way Val Daly's sons are going to be some players. Both Michael and John look like tremendous talents. Michael's sending off against Mayo in the minor this year really hurt Galway he was the best player on the pitch up to then. John was fantastic for Galway north today in the Ted Webb. No doubt we'll be seeing more of them in the next few years. Both midfielders as well.

Redsoxfan · 04-08-2014 11:08PM

I don't like to personalise it but I thought Conroy was very poor yesterday, showing little, if any, composure (his point came when the game was essentially over). Didn't strike me as captain material.

I thought some of the backs showed very little intensity in the tackle as well. On a few occasions there was an opportunity to rip the ball away from the attacker, but the Kerryman prevailed.

Experience might bring the composure that may address the shooting issues we saw in the first half. The defensive issues are something much more fundamental however.

Just my 2c, this is an outsiders view.

Edit - just on Conroy - seemed to me to be more effective in a deeper role. What's his best position?

O.A.P · 05-08-2014 12:01AM

That was the most up and down Galway performance I can remember, but only 35 years shouting for them so I might be wrong.
The first 15 minutes was like watching Mayo in the 90;s playing all the football but not having a clue how to score.
Take a break so Kerry can rack up 11 or 12 point lead, then remember whats at stake and play 15 or 20 minutes of all Ireland winning football.
Cool down again sure nobody ever thought we could get this far anyway.

Galway needs a manger who can turn these lads into champions .
Kevin walsh ?

Cosmo Kramer · 05-08-2014 03:29AM

Kevin Walsh would seem like a sensible choice for Galway alright. I know there are plenty in Sligo who would argue against him but I think they were overestimating their team's ability and underestimating his input during his time in charge there. I have a feeling Mulholland will get another year if he wants one though.

Naux · 05-08-2014 11:56AM

Looks to be the bones of a potentially very good Galway team there. Young Talent.

Lundy(my Galway player of the year) Flynn, O'Curraoin, Comer, Walsh, Varley, Moore, O'Neill.

Before anyone says anything about the defenders listed above you must remember that our current style of play exposes our full back line horrendously. You could pick any top corner back from any county and he would struggle while playing for Galway. Too exposed.

Mulholland has done well in blooding these young guys but beyond that into the future I'm unconvinced about him.

Shady Tady · 05-08-2014 02:56PM

Put Bradshaw at 12 and play him as a sweeper, tell your half backs to play like halfbacks should do primarily defending at least this way the corner backs have cover, get Sice back and put him at 5 and tell him to stay there!

Worthwent14 · 05-08-2014 03:25PM

In Breathnach O Neill Flynn Lundy Walsh Cummins Comer we have players that have already showed their class at county level. O Neill was brilliant v Armagh last year and also kept brian Hurley quiet so he is definitely good enough despite having difficulties this year and Breathnach Flynn Cummins have shown that they are good players in their positions. Cummins though needs to work on his shooting but his speed and ball winning is top class. Lundy Walsh and comer have showed this year they are quality players Lundy has been terrific all year and could get an allstar nomination. Moore i think just needs more games but he is very promising and i think he will be fullback when Hanley retires. Thats a decent spine to the team and conroy of course also adds to it. I dont rate our wing backs at all because they cant defend. O Donnell has done well at centre back but maybe someone like Daithi Burke or Duane could do better? I think O Curraoin is very limited and doesn't do much else aside from compete for kickouts which is very difficult to be succesful at. He needs to work harder defensively and also add his game and skillset. He should look at the o Shea's and see how they have improved with their all round game and shooting. I think we'd be better off having a fast skilful player in there who can move the ball at pace pick up breaks and take a score also. Watching dublin Donegal and mayo, the top 3 teams in the country over the last 3 years, it is no coincidence they are succesful because they have smart kickout strategies and good movement and mobility at kickout time. It is vital that we learn from these teams and study what they do and how they do it because to be succesful we need a good kickout strategy so we can challenge the too teams. Kickouts and a half back line that can defend would be a priority for me. Dont think mullholland is the man to bring the team forward as he has done little in his 3 years. Thought the kerry performance was very poor and the players didnt look like they had left everything out on the pitch.

RoscommonTom · 05-08-2014 09:44PM

Not to bad a show on Sunday, could be a tight scrap for the nestor next year with you Ros and the mayos all going well

Worthwent14 · 06-08-2014 10:14PM

Mullholland hasn't really brought this team on at all in the last 3 years and hasn't done enough to warrant another term. If he doesn't want another term he should let the board know ASAP instead of dragging it out because we need a good search for the right replacement if he leaves and the more time the better. Regardless of who is in charge next year all the players should be put on a weights programme by the end of the month because they need to be bulked up by league time if we are to have any chance of promotion. Perhaps a little OTT but that is what it takes to be competitive at intercounty level.

Diabhal Beag · 06-08-2014 11:55PM

Aren't they supposedly still due expenses? It's all well and good telling them bulk up but if they allegedly aren't getting the supplements and protein packs it'll be hard to achieve that?

Naux · 07-08-2014 11:09AM

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Aren't they supposedly still due expenses? It's all well and good telling them bulk up but if they allegedly aren't getting the supplements and protein packs it'll be hard to achieve that?

Well nigh impossible to achieve I'd say if they don't have the correct regime in place.

You can be sure that Dublin have a top food scientist in their employ along with lots of funding for implementing their recommendations.

Dublin, Donegal, Mayo, Monaghan are seriously fit & physical teams. That didn't happen by accident!

Galway probably do not have the resources. That is one of the reasons we are where we are in the pecking order.

24yearslater · 07-08-2014 01:59PM

Naux wrote: »

Well nigh impossible to achieve I'd say if they don't have the correct regime in place.

You can be sure that Dublin have a top food scientist in their employ along with lots of funding for implementing their recommendations.

Dublin, Donegal, Mayo, Monaghan are seriously fit & physical teams. That didn't happen by accident!

Galway probably do not have the resources. That is one of the reasons we are where we are in the pecking order.

From what I believe it's all down to the purchase of the ill fated 100+ acres in Athenry that was earmarked for some sort of hurling centre of excellence. Huge money was paid for the land around '05-'06, but for reasons that we all now know the project never took off the ground. The co board now has to make interest only payments on monies borrowed to purchase the land, which is now only worth a fraction of what was originally paid for it (& nobody wants it anymore). At one stage there were rumours that the co board would be taken over by NAMA, but that never went anywhere. As a result of this misjudged investment, there's nowhere near enough money available to invest in co squads to ensure that we are able to compete. The truth of the matter is that most monies raised by the board now have to go to fund the loan, this ensuring our teams are ill prepared. Looks like any thoughts of future glory are merely a pipe dream.

Shady Tady · 08-08-2014 01:30AM

24yearslater wrote: »

From what I believe it's all down to the purchase of the ill fated 100+ acres in Athenry that was earmarked for some sort of hurling centre of excellence. Huge money was paid for the land around '05-'06, but for reasons that we all now know the project never took off the ground. The co board now has to make interest only payments on monies borrowed to purchase the land, which is now only worth a fraction of what was originally paid for it (& nobody wants it anymore). At one stage there were rumours that the co board would be taken over by NAMA, but that never went anywhere. As a result of this misjudged investment, there's nowhere near enough money available to invest in co squads to ensure that we are able to compete. The truth of the matter is that most monies raised by the board now have to go to fund the loan, this ensuring our teams are ill prepared. Looks like any thoughts of future glory are merely a pipe dream.

Maybe Nama could come in and replace the county board, it would be worth the money and they would automatically know more about hurling and winning all Ireland's!

MfMan · 08-08-2014 01:02PM

Interesting that GBFM reports that the following have been nominated for the Hurling manager's job;

Brendan Lynskey (Hasn't he been involved before? Too inclined to lose the head IMHO)
Mattie Kenny (After 2013, are they serious?)
Anthony Cunningham (What's he going to do that's different?)
Johnny Keane (May depend on U-21s progress - not gone on Keady's involvement BTW. May also be be too identified with Portumna for other club's liking)

A contest for the post is probably no harm but there isn't too much inspiration in that list. Nominators should probably think outside the box (county) a bit.

donnem33 · 08-08-2014 01:41PM

MfMan wrote: »

Interesting that GBFM reports that the following have been nominated for the Hurling manager's job;

Brendan Lynskey (Hasn't he been involved before? Too inclined to lose the head IMHO)
Mattie Kenny (After 2013, are they serious?)
Anthony Cunningham (What's he going to do that's different?)
Johnny Keane (May depend on U-21s progress - not gone on Keady's involvement BTW. May also be be too identified with Portumna for other club's liking)

A contest for the post is probably no harm but there isn't too much inspiration in that list. Nominators should probably think outside the box (county) a bit.

should that be johnny kelly? i would definately not like to see him anyway involved!!!!

he had the u21s and intermediates last year very badly prepared!! even this years intermediates his tactics against cork were very poor....playing a sweeper in the first half when playing with the wind, then in the second half against the wind going man on man. the mind boggles!! he has a serious u21 outfit at his disposal this year, however with him incharge its hard to see them doing much unfortunately. With Portumna, everyone knows it was Dinny Cahill who made the changes in matches, and when they were going for 3 all irelands in a row he got rid of dinny so he could take all the credit - which backfired badly!

MfMan · 08-08-2014 02:05PM

donnem33 wrote: »

should that be johnny kelly? i would definately not like to see him anyway involved!!!!

he had the u21s and intermediates last year very badly prepared!! even this years intermediates his tactics against cork were very poor....playing a sweeper in the first half when playing with the wind, then in the second half against the wind going man on man. the mind boggles!! he has a serious u21 outfit at his disposal this year, however with him incharge its hard to see them doing much unfortunately. With Portumna, everyone knows it was Dinny Cahill who made the changes in matches, and when they were going for 3 all irelands in a row he got rid of dinny so he could take all the credit - which backfired badly!

You're right, typo.

sporter1 · 08-08-2014 04:01PM

What is the minor team like for sunday ?

T0001 · 08-08-2014 04:58PM

sporter1 wrote: »

What is the minor team like for sunday ?

Next Sunday

Galway GAA discussion thread

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