Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

Fr Tod Umptious · 06-10-2011 10:46am

So Rossies, what's the story with O' Donnell ?

Why did he step down ?

I though he would be around for a bit longer, young team, gaining experience etc.

rossie1977 · 06-10-2011 12:59pm

he has a very young family and work commitments and of course he was bitterly disappointed with how results went this year, he did his 3 years and has left the county in a much better place than the one he found it in, he has brought through some fantastic young talent and turned people like finneran and claffey into decent footballers

Syferus · 06-10-2011 7:09pm

It doesn't feel like the right time for him to exit but it's hard for anyone to question the quality of the development he's nurtured at all levels from minor to senior over the last half decade.

We need a managers with a vision and purpose, and soon, or we'll be risking a golden opportunity to be competitive at the highest level. It's a statement of faith by O'Donnell in the team as well; he's not short of county pride so he has to believe this team is in a place where a new manager would able to achieve the levels of performance he could. Let's just hope we do a good job finding a new manager.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 06-10-2011 7:18pm

Yeah the appointment of the next manager will be of equal importance to Fergie's appointment. He's brought this panel right the way through from promising Minors to AIM Champions and managed to filter a lot of those lads into the senior team. He's produced a panel that can genuinely now call themselves contenders for Connacht on a yearly basis and hopefully, in the near future, bigger things.

Its now very important that we appoint someone who can consolidate this position and bearing in mind that we have a very young panel with an average age somewhere in the region of 24, this Roscommon team, under the right guidance, are capable of giving us plenty to smile about over the next few years.

Fair play to Fergie, we owe him a debt of gratitude for the job he has done, the best of luck to him.

Billgirlylegs · 07-10-2011 12:43am

Fergal O Donnell did a great job.
The writing was on the wall when he said there was a lack of progress this year.

Hopefully there is an internal successor who can give it a decent shot for 3 or 4 years. They need to get back up the NFL divisions and get through a few tough Qualifier encounters rather than worrying about winning Connacht titles.

Syferus · 07-10-2011 3:27am

Billgirlylegs wrote: »

Fergal O Donnell did a great job.
The writing was on the wall when he said there was a lack of progress this year.

Hopefully there is an internal successor who can give it a decent shot for 3 or 4 years. They need to get back up the NFL divisions and get through a few tough Qualifier encounters rather than worrying about winning Connacht titles.

No, no, no.

I see way too many people bandying around this idea that beating a few decent teams (ala Meath, Wexford, Derry) or even a 'top tier' team will do much more for Roscommon than winning a few Connacht titles. We've not beaten Mayo or Galway in a decade so thinking important challenges that will develop the team can't be found inside the province is foolish. Couple that with a Sligo team that will surely perform better next year and you've got four teams with real ambitions on Connacht and that's more of what will drive any of the Connacht teams to success than a tour of the country.

I'd take Connacht titles each and every single year, in the end people will remember 2001 and 2010 and while beating Cork in 2003 was a very good result, even coupled with a mazy run through the entirety of the back door, it didn't develop the team all that greatly. If anything our experiences in Connacht in 1998 and 2001 are what fueled that run in 2003 so there is no real rhyme or reason to the idea that qualifiers 'develop' teams above and beyond a good, hard provincial run.

I'd only ever have any designs on the back door if and when we lose.

yabadabado · 08-01-2012 8:43pm

Anyone at the FBD game today?Just saw the score anyone able to give a bit of a report.

rossie1977 · 22-03-2012 1:53am

great win by our under 21s against mayo last night, thats 3 wins over mayo last 3 years at this level

i can't wait to see donie smith playing senior for roscommon, he already probably should be in there as none of our half forwards bar cregg know where the posts are

JR79 · 22-03-2012 12:08pm

Its been along time since we've beaten Mayo 3 years in a row! Its great to be competitive at underage & for these young players to have beaten Mayo & Galway on their way to senior level. We have decent underage teams now & all the hard work that been done over the years is paying off. We have some very talented players on the current u21 team & will be a good accet to the senior panel.

Syferus · 22-03-2012 6:46pm

rossie1977 wrote: »

great win by our under 21s against mayo last night, thats 3 wins over mayo last 3 years at this level

i can't wait to see donie smith playing senior for roscommon, he already probably should be in there as none of our half forwards bar cregg know where the posts are

Well Keenan plays as a back and so did Rodgers v. Wexford so Cregg is the only one of the line that's consistently a forward. We've got David O'Gara coming back now too so it's not like we don't have plenty of options. Midfield remains my only real worry.

blowitupref · 08-04-2012 12:31am

Roscommon brushed Sligo aside to win their 2nd Connacht U-21 title in three years how do you guys think they will fare vs Tyrone or Cavan in the All Ireland semi final?

Syferus · 08-04-2012 3:24am

blowitupref wrote: »

Roscommon brushed Sligo aside to win their 2nd Connacht U-21 title in three years how do you guys think they will fare vs Tyrone or Cavan in the All Ireland semi final?

We've the players to beat either, but Cavan are no slouches at u21 and Tyrone's minor record is exemplary. A better performance in the middle and we'll be very hard for either to stop.

I said before a ball was kicked that the Connacht champions should have only one goal; to win the All-Ireland. Such was the talent in the province at u21 this year. Nothing has changed.

megadodge · 08-04-2012 5:14pm

This bunch are a very talented group of players, all of whom seem to be very comfortable on the ball and play a very organised, fast-moving, disciplined and efficient game.

The one glaring weakness, which was also evident in the Mayo game, is the almost non-existant ability to win kickouts - that's in the air or the breaking ball.
It's a very serious problem and was the minors Achille's heel last year. I appreciate the two midfielders are not fielders, but their inability to disrupt the opponent's fielders is worrying.

Despite that, virtually every other aspect of their game is impressive and they will be a handful for either Tyrone or Cavan in the next round.

emc2 · 15-04-2012 6:33pm

Anyone know where the semi final will be held?

megadodge · 15-04-2012 11:06pm

Hasn't been announced yet, but surely Pearse Park will be in the running.

forfcksake · 15-04-2012 11:35pm

megadodge wrote: »

Hasn't been announced yet, but surely Pearse Park will be in the running.

In longford alright, at 4 next sat

wow sierra · 20-04-2012 1:31am

Really looking forward to seeing how this Roscommon Under 21 team performs against Cavan. They look like they have the potential to get to the final if they can play to their strengths on Saturday.

Great to see two teams from weaker counties competing in this Semi Final - it means such a huge amount there to win even a provincial final. Just a pity the Under 21 competition doesn't get the publicity it deserves.

KeepTheFaith · 20-04-2012 4:50pm

The picture above looks like there was very little support at the Connacht final.. Or is it just the angle it's taken from?

I'm a Cavan man and I think Roscommon will be our toughest opponents to date. Longford has been a graveyard for Cavan underage sides too which doesn't help. Cavan will rely on keeping things very tight at the back and won't want to get involved in a shootout.

If the Rossies beat us (and I have a funny feeling they might just do that) I hope they go on and win it. Best of luck to both teams.

Syferus · 20-04-2012 4:55pm

KeepTheFaith wrote: »

The picture above looks like there was very little support at the Connacht final.. Or is it just the angle it's taken from?

I'm a Cavan man and I think Roscommon will be our toughest opponents to date. Longford has been a graveyard for Cavan underage sides too which doesn't help. Cavan will rely on keeping things very tight at the back and won't want to get involved in a shootout.

If the Rossies beat us (and I have a funny feeling they might just do that) I hope they go on and win it. Best of luck to both teams.

Just the angle. There was in the region of 5k at the Hyde, huge appetite for underage football in the county. I'll post another picture I took that shows the crowd in front of Paddy Brogan (our captain) better.

keane2097 · 20-04-2012 4:55pm

Syferus wrote: »

Just the angle. There was in the region of 5k at the Hyde, huge appetite for underage football in the county.

That's the way to success, fair play.

Syferus · 20-04-2012 5:01pm

Syferus · 20-04-2012 5:08pm

keane2097 wrote: »

That's the way to success, fair play.

Yeah, I think everyone has come to appreciate how important it is to have solid under-age structures in places after winning the 2006 Minor All-Ireland. We don't win titles every year but there's hardly been a year where we have been very competitive at under-age. It's all the workd down at the local clubs nad by schools coaches that are paying dividends now. Hopefully the examples of Cavan, Tipp and ourselves have helped show there's a way forward for other smaller counties to be more than doormats to larger counties.

theoneeyedman · 21-04-2012 11:12am

Biggest factor in the relative success recntly has been the opportunity of players from less prominent clubs to get invlved and show their wares over a period of time. Wherehow, as before lads got one or if lucky 2 trial games to catch the eye now they can et involved and show their talent over an extended period.

Re: todays game I think Ros will struggle around the middle to get enough possession. Havent seen a team yet but looking at c shine v. sligo i have my doubts if he can operate for a full game out there. the carty/kelly pairing got cleaned out in the sligo game ad only brilliant games by brogan and kilroy papered over the cracks,and i suspect brogan in particular will be busier today than he was against a poor sligo outfit.

anyhoo, its a positive to be in an AI semifinal and who knows what will happen on the day....Dineen has proven himself to be wily operator on the pitch over the years and hopefully he can continue to progress as a manager/coach by reaching an AI final

emc2 · 21-04-2012 6:27pm

Go on the Rossies! A rematch of last years semi final in the final this year.

megadodge · 21-04-2012 7:48pm

Great win for Ros today.

Outside of the first 10 minutes or so I though Roscommon were definitely the better team.

The most pleasing aspect of all was the dominance of midfield for virtually three quarters of the game. Cathal Shine was excellent here until he naturally tired towards the end. The winning of the breaking ball was also improved upon massively and this monopoly of possession was really the platform for the overall success.

The backs as a unit performed wonderfully. They managed to keep Cavan outside of that dangerous 30-35m radius without fouling for almost the entire game.

I felt the forwards could have shown from deep a little more, so the freekicks etc. from the half-back area at least had the option of a long ball into space in front of them, instead of having to always play it short and tight. Of course some of the long balls in the second half were poorly delivered, but overall a very good performance from Roscommon.

Syferus · 22-04-2012 12:06am

Great to see Cathal Shine back starting. He really helped us in the middle and had some very good runs of his own with some sweet off-loading. His kick passes were a bit wayward but he had the vision to see the passes, the touch will return with more game-time. The perfect moment for him to be returning, he should be a huge help in stopping Dublin muscling us out in the middle.

emc2 · 22-04-2012 11:00am

Any idea when the final will be and where?

rossie1977 · 22-04-2012 3:15pm

match is set for saturday 2 weeks may 5th, where hasn't been announced yet but portlaoise seems the obvious choice, the other option being tullamore i suppose

wow sierra · 22-04-2012 6:03pm

Congratulations to Roscommon on a great victory yesterday. A great achievement for Nigel Dineen and delighted for him after all he has contributed to the county.

These are a solid bunch of players and while Dublin will be raging hot favourites, they won't get it easy. We are ready for revenge for 2 years ago in the Semi.

The lack of respect being shown to Roscommon (and Cavan) in the media will be another thing to spur us on. The Dublin/Cork game was shown on TG4 despite the Roscommon/Cavan game being the more novel pairing and more worthy of pubicity. Even the official website of the GAA can't go as far as naming the teams in the Cavan/Roscommon game - the report is about a third of the length of the Dublin one.

Good luck lads in the Final - we all know about ye in Roscommon - even if ye are a secret outside of the county:D:D:D;)

ciarriaithuaidh · 22-04-2012 6:36pm

wow sierra wrote: »

Congratulations to Roscommon on a great victory yesterday. A great achievement for Nigel Dineen and delighted for him after all he has contributed to the county.

These are a solid bunch of players and while Dublin will be raging hot favourites, they won't get it easy. We are ready for revenge for 2 years ago in the Semi.

The lack of respect being shown to Roscommon (and Cavan) in the media will be another thing to spur us on. The Dublin/Cork game was shown on TG4 despite the Roscommon/Cavan game being the more novel pairing and more worthy of pubicity. Even the official website of the GAA can't go as far as naming the teams in the Cavan/Roscommon game - the report is about a third of the length of the Dublin one.

Good luck lads in the Final - we all know about ye in Roscommon - even if ye are a secret outside of the county:D:D:D;)

Maybe the media are hyping up Dublin a bit too much, but no disrespect, as a neutral I would have chosen the Dublin v Cork game to show also...and as it turned out it was a far better game. No idea why you would think the Ros v Cavan game is "more worthy of publicity" either?

Anyway, good to see a Roscommon team in an All Ireland final and hope ye put it up to the jackeens.

Syferus · 22-04-2012 8:33pm

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

Maybe the media are hyping up Dublin a bit too much, but no disrespect, as a neutral I would have chosen the Dublin v Cork game to show also...and as it turned out it was a far better game. No idea why you would think the Ros v Cavan game is "more worthy of publicity" either?

Anyway, good to see a Roscommon team in an All Ireland final and hope ye put it up to the jackeens.

The Roscommon/Cavan game was ten times the game Cork/Dublin was, that was a game of Dublin scoring a couple quick goals and then sitting back and grinding down Cork. Some of the best defensive play that's been seen all year was on display in Pearse Park, not even mentioning the fact it was a far better atmosphere and fact it came down to the very last minute of the game.

wow sierra · 22-04-2012 8:47pm

Syferus wrote: »

The Roscommon/Cavan game was ten times the game Cork/Dublin was, that was a game of Dublin scoring a couple quick goals and then sitting back and grinding down Cork. Some of the best defensive play that's been seen all year was on display in Pearse Park, not even mentioning the fact it was a far better atmosphere and fact it came down to the very last minute of the game.

I don't know how the previous poster knows how good or bad the Roscommon/Cavan game was anyway - given that no one saw it except those of us who were in Pearse Pk.

I am really disappointed not to be able to see any coverage of it anywhere because I want to relive it. The only thing RTE showed was the second Ross goal - the first was a brilliantly worked score and a great feat by Conor Daly both setting up and finishing the move. There is a short highlights show on TG4 at 8.30 tomorrow night so maybe see a bit then.

Kristopherus · 22-04-2012 8:55pm

Was'nt the Cavan v Ros shown on tg4 yesterday? It may be available on their player.

wow sierra · 22-04-2012 8:59pm

Kristopherus wrote: »

Was'nt the Cavan v Ros shown on tg4 yesterday? It may be available on their player.

Yeah it was streamed live on the website but doesn't seem to be available on the player now. Maybe it is just a delay in uploading it - hopefully it will be available tomorrow. Not sure.

Found the highlights eventually - you have to scroll through 2 hours plus of the hurling coverage (in about 5 separate clips:( )to find the highlights but at least its there.

Duckworth_Luas · 22-04-2012 9:21pm

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

No idea why you would think the Ros v Cavan game is "more worthy of publicity" either?

Read Malachy Clerkin's article here.

wow sierra · 22-04-2012 9:28pm

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

Read Malachy Clerkin's article here.

Excellent article by Clerkin. Really gets to the heart of the story - two of the least populated counties languishing in Div 3 without an All Ireland senior between them in 60 years but with great underage structures brushing aside the Mayos and the Tyrones on the way etc etc.

You have to take your hat off to occasional good journalism

ciarriaithuaidh · 23-04-2012 9:39am

Syferus wrote: »

The Roscommon/Cavan game was ten times the game Cork/Dublin was, that was a game of Dublin scoring a couple quick goals and then sitting back and grinding down Cork. Some of the best defensive play that's been seen all year was on display in Pearse Park, not even mentioning the fact it was a far better atmosphere and fact it came down to the very last minute of the game.

:rolleyes: Eh, ok. Lets just agree to disagree then.

ciarriaithuaidh · 23-04-2012 9:45am

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

Read Malachy Clerkin's article here.

Now that I think about it, in fairness, you're right...the Cavan v Ros game was more novel as a fixture than Dublin v Cork and should have got a bit more attention if only to highlight the consistently good work being done at underage in both county's.
Cavan will be disappointed with their performance on Saturday, but with Ulster winning minors coming through they should have good years ahead at this grade in the near future still.

dcr22B · 23-04-2012 11:41am

Lads, the only reason that the Cavan v Rossie game wasn't broadcast live was down to the fact that the NHL1 replay coincided with it and it's hardly surprising that TG4 would show Galway given that they're based there.

There is a possibility that the final could be played in Croker as the undercard to the NHL1 final but personally, I hope it's a stand alone game.

Syferus · 23-04-2012 2:00pm

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

:rolleyes: Eh, ok. Lets just agree to disagree then.

Did you actually watch the game?

yabadabado · 23-04-2012 2:18pm

Syferus wrote: »

The Roscommon/Cavan game was ten times the game Cork/Dublin was, .

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

:rolleyes: Eh, ok. Lets just agree to disagree then.

Syferus wrote: »

Did you actually watch the game?

The ros game was piss poor.

Syferus · 23-04-2012 2:35pm

yabadabado wrote: »

The ros game was piss poor.

And did you watch it or just see 10 minutes of highlights? I have a hard time imagining many of ye having loaded up TG4.ie to watch a 'glamour' u21 tie between Roscommon and Cavan in Irish.

yabadabado · 23-04-2012 2:49pm

Syferus wrote: »

And did you watch it or just see 10 minutes of highlights? I have a hard time imagining many of ye having loaded up TG4.ie to watch a 'glamour' u21 tie between Roscommon and Cavan in Irish.

I was at it.

Syferus · 23-04-2012 3:17pm

yabadabado wrote: »

I was at it.

A Cavan fan, then? I'm sure it's rough when your team only gets four scores in an entire match but Cavan in no way played poorly, it was a wonderful contest marked by fantastic defending rather poor attacking. Different games, different styles.

yabadabado · 23-04-2012 3:43pm

Syferus wrote: »

A Cavan fan, then? I'm sure it's rough when your team only gets four scores in an entire match but Cavan in no way played poorly, it was a wonderful contest marked by fantastic defending rather poor attacking. Different games, different styles.

Roscommon fan.

Syferus · 23-04-2012 3:46pm

yabadabado wrote: »

Roscommon fan.

yabadabado · 23-04-2012 3:49pm

Syferus wrote: »

?

keane2097 · 23-04-2012 4:20pm

Syferus wrote: »

A Cavan fan, then? I'm sure it's rough when your team only gets four scores in an entire match but Cavan in no way played poorly, it was a wonderful contest marked by fantastic defending rather poor attacking. Different games, different styles.

It's a bit rich you accusing a guy of bias after describing the game your team was in as ten times better than a game that had twice as many scores.

Syferus · 23-04-2012 4:29pm

Scores don't mean everything, that can be caused by persistent fouling, bad defending or a multitude of other reasons. This game wax a defensive battle but that's what made it entralling. In general GAA supporters need to learn to appreciate good defending (and not cynical Donegal 14-man system) rather than relying on the box score for validation of the quailty of a match.

Strongbow10 · 23-04-2012 4:39pm

roscommon fan here aswell, watched the game on tg4's live stream, and some of my family were in attendance.

And before there is any sniping, I watched all 60 minutes.

The quality of the game was extremely poor, Cavan were diabolical, their own media echoed that sentiment. Roscommon were not much better either. The only saving grace is that Ros secured a dirty win, something we would not have done in the past.

The Cork v Dublin was of extremely better quality.

To claim otherwise is just expressing wishful thinking ahead of the final. And make no mistake, Ros will need to up their game tenfold to have any chance.

Heres hoping.

Roscommon GAA Discussion Thread

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