McKenna Cup 2024

[LCohen]

Donegal pull out of semi

If they are so short on numbers why didn't they do this again? https://www.bbc.com/sport/gaelic-games/38497207

Or this?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/gaelic-games/29315486

[Angelo]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

[J70]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

Who would play?

They're down 13 to the Sigerson and a few more out injured. U-20s are playing Roscommon.

The request to postpone till Tuesday was turned down (talk about an insane schedule). Down apparently also requested such a postponement.

Its a mickey mouse competition. Not much option left.

[Angelo]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

Who would play?

They're down 13 to the Sigerson and a few more out injured. U-20s are playing Roscommon.

The request to postpone till Tuesday was turned down (talk about an insane schedule). Down apparently also requested such a postponement.

Its a mickey mouse competition. Not much option left.

And Donegal should have been aware of that. I'm sure there are other lads in the county not currently involved with the seniors, colleges or u20s who would not have minded a chance to impress.

Tyrone, Down and Monaghan are all in similar situations. I don't have the exact numbers but I'd imagine Tyrone will also have 10+ involved in Sigerson action.

I've no issue with requesting a postponement but Down haven't pulled out as a result of not getting their own way. There is no reason why a county with Donegal's pick shouldn't be able to field a team.

[bannside]

Aye so you think they should pull in 10 lads from somewhere who are not on the panel and give them a game? Are you wise? Totally devalue any merit that the competition has left.

Mc Kenna Cup and University competitions shouldnt be run at same time of the year. One of them has to go.

[Angelo]

Aye so you think they should pull in 10 lads from somewhere who are not on the panel and give them a game? Are you wise? Totally devalue any merit that the competition has left.

Mc Kenna Cup and University competitions shouldnt be run ar same time if the year. One of them has to go.

Why would they need 10 lads?

Bonner must be running an extremely amateur setup if he hadn't assembled a squad that could compete in the McKenna Cup, no wonder a good few regulars have walked again in the past few years.

Tyrone also have an u20 game at the weekend, they also have about 10 players involved in Sigerson Cup duty. Monaghan and Down will have similar numbers, the difference seems to be that Declan Bonner made a huge **** up of his McKenna Cup squad. It's a bad sign that you can't muster 20 lads to tog out for the weekend. There will also be a big overlap between the u20 and Sigerson players not available.

[bannside]

Basically Michael Murphy has told Donegal board and management that because he is involved with Letterkenny IT this weekend that Sigerson will come first. Murphy trying to call the shots in Donegal and county board from top down havent the balls to deal with him. This is a power play from him short and simple, that's the info I'm getting from people very well connected down there.

It dosent really matter though whether its played or not. I'd say that's Bonners take on it too.....he wont be too worried if the Mc Kenna cup dosent sit beside the Anglo Celt too much. And he wont worry that much that hes going to completely start re jigging his panel for one game. If there is an issue here it's up to fixture committees to sort it out, dont blame it on the manager.

[Angelo]

Basically Michael Murphy has told Donegal board and management that because he is involved with Letterkenny IT this weekend that Sigerson will come first. Murphy trying to call the shots in Donegal and county board from top down havent the balls to deal with him. This is a power play from him short and simple, that's the info I'm getting from people very well connected down there.

It dosent really matter though whether its played or not. I'd say that's Bonners take on it too.....he wont be too worried if the Mc Kenna cup dosent sit beside the Anglo Celt too much. And he wont worry that much that hes going to completely start re jigging his panel for one game. If there is an issue here it's up to fixture committees to sort it out, dont blame it on the manager.

Of course it's the manager's fault. He should have assembled a squad that could fulfill their fixtures rather than the amateurish setup he has made Donegal look like here when moaning about it. Donegal are impacted just like every other county have been.

How many Galway players are missing due to Sigerson for this weekend, they also have to contend with Corofin players being unavailable along with injuries.
How many Mayo players are unavailable this weekend due to Sigerson, injuries and other reasons?
How many Down players are unavailable this weekend due to Sigerson, Kilcoo and injuries?
How many Tyrone players are unavailable this weekend due to Sigerson, injuries and other reasons?

All these counties are down but for a county with the pick and size of Donegal not to be able to field a team this weekend is an embarrassment. Bonner is an intercounty manager, he should have been able to foresee this and plan for it. Donegal have done extremely well at underage in the past 7/8 years, the club scene is improving rapidly as well in recent years, football is at a high standard across the county. I'm sure there are plenty of decent club footballers who would have loved an opportunity to impress this weekend.

These circumstances are not unique to Donegal yet they are the only county who have thrown their toys out of the pram and not fulfilled a fixture.

[rodney trotter]

Maybe they might actually look into the congested fixture list, by making a stance. Kieran Molloy played a Sigerson Final the same day after playing for Corofin 2 years ago. He's involved in Sigerson again this year, and All Ireland final in a few weeks.

Sigerson should be played around November after the League competition.

[tiempo]

Has an entire county of men to pick from but chooses not to give lads a chance to wear the jersey but concede the game, thats childish.
If clubs took the same stance re county players availability where would we be?
Taking himself a wee bit too seriously by the looks of it.

[Angelo]

Has an entire county of men to pick from but chooses not to give lads a chance to wear the jersey but concede the game, thats childish.
If clubs took the same stance re county players availability where would we be?
Taking himself a wee bit too seriously by the looks of it.

Absolutely.

Every county is in the same boat as Donegal here, some counties with much smaller picks such as Monagahan too.

It's Declan Bonner throwing his toys out of the pram and not for the first time.

[J70]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

Who would play?

They're down 13 to the Sigerson and a few more out injured. U-20s are playing Roscommon.

The request to postpone till Tuesday was turned down (talk about an insane schedule). Down apparently also requested such a postponement.

Its a mickey mouse competition. Not much option left.

And Donegal should have been aware of that. I'm sure there are other lads in the county not currently involved with the seniors, colleges or u20s who would not have minded a chance to impress.

Tyrone, Down and Monaghan are all in similar situations. I don't have the exact numbers but I'd imagine Tyrone will also have 10+ involved in Sigerson action.

I've no issue with requesting a postponement but Down haven't pulled out as a result of not getting their own way. There is no reason why a county with Donegal's pick shouldn't be able to field a team.

You're suggesting they just try to draft in a bunch of club players for a one-off game at the weekend with a couple days notice??

What's the point? What's to be gained from that? It sounds like the shit we'd have been at ourselves in basement level junior soccer back in the day when you'd be scrambling to try to find lads to play as ringers.

If other teams are in the same boat, they should withdraw also. It's time for the GAA to start addressing the crazy demands on these young lads.

[Angelo]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

Who would play?

They're down 13 to the Sigerson and a few more out injured. U-20s are playing Roscommon.

The request to postpone till Tuesday was turned down (talk about an insane schedule). Down apparently also requested such a postponement.

Its a mickey mouse competition. Not much option left.

And Donegal should have been aware of that. I'm sure there are other lads in the county not currently involved with the seniors, colleges or u20s who would not have minded a chance to impress.

Tyrone, Down and Monaghan are all in similar situations. I don't have the exact numbers but I'd imagine Tyrone will also have 10+ involved in Sigerson action.

I've no issue with requesting a postponement but Down haven't pulled out as a result of not getting their own way. There is no reason why a county with Donegal's pick shouldn't be able to field a team.

You're suggesting they just try to draft in a bunch of club players for a one-off game at the weekend with a couple days notice??

What's the point? What's to be gained from that? It sounds like the shit we'd have been at ourselves in basement level junior soccer back in the day when you'd be scrambling to try to find lads to play as ringers.

If other teams are in the same boat, they should withdraw also. It's time for the GAA to start addressing the crazy demands on these young lads.

No, I'm suggesting he assemble a squad that will be available for the McKenna Cup. How many players are Galway, Mayo, Down and Tyrone without this weekend? How many players would Monaghan have been down? Why have none of these teams conceded their games?

What's to be gained from it is that other players get an opportunity. It's complete petulance from Declan Bonner, it's embarrassing.

It's utterly embarrassing for a county of Donegal's size not to be able to field a team.

[bannside]

Again I totally disagree. These teams are 2 weeks out from the NFL which matters a good bit more than this pre season run around. Managers are more interested in getting settled teams on the pitch and getting off to a good start, not putting out a skeleton squad to fulfil a fixture in a competition that is already struggling for credibility in an already vastly congested fixture list. Put yourself in Bonnars shoes for a minute here.....does he need this hassle if (a) fixtures people cant sort their mess out, (b) the Ulster council wont accede to a straightforward enough request to put the game back a few days or worst of all (c) Murphys throwing his weight about playing power games and dictating to the manager and the Donegal board. I'd say Bonnar really dosent need this at all at this stage. He would be trying to please far too many others at the expense of his own agenda which is to hit the ground running in Div 1 in a few weeks.

[tiempo]

Donegal would have been aware of this from the outset. It's not a whole difference to the other 3 semi finalists who will be down a host of panelists. They should be able to field a team.

Who would play?

They're down 13 to the Sigerson and a few more out injured. U-20s are playing Roscommon.

The request to postpone till Tuesday was turned down (talk about an insane schedule). Down apparently also requested such a postponement.

Its a mickey mouse competition. Not much option left.

And Donegal should have been aware of that. I'm sure there are other lads in the county not currently involved with the seniors, colleges or u20s who would not have minded a chance to impress.

Tyrone, Down and Monaghan are all in similar situations. I don't have the exact numbers but I'd imagine Tyrone will also have 10+ involved in Sigerson action.

I've no issue with requesting a postponement but Down haven't pulled out as a result of not getting their own way. There is no reason why a county with Donegal's pick shouldn't be able to field a team.

You're suggesting they just try to draft in a bunch of club players for a one-off game at the weekend with a couple days notice??

What's the point? What's to be gained from that? It sounds like the shit we'd have been at ourselves in basement level junior soccer back in the day when you'd be scrambling to try to find lads to play as ringers.

If other teams are in the same boat, they should withdraw also. It's time for the GAA to start addressing the crazy demands on these young lads.

He should use the resources at his disposal. Instead he's decided to down tools.