Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[braveheart]

Anyone care to explain why Damian Heavron has been excluded from the panel, very poor from of Mc Erlaine on this one. What has Heavron done previously with Barton last year to warrant such treatment. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of this considering the guy is one of our best players, especially as we have a seriously young panel who need all the help they can get.

On the surface it's a bizarre omission but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We'll have to see how Derry progress through the season and I'd say Damien has a gameplan in mind for the players he's picked. As a Rossa man I've mixed feelings but it should make us stronger having Danny and Emmett available all year and having a point to prove.

He would need to have a better gameplan than he had for the minor final. Heavron will be a huge loss in my opinion, great football brain and vision.  Both Emmett and Ryan would be very useful options in Division 3 football in January/February and would add a physical presence. Return of some more experienced players balances things a wee bit but getting up from Division 3 is by no means an easy task with the panel available.

What a county we live in. Derry had a terrible record at minor until Damian came in.He has won 2 Ulster titles and got to an All Ireland minor final,something which looked so out of reach until his appointment and yet you can only see the negative. Granted we got hammered,but don't slate the man before the season starts.

[thebuzz]

Anyone care to explain why Damian Heavron has been excluded from the panel, very poor from of Mc Erlaine on this one. What has Heavron done previously with Barton last year to warrant such treatment. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of this considering the guy is one of our best players, especially as we have a seriously young panel who need all the help they can get.

On the surface it's a bizarre omission but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We'll have to see how Derry progress through the season and I'd say Damien has a gameplan in mind for the players he's picked. As a Rossa man I've mixed feelings but it should make us stronger having Danny and Emmett available all year and having a point to prove.

He would need to have a better gameplan than he had for the minor final. Heavron will be a huge loss in my opinion, great football brain and vision.  Both Emmett and Ryan would be very useful options in Division 3 football in January/February and would add a physical presence. Return of some more experienced players balances things a wee bit but getting up from Division 3 is by no means an easy task with the panel available.

What a county we live in. Derry had a terrible record at minor until Damian came in.He has won 2 Ulster titles and got to an All Ireland minor final,something which looked so out of reach until his appointment and yet you can only see the negative. Granted we got hammered,but don't slate the man before the season starts.

I don't know if it's been mentioned before, or if it indeed did make a difference, but I don't think he should have been appointed to the Derry Senior job before the minor final. I just think it served to distract him.

I know it shouldn't matter but maybe it didn't help.

When Stephen Rochford was picked for the Mayo Senior post, Corofin lost their next game.

[restorepride]

Anyone care to explain why Damian Heavron has been excluded from the panel, very poor from of Mc Erlaine on this one. What has Heavron done previously with Barton last year to warrant such treatment. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of this considering the guy is one of our best players, especially as we have a seriously young panel who need all the help they can get.

On the surface it's a bizarre omission but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We'll have to see how Derry progress through the season and I'd say Damien has a gameplan in mind for the players he's picked. As a Rossa man I've mixed feelings but it should make us stronger having Danny and Emmett available all year and having a point to prove.

He would need to have a better gameplan than he had for the minor final. Heavron will be a huge loss in my opinion, great football brain and vision.  Both Emmett and Ryan would be very useful options in Division 3 football in January/February and would add a physical presence. Return of some more experienced players balances things a wee bit but getting up from Division 3 is by no means an easy task with the panel available.

What a county we live in. Derry had a terrible record at minor until Damian came in.He has won 2 Ulster titles and got to an All Ireland minor final,something which looked so out of reach until his appointment and yet you can only see the negative. Granted we got hammered,but don't slate the man before the season starts.

Read the post. I did not slate the man, I questioned the game plan for the minor final - the main reason the game was over as a contest so early.  How do you think we will do in Division 3 with the players available?

[Real Talk]

Anyone care to explain why Damian Heavron has been excluded from the panel, very poor from of Mc Erlaine on this one. What has Heavron done previously with Barton last year to warrant such treatment. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of this considering the guy is one of our best players, especially as we have a seriously young panel who need all the help they can get.

On the surface it's a bizarre omission but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We'll have to see how Derry progress through the season and I'd say Damien has a gameplan in mind for the players he's picked. As a Rossa man I've mixed feelings but it should make us stronger having Danny and Emmett available all year and having a point to prove.

He would need to have a better gameplan than he had for the minor final. Heavron will be a huge loss in my opinion, great football brain and vision.  Both Emmett and Ryan would be very useful options in Division 3 football in January/February and would add a physical presence. Return of some more experienced players balances things a wee bit but getting up from Division 3 is by no means an easy task with the panel available.

What a county we live in. Derry had a terrible record at minor until Damian came in.He has won 2 Ulster titles and got to an All Ireland minor final,something which looked so out of reach until his appointment and yet you can only see the negative. Granted we got hammered,but don't slate the man before the season starts.

Read the post. I did not slate the man, I questioned the game plan for the minor final - the main reason the game was over as a contest so early.  How do you think we will do in Division 3 with the players available?

Your analysis of the Minor final was correct.  We are going to go into Div 3 with some very inexperienced players.  Westmeath had a good league performance in Div 4 last year and Armagh were unfortunate not to get promoted in 2017.  I don't think we will beat Armagh, Fermanagh or Sligo and Longford have always been a 'bogey' team .... so no promotion for us in 2018.   That said the challenge for us is to build an effective game plan with a competent 'kick-out' strategy.  We will also need to work hard for each other all of the time.  Game-day management is very important and that will include a  'counter-attacking'  plan that gets scores and that best utilises the quality, pace and skill that we have available to us.  We have a lot of players of similar standard and it is vital we create a good team spirit in order to develop a strong 'desire to win' mentality.  Its unlikely that we will make an impact in the Ulster Championship but a good run in the Qualifiers will help us to continue to build a strong foundation for 2019. 

[braveheart]

Anyone care to explain why Damian Heavron has been excluded from the panel, very poor from of Mc Erlaine on this one. What has Heavron done previously with Barton last year to warrant such treatment. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of this considering the guy is one of our best players, especially as we have a seriously young panel who need all the help they can get.

On the surface it's a bizarre omission but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. We'll have to see how Derry progress through the season and I'd say Damien has a gameplan in mind for the players he's picked. As a Rossa man I've mixed feelings but it should make us stronger having Danny and Emmett available all year and having a point to prove.

He would need to have a better gameplan than he had for the minor final. Heavron will be a huge loss in my opinion, great football brain and vision.  Both Emmett and Ryan would be very useful options in Division 3 football in January/February and would add a physical presence. Return of some more experienced players balances things a wee bit but getting up from Division 3 is by no means an easy task with the panel available.

What a county we live in. Derry had a terrible record at minor until Damian came in.He has won 2 Ulster titles and got to an All Ireland minor final,something which looked so out of reach until his appointment and yet you can only see the negative. Granted we got hammered,but don't slate the man before the season starts.

Read the post. I did not slate the man, I questioned the game plan for the minor final - the main reason the game was over as a contest so early.  How do you think we will do in Division 3 with the players available?

Your analysis of the Minor final was correct.  We are going to go into Div 3 with some very inexperienced players.  Westmeath had a good league performance in Div 4 last year and Armagh were unfortunate not to get promoted in 2017.  I don't think we will beat Armagh, Fermanagh or Sligo and Longford have always been a 'bogey' team .... so no promotion for us in 2018.   That said the challenge for us is to build an effective game plan with a competent 'kick-out' strategy.  We will also need to work hard for each other all of the time.  Game-day management is very important and that will include a  'counter-attacking'  plan that gets scores and that best utilises the quality, pace and skill that we have available to us.  We have a lot of players of similar standard and it is vital we create a good team spirit in order to develop a strong 'desire to win' mentality.  Its unlikely that we will make an impact in the Ulster Championship but a good run in the Qualifiers will help us to continue to build a strong foundation for 2019.

Ah Jeez next year looks a disaster. Wake me up in 2019

[Derry Optimist]

Recently I did an unscientific survey amongst GAA friends, in five different counties in the four provinces,to find out if their current County manager had all the best players in their specific county at their disposal for the forthcoming League and championship. With the exception of Division One League teams(which is a salutary lesson in itself) all of them had at least a minimum of six players and a maximum of twelve players absent for a variety of reasons.At least four of the players in each case would have been certainties to have been on the starting 15.

In the case of Derry, between players who are unavailable owing to a variety  of personal circumstances and three who did not make the "managerial cut," you could come up with a total of ten.In my opinion three of these would be serious contenders for starting positions.
So according to my "research" Derry are no better or no worse off than at least 24 other counties in terms of the number of their best players available.

Therefore there is no point in any of us whinging over spilled milk. Let us all get behind all the players who are training so diligently at present and management and wish them all the best as they represent our county of Derry with pride,determination and full-blooded effort in 2018 and beyond.Let the days of negative innuendo and constant sniping from the sidelines be but a distant memory. Doire Abu.

[restorepride]

Recently I did an unscientific survey amongst GAA friends, in five different counties in the four provinces,to find out if their current County manager had all the best players in their specific county at their disposal for the forthcoming League and championship. With the exception of Division One League teams(which is a salutary lesson in itself) all of them had at least a minimum of six players and a maximum of twelve players absent for a variety of reasons.At least four of the players in each case would have been certainties to have been on the starting 15.

In the case of Derry, between players who are unavailable owing to a variety  of personal circumstances and three who did not make the "managerial cut," you could come up with a total of ten.In my opinion three of these would be serious contenders for starting positions.
So according to my "research" Derry are no better or no worse off than at least 24 other counties in terms of the number of their best players available.

Therefore there is no point in any of us whinging over spilled milk. Let us all get behind all the players who are training so diligently at present and management and wish them all the best as they represent our county of Derry with pride,determination and full-blooded effort in 2018 and beyond.Let the days of negative innuendo and constant sniping from the sidelines be but a distant memory. Doire Abu.

Your analysis is certainly unscientific but your optimism is always admirable. However you have based your "research" on a false premise so your "result" will always be inaccurate. An interesting 3 matches in 8 days ahead, there should be more evidence available by the 10th.

[Estimator]

Derry v Ulster University: Ben McKinless; Conor McCluskey, Kevin Johnston, Ruairi Mooney; Padraig McGrogan; Michael McEvoy, Jordan Curran; Jack Doherty, Patrick Kearney; Conor Doherty, Ciarán McFaul, Patrick Coney; Enda Lynn, Callum Brown, Peter Hagan. Subs: Oran Hartin, Liam McGoldrick, Conor McAtamney, Mark Lynch, Seán McKeever, Niall Toner, James Kielt.

[Squareball71]

Derry v Ulster University: Ben McKinless; Conor McCluskey, Kevin Johnston, Ruairi Mooney; Padraig McGrogan; Michael McEvoy, Jordan Curran; Jack Doherty, Patrick Kearney; Conor Doherty, Ciarán McFaul, Patrick Coney; Enda Lynn, Callum Brown, Peter Hagan. Subs: Oran Hartin, Liam McGoldrick, Conor McAtamney, Mark Lynch, Seán McKeever, Niall Toner, James Kielt.

Callum Brown making his Senior debut for the county before his club. Wow!! Congratulations Big lad!!

[toby47]

Derry v Ulster University: Ben McKinless; Conor McCluskey, Kevin Johnston, Ruairi Mooney; Padraig McGrogan; Michael McEvoy, Jordan Curran; Jack Doherty, Patrick Kearney; Conor Doherty, Ciarán McFaul, Patrick Coney; Enda Lynn, Callum Brown, Peter Hagan. Subs: Oran Hartin, Liam McGoldrick, Conor McAtamney, Mark Lynch, Seán McKeever, Niall Toner, James Kielt.

Callum Brown making his Senior debut for the county before his club. Wow!! Congratulations Big lad!!

Not the only one on the team that hasn't made their club senior debut. Shocking team.

How many fellas to come in? The 6/7 Slaughtneil men badly needed.

[The Bearded One]

Am I correct in saying that Callum Brown didn't start a game for the minors last year, was always used as a sub?

[Newbridge Exile]

Yep pretty sure he was always used as an impact sub ,

[honthecounty]

The more i look at that team the more i cannot believe that the likes of a Danny Heavron are not involved as he would be massive this year with a young squad, i know that the Slaughtneil ones are to come back in as well as Terence o'brien and Danny Tallon there is still potential there. Hopefully a good start tonight will go a long way to killing all the negativity about the squad and county as a whole. Doire Abu.

[toby47]

The more i look at that team the more i cannot believe that the likes of a Danny Heavron are not involved as he would be massive this year with a young squad, i know that the Slaughtneil ones are to come back in as well as Terence o'brien and Danny Tallon there is still potential there. Hopefully a good start tonight will go a long way to killing all the negativity about the squad and county as a whole. Doire Abu.

Shocking decision surely, didn't take that poor team being published to highlight how bad a decision it was. I just don't understand how your best player in each of the past 2-3 years doesn't make a 30man panel ahead of boys that haven't played senior club football yet, madness.

[Real Talk]

The more i look at that team the more i cannot believe that the likes of a Danny Heavron are not involved as he would be massive this year with a young squad, i know that the Slaughtneil ones are to come back in as well as Terence o'brien and Danny Tallon there is still potential there. Hopefully a good start tonight will go a long way to killing all the negativity about the squad and county as a whole. Doire Abu.

Shocking decision surely, didn't take that poor team being published to highlight how bad a decision it was. I just don't understand how your best player in each of the past 2-3 years doesn't make a 30man panel ahead of boys that haven't played senior club football yet, madness.

Did he refuse to join the panel or was he not asked ?