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Cavan being written off is music to Mickey Graham's ears. He appears for the most part to be a canny operator and will be more than happy in the long grass for this one. He'll have a plan worked out and the players well primed with maybe a surprise or two up his sleeve. I wouldn't stick my neck out enough to claim Cavan will win it but I'd at least go as far as to say that if Donegal are ahead at the final whistle they'll have been made work for it a bit more than some might think.

Almost everyone is saying this will be tight with Donegal to shade it by a few points in the end.

That's hardly writing Cavan off.

I meant more the view from outside both counties, Donegal big favourites and attention mostly on them. Sure I know you Donegal bucks be fierce wily in general. 

Cavan being written off is music to Mickey Graham's ears. He appears for the most part to be a canny operator and will be more than happy in the long grass for this one. He'll have a plan worked out and the players well primed with maybe a surprise or two up his sleeve. I wouldn't stick my neck out enough to claim Cavan will win it but I'd at least go as far as to say that if Donegal are ahead at the final whistle they'll have been made work for it a bit more than some might think.

It's worth remembering that last week was Graham's second ever championship game in senior intercounty management. McGeeney has been hard at it for a decent while without making too much apparent progress and I fully expect him to over-think it for the replay and focus too much on stopping Cavan. I'd say our boys have more scope to improve and continue evolving whereas I'm not sure Armagh have another gear. I can see Cavan taking it by three or four.

Massive step up and stride forward for Cavan. Wobbled a bit in the second half and went too conservative at times but ultimately saw off the threat with a few well-timed scores to keep Monaghan at arm's length.
Free-taking was not an issue today for Cavan but kickouts were terrible all evening.

I think Ray Galligan might be playing for Monaghan!

A real crispness, organisation and confidence to Cavan today. Should see this home now and it'd be a great step forward for the team under Graham in his first year.

Gary Mac, Mane and now Derek Origi. Three absolute classic, harrowing derby day hole-sickenings for Everton. When will their torment end?

I have a sneaky feeling Cavan might just survive in Division 1 by the skin of our teeth. We have a lot of seasoned performers and some returning AFAIK, a new manager bounce and a guy that seems to be going about things the right way, as well as experience in the top flight two seasons ago when we didn't do overly poorly, all things considered. I wouldn't write us off just yet. We might even completely realign the stars and beat Roscommon.

Aha, I didn't know that. A real Battle of the Hangovers...

It might be good for county pride. A rising tide lifts all boats! I'd be proud for any Cavan club to make its mark in Ulster but in Castlerahan's case it's hard to see them being overly interested in it, and they're playing the Derry champions to boot, but you never know.

Unfortunately, the breakthrough nature of the win and the celebrating and so on makes it unlikely they'll be too focused on the Ulster club? Might it be another fast exit for the Cavan representatives?

I signed up for the patreon too, a great first interview with Mickey Graham and I hope they keep the quality content coming.

Was quite impressed listening to our new manager. Given a magic wand a few months ago none of us would have been banging the drum for his appointment but now that he's there, and having heard him speak, I'm quietly optimistic. We have a very seasoned core of players with Division 1 experience, a new manager that sounds very driven, professional and energised by what he's seeing in the club championships, and he's aware of what needs to be tackled. The first real barometer will be which absentees throw their lot in with the team, and encouragingly, it sounds like it'll be strictly on the manager's terms if they do come back. It's not beyond the bounds that we'd survive in Division 1 and that would be a marvellous platform for the year ahead.

A few early interviews with the new man. Speaks about balancing the attacking/defending and getting some players back. I like that he's not buying into that jaded claptrap about "we don't have the players" although of course you'd hardly expect him to say otherwise!

http://www.irishnews.com/paywall/tsb/irishnews/irishnews/irishnews//sport/gaafootball/2018/08/22/news/cavan-need-their-best-players-playing-says-new-boss-graham-1413239/content.html

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/gaa-football/3015823/new-cavan-boss-mickey-graham-expecting-baptism-of-fire-as-he-starts-breffni-reign-in-division-1/

I doubt Mickey was top of anyone's fantasy list including mine but being realistic it seems he was the best genuinely available. Plenty of managers have belied their lack of experience to do a great job in their first year, plenty have fallen flat on their arses too. There's no way to know unless he has a go at it. It'll be interesting to see if any absentees come back and what new lads he adds to the squad, as well as persuading a few to delay retirement for another year. If he keeps us in Division 1 it'll be a job well done before even considering championship.

Needless to say, best of luck to all involved.

If Banty is the answer, it must be a very peculiar question.

I heard audio of McGuinness' analysis of Cavan before the Tyrone match and if nothing else, he was quite knowledgeable about the situation for an outsider, sounded enthused by cavan and if anything came over like he was giving a bit of a pep talk to the players from a 'management' or leadership perspective. That's a bit of a reach now I know, but it's on the podcast released after Matty went. Worth a listen.