Tyrone v Kildare 14/04/13 Croke Park

[Wildweasel74]

From what i seen of McKenna i play him middle of the field, hows he going to get experience in that position at senior level if you dont try him there. Derry played a lad of 18 in the middle yesterday and he had a great game against a very strong westmeath midfield. McKenna your best bet long term round the middle if you gave him a proper chance.

[Donnellys Hollow]

At the moment we we are mixing and matching defensive systems, since the Cork game we seem to have tried something in every game and I think McGeeney, Ryan and Hendy are trying to find a new system to suit the players rather than players to suit a system. So when in the process of changing systems and the way players have been coached you will lose and suffer anomalies such as the Dublin and Tyrone hammerings. Under McGeeney in the Championship we have always been defensively sound but the Cork defeat seems to have cut deep and Einsteins 'Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'  is something he has definitely thought about. He has already changed the coaching set-up, started the process of introducing new players so it stands to reason that systems will also change. If we leave O'Moore after conceding 2 goals or more to Offaly then I'd be worried but not till then, I do however expect to a see a tighter Kildare defence on Sunday.

Cribben needs a freer role I think, he seems to have so much time on the ball and against Laois he just seem able to see so much of what was happening in front of him. At the moment I think he's just been eased back into football, I'm sure he had plenty of demons to deal with on his return from Oz.

Anyhow O'Byrne Cup won, League semi-final and a Leinster U21, been a really good year so far and the fact their is so much positive discussion regarding team selection probably means we are in a much better place than we have been for a good few years.

I didn't expect us to be in this position either and I certainly didn't see McGeeney putting as much faith in the young lads. We're in a much better place than we were last year (win against Tyrone last May papered over the cracks) but I would still like to see a bit more structure particularly in the backs. When it goes wrong for this Kildare team we just lose our shape completely and teams run through us at will. One criticism I'd have of McGeeney is that he sometimes seems to be trying to be a bit too clever. I know positions are a lot more fluid in modern football but I'd still be old school about it. I'd prefer to see more attacking players in the half forwards with defensive players in the half back line and not the other way around!

The younger players will help Kildare to kick on again but I do think we will have to be patient about it and it might take a few years.

[cadhlancian]

Yesteray won't do Tyrone any harm at all going into this game. Would be great to make it through the final and possibly even getting a crack at the Dubs in Croke again. Hopefully a full high tempo 70 minutes can be produced. I'd like to see the following team:
Morgan
Gormley
Joe McMahon
McCarron (I'm starting to think a fit Carlin could be our best option here)
Clarke
Justy
McNamee
Colm
Sean
Penrose
Harte
Mattie Donnelly
McCurry
O'Neill
Mark Donnelly

There definitely is positions up for grabs in various area's of the pitch. Particularly in the full back line and either midfield or half forward line. I know some non Tyrone people won't agree but I think in the last few years Tyrone have become almost too nice. We've corner backs who won't lay a finger on their opponents. And some of the newer players don't have the same fight as the old guard.

i agree with the too nice part.All over the field we don't seem to have any niggle. Not saying dirty, but it would be nice to have a couple of " hateful bastards" floating around the back line! 

[God14]

Ronan McNamee has done really well at 7, but id like to see him tried in the full back line. He played there at minor & U21 and looked like a good tight man marker...

[Rois]

Ronan McNamee has done really well at 7, but id like to see him tried in the full back line. He played there at minor & U21 and looked like a good tight man marker...

I thought he looked really laboured on Sunday, was never in front and always chasing.  Full back line might suit a lot better with a tighter role.

[God14]

Will Ronan McNabb be back at all this year?

[LeoMc]

From what i seen of McKenna i play him middle of the field, hows he going to get experience in that position at senior level if you dont try him there. Derry played a lad of 18 in the middle yesterday and he had a great game against a very strong westmeath midfield. McKenna your best bet long term round the middle if you gave him a proper chance.

Are you talking about a different McKenna from the rest of us?

[Fuzzman]

I'd be a lot happier with that FB line RHS as Joe & Conor seem more experienced and dependable than McCrory and Justy. Both of them two I think falls into that category of being too nice & easily bullied out of it.

Would be interesting to see how both would do out on the half back line. Both have pace but don't use it well enough in the FB line as often seem hesitant in case they get caught out.

I presume PJ Quinn is out of the squad or could he come back in? McCarron I think did well last year at wing back and isn't really suited to marking a nippy corner forward. Anybody know when is Carlin due back or what's wrong with him.

Wildweasel I think you're mixing up Mckenna from Eskra who plays wing back with Niall McKenna who used to play at MF. I think he's left the panel this year.

[BennyHarp]

I'd be a lot happier with that FB line RHS as Joe & Conor seem more experienced and dependable than McCrory and Justy. Both of them two I think falls into that category of being too nice & easily bullied out of it.

Would be interesting to see how both would do out on the half back line. Both have pace but don't use it well enough in the FB line as often seem hesitant in case they get caught out.

I presume PJ Quinn is out of the squad or could he come back in? McCarron I think did well last year at wing back and isn't really suited to marking a nippy corner forward. Anybody know when is Carlin due back or what's wrong with him.

Wildweasel I think you're mixing up Mckenna from Eskra who plays wing back with Niall McKenna who used to play at MF. I think he's left the panel this year.

Ryan McKenna is from Eglish

[Rawhide]

From what i seen of McKenna i play him middle of the field, hows he going to get experience in that position at senior level if you dont try him there. Derry played a lad of 18 in the middle yesterday and he had a great game against a very strong westmeath midfield. McKenna your best bet long term round the middle if you gave him a proper chance.

The lman you refer to was 19 on 1st Jan, and it wasn't a strong Westmeath midfield, their main midfilder was rested. But the lad did do well.

[God14]

Its been a good league campaign for Tyrone, 5 wins is about 2 more than I expected at the offset.

However when you sit down & look at what most of us saw as our objectives after the McKenna cup, im not really sure we are much further on. I remember reading an article of Paddy Heaneys at the time, and he mused that Jim McGuinness know's his starting 15 for May 26th barring injury. But there is so much uncertainty albeit potential as well from a Tyrone perspective. He felt that we needed to work on finding out our best 15.

Mickey is about 75% through a complete rebuilding job. He doesnt appear to have an idea of his preferred starting 15 yet. Thats not a criticism of the manager in anyway, its just a reflection of how indivuals have progressed & regressed on the panel as a whole.

Niall Morgan & to a lesser extent Ronan McNamme have broken through and would be considered by most supporters at this stage as certs now for the Donegal game. But for a varierty of reasons there are a whole host of players were there are mixed opinions, grey area's & uncertainties

Full back Line - Justy & McCrory have regressed. Obviously Justin has had his injury problems. McCrory has been asked to do some really dirty jobs, but he has struggled.
Half Back - Ryan McKenna has shown flashes, but hasnt really grabbed the bull by the horns. Looks like a year too soon for me.
Midfield - the old chestnut, havnt been convincing at all, and needs addressed
Half forwards - McNiece, Kane, Matty Donnelly, Penrose etc all seem to be on the same level. Not much to choose between them,  They are all hard working players. However winning breaking ball, playmaking & occasional score taking was what was hoped for. We didnt see too much of it.
Full forwards - for me McAliskey has been the brighest newcomer in the full forward line, but at times Mickey seemed hesitant to select him. Ronan O'Neill isnt over his injury problems and it may well be next year before he's back to himself, due to the nature of his injury. McCurry lost alot of game time with niggly injury's as well, and as a result didnt make the progress that id hoped he would. Kyle Coney hasnt completed a game, although looks certain now to be available for the Donegal game.

This league campaign has probably thrown up more questions than answers which is frustrating. Plenty of jerseys are there for the taking. The collective effort of the group has been good and is a credit to the manager. Ten wins out of 12 games played to date reflects that. We just need a 2 or 3 more individuals to really step it up to the next level.

[Man Marker]

Lads, to keep throwing up this we won 10 out of the 12 games is just reassuring ourselves. We won 5 out of 7 league games. The Mc kenna cup is irrelevant as is saying we did well to get it back to one point against Kerry( because Kerry tried badly due to be not as fit as us, they only started training about 6 weeks ago FGS, where as we have been at since December)

[Fuzzman]

I posted a very negative summary yesterday of how I feel about Tyrone but the fact is Man Marker that we almost topped Div 1 having brought in a raft of new players.

For a team that's in transition we've done very well to get to a league semifinal and maybe final.
Personally I am worried that we don't have the quality we had back in the noughties but compared to where other teams rebuilding such as Armagh I'm a lot happier.
I think we've a good chance of winning Ulster and depending on who we meet we could get to an AI semi final. We've got as many good players as Donegal had last year though maybe no Michael Murphy.

[LeoMc]

I posted a very negative summary yesterday of how I feel about Tyrone but the fact is Man Marker that we almost topped Div 1 having brought in a raft of new players.

For a team that's in transition we've done very well to get to a league semifinal and maybe final.
Personally I am worried that we don't have the quality we had back in the noughties but compared to where other teams rebuilding such as Armagh I'm a lot happier.
I think we've a good chance of winning Ulster and depending on who we meet we could get to an AI semi final. We've got as many good players as Donegal had last year though maybe no Michael Murphy.

I thought we still had one

[Fuzzman]

As I expected

Sunday, April 14
Allianz Football League Division I Semi-Finals
Tyrone v Kildare, Croke Park, 2pm
Dublin v Mayo, Croke Park, 3.45pm