Donegal v Tyrone, Sunday Aug 5, Ballybofey

[Therealdonald]

Christ there's some whinging nowadays. I've looked for ticket through the club but on the fair chance I don't get one I'll not be too annoyed because a) another good supporter has one, b) it has the makings of a turgid game,  c) every time I go to Ballybofey i get f**king soaked and d) it's on the telly.

Ballybofey is a shithole. So is Omagh. Clones and Armagh are top grounds, love them. Marshes, Brewster and kingspan are grand. Casement was shithole central when in operation. f**k I hated it.

Enough about tickets and who's pitch is less shit that the other guys. Can we talk football? Looks like Mc namee is out and that's a big loss. I'd have had him stuck to Murphy as he's fit to play at fb and at midfield if murph roams out. Looks like it'll be Hampsey to pick him up but there's a huge size differential there that worries me. Who'll pick up Mc Hugh? Mc cann is an option as he has the fitness to follow him anywhere but I'd probably stick Meyler on him. They'll obviously have men picking up Harte and matty. Hugh pat is probably our go to man marker now with ronan and cathal out. That's another issue but Brennan, who'll he likely pick up, is hardly the player to exploit it.

For all the talk of Donegal losing eoghan ban and Mc bearty it's likely the 2 Tyrone men those two would have been lining up against will not be fit to start (lee Brennan and Mc namee). Too much weight being placed in Donegal's "injury crisis" it is just as likely injuries have set Tyrone back as much as it has Donegal.

Hampsey picked him up last year and kept him very quiet. Hampsey would be the same size as McNamee with a bit more strength/bulk, plus hes a better defender/footballer so thats the match up I wanted anyway. Think we can expect Meyler to pick up McHugh for definite. Can't see many surprises with Harte's team but I genuinely hope that either Burns or Colly Cav and McShane get the chop. The first two because with Murphy out the field and no McBrearty we don't need the cover, secondly McShane because he's too inconsistent and I'd rather see Brennan in there.

Burns is the outstanding Tyrone player of the year. Has consistently preformed well in every game bar the last one where he wasn't even that bad. Iggy Jones is more likely to play the next day than Burns is to be dropped. Whether we need him for defensive cover or not sadly Colly Cavanagh is the sole midfield option we have. He's the most consistent high fielder amongst the panel with Conal and McClure failing to stamp their mark on any appearances this year. He also more regularly contributes to the score sheet than the alternatives. Really outside himself there's not one inter-county fielder in that team. McShane, the 2 Donnellys, Mc Cann, Burns or Meyler are not IC standard fielders. Colm, even if half fit and unable to do the sweeper role is still gonna be in the team. He's the modern day version of Colly Holmes or Hub, a big strong lad to provide a platform for kick-outs.

Our failure to develop good quality midfielders this past 15-20 years is puzzling. It's hasn't been a strong area for Tyrone since the 80's.

Let's not get carried away. Its no coincidence that against Dublin when Burns and Colly Cav went off that Tyrone flourished. Burns provided no cover for the defence against Dublin nor offered little going forward. God himself showed it on sky that he doesn't cover correctly. In a straight knockout game we can't allow this. We have a two-time All-Star that we're not getting the most out of. I'd let him play Burns role and drive us forward.

As for midfielders, Tyrone's midfielders of the last 20 years have been to name a few Pascal Canavan, Gormley, McGinley, Sean Cavanagh, Colly Cav, Mattie Donnelly....only 1 of those hasn't been an All-Star. To compare, at present the role Fenton plays for Dublin, McGinley played for us 10 years ago to less plaudits.

[trileacman]

Christ there's some whinging nowadays. I've looked for ticket through the club but on the fair chance I don't get one I'll not be too annoyed because a) another good supporter has one, b) it has the makings of a turgid game,  c) every time I go to Ballybofey i get f**king soaked and d) it's on the telly.

Ballybofey is a shithole. So is Omagh. Clones and Armagh are top grounds, love them. Marshes, Brewster and kingspan are grand. Casement was shithole central when in operation. f**k I hated it.

Enough about tickets and who's pitch is less shit that the other guys. Can we talk football? Looks like Mc namee is out and that's a big loss. I'd have had him stuck to Murphy as he's fit to play at fb and at midfield if murph roams out. Looks like it'll be Hampsey to pick him up but there's a huge size differential there that worries me. Who'll pick up Mc Hugh? Mc cann is an option as he has the fitness to follow him anywhere but I'd probably stick Meyler on him. They'll obviously have men picking up Harte and matty. Hugh pat is probably our go to man marker now with ronan and cathal out. That's another issue but Brennan, who'll he likely pick up, is hardly the player to exploit it.

For all the talk of Donegal losing eoghan ban and Mc bearty it's likely the 2 Tyrone men those two would have been lining up against will not be fit to start (lee Brennan and Mc namee). Too much weight being placed in Donegal's "injury crisis" it is just as likely injuries have set Tyrone back as much as it has Donegal.

Hampsey picked him up last year and kept him very quiet. Hampsey would be the same size as McNamee with a bit more strength/bulk, plus hes a better defender/footballer so thats the match up I wanted anyway. Think we can expect Meyler to pick up McHugh for definite. Can't see many surprises with Harte's team but I genuinely hope that either Burns or Colly Cav and McShane get the chop. The first two because with Murphy out the field and no McBrearty we don't need the cover, secondly McShane because he's too inconsistent and I'd rather see Brennan in there.

Burns is the outstanding Tyrone player of the year. Has consistently preformed well in every game bar the last one where he wasn't even that bad. Iggy Jones is more likely to play the next day than Burns is to be dropped. Whether we need him for defensive cover or not sadly Colly Cavanagh is the sole midfield option we have. He's the most consistent high fielder amongst the panel with Conal and McClure failing to stamp their mark on any appearances this year. He also more regularly contributes to the score sheet than the alternatives. Really outside himself there's not one inter-county fielder in that team. McShane, the 2 Donnellys, Mc Cann, Burns or Meyler are not IC standard fielders. Colm, even if half fit and unable to do the sweeper role is still gonna be in the team. He's the modern day version of Colly Holmes or Hub, a big strong lad to provide a platform for kick-outs.

Our failure to develop good quality midfielders this past 15-20 years is puzzling. It's hasn't been a strong area for Tyrone since the 80's.

Let's not get carried away. Its no coincidence that against Dublin when Burns and Colly Cav went off that Tyrone flourished. Burns provided no cover for the defence against Dublin nor offered little going forward. God himself showed it on sky that he doesn't cover correctly. In a straight knockout game we can't allow this. We have a two-time All-Star that we're not getting the most out of. I'd let him play Burns role and drive us forward.

As for midfielders, Tyrone's midfielders of the last 20 years have been to name a few Pascal Canavan, Gormley, McGinley, Sean Cavanagh, Colly Cav, Mattie Donnelly....only 1 of those hasn't been an All-Star. To compare, at present the role Fenton plays for Dublin, McGinley played for us 10 years ago to less plaudits.

Fenton is a much finer fielder than McGinley. If I'd to compare McGinley to a dub it would be James McCarthy. A real box to box midfielder but not an a winner of a plethora of kickouts. None of those you named were traditional midfield exponents with the possible exception of Gormley. Matty plays his best stuff from the half-back line, Sean C won footballer of the year by playing between full-forward and wing half forward, McGinley started at corner forward and changed the role of midfielder to a mobile player who could cover  all the blades of grass. Pascal for me done his best stuff with ball in hand, picking passes.

I suppose we produce a different type of good midfielder to what I perceive as a traditional midfielder. Dara O'Se, Whelan, Tom Flynn, Fenton, Muldoon, Tohill, Neil Gallagher, Nic Muprhy, Alan O'Connor were/are what I consider to be what we aren't producing.

[omaghjoe]

Funnily enough Id have Colly Holmes and Kevin Hughes ahead of most of those guys listed as a traditional midfielder

[Therealdonald]

Christ there's some whinging nowadays. I've looked for ticket through the club but on the fair chance I don't get one I'll not be too annoyed because a) another good supporter has one, b) it has the makings of a turgid game,  c) every time I go to Ballybofey i get f**king soaked and d) it's on the telly.

Ballybofey is a shithole. So is Omagh. Clones and Armagh are top grounds, love them. Marshes, Brewster and kingspan are grand. Casement was shithole central when in operation. f**k I hated it.

Enough about tickets and who's pitch is less shit that the other guys. Can we talk football? Looks like Mc namee is out and that's a big loss. I'd have had him stuck to Murphy as he's fit to play at fb and at midfield if murph roams out. Looks like it'll be Hampsey to pick him up but there's a huge size differential there that worries me. Who'll pick up Mc Hugh? Mc cann is an option as he has the fitness to follow him anywhere but I'd probably stick Meyler on him. They'll obviously have men picking up Harte and matty. Hugh pat is probably our go to man marker now with ronan and cathal out. That's another issue but Brennan, who'll he likely pick up, is hardly the player to exploit it.

For all the talk of Donegal losing eoghan ban and Mc bearty it's likely the 2 Tyrone men those two would have been lining up against will not be fit to start (lee Brennan and Mc namee). Too much weight being placed in Donegal's "injury crisis" it is just as likely injuries have set Tyrone back as much as it has Donegal.

Hampsey picked him up last year and kept him very quiet. Hampsey would be the same size as McNamee with a bit more strength/bulk, plus hes a better defender/footballer so thats the match up I wanted anyway. Think we can expect Meyler to pick up McHugh for definite. Can't see many surprises with Harte's team but I genuinely hope that either Burns or Colly Cav and McShane get the chop. The first two because with Murphy out the field and no McBrearty we don't need the cover, secondly McShane because he's too inconsistent and I'd rather see Brennan in there.

Burns is the outstanding Tyrone player of the year. Has consistently preformed well in every game bar the last one where he wasn't even that bad. Iggy Jones is more likely to play the next day than Burns is to be dropped. Whether we need him for defensive cover or not sadly Colly Cavanagh is the sole midfield option we have. He's the most consistent high fielder amongst the panel with Conal and McClure failing to stamp their mark on any appearances this year. He also more regularly contributes to the score sheet than the alternatives. Really outside himself there's not one inter-county fielder in that team. McShane, the 2 Donnellys, Mc Cann, Burns or Meyler are not IC standard fielders. Colm, even if half fit and unable to do the sweeper role is still gonna be in the team. He's the modern day version of Colly Holmes or Hub, a big strong lad to provide a platform for kick-outs.

Our failure to develop good quality midfielders this past 15-20 years is puzzling. It's hasn't been a strong area for Tyrone since the 80's.

Let's not get carried away. Its no coincidence that against Dublin when Burns and Colly Cav went off that Tyrone flourished. Burns provided no cover for the defence against Dublin nor offered little going forward. God himself showed it on sky that he doesn't cover correctly. In a straight knockout game we can't allow this. We have a two-time All-Star that we're not getting the most out of. I'd let him play Burns role and drive us forward.

As for midfielders, Tyrone's midfielders of the last 20 years have been to name a few Pascal Canavan, Gormley, McGinley, Sean Cavanagh, Colly Cav, Mattie Donnelly....only 1 of those hasn't been an All-Star. To compare, at present the role Fenton plays for Dublin, McGinley played for us 10 years ago to less plaudits.

Fenton is a much finer fielder than McGinley. If I'd to compare McGinley to a dub it would be James McCarthy. A real box to box midfielder but not an a winner of a plethora of kickouts. None of those you named were traditional midfield exponents with the possible exception of Gormley. Matty plays his best stuff from the half-back line, Sean C won footballer of the year by playing between full-forward and wing half forward, McGinley started at corner forward and changed the role of midfielder to a mobile player who could cover  all the blades of grass. Pascal for me done his best stuff with ball in hand, picking passes.

I suppose we produce a different type of good midfielder to what I perceive as a traditional midfielder. Dara O'Se, Whelan, Tom Flynn, Fenton, Muldoon, Tohill, Neil Gallagher, Nic Muprhy, Alan O'Connor were/are what I consider to be what we aren't producing.

I get what you're saying. And most of them men are with the exception of O'Se are 6ft 2'' plus. We don't probably produce that size of a midfielder. Don't forget that Cavanagh won 3 All-Stars in a row at midfield during the same era of O'Se, Whelan, Muldoon, Tohill and Murphy or O'Connor. The role of that traditional midfielder has probably diminished with the improved accuracy of keepers. Whereas if a midfielder was dominating the air, the keeper just kicked it to the other side, now he can ping it 60 yds straight to a chest.

Tyrone despite last years performance are probably the closest team to Dublin, and what we miss in my opinion is a hard edge around the middle compared to Dublin. Just an observation. I don't see any of the Tyrone team from 12 back really striking fear into any team in regards to big hits or just downright skullduggery.

[BennyHarp]

I could come to regret this statement but with McBrearty out, if we manage to shut down Murphy and McHugh then I can't see us losing this game. With McNamee out I'd assume Rory Brennan will be in with a chance of starting. He did a good job on McHugh a few years ago after coming off the bench so could be an option there. We can't afford to leave Harte picking up McHugh. I'd probably go with a starting team something along the lines of;
Morgan
McKernan
Hampsey (to pick up Murphy so most likely playing out round MF)
HP
McCann
Burns
Harte
Brennan (Picking up McHugh, possibly sharing role with Meyler)
Cavanagh
Meyler
Sludden
Matty
McShane (likely to play in midfield)
Ritchie
Skeet

Leaves us game changers in McGeary, Bradley and possibly Lee Brennan to come in. We are a bit short on defensive cover though.

[screenexile]

Poor Mickey caught out in a lie and by Sky TV no less . . . that's not very Christian of him!!

[Fuzzman]

I do enjoy these random comments from lads who don't really have a team to support any more.
It does brighten up my day now and again to see lads like this and Jinxy trawling through threads looking for something to give out about.

Are yis supporting Donegal this weekend then lads?

I would not be surprised to see Mickey throw a curve ball this week when naming the team.

[screenexile]

I do enjoy these random comments from lads who don't really have a team to support any more.
It does brighten up my day now and again to see lads like this and Jinxy trawling through threads looking for something to give out about.

Are yis supporting Donegal this weekend then lads?

I would not be surprised to see Mickey throw a curve ball this week when naming the team.

Absolutely!!

Great people and play a decent brand of football sure why wouldn't you support them against the Tymoanies.

[Fuzzman]

If you were ever at a Donegal home game in the last few years you'd see how good of people they are.
The bile that comes from SOME of their mouths, even from women and men over a certain vintage is a disgrace.

But then again you would never experience that because ye just roll over and let them tickle your fat tummys like ye do with every other team now.
Ahh well. If it still brings ye some entertainment from afar then I don't begrudge you that.
Will ye have a yellow and green flag to wave or will you have the Derry shirt on watching it on Premier sports?


Anyway folks, back to the game.
Do you think Rory B will be in the team before McGeary.
It was good to see Loughran getting a bit of a run out this year. I see Skeet is the 3rd top scorer this year after Mansy and Roxy.

[inthrough]

If you were ever at a Donegal home game in the last few years you'd see how good of people they are.
The bile that comes from SOME of their mouths, even from women and men over a certain vintage is a disgrace.

Meeting SOME Tyrone GAA supporters in the flesh has that effect on a lot of people.

[oakleafgael]

If you were ever at a Donegal home game in the last few years you'd see how good of people they are.
The bile that comes from SOME of their mouths, even from women and men over a certain vintage is a disgrace.

Meeting SOME Tyrone GAA supporters in the flesh has that effect on a lot of people.

Both counties have their issues with supporters, like all counties really, but as long as Donegal have Declan Bonner in charge they don't deserve any neutral support.

[In hiding]

If you were ever at a Donegal home game in the last few years you'd see how good of people they are.
The bile that comes from SOME of their mouths, even from women and men over a certain vintage is a disgrace.

But then again you would never experience that because ye just roll over and let them tickle your fat tummys like ye do with every other team now.
Ahh well. If it still brings ye some entertainment from afar then I don't begrudge you that.
Will ye have a yellow and green flag to wave or will you have the Derry shirt on watching it on Premier sports?


Anyway folks, back to the game.
Do you think Rory B will be in the team before McGeary.
It was good to see Loughran getting a bit of a run out this year. I see Skeet is the 3rd top scorer this year after Mansy and Roxy.

Who are mansy and roxy ?

[Jinxy]

I do enjoy these random comments from lads who don't really have a team to support any more.
It does brighten up my day now and again to see lads like this and Jinxy trawling through threads looking for something to give out about.

Are yis supporting Donegal this weekend then lads?

I would not be surprised to see Mickey throw a curve ball this week when naming the team.

WTF?

[JoG2]

If you were ever at a Donegal Tyronehome game in the last few years you'd see how good of people they are.
The bile that comes from SOME of their mouths, even from women and men over a certain vintage is a disgrace.

fixed

Nowhere comes remotely close to Healy Park for 'grown up' mouth pieces

[greatpoint]

Was it in Healy Park that Karl Lacey was spat on?