Messages

[Positives For Tyrone:]

Encouraging enough game alright. At no stage did I ever think we would win it but by the same token I never thought we'd get hammered either.

To be fair the kerry defence wasn't far off Championship staring line up and the O'Se brothers are simply rolls royce players.Scanlon looked good and the advantage of a good free taker was made very clear.

Positives For Tyrone:
1. Justy put the brakes on "star" and may just be the answer at FB (we need Conor at CHB, no debate)
2. Jordan put 2 fingers up to those who felt he should be dropped - a rolls royce of our own and MOM
3. Enda looking sharp. Not a MF plyer by any shape but would do sterling work at HF in place of Dooher.
4. Mulgrew I thought was very good - composed on the ball and placing some excellent passes into the forwards, when they could be ar*ed to make runs. Also seemed able to take a good dirty punch to the stomach (we seen ye alright AOM)
4.McCaul, PJ and to a lesser extent Swift.all coming along nicely
5. Colm McCullogh.at least he looks like he wants to be there.

Negatives
1. McCarron not up to it just yet........maybe in another year or two
2. More injuries
3. Mugsy..........simply awful for almost 2 years now. Should never be taking frees. Not a leader.
4. Hub..looks finished as far as MF goes
5. Very little forward threat.

Finally..have Silke and co climbed back out of "star"'s ar*e yet???

Ye would think the lad took 10min at HT to cure cancer, deliver 4 babies and solve the Middle East Crisis before notching up 4-8 the way they slavered over him.

I would also copyright "lording it", everyone from ref to keeper to crowd were feckin "lording it" at some stage.

Would you not think big Donaghy would be the perfect chance for an aspiring FB to make his name???

We all know what Block can do - why not let McCaul / McCarron have a go against one of the best?

Getting back to the game.........................

MH needs to address the FB issue now, we can't afford to wait until the Championship to experiment. If CG is the man he wants there then better come out and say it now and let Ricey or Carlin try to make CHB thier own.

If not (and hopefully Block will be at CHB the rest of the year) then one of the new lads needs in.

Up front Mugsy to start at FF - time to start performing...........................

Team for Sat (Hopefully)

Devine
PJ
McCarron / McCaul
Swift
Carlin
Block
Model
Hub
Enda (If Sean not ready yet)
Tommy
Mulgrew
Gormley
McCullough
Mugsy
Tommy

Don't hold out much hope of a win in Kerry but that team should put up a good fight.

If I'm not mistaken was McGourty's insistance on 'doing his own thing' not a major factor in St Galls losing to Cross this year?

know posters will say he is excellent for Celtic but i don't care how well he does for Celtic

Insert "Robbie Keane" and "Spurs" into that remark and you wouldn't be far off either.

Hunt is naother player hyped in the EPL who was absolutley atrocious last night after coming on. Several times he tried to beat a man and simply kicked the ball striaght out over the line, then hung his head sheepishly and trotted back down the park. His crossing was terribel and he contributed zero to the game.

Having seen the game first hand I have to say McGeady did alright, the extra speed he seemed to gain this year at Celtic doesn't seem enough to beat international footballers however as he constantly checked back inside.

Duff was ok too, as was Dunne

Carsley is woeful however and it is embarrasing that he is the mainstay of our midfeild after greats such as Whelan, Houghton and Keane (I know beggars can't be choosers but come on.................)

To suggest McDonnell is greedy is crazy aswell

Get those blinkers off lad - I'm married to an Armagh woman, have been to numerous Armagh matches and had beers with many Armagh supporters - they ALL go on about how greedy McDonnell is

McDonnell

While he may not have been as prolific (on average) as young McDonnell,  SON's ability (and willingness) to actually pass the ball to a colleague made him a far better player than the Armagh sharpshooter.

I doubt anyone else, either has, or will, take Francie for 10 points either..............

Inter were scr*wed over for the title a few times - good to see them getting what they deserve.

Great to see that dirty b (minding my language here) Viera sent off all the same.

Typical Spuds Sh**e -

Enda could certainly win his fair share of ball and lay it off to McCullogh / O'Neill / whoever.

Just curious but........given we have talked about Hub, Colm, Sean etc all at 14........could Enda not do a job there?

Have to disagree there - Sean is far and away at his most effective running onto the ball from breaks in MF / KOs then running at defenders. He creates loads of space for others and weighs in with at least 2-3 scores per game.

IMHO he would be wasted at FF

Eli got MVP based on 1 halfs performance (and not even the full half at that) - think the yanks wanted an "MVP brothers" angle for the media.

Justin Tuck should've got MVP

Come on the JaMarcus and the Raiders for 2009

[provided]

The difficulty we face has been evident for the best part of 4 years now, ever since 2003.

We need a MF partner for Sean. We scrapped around it to win in 2005 but to progress now we need a big 6ft 2 player to actually compete in the fielding stakes. Too often you see Devine looking here, there and everywhere for someone to kick out to in an attempt to avoid the big lads up the middle.

Up front SON was much more than just a point scorer. He took the heat off all the other forwards, just like Canavan did. With SON or PtG playing Mugsy was free to slip responsibility off his shoulders and just go out and play - when was the last time Mugsy delivered in a game without SON or PtG playing alongside him?

We also need a FB - the NFL will not be won this year - I wouldn't even care if we go down as along provided we solve the FB,MF and Forward problems for the Championship. To my mind McCarron needs to play the next 4 games in a row at FB and see how he fares - we all know what Block can do.

You are some man going on about McGeeney's influence Tyroneman

You telling me Kildare were always that cynical and dirty then??

[Almost]

Worst game of football I have seen for many many years, would almost put me off going back to the NFL if that is the sh**e served up. Almost

Both sides chances to win it - Tyrone dominated first half, Kildare took 70% of the second.

The lack of a free taker for Tyrone is extremely worrying, espcecially for right footed kicks. (What did I say before about Mugsy's free taking?) It's something which has failed to be addressed for years now.

Still thought Tyrone would win it up until Nephews ridicuous shot (when 3 men were free waiting for the ball in beter positions) and the subsequent gallop up the field, unimpeded, by the big Kildare lad.

McGeeney certainly has put his own stamp (and I do mean stamp) to this Kildare team. Persistant "in yr face" attitude, fouling, niggling and some blatant thuggery, most of which went unpunished by the ref (awful for both sides - gave everything to Tyrone in 1st and Kildare in 2nd half.). His solution to everything was a hop ball FFS.Still if Kildare fans are happy that's the route to go then fair play to yis, I suppose you win feck all being nice.

Ratings

Devine (6/10): The little he had to to do, he did well.Kcik outs supect but you could put that down to wind and lack of movement in MF.

PJ Quinn (6/10) Solid enough - didn't break forward as much as you would have liked.

Block (8/10) -Excellent as usual, some great blocks and interceptions. Beaten to high ball a few times through and obviously not going to win everything against men 5-6" taller. Needs to be in CHB spot.

Swift (7/10) Did well, out in front of man a good bit, used ball well enough for most part.

Nephew (5/10) REaonsable performance overall. Still to easlily rounded by his man. Ridiculous choice to shoot which led to goal big black mark on performance.

Carlin (7/10) Solid game, good going forward  swept up a lot at back but will get badlly caught out carrying ball into trouble at some point.

Jordan (5/10) spent more time worrying about Doyle than adding to the Tytone attack. Suppose that's primarily what he's there for.

Hub (3/10) Last chance saloon big lad. Less said the better.

Enda (8/10) One man show in MF for Tyrone. Worked his b*lls off.

Colm (3/10) An aul fella behind me was waxing on all night about how everyone knows Sean can take the heat and punishment, get up and get on with it while Colm won't last the game with the same attention. How right he was.Spent more time on his ar*e or with his hands in the air moaning at the ref that doing anything useful. For such hype I have yet to see anything more than an average game out of him (best being Dublin lights last year). Aul fell a also reckoned it would take a serious bad game for him ever to be subbed.He was right - it did - he was.

Mulgrew (7/10) Flashes of brilliance mixed with some poor hand passing. Needed more from the FF line to give him someone to hit. Spent too much time in the Half Back Line.

Mellon (4/10) Sorry - what has happened here? Not one good game since 2005 final. Living on past glory. Time to be dropped.

McCullogh (6/10) Best of forwards on view. Free taking poor by his standards. Always showed for ball at least.

Tommy (5/10) Forgettable.

Snowy (4/10) The big step up looks a step too far on that showing.  Needs more time. Will hopefully improve. Has to learn to hold onto the ball.

PJ / Niall (4/10) Not on long enough to rate.

Mugsy (3/10) Did nothing apart from miss the free at the end. Is he seriously the best we have?

Could be a very difficult NFL this year and just the wrong time to meet a resurgant Down in the Championship. Just can't see where scores will come from.