All-Ireland Football Qualifiers 2016

Started by Tony, June 07, 2016, 10:54:46 AM

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OTF

Quote from: High Fielder on July 11, 2016, 10:36:50 AM
They have improved a lot since then oft. We have disimproved and you're being very selective with your information by just putting up the result. We are having a bad time. It might not get better for a long time. Go and watch more club games and you'll see how bad it really is. We have a division 1 and it wouldn't be division 3 in some counties. Standards are at a low level. It's testament to the work at underage that we've got a decent minor team.

In my view we have a better ( on paper ) panel than we had in 2013. Clare don't but as you rightly state  they have improved, not personnel wise but their collective have while ours have gone backwards alarmingly.
This is the part I find galling, due to the belief  expressed by so many in our county that we had the players to shoot it out with all the big teams and that defensive football was somewhat beneath us, I've read post here recently where lads stated they'd rather be watching us play  nice football and be beaten  FFS. this is the mindset  which has  ended up with this shambles.
I'd know as much about Clare football and the club seen there as I do about Laois.... maybe more  and it isnt great either, I watched a recording of  Galway and Roscommon last night and I don't believe either of those team's  have better players than we do.
This is all down to our own stupid mindset, not the players not the CB ..... our own all combined.

The Monument Road

Very very disapointed with yesterdays performance. Substitutions were a shambles. None of them made any difference and if anything made it worse. Why change the free takers.Cahalane and Kingston both kicked a couple although Cahalane missed a sitter in the first half but Kingston kicked a mighty one. He was about to take one of the last 3 frees we got and Walsh went over and took the ball from him and missed. On who's instructions did we change over. He and Ross took a couple more and missed. As bad as we were those misses cost us and i think Kingston would have scored them all.
Another incident yesterday which annoyed me was the reaction of Done when the ball was taken from him as he tried to head for goal. His reaction was to hold his face as if he had been assualted and then run after Duffy complaining. Good teams and players dont do that . They fight to the end,our lads dont. The killing part is this mornings draw. Clare now face Sligo and that should have been us. The players themselves are to blame.

High Fielder

Quote from: OTF on July 11, 2016, 12:02:08 PM
Quote from: High Fielder on July 11, 2016, 10:36:50 AM
They have improved a lot since then oft. We have disimproved and you're being very selective with your information by just putting up the result. We are having a bad time. It might not get better for a long time. Go and watch more club games and you'll see how bad it really is. We have a division 1 and it wouldn't be division 3 in some counties. Standards are at a low level. It's testament to the work at underage that we've got a decent minor team.

In my view we have a better ( on paper ) panel than we had in 2013. Clare don't but as you rightly state  they have improved, not personnel wise but their collective have while ours have gone backwards alarmingly.
This is the part I find galling, due to the belief  expressed by so many in our county that we had the players to shoot it out with all the big teams and that defensive football was somewhat beneath us, I've read post here recently where lads stated they'd rather be watching us play  nice football and be beaten  FFS. this is the mindset  which has  ended up with this shambles.
I'd know as much about Clare football and the club seen there as I do about Laois.... maybe more  and it isnt great either, I watched a recording of  Galway and Roscommon last night and I don't believe either of those team's  have better players than we do.
This is all down to our own stupid mindset, not the players not the CB ..... our own all combined.

They beat Kildare in a league final recently. They scored heavily against Kerry and they are in a higher league than us now. They are hugely improved and yet I still believe we lost that game yesterday rather than them winning it. Conditions were terrible and they coped better. They got a lot of fruit by attacking Damien o Connor who in fairness is miles out of position but giving his all. We are in demise, granted, but don't paint everything black. There are good footballers in Laois but we have to get players into their proper positions and the best we can get on board. It will always be our problem because our resources are tiny. Meath, even with all their history and bigger playing population are no better than us. If anything, we have improved since we played them in the league. It happens. We have a good core of players but essentially we are playing with two thirds of a team and absolutely no strength in depth. That's not enough to make you competitive and in my opinion, year on year, the panel is weakening because lads are getting older and less hungry. We are going to have to be patient, have a look at what's working and what isn't, and try to come back stronger

Giovanni

From my vantage point Donie didn't want to kick them. There was another one in the second half, about 35 yards out and 6 or 7 yards from the far touchline. Donie would normally kick 8 out of 10 of them. Instead, he went backwards with it and eventually the chance was lost. I think these calls on the frees were made by the players themselves (which also tells you something about the setup).

OTF is absolutely right about the "stupid mindset" and the supporters probably have to take some blame there too. But I don't think any supporter (or indeed any manager) would have suggested to Donie to kick a 35 hard free backwards.

maccer

Few things hard to understand yesterday. Individual mistakes will always happen that's life but...
How many times did we kick frees and lineballs backwards yesterday?
We let most of the 2nd half play out around our half back line by our decisions. Time and time again we either took short kick outside to our cornerbacks or passed possession back to them. Clare just pushed up and put pressure on us turning us over time and time again. Lot to be said for route one on a day like yesterday. Play the game in their half. Tipping did it in the hurling and got 5 goals.
Why can't we tackle individually? The amount of half hearted attempts as Clare ran by us was unreal.
Decision making was very poor. Terrible shot selection when better teams keep patient and wait for better openings.
Where was the fight. After killing themselves all year only one team really wanted to win in the 2nd half

BallyroanAbu

#305
There is been positive and then there is being realistic.  We are in Division 3 with much the same team as 4 years ago Clare will get hammered next weekend and we will not bother mentioning it here.  Be honest we are in a desperate state that may not stop till we reach division 4.  Our underage structure is moderate it can be improved upon.  We are dead lucky Dublin are out of the minor championship and make no mistake about that.  A Leinster final would be a fantastic achievement but it would be hard to see our minor team beat the battle hardened northern teams.  That is not to say we can improve.  We need to develop ourselves not sending out teams praising them and hoping it will happen.

Faugheen

#306
Player of the year; Mark Timmons (honourable mention Garoid Hanrahan )

Goal of the year; Conor Meredith V Armagh (1st Game ), (Honourable mention Stephen Attride V Dublin )

Points of the year; Gary Walsh Frees V Armagh.

Win of the year; Refixed game V Armagh.

Moans of the year ; Relegation, 2nd half V Clare, Donie Kingston's Form.


The Monument Road

Quote from: Faugheen on July 12, 2016, 01:38:47 PM
Player of the year; Mark Timmons (honourable mention Garoid O Halloran )

Goal of the year; Conor Meredith V Armagh (1st Game ), (Honourable mention Stephen Attride V Dublin )

Points of the year; Gary Walsh Frees V Armagh.

Win of the year; Refixed game V Armagh.

Moans of the year ; Relegation, 2nd half V Clare, Donie Kingston's Form.
I'm not trying to knock you Faugheen but thats of little consolation to any of us who support this team.We are a division 3 team but you could add that we did beat a Div 4 and a Div 3 team this year. We have dropped our standards everywhere both in administration and the playing field. I for one am not happy with these types of statistics and carefree attitudes by those involved (players and administrators)

steven seagal

One of the major problems facing us now is money. The setup this year was a joke until Cunningham came on board, but it took the senior players coming forward to voice their concerns over the way things were being run to force a turnaround. The County Board were never going to step in because it wasn't costing them much money, which will have suited just fine. We are currently trying to build a Centre of Excellence, and all available funds will be directed towards that. I would like to see Cunningham given a chance to run a good pre-season and get the lads fit, because he's as good an option as we have. I won't be holding my breath on him being appointed though, because I doubt the funds are there to finance a serious intercounty setup.

It has been mentioned earlier about Laois supporters being above our station a bit in looking for McNulty to go. I disagree with this. McNulty was good for Laois in a lot of ways, and he got us fitter and more organised than we had been for some time. He had taken us as far as he could though, and we were never likely to take another step forward under his stewardship. I was happy to see him go knowing that there was a good, committed panel there that were well trained and physically fit, for a better manager to improve. The problem was we appointed Tomás O Flatharta. I don't see anything wrong in wanting to get better, but I do have a problem with a CB that think Tomás O Flatharta should be let anywhere near an ambitious county. That was what killed us, not the actual desire for change. Our county chairman promised a manager to take us to the next level, which he delivered, the problem was it was the next level down, not up. We have been falling ever since and, bearing in mind our lack of minor or under 21 success in the four to five years previous to this, there isn't much coming through. We are in for a rough few years, because I have zero faith in the CB to turn this around.

On another note, having been to almost all of Laois' games so far this year, I missed the game in Ennis on Sunday due to a family occasion. As a result, I may well have missed Ross Munnelly's last ever game in a Laois jersey. I can't imagine he has another season left in him, and if he does go, he will be a massive loss to the county. He has been a pleasure to watch and a credit to himself and the county over the course of his career. I saw him kick about seven or eight points from play in a club championship match last year and there is no one else in the county who could have done it. He's still a class act, and hopefully we get to see him play on with Kilcruise for another good while, but he has a lot of mileage in his legs for intercounty football. He owes us nothing, he's been one of our best ever forwards IMO. Also, if he does finish with Laois, I hope every effort is made to get him involved at underage level, I think he'd have a lot to offer.

SCFC

Quote from: steven seagal on July 12, 2016, 06:12:23 PMOn another note, having been to almost all of Laois' games so far this year, I missed the game in Ennis on Sunday due to a family occasion. As a result, I may well have missed Ross Munnelly's last ever game in a Laois jersey. I can't imagine he has another season left in him, and if he does go, he will be a massive loss to the county. He has been a pleasure to watch and a credit to himself and the county over the course of his career. I saw him kick about seven or eight points from play in a club championship match last year and there is no one else in the county who could have done it. He's still a class act, and hopefully we get to see him play on with Kilcruise for another good while, but he has a lot of mileage in his legs for intercounty football. He owes us nothing, he's been one of our best ever forwards IMO. Also, if he does finish with Laois, I hope every effort is made to get him involved at underage level, I think he'd have a lot to offer.
Very well said. As Joni Mitchell sang "You don't know what you got till it's gone".
I hope he stays on simply for his presence.

Faugheen

Quote from: The Monument Road on July 12, 2016, 03:41:24 PM
Quote from: Faugheen on July 12, 2016, 01:38:47 PM
Player of the year; Mark Timmons (honourable mention Garoid O Halloran )

Goal of the year; Conor Meredith V Armagh (1st Game ), (Honourable mention Stephen Attride V Dublin )

Points of the year; Gary Walsh Frees V Armagh.

Win of the year; Refixed game V Armagh.

Moans of the year ; Relegation, 2nd half V Clare, Donie Kingston's Form.
I'm not trying to knock you Faugheen but thats of little consolation to any of us who support this team.We are a division 3 team but you could add that we did beat a Div 4 and a Div 3 team this year. We have dropped our standards everywhere both in administration and the playing field. I for one am not happy with these types of statistics and carefree attitudes by those involved (players and administrators)

It wasn't posted as a cosolation, it was posted so as to generate discussion as to the highs and lows of the year. (BTW, I support the team aswell). Thanks for your contribution.

BallyroanAbu

Ross was a great servant to the county. Will be missed

ILikeStrawberryJam

Great post steven segal ..

Money makes a difference now and we have none.
Lillis is a decent bloke but dosent have the tactical nous for this level but
he did get a lot of lads to commit this year and gave it his all.
As lillis said we need new lads coming thru as a lot are getting on now
We should be i  the mix for promotion next year if we get a decent mgmt team together
Although we could struggle badly if things arent done right.
Tactically and fitness wise we need to improve.

As for ross he was the best laois forward i ever saw play .. class act in every way
Hope he gets involved in coaching ..

redsetanta

Did Ross announce his intercounty retirement? Maybe I missed that.

Alot of lads jumping the gun on this one.
The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. VinceLombardi

maccer

Just thinking the same. He has been a great servant to laois. Seems happy to contribute from the bench nowadays rather than demanding a starting place. He always looked after himself so if he wants he could easily do another year. Maybe have him contribute as a forwards coach under a main overall coach to give him experience for the future