Messages

I think it's safe to say TomSmith is on some sort of a retainer from the Hogan Stand Mods as a resident WUM cum village idiot. How some of his posts and threads  get published while relatively regular efforts at posting get censored takes a lot of explaining.

That sean o rinn or whatever his name is should be censored on there aswell.

Censored...now that is putting it kindly!

Ah come on, Hoganstanders stick to your own stomping ground.

I went on there last week and you need a translator for some of the posts.

Now BooJ, are you really suggesting leaving Murphy one on one inside. After the u21 final two years everyone agreed it was ridiculous to not have a sweeper on him and there is not a player in the county that is better at performing that role than Kevin.

The real move to me that suggested they didn't really belief in their own ability's was dropping Niall Smith. If you are only playing two inside then a player like him is vital to carry the ball into the others offense.

[but why should we reward 13 man defenses?]

Darran O'Sullivan scored 0-1 against Mayo the semi-final. Other than two early goal chances (both missed) he was well marked by Keith Higgins and had little influence.

Brogan did more in his semi-final than either O'Sullivan or Lacy. Debatable who did more in the final, I'd suggest probably O'Sullivan.

I'd give it to Brogan  with O'Sullivan a worthy winner if he gets the nod. Giving it to Lacey would be rewarding everything that is wrong with football, not Lacey's fault I might add, but why should we reward 13 man defenses?

Take the point about O'Sullivan in the semi-final but still think in the grand scheme of things he was the best individual this year.

Anybody that thinks that is all Lacey was about this year is extremely naive. I saw him play against Cavan, Tyrone, Kildare and Dublin and he is alot more than just a defender relying on those around him. His engine is unreal and as soon as the ball was turned over he was more often than not the man that carried the ball and got it going forward. He was involved and set up a lot of scores.

I remember against Cavan in particular, Seanie Johnston spent more time running after Karl Lacey than the other way around.

Lacey deserves more respect that somebody saying 'sure he had 12 lads around him'.

I know it's a matter of opinion but I really don't think either of the Dublin players deserve the award.

I mentioned it somewhere after the senior final that Kerry went man for man on the Dublin kickout's and they at the very least broke even.

The hype that surrounds Cluxton really is incredible. Don't get me wrong he is an absolutely fantastic goalkeeper but to be in contention for player of the year? I'm just not convinced. I don't remember him making that many saves either this year...

Brogan was hot and cold in patches but its difficult to pick out a Dublin player because they rely so much on the collective rather than the individual.

O'Sullivan for me was the standout forward of the year. He scored two unbelievable goals and I saw him live in the three games they played in Croke Park and he is a pure entertainer. Everytime he gets the ball you expect something to happen going forward.. His pace in unbelievable.

After him, my vote would have been for Lacey. Unless you seen Donegal play live you can't possibly appreciate the role he played in Donegal's system. You need to have seen it up close. He was an excellent defender and as soon as their mass defence forced the turnover time and time again he was the launchpad of attacks.

On another note, the number 15 for Monaghan was a beaut...

Only starting college this September I'm told...

Tell me she is Dublin based

Kerry 0-14
Dublin 2-9

I coached the Bailieborough minors a few times before the Championship.  We had 17 players togged out for the championship and I can count on one hand the amount of times we had more than 10 at training. Lost the first game in Division One to Ballyhaise. We badly needed to amalgamate to be competitive. 

Asked a few officials why we weren't amalgamated with Shercock, like we have for the last five years I think, and I never got a straight answer. I can only imagine how petty the row was.

I played Minor football for four years with the club and each year we were with Shercock. I never won a thing or got near a final. You can't start complaining about amalgamations just because they are starting to win something. Nobody has a problem with all the other amalgations that lost and Cavan Gaels domination of this grade is not good for the county.

The only thing that would annoy me is that I was told for one of the earlier championship games Shercock/Kingscourt had a panel of 32. To me that is wrong. There is `17 lads sitting on the bench getting no football. Is that good for trying to keep lads at footballl with everything else going on? They should have at least entered a team into the bottom Division and played in that to give a few lads a game. I know it means on average that each club only has 16 players and I dont blame for amalgamating but something needs to be done to cater those other lads.

I'd love to see a 7's competition ran for the minor grade. Get every team down to Breffni for a day. Use the three pitches and let the Division One teams enter two teams. Just let everyone play football and let them have the craic. Do a few different prizes and let the day be more fun based than about winning. The championship is over now and the reality is some lads will never kick a ball again. Would love someone to pull it together when the championship ends.

The facilities are there to do it. Would love to see it happen

I think to shrug off Barry's opinion on the basis that he has underperformed in some games is a little harsh. If that is the criteria for speaking publicly, who in Cavan is qualified to comment on the current situation?

To be fair to them, he comes across completely honest in the interview. You can agree with them or disagree but they are his opinions and he is entitled to them.

I would also have quite a hunch that some of those quotes were words put in Barry's mouth.

With regards to the Hoganstand stuff I would pay no attention. Sure wasn't Adrian, can't remember his second name, meant to be on it too. That whole site is nonsense. You have lads who are bored, have two or three profiles and just argue with themselves. That is the sad reality of it.

Very quiet here these days lads.

Anyone unearthed any new talent?

Anthony Rainbow gives a good preview of the match here.

http://gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/2608111143-rainbows-verdict-football-column-aug-26/

Anybody know who Eire Og is in the Minor Championship?

No posts for over a week. Has nobody anything to moan about 

http://tv.gaa.ie/#/49016/976/round-the-square-episode-4-2011

Good interview with Daniel Goulding here.

Lad's calling it puke football is ignorant and lazy.

They won Ulster. I can only imagine the amount of work that went in to perfecting that system. I would love to see the amount of ground that Bradley and Lacey for example cover in a game. The athleticism, work-rate and belief in the system that McGuiness has put in place has to be applauded because what they are doing doesn't just happen.

They have achieved nothing for 19 years and it's clear these boys talked and decided they were going to up their game this year and give it their all.

Will teams try to copy this system now? What I am looking forward to seeing is a team devising a plan to beat it.

I say well done Donegal.