Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Duckquay]

Westside I'm not sure how you can differentiate between the performances of Keating and Dunne as strongly as you do, both had off days but the difference being Keating can win dirty ball and Dunne can't. Both players were equally as bad as each other in terms of shot selection and wides. When Keating leaves the shooting boots at home at least he will win a 50/50 ball. Some of the positions he was shooting from yesterday were crazy though. Killian Brady looked out of his depth as a midfielder...to judge him based on yesterday is wrong  as he belongs in the full back line at county level. Alan Clarke simply isn't mobile enough nor good enough on the ball to take the game to the opposition or provide adequate cover at the back. Agree re argue he has to be in midfield. The options in personnel are there for the necessary changes, better our shortcomings are flagged up now rather than June 9th.

[rodney trotter]

Keating is a great ball winner, and was a great outlet for Dunne last year. He has lots of ability, just erratic with the shooting and sometimes knowing when to give a pass. That was jack Brady first inter County start of the year yesterday after injury, wouldn't be writing him off that quick. A lot of club football coming up so that will bring on his fitness. Argue and Clarke will be in the side come championship, killian Brady is a back and is suited there, wouldn't say he is out of depth based on yesterday. Kevin Tierney has been playing well with his club, might be in the reckoning come chqmpionship as an option in the FF line.

Some of the other U21s, like Conor Moynagh, will probaly be drafted onto the panel before the championship - which will increase the options

[mylestheslasher]

Very disappointing display from Cavan. So many old failing showing their heads again, it is funny but it was almost like we have gone back a bit, even though we have won all our games prior to this one. The only positive for me is that it laid bear some of our problems and gives us 5 weeks to correct it. I think the backs need some tweaking despite our mostly good displays. McEnroe has been displaying this sort of lazy show boating style and got turned over numerous times because of it. We also don't have any creativity in the half back line to put early ball in. Playing Gunner at midfield is not a long term strategy and for the life of me I cant understand why management are doing it. Its not fair on Killian who is a good back but he will never make midfield his position. Clearly they want a defensive option in there to allow Gearoid to bomb forward but Killian Clarke is a better option for that role. The forward play was not good. I thought Mackey was very poor, yes he raised it for two periods of 5 minutes but in between we got show boating and some extremely sloppy passes and a couple of hospital passes. McDermott was OK but missed some easy chances and Martin Reilly was probably our best player. The bis problems were in the forwards. Dunne and Keating were terrible, Dunne had a mare. Dunnes big problem is that he has no power to beat a man so he tends to bring it wide and rely on incredible accuracy to get it over the bar. The problem is if he is off his game or theres a tricky wind then Dunne offers very little. Keating is just too damn selfish on the ball, doesnt get his head up and has can have poor shot selection. The big problem is there are no real other options for us in the FF line. With this in mind I think we need to have a very good spread of scorers across the team. Here is what I would do for Armagh...7

Gilsenan - just about, he needs to improve his kick outs.
Fergal Flanagan - tight and can take a score.
R Dunne - Decent but no other option either
Hayes - solid
Moynagh - Need a ball player in the backs and can kick a score
Clarke - poor enough last day but is a leader
Damien Reilly - Can take a score, big, can field a high ball.
Killian Clarke - Defensive midfield
Gearoid - Attacking midifeld, good for a few points.
Argue - An option on kick outs, good for a few points, strong.
McDermott - Free taker, ball winner
Martin Reilly - Hard worker, good for a few points.
Mackey - free role out the field
Keating - Needs to make the right decisiion but can be unmarkable
Dunne - Free taker, on form could get you 4/5 points a game. Hopefully his form will return.

Potential change to the above would be to put Mackey on the 40 and Givney inside but no Mcdermot means no left footed free taker. I'd feel a lot happier if that team was starting against Armagh.

[rodney trotter]

Strong enough side. David Givney is an option inside oo, his form hasn't been good of late but if he get the head right and works hard he will be close enough to the side. A lot of options in midfield now so not needed there as such. Gilsenan is probaly under pressure with the kickouts.  Farrelly probaly a better all round keeper.Would leave McEnroe there,

The reason for playing Killian Brady in midfield is because he is a defensive player,. Played there with his club before. Mossy Corr was full back when he first got on the Cavan team and then was moved to midfield. Argue, McKiernan, and Givney are all attacking players and aren't as good with the defensive side of their game. Killian Clarke is probaly a better option as defensive player alongside Mckiernan as you said.

Alan Clarke might not have had his best game yesterday but is usually a very solid player and would expect him to be there come championship. Keating when on song is unmarkable as was evidenet from earlier in the year McKenna Cup and Railway Cup. Needs to find that confidence again, he was going well before he pulled the hamstring which knocked his form.

[tommysmith]

I will nit pick with the team you selected if you dont mind.

Gilsenan - just about, he needs to improve his kick outs.( Kickouts wont improve  I would throw Farrelly in  great kickout)
Fergal Flanagan - tight and can take a score.
R Dunne - Decent but no other option either
Hayes - solid
Moynagh - Need a ball player in the backs and can kick a score ( not sure if he is the man his temperament is questionable) K Clarke
Clarke - poor enough last day but is a leader ( Should not be near team not good enough a footballer to play this role) Mcenroe
Damien Reilly - Can take a score, big, can field a high ball.
Killian Clarke - Defensive midfield ( [ ( do we need defensive midfielders I would play him wing back and tell the midfielders to mark their men) Argue
Gearoid - Attacking midifeld, good for a few points.
Argue - An option on kick outs, good for a few points, strong. ( Lyng can play good ball to the forwards)
McDermott - Free taker, ball winner
Martin Reilly - Hard worker, good for a few points.
Mackey - free role out the field
Keating - Needs to make the right decisiion but can be unmarkable
Dunne - Free taker, on form could get you 4/5 points a game. Hopefully his form will return. Johnston stronger than Dunne and more accurate free taker - only joking but we are really stuck for forwards.

[rodney trotter]

Cavan play Galway next week in a challange game in Killygarry, would be a good time look at other alternatives in nets in that game. Gilsenan is  error prone, both with the kick outs and concentration during the game. Farrelly was solid enough for the u21s and is probaly worth a run.

[mylestheslasher]

I will nit pick with the team you selected if you dont mind.

Gilsenan - just about, he needs to improve his kick outs.( Kickouts wont improve  I would throw Farrelly in  great kickout)
Fergal Flanagan - tight and can take a score.
R Dunne - Decent but no other option either
Hayes - solid
Moynagh - Need a ball player in the backs and can kick a score ( not sure if he is the man his temperament is questionable) K Clarke
Clarke - poor enough last day but is a leader ( Should not be near team not good enough a footballer to play this role) Mcenroe
Damien Reilly - Can take a score, big, can field a high ball.
Killian Clarke - Defensive midfield ( [ ( do we need defensive midfielders I would play him wing back and tell the midfielders to mark their men) Argue
Gearoid - Attacking midifeld, good for a few points.
Argue - An option on kick outs, good for a few points, strong. ( Lyng can play good ball to the forwards)
McDermott - Free taker, ball winner
Martin Reilly - Hard worker, good for a few points.
Mackey - free role out the field
Keating - Needs to make the right decisiion but can be unmarkable
Dunne - Free taker, on form could get you 4/5 points a game. Hopefully his form will return. Johnston stronger than Dunne and more accurate free taker - only joking but we are really stuck for forwards.

Of course I dont mind Tommy!

However, In my opinion when you have Gearoid in Ctr Field you need a tracking midfield with him as Gearoid does not track back. Now you could argue that he should but in all the years I've watched him he just doesn't have that in his arsenal. Clarke could do that job, maybe even Corr if he is back in there. Don't agree on Clarke. He is solid and has done well in most games, had a bad day at the office on Saturday. Thats why I think Moynagh is an option, he is an all round footballer and could give us something in the half back line thats been missing. As for Johnston, more chance of me starting against Armagh.

[tommysmith]

Of course I dont mind Tommy!

However, In my opinion when you have Gearoid in Ctr Field you need a tracking midfield with him as Gearoid does not track back. Now you could argue that he should but in all the years I've watched him he just doesn't have that in his arsenal. Clarke could do that job, maybe even Corr if he is back in there. Don't agree on Clarke. He is solid and has done well in most games, had a bad day at the office on Saturday. Thats why I think Moynagh is an option, he is an all round footballer and could give us something in the half back line that's been missing. As for Johnston, more chance of me starting against Armagh.

If he does not track back who is going to mark his man, the tracking midfielder cannot mark two men, if he is not going to track back he should not be in midfield or the half forward line either as they attack as much as anyone else. We are at a serious disadvantage when we do not have possession, we need to find lads to play midfield who are athletes and will run all day.

I wouldn't have Clarke on the team not good enough, he does not mark anyone and looks better in some games as he gets on alot of ball his passing and kicking is poor. Moynagh would be better option here but he can be inclined to slow game down and wants to solo around men coming to tackle him which is deadly dangerous. I think we need to move the ball faster our of the backs.

Winning 4 Ulsters at U21 could be fruitless at Senior level as we don't have the midfielders or forwards to compete with the good teams in the modern games.  Monaghan seem to be a good bit ahead of us with little underage success which is worrying.

[rodney trotter]

Will see  how far Monaghan will be ahead when a few of the veterans retire. Paul Finlay, Vinnie Corey, Dessie Mone, Eoin lennon, Dick Clerkin , dont have many more years left in them.

Cavan are making progress, regardless of Saturday

[mylestheslasher]

Of course I dont mind Tommy!

However, In my opinion when you have Gearoid in Ctr Field you need a tracking midfield with him as Gearoid does not track back. Now you could argue that he should but in all the years I've watched him he just doesn't have that in his arsenal. Clarke could do that job, maybe even Corr if he is back in there. Don't agree on Clarke. He is solid and has done well in most games, had a bad day at the office on Saturday. Thats why I think Moynagh is an option, he is an all round footballer and could give us something in the half back line that's been missing. As for Johnston, more chance of me starting against Armagh.

If he does not track back who is going to mark his man, the tracking midfielder cannot mark two men, if he is not going to track back he should not be in midfield or the half forward line either as they attack as much as anyone else. We are at a serious disadvantage when we do not have possession, we need to find lads to play midfield who are athletes and will run all day.

I wouldn't have Clarke on the team not good enough, he does not mark anyone and looks better in some games as he gets on alot of ball his passing and kicking is poor. Moynagh would be better option here but he can be inclined to slow game down and wants to solo around men coming to tackle him which is deadly dangerous. I think we need to move the ball faster our of the backs.

Winning 4 Ulsters at U21 could be fruitless at Senior level as we don't have the midfielders or forwards to compete with the good teams in the modern games.  Monaghan seem to be a good bit ahead of us with little underage success which is worrying.

So are you proposing we take Gearoid out of Midfield?

I think you are being very harsh on Clarke, he played many fine games last year for us including playing a big part in bottling up Jamie Clarke against Armagh.

[rodney trotter]

He was excellent last year down in Enniskillen in the Championshio, and along with Rory Dunne was one of Cavan best players against Kerry. Does a solid job nothing flashy. He played very little of the League this year due to a wrist injury in the first round of the league, still only coming back to fitness

[Westside]

I think open games in Croker like that will show up players of limited ability. On Saturday Killian Brady and Alan Clarke were both shown up, James McEnroe to a lesser extent. However Alan Clarke and McEnroe are both very useful in the majority of games, looking long term they may want to be replaced if we start to open up a bit more but for now they aren't bad lads to have in there. Clarke is a leader and tough as teak, if Moynagh can overcome the constant injuries and mature his play a bit he is the obvious successor Clarke's jersey but he's not ready yet.

I think management need to be a bit more willing to take off Keating when he's obviously not performing, it was the same against Kerry last year. We need a plan B in the inside forward line. O'Connor and Tierney perhaps. And looking longer term we need to have a huge focus on developing some ball winning inside forwards and a top quality free taker.

Anyone know if the idea to have 2 points for a free kicked off the ground at underage was introduced?

[rodney trotter]

Would yot not subsitute Dunne when he wasn't playing well? At least Keating was winning his own ball like he was against Kerry

[comeysfield]

Roscommon scored a fluke going for a point we missed a penalty. That is a five  point turnaround which would have seen us win by 3. Not that simple but you could see us beating those lads 

Maybe we had decided to give Alan Clarke, Keating and Gearoid Game time as they are still on the way back to full fitness. Armagh is the main objective. I think we tried to play a little bit more open we went for the game a bit more and we lost. No big panic the future just might still be blue. Would like to have seen more of Tierney because I thought he deserved a run after the league but there you go

[Westside]

I singled out Keating because he was left on until the end against Kerry and Roscommon and contributed very little. Dunne was taken off against Kerry. Winning your own ball isn't much use if you won't lay it off as players break past and you consistently take impossible shots and waste possession. Of course Dunne should be taken off if he's playing poorly. But simply because Keating is strong enough to win himself some possession doesn't mean he's contributing enough to stay on the field. Keating's shot selection is dire, he seems happy to get one point out of every 3 or 4 hail mary shots he takes, salute the crowd and go at it again.