Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Itchy]

Staying in Division 1 was always going to be a uphill battle, whether it's Terry or McGleenan that's in charge - the difference being we could have struggled with continuity and a well-known clear gameplan under Terry or instead struggle by trying to find a new formula and perform beyond what even Terry achieved. Hard to know who'd have fared better to be honest - it's a hell of a tough division. To be charitable to the new man, it's his first intercounty job in what's a tough environment to register results - but judging by the comments and analysis here, the signs are worrying. You'd look to see some sort of response in terms of results before the league ends, or certainly an upswing in cohesion on the field and a settled, tactical unity with evidence of clear direction on the sideline, because if the Billy-to-Jack swaperoo continues up to the threshold of championship, it could be chastening there too. Either way, Division 1 status was in trouble after failing to beat Monaghan and now it's gone after losing to Donegal which was a home game earmarked for potential gains. We should just focus on playing as well as we can, beat Roscommon if possible and then get things settled before championship, where hopefully the experience will stand to us.

Lad - the issue is McGleenan said he was going to have a new attacking strategy. He is in fact more defensive than Hyland ever was. His team is counter attacking with no pace where as Hyland had made progress on this and then then we have the weird positions he is playing players in, subbing guys after 10 mins, putting lads on and taking them off etc. I hope I am wrong but he is coming across as a total spoofer.

[rodney trotter]

McGleenan was well down the list for the Cavan job. He has no County management experience. He was even shocked himself when he got the job,  said so in interviews.
He would want to get over the shock soon enough and get a game plan

[Westside]

I don't think there's any basis for saying it's 'hard to know who'd have faired better' In terms of Terry and McGleenan. Last year Cavan played better than they have done in about a decade. We were consistent, racked up some huge scores despite having no real top class talent (an ageing Seanie doesn't qualify here for me) and in general looked like a very good outfit. This year, apart from one or two individual performers, what can you say has improved or even stayed at the level it was last year?

My fear now is that our confidence is on the brink of shattering. If we go up to Omagh and do anything less than put Tyrone to the pin of their collars, it will be hard to pick up the pieces and we could see a spiral downwards. There absolutely has to be a response to losing that 'must win' game against Donegal.
McGleenan needs to get his shit together and get his match ups and tactics right, the players need to show a bit more guile and cop on.

[cavanmaniac]

The difference being we could have struggled with continuity and a well-known clear gameplan under Terry or instead struggle by trying to find a new formula and perform beyond what even Terry achieved. Hard to know who'd have fared better to be honest

To clarify what I meant, it's my belief that under either manager we'd have been relegated. Hyland did well to get us into Division 1 but that was his peak and culmination of quite a few years' worth of work, experience and small incremental improvements, with most of those gains coming in the league while practically none were in championship apart from that great win versus Derry in Celtic Park. In other words, he would have really had a much more settled plan going in there so undoubtedly the team would have performed better, for sure, than a rookie manager just three competitive games in, in his first intercounty gig. But under Terry, speculative though it is and just my personal opinion, we'd have been relegated. You can say "relegated better", or "relegated worse" in terms of the performances that put you through the trapdoor but the end result is the same - Division 2. All we can hope is that some short term pain and initial steps backward under Mattie will lead to a healthier overall place than even Terry managed but yep, you guys are right - although it's still way too early to judge, the signs on Mattie are worrying.

[Itchy]

I think Hyland would have targeted the key games and probably kept us up. He was always good at that in the league. We certainly had a more attacking threat last year, despite what the boring old narrative is, and I am talking about countering at speed versus the slow lethargic attempts we see today which are more like Hylands teams from 3 years ago. Its a shame I feel we are about to throw away the progress we made.

[rodney trotter]

Fergal Reilly, Corr and Ciaran Brady out of the Tyrone game according to the Gaelic life. Along with Clarke suspended,  a few changes from the line out against Donegal.

[cavanmaniac]

I think Hyland would have targeted the key games and probably kept us up. He was always good at that in the league. We certainly had a more attacking threat last year, despite what the boring old narrative is, and I am talking about countering at speed versus the slow lethargic attempts we see today which are more like Hyland's teams from 3 years ago. Its a shame I feel we are about to throw away the progress we made.

He'd definitely have given it a proper rattle I completely agree, but I also wonder about his record when playing the top tier sides, with Division 1, naturally, being full of them of course. I would argue we are without a win against a team of any real consequence since 2013 when we beat Derry, and since then we have repeatedly come up short when playing any team, league or championship, against whom a win would have represented a real step up and an inarguable signal that we really were ready to be contenders. So while TH would have been a few gears higher and much more cohesive than McG right now, I still feel we'd be going down, especially shorn of players like Givney etc. Hopefully we go down with a bit of fight - and feckit, we're not even gone yet for sure - and the manager having taken a few steps back in order to learn what his best side is and then step forward again. Tyrone this weekend and the nature of the display there will tell a tale.

[Itchy]

I'd go with the following on Sunday, get a few experienced heads back in...

Galligan
McLoughlin
Dunne
Gunner
Smith
Faulkner
McEnroe
Corr
Argue
McVetty
McKiernan
Madden
Mackey
Dillon
N McKiernan

Need to try something different inside. Johnston time has come and gone, he is not up to it and certainly not up to it against Tyrone. Mackey and McKiernan could take it in turns to come out swap Argue in and out.

The backs are decent enough if we stop messing around with them.

[tierworker blue]

Team for Omagh announced...

1. Ray Galligan
2. Fergal Reilly
3. Killian Brady
4. Jason McLoughlin
5. Ciaran Brady
6. Conor Moynagh
7. Martin Reilly
8. Tomas Corr
9. Gearoid McKiernan
10. Gerard Smith
11. Dara McVeety
12. Niall Clerkin
13. Niall Murray
14. Conor Madden
15. Sean Johnston

Surprised to see Faulkner on the bench...I'd have him in there.

[mrdeeds]

Team for Omagh announced...

1. Ray Galligan
2. Fergal Reilly
3. Killian Brady
4. Jason McLoughlin
5. Ciaran Brady
6. Conor Moynagh
7. Martin Reilly
8. Tomas Corr
9. Gearoid McKiernan
10. Gerard Smith
11. Dara McVeety
12. Niall Clerkin
13. Niall Murray
14. Conor Madden
15. Sean Johnston

Surprised to see Faulkner on the bench...I'd have him in there.

He was limping at end of match last day.

[rodney trotter]

Why is McGleenan not starting Dunne at full back. He is Cavans best player for that position. No point sticking them in there when Cavan are relegated.

[Westside]

Cavan U21 team named for tonight. Looks strong but then again this group have always looked strong but never made any impact. David Brady not in the starting 15 which I find surprising, perhaps he's injured. Interesting to see what Caoimhin O'Reilly can do, he's being touted as a possible addition to the senior squad.

[rodney trotter]

Brady has been out injured for a few months He broke his leg before Christmas.  Conor Bradley a loss for the u21s, studying in France.  A couple of others not available too. They should get past Fermanagh though.

[mrdeeds]

Should Cavan not be bringing in the under 21s to train with the seniors at this stage and give them some game time against the best opponents to help development. The u21 competition is soon to be gone and we don't really need another win as a priority. Caoimhin OReilly, Ryan Connolly, Thomas Galligan and maybe Daly. Just my opinion. Anyway whose travelling Sunday? I'll head meself Saturday night to Westport. Not confident at all. Faulkner big loss. Hopefully first half in Tyrone is a sign of some game plan and improvement happening.

[Itchy]

I'm going down. If Cavan really target this game and are 100% up for it they could make a match out of it. Then I am not confident this manager is cute enough and experienced enough to handle these occasions. I'll go up and have a look anyway.