Official Cavan GAA Thread

[mylestheslasher]

I think Brennan at FF is a good decision. He has a football brain and you need that to get the forward unit playing as a team and not as individuals. For all the score Donaghy gets for Kerry it is equally impressive the amount he sets up. McPhillips is hard done by, personally I don't think Dermot Shierdan is a man for playing in the corner but I think there may be a chance Fermanagh will go with a 2 man FF line so Shierdan will probably go out with the other man. Alan Clarke is not someone I am overly familiar with, how did he make his way into the team? Also glad to see the midfield partnership. There is athelticism there which will be important. All over looks like close to the right team to me so I promise I won't give Carr any abuse for his team selection at least!

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

I think Brennan at FF is a good decision. He has a football brain and you need that to get the forward unit playing as a team and not as individuals. For all the score Donaghy gets for Kerry it is equally impressive the amount he sets up. McPhillips is hard done by, personally I don't think Dermot Shierdan is a man for playing in the corner but I think there may be a chance Fermanagh will go with a 2 man FF line so Shierdan will probably go out with the other man. Alan Clarke is not someone I am overly familiar with, how did he make his way into the team? Also glad to see the midfield partnership. There is athelticism there which will be important. All over looks like close to the right team to me so I promise I won't give Carr any abuse for his team selection at least!

Brennan may be intelligent but overall his contribution this year has been average at best. Slow to release the ball and his handling often letting him down. In fairness Galligan didn't push him and I didn't see ho McKiernan faired in the recent challenge games.
Carr has watched the form in recent games so I'm in no position to say who's on/off the boil but I agree with Boojangles that McPhilips is extremely unlucky. Let's hope he doesn't just leave the panel as seems to be the trend. Dermot Sheridan in the corner needs to shake himself as he's been asleep this season. If Fermanagh play a two man FF line then no better man than Cahill to go out the field which means that McPhilips could've played inside. McCutcheon missing too-maybe he's not fit? Clarke hasn't been seen since his red against Louth so, again, Carr must have seem something recently that impressed him.
I'm glad Galligan is MF but very surprised as again he's played very little football. Walshe is injured but I think it says more about the options than Galligan himself.
Anyway, the bench should be reasonably strong with Cullvan, McCutcheon, McPhilips, McKiernan all available so here's hoping. Word is the games involving county players will be called off on Sunday should we progress?

[Celt_Man]

Word is the games involving county players will be called off on Sunday should we progress?

Aye if Cavan win, all games involving county players are postponed althought club can agree to play without county players if they wish...

[Terry Coyle]

I would have preferred Cullivan in there instead of Brennan but apart from that looks good! All the best to the lads on Saturday.

[RetroGael]

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[put-it-up]

You would hope we would beat Fermanagh but I would concerned about having over a third of the team having never tasted IC football before. If it was anyone else in Ulster I would say we would be beaten but don't think Fermanagh have the fire power to blow us away! Be interesting to see Mackey and Jelly play in the one forward line, although i'm still not sure if Johnston will start. Brennan is not my cup of tea and I would have preferred to see Sheridan WB but other than that, it's as good as we got.

[mylestheslasher]

You would hope we would beat Fermanagh but I would concerned about having over a third of the team having never tasted IC football before. If it was anyone else in Ulster I would say we would be beaten but don't think Fermanagh have the fire power to blow us away! Be interesting to see Mackey and Jelly play in the one forward line, although i'm still not sure if Johnston will start. Brennan is not my cup of tea and I would have preferred to see Sheridan WB but other than that, it's as good as we got.

Sure what can you do about having all these debutants. We all wanted fresh blood, most of these lads played all through the league so he is hardly going to drop them now! Its not the best team in the world but the question mark is can Carr get them to play to the top of their ability, can Carr get them motivated and can Carr handle the tactical tussle of the almost certainty of a blanket defense. I think his team selection is not too bad but that is only one part of the equation.

[put-it-up]

You would hope we would beat Fermanagh but I would concerned about having over a third of the team having never tasted IC football before. If it was anyone else in Ulster I would say we would be beaten but don't think Fermanagh have the fire power to blow us away! Be interesting to see Mackey and Jelly play in the one forward line, although i'm still not sure if Johnston will start. Brennan is not my cup of tea and I would have preferred to see Sheridan WB but other than that, it's as good as we got.

Sure what can you do about having all these debutants. We all wanted fresh blood, most of these lads played all through the league so he is hardly going to drop them now! Its not the best team in the world but the question mark is can Carr get them to play to the top of their ability, can Carr get them motivated and can Carr handle the tactical tussle of the almost certainty of a blanket defense. I think his team selection is not too bad but that is only one part of the equation.

Agree completely Myles and I was one that made it clear it was time for fresh faces last year. It's just the step-up from league to championship is a significant one and I fear one or two will freeze. Disappointing to only see two of the u21's on the panel but I know TC can't call up lads from USA.

I think we all know motivation is the big time? Will they be revved up to try and beat Fermanagh and enter the semi-finals in an ideal situation where they will be under no pressure whatsover, or will it be back to the happy go lucky football of the past and just hope for the best?

[cavanmaniac]

The closer the game gets the more concerned I am. I really think Fermanagh are planning an ambush here having totally sacrificed the league with a gameplan totally foreign to them and if we get out of it ahead by a point we'll have a decent days work done.

Then again, the rewards might be dubious - a game with a Monaghan side that look fit to ate us without salt - but you have to go out to win every game I suppose...

[put-it-up]

The closer the game gets the more concerned I am. I really think Fermanagh are planning an ambush here having totally sacrificed the league with a gameplan totally foreign to them and if we get out of it ahead by a point we'll have a decent days work done.

Then again, the rewards might be dubious - a game with a Monaghan side that look fit to ate us without salt - but you have to go out to win every game I suppose...

Listen lads,  If TC and the players have not been working on how they are going to combat a swarm defence over the past couple of weeks then they should be shot. It's championship, its about winning and a gameplan should have been in place long before now in order to ensure that happens. I mean how long have we known Fermanagh is the first hurdle that we have to clear? Quick and effective ball into the forwards or space will be needed and if that doesn't work the players will have to support each other twice as much to draw out the Fermanagh rearguard by overlap after overlap. A team can defend all they like but if your cute enough about, cracks will appear.

And if any of the players are afraid to play Monaghan they should be shot again. Yes they were impressive beating Armagh but imagine going into an Ulster Semi-Final where nobody would expect you to get within ten points of the other team. It's a dream scenario and I would snap it up with both hands. You literally have nothing to lose against one of your main rivals.

However, first things first, and that is Fermanagh. We have no right to look down upon them. There as good as us and we're as bad as them. A win on Sat will take effort, commitment, work-rate, ruthlessness and hunger. We as fans know we have talent sprinkled through our squad but the team need to prove they have the already mentioned traits. Lets forget about Fermanagh because as Myles touched on already if we get our own performance right - and that is all we can control - then we should have enough to scrape through.

Come on Cavan 

[cavanmaniac]

They used to say that about Armagh in their pomp, landing high diagonal ball in on top of Clarke and McDonnell - it's one thing knowing what they'll do, it's another trying to stop them. Fermanagh will be - to use the vernacular - an awful f**king pain in the hole to play against. But hopefully you're right and we can get around it somehow.

You're correct too about any semi-finalist having the upper hand in the psychology department against the Mawnahin boys but Jesus they looked very good against Armagh, Ulster title-winning good IMHO. Worries for another day though, with a bit of luck.

Anyway, here's hoping for a one-point win on Saturday.

[Celt_Man]

Good win for the Juniors last night - so we're in our second provincal final of the year!
Desperate game but in fairness there was a brutal wind blowing and it made a heams of the whole thing.
Terrible challenge by the Meath FF on Eoin McPhilips right at the end, he deserved his red card.  I wonder is McPhilips alright, would hate to see him injured and not able to take his place on the bench on Saturday...

[Denn Forever]

Great win and I see from Hoganstand that they will be playing Louth in the Final in Croke Park. 

Hopefully this will be only our first visit to Croke Park this year.

[tierworker blue]

Great win and I see from Hoganstand that they will be playing Louth in the Final in Croke Park. 

Hopefully this will be only our first visit to Croke Park this year.

When is that final?

[mylestheslasher]

I agree with maniac, there is something about this game that worries me. Fermanagh didn't become a crap team overnight, they will no doubt abandon the experiements they did in the league and return to blanket defence. With so many new players I hope some of them will be leader enough to deal with whatever Fermanagh have up their sleeve.