Messages

Connacht - Mayo

They shouldnt have any problems coming out of the province, Galway i expect are going to lose a few of the older crew over the winter months, and the rebuilding will take another year or so. Roscommon, sligo and Leitrim to make litle impact.

I'm not sure about Connacht. O'Mahony might be Mayo coach by then and you'd imagine he'd reinvigorate Mayo but the Galway players would love nothing more than to beat a Johnno led Mayo. They would be well up for that one. Game is in Pearse as well where Mayo have a lousy record (as they do in Tuam in fact). However if the likes of Joyce and Donnellan call it a day over the Winter then it certainly won't look good for us. However even ordinary Galway teams always fancy their chances against Mayo but from this remove you'd have to make Mayo early favourites.

I think it'll come down to the big two yet again.

I think Dunloy beating Portumna in 2003 will serve as warning to Loughrea and they'll be well aware of that. I very much doubt they'll take anything for granted with Cushendall.

The only thing about leaving Gerrard on the right is that IMO he's not even trying in that position anymore. Against Arsenal I thought he looked completely disinterested until he got moved into the middle. In his head he's given up on right midfield.

Do agree with a lot of what you said. Our play is so static it's untrue. Players are sticking to their positions and nobody is making runs. No movement in the team whatsoever. Full-backs are barely getting past half-way, midfielders are not making runs into the box, etc.

Have my doubts that Loughrea can do it as well although if they get to the final it'll all be on the day and to be fair to them they are a very underrated side. Even within Galway. Yes they are big and physical but they can hurl as well when they want to. Might just lack that marquee forward to get them those difficult scores.

Looking like a Loughrea v Ballyhale final alright but Ballyhale will still have to overcome Birr and the Munster champs which won't be easy for them. Loughrea should have too much for Cushendall.

Big blow to Cork especially as their underage teams haven't been going to well in recent years so no ready made replacement may exist. Certainly strenghtens Kilkenny's hand even more for next year.

In mitigation we have had the hardest start in terms of league fixtures of any team in the Premiership. We've played Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Bolton all away from home. Arguably the five hardest away fixtures in the premiership for us. Still the performances have been well below par in those games but I still expect us to improve and to get a Champions League place especially given our easier run of games in the 2nd half of the season. Apart from that we're looking at the cups again.

I think the manager has to take a look at himself as well as the players but our main problem I think is that we have too many players who are out of form currently. Gerrard and Carragher are the heartbeat of the side but both of them are playing well below last season's standards, Bellamy can't buy a goal, age is catching up with Hyppia, etc. This is dragging down the performance levels generally and confidence is low when we're not playing at Anfield.

Woeful performance from the team today. Didn't even think Arsenal played all that great but we stank the place out. I'm baffled why we are so poor away from home in the Premiership.

Corofin 1-11
Mohill 1-2

County - Galway

Club - Oileann Arainn

Memory - All-Ireland in 1998

Secondly, Peter Forde was finally ratified during the week. What do ye Galway lads think of the new management team?

Was ready to hang him after the Westmeath debacle but we'll just have to get behind him again now. Big improvement needed next year or he's definitely gone next Summer. Would like to see the team play with a bit more freedom and a smile on their face. Felt we got very mechinical in our play and defensive last year. We weren't conceding as many scores but it was painful to watch out laboured attacking play.

Pete Warrens been there before, we know his credentials but what about Eoin O'Donnellan?

Can't hurt to have a new voice around the place I guess.

Also Bunty Roche is meant to be favourite for the u-21 job

Ah jaysus!

Testing testing.