Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Terry Coyle]

So Terry Hyland for Cavan Manager?  Sounds good I think.

Are you having a laugh? Can get a team fit and motivated but my dog would have better tactics. Great servant to Cavan football but not a county senior manager.

Don't know what Ciaran Brady is like, but I can comment on Mickey - will be a top class manager. If anyone has ever heard him in a pre match dressing room then you can be nothing but motivated.

[JMohan]

Some serious questions need to be asked about Cavan football and where it's going.

I was speaking to a fairly well connected man who was telling me about the backroom/background/CB and the set up and it's a joke, or at least looks like a joke from the outside.

TC hasn't a clue really when all is said and done. Great fella and wonderful enthusiasm but not the man to drag Cavan up from the bootlaces. The backroom team is nonexistent either and there is no real structure to what is being done. 
In some ways TC had little control over what was going on.

Some people in the County Board have tried to put things in place, but with the mess a network of people they have pulling the strings who know nothing about football it's no surprise what's happening behind the scenes.

Of course some players are just along for the ride, but most are serious and trying hard, just poorly led.
Cavan won't see an Ulster Final for 5 years minimum at the rate they're going, and won't see a Ulster Title for a decade with the current approach and structure they have in place.

The questions Cavan have to ask now is who do they go to next?
Who's the next manager? 
Are they going to persist with the 'muppet masters' outside the team?
What kind of longer term structure will their be?
Who is looking at the long term plan?

Good post JMohan,it echoes what alot of us have been saying.
Their is supposed to be a coaching structure in place,we have 6 full time coaches and a games development manager in Nicholas Walsh,looking after those from under 14 up.
the fruit of that should be coming shortly at minor level we would hope,if not that will have to be looked at.
Hopefully we wont be hiring out the authority of selecting a county manager to another company this time around         
(sorry that gets more pathetic everytime i think about it)

So why is he involved in having an input in the senior set up?

He is?first ive heard of it JM,i thought his role was restricted to being a player,if he has any other role,that is just wrong.

As the head coach in Cavan he has a say or influence ... shud he? no.

As for Graham ... yeh he might be good enough, but his face doesn't fit with the people who make the big decisions in Cavan, so he's no chance.

[Dougal]

So Terry Hyland for Cavan Manager?  Sounds good I think.

Are you having a laugh? Can get a team fit and motivated but my dog would have better tactics. Great servant to Cavan football but not a county senior manager.

Don't know what Ciaran Brady is like, but I can comment on Mickey - will be a top class manager. If anyone has ever heard him in a pre match dressing room then you can be nothing but motivated.

ive said that about hyland on many other websites,a very good motivator,but nothing great tactically.at the same time i dont think mickey is anything great tactically.i'd imagine he'd be fit to get a few of the gaels lads to commit aswell,but not sure if he's the man either.

excuse my ignorance,but what has ciaran brady won?i cant say i ever heard much about him.

[Terry Coyle]

So Terry Hyland for Cavan Manager?  Sounds good I think.

Are you having a laugh? Can get a team fit and motivated but my dog would have better tactics. Great servant to Cavan football but not a county senior manager.

Don't know what Ciaran Brady is like, but I can comment on Mickey - will be a top class manager. If anyone has ever heard him in a pre match dressing room then you can be nothing but motivated.

ive said that about hyland on many other websites,a very good motivator,but nothing great tactically.at the same time i dont think mickey is anything great tactically.i'd imagine he'd be fit to get a few of the gaels lads to commit aswell,but not sure if he's the man either.

excuse my ignorance,but what has ciaran brady won?i cant say i ever heard much about him.

Yeah I dont know much about Ciaran Brady either - I think he won a senior championship in Longford, doesnt exactly equal senior county manager credentials. Then again its better than Keoghans CV and it is the Cavan County Board we are talking about.

[Dougal]

was he over colmcille?or was that some other cavan manger?

[BallyhaiseMan]

That Ciaran Brady/Mickey Graham duo sounds interesting.
i know how good a manager and coach Mickey is,i wouldnt know too much on Ciaran Brady,perhaps some of our longford friends could share with us as to how he is rated over there?

[Terry Coyle]

That Ciaran Brady/Mickey Graham duo sounds interesting.
i know how good a manager and coach Mickey is,i wouldnt know too much on Ciaran Brady,perhaps some of our longford friends could share with us as to how he is rated over there?

Don't bother - He's a Gowna man! 

[Dougal]

BHman,you played under mickey,and im not sure but boojangles might have aswell.im fairly certain he's a good motivator,but is he any better than any other manager when it comes to tactics?

[cavanmaniac]

Well if Tommy barely survived after his first year he'll surely fall on his sword now, players' support or not.

After witnessing Saturday's game - the first match I got to see since Antrim last year - I can't say he deserves to stay. It was like looking at the same game a year on, nothing had changed, we were running up cul de sacs in the second half and when we don't have score-takers like Sligo, Cork, Kerry etc. (who beat the blanket by having numerous players who can hack over points from the '45) then we were totally shagged.

To have no gameplan to deal with Fermanagh when the dogs on the street knew what they'd do is just unforgivable. To have stood fiddling while Rome burned, taking off the cornerforward (the go-to move for clueless managers since 1884) when our defence was being roasted, was even worse.

Bringing on Martin Reilly into a forest of bodies and flailing limbs, a willo-the-wisp lad, was ridiculous. I didn't realise until later that the McKiernan lad was an option for full-forward but he left it way too late to post a big man in there and at least give Fermanagh something new to think about. Plan A wasn't working, so we stuck with plan A.

Who to replace him? Lord knows. I just fear we might goose Mickey Graham for good if we put him in there too early, he seems to be a potentially good manager but putting him in with the senior team now might send him backwards? I'd prefer to leave him to work his way up with the U21s next year I really think he could make a breakthrough with the lads he's been managing at minor for the last three seasons and that supercedes our needs at senior at the moment, I believe.

Terry Hyland's U21s didn't impress me tactically in the Ulster final either, it was a ticking timebomb leaving one inside on Murphy, so I don't know if he's the answer either. It's hard to come up with names from inside the county that's for sure...

[boojangles]

IMO Jelly should not have started. He hadn't played a League game and you could tell him and Mackey were out of sync with eachother. They definitely weren't playing as a unit up front. He would have been a serious lift to us coming on in the 2nd half when things were tight. 
It was obvious Mackey was having an off day but then they take Brennan off who had scored 2 points and set up 2.Call me biased because he's a club mate but the ball wasn't coming in in the 2nd half and it was obvious the change needed to be made at Midfield, not at corner forward FFS. He scored 2-5 for us yesterday just to stick 2 fingers up to Tommy Carr.

Ciaran Brady was over Colmcille in 2008 when they won the Longford championship.
I played under Ciaran a few years ago when he 1st got into coaching.Even back then he was a very good trainer and had some great ideas. I'm sure he has learned alot in the mean time and he could well be a future Cavan manager.
People can say what they like about Terry Hyland but he has managed 2 Cavan teams to provincial finals this year already.He deserves alot of credit for that alone.
Mickey Graham is a fine manager and could be the Senior manager but I think it is a bit too soon for him TBH. He is the best manager I came across to get a team ready for the Big day.Whether that was a final or 1st round of the championship, he knew how to peak a team(well he did with Drumalee and Butlersbridge anyway ) and that is something that is invaluable as a manager in my eyes.
You would definitely have to question the current managers ability to do the same.

[Dougal]

you finally came out of hiding.

your not biased with regards to brennan,i havent really rated him the whole way through the league,but thought he was playing well,and didnt think he needed to be taken off.

they lost to eire og that year,did they not?in the first game of the leinster champ?i dont know much about colmcille or longford football in general,and maybe that was a big achievement,but id say hyland has achieved more than brady,IMO.

[put-it-up]

I don't think we should really be speculating until Tommy Truck goes after the qualifiers but for what it's worth here is my opinion. Mickey is a fantastic manager. Everybody under him wants to play and wants to work. But giving him the senior job at this moment in time would be stupid. He has had the last 3 years of minor crops. Surely the sensible thing to do would be to let him continue to work with them and develop them and try to develop belief. Some of the U21's next year have now beaten Antrim, Monaghan, Armagh and Down in Ulster Championship so I don't think they have the same sense of inferiority as some in the senior set-up appear to have. Let's see if he can develop those individuals - the likes of G Mckiernan, Minnagh and McDermott.

Who takes over the senior set-up is a difficult one. We thought when TC was taking over, things couldn't get any worse but now at this stage the only thing that would send us lower is getting bet by London or somone. Hyland seems the logical answer although whether he is up to it, I'm not sure. In fairness I think his record of late is by and large better than any other Cavan man in the country bar McDermott down in Clare. He would need help around him to make a decent go of it - particularly with regards to training I would say but at least he has abit of passion and would hopefully transfer that to the players. He obviously has something about him - 3 finals in 12 months isn't bad!

Given Kingspan's difficulties I would say for pretty obvious reasons our aim next year should be to try and get the best out of our own coaching resources.  Whether politics can be forgotten and that can actually be done though remains to be seen. Brady and Hyland with the seniors and Mickey at u21 would be far from the worst thing possible. Again though, going from what Brady done last year when offered the u21 job, it is clear he doesn't want to be anybody's puppet. If we got those two together, I wouldn't be overly fussy which one had the bainesteoir bib, you would hope that they could try come together to rescue Cavan football out of this dark dark hole....

[boojangles]

I don't think we should really be speculating until Tommy Truck goes after the qualifiers but for what it's worth here is my opinion. Mickey is a fantastic manager. Everybody under him wants to play and wants to work. But giving him the senior job at this moment in time would be stupid. He has had the last 3 years of minor crops. Surely the sensible thing to do would be to let him continue to work with them and develop them and try to develop belief. Some of the U21's next year have now beaten Antrim, Monaghan, Armagh and Down in Ulster Championship so I don't think they have the same sense of inferiority as some in the senior set-up appear to have. Let's see if he can develop those individuals - the likes of G Mckiernan, Minnagh and McDermott.

Who takes over the senior set-up is a difficult one. We thought when TC was taking over, things couldn't get any worse but now at this stage the only thing that would send us lower is getting bet by London or somone. Hyland seems the logical answer although whether he is up to it, I'm not sure. In fairness I think his record of late is by and large better than any other Cavan man in the country bar McDermott down in Clare. He would need help around him to make a decent go of it - particularly with regards to training I would say but at least he has abit of passion and would hopefully transfer that to the players. He obviously has something about him - 3 finals in 12 months isn't bad!

Given Kingspan's difficulties I would say for pretty obvious reasons our aim next year should be to try and get the best out of our own coaching resources.  Whether politics can be forgotten and that can actually be done though remains to be seen. Brady and Hyland with the seniors and Mickey at u21 would be far from the worst thing possible. Again though, going from what Brady done last year when offered the u21 job, it is clear he doesn't want to be anybody's puppet. If we got those two together, I wouldn't be overly fussy which one had the bainesteoir bib, you would hope that they could try come together to rescue Cavan football out of this dark dark hole....

Alot of the current Senior crop have beaten the counties you have mentioned at Underage also. Johnston,McKeever, etc at Minor level beat Donegal and Down and that team at U-21 level with Mulvey,Ciaran Galligan added to it beat Monaghan and Armagh. The 2 scalps we are really badly missing at Underage are Derry and Tyrone and until we can overcome that inferiority complex as regards to these 2 counties, Cavan will not be a force in Ulster. Correct me if I'm wrong but the last time I remember Cavan beating Derry at Underage is in 1996 when we beat them well in the U-21 Ulster final. Tyrone, I can't remember.
Next years U-21 team will bring hope but a good Minor team can change alot in 3 years and TBH I would be slightly worried about a few from that team who may not be fulfilling the potential they showed at Minor level. I hope I'm wrong but time will tell.

[cavanmaniac]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the last time I remember Cavan beating Derry at Underage is in 1996 when we beat them well in the U-21 Ulster final. Tyrone, I can't remember.

The last time any Cavan team beat a Tyrone side, at any age level in a competitive match (possibly friendlies too), was maybe in spring of 1997 when their seniors were managed by Danny Ball and we beat them in a league relegation playoff or something. Any time we've met them at minor, U21 or senior since, we've got bate with the exception of the odd draw and replay here and there. Maybe the odd minor league win but definitely never in senior league or championship. Couldn't tell you when we'd have played them underage before 1997 though.

[put-it-up]

I don't think we should really be speculating until Tommy Truck goes after the qualifiers but for what it's worth here is my opinion. Mickey is a fantastic manager. Everybody under him wants to play and wants to work. But giving him the senior job at this moment in time would be stupid. He has had the last 3 years of minor crops. Surely the sensible thing to do would be to let him continue to work with them and develop them and try to develop belief. Some of the U21's next year have now beaten Antrim, Monaghan, Armagh and Down in Ulster Championship so I don't think they have the same sense of inferiority as some in the senior set-up appear to have. Let's see if he can develop those individuals - the likes of G Mckiernan, Minnagh and McDermott.

Who takes over the senior set-up is a difficult one. We thought when TC was taking over, things couldn't get any worse but now at this stage the only thing that would send us lower is getting bet by London or somone. Hyland seems the logical answer although whether he is up to it, I'm not sure. In fairness I think his record of late is by and large better than any other Cavan man in the country bar McDermott down in Clare. He would need help around him to make a decent go of it - particularly with regards to training I would say but at least he has abit of passion and would hopefully transfer that to the players. He obviously has something about him - 3 finals in 12 months isn't bad!

Given Kingspan's difficulties I would say for pretty obvious reasons our aim next year should be to try and get the best out of our own coaching resources.  Whether politics can be forgotten and that can actually be done though remains to be seen. Brady and Hyland with the seniors and Mickey at u21 would be far from the worst thing possible. Again though, going from what Brady done last year when offered the u21 job, it is clear he doesn't want to be anybody's puppet. If we got those two together, I wouldn't be overly fussy which one had the bainesteoir bib, you would hope that they could try come together to rescue Cavan football out of this dark dark hole....

Alot of the current Senior crop have beaten the counties you have mentioned at Underage also. Johnston,McKeever, etc at Minor level beat Donegal and Down and that team at U-21 level with Mulvey,Ciaran Galligan added to it beat Monaghan and Armagh. The 2 scalps we are really badly missing at Underage are Derry and Tyrone and until we can overcome that inferiority complex as regards to these 2 counties, Cavan will not be a force in Ulster. Correct me if I'm wrong but the last time I remember Cavan beating Derry at Underage is in 1996 when we beat them well in the U-21 Ulster final. Tyrone, I can't remember.
Next years U-21 team will bring hope but a good Minor team can change alot in 3 years and TBH I would be slightly worried about a few from that team who may not be fulfilling the potential they showed at Minor level. I hope I'm wrong but time will tell.

I'm sure a lot of the current crop have won at underage level but to be honest BooJ, i think at this stage, that they have forgotten how that felt and what it took. you can see it in them on the field - it's so obvious they don't feel as good as other teams they are playing. I think the u21's, call it the fearlessness of youth or whatever you like, but I think those boys are willing to stand up and give it a lash against anyone. If more senior figures could benefit from that and re-energise themselves I think that would be of massive benefit to everyone.

We all know minor is a funny old age, sure look how Givney progressed from minor to now. I would guess quite a lot of the team next would be different but if Mickey was over them he would be familiar with the core of players. I think that is an advantage.

And I would agree would your regarding certain player's developments since 08 but it is worth noting that their first year out of minor was a complete waste of time. Zero effort was put into the u21's in 09 but this year's experience will have helped alot of them. Who's progression has disappointed you??