Liatroim v An Dún

[thewobbler]

Not one word of it is a lie.

[magpie seanie]

I think your unhealthy obsession with me has clouded your judgement. Please leave me alone and stop making stuff up that never happened.

[thewobbler]

Seanie, nothing ever really disappears on the internet. It's all archived somewhere.

I suppose when it turns up though you'll claim that you were only joking. Typical.

[magpie seanie]

Genuinely I'd be surprised if I said it as you reported it.

It was 5 years ago as well. Get over it.

[Solo Run]

Sincere apolgies Rudi; when I was writing this I had it my head it was New York / Leitrim winner plays Galway, and London / Sligo versus Mayo / Roscommon. I forgot it was Roscommon / Galway. As to disregarding New York, guilty as charged I'm afraid, hope it doesn't come back to haunt me. I think it went to extra time the last time we played there, so I should know better.

Its a fact of life that New York and London put a big effort when playing Leitrim, Sligo and now Roscommon; so I'm pretty sure we the team and most of the fans won't under-estimate them.

Don't think NY or London would beat Galway or Mayo on a given day but they could potentially put one over on the other three. And, of course, Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim as well as beating each other (irrespective of form) are well capable of beating Mayo or Galway on a given day. All a long-winded way of saying I'm not assuming Galway beat you in May. You have some amount of work to put in before then, but good luck to you.

[SLIGONIAN]

Sligo lads (Seanie and Sligonian), ye are making complete idiots of yourselves having a bitch fight across several threads. Grow up lads. Have a PM war for yourselves instead

Have to say your right and I apologise.

[Rudi]

Sincere apolgies Rudi; when I was writing this I had it my head it was New York / Leitrim winner plays Galway, and London / Sligo versus Mayo / Roscommon. I forgot it was Roscommon / Galway. As to disregarding New York, guilty as charged I'm afraid, hope it doesn't come back to haunt me. I think it went to extra time the last time we played there, so I should know better.

Its a fact of life that New York and London put a big effort when playing Leitrim, Sligo and now Roscommon; so I'm pretty sure we the team and most of the fans won't under-estimate them.

Don't think NY or London would beat Galway or Mayo on a given day but they could potentially put one over on the other three. And, of course, Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim as well as beating each other (irrespective of form) are well capable of beating Mayo or Galway on a given day. All a long-winded way of saying I'm not assuming Galway beat you in May. You have some amount of work to put in before then, but good luck to you.

No bother Solo Run, you sound like an awful decent fella. Good luck to Leitrim, its high time teams outside Connacht experienced how difficult a team yee are to beat at home. Donegal were made work very hard last year, Dessie Dolan seems to be  doing a pretty good job, what do you think? Ourselves are in a very bad place at the moment, & we probably have a 1 in 25 chance of beating Galway. Hope is a great thing!

Take Care

[Solo Run]

Ok Rudi;  Since you asked I think Dolan has been doing a good job in the sense that there has been a steady improvement over his four years - nothing dramatic but steady. Their passing and general play is a lot sharper and pacier than it was before. However there has been no real improvement in the all important last third, two weeks ago in Wexford was diabolical. Its clear that they are trying to address it though and there are signs of life, if it happens then there is couple of big big games in that team. I couldn't predict how it will go, but they really wanted Dolan to stay on in Year 3 when he wanted to leave, and then he asked to have Year 4 (this year). The reason is happened is because the chemistry is good and they are very committed and believe they can beat anyone in Connacht. So I'm comfortable that the chances of them playing as close as they can to their ability is high, waht more can you ask? I do like though when they are beaten it seems to motivate them more and when they win they don't seem to go overboard. So overall, good progress in my view. But its hard to escape the feeling it might take another proven high-profile manager to bring them further. I wouldn't rule out Sean Boylan next year......

Not trying to be wise after the event but I knew Roscommon were in big trouble two years ago in a league match in Cloone. I said it at the time, Roscommon were going nowhere in a hurry. I was quite shocked at how far off the pace, (speed and strength) they were and their lack of fight was unchararacteristic. Lets face it Roscommon have been fielding physically big and ultra-competitive teams for over TWENTY years - I couldn't believe what I saw. Mind you, I was really surprised they finished in the top two to get to Division 2 last year, that win against Offaly was huge, given they way they played this year I have my doubts if they would have survived Division 3. Nothing against the man personally but in my own head I thought Maughan was not the man for the job, at all. They seem to be a difficult bunch of players alright but last year they seemed to put in the occassional very good performance with some dire ones, this year mostly dire ones; to me that shows capability and potential not managed, and the fruits of bad management being clear to see.

Good management and organisation which would tap into their strong tradition, more responsibility on the players, and a sense of anger at their critics would get them competitve in 2-3 months I think. Maybe not in time for Galway but certainly for the qualifiers. There are about twenty-odd teams whose talent levels are on a par, Roscommon would be one of them, so that is basic. Where do they go after that I don't know, to be honest I don't know all the players well enough I missed two chances to see them last year but I would definitely warn against over-reliance on the minors coming through, recipe for disaster that. Watching the Rossies with interest.....as always!!