El Classico - Breffni Park, Saturday 18th

[sid waddell]

Yeah but last year Monaghan missing both Hughes Kearns Mc Carthy and others. Banty had full deck and players had got their first test in a long time over the winter . Cavan were team missing the players this year

Was malachi not bet by a point by fermanagh in a semi one time?

He topped his Super 8 group and reached the All-Ireland semi-final the same year

[Itchy]

Yeah but last year Monaghan missing both Hughes Kearns Mc Carthy and others. Banty had full deck and players had got their first test in a long time over the winter . Cavan were team missing the players this year

Was malachi not bet by a point by fermanagh in a semi one time?

He topped his Super 8 group and reached the All-Ireland semi-final the same year

Well the Banty didn't have a safety net this year in fairness.

[Duckquay]

Rest assured, had monaghan won ulster this year it would have been conor lavery and peter donnelly getting the kudos. They shouldn't be immune from the criticism that Monaghan will deservedly get.

[sid waddell]

It's easy to say now Banty was the wrong choice after failing miserably at the first hurdle but apparantly it was the senior players who made the persuasive arguments at the time. O'Rourke's last year was dreadful, even more so than this year, perhaps he just escaped in time.

Easy to say now but it was even being said when he was being considered.

Surely it would be a backward step for Monaghan to appoint Banty?
He has proven with a number of counties that he's not great.

But you don't count. There were persuasive forces in the county who thought Banty would be the man to pick up the pieces after that awful last year with O'Rourke. Meath were a basket case and Banty had some form with the Monaghan minors.  I was doubtful just like many other distant observers but there was a decent looking backroom. Now it's easy to say he was the wrong choice, time and place.

Banty was grand for Monaghan 12 or 13 years ago

He's old school, he got them organised and motivated the hell out of them and that's grand for getting to a certain level but tactically he couldn't cut it against the big boys - that was shown once and for all in the 2010 Ulster final when what was by then a fading Tyrone team completely dismantled Monaghan tactically

Malachy O'Rourke was on a different level altogether - he gets and understands the modern game and modern players

Banty had already passed his sell by date 10 years ago so I don't know why people thought he would cut it now with what is by now very much a fading Monaghan team

[Rossfan]

I knew Cavan were a good team... sure they ran our B team to 2 points last week.
A good win for them and serves Monaghan right for all the defensive sh1te after half time. That was the time to try and finish Cavan off.
I presume Banty will now shuffle off to join the othe failed spoofer managers in the retirement lounge.

[Orior]

Well done Cavan.

On a side note, it was good to see an O'Hanlon on the Monaghan side. Many years ago, O'Hanlons were chieftains of the Orior.

[armaghniac]

Well done Cavan.

On a side note, it was good to see an O'Hanlon on the Monaghan side. Many years ago, O'Hanlons were chieftains of the Orior.

Tories, the whole lot of them.

[Smokin Joe]

I seen some comments about the ref blowing up the game short.

The clock on Sky Sports was stopped for the water break, whereas the 5 minutes that was announced included the stoppage for the water break; that is why it looked like it was blown up short but this happens regularly in this time of Water Breaks.

[marty34]

Is the lad from Kilcoo still with Monaghan or did Donnelly replace him?

[Main Street]

I knew Cavan were a good team... sure they ran our B team to 2 points last week.
A good win for them and serves Monaghan right for all the defensive sh1te after half time. That was the time to try and finish Cavan off.
I presume Banty will now shuffle off to join the othe failed spoofer managers in the retirement lounge.

Banty won't just shuffle off, he'll have to be booted out.

[Rossfan]

We have a bit of recent  experience in dumping spoofers if ye want any help

[Smurfy123]

Laverty from Kilcoo along the line with Banty. No experience at senior level. Managed Kilcoo under 16s and minors. Lack of big game experience to call on along the line maybe cost Banty. The were lost along that line

[Main Street]

It's easy to say now Banty was the wrong choice after failing miserably at the first hurdle but apparantly it was the senior players who made the persuasive arguments at the time. O'Rourke's last year was dreadful, even more so than this year, perhaps he just escaped in time.

Easy to say now but it was even being said when he was being considered.

Surely it would be a backward step for Monaghan to appoint Banty?
He has proven with a number of counties that he's not great.

But you don't count. There were persuasive forces in the county who thought Banty would be the man to pick up the pieces after that awful last year with O'Rourke. Meath were a basket case and Banty had some form with the Monaghan minors.  I was doubtful just like many other distant observers but there was a decent looking backroom. Now it's easy to say he was the wrong choice, time and place.

Banty was grand for Monaghan 12 or 13 years ago

He's old school, he got them organised and motivated the hell out of them and that's grand for getting to a certain level but tactically he couldn't cut it against the big boys - that was shown once and for all in the 2010 Ulster final when what was by then a fading Tyrone team completely dismantled Monaghan tactically

Malachy O'Rourke was on a different level altogether - he gets and understands the modern game and modern players

Banty had already passed his sell by date 10 years ago so I don't know why people thought he would cut it now with what is by now very much a fading Monaghan team

O'Rourke  blew hot and cold. His last year was worse than Banty at his worst.  Another year we lost out to Longford who were deserving winners in Clones.
And always losing out to Tyrone in Croke Park,  3-0 with just one close game which might have gone to a replay. Twice  he used the same brainless tactics, pass across midfield ad nauseum, then eventually run into contact, get ambushed, raped and dispossesed.
O'Rourke's last season was so bad that even a tactically spartan Banty looked a bit decent as a replacement

[redzone]

Yip it's the managers fault even thou the reality is that stupid shot selection in the first half undone them. Manszy carried monaghan for along time and now he's in decline I can't see them reaching the heights they did. Cavan didn't even deserve to win but they will take it.

[Zulu]

Whether Banty was the right man or not, today's second half tactics, where Monaghan basically tried to see out the game from minute one, were an abomination. Granted, Cavan sat back in the first period of the second half, which was daft too, but Monaghan never tried to kick on at all. You'd wonder if modern managements are overthinking football sometimes.