NFL Division 2 - 2020

[illdecide]

The Big S has some things to sort out. Winnable game next week. It's very important we see some sort of reaction. A few repeat performances of Saturday and he'll need more than words.   

Training regimes this time of year can have a big effect on performances. Cavan may well have decided not to focus on Armagh away, but to focus on getting the points in other games.

Cavan were playing Armagh not Dublin, how does that make any sense?

[lurganblue]

A good performance by Armagh and a nice league debut by young Turbo.  Some of the long range points in the first half with the wind were a joy to watch.  At half time I didn't think the game was dead and buried though.  Cavan were causing problems running through the middle.  That's a real worry for the games to come.  The goal early in the second half killed it as a contest.

The amount of times Cavan fouled Armagh on transitions was unreal.  Finally this began to be punished correctly.

A word for my club man Soup.  We can sometimes be his harshest critic but I think that's one of the best performances he has ever put in for Armagh.  He covered every single blade of grass on the night, tackling throughout and still popping up with some quality when needed.

Bigger tests ahead.

[AFM]

A good performance by Armagh and a nice league debut by young Turbo.  Some of the long range points in the first half with the wind were a joy to watch.  At half time I didn't think the game was dead and buried though.  Cavan were causing problems running through the middle.  That's a real worry for the games to come.  The goal early in the second half killed it as a contest.

The amount of times Cavan fouled Armagh on transitions was unreal.  Finally this began to be punished correctly.

A word for my club man Soup.  We can sometimes be his harshest critic but I think that's one of the best performances he has ever put in for Armagh.  He covered every single blade of grass on the night, tackling throughout and still popping up with some quality when needed.

Bigger tests ahead.

Agree, his work ethic was outstanding and quality on the ball first class. The main issue from last few years remain, Blaine is very suspect under a high ball and his kick outs are always a concern, don't get me wrong a first class shot stopper but a keeper has to be so much more these days, I'd say he would also happily play a one two right up the field, given half the chance.

[Look-Up!]

I doubt mcgeeneys target is to just stay in div2? With the forwards ye have I'd expect ye to be getting promoted. If cavan hadn't lost the key players they did I expect us to be getting promoted too. However that's not the case and we will badly need to improve next day out.

I'd like promotion but first of all getting safe and ensuring division 2 status next year. Must be galling to lose so many players in one go. On the bright side, you can surely only get better than that performance tonight

With cavan it's a step back to go forward. Lack of discipline and party culture was rampant. Mickey raised the bar for training and some lads didnt want to know so we have what we have. I couldn't go tonight but I believe we were awful, it will be tough on new lads but they'll have to learn fast. Only 3 home games also a tough one too.

What's this supposed to mean? We had the most disciplined and fittest Cavan panel as ever we had. If Cavan management are too f*****g ignorant/stupid to recognize what's sustainable or responsible in terms of training commitment or are just too greedy and squeezing as much money out of CB getting paid by the session, then that's on their heads. Trying to twist this onto the players is hard to stomach.
If you have some notions in your head that this is the dawn of a new era, that a regime like this is going to develop a new type of Cavan footballer and keep them long term, I'd advise you to lose them quick.

Look lad, I dont give a f**k what you think. I have enough contacts of my own to know whats going. Trying to smear Mickey Graham as some sort of money grabbing manager is revolting, he is a Cavan man through and through and has the interest of the county at heart, same as Terry Hyland had. And do tell, who were the players that wanted Terry gone - some of them no longer on the panel either. You'd be better off calling your buddies who left the panel and telling them to take down their twitter avatars in their cavan jerseys as they are not cavan players anymore.

What is expected of a Cavan player in terms of training is no different than any other team with serious ambitions, the fact that our players haven't done it in the past is why we are visibly so far behind your Tyrones and Donegals of this world in terms of conditioning. Fine if you don't want to do it then off you go and let someone in who is. That's where we are now, we have players who 100% want to play for Cavan. They may be young, raw, well behind in S&C and they may not be the most skillful players in the county but they are there and trying and committed.

Mickey has ended up with what he has and no amount of pissing and moaning about what is expected of todays players will not change it.

Why don't you pull your head out of MG's arse before replying. Where was the rampant party culture and lack of discipline? Still none the wiser from your long winded rant.

Didn't the Cavan team stop speaking to a local newspaper after they published a story about one of the now departed county players getting a drink driving ban?

From the outside looking in, there is something wrong with the mindset of Cavan football. For the last 7/8 years there have been plenty of lads dropping off panels when Cavan should have been looking at an upward trajectory. They have not had their best hand at any stage in the past decade, a lot of players have not been buying in like they have in other counties.

I wouldn't begrudge any young lad wanting to follow other pursuits but the large volume of drop outs in Cavan would suggest there is a bad culture in place there for the guts of the past decade.

100% right

Yet in Cavan players are protected and manager gets blamed for everything. Maybe look it can tell us why players were dropped from the panel before our last home match against Dublin last year?

In Kerry no one talks about you until you've won a couple of all Ireland's. In Cavan play a couple of good games and then leave and the longer you are gone the more amazing a player you are. And of course it's the managers fault you are gone too. If only if only if only.

We won 4 Ulster u21s in a row, only the very successful Tyrone team did that. Where are they all now, is it really because of a succession of bad managers that our ulster winners have now been overtaken by players from Tyrone and donegal, players they beat over and over at u21. How can that ridiculous assertion stand up to scrutiny?

What in God's name is this tangent about?
I don't even know where to start with your posts they are so scatter gun.
Where is the rampant party culture or indiscipline in the last few panels? Stop making stuff up.
Other counties have had similar historic drop-out problems before this mess. Stop exaggerating.
And regardless implementing an absolutely crazy workload would hardly improve the rate.
We are a small county who have been in Division 1/2 for good few years. Something to be built on, not going absolutely mental with players trying to paint them in a bad light and justifying the abuse some've been getting. Some Cavan people need to grow up.
Fitness is not what has been holding us back. Our big game problems lie in first 20 mins, not last.
Strength and conditioning takes years to improve. Losing experience and dogging young lads just in will not achieve results.

We had a bad day at the office. Irony of ironies it was our worst performance I can think of in a very long time in terms of discipline and fitness against a team we should be competing with. We looked very flat.

The Big S has some things to sort out. Winnable game next week. It's very important we see some sort of reaction. A few repeat performances of Saturday and he'll need more than words.   

Why were players dropped from match day squad before our last game last year
What did players do following Ulster final with only a week or two to prepare for Tyrone
Why is Conor Rehill not on the panel this year after an impressive 1st year.

Answers on a postcard....

An unfortunate decision but who paid for the bus Mr ITK?
That's all you can come up? Still haven't explained the rampant party culture and lack of discipline.
I expect you'd say anything to defend management. Your posts have been implying that a bad core have been rooted out, a core that were unwilling to put in the work to get up to speed S&C wise. Maybe that's not your intention but that's how they're coming across.
The players we've lost are the best we've had in that department so clearly they have walked the walk and are not afraid of hard work and have worked harder than most. If we don't coax some of them back we'll not see the top end of D2 for a good while so I hope management are not thinking like you.

[Itchy]

I can come up with more but I will leave it at that, at the end of the day if fellas dont want to do what it takes that is their call. Just dont expect me to blame Mickey Graham or Terry Hyland or every other manager we've had.

For the record I hope those do come back but it should be on Mickey's terms, not theirs.

[Look-Up!]

I can come up with more but I will leave it at that, at the end of the day if fellas dont want to do what it takes that is their call. Just dont expect me to blame Mickey Graham or Terry Hyland or every other manager we've had.

For the record I hope those do come back but it should be on Mickey's terms, not theirs.

Come up with more? Wow you're really coming across as having some kind of agenda.
Don't know where the TH angle is coming from. An excellent manager who always had the players' best interests at heart and who had a good gauge on squad mindset. Could have stayed on but felt himself a different voice was needed.
MG is the manager and can do what he wants. Players are their own people, have a life outside the game and can do what they want. Good management is not about blame or walking around with a shotgun like the boss on a chain gang. Good management is about compromise and trying to maximize resources at your disposal.
Time will tell where this management lie. Proof of the pudding is in the eating and come July the picture will be clearer. If we see a marked improvement in performances/results then fair play to him. I don't believe it though and think what they are doing is irresponsible and counter productive. If I'm wrong I'm wrong. If I'm right then this management need to change or be held accountable. Same as it works in every walk of life.

[giveballaghback]

What will be very interesting in how the narrative will change week to week and also the sneerers.

[Itchy]

I can come up with more but I will leave it at that, at the end of the day if fellas dont want to do what it takes that is their call. Just dont expect me to blame Mickey Graham or Terry Hyland or every other manager we've had.

For the record I hope those do come back but it should be on Mickey's terms, not theirs.

Come up with more? Wow you're really coming across as having some kind of agenda.
Don't know where the TH angle is coming from. An excellent manager who always had the players' best interests at heart and who had a good gauge on squad mindset. Could have stayed on but felt himself a different voice was needed.
MG is the manager and can do what he wants. Players are their own people, have a life outside the game and can do what they want. Good management is not about blame or walking around with a shotgun like the boss on a chain gang. Good management is about compromise and trying to maximize resources at your disposal.
Time will tell where this management lie. Proof of the pudding is in the eating and come July the picture will be clearer. If we see a marked improvement in performances/results then fair play to him. I don't believe it though and think what they are doing is irresponsible and counter productive. If I'm wrong I'm wrong. If I'm right then this management need to change or be held accountable. Same as it works in every walk of life.

You said "Thats all you can come up with?" I said "I can come up with more" meaning there are plenty of other examples I could paste up here if I wanted to. Its not that difficult to understand. The Terry Hyland "angle" is that some of the lads that now cannot commit and wont commit are the same lads that suggested to Terry it would be a good idea if he moved on for the betterment of the team.

[rodney trotter]

It's not at the levels of the Tommy Carr days, picking uo players at Oxegen on the way to playing Wicklow, but could have been better too.
The League final defeats against Tyrone in 16 and Roscommon in 18, they enjoyed a session for a few days.  The same after Ulster final.
It's the problem with social media putting pics up which doesn't help. Lots of Counties probaly the same
Donegal pre McGuinness were the same

[Captain Obvious]

Ding ding round 2.

Saturday
Laois v Armagh, O'Moore Park, 6pm
Cavan v Westmeath, Breffni Park, 7pm

Sunday
Clare v Kildare, Cusack Park, 2pm
Fermanagh v Roscommon, Brewster Park, 2pm

[Look-Up!]

It's not at the levels of the Tommy Carr days, picking uo players at Oxegen on the way to playing Wicklow, but could have been better too.
The League final defeats against Tyrone in 16 and Roscommon in 18, they enjoyed a session for a few days.  The same after Ulster final.
It's the problem with social media putting pics up which doesn't help. Lots of Counties probaly the same
Donegal pre McGuinness were the same

PL players enjoy a drink. Top level Rugby players enjoy a drink. Needs to be kept in check and lot let get out of hand but it can also be an important part of blowing off steam.
No issue with peoples' different views on management styles or football philosophy but to describe the Cavan panel of the last few years as a rampant party culture is blatant lies. This I have an issue with.

[armaghniac]

I'm sure Cavan had an economical party culture.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Important 2 points for Westmeath yesterday. Were solid enough defensively apart from hesitating for their goal. Need to be more careful tackling when there's a free taker like Tubridy around to punish you. Took our goal chances well when we got in behind them but didn't create enough point scoring chances. Should have closed the game out when we got the second goal and not have to chase the winner in injury time. Good to have Ray Connellan back in the maroon, McGivney is showing well too. Cavan will be sore the next day and expect one hell of a battle under lights, won't be much in it.

[AFM]

Ding ding round 2.

Saturday
Laois v Armagh, O'Moore Park, 6pm
Cavan v Westmeath, Breffni Park, 7pm

Sunday
Clare v Kildare, Cusack Park, 2pm
Fermanagh v Roscommon, Brewster Park, 2pm

Armagh have struggled with Laois in the past can't see this being any different, Cavan couldn't improve that much in a week to get anything against Westmeath.  Clare - Kildare could be a close one but I would say Roscommon will take Fermanagh easily enough.

[armaghniac]

The Big S has some things to sort out. Winnable game next week. It's very important we see some sort of reaction. A few repeat performances of Saturday and he'll need more than words.   

Training regimes this time of year can have a big effect on performances. Cavan may well have decided not to focus on Armagh away, but to focus on getting the points in other games.

Cavan were playing Armagh not Dublin, how does that make any sense?

While not Dublin, Armagh are right now a bit better than Cavan. Westmeath next week are probably not.