Official Cavan GAA Thread

[put-it-up]

I've seen those comments Put it Up.  I know the names of the "kids" involved.  Most of them just taking the piss.
It is pathetic though that they can get away with it. Anyway a few people are getting wound up, I wouldn't pay any attention it is just lads trying to get to people.

As one of them said, none of them would say it to his face that is damn sure. And if they did spout some of that bollocks I can picture what would happen to them...

Ah I don't care whether they are joking or not - it is just bad form. Would love to see any of them little runts try live the life of a county footballer. I guarantee you, not too many of them went to many league games either. Just pisses me off.

But yeah I would like to a see all them wee boys try take on Ray in the imperial at the same time. Then again I would presume they are in the Lavey or the Farnham

[full moon]

I've seen those comments Put it Up.  I know the names of the "kids" involved.  Most of them just taking the piss.
It is pathetic though that they can get away with it. Anyway a few people are getting wound up, I wouldn't pay any attention it is just lads trying to get to people.

As one of them said, none of them would say it to his face that is damn sure. And if they did spout some of that bollocks I can picture what would happen to them...

Ah I don't care whether they are joking or not - it is just bad form. Would love to see any of them little runts try live the life of a county footballer. I guarantee you, not too many of them went to many league games either. Just pisses me off.

But yeah I would like to a see all them wee boys try take on Ray in the imperial at the same time. Then again I would presume they are in the Lavey or the Farnham

Definitely. 

It's all point scoring with them. They see it as a chance to put down another club and gain one up on someone else.

[anglocelt39]

Lads, ye are ALL much closer to this than I am so can you remind me. DCU have such a wealth of talent that they fielded two teams earlier this year, seconds in O Byrne Cup and main men in Sigerson. In the Sigerson Flanagan and Dermot Sheridan were the main men, Johnston was injured and Lyng and Cullivan didn't tend to get selected. Now maybe Ray had injury problems but can somebody come back to me on that. If the lad was a bit iffy about making a college team we should not get too hung up about tomorrow, pretty poor timing mind.

[put-it-up]

I've seen those comments Put it Up.  I know the names of the "kids" involved.  Most of them just taking the piss.
It is pathetic though that they can get away with it. Anyway a few people are getting wound up, I wouldn't pay any attention it is just lads trying to get to people.

As one of them said, none of them would say it to his face that is damn sure. And if they did spout some of that bollocks I can picture what would happen to them...

Ah I don't care whether they are joking or not - it is just bad form. Would love to see any of them little runts try live the life of a county footballer. I guarantee you, not too many of them went to many league games either. Just pisses me off.

But yeah I would like to a see all them wee boys try take on Ray in the imperial at the same time. Then again I would presume they are in the Lavey or the Farnham

Definitely. 

It's all point scoring with them. They see it as a chance to put down another club and gain one up on someone else.

You sound like you have recently graduated from their ranks  Your posts count doesn't help your case either!

What club are you anyway chief? I reckon TV will effect the crowd tomorrow.

ac39, Cullivan struggled with injury's and i am pretty sure he would have slotted in somewhere if it. I think DCU tried to move away from the 'Galactico's' era this year that failed them in the past, and the all the best players didn't necesarily play. Sum of the parts and all that jazz. Think that is why Lyng wasn't heavily involved. Ray is good and he would certainly make my team but he hasn't progressed all that much over the years. From his own point of view after all the injuries and that, a break might do him the world of good in the long-run.

[cavanmaniac]

That's what mystifies me the most in all this. I'll be honest and say that I don't get to see the county team as often as I would like, but any time that I have, I've been fairly underwhelmed by Cullivan, so why he's curling the lip and taking his ball home in a sulk is beyond me. It's immature, it's bad team ethic, it's a sour note ater a fairly solid preparation free of disciplinary bullshit, our first for a long time.
He might play very well for Ballyhaise more often than not and may have the odd good game for county underage sides under his belt, but again, I saw a few of those too and didn't come away thinking he was anything super-special (someone correct me if I'm selling him short), so where's this burst of ego coming out of precisely? It's all very unfortunate.

On the Galligan debate above, I have many reservations about him too, but he's fit and dedicated and he's not keeping anyone better off the team as far as I can see so let him at it is what I say, and what will be will be.

[Swadman]

Full Moon, you make me howl  .......... but seriously, You bemoan the fact that we are depending on a 20 year old (he's 21), it doesn't matter. If you are good enough you are old enough. I have seen professional rugby teams put on 19 or 20 year olds. They are going on the sames premise " good enough is old enough"  It's Fermanagh not Kerry, let him at it. The alternatives are not obvious. Givney is good enough and seems to have a maturity beyond his age. Contrast that with the immaturity shown by the other panel member (ex-panel now).
Allez les Bleus

[BallyhaiseMan]

Ray is a natural midfielder,who is 2 inches too small to play the position at IC level.
His best position at IC level,is as a third option for kickouts at wing forward.
Hes played some very good games for the county,
Fermanagh last year in championship,
Came on this year in the league against one of (Offaly/Wexford/Fermanagh,cant remember which) and scored 0-2 from play to help us over the finish line.
Wicklow a few years ago in the league in Breffini was probably his best game at Senior IC level.
Ray has had an awful lot of injury problems,from cruciate ligaments to torn hamstrings,and hes missed an awful lot of action over the last 3 years since he made his debut under Keoghan/Grimley.
Hes just about finished in DCU,which i think will be good for club and county,in that it will let him rest during the winter months.
PIU,
whats this about lads posting stuff about Ray on facebook? Pm me if you cant say on here
Was it to him?
He wouldnt exactly be the lad that you would want to talk shite to,especially if you were going to meet him on the football field in the future.

[put-it-up]

Ray is a natural midfielder,who is 2 inches too small to play the position at IC level.
His best position at IC level,is as a third option for kickouts at wing forward.
Hes played some very good games for the county,
Fermanagh last year in championship,
Came on this year in the league against one of (Offaly/Wexford/Fermanagh,cant remember which) and scored 0-2 from play to help us over the finish line.
Wicklow a few years ago in the league in Breffini was probably his best game at Senior IC level.
Ray has had an awful lot of injury problems,from cruciate ligaments to torn hamstrings,and hes missed an awful lot of action over the last 3 years since he made his debut under Keoghan/Grimley.
Hes just about finished in DCU,which i think will be good for club and county,in that it will let him rest during the winter months.
PIU,
whats this about lads posting stuff about Ray on facebook? Pm me if you cant say on here
Was it to him?
He wouldnt exactly be the lad that you would want to talk shite to,especially if you were going to meet him on the football field in the future.

Forget the field, I would be more worried bumping into him in thee imperial but honestly the little shites are about 14 and think they are great, so they will have to stick to Lavey for a few years

PM'd you there.

[Dougal]

i know of one of the lads that was giving ray the most abuse,and he's alot more than 14.i dont know ray,but he doesnt seem like the kind of lad that would just quit because he didnt get starting.hes a good player,and id rate him above brennan as a FF,but i dont think hes an intercounty midfielder,and doesnt have the height to ever be a good one.hopefully he'll reconsider because if he's not starting games he's a great option to bring on from the bench.

[Celt_Man]

All gonna bother talking about Cullivan till I know more.. but it goes without saying that I'm disappointed he isn't there to come off the bench.

I can't wait for the game now... excitment building up big time.  I just hope we get the win and hopefully a good performance too. Best of luck lads

[Celt_Man]

All gonna bother talking about Cullivan till I know more.. but it goes without saying that I'm disappointed he isn't there to come off the bench.

I can't wait for the game now... excitment building up big time.  I just hope we get the win and hopefully a good performance too. Best of luck lads

[BallyhaiseMan]

Well that went well 

angry opinions on the game to follow....

[put-it-up]

I honestly just don't know what to say anymore. Felt a little depressed driving home. First half was quite positive, although we shoulda been a few more ahead. The second half just left me scratching my head.

First of all, I just want to make it clear, I don't doubt any of the lads commitment or dedication to a Cavan jersey. I know the hours they put in from December and it ain't for the light-hearted. The problem is, there really is no self-belief in that camp and the million dollar question is what or who do you get to change that. Once again when it came to the crunch, we crumbled.

Did anyone honestly expect to come back after the goal. Indeed, as soon as the short kickout went wrong and Fermanagh pulled four clear the ref may have blown his whistle for full-time. It was game over. TC's time is up I would imagine aswell. You can talk and talk about team-spirit but that didn't shine through. Once Fermanagh start controlling the second half, the Cavan attack became a group of individuals rather than a unit. The game-plan fell apart and Cavan were back to a ruderless ship. Nesty tried but had nobody to kick to and Givney is gona be our man for quite a few years.  Mackey needs to be told to stop kicking it with his left foot! And I also thought Carr was far to slow in putting Givney on the square when things were going wrong. We had Jelly and Mackey being marked and then two lads sitting in front of them for about ten minutes. Now how in the name are you meant to pick them out. I woulda introduced McKiernan for a bit of muscle and a target and givin them something else to worry about.

Qualifiers this year already contain Armagh, Derry, Kildare, Cork/Kerry, Mayo, so I can't see us making too many inroads there. I just gona try delete that performance from my memory I think. Worst team in Ulster now. What are we gonna do to turn this around...

[BallyhaiseMan]

Agree with you PIU
Fintan Reily,kickouts were good with the exception of one which resulted in a point in the 2nd half.
Martin Cahill and Dermot Sheridan were roasted,
Mossy Corr i thought battled abely ,so much ball was going in,eventually,one ball was going to fall right for Carson.
Alan Clarke was off the pace,you cant expect a guy who played no league football,to be up to the speed at championship level,hes worth sticking with though.
Eoin McGuigan done ok,It wasnt his fault,Fermanagh had lose men running all over the place.
Gunner was terrific i thought,he was one of the few cavanmen that won breaks and he cleaned up around there.
David Givney was good,kicked two points,two clean catches and battled well,but he had no support,Ciaran Galligan just wasnt in the game,im afraid its about time,we end the Galligan experiment.
Ronan Flanagan,his man Tommy McElroy done a sight of harm coming forward,although he himself played alot of football.
Nesty,2 great frees,he played well except for shot selection a few times,although he was nearly forced to kick,as he had no outlets and no support.
Cian Mackey,well he had a complete offday,nothing went right, a few wides and dropped 3 into the goalkeepers hands.
Michael Brennan,Done really well the first half,scored two great points,starved of posession in the 2nd half until he was replaced.
Jelly,was dangerous as usual,but took the wrong option a few times,scored a great point in the first half.

Subs
Martin Reily,
He got blocked down and then handpassed over Nesty's head.
his future on the panel must surely be in doubt.

Lorcan Mulvey,threw himself around in 10 minutes more than Galligan did the whole game,should have been on to compete with Marty McGrath and co,sooner.

Michael Hannon,should have started IMO.

Lads old failings shone through again,
Midfield battle was lost,
Givney was fighting a battle against two men in McGrath and Sherry,
5/6 balls dropped short into keepers hands.
Wrong shot selection.
STILL NO IDEA how to counteract the blanket defensive system,when McGrath and another Fermanagh player dropped deep in the 2nd half.

[cavanmaniac]

That went pretty much as I expected it to.

Agree with most of your comments Put-it-up, I thought we had a reasonable first half but only during the period when we were on top around the middle, any time Fermanagh got past there and worked the ball in, our defence looked all at sea.

Cahill was clearly unfit and beaten to the first three balls in and spent the game struggling, how he survived without being subbed is beyond me. Corr was very poor at fullback as well, any time a high ball went in he looked in trouble and a combination of these two lead to the goal, it seemed to me both panicked and went for the ball in and left their man free. Schoolboy stuff and that was the score that ended the game effectively, the point after it just put the tin hat on it. In the previous play we had equalised at 0-12 apiece and were still in it.

Sheridan doesn't belong in the last line of defence either and should be at wing-back, end of, he really didn't cover himself in glory either.

As expected, Fermanagh turned up to pack the defence and in the second half especially we had simply no clue what to do and whatever gameplan we were supposed to have unravelled totally, just as against Antrim last year. We were just huffing and puffing and hadn't a notion, overhitting hand and foot passes, unforced errors, there was no pattern at all and it was both familiar and depressing to look at. In fairness, credit to Fermanagh here, if we'd defended like they did or were able to (how many kicks did we get blocked down?) we'd be delighted with it, so hats off in that regard.

Once the goal went in Fermanagh just pulled and dragged around the middle to kill the game off, they truly are an eyesore on the game at times (not that Cavan are any great decoration either but that's more through rank incompetence than intentional tactics) but the rules aren't there to prevent teams playing like this because the GAA are more worried about cosmetic nonsense like handpasses and so on when the real blights of the game are going unaddressed. That's not sour grapes, Fermanagh deserved to win and good luck to them.

Bright points? Givney looked decent until Marty McGrath stuck his knee into his back going up for a high ball in the first half, Galligan looked ok the first half too but was anonymous in the second. Nesty has a nice left foot and is a solid free-taker but needs to pass more often and not take on silly shots. Gunner worked hard. Seanie kicked some nice scores but got no service in the second half. Brennan had a decent first half too.

On the minus side Mackey was atrocious apart from one point he kicked in the first half, frequently took the wrong option and tried to justify his reputation every time he got the ball. His left foot is clearly just for standing on and if forced on to it he should lay off, one great opening in the first half was spurned when he didn't pass to Brennan and instead dropped short with his left, very poor. Alan Clarke did nothing for me. We have a fairly weak midfield, and no fullback, and a manager that's extremely slow to change things on the sideline. Taking off the cornerforward (Brennan) when the problems were anywhere but in the forward line just took the biscuit for me.

All in all, we were playing one of the poorer teams in the country along with ourselves and we looked brutal in that second half, like a total rabble. I will not fault the effort or dedication of those lad who went out to play for Cavan tonight and genuinely gave their best but we haven't progressed one jot from the Antrim game last year and will get short shrift in the qualifiers, irrespective of the opposition. Clare or Waterford would beat that Cavan side there today no problems.

Tommy Carr is clearly going nowhere with this team now and will inevitably make way when we get dumped in the qualifiers, although how much better we will do without him is not something I'd even bother contemplating at this stage. Our county senior side is as bad now as I ever can remember, and I was around for that long winless streak pre-1995.

Finally, a word on the referee. Brutal I thought, real neighbouring county referee if ever there was. Not the reason we lost at all, mind you, but Fermanagh got soft frees all day whereas Cavan had to be half-killed. The only thing that went our way was when he didn't book Galligan in the second half for a late tackle in the midfield that would have been his second and a red. And then when the contest was over, suddenly Cavan started getting every free. Pat Fox = CocUnNuT.

Still, shit happens. Harbour no expectations, suffer no disappointments. And on that note, to the pub.