First of all the good news about the Derry panel for 2018 is,as was flagged sometime ago, that Liam McGoldrick,Emmett Bradley,Terence O'Brien,Michael Bateson and Kevin Johnston are back.All are talented individuals who will add skill,pace and leadership qualities to the team.All will either be on the starting 15 or at least the match day squad and likely to enter the fray at some stage.Similarly one must applaud management in their selection of many young capable players as well.
What is most disappointing, however, is the absence of many others including six men that one would have expected to be selected.For whatever reason and we do not know why( with the exception of Niall Loughlin who has gone travelling) six other key players are missing from the panel.Danny Heavron,Sean Leo McGoldrick,Garth McKinless,Ryan Bell,Niall Holly and Emmett McGuckin are not picked. Heavron.Loughlin and McGoldrick would have been certain starters and the others would have at least been on the match day squad.
So it would appear to be a permanent feature of present day inter county teams that are not in the mix for provincial or All Ireland honours that many talented individuals drop out,are injured,not available or are not selected by management.With the exception of Niall Loughlin we do not know which category the other currently "missing " Derry players belong.
Be that as it may we are where we are. We in Derry have a tendency of blaming managers for all the ills of the County team. Damian Barton was particularly badly treated in this regard as was Fergal P McCusker.Let us not add Damian McErlain to that roll call and get behind him and the new panel at once.We must hope that the spirit of the players that was so evident in Castlebar against All Ireland finalists Mayo last July will continue to inspire a new generation of Derry players.It is just so ironic that two of the stars of that game- Danny Heavron and Ryan Bell- are no longer on the panel.