2018 National Football League Division 4

[BallyroanAbu]

What i heard thursday was true

Good News, huge addition to the panel.  Can't see anyone put out by Donie's return they all know his ability.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

https://www.laoistoday.ie/2018/01/14/breaking-massive-boost-laois-footballers-key-forward-returns/

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

Does anyone know if Paul Cahalane is involved in the panel this year. He was named earlier but haven't seen or heard of him being there since.

[The PRO]

Does anyone know if Paul Cahalane is involved in the panel this year. He was named earlier but haven't seen or heard of him being there since.

He is, yes.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

That's great, we have a very strong panel this year so no reason why we can't get out of Division 4 and give the championship a really good rattle...

[Don Draper]

What i heard thursday was true

Gway...?

[blueandwhite1]

That's great, we have a very strong panel this year so no reason why we can't get out of Division 4 and give the championship a really good rattle...

By what measure do we have a very strong panel? I would agree that they are bringing in the best players they can get in the county and have created good energy but surely we still have a significant deficit in terms of the number of quality players coming through?

My own opinion is that we have many years of development before we are competitive again. We may get out of Division 4 in 2018 but it is not a certainty. At best, we would be an average Division 3 team.

[The Monument Road]

Great to see Donie back. He has missed the initial hard slog of November/December training but maybe that's ok if everyone agrees. I did hear that Brendan Quigley is going to struggle to be fit for any of the league, Anyone else hear this.

[High Fielder]

That's great, we have a very strong panel this year so no reason why we can't get out of Division 4 and give the championship a really good rattle...

By what measure do we have a very strong panel? I would agree that they are bringing in the best players they can get in the county and have created good energy but surely we still have a significant deficit in terms of the number of quality players coming through?

My own opinion is that we have many years of development before we are competitive again. We may get out of Division 4 in 2018 but it is not a certainty. At best, we would be an average Division 3 team.

Agreed. I don't see a lot to get excited about. There have been some good additions, but the foundations are very weak, particularly defensively and physically. I think it's best not to heap unnecessary pressure on Sugrue and the panel and let them find themselves.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

I'm not getting excited about it I just think we have the strongest panel we could possibly have at this time of the year and we should be well able for Division 4 football. 
Our first games in the championship wouldn't be as hard as they could have been and we could get a bit of a run in the qualifiers if we do well in the league. It's a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I honestly thought we would lose half of last year's panel and be really struggling in the league.

[Unlaoised]

Plenty of lads cut I hear ....

Coss and Lutrell are gone for starters...

Hard on the 8-10 that were cut but the training etc they got will stand them in great stead for the rest of the year.

Who's to say they might not return .

I hear Quigley is out for 5 more weeks at least.

[Tony]

I think it's best not to heap unnecessary pressure on Sugrue and the panel and let them find themselves.

Totally agree with High Fielder, here. Let's not put pressure on if we get a few bad results. Needs a lot of time and patience. Let the setup have an enjoyable atmosphere and we wont focus too much on results this year. We're really building but we can't expect to be world beaters in 2018. Very positive news coming from the camp though and looking forward to what should be an interesting 2018. Hopefully injuries remain low as we don't have huge strengh in depth at the moment unfortunately. Will be great to see what team emerge and are named for the league. As always, if I see we're trying 100% with what we've got, and giving things our best shot, I'll be delighted regardless of result.

[redsetanta]

It shows the reality of Laois football at the moment when there is not too much out there to improve the county team.

From the names that were mentioned donw through the thread and those who saw game time against Westmeath what new players could realistically be given a starting jersey in 2 weeks?

[The PRO]

It shows the reality of Laois football at the moment when there is not too much out there to improve the county team.

From the names that were mentioned donw through the thread and those who saw game time against Westmeath what new players could realistically be given a starting jersey in 2 weeks?

Possibly Glynn. That's it though.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

Looking at these lads I think they'll put pressure on themselves, they will know they should be good enough to get out of this division as we will have almost the same squad as we had last year. But for some mad indiscipline and the width of an upright we would still be playing in Div3 so there's no reason we cant get back there fairly quickly.
I for one wont be looking for the managers head if we don't get results but I'd say the lads themselves will be disappointed if they don't at least get to a Div4 final