Laois Senior Football Championship 2020

Started by Junior Ex Laoistalk, February 27, 2020, 11:21:40 PM

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Chrimtain

Quote from: Chrimtain on September 06, 2020, 05:51:44 PM
Both Laois and Offaly were subjected to two weeks of lockdown in August. Yet, Offaly now know the four semi finalists in their football championship because hey had the sense to modify their championship. We in Laois, however, will not play the quarter finals of our championship before another month passes. It seems crazy to me. Like Offaly, we should have modified our championship.

In a year when we could have had new or novel county SF champions, e.g. Emo, Ballyfin or Graiguecullen, it looks like our championship won't be completed until the new year at least and, in my opinion, the blame lies squarely with Laois CB. Why, like all other counties, did they not take the opportunity to introduce a once-off knock out tournament when the problems were there for all to see back in the summer? The four remaining clubs must be sickened and disillusioned.

These clubs will suffer due to the short sighted planning of our clueless CB. Our county teams will suffer too.

Laois Rising

#106
Agree the championship should have been played as a straight knock out from the beginning-madness to have done otherwise, especially when Laois continue to want to have 16 senior teams in the championship for a county as small as we are. Furthermore, we are also a duel county so even crazier to expect to run both championships to completion in the timeline provided.

Teams beaten in first round of championship would still have got a second day out looking to preserve their senior status so minimum of two games for everyone. In the end, none of the teams that came through the backdoor made the semi finals so probably would have ended up with similar last four with a straight knock out. Had we had straight knock out championship the weekend gone could have been county final day in both hurling and football.

Laoiseabu

#107
I've looked at all the championship matches on the very good livestream service so far . Been a pretty poor standard championship with portlaoise now well and truly back with the pack . Not too many new players have stood out that deserve a chance but heres my opinion on who maybe deserves a look at that isn't currently involved ,

Will Young , Eoin Dunne, Fiachra C Fennell, Sean Moore, James Finn, David Connolly , James Moore, Padraig Kirwan ,Finbar Crowley, Jack Owens ( the Emo one ) , Adam Ryan , Jason Moore, Ronan Coffey , Danny Lutrell , Garry Comerford, Eoin Buggie , Dylan Doyle , Seamus Lacey , Mark McDermott , David McDermott , Shane Bolger, Michael Doran, Evan Lowry , Ross Hennessy ,Danny Bolger, Gary Saunders , Benny Carroll , Cormac Murphy

Not a whole lot to work with but it is very hard to pick out players up to standard.

High Fielder

Great county for player welfare is Laois. Saying it this yonks. Unfortunately, because we love our format so much, we play irrelevant football for four fifths of the year, and unless you're in with the county, you're unfit and incapable of making the step up. Our format is fundamentally flawed and panders to club players too much. Covid has highlighted structural flaws, but our two month Championship is based on Laois never being successful or us playing our Championship in a fortnight because we were. Either way it's a mess.

And for what it's worth, I see no reason why football and hurling can't be played on the same weekend with a bit of planning. Jesus in other counties it's been known to play two matches in one day. Not in Laois though....

Ballyroan Abbey

Quote from: High Fielder on October 06, 2020, 05:58:19 PM
And for what it's worth, I see no reason why football and hurling can't be played on the same weekend with a bit of planning. Jesus in other counties it's been known to play two matches in one day. Not in Laois though....

Maybe lads have a life and interests outside of GAA, you say Laois provide player welfare like its a bad thing, ask the majority of the players and they will tell you they like the system as is

High Fielder

And that right there is why Laois will never amount to anything. I couldn't give a monkeys either way. It just seems to me that most counties have a different culture to ours. In successful counties, the GAA is your life and you accept that. It's not for everyone and it certainly isn't for us. But we can't have our cake and eat it. If we want a player friendly championship, we can't also expect club football to be a vibrant breeding ground for good players. Look at Sean Moore. Prime example. Fucked out and left out for years. No development. Just left to waste despite being one of the best forwards in the county. Wasn't he sent back to his club to "develop". FFS come on.

Ballyroan Abbey

So your argument is that lads should be treated worse by the fixtures comittees and dedicate their entire lives to Football, an amateur sport and have no social life or experience of the real world to appease the likes of yourself?

I'd rather see lads do what they want to do and enjoy their Football or Hurling while having a life than putting every waking moment and decision to it and hating it, and in the end getting nothing for it

Keyser Söze

Major extremes there HF, and while I don't agree with what you are saying, looking back I don't see why we had full one code only weeks given the year that was in it.
Some sort of rolling schedule where teams played every 10 days or so (with at least one midweek fixture) surely should have been looked at.
Maybe it's all easy say in retrospect.
I don't get the connection you are trying to make between the format and player's commitment levels? Surely the football format (where you have no idea who you are facing in the next round and must win to activate a safety net) is better than a group format where you know 3 months in advance which games will be tough & which will be less of a battle?
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled.......

Laoiseabu

I see portarlington haven't conceded a goal yet in the championship . Has a team ever went a full campaign without conceding a goal ???

High Fielder

Lads it's pointless debating with you. If you like the format you have to accept when it fails, which it has done now. We insist on playing league football without Championship all the way up to August, thereby giving Club footballers all the freedom they want, which BA seems happy with. I would want the same for everyone too in an ideal world, but that's not happening in successful counties. Their attitude is far more professional in its outlook. We're not winning anything and they are. We won't be winning anything of note any time soon. Basically the standards are deteriorating year on year but sure it's grand; our players get 2 weeks between matches, they have no problems booking holidays and there is no pressure to get fit until May/June. Why doesn't everyone do like us? We're f**king revolutionaries. Oh wait a minute. We win nothing. Doesn't matter.

High Fielder

Quote from: Keyser Söze on October 06, 2020, 10:19:55 PM
Major extremes there HF, and while I don't agree with what you are saying, looking back I don't see why we had full one code only weeks given the year that was in it.
Some sort of rolling schedule where teams played every 10 days or so (with at least one midweek fixture) surely should have been looked at.
Maybe it's all easy say in retrospect.
I don't get the connection you are trying to make between the format and player's commitment levels? Surely the football format (where you have no idea who you are facing in the next round and must win to activate a safety net) is better than a group format where you know 3 months in advance which games will be tough & which will be less of a battle?

You've seen league football in Laois, right? It's like watching pub league soccer imo. You just have to be playing a couple of rounds of Championship football in April/May. How else can lads be expected to take their sport seriously? Listen don't get me wrong. I love our format and all debating aside, I think it's perfect for amateur sport. But I also have no doubt that it's a major contributor to our declining standards.

Laoiseabu

Anyone know why Aaron Forbes and Ambrose Doran haven't made an appearance for Graigue yet ?

SCFC

Quote from: High Fielder on October 07, 2020, 08:02:13 AM
Quote from: Keyser Söze on October 06, 2020, 10:19:55 PM
Major extremes there HF, and while I don't agree with what you are saying, looking back I don't see why we had full one code only weeks given the year that was in it.
Some sort of rolling schedule where teams played every 10 days or so (with at least one midweek fixture) surely should have been looked at.
Maybe it's all easy say in retrospect.
I don't get the connection you are trying to make between the format and player's commitment levels? Surely the football format (where you have no idea who you are facing in the next round and must win to activate a safety net) is better than a group format where you know 3 months in advance which games will be tough & which will be less of a battle?

You've seen league football in Laois, right? It's like watching pub league soccer imo. You just have to be playing a couple of rounds of Championship football in April/May. How else can lads be expected to take their sport seriously? Listen don't get me wrong. I love our format and all debating aside, I think it's perfect for amateur sport. But I also have no doubt that it's a major contributor to our declining standards.

I get your frustration but "a couple of rounds of championship in April/May"? Seriously? That's like the set up was 25 years ago when I was playing. A championship game in April, maybe another in May (colleges exams time remember). And then back to the league or challenge games for June, July, maybe August if Laois get a run going! Managers don't want to have to get lads match primed for two different sets of games three months apart. Next door in Offaly they play championship games in April and there's nothing only giving out about it. I'm not saying I have the answer but I don't think a split season for championship is practical.

Junior Ex Laoistalk

Quote from: Laoiseabu on October 09, 2020, 11:07:33 AM
Anyone know why Aaron Forbes and Ambrose Doran haven't made an appearance for Graigue yet ?

Not sure about Forbes but Doran was out with an injury. He was down to start last day but seemingly tweaked something just before the start of the game. Should be ok for the semi if it ever goes ahead..
Winners are not those who never fail, but those who never quit!

Butch Cassidy

It's very quiet on the football front. Begley back for Sunday? Hard to know how Sunday will go. They need to start with the urgency they showed in the last 10 minutes of the Fermanagh game. The lads showed great character coming back and maintaining their division 2 status. Teams of old would have dropped the head so it was great to see that battling quality. Lilis is a big loss but so too is Mickey Quinn. I'll go for a 2 point win for Laois.