Break for the football for a couple of weeks and the next game is crucial if Laois are to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Sad to see the decline in Laois football. They got a lesson from a good Cavan side last week - a smaller side but one that was clued in and ambitious. Laois seemed to be going through the motions. Was impressed with the big lad - Kingston. He scored 2 goals, the second a real gem.
Laos are missing a lot of the more well known players, surely they want to play for the county?
Strange times for Laois football, I can't remember things being so negative. Maybe we are unrealistic thinking we have a right to be at the top table. Then again, things were so bad just the summer before Micko arrived, next thing we were in Div 1 league final and Leinster title in the bag. Under-acheived for rest of Micko's reign and disrespected him. What a missed opportunity, only becoming obvious now. Relegation to Div 3 would be disastrous. Other than Dublin, Leinster football in a cycle of decline. I know lots of issues mentioned in this post but so little going on in this thread, need to stimulate discussion, hear Laoistalk is closing down.
More a case of over performing under Micko surely? Granted there were some fine footballers on that team but it was the Micko effect that made the diff.
Laois had good underage teams for a few years but didnt sustain it.
They are like most counties now who are in a large chasing pack and can't motivate themselves to compete again . Many of the players who refuse to play hsve a track record of quitting when the going gets tough .
the club championship has alot to do with it, portlaoise more than likely will win 9 in-a-row and maybe 10 if they want to. with maybe 3 on the panel thats not enough from the capital town and should be the backbone of the county side.
young lads no longer see playing senior for laois an honour and a defeat again Galway and its division 3 for laois in 2016 the minors were beating out the gate by kildare yesterday and thats happing every year, a good 30 minutes last year again the Dubs cover alot of problems, only for Brody their would have been 20 odd points in it, we will drop to division 4 in the next few years, we are going the same way as offaly did, they seem to be on the way up as we are on the way down.
Looking in from the outside, it looks like all the clubs have accepted Portlaoise as perennial champions . They have it handy in Laois as a result. Their form in Leinster shows that. The other ckubs are bet before they start!
Hi, just looking for a good forum to join seeing that Laoistalk is about to close. Hopefully all the good posters from there will arrive here and we can make this one as good as Laoistalk was..
Yeah this looks like a good forum if Laoistalk does close can we try redirect everyone?
I have left a link on Laoistalk so hopefully we get a few of the guys......
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on February 18, 2015, 01:50:06 AM
Hi, just looking for a good forum to join seeing that Laoistalk is about to close. Hopefully all the good posters from there will arrive here and we can make this one as good as Laoistalk was..
Why is Laoistalk closing down?
Welcome to all my fellow Laois men it will be nice having a few more of ye around on here.
Quote from: laoislad on February 19, 2015, 10:58:05 AM
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on February 18, 2015, 01:50:06 AM
Hi, just looking for a good forum to join seeing that Laoistalk is about to close. Hopefully all the good posters from there will arrive here and we can make this one as good as Laoistalk was..
Why is Laoistalk closing down?
Welcome to all my fellow Laois men it will be nice having a few more of ye around on here.
After 10 years of that great forum the Ed and the Admins have decided to call it a day. It's fairly time consuming seemingly and those guys just don't have the time anymore. It will officially shut down Friday night/Saturday morning.
If the guys come here this will be the next big Laois forum as there are some great knowledgeable posters on Laoistalk.
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on February 19, 2015, 05:32:45 PM
Quote from: laoislad on February 19, 2015, 10:58:05 AM
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on February 18, 2015, 01:50:06 AM
Hi, just looking for a good forum to join seeing that Laoistalk is about to close. Hopefully all the good posters from there will arrive here and we can make this one as good as Laoistalk was..
Why is Laoistalk closing down?
Welcome to all my fellow Laois men it will be nice having a few more of ye around on here.
After 10 years of that great forum the Ed and the Admins have decided to call it a day. It's fairly time consuming seemingly and those guys just don't have the time anymore. It will officially shut down Friday night/Saturday morning.
If the guys come here this will be the next big Laois forum as there are some great knowledgeable posters on Laoistalk.
Good Jaysus!
(https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fth07.deviantart.net%2Ffs70%2FPRE%2Ff%2F2012%2F322%2F1%2F1%2Ftoo_many_homers_by_djgames-d5lfyfj.jpg&f=1)
I'm no Homer Simpson.
Good on ya Junior you're doing your best to promote the site. Will be a few here Sunday I would say after the hurling. Sure Ed can post away now with no worries as to what he or anybody else says!
Laois played Westmeath in a friendly last night here in Laois the players weren't told anything about it.Laois were very short missing 5-6 under 21s....Two begleys,Sheenan O'Loughlin james finn were all injured...plus more...
Kehoe and Attride went off injured as did Boyle Laois played most of the second half with 14 men as we had no replacements
Westmeath had a massive panel 30 or more...
We lost by 10-12 points
On the plus side Damien O'connor was back and was very good.
Brendan Quigley was immense and Darren Strong did well in midfield with him.
How can the senior county team have a match against another senior county and not be told about it??
Quote from: redsetanta on February 20, 2015, 11:30:15 AM
I'm no Homer Simpson.
Good on ya Junior you're doing your best to promote the site. Will be a few here Sunday I would say after the hurling. Sure Ed can post away now with no worries as to what he or anybody else says!
Thanks redsetanta, I'll do anything I can to keep discussions going on all things Laois.
It's very hard to believe that the team didn't know anything about that game last night, if its true then management have to look at themselves.
Westmeath are a good side this year so given the circumstances that wasn't a bad result I suppose, hopefully all the injuries will clear up soon and we can try to salvage something out of the remainder of this years league.
Heard Laois were all over the place last night, wouldn't be surprised if the players knew nothing about it. We're in a bad spot at the moment but hopefully things can be turned around.
Hard to believe that a game could happen without panel members knowing?
Maybe it was a kind of trial game for fringe players and some of the established guys weren't asked to play?
laois football is in a shambles theses times.
I think Laois supporters are very hard on team managers. Settle down and stop hurling abuse and pressure not them! It's hard to win games in Div 2 with a panel decimated by withdrawals.
Quote from: Catch and Kick on February 21, 2015, 05:39:21 PM
I think Laois supporters are very hard on team managers. Settle down and stop hurling abuse and pressure not them! It's hard to win games in Div 2 with a panel decimated by withdrawals.
why is everyone leaving is the question
It is pretty clear the current manager is not the flavor of the month with a lot of players . Change is needed starting from the bottom up . The current crop of players available to the county are obviously not finding any inspiration from the present set-up.
Quote from: INDIANA on February 21, 2015, 08:37:27 PM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on February 21, 2015, 05:39:21 PM
I think Laois supporters are very hard on team managers. Settle down and stop hurling abuse and pressure not them! It's hard to win games in Div 2 with a panel decimated by withdrawals.
why is everyone leaving is the question
Laois are notorious for players leaving, no matter who is manager.
I think the problem lies s lot deeper than players leaving the panel but I see your point . Laois football needs to get back to basics and that means getting some structure back in place in the underage system which was so evident from the mid 90s and onwards .
Quote from: Catch and Kick on February 21, 2015, 09:32:10 PM
Quote from: INDIANA on February 21, 2015, 08:37:27 PM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on February 21, 2015, 05:39:21 PM
I think Laois supporters are very hard on team managers. Settle down and stop hurling abuse and pressure not them! It's hard to win games in Div 2 with a panel decimated by withdrawals.
why is everyone leaving is the question
Laois are notorious for players leaving, no matter who is manager.
agree they are at it for years.
Laois players were kept in the Dark told it was training so Kildare or galway would not have any scouts at the game (laois and westmeaths next opponents)
Westmeath players obv knew as they would have left early to come to Laois..
TOF has done this before!
Scouts??? Jaysus. TV highlights aren't even needed in our case. Newspaper reports gives them all the info they need. As long as they bring 15 players they should be grand!
Quote from: redsetanta on February 23, 2015, 04:22:26 PM
Scouts??? Jaysus. TV highlights aren't even needed in our case. Newspaper reports gives them all the info they need. As long as they bring 15 players they should be grand!
I know absolute madness ...That's what I heard I'm not looking forward to Tuam next sunday but then again you never know with Laois and we have a superb record against Galway in recent times.
A win away to Wexford in the U21 on wednesday would be a boost for Sunday and maybe TOF might look to bring in a few more off that panel if they shine to add a bit of freshness to the whole thing.
Last year
Hammered by Donegal at Home 13 points
Scrape past Louth away by 3 Points
Hammer Galway at home by 15 points
Beaten well by Armagh away 9 points
Loose narrowly to Meath at home 2 points
Loose to Monaghan away by 5 points
Beat Down by 3 points to survive
Having Down and Galway and Meath away this year doesn't help our chances Westmeath away was like Louth last year a must win.
We need to pick up something Sunday to survive then beat Rossies at home and maybe take something from either Kildare at home or Meath away its going to be hard but never say never!
I've heard the set up isn't great under Flaherta at the moment with one fella who left the panel saying the training with his club is superior to what's happening at county training. Management seem to be going through the motions.
I'm another refugee from Laoistalk some will recognise me by my initials,it took me a while but I'm glad to be here.
Quote from: redsetanta on February 24, 2015, 10:36:13 AM
I've heard the set up isn't great under Flaherta at the moment with one fella who left the panel saying the training with his club is superior to what's happening at county training. Management seem to be going through the motions.
I'd say that Glen Ryan is a big step up from O'Flaherta alright, I'd have Ryan over him any day.
Quote from: OTF on February 24, 2015, 10:55:35 AM
I'm another refugee from Laoistalk some will recognise me by my initials,it took me a while but I'm glad to be here.
Good stuff OTF. Fáilte. I see the plug was finally pulled on Laoistalk last night. A big loss.
Spread the word about here!
Quote from: Heshs Umpire on February 24, 2015, 07:09:21 PM
Quote from: OTF on February 24, 2015, 10:55:35 AM
I'm another refugee from Laoistalk some will recognise me by my initials,it took me a while but I'm glad to be here.
Good stuff OTF. Fáilte. I see the plug was finally pulled on Laoistalk last night. A big loss.
Spread the word about here!
This I hope the rest join here even if it a 1/2 as good I'll be happy
Team named for Sunday;
1. Graham Brody (Portlaoise)
2. Padraig McMahon (Ballyroan Abbey)
3. Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)
4. Gearoid Hanrahan (Mountmellick)
5. Darren Strong (Emo)
6. Robbie Kehoe (O'Dempsey's)
7. Colm Begley (Parnells)
8. Brendan Quigley (Timahoe)
9. John O'Loughlin (St Brigid's)
10. Niall Donoher (Courtwood)
11. Conor Boyle (Portlaoise)
12. Gareth Dillon (Portlaoise)
13. Ross Munnelly (Arles-Kilcruise)
14. Donal Kingston (Arles-Killeen)
15. Evan O'Carroll (Crettyard)
Sheehan and Finn dropped.
Both Sheenan and Finn are injured
Not much scoring power in the half forward line
Thought one or two of the u21s might feature
Strong should be moved to half forward. Why not swap with Boyle? I wouldn't start the U21's with a game against the dubs next Wednesday. I would assume the likes of Keane and Carroll will be on the bench anyhow.
It's hard to see us getting anything out of this, Galway seem to be going well I wonder why they're bringing this game to "Shamtown"
Quote from: redsetanta on February 27, 2015, 12:57:36 PM
Strong should be moved to half forward. Why not swap with Boyle? I wouldn't start the U21's with a game against the dubs next Wednesday. I would assume the likes of Keane and Carroll will be on the bench anyhow.
O'Carroll is starting...
Yeah Boyle and Strong is a change that could be made!
I heard Attride picked up an Injury as well but Damien O'Connor is ready to play a part
Surely it will be Begley and Boyle that swaps? I think McMahon hasn't the speed for corner back anymore, I'd swap Keogh back there and McMahon to centre back. Then move him to the wing when Attride or Paul Begley come back. We definitely need more pace so we need O'Connor. Any sign of Costello from Emo?
Costello still carrying a knock but could feature soon!
I wonder will JOL be available? His Uncle Tom, a former Laois County Board official, is being buried on Sunday RIP.
Sorry to hear that. John would be a huge loss, hopefully he can play some part in the game.
This team are not that bad, I think we will win this one. Our backs are to the wall at this stage and that's when we play our best.
Very good scoring full forward line and a strong midfield to give them good supply of the ball. Not sure about Robbie at centre back but wherever he plays he will give 100%.
Lets hope we see the same Galway that we came up against last Year in Portlaoise. i'd agree with Teo Lurley, kehoe will probably move to corner back with mcmahon to the wing half back spot pushing Boyle to the centre. Impressed with Hanrahan so far in the league.
Tom Flynn and Shane Walsh are out for Galway and i fancy us to put in a right performance.
A morale boosting U21 win during the week should be a platform to start turning the seniors around. Enough of the criticising of management and players and get on with it.
Far too distracting and it obviously gets to players.
Stop sowing doubts and plant optimism instead.
Madness bringing a game to that kip this time of year.
Quote from: OTF on March 01, 2015, 02:08:29 PM
Madness bringing a game to that kip this time of year.
more all ireland medals in that kip as you say that will ever be in portlaoise.
Quote from: Thewildcat on March 01, 2015, 04:51:43 PM
Quote from: OTF on March 01, 2015, 02:08:29 PM
Madness bringing a game to that kip this time of year.
more all ireland medals in that kip as you say that will ever be in portlaoise.
It's the field I referring to .....your daddy will explain.
besides portlaoise the rest of grounds in laois would be also kips No. ::)
Galway match refixed for March 22.
Overall, it's probably a good thing to get a run of games now. Disappointing to see the thing called off at the last minute yesterday.
mmm This could be a blessing for the Laois team especially with Kildare loosing....
Beating Kildare and Roscommon could now see us stay up.....
we will probably need 5 points but ya never know.
I hear things in the camp have settled down a bit and the lads were going well in training last week!
Is it 5 Games in a row ?
The squad is weak enough, add in injuries and whatever its a bit of an ask but its the same for Meath , Roscommon and Galway.
On the other hand whoever gets on a roll will love it.
I think we are going t obe relegated anyhow so don't see how the postponement will help at all. We are not going to beat Roscommon next weekend, Kildare are a stronger team than us despite their poor form and both Meath and Galway will more than fancy their chances against us. Fair enough the Dwon game could go either way but I can't see us getting anymore that 2/3 points which won't be enough to stay up. I haven't checked but I would say we are hot favs to make the drop.
Quote from: redsetanta on March 03, 2015, 06:12:55 PM
I think we are going t obe relegated anyhow so don't see how the postponement will help at all. We are not going to beat Roscommon next weekend, Kildare are a stronger team than us despite their poor form and both Meath and Galway will more than fancy their chances against us. Fair enough the Dwon game could go either way but I can't see us getting anymore that 2/3 points which won't be enough to stay up. I haven't checked but I would say we are hot favs to make the drop.
Ok - Roscommon are on an upward curve, have had good underage teams and a good manager in John Evans. On the other hand Laois have a core of experienced players who have been operating at a higher level than Roscommon for the past number of years. If Laois have anything about them (and I believe they have) they will stop the rot next Sunday.
Many teams have turned around a bad start to the league and finished it in a much more promising way.
That can help coming into the Leinster Championship.
Laois play Carlow in May and a win there will give an equally winnable clash with Kildare.
Suddenly Laois are back in a Leinster semi final....and the year has been turned round!
Love that Give and go but can't really see it ...
I do see us beating roscommon on sunday to give ourselves a chance of avoiding the drop ...
A win in Down is not impossible and who's to say we can't beat the flour bags in Portlaoise??
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on March 03, 2015, 11:33:36 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on March 03, 2015, 06:12:55 PM
I think we are going t obe relegated anyhow so don't see how the postponement will help at all. We are not going to beat Roscommon next weekend, Kildare are a stronger team than us despite their poor form and both Meath and Galway will more than fancy their chances against us. Fair enough the Dwon game could go either way but I can't see us getting anymore that 2/3 points which won't be enough to stay up. I haven't checked but I would say we are hot favs to make the drop.
Ok - Roscommon are on an upward curve, have had good underage teams and a good manager in John Evans. On the other hand Laois have a core of experienced players who have been operating at a higher level than Roscommon for the past number of years. If Laois have anything about them (and I believe they have) they will stop the rot next Sunday.
Agree With most of above TBW but the problem is we don't have any defensive structure whatsoever .
Every player seems to have free licence to get forward whenever he likes and as we well know most of them have little if no interest in their defensive duty's
In recent years this would have being possible but under the present management don't think so,we live in hope.
Lasts night performance should give the lads a lift for Sunday having the u21s in around the camp can do no harm again as well ...I think we will beat Roscommon on sunday I know they are much improved and very hyped up this year but if the lads perform and are hungry for it then I think we could get back up on the horse! ;D
1. Graham Brody (Portlaoise)
2. Padraig McMahon (Ballyroan Abbey)
3. Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)
4. Gearoid Hanrahan (Mountmellick)
5. Darren Strong (Emo)
6. Robbie Kehoe (O'Dempsey's)
7. Colm Begley (Parnells)
8. Brendan Quigley (Timahoe)
9. John O'Loughlin (St Brigid's)
10. Niall Donoher (Courtwood)
11. Conor Boyle (Portlaoise)
12. Gareth Dillon (Portlaoise)
13. Ross Munnelly (Arles-Kilcruise)
14. Donal Kingston (Arles-Killeen)
15. Evan O'Carroll (Crettyard)
I hear its this team for this sunday but i'm open to correction
If that's the team I would be swapping Boyle with Strong or Begley.
In fairness we have a strong inside line and if they get sufficient supply of ball they could do damage. Need to be on top of their game.
A month on from the Cavan defeat.
I expect a much improved performance from Laois come Sunday. A win here would certainly boost our hopes of staying in the division. Fitness levels will have improved substantially in the last few weeks.
I'm very hopeful going into this game.
On a side note, its a long time since we played Roscommon in a competitive fixture. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe we haven't played them since 1995 or 1996 which was a league game in Portlaoise in which we won by a couple of points.
Quote from: redsetanta on March 06, 2015, 09:39:42 AM
In fairness we have a strong inside line and if they get sufficient supply of ball they could do damage. Need to be on top of their game.
Teams like Fermanagh, Wexford and Tipp ( no disrespect intended ) ran through us at will last summer, Roscommon are better than any of those teams IMO.
If TOF doesn't do something dramatic defensive wise and I haven't seen anything so far to indicate he will. Sadly I cant see anything other than a Roscommon win on Sunday.
That's the issue under TOF the forwards have to be on fire because you will have to outscore the opposition. Obviously to win any game youhave to outscore your opponent but as you say, because out defense in so leaky there is more pressure on the forward lines.
Look at the score that both Fermanagh and Tipp put up against us last year. We eventually outscored Fermanagh but despite 4 goals we couldn't get the better of Tipp.
I've said it more than once but if you have a man in the backs that can score a couple of points for you but cannot defend then you are in bother.
Interesting points well made lads I wonder If Boyle and Begley will make up the Half back line to add strenght to it and stop these teams running through us?
Be interesting to see how Dillion goes...Any word on the Subs?
A long time since Laois played Roscommon, certainly will be a tough game. Roscommon are a team on the rise so to get a win here would be fantastic. I'm sure the team know they are under-performing so hopefully they will step up to the plate and get a win here to kick start the year.
Got that one completely wrong and glad I did. Fair play to them and particularly O'Carroll. Des Cahill was on commentary and couldn't get over the silence when the Laois team came out. Said there were far more Rossies in the stand. He was full of praise for Evan O'Carroll. Said it was a cracking game to watch. Anyhow delighted we got the win. Didn't realise McMahon had left the panel. Meant Paul Begley was full back and Timmons into the corner. How did Colm Begley go at centra half? Boyle at 11? Donaher sounds like he had a good game. Hopefully they can kick on from here as the division is wide open and we've given ourselves a fighting chance.
Massive win for Laois today. Was so crucial as the lads will gain huge belief. The last months training has paid off. There was much more of a defensive plan in place today.
Laois came storming out of the blocks we were 3 points up inside 4 minutes. As a whole today Laois were very accurate, we had very few wides.
Despite Roscommon coming back into the game early bringing the score back to 0-4 to 0-3, their scores were hard earned due to a much tighter defence.
We responded well in the late stages of the first half once Roscommon levelled it up at 5 points each. Donie K, Ross and Evan O'Carroll getting fine scores from play. 0-9 to 0-7 at half time with Laois leading.
Turning point in the game came after 39 minutes. Roscommon had started well knocking over 3 points to lead for the one and only time in the game 0-10 to 0-9. A high dangerous ball then was launched into the square but Paul Begley did superbly by winning the high ball, clearing the ball out and on the same attack Donie K levelled matters.
This was the beginning of a run of 1-4 without reply for us 1-13 to 0-10. Niall Donaher's goal was a peach. Great finish. Roscommon's vocal support was silenced.
Their support grew louder again as they narrowed the gap to a goal but we responded with 2 fine scores from Ross and Paul Kingston and we could finally relax when Paul Kingston lashed home a goal having been set up by Evan O'Carroll. Paul finished with 1-2 from play.
A fully deserved win for Laois. Just a pity there wasn't more support there for Laois. The team deserve it. We were outnumbered 6 or 7 to 1 in terms of support. Such a shame.
Division 2 now is so tight. Away to Meath next which thankfully is on Setanta.
Performances/Positives of note: Graham Brody made a fantastic save when we were 1-13 to 0-12 ahead. Had that gone in, momentum may have switched. Robbie Kehoe was tigerish in defence. Mark Timmons was his usual solid self. Paul Begley as mentioned earlier excellent. Colm Begley had some inspiring runs forward and was lively. Darren Strong got a fine point early in the game. Midfielders both did great. Brendan Quigley plucked a high ball out of the sky on our goal line from a 45 that looked set to sail over. In the forwards, Ross Munnelly got some great scores that will no doubt boost the confidence and also set up Donie for 1. Evan O'Carroll followed on from the under 21s on Wednesday and is growing in stature with every game. Garreth Dillion put in a huge effort in the first half and set up Conor Boyle for an early goal. Donie Kingston as usual was excellent and his brother Paul was superb when he came on.
Great to see Damien O'Connor and Attride come on late in the game. Glad to see them back.
Finally was pleasing to be smiling after the game. It has been a long time coming. The battle to stay up will be challenging but great to see the hunger and desire there from the Laois team.
A much better performance. Despite the news that McMahon has left the panel, we can have a little bit more optimism about the year ahead than previously. O'Carroll and Kingston were excellent and Paul Kingston was very good when he came on. All over the field we were much improved and we had O'Connor and Attride come on late. Quigley was also very good and one catch he got was like Daragh O'Sé, it was going over the bar. Still a lot of work to do but it was a huge improvement from what we've seen this year previously and two cracking goals scored to boot.
Delighted to have got this wrong, terrific performance well done.
I know people go on about it ad nauseum but really the support that the football team gets is really embarrassing at this stage. To see a Laois team enter the field for a crucual national league game and not to even raise a polite round of applause is something that really needs attention. We may not win All-Irelands or National Leagues but I still think we have enough good players to be worthy of our support. The likes of Graham Brody, Colm Begley, John O Loughlin, Brendan Quigley, Ross Munnelly and Donie Kingston would make most county teams. To see the development of Evan O Carroll is a pleasure in itself. Of course they're not going to win every game but we have some excellent players and they deserve better support. I really wish the county board would take some concrete measures to improve attendance, at least for the home games. The crowd really can make a difference when it comes to influencing refereeing decisions and we have no 16th man. Very disappointing.
On the game itself, it was the first time in a long time that the forward division looked like a proper unit, rather than a mish-mash of individuals. Of course they were supplied with some nice balls but there was good movement and some very intelligent play, especially from Evan O Carroll, who is really a smart footballer. As someone else said, there was great accuracy in the play, with very few mistakes or kicking from silly positions.
Having said that, I wouldn't agree with the poster who said that our defence was much better. I thought we still looked vulnerable enough and we were left one on one with forwards on two many occasions. We didn't look great under the high ball and were lucky to get away with it on one or two occasions.
Overall though delighted for the players themselves, who clearly still think the jersey is important, even if the supporters don't.
One of the reporters on the game today was praising O'Carroll for not taking the easy option of a fisted point and instead laying a goal on a plate for Kingston.
Great win well done lads I hope more people will come back out and support ye now
Brilliant win yesterday for the footballers.
Couple of super goals and with Paul Kingston, Attride and O'Connor all back, a bit of competition for places.
Reflecting on the win a few things stood out on Sunday one was the the Laois work rate and fitness seemed to be a far higher level than the previous two games?
Now TOF said this would be the case coming into the Galway game(that was cancelled)after the break and I also heard from a panel member that training was more intense after the Cavan game.
While this has to be commended in one sense it also begs the question why were we not up to speed earlier in the year?
It was very evident in the Westmeath and Cavan games that we were not as fit as our opposition.
These two early games should have been targeted to win as it would have put us in a comfortable position instead of scrapping now to stay up.
Again I commend the players for knuckling down and pulling together as a squad when so many things seem to be against them and I really think we might get something in Meath as well.
On sundays game
I thought Paul Begley was superb Sunday which he was early in the year ...Mark Timmons was also good in the full back line ...
Darren Strong had his best game for a while tracking his man and marking tight while still managing to get his point.
Quigley was immense again Laois's best player along with O'Loughlin this year in my opinion.
Niall Donoher answered a few critics with a busy display and a great goal.
Boyle was composed and gave a nice balance to the team.
Evan O'Carroll just picked up where he left off Wednesday night with an awesome display of ball carrying and his work off the ball was just as good.
Ross looked fresh and on his toes again him and donie worked well again.
The younger Kingston Paul looked dangerous Wednesday night and again on sunday and is a good option now in the forwards aswell.
As Hesh says having O'Connor and Attride back is good for competition.
Imagine the competition in the team if we'd have if the like of Healy,Cahilane,Mcmahon,Meaney,Walsh,O'Leary,Kieran Lillis,David Conway,Meredith,MJ Tierney,
It shows the talent we do have in the county to be missing 10 possible starters and still produce a team that can get wins in this division...
I for one can't wait to go and support them up in Navan
I see that 'Hoganstands' love for John O'Loughlin hasn't abated as he is named in their team of the week again. Well done Johnno!
I'm not sure that John O Loughlin, or several of the other members of the team, are properly appreciated by the Laois supporters. I'm not surprised at all that he's a regular on the team of the week.
As regards the fitness thing, I'm not sure that fitness levels could have changed all that much from the last day. From my point of view, two important things changed. Firstly, the team simply looked more "up for it" on Sunday. You could see it even in the warm up - they knew this was a do or die scenario really. The mentality of the players was different this time.
The second thing that changed was that the selection of Boyle and Dillon in the half forward line bought more zip and energy to the half forward line and Boyle in particular used the ball very well. I'd like to see us keep those high energy players for the remainder of the league. Damien O Connor or Attride could be used very well as a sweeper which is really needed I think.
We need a few more like unlaoised in Navan on Saturday night.
I see where Setanta are showing the game so that will stop people travelling up from Laois.
Quote from: redsetanta on March 10, 2015, 10:31:27 AM
I see where Setanta are showing the game so that will stop people travelling up from Laois.
Don't think this will have a major effect we wouldn't have had that many going anyway......
Laois manager Tomas O'Flatharta on getting their first win of the campaign against Roscommon
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/tomas-oflatharta-post-roscommon (https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/tomas-oflatharta-post-roscommon)
Former Laois defender Peter O'Leary feels the win over Roscommon can kick start the team's year
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/peter-oleary-on-laois-win-over-roscommon (https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/peter-oleary-on-laois-win-over-roscommon)
Hey,
Was one of the few who made it sunday. It felt like an away game, The silence when we got our second goal was a joke. The county board have to promote the home games more. How can Roscommon bring a couple of thousand to portlaoise.
Sunday proved that Roscommon are very overated and it showed that we have good talent in our panel especially our forwards. Our forwards seemed more natural than there's and found it easier to get a score.
Paul kingston did well but i felt he was nervous and fumbelled the ball a good bit, however you cant complain with 1-2 and hopefully this will bring him on.
Dillon and boyle did ok and like the younger kingston I feel that dillion has alot to offer and at once stage in first half he burned his marker to show us the pace that he has. I think he kick a point as a resut.
While we keep saying that we a lacking in defenders what sunday also showed us that in modern football if your team is set up well this can rectify the problem.
All in all a good day for Laois and a good day for those of us who follow Laois on the bad days as well as the good days!
PS I'm enjoying this site. Miss laoistalk but this is a great alternative.
I agree with beano the support for the team the last day was an insult to the players.
You could see the pride the players had in the jersey and gave absolutely everything
in an excellent gritty display. €15 is a bit steep to be fair but when you see lads giving so
much they deserve better support.
We are suspect defensively and we have to rack up big scores but have some top forwards.
Its worth paying the entrance fee alone to see donie these days. He was excellent on sunday.
Scoring off both feet and always using the ball intelligently.
Quigley and Johnno were excellent in the middle.
Niall Donaher was very good. got a great goal and a point.
Evan O Carroll was MOTM. He was excellent. scored a great 45 and carried the ball brillantly.
Defensively we were still a bit open but much improved. Paul Begley was very good against a much bigger man.
If they bring the same fight to their remaining games they have a chance of staying up.
Respect to redstetanta and junior for getting this forum up and running and promoting it.
Quote from: The Boy Wonder on March 03, 2015, 11:33:36 PM
Quote from: redsetanta on March 03, 2015, 06:12:55 PM
I think we are going t obe relegated anyhow so don't see how the postponement will help at all. We are not going to beat Roscommon next weekend, Kildare are a stronger team than us despite their poor form and both Meath and Galway will more than fancy their chances against us. Fair enough the Dwon game could go either way but I can't see us getting anymore that 2/3 points which won't be enough to stay up. I haven't checked but I would say we are hot favs to make the drop.
Ok - Roscommon are on an upward curve, have had good underage teams and a good manager in John Evans. On the other hand Laois have a core of experienced players who have been operating at a higher level than Roscommon for the past number of years. If Laois have anything about them (and I believe they have) they will stop the rot next Sunday.
I'm delighted that my faith in the lads was vindicated. It's not going to get any easier from here - away to Meath & Galway, home to Kildare and away to Down - a very tall order. All we can ask is that they bring the same level of commitment to these games as they did last Sunday and que sera sera.
It is a poor reflection on the county that more supporters won't come out and support their team. The commitment these guys are giving to the jersey has to be acknowledged. It's high time for genuine Laois followers to get off their asses. Our expectations may not be too high at the moment but we can be very competitive at a level just below the top. If the supporters had more belief in the lads it would help drive us on.
Its great to get a win and see a real performance from these lads but we are certainly not out of the woods yet. I would still be worried for the 2015 season, lets hope this is not a false dawn.
I've always maintained that we have a number of really good players but our weakest players are not up to standard and in reality thats the case for the majority of inter county teams except the top 3 or 4. The fact that we dont have a full deck to deal from as per usual is crippling us from making solid progress.IMO our midfield and forwards are capable competing and providing a platform for victory against most teams and will do damage against anyone but our defence is weak, some hard working lads in there but we need more quality. McMahon a huge loss. Im not going into lads who wont commit but when I look at it we are missing our best defender, our best full back and 2 best half backs, we cannot expect progress without everybody involved. Its a credit to lads involved already and commitment they give but quality is hard to come by in Laois.
Laois are well able to beat anyone outside of the big boys and we should be aiming to win every match in this division as on any given day there is nothing between the teams. Confidence and desire bred from good management is the difference between winning and losing in this division IMO. I still have my doubts about our mgt but by jaysus it would be great to be proved wrong about them.
Jesus PK, would you ever get down off your soapbox about lads who are missing and wont commit, we have what we have, and they deserve more respect than you saying that they are not of inter county quality, (even if you do qualify it by commending their commitment). Btw, who are the full back and 2 half backs you refer to ????
Personally, I think Mark Timmons is the best full back we have (by a long way). He is definitely inter-country standard. While it would be nice to have O Leary and McMahon fighting for wingback positions, and Cahir Healy as a man marker or centre back, I think Strong, Kehoe, Attride, Begley and maybe O Connor are all good players that can do a good job in the half backs.
I agree that our defence hasn't been great this year but I don't think this is because of the quality of the players. Better defence requires harder work all round the pitch. It also requires a system of sweeping and covering so that defenders are left one-on-one as infrequently as possible. Our lads are being left one-on-one far too often and that bit definitely needs to improve.
I think one of the reasons we won last Sunday was because of the attitude of the squad. They must know by now that they are not the best players we have (because we're always telling them ::) ...) but they have what some better players don't have and that's great heart and pride in the jersey and their county. They fought all day against a physically bigger and stronger team and played the game very cleverly.
For once we got the tactics dead on, defend in numbers and when the chances present themselves, take them. I'm not sure of the wide count but it was very small which proves that we took almost every scoring chance we got. I too have to praise Even O'Carroll on his display of selfless running, tracking back when the opposition were attacking yet was always in his position to score or help create one when we were attacking. The day worked out perfectly for him but he does that every day he plays but not always with the same result.
It's great to see a few u-21s come back into the squad, they are all good lads and add so much to the team. As has been said already this team are a match for most teams bar the top six or seven and should be good enough to stay in this division with a bit of luck. The support was pitiful last Sunday but it didn't stop those lads from giving a great display. The Roscommon support around me were full of praise for the Laois effort as they were sure they would be at the top of the table after playing us last Sunday.
Roll on Meath... ;)
Quote from: Faugheen on March 11, 2015, 04:06:14 PM
Jesus PK, would you ever get down off your soapbox about lads who are missing and wont commit, we have what we have, and they deserve more respect than you saying that they are not of inter county quality, (even if you do qualify it by commending their commitment). Btw, who are the full back and 2 half backs you refer to ????
How did I disrespect anyone? If I believe our defence is our weakest link its hardly disrespectful , anyone watching the team would agree. I don't give a toss about lads not committing but I was merely making an observation which from what I hear is the norm on these supporters forums. I stand over what I said about our defence.
No point in getting into a tit for tat PK,but I stand by what i said, it is disrespectful to players. The sooner we decide to move on and get over the fact that we don't have this player or that player the better. As i said, we have what we have and as it stands they are the best we have. All they need now is some respect for their efforts no matter what quality they are.
Same team named as against Roscommon. Timmons at full back and Begley in the corner.
Meath start with almost the same team as well except for 1 change in the forwards.
Going to be tough going to Meath as Meath are a decent team but we are well able to beat them. A big test of us and where we actually stand but as I said previously on here there is nothing between the teams in this division and if we go in with a good tactical plan, as in fairness TOF had last week, and a positive attitude we have every chance of winning.
Glad to see that we're sticking with the same 15. I think Gareth Dillon has a lot to offer at this level and I hope he has a fine game. If we could pick up some points here, we'd be putting ourselves in a good position. We haven't had a great record against Meath (and Graham Reilly) though so we need to improve again on the last day.
I know it's on telly but with the good weather promised for the weekend, I hope a good crowd will travel. They deserve the support.
Well done lads, a great result against Roscommon, it gives us a fighting chance to survive and makes the rest of the games very interesting. A win against the Royals on their patch would be a massive result. We have nothing to fear from this Meath team. Let's go and fight like dogs for our survival. Maintaining Division 2 status would be a great achievement considering the start we've had. The postponement of the Galway game may be the saving of TOF as we were playing with no confidence. I don't know what happened at training during that period but the result against Roscommon would suggest a few home truths were told and lads got their heads right. Miss Laoistalk too but this is starting to feel similar.
at half time, things were looking bad. the wind was picking up and meath appeared to have the speed on our backs. plus i had to listen to the meath lads around me talking about how shite we were and that they were going up to div 1. On the plus side we were winning a huge amount of ball at midfield and niall had a great goal chance. the two earlier points looked to bury us, but after that we really dominated them and could if we had been more ruthless beaten them. the changes made a difference with donie further out and small kingston doing well in the corner. backs really improved timmons and paul begley excelled. the shape of the backs was better also. midfield did great especially JOL and we ended up forcing them to take short kickouts which didn't suit them .noticeable off the ball was that a lot of their players were cramping up and stretching and we seemed far fitter.
one gripe we should have hammered the weak link which was both their corner backs who were cramping very badly. ross got on a lot of ball and did well at times but we should have got a bigger return off the amount of chances we had. it appears that tom shiels has now jumped the queue.
Delighted with the draw in Navan. Well deserved.
Great second half comeback led by John O'Loughlin and Mark Timmons.
Some great points scored as well.
Fantastic team spirit.
Great 2nd half. If only they could do it for seventy mins.
Thought Ross was poor and maybe he should have been replaced.
Backs did really well in 2nd half and damian o connor did very well when he came on. Hope Hanrahan's injury isnt too bad.
A couple of things. We need a crowd to travel to Galway the next day. This team is showing tremendous heart and spirit and thats all we look for as supporters! We cant always say that about past Laois teams.
Felt sorry for Dillion been taken off so soon but hopefully he will take it on the chin and improve from this.
Great result last night and a deserved one too.
Given ourselves a chance of survival now and the Galway game is now a massive one.
Great displays from Kingston, O'Loughlin, Donoher, Timmons.
Good to see Attride coming back to - he has a lot to offer.
It's looking a lot better than it did 8 days ago!
Great comeback and spirit shown by the team. It was looking very bad early in the second half. O'Loughlin drove them on and Kingston was excellent again like he's been for a long time now. We need him on the 45 but we could do with him inside aswell. Ross seems to have lost confidence with his shooting, he did win a lot of ball in the second half though and won some key frees. Hanrahan was struggling before his injury but O'Connor is not a corner back.
Not to have a go at the lad but I don't think Dillon is inter county stantard, Paul Kingston has probably done enough to earn a start. Boyle's distribution is very good, it's just a pity he lacks pace. We've beaten Galway easily the last 2 times but we were at home and I think they've improved. It's hard to know how many points we need to get safe but 2 wins out of 3 would leave us safe. 1 win probably won't be enough.
You have to admire how lads on here know so much about the game that they can conclude that a lad isn't inter-county standard after two half games. If you were to look at Ross's performance yesterday, you might say he's not inter-county standard too and he's been a star for us for over a decade. And then we wonder why lads are not committing to the panel. Will you give the lad a chance...
The first half of the game itself was really pretty poor all round from our point of view. Whereas last week, we were clever and efficient in our play, this week we reverted to silly passes, shots from ridiculous angles, poor handling. We were left wide open on at least 3 or 4 occasions and could easily have conceded 2 or 3 goals. Meath had far more pace than we had and they used it very well.
In the second half, we battled our way back into it through sheer force of will. JOL was brilliant again, as were Timmons, Quigley, Kingston and Boyle who is doing very well in the forwards. The pace of the Meath team was still a problem but luckily our forwards were better at taking their chances and that's what got us the result in the end. All the subs introduced did well (especially Paul Kingston and Tom Shiel) and Damien O Connor was unlucky with that last effort that would have won us the game. Personally, I was glad to see that he had the confidence to go for it.
Again, a poor crowd of Laois supporters in Navan and little hope for any improvement on Sunday next.
Speaking of crowd.
Forget about getting a crowd to Galway. The county board need to make a serious effort to get a crowd to the Kildare game. Most of the football clubs border Kildare and with a bit of effort and promotion we should be able to muster a crowd.
Fully agree on the crowd for the Kildare match. A bit of promotion of the match doesn't have to be that difficult.
I should have said earlier that I thought Colm Begley also did a fine job on Graham Reilly who has done us several times in the past. Super performance from him too.
Quote from: Giovanni on March 16, 2015, 10:04:09 AM
You have to admire how lads on here know so much about the game that they can conclude that a lad isn't inter-county standard after two half games. If you were to look at Ross's performance yesterday, you might say he's not inter-county standard too and he's been a star for us for over a decade. And then we wonder why lads are not committing to the panel. Will you give the lad a chance...
The first half of the game itself was really pretty poor all round from our point of view. Whereas last week, we were clever and efficient in our play, this week we reverted to silly passes, shots from ridiculous angles, poor handling. We were left wide open on at least 3 or 4 occasions and could easily have conceded 2 or 3 goals. Meath had far more pace than we had and they used it very well.
In the second half, we battled our way back into it through sheer force of will. JOL was brilliant again, as were Timmons, Quigley, Kingston and Boyle who is doing very well in the forwards. The pace of the Meath team was still a problem but luckily our forwards were better at taking their chances and that's what got us the result in the end. All the subs introduced did well (especially Paul Kingston and Tom Shiel) and Damien O Connor was unlucky with that last effort that would have won us the game. Personally, I was glad to see that he had the confidence to go for it.
Again, a poor crowd of Laois supporters in Navan and little hope for any improvement on Sunday next.
Just my opinion son. Ross may not have scored much but he got on a lot of ball and won valuable frees. Dillon is probably the 5th best Portlaoise forward, I wish the lad the best and hope he proves me wrong but he hasn't done anything to justify selection yet!
Paul Kingston has looked very impressive, I'm still waiting on the return of Costello. I think the kid has got it! If anyone has watched some division 1 football you can clearly see the standard we're playing against is far behind but this is where we are and we seem to be competitive at this level.
Massive game coming up against Galway.
I have to disagree with the poster who believes Damien O'Connor should have went for the winning point late on in the game against Meath. While Damien had a fine game and has great pace, I feel in this instance he should have carried the ball nearer to goal and maybe have won a free or perhaps have passed the ball on to a scoring forward who may have snatched a win for us.
Delighted for O Flaherty. The abuse Laois managers get is shocking. Too many jump on the bandwagon of criticising the manager (whoever he is) when the bigger problems are player withdrawals, clubs who wan the team to do poorly, a poor club championship in which all clubs agree in advance that none of them can beat Portlaoise!
Portlaoise are not the world beaters that their opponents seem to think they are - they have done nothing in Leinster in a long long time and they haven't really any stand out county men.
Plenty of good footballers in that Laois team.
Quote from: Teo Lurley on March 16, 2015, 12:36:43 PM
Quote from: Giovanni on March 16, 2015, 10:04:09 AM
You have to admire how lads on here know so much about the game that they can conclude that a lad isn't inter-county standard after two half games. If you were to look at Ross's performance yesterday, you might say he's not inter-county standard too and he's been a star for us for over a decade. And then we wonder why lads are not committing to the panel. Will you give the lad a chance...
The first half of the game itself was really pretty poor all round from our point of view. Whereas last week, we were clever and efficient in our play, this week we reverted to silly passes, shots from ridiculous angles, poor handling. We were left wide open on at least 3 or 4 occasions and could easily have conceded 2 or 3 goals. Meath had far more pace than we had and they used it very well.
In the second half, we battled our way back into it through sheer force of will. JOL was brilliant again, as were Timmons, Quigley, Kingston and Boyle who is doing very well in the forwards. The pace of the Meath team was still a problem but luckily our forwards were better at taking their chances and that's what got us the result in the end. All the subs introduced did well (especially Paul Kingston and Tom Shiel) and Damien O Connor was unlucky with that last effort that would have won us the game. Personally, I was glad to see that he had the confidence to go for it.
Again, a poor crowd of Laois supporters in Navan and little hope for any improvement on Sunday next.
Just my opinion son. Ross may not have scored much but he got on a lot of ball and won valuable frees. Dillon is probably the 5th best Portlaoise forward, I wish the lad the best and hope he proves me wrong but he hasn't done anything to justify selection yet!
Paul Kingston has looked very impressive, I'm still waiting on the return of Costello. I think the kid has got it! If anyone has watched some division 1 football you can clearly see the standard we're playing against is far behind but this is where we are and we seem to be competitive at this level.
Jeez, I wonder who's the 6th best Portlaoise forward? Dillon's been going training and clearly the manager and selectors, who have seen a lot more of him than you have, have seen something in him. From what I understand, he was considered one of Portlaoise's better players last year. I don't know whether you were at the game but I don't think anyone could conclude that the first half display was down to the performance of Dillon. Having said that, you couldn't disagree that Paul Kingston has looked very good in the last 2 games.
You not think Bruno, Cahilane, Zach and Rogers are ahead of him? The first half performance wasn't down to him but it's twice in a row he's been taken off early. I just don't think he's strong enough, as I said it's just my opinion and I wish the lad the best. You're just going to have to get over the fact that people are allowed their opinion I'm afraid. :D
Great fightback on Saturday. We were poor in the first half and when we went 7 down
it looked bleak. JOL, Timmons, Donie led the fightback. Donies switch to CHF made
the difference and they couldn't handle JOL direct running. I thought after the Cavan match we were screwed and that TOF was clueless but these lads are proving me wrong.
Timmons was excellent on bray. Paul begley was tigerish and o Connor while having none of the instincts of a corner back really grew into the game. His pace was important.
Thought Colm begley showed great experience and never gave the ball away.
Paul Kingston looks to be made of the right stuff. Couple of great points.
What drove me nuts as the game went into the last 15 minutes was Boyles lack of stamina and glaring lack of pace. He's a nice composed footballer but can't do 70 mins
And some of his attempts at tackling were awful when they ran at us towards the end.
Ross tried hard but just didn't happen for him. Didn't happen for Evan or young Dillon but they deserve a bit of support it takes time at this level.
We are doing well with a threadbare squad.
Galway will be a huge test but we have some good leaders in that team and you'd never know. Hopefully we can get a big crowd for the Kildare match it will be a relegation decider more than likely.
Delighted with a draw but the players were disappointed I heard afterwards...
It was a great fightback from a team that looked dead and buried.
Quigley and O'Loughlin were superb in the middle.
The backs to a man were good in the second half especially Mark Timmons.
It's a pity we didn't play Galway a few weeks back when the lads were really up for it that day and Glaway were short as we would be nearly safe now...
Who's to say we can't go win next weekend if the players show the same spirit as they did in Navan
Well done to everyone involved
I assume the Corofin boys will be still drunk by next Sunday? :P
Hope Lundy is unavailable for them. Class footballer.
Quote from: Giovanni on March 18, 2015, 10:38:35 AM
I assume the Corofin boys will be still drunk by next Sunday? :P
As any self respecting clubman would be.
Great effort on Saturday night ,the first half was more of the same rubbish we played all last summer the second half was very good and is how we should play.
The backs more or less keeping their positions and not getting caught out up field.
Donnie coming to the forty and Ross playing in front of goal made a huge difference but the whole team had a better shape. Colm Begley comes in for a lot of stick from time to time but for me he was excellent in both half's on Saturday .
We have momentum now and will give Galway plenty of it if we produce the second half performance and shape.
I hope a few more travel to Tuam on Sunday to show their support for the team...I'm sure that come back that a lot of people will have seen on the box will encourage people to go out and watch the lads again.
Yes we are missing loads of players but there is still great talent in the team.
Mark Timmons,Colm Begley,John O'Loughlin Brendan Quigley,Donie Kingston and Ross Munnelly are as good as you'll get in most county teams...With young players like Graham Brody,Evan O'Carroll Tom shiel and Paul Kingston maybe the doom and Gloom that was there earlier can be left behind.
I also think that Conor Boyle's switch to Centre forward has been a master stroke he might not have great pace but he is a great ball player that can kick a point and never gives the ball away.
Presuming the team will be the same only O'connor for Hanrahan ...Maybe Finn/Kingston for Dillion...
Paul Kingston seems to be working better from the bench maybe Evan O'Carroll could do with a break as he looked very tired the last day!
Do we know anything about Hanrahan's injury? Overall, I thought we was making a very good fist of the corner back position.
As regards the selection of Dillon, I would imagine that if the manager has some doubts about him, he shouldn't start him (rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt to start and then whip him off when a few things go wrong). This thing of taking people off early all the time can be very damaging to a player's confidence. Anyway, it would be hard to leave Paul Kingston on the bench on the basis of his last 2 performances.
I also think that Conor Boyle's switch to Centre forward has been a master stroke he might not have great pace but he is a great ball player that can kick a point and never gives the ball away.
[/quote]
I'd have to disagree there,I thing it was Donie's arrival here played a big part last week.
This is his best position he can comfortable score from 40 yards.
Ross need to play close to goal if not in front,he can't do any damage out at the corner flag and Donie is the man to give him the right ball.
The six backs must hold their positioned with a bit of help from wing forwards and Quigley maybe, at this stage we know what will happen if the get turned over up the field.
There won't be much in this game and hopefully we can come out on top.
I would agree with Unlaoised regarding the importance of Boyle to the team. His foot passing is probably the best on the team and he shows great composure on the ball. Maybe centre forward isn't the place for him but without doubt he needs to be playing around the middle third of the field to take advantage of his vision, brain and footballing ability.
Dillon has been unlucky in the games he has played. In fairness to the chap he is trying his heart out and that is clear to anybody who has attended the games he has played in. He is constantly moving and looking for the ball in attack, while tackling and chasing defenders when our opponents have the ball. Perhaps his eagerness is playing against him and he seems to struggle to get his hands on the ball at times. TOF has given him a chance by playing him and maybe he just needs more time to get used to the pace of this level. I still feel that Dillon has something to offer the squad.
This weekend is an important game for us and one that we could get something out of if we play to our potential. But that is a big if considering the inconsistency and Jekyll/Hyde nature of our recent performances.
I would also agree that Boyle's move to the forwards has been a positive thing. It is true that he hasn't great pace, which is why it's better that he shouldn't play wing back. He reminds me a bit of Bruno - he lost his pace and the move into the forwards gave him a new lease of life. I think the role he played against Meath suited him very well.
I was right its the same team except Damien O'connor in for Hanrahan.....
Senior Football v Galway 2015-03-20 12:20:00
Laois Senior Football Manager Tomás O'Flaharta has announced his starting 15 for Laois' crucial Allianz League Division 2 encounter with Galway on Sunday at 2pm in Tuam.
1. Graham Brody (Portlaoise)
2. Paul Begley (Stradbally)
3. Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)
4. Damien O'Connor (Timahoe)
5. Darren Strong (Emo)
6. Robbie Kehoe (O'Dempsey's)
7. Colm Begley (Parnells)
8. Brendan Quigley (Timahoe)
9. John O'Loughlin (St Brigid's)
10. Niall Donoher (Courtwood)
11. Conor Boyle (Portlaoise)
12. Gareth Dillon (Portlaoise)
13. Ross Munnelly (Arles-Kilcruise)
14. Donal Kingston (Arles-Killeen)
15. Evan O'Carroll (Crettyard)
Huge game for us. A win would put us in a great position.
Defeat and we're looking for something from either a trip to Newry or the visit of Kildare who have had our number for some years now.
Good luck lads.
Well TOF is giving young Dillon every chance. Surely it would make more sense for him to come in off the bench. Would be less pressure on the lad. If things don't go well for him early today he'll be hawled off again destroying his confidence further. I hope he has a blinder. Its a big ask to get a result up there but not impossible. Need Ross to return to better form and for O'Connor to do OK in corner back.
Another good win today.
Played against a ferocious wind in the first half and could only manage 1-1. Our goal came out of a complete c**k up by the Galway keeper but fair play to Kingston who dispossessed him very cleanly and finished to an empty net. We had another goal chance (again Kingston) in the first half that was well saved by the keeper and a few attempts at points that were well off target to say the least. In that first half, we weren't doing as well in midfield as we had been doing but the defence did well enough against the strong wind - Galway had no goal chance all through and most of their scores came from long range shots and/or several handy frees (a good few of which were conceded by Robbie, who is a player I like but he needs to be more careful in the tackle).
Going in only 6 points down at half time, I was fairly confident we'd get back into the game. Although we ended up beating them by 12 points in the half, I didn't think we were as good as we have been. The midfield improved a bit but still wasn't dominant, Begley wasn't in the game as much as he has been, Boyle wasn't as influential as he was, Ross was still off colour (although he was getting to a lot of ball first). Kingston was really magnificent again and Donoher got through a good bit of work. Although they were taken off, I thought Evan O Carroll (in particular) and Paul Kingston did quite well although both subs (Shiel and Attride) both made their contributions. Overall, it was a good win but I'd imagine we'd have to be 25% better to give Kildare a game.
Final word on Marty Duffy who is............ undoubtedly one of the best referees in the country......
Laois stun Galway with brilliant win
http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/2203151633-d2-football-laois-stun-galway-with-brilliant-win/ (http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/2/2203151633-d2-football-laois-stun-galway-with-brilliant-win/)
Laois manager Tomas O'Flatharta spoke to Jack Nolan after their comeback win over Galway
https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/tomas-oflatharta-post-galway-1 (https://soundcloud.com/midlandssport/tomas-oflatharta-post-galway-1)
I have to hold my hands up and say I was wrong. Laois are far from relegation fodder and they are pulling results out of the fire so to speak. 7 points down last week, 6 down against Galway yesterday shows great fighting spirit and let it be said some good football. Someone posted earlier in the thread before the Roscommon game about the experienced players we have and they have led the way. Kingston is proving his ability and worth to the team and the introduction of some of the younger players has freshened things up. Shiel showed his ability lobbing the goalie.
After a very poor start they have got their act together. They are obviously fit as they are dominating the second haf in the recent games. Still not safe from relegation though as we need one more win but we might survive with another draw.
Fair play to the team and panel and it's good to admit I was wrong about these lads. If we're not careful we might actually get promoted!
Have to give credit where credit is due, how TOF and the lads have turned this league around is nothing short of miraculous. The Kildare game will be tough and they certainly wont want Laois to be the ones to relegate them, of course as a county we would take no pleasure in that......
It was good to see a few more from Laois at the match by the way. Still not hundreds but at least you'd need more than two hands to count them. More of a reception of Laois yesterday than they got for the Roscommon match in Portlaoise so that's something.
superb win...Donie was superb again for Laois and I thought the team worked as a unit to defend very well in the second half.
This bunch of players are proving people wrong I for one hope it continues to happen and everyone gets out and supports them here in Portlaoise next Saturday evening against Kildare!
big chance for laois to put kildare down into division 3 don't take the boot off the neck of kildare football lads, i know what kildare would do if the boot was on the other foot it would be there all ireland. :D
Great workrate and effort by the team. The wind made it really difficult for both teams. Galway had to put up a lead and 6 points was on the low side. Without the soft goal we would have been in trouble I think. We chipped away point by point and we were patient. We got it back to 2 and then they had a dominant 10 - 15 minute spell but they couldn't score.
The second goal was soft aswell but I felt we were on our way to winning anyway as we were level by then. Kingston was excellent again but we have the same problem that we need him at centre forward and full forward. The defence was very good in general but I think O'Connor is too loose for corner back. Not his fault as he hasn't played there regularly. Our midfield is strong but we need more scoring forwards. It was a difficult day to score in fairness.
Hopefully the goal will help Shiel settle and gain confidence at this level. As others have said, this is some turnaround and I didn't see it coming. They deserve support for the huge efforts they've been putting in and hopefully they get it Saturday night.
In terms of yesterdays game in Tuam, it really was a classic case of a game of two halves.
Donie's goal in the first half was massive, it meant the half time lead wasn't too large. The fact that Galway didn't score in the second half just shows the ferocity of the wind. Unpleasant conditions for football.
The lads stayed patient as we closed Galway's lead and we only got level with 6 minutes to play. We finished with a flourish then once young Shiel lobbed the keeper for the 2nd goal.
Was delighted to be there to witness another fine result. This team deserve a decent support at home in a local derby against our fierce rivals, Kildare. Hopefully now with the double header that a sizeable home support will be present.
I think its a 50/50 game against the Lilywhites and if we can produce second half displays like the last 3 matches, then we have every chance.
Great win last weekend. Saturday will have a real championship edge to it. Great game to get to find out where we really are.
Saturday night will big a big test despite Kildare's form in the league they still have some quality players and a couple back for this one that they have been without all year.
They will bring massive numbers to Portlaoise(its nearly easier for them to get to here that their own pitch).As Saint75 says there will be a real edge to the game.
I hope Laois relax and play they game as they have in Navan and Galway without panic not matter how things are going.
The extra support there for the double header will make for a good atmosphere I for one am looking forward to it.
After the first couple of rounds i wouldn't have given the game a 50/50 status but things have changed since then. In saying that Kildare have been very unlucky in a couple of their games and must be wondering how they only have 2 points. We have been playing second fiddle to them the past few years and they will be looking forward to the clash.
They have some excellent footballers and should bring a big crowd to O'Moore Park.
Doubt there'll be 30 on the pitch at the end of the game.
I still think Laois will need at least another point to be safe...Westmeath could beat cavan to go onto 6 and galway have Kildare at home last that could mean 6 for them....Its going to be a tight finish.Hopefully Down beat Meath and have qualified when we go to Newry on the 5th of April
Quote from: redsetanta on March 24, 2015, 10:23:38 AM
After the first couple of rounds i wouldn't have given the game a 50/50 status but things have changed since then. In saying that Kildare have been very unlucky in a couple of their games and must be wondering how they only have 2 points. We have been playing second fiddle to them the past few years and they will be looking forward to the clash.
They have some excellent footballers and should bring a big crowd to O'Moore Park.
Doubt there'll be 30 on the pitch at the end of the game.
Agree with above, we did beat them in a crucial game ( for us ) in the league a few years back I cant remember the year. If we could get a win Saturday I'd promise God I'd be good and wouldn't take any pleasure from it. :)
Yes - next Saturday will be a huge test with a lot at stake for both teams. Kildare have gotten the upper hand on us over the last 8/9 years - their backs are to the wall so there's no doubt but they will be up for it. It would be a massive boost for us to come out on top.
Lets hope we get a great crowd at this one and show the players that we appreciate the hard word they are putting in. Nice to see decent support at the Galway game especially with the poor support at the Roscommon game at home.
No excuse whatsoever for supporters not to go as the GAA are putting on this double header at the same price as a single game, 10 euro for tickets pre purchased and 15 euro for tickets purchased on the day at the ground.
Allianz Leagues GAA Hurling and Football
Laois v Aontroim 5pm (Hurling)
Laois v Cill Dara 7pm (Football)
Ticket Information:
Pre-purchase price:
Adult: €10
Match Day Price:
Adult: €15
Juveniles can attend this match free of charge and do not need a ticket.
All tickets for this match are UNRESERVED
Don't forget if you buy your ticket anytime before Friday evening in any Centra or Super Value store or the Co. Board offices you can get a Five Euro discount off the price of the ticket.
For those who didn't get to Galway last week here are the highlights courtesy of TG4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5tOcQyvBuo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5tOcQyvBuo)
I'd imagine that this will be a real championship style encounter on Saturday. Kildare backs are really up against the wall and that's always dangerous. Although our lads have shown a lot of character to battle back from the bad start, I don't think the performance level against Galway would be enough. We'll probably have to show roughly the same level of performance that we got against Roscommon to win this one. On the positive side, the confidence of our lads should be up and if we all turn up, we should have nothing to fear. Hope Hanrahan recovers from the injury in time - we're a bit short of backs!
We've a dreadful recent record against the West Dubs - hopefully we can change that on Saturday.
The bookies have it a very even game. I'd take the draw!
There is no excuse for a small Laois crowd at the games Saturday.
2 senior games of huge iportance for Laois, one in each code. Only €10 admission for adultsif purchased before Saturday. U16's free and clubs can bring their younger members along with 3 adults free.
If we cannot get a sizeable crowd on Saturday we may forget it.
We won't get massive support and you can be guaranteed half the hurling crowd will leave after the Hurling Kildare will out number us 3-1 at least I hope Im wrong I know Kildare matches always bring a few more Laois fans but it will need a lot more than what was already coming....
Spread the word get your mates there for the game!
Quote from: Unlaoised on March 26, 2015, 11:52:04 AM
We won't get massive support and you can be guaranteed half the hurling crowd will leave after the Hurling Kildare will out number us 3-1 at least I hope Im wrong I know Kildare matches always bring a few more Laois fans but it will need a lot more than what was already coming....
Spread the word get your mates there for the game!
[/quote
i have also been at games in O'Moore park where the football was first and the football crowd got up and left after the game was over .
Iwould say that of the two crowds the football crowd is the worst offender in this regard.
Quote from: redsetanta on March 26, 2015, 02:01:10 PM
Iwould say that of the two crowds the football crowd is the worst offender in this regard.
Pity really for such a small county we don't all pull together I myself like both codes equally and attend both on a very regular basis when Laois are involved in all grades....
Same team I hear but waiting on colm Begley to pass a fitness test....
Moolick starts alongside Gary white in midfield for them ....I think we can win that battle for certain
Quote from: Unlaoised on March 27, 2015, 05:24:17 PM
Same team I hear but waiting on colm Begley to pass a fitness test....
Moolick starts alongside Gary white in midfield for them ....I think we can win that battle for certain
Laois1 Graham Brody
2 Paul Begley
3 Mark Timmons
4 Damien O'Connor
5 Darren Strong
6 Robbie Kehoe
7 Colm Begley
8 Brendan Quigley
9 John O'Loughlin
10 Niall Donoher
11 Conor Boyle
12 Evan O'Carroll
13 Ross Munnelly
14 Donal Kingston
15 Paul Kingston
Kildare1 Mark Donnellan
2 Ciaran Fitzpatrick
3 Mick O Grady
4 Ollie Lyons
5 Keith Cribbin
6 Fergal Conway
7 Emmet Bolton
8 Gary White
9 Tommy Moolick
10 Daniel Flynn
11 Eoghan O Flaherty
12 Paul Cribbin
13 Fionn Dowling
14 Padraig Fogarty
15 Alan Smith
When you consider we are pulling from a threadbare squad as portlaoise kid said its an incredible turnaround.
I think Kildare are a much better side than their position suggests. They will be desperate for the points today so well
have to match that hunger. O'Connor at corner back is a worry but I guess there just isn't anyone else. Damien is a good footballer but Jason Ryan will know he's not a corner back.
We'll need a big game from Ross today and young Kingston. It's a given now that donie will deliver.
Hope Evan has a good game. Should be a championship feel to tonights game.
Best of luck to the hurlers too !!
You would have to worry about O'Connor, maybe they'll move Keogh into the corner? Let's hope there's a big home crowd tonight. There really is no excuse for there not to be. Midfield will be vital, win the dirty ball there and both forward lines will punish.
f**k it anyway, is there anything worse than losing to them? :(
But much and all as I dislike them, you have to hand it to them for digging in and getting that result in our back yard.
We've an awful recent record against them.
All to play for on Easter Sunday unfortunately.
Thought Kildare were the better side for most of this game. Certainly in terms of possession. Frustrating to watch them pass instead of shoot. Kingston really os the focus of the laois attack and he was held well enough. Stupid by him to get a red card too which could come back to haunt Laois in final game... his younger brother was whipped off too early. Was a bit unlucky not to get on the end of a few good moves.
Brody too fond of soloing out the the field and will get caught one of these days!
Into the last minute and a point up I thought the worst can happen now is a draw .......Jazus and red for Donie. One disastrous minute but we should have being 3 or 4 up at that point only for terrible decisions near goal.
We'll now we have to get something in Newry next week or correct me if I'm wrong
We need Roscommon to beat Galway and Westmeath.
Its a pity we didnt kill it off, O'Carrolls shot on goal would have finished it but in fairness Kildare did show bottle to win it. I thought the referee gave some shocking calls on both teams throughout the match but by god he gave Laois nothing in the last few minutes of the game but thats not why we lost we lost because we didnt kill them off when we had the chance.
I thought Laois were naive but will learn alot from this match.
If memory serves me right Kingston has been sent off like this before. Don't know if he was the instigator of this but he got the card....any one have a clear view of what happened?
Quote from: Catch and Kick on March 29, 2015, 12:32:16 PM
If memory serves me right Kingston has been sent off like this before. Don't know if he was the instigator of this but he got the card....any one have a clear view of what happened?
Kingston wasn't shy about letting a few of the Kildare players know the score when Laois went ahead. A few of the Kildare players gave it back with interest when we went back ahead and he reacted. Silly stuff on both sides.
Happy to snatch the win last night but I wouldn't be very confident that we will repeat the feat again should we meet in June.
Sick after that yesterday.
Overall, I suppose you have to credit Kildare for the way they came back to snatch the game at the end but I don't agree that the better team won yesterday. As someone else said, despite everything, we had the game in our own hands and poor decision-making in front of goal probably cost us the game in the end.
As far as I was concerned, our key men and in particular our midfielders were abused the whole way through the game. The Kildare tactic seemed to be to focus on the man rather than the ball when the ball was on its way into the midfield area. Our lads got no protection at all from the referee and I have to take my hats off to the two of them for holding their discipline in what must have been a really frustrating evening for them.
The same thing goes (to a lesser extent) for Kingston. Although he had fewer sneaky digs to contend with, he was being pulled and dragged the whole game long. I have been following Kingston since the beginnng of his career and of all the Laois players to be accused of aggression and off-the-ball messing, he would be the very last on this list. I often thought that his biggest weakness was that he doesn't show enough physical aggression (compared to the likes of Michael Murphy). I certainly don't ever remember seeing him sent off before (maybe the earlier poster is confusing him with Conor Meredith) and he seemed very surprised to get the red card. I didn't see anything happening but for sure nobody ended up on the deck and nobody got hurt. Maybe Donnelly's Hollow could tell us about the nature of his reaction?? At the same time, it looked at one stage as though Tom Shiels might not escape from the ground with all his limbs. Some of the tackles on him could only be described as an assault for which he wasn't even awarded a free, never mind a punishment for the culprit. It was also clear that the Kildare man fouled the ball in the lead up to the goal.
This, by the way, is the same referee who did such a great job of the All-Ireland u-21 semi final between Cavan and Dublin last year when he robbed Cavan of at least a draw and had to be escorted out of the grounds. How they let people like that continue to referee big matches is beyond me. Anyway, I certainly hope there is some video evidence that exonerates Donie because we desperately need him for the game in Down.
Given the shortage of resources, I thought the backs did very well. Timmons was again masterful and for almost 70 minutes Kildare had no serious chance of a goal. Robbie Kehoe did the sweeping job very well and Colm Begley and Strong were both good again (although Darren had a few wild attempts at scores in the first half when a bit more calmness might have been better). On the down side, we conceded several soft frees again (some of which were very dubious indeed) but nevertheless we have to be careful about that.
The forwards didn't quite click yesterday although you did get the impression that there could be goals in them. Although Niall Donoher had an excellent game in general play, a few crucial misses in the second half cost us. Same for Evan O Carroll. Had a really good game overall but wasn't quite able to finish all his chances clinically - the goal chance in particular wasn't really a goal chance from the angle he was at and it was an opportunity wasted. Conor Boyle sprayed the ball around very well but couldn't get the scoreboard ticking. Ross had another off day. Although Paul Kingston has lost out in 75% of the balls that went into his area, I think it was very harsh to make the change so quickly, especially given the fact that he is only finding his feet at this level - I'm not sure what impact it has on young lads' long-term confidence. Having said that, Tom Shiels really looks like he could turn into a super player - a few things didn't quite work for him but he clearly has what it takes. Overall, I don't think we would have too much to fear from Kildare come the championship.
Although I wouldn't necessarily see them as automatic starters now, it would be really great to have O'Leary, McMahon and Meredith available for the championship squad. I wonder is there any chance of that happening?
Quote from: Giovanni on March 29, 2015, 02:39:43 PM
Maybe Donnelly's Hollow could tell us about the nature of his reaction??
There didn't appear to be all that much in it from what I saw to be honest. Kildare player didn't make a big deal of it.
I didn't see what happened myself but for sure no Kildare player seemed to be making any issue of it (which in fairness was the case all through). JOL swung an arm a bit dangerously at a player behind him in the first half and that player (No. 8) didn't make too much of an issue of that either in fairness to him.
A tough loss to take last night, which was made even more sour by the jeering reaction of a few young Kildare supporters sitting behind me. It was a game we could have won but I'd imagine both sets of supporters will be very disappointed by the overall performance of their respective teams. Laois only played football for twenty minutes of the game while Kildare reminded me of the ponderous play of the Northern teams of the last decade, with their constant hand passing back and across the 45m line without any penetration. It was a frustrating game to watch at times.
The goal at the end was a very, very bad goal to concede from a defensive perspective. After O'Carroll missed his goal attempt the forwards were switched off. Kildare took a short kickout and worked it down the field through the hand to open up a one on one goal opportunity. How does this happen? The top teams wouldn't let it happen. They would be cuter. Why did no Laois player opt to bring down the man and maybe take a black card to slow the game down? Why did all the Laois players rush up to tackle the Kildare players only to see the ball handpassed over their head to the newly free man the defender just left? This stuff defies logic. It was all very reminiscent of Timmons last minute goal in the club championship against Portlaoise two years ago.
I don't want to sound negative here but I didn't think our defensive was as solid as people think. The Kildare full forward was very dangerous he won a lot of ball and caused Timmons problems. Although Mark dealt ok with him he certainly was a hand full and our saving grace was that he lacked support on a number of occasions. Our half back line was cut through very easily on numerous occasions in both halves. Cribben and O'Flathery were running at us and they had loads of time on the ball but fortunately for us they did not use it very well. Overlaps were not tracked at all, and this has been a feature throughout the league. In fairness to Robbie Kehoe he did sweep into a lot of space and stop the long kick pass which important in stopping counter attacks.
Up front, Paul K had a bad start but everyone has days like that and he will be back again. No issue with TOF replacing him, at least it shows he is active on the line. His replacement Tom Sheils really impressed me with his ball winning last night. I think he won every ball that came his way and his running power had his marker in trouble on two or three occasions. He is still a little raw at this level and maybe he is slightly naive in possession but he can only improve from here. He had a bad collision with a Kildare player near the end but that looked purely accidental with two lads going all out for the ball.
Quigley caught one of the best kickouts I have ever seen in the lead up to O'Connors point, which was a great score. As someone pointed out, Brody was nearly caught running with the ball twice last night. But in his defence nobody was really looking to take the ball off him so he just took off and tried to start a counter attack on his own. A dangerous tactic for sure.
Didn't see the Kingston incident but it will be difficult to get a result against Down without him. Ross will no doubt be targeted again and scores may be hard to come by in that match. But all is to play for and the lads will be looking forward to it
It looked like Kildare were going to run away with it in the second half as they were winning every breaking ball at midfield. Obviously this is something we have to work on but the team showed great spirit to come back and get close to victory. This running in to tackle the man and leave your own is obviously something they've been working on in training. The man that rushes in is meant to put pressure on the ball while other lads get back to mark the player he just left. It's a risky tactic, it worked on occasions but sometimes you just shouldn't do it. 1 point up into injury time definitely wasn't a time to do it.
The positives: Timmons again, he was superb. There was a huge amount of quality ball that went in towards his man. He dealt with it very well. Keogh is doing well in the sweeper role. Begley was superb when moved to half forward, I think he's wasted at half back. Shiel looked very dangerous as did O'Carroll at times. Kingston is class, he's vital to us and will be a huge loss next week.
On the red card incident. It wasn't Kingston who was giving the Kildare lads any mouthing after we took the lead. As usual it was Billy Sheehan. I'm not 100% certain but I think it was Sheehan or Shiel who was struck after the Kildare goal went in. Kingston reacted but not too bad, he was calling out to the linesman to tell the referee about the incident. To say his sending off was harsh is an understatement. Probably no video evidence so he wont be getting off.
With Galway winning today it's more likely we'll get relegated. If we lose to Down we have to hope Galway beat Kildare and Roscommon beat Westmeath. Hopefully we can stay up. Progress has been made in recent weeks but obviously we have a lot of work to do before championship time.
There was Laois player on the ground (Donie ?) just after the Kildare goal I didn't see it but assumed this was the incident, he did look surprised but the umpires called it.
The ref was poor Conway seemed to over carry in the lead up to their goal.
Galway wining today is a bad result for us I'd fancy Kildare to beat them next Sunday.
Was Paul Begley injured I felt we could have done with the extra bit of power last night
It was Billy or one of the other forwards, possibly Shiel who was on the ground. That's what Donie was reacting too. A shocking decision to send him off. Begley was injured I think.
We can talk all day about negative tactics in the game but it's up to teams to adapt and I think that's a fascinating aspect; I don't like all this hand passing but it's within the rules.
By big beef is refereeing. My God. What is going to be done about the standard of referees. It's too easy dismiss critics as having no respect - sure we would all like to say nothing about are but they are so so bad.
Game after game we see refs giving one side an easy ride and hammering their opponents. then maybe after all the damage is done, after token free are given to balance out the free count. It is shocking.
One minute 4 players surround a player and pulverise him and the ball carrier is penalised for over carrying, the next incident for the opposition results in a free against the tacklers......can't accept this as being ok.
The assessment of referees is the greatest waste of time. The assessors seem to know as little about the game as a man from Mongolia. They are obsessed with presentation, socks up, number of subs warming up, incursions onto the pitch and never pick up on the consistent inconsistencies that occur in a single match! That's mouthful I know.
I'd agree kingston probably was hard done by and Billy Sheehan may have been he cause of it. He gets under my skin. Chalky White got away with murder last night and should have been sent off but cutely Kildare subbed him before it happened.
In reality this is a weaker Div 2 than last year. Donegal & Monaghan replaced by Westmeath & Kildare. Also Armagh gone too. We now go into the last game with the possibility of being relegated to Div 3. Things are not looking good for championship now. We'll beat Carlow but after that we will struggle. Hard to blame management as the players are not there. I hope I'm wrong but our best players are getting older and Minor & U21 failures of the last few years mean there are few replacements.
Quote from: Catch and Kick on March 29, 2015, 11:42:35 PM
We can talk all day about negative tactics in the game but it's up to teams to adapt and I think that's a fascinating aspect; I don't like all this hand passing but it's within the rules.
By big beef is refereeing. My God. What is going to be done about the standard of referees. It's too easy dismiss critics as having no respect - sure we would all like to say nothing about are but they are so so bad.
Game after game we see refs giving one side an easy ride and hammering their opponents. then maybe after all the damage is done, after token free are given to balance out the free count. It is shocking.
One minute 4 players surround a player and pulverise him and the ball carrier is penalised for over carrying, the next incident for the opposition results in a free against the tacklers......can't accept this as being ok.
The assessment of referees is the greatest waste of time. The assessors seem to know as little about the game as a man from Mongolia. They are obsessed with presentation, socks up, number of subs warming up, incursions onto the pitch and never pick up on the consistent inconsistencies that occur in a single match! That's mouthful I know.
I'd agree kingston probably was hard done by and Billy Sheehan may have been he cause of it. He gets under my skin. Chalky White got away with murder last night and should have been sent off but cutely Kildare subbed him before it happened.
Agree with every word of this. The nature of the game is that the rules are not always easy to interpret but the lack of common sense shown by so many referees is mind-boggling.
One more thing. If it was Billy Sheehan's actions that led to the dismissal of Donie Kingston last week, I hope if anything worthwhile comes out of it that the management will finally see that nothing good comes from leering in people's faces or winding people up, particularly when there is nothing to back it up on the pitch. I just hope they take proper note
Look no one so far has seen the Kingston red card incident, yet posters are quick to connect Billy to this even though they haven't seen anything. A lot of people don't like Billy and his antics, but I would suggest you'd get it hard to find a more passionate or committed wearer of the Laois jersey over the last 10 years than Billy despite where he comes from.
Native born Laois players take note.
When Billy arrived on the field on Saturday night he was immediately harassed by a Kildare defender and a little later by 2, it was at this point Donie intervened, this definitely wasn't the red card incident. Lets not make assumptions here.
On another note, I thought there was a Laois player (I'm not going to name him for ) didn't exactly commit to at least two 50/50 balls, did anyone else notice this ?
The point I'm making is that the camp will know exactly what happened and how it happened. IF it's the case that Billy Sheehan did something stupid, which led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do.
As regards his commitment, I would personally rather see him use his energy to focus on what's happening on the ball, rather than constantly getting involved in verbals with opposing players off the ball. As far as I'm concerned, he adds very little - I wouldn't confuse passion with shouting into opposing players faces. The Dubs were at that a few years ago under Caffrey and it was only later when they stopped all that and focused on the things that matter that they started to win All-Irelands.
I saw the Donnie Kingston incident and it probably deserved a yellow if anything. One of our lads was injured on the ground after a bad tackle by two Kildare players, not a dirty tackle but a very hard one. They were standing over him and shouting at him to get up or something and Donnie ran over and with his two hands pushed the Kildare lad away. If he had pushed him in the chest there would have been nothing about it but his hands were shoulder high and might have looked like a punch which it most certainly was not.
It was something that happens in ever game and there's never a thing about it. That ref was very poor all through and I think we only got three frees in scoreable positions in the whole game which says a lot considering the fouls that were committed on our lads going through.
In fairness there was no reaction from the Kildare player to his credit but the Kildare keeper seemed to be egging on the umpire to report it, which he eventually did after a few minutes. A red card was very harsh and there really was no need for it after a hard and fairly fought game by both sides.
All credit to Kildare for the way they fought back after the way their last few games went and I think they will beat Galway next week as they are too good to be playing Div3 football. That would put us into one hell of a battle to stay up.
We have a huge game next week and we have to do what Kildare did and play like our lives depended on it. Meath beat them last Sunday and theres no reason we cant do the same. We have the players to do it but Down will also need a win to insure them of a place in Div.1 next year.
Quote from: Junior Ex Laoistalk on March 30, 2015, 12:05:33 PM
I saw the Donnie Kingston incident and it probably deserved a yellow if anything. One of our lads was injured on the ground after a bad tackle by two Kildare players, not a dirty tackle but a very hard one. They were standing over him and shouting at him to get up or something and Donnie ran over and with his two hands pushed the Kildare lad away. If he had pushed him in the chest there would have been nothing about it but his hands were shoulder high and might have looked like a punch which it most certainly was not.
It was something that happens in ever game and there's never a thing about it. That ref was very poor all through and I think we only got three frees in scoreable positions in the whole game which says a lot considering the fouls that were committed on our lads going through.
In fairness there was no reaction from the Kildare player to his credit but the Kildare keeper seemed to be egging on the umpire to report it, which he eventually did after a few minutes. A red card was very harsh and there really was no need for it after a hard and fairly fought game by both sides.
All credit to Kildare for the way they fought back after the way their last few games went and I think they will beat Galway next week as they are too good to be playing Div3 football. That would put us into one hell of a battle to stay up.
We have a huge game next week and we have to do what Kildare did and play like our lives depended on it. Meath beat them last Sunday and theres no reason we cant do the same. We have the players to do it but Down will also need a win to insure them of a place in Div.1 next year.
Tom Shiels I believe was the player the player on the ground, would that be correct Junior ?
Quote from: Giovanni on March 30, 2015, 09:51:08 AM
The point I'm making is that the camp will know exactly what happened and how it happened. IF it's the case that Billy Sheehan did something stupid, which led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do.
As regards his commitment, I would personally rather see him use his energy to focus on what's happening on the ball, rather than constantly getting involved in verbals with opposing players off the ball. As far as I'm concerned, he adds very little - I wouldn't confuse passion with shouting into opposing players faces. The Dubs were at that a few years ago under Caffrey and it was only later when they stopped all that and focused on the things that matter that they started to win All-Irelands.
Donie Kingston gets sent off but you indicate the stupid one here is Billy Sheehan, don't understand that logic. Its clear from above you don't like him and you have your mind made up anyway.
Sheehan is always at it i don't know why he is in most laois squads over the years because he brings nothing to the team, trying to wine up other players is his game, remember the ARMAGH game last year i am sure they are looking forward to seen him up north next year. i think they would be better off giving a young player a run Sheehan there years and and its worse he will be getting, also its a joke to say his club is Emo i was talking to an fella from around there a while ago he says he doesn't even train with the club :-[
Quote from: OTF on March 30, 2015, 12:55:28 PM
Quote from: Giovanni on March 30, 2015, 09:51:08 AM
The point I'm making is that the camp will know exactly what happened and how it happened. IF it's the case that Billy Sheehan did something stupid, which led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do.
As regards his commitment, I would personally rather see him use his energy to focus on what's happening on the ball, rather than constantly getting involved in verbals with opposing players off the ball. As far as I'm concerned, he adds very little - I wouldn't confuse passion with shouting into opposing players faces. The Dubs were at that a few years ago under Caffrey and it was only later when they stopped all that and focused on the things that matter that they started to win All-Irelands.
Donie Kingston gets sent off but you indicate the stupid one here is Billy Sheehan, don't understand that logic. Its clear from above you don't like him and you have your mind made up anyway.
My point was that if the stupid actions of any Laois player led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do with that player. It is quite conceivable that the stupid actions of one Laois player could lead to the sending off of another. If Donie Kingston was dragged into a conflict with opposing players because one of his teammates was winding those opposing players up, it's not Donie Kingstons fault - he can hardly be expected to stand by while one of his teammates is being assaulted on the ground. This would be my view whether the culprit is Billy Sheehan or anyone else.
Aside from that incident, yes I admit that I have made up my mind about Billy Sheehan having watched him for the last 8 or 10 years. I don't see what he brings to the team and I don't think it's a coincidence that our performance levels generally increased when he was on the bench.
great to see the Laois mentality about intercounty football.. wrap in cotton wool and place in an incubator.. they'll do us proud some day..
if people are looking to get handy frees and not for the opposition to bully or intimate our players , the wait won't be long, Div 3 will be easier, and i don't think a championship mentality is going to appear before the Carlow game is upon us,
Sheean for all his limitations is committed, is perpared to win the dirty ball a place his body on the line, did Carroll's chance for the goal near the end of the second half not come from sheeans work , Kingstons red card correct , if you run 10 M and half heartly throw both hands into a lads face and think alls well,it's time to go look at a few football games to understand the rules.. Evan was the player on the ground for this incident, commitment V's skill who wins
Quote from: Giovanni on March 30, 2015, 01:37:12 PM
Quote from: OTF on March 30, 2015, 12:55:28 PM
Quote from: Giovanni on March 30, 2015, 09:51:08 AM
The point I'm making is that the camp will know exactly what happened and how it happened. IF it's the case that Billy Sheehan did something stupid, which led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do.
As regards his commitment, I would personally rather see him use his energy to focus on what's happening on the ball, rather than constantly getting involved in verbals with opposing players off the ball. As far as I'm concerned, he adds very little - I wouldn't confuse passion with shouting into opposing players faces. The Dubs were at that a few years ago under Caffrey and it was only later when they stopped all that and focused on the things that matter that they started to win All-Irelands.
Donie Kingston gets sent off but you indicate the stupid one here is Billy Sheehan, don't understand that logic. Its clear from above you don't like him and you have your mind made up anyway.
My point was that if the stupid actions of any Laois player led to the sending off of Donie Kingston, the management should know what to do with that player. It is quite conceivable that the stupid actions of one Laois player could lead to the sending off of another. If Donie Kingston was dragged into a conflict with opposing players because one of his teammates was winding those opposing players up, it's not Donie Kingstons fault - he can hardly be expected to stand by while one of his teammates is being assaulted on the ground. This would be my view whether the culprit is Billy Sheehan or anyone else.
Aside from that incident, yes I admit that I have made up my mind about Billy Sheehan having watched him for the last 8 or 10 years. I don't see what he brings to the team and I don't think it's a coincidence that our performance levels generally increased when he was on the bench.
You'r honest enough to admit it fair enough.
It's ten years pretty much automatic on every team under 5 different managers, have they all being wrong.
Quote from: Windbreaker on March 30, 2015, 01:47:45 PM
great to see the Laois mentality about intercounty football.. wrap in cotton wool and place in an incubator.. they'll do us proud some day..
if people are looking to get handy frees and not for the opposition to bully or intimate our players , the wait won't be long, Div 3 will be easier, and i don't think a championship mentality is going to appear before the Carlow game is upon us,
Sheean for all his limitations is committed, is perpared to win the dirty ball a place his body on the line, did Carroll's chance for the goal near the end of the second half not come from sheeans work , Kingstons red card correct , if you run 10 M and half heartly throw both hands into a lads face and think alls well,it's time to go look at a few football games to understand the rules.. Evan was the player on the ground for this incident, commitment V's skill who wins
Exactly I think a lot of Laois supporters have this romantic notion of the beautifull game they don't see any need for winning dirty ball.
Quote from: Windbreaker on March 30, 2015, 01:47:45 PM
great to see the Laois mentality about intercounty football.. wrap in cotton wool and place in an incubator.. they'll do us proud some day..
if people are looking to get handy frees and not for the opposition to bully or intimate our players , the wait won't be long, Div 3 will be easier, and i don't think a championship mentality is going to appear before the Carlow game is upon us,
Sheean for all his limitations is committed, is perpared to win the dirty ball a place his body on the line, did Carroll's chance for the goal near the end of the second half not come from sheeans work , Kingstons red card correct , if you run 10 M and half heartly throw both hands into a lads face and think alls well,it's time to go look at a few football games to understand the rules.. Evan was the player on the ground for this incident, commitment V's skill who wins
don't know what games you have seen Sheehan dirty ball and committed, he is at other player the minute the ball is threw up laughing and shouting into a tyrones players face a few years ago come to mind players that let me add won all irelands and this ape laughing and them, i always said if he was any good he would be with kerry.
We only played for 20 mins on Saturday but still almost won. Bolton makes a habit of popping up with goals and should have been tracked from the kick out.
To be fair to the team and MGMT we are trying to play a decent brand of football. Any chance we had to kick the ball we did.
We are screwed for defenders. When p begley didn't start I feared the worst. Attride and O'connor just aren't corner backs but what can we do when there is no one else willing to commit.
thought c begley and timmons were excellent. Damien o conner had a great attacking game.
Thought midfield weren't great but quigley made one of the fetches of the decade towards the end.
Johnno did well at times with his direct running but i thought midfield was a battle we lost for most of the game.
donie and Evan were great when they ran at them.
Donoher was excellent. He's been great lately. Passing and scoring. Ross is just completely out of sorts which makes our recent results all the more impressive. Boyle mixed the good with the bad. Shiels looks good. P Kingston might still be better
coming in from the bench ..
Down match without Donie and Ross not playing well seems a very long shot.
Nothing to fear in the championship against Kildare but could really do with mcmahon back.
Kildare are just not dignified winners. The supporters around me lost the plot completely at the final whistle.
Billy has always gave 100% when playing for Laois. Bit mouthy but plays like he really gives a shit. Thought he gave us that bit of a spark when he came on
Quote from: ILikeStrawberryJam on March 30, 2015, 07:19:58 PM
We only played for 20 mins on Saturday but still almost won. Bolton makes a habit of popping up with goals and should have been tracked from the kick out.
To be fair to the team and MGMT we are trying to play a decent brand of football. Any chance we had to kick the ball we did.
We are screwed for defenders. When p begley didn't start I feared the worst. Attride and O'connor just aren't corner backs but what can we do when there is no one else willing to commit.
thought c begley and timmons were excellent. Damien o conner had a great attacking game.
Thought midfield weren't great but quigley made one of the fetches of the decade towards the end.
Johnno did well at times with his direct running but i thought midfield was a battle we lost for most of the game.
donie and Evan were great when they ran at them.
Donoher was excellent. He's been great lately. Passing and scoring. Ross is just completely out of sorts which makes our recent results all the more impressive. Boyle mixed the good with the bad. Shiels looks good. P Kingston might still be better
coming in from the bench ..
Down match without Donie and Ross not playing well seems a very long shot.
Nothing to fear in the championship against Kildare but could really do with mcmahon back.
Kildare are just not dignified winners. The supporters around me lost the plot completely at the final whistle.
Billy has always gave 100% when playing for Laois. Bit mouthy but plays like he really gives a shit. Thought he gave us that bit of a spark when he came on
I would agree totally with your post, some great points. Kildare fans around me lost the head completely when they won yet the same guys were saying how rubbish Laois were throughout the match. They have zero respect for us and its not something I give a toss about tbh, they as a support base look down on us and I suppose thats ok for them because that what gets them off but its amazing how for such an inferior county in their eyes we annoy them so much.
Still sick after the defeat on Saturday. Kildare fans do seem to have a superiority complex when it comes to playing Laois. Its always been the case for as long as I remember. Should the teams meet again on June 6th if we manage to overcome Carlow, this defeat will spur the Laois team on hugely.
Positives on the night: Mark Timmons was outstanding. If he gets injured, we're in big trouble. Tom Shiel had a great game when he came on and looks to have great potential. Donie Kingston would make any team in the country.
Donie is a huge loss for the game against Down. Hopefully we can get a result there. We deserve to stay in this division.
Quote from: County Man on March 30, 2015, 10:31:48 PM
Still sick after the defeat on Saturday. Kildare fans do seem to have a superiority complex when it comes to playing Laois. Its always been the case for as long as I remember. Should the teams meet again on June 6th if we manage to overcome Carlow, this defeat will spur the Laois team on hugely.
Positives on the night: Mark Timmons was outstanding. If he gets injured, we're in big trouble. Tom Shiel had a great game when he came on and looks to have great potential. Donie Kingston would make any team in the country.
Donie is a huge loss for the game against Down. Hopefully we can get a result there. We deserve to stay in this division.
There isn't a lot in at the minute if we meet it's a 50/50 game.
As regards their supporters,very like the Dubs they have little knowledge of the game this superiority is in their heads, prior to 97 we used beat them like a drum.
Kingston was unlucky he just pushed the man away from standing over O'Carroll who looked like he got raked with studs in the face...
Will Donie miss the Carlow game aswell or whats the rule?
Laois played great football for 15 minutes on saturday night it was nearly enough to beat a very poor Kildare team...
Very Naive not to foul in the build up to the Kildare goal then again their player did take 8 steps with the ball the ref was about to blow had the whistle up to his lips and bottled it!
Have to agree with one thing – we are getting really tight for backs. Apart from the 6 that started Saturday night, we have Paul Begley and Attride and Conor Boyle could also play in defence.
It's a disaster how many backs have pulled off the panel or not committed at all over the past year or two. O'Leary, McMahon, Denis Booth, Healy, Lillis.
Jesus, we could badly do with two or three of those lads.
If Timmons got injured we'd be in big trouble. At this stage if any of them got injured we'd be in trouble. I have to say though that we need to get Colm Begley out of there. He's doing well but he can influence the game much more in a roving half forward role. With Kingston gone for the Down match we have to move him forward. Team I'd pick for championship at this stage:
Brody
Begley
Timmons
Keogh
Strong
Attride
O'Connor
Quigley
O'Loughlin
Donagher
Kingston
Begley
Munnelly
O'Carroll
Kingston/Shiel
Keogh has been doing really well at 6 but he's more of a corner back than any of the others. It'll be interesting to see how we get on without Kingston on Sunday. He's been the main man all throughout the league so it's time for someone else to step up.
Quote from: OTF on March 31, 2015, 08:35:37 AM
Quote from: County Man on March 30, 2015, 10:31:48 PM
Still sick after the defeat on Saturday. Kildare fans do seem to have a superiority complex when it comes to playing Laois. Its always been the case for as long as I remember. Should the teams meet again on June 6th if we manage to overcome Carlow, this defeat will spur the Laois team on hugely.
Positives on the night: Mark Timmons was outstanding. If he gets injured, we're in big trouble. Tom Shiel had a great game when he came on and looks to have great potential. Donie Kingston would make any team in the country.
Donie is a huge loss for the game against Down. Hopefully we can get a result there. We deserve to stay in this division.
There isn't a lot in at the minute if we meet it's a 50/50 game.
As regards their supporters,very like the Dubs they have little knowledge of the game this superiority is in their heads, prior to 97 we used beat them like a drum.
what ever about kildare little knowledge, but the Dub's who have 22 all irelands isn't it, and one of the best supported teams in the country, and yes outside of Dublin to i have been at matches where they out number the home support let it be in portlaoise, tullamore, Navan, or Newbridge, as kildare prior 97 could you not say the same about laois Micko 03.
It'll be interesting to see who replaces Kingston on Sunday.
The experience of Sheehan maybe? I wouldn't be his biggest fan but he might be the best option to start with.
Huge task to get something from Newry without Donie. I think we'll be relying on results elsewhere going our way.
It's all getting very complicated in this division heading into the last games this weekend.
As things stand:
No team in the second tier is certain of what situation they will be in by 4pm on Sunday afternoon.
Not one team is guaranteed a place in the bottom two or the top two going into the final round of fixtures.
Down top the Division on eight points but Roscommon, Meath or Cavan or both (though unlikely) and Galway could go through.
If Down beat Laois in Newry, the second promotion place will almost certainly be decided by points difference.
Meath have a +14 points difference and home advantage against Cavan but if Roscommon beat Westmeath, they will be promoted because they beat Meath at Dr Hyde Park earlier in the league and the Royals will then be hoping for Laois to beat Down.
If two teams finish level on points, it's decided by the head-to-head result. If three teams are level on points, it reverts to points difference.
In the relegation battle, Westmeath and Kildare must win to have any chance of avoiding the drop.
Westmeath's -22 scoring difference means they will most likely need to beat Roscommon and hope Kildare and Laois are beaten.
Kildare need to beat Galway by at least four points and hope either Laois or Westmeath lose. They could get away with a draw but only if Laois lose by at least seven in Newry.
A draw will be enough for Laois to be safe, while a draw or a defeat to Kildare by three or less will keep Galway in the Division.
It is going to be quite a scramble for survival.
Fixtures (all games to be played at 3pm):
Down v Laois; Galway v Kildare; Meath v Cavan; Westmeath v Roscommon
best team won on sat, we only really had the better of it for maybe 15 mins. That said, we maybe could have snuck it late on, Kildares lack of confidence really showed when we got the goal.
Think some of the praise been given to Timmons is a little ott. He did ok given the quality of ball kicked in to his opponent but I thought their 14 was effective and important for them and won nearly every ball kicked in. Attride struggled on Smith, thought switching him and Robbie would have made a lot of sense. Robbie for me is not a number 6, he did ok on ball but given his brief seemed to be sitting back in front of the full back line Kildare still managed to get a lot of quality ball into inside forwards.
Midfield we were beaten in which is disappointing since we are as good as any pairing out there on paper. O'Loughlin was not as effective carrying as he usually is and Quigley was very quiet. Kildare also worked the ball through hands through our midfield and half back line too easily at times
Up front Donie Kingston was excellent, on this form there are few better, I'd like to see him play closer to goal if at all possible. O'Carroll good too, think he took the wrong option though going for goal late on, if he takes a point and we go two up we prob win game imo. Ross was poor , thought Billy should have been brought in earlier, playing 3 inside into that wind was a big mistake tactically. Paul Kingston possibly slightly hard done by, but he failed to win at least 5 balls that went into him. Shiel did well, thought we didn't get support to our inside forwards quickly enough at times, which lead to turnovers
Down will be a tough task, especially away without Kingston, but we have shown good spirit lately and should be there abouts. Btw who is on the panel other than 26 named for last Sat? Couldn't think of any myself, I'm sure there must be a few more involved
Sunday will be difficult but not impossible...
Maybe moving John O'Loughlin to centre forward could be an option.
He was very quiet on Saturday night and looked out of sorts but if giving the ball closer to goals he has a proven scoring record of goals and points...
Finn is an Option for Midfield with Quigley as is Darren Strong both are very fit men and could cover the ground.
Attride could come in for strong at right half back.Think hanrahan deserves another chance at corner back.he was going well there before he got injured in Meath.
People will right us off but these lads have shown already that they love been against the odds...
My team for Sunday would be:
1. Brody
2. Begley (if fit)
3. Timmons
4. Kehoe
5. Strong
6. Hanrahan (if fit, switching with Robbie depending on matchups) or Attride
7. Begley
8. Quigley
9. JOL
10. Donoher
11. Boyle
12. O' Carroll
13. Ross
14. Finn
15. Shiels
Replacing donie with finn giovanni jaysus I think we're screwed if we do that. I think throwing Billy in is our best option. get him to run the full back a bit. Donie was carried the team this year I can't see any way we can win without him. Maybe if Ross had a blinder but that seems very unlikely on current form. Wheather we survive or not after Sundays results something has to be done to find out the reason why so many of our better footballers don't want to play for the county anymore. its not common in other counties to be missing so many. has the commitment become too much? Is it the 14 men behind the ball? It's deck chairs on the titanic this year. There is only so much tof can do.
Hope the lads prove me wrong on Sunday but with down desperate for the points I can only see one result.
I saw Billy play at full forward a couple of years ago in an O Byrne cup game against Dublin. Rory O Carroll was Dublin's full back that day and, in fairness, Billy had an excellent game. If he was able to reproduce that kind of performance, I don't think anyone could complain. The problem is that, in my opinion, he doesn't have the legs any more and he has never been a score getter. I just think Finn is more mobile, a better fielder and is probably more accurate too. He's obviously less aggressive (or at least appears that way).
An alternative would be to put Evan O Carroll at 14 and bring O Connor or Finn into wing forward but that, for me, would be changing the balance of the team too much.
One way or another, it's a huge task on Sunday. Although their position in the league reflects the story so far, I don't think these lads deserve to end up in Div 3.
Good post Target Man and a fair reflection on the game. I'll tell you one lad who is not on the 26 and he is a man who could do with getting a run out on Sunday with Donie unavailable, Evan Costello. He is only coming back from an injury (played a club game two weeks ago) but he is a score getter and a reliable fee taker. I'm sure he needs match practice though and I'm not sure TOF would be willing to play him in such an important league game. Hopefully he sees some action to set him up for the summer.
As some posters have said already, I don't think Billy is the man to go for in full forward. He is a decent ball winner and a hard worker but he is not a scoring threat which is what we need. Nor is Boyle a threat, although he can kick a score he is more of a playmaking forward. We cannot be dependent on Ross for scores as he will be targeted by Down. Scores need to come from elsewhere on Sunday. I wouldn't mind seeing Paul K, Ross and Sheils in the full forward line, with Boyle, Donoher and O'Carroll in the half forward line.
Whatever we go with though I will be happy to get behind them. If we perform well we are capable of winning. And a final league match like this is great prep for championship with so much riding on it.
Huge game tomorrow lads. We have to go all out for a win. As someone said earlier our lads have shown great fight when their backs are to the wall. I wish them all the best tomorrow. Staying in Division 2 is so important. Dropping to Division 3 would be a disaster and if it happens it could be a while before we get out of it. Every game would be a dog fight. We need to be playing in Division 2. I admit we are not a Division 1 team at the moment. It's been a while since we could mix it with the big boys but we need to be within touching distance of them.
didn't Justin McNulty get laois to division 1 in his time over them ? yet most didn't think he was right for laois, if results go wrong on sunday divison 3 is where laois will be playing, but i think they will be ok as i can see them beating a Down side who are a bit over rated i also think Galway will get a result again kildare to sent kildare and westmeath down.
Back from Newry and happy to be still in the Division.
Today's match showed us clearly how important Donie Kingston is to the team and how threadbare our defensive resources are.
For a match that had so much importance to both teams, it didn't feel particularly intense. Down were the better team on the day - they were much more incisive going forward but you have to think their job was made a lot easier by our defensive line up and system. Mark Timmons was listed on the programme at No. 3 and No. 4, which would have been nice. I don't think it's fair to ask O Connor or Attride to play in corner back positions and I don't think it's very clever either, particularly when you have Robbie Kehoe, Gearoid Hanrahan and Paul Begley all in the squad. Having said that, no corner back would be able to cope with what was being thrown at them - it was unbelievable how little pressure was put on the Down man with the ball at times. On at least half a dozen occasions all the Laois lads were just following runners and leaving the man with the ball the freedom of the pitch to do what he liked. At least 2 of the goals came from this. It was ridiculous really. I thought the management were especially poor here and really did nothing about it all through. Mark Timmons was again excellent though and snuffed out Laverty when he was finally moved on to him.
Quigley's fielding was absolutely superb again - incredible really. Of the forwards, Evan O Carroll's workrate stood out and he scored 4 or 5 superb long range frees. I thought Tom Shiels looked very lively too and was more than surprised to see him taken off. For sure, he was the only one that looked like he might come up with a goal. Boyle had a very quiet game, Billy didn't contribute, Ross kept getting bottled up and Donoher, although he was busy, didn't get as much work done as usual. I had suggested Finn at FF but he didn't contribute much either when he came on.
Overall though, it was a tired looking performance to me. They didn't really deserve to get anything out of the game and were lucky that other results went their way.
This bunch of players seem to work really hard and I think deserve to hold on to the Div 2 status. It would be really fantastic if we could add a few more to the squad for the championship - we especially need to increase our defensive options but if we do we should give most teams outside the top 5 or 6 a decent run for their money.
Great report Giovanni, delighted for the lads that results went their way and we retained Div 2 status.
This bunch are a dedicated lot and are battling against all the odds and holding their own against most teams. If we had everyone committing just think of what we could do...
We are now one of only three Leinster teams in the top two divisions and that's saying a lot looking at the pool of players that we are drawing from. T.O'F is getting the most out of these lads no matter what we say about him and given a chance and a few more players we could have a good run in the championship this year.
Well done lads and thanks for the commitment given by everyone involved.
Yes thanks for the great report Giovanni.
We probably were lucky in the end they way the other games went but it's no more than these lads deserve.
After the opening 2 games I couldn't see us survive but TOF and the lads got it together and they deserve a lot of credit for doing so.
At times over the last month they did at times defend and attack very well but not all the time if they somehow can get both right together they should have a decent summer .
We were lucky in the sense that other results went our way. I know that the league is over 7 games however all teams knew what was required yesterday to avoid relegation. We knew that a victory would guarantee safety however we had to rely on Galway and and Roscommon to help us out (the only teams we beat this year). One manner of the dispay that was positive is that we fought until the very end again and came from 8 down to lose by 3. There is great fighting spirit in the team that's for sure. The heads have not dropped in games where they were staring at defeat unlike Laois teams of old.
We are leaking goals which is a cause of concern but what team in Div 2 didn't 'leak' goals on a given day.
We are relying on Kingston for scores and it would be great to get Meredith back for the championship if there was any chance of that happening when college finishes.
Don't know how the existing bunch would feel about it, but I also think there should be some efforts made to add to the squad now. We know that most of our squad are well capable of doing a good job but the extra strength in depth could be crucial later in the year. You don't see it happening too often but it would be good at this stage I think.
I should also have complimented Rory Hickey on what is an increasingly rare thing in inter-county football refereeing circles - a good game. He missed a few things but he showed a lot of common sense and talked a lot to the players, which I think is always a positive sign. It's hard to understand why there is such vast differences in the standard of refereeing in the country.
It would be nice to get Meridith and McMahon back and would give great options ...
I'm mentioning them as unlike O'Leary,Cahilane,Lillis,Meaney,Healy,Booth,Walsh David Conway,and Tierney there is a chance they might come back as the door was left open for them because they showed a willingness early in the year to play but just couldnt give the commitment.
I thought Laois were very loose on Sunday in defence I'm not sure if the fact they went to the man last week carrying the ball against Kildare and conceded a goal was a factor in the Players staying with their men this week but leaving the ball carrier a free run which caused so many problems.
This Problem is highlighted by the fact we have no real Centre half back ...I like Robbie Kehoe and he has been doing well especially against Kildare but we need a natural leader in this position I still think Colm Begley should be tried here.
I thought the forwards were lively in spells Donoher got through a alot of work but not much came out of it.Shiel looked dangerous but didn't get on the ball enough.Ross got bottle up but was decent in spells..Billy didn't play that well ..Thought Finn added something and has a monster accurate kick of the football which suits Ross ...
O'Loughlin was busy and Quigley caught some unreal ball.
Strong got his usual superb point and was better defensively .
Brody could do little about any of the goals.
I'm delighted we stayed up and happy for the lads...I hope it gives them a boost for the Championship ..
Laois Abu
Down won the other day because they had better defensive organisation. Our lads seem unsure. The often bottled up our players trying to get through with 2 or 3 men around the ball. We were left 1 v 1 far too regularly. All their goals were very soft, they just had extra numbers running from deep. They weren't been tracked properly but this was because of our lack of pace around the middle. All day it was evident that their midfield and half forwards could out run our lads. It's a worry because it's happened quite a lot throughout the league and there's no obvious fix. I think Attride and O'Connor will have to be moved out the field and a half forward line including an aging Billy and Boyle will never be described as fast.
Midfield isn't 2 v 2. The breaking ball is where midfield is won. Quigley caught some great ball but the players around him weren't quick enough to the breaks. O'Loughlin bursting through from midfield is well known at this stage. Down were ready for it and had him covered for most of the game. He was moved further forward in the second half and won some frees while Begley was moved to midfield. It's something that might be used more often in the future. O'Carroll kicked some great frees but didn't do much apart from this. Shiel looked dangerous and won a good bit of ball but he needs to strengthen up. He's young and that will come. Ross is trying very hard but he just doesn't that extra yard of pace to get space anymore.
It's great news that we survived in division 2 and it was nice to see the fighting spirit again from our players. Kingston obviously is vital to us and other things were learned from this game so it's not all bad. It'd be great to have Costello back or someone else to step up to give more options. I'd be against anyone returning to the squad at this stage. Either you go through all the training, all the hard work with your teammates for the whole year or you stay where you are. About 6 weeks to the Carlow match, we know this bunch will work hard and put every effort in to have a good championship run. That's all we can ask for.
Teo that is a decent post but I don't think the players themselves would object to a Meridth or McMahon coming back ..Even Meaney who was there for most of the year...
We need options O'Connor moving out the field is one that needs to be looked at...Maybe a fit again Paul Begley can fill in at corner back?
Looking forward to the year ahead this bunch have shown great heart so far this year and deserve a bigger support I hope there is big numbers at the Carlow game!
Quote from: Unlaoised on April 08, 2015, 02:47:45 PM
Teo that is a decent post but I don't think the players themselves would object to a Meridth or McMahon coming back ..Even Meaney who was there for most of the year...
We need options O'Connor moving out the field is one that needs to be looked at...Maybe a fit again Paul Begley can fill in at corner back?
Looking forward to the year ahead this bunch have shown great heart so far this year and deserve a bigger support I hope there is big numbers at the Carlow game!
If I remember correctly from TOF's interview the door may be open for McMahon not sure about Merdith ..... I'd say Meaney wont be asked back, after that the only other player who I think would actually make a difference is.....dare I say it ... Healy.
Is he home for the summer ???
Healy has committed to the hurlers, cant see him coming in at this stage. It would be great to have McMahon and Meredith for the championship as we need to strengthen the squad. I wouldn't be against anyone coming in now, some lads just have other commitments early in the year and if they can come in now fair play, we are not strong enough to leave anyone out who can do a job for us.
All TOF said about Meredith was that he wanted to concentrate on his studies. He will be free come the end of May. All of these lads would be keeping fit anyhow so can't see the issue bringing a lad back into the panel. He would be a nice option from the bench.
Will Kingston be suspended for championship opener or is it just one game he is gone for?
Meredith would be warmly welcomed I'm sure and IMO walk straight back onto the team but is he not heading to America for the summer?..
McMahon will be back from what I hear.
Anyword on the team I'm presuming it will be along the same lines as the last day?Sure Meridith will feature from the start?
The team is usually out today?
This is the most serious beating we have suffered in the past 10 years. I cant put my finger on it but every time we go behind we seem to die as a team and just accept defeat.
I think this could be the end of another manager and we really need to get our act together next year or we could be gone for a long time
The end should have been after the Cavan match in the league. He got a few poxy results and hung on.
Anyone got a shovel to scrape me back off the floor. This was a sad day for Laois football. I think this tops the defeat to louth a couple of years ago. All credit to antrim but we just got beaten by a poor division 4 side at Home, a side which was beaten 1-13 to 8 points by fermanagh. and they were short 2 of their best forwards from that game today!
5-33 we have conceded in our last 2 games, for the love of god thats a cricket score. we played a sweeper again a blind man could see this didnt work. begley was taken completely out of the game as a result. we let them kick most of their kick outs short. a criminal act
The writing was on the wall in this game for the last half an hour of play. I don't know which was more depressing the fact that the manager did nothing to address the situation or the fact that when i looked at the bench we are miles away in terms of strength in depth
If only it was as simple as a poor manager.
The problems with Laois football go much deeper I'm afraid.
Big change needed and not just a new manager. The last manager was making progress and players still didn't want to play for him. What do we need to do to get players to play for their county? It takes huge commitment but it should be an honour to play for Laois, not a chore.
Do we need a big name manager like Micko to come along? Everyone showed up to training in 2003. Do we need an inside man to do the job? Someone like Cheddar to drag things up with them. Do we need to beg the players to play? Do we need to pay them? Do we need to forget about the senior team for 5/10 years and work on the underage system? Do we need to completely change the club structures? Or is there nothing we can do? The players don't want to play and that's that?
That might be Ross' last game and it would be a sad way to end. He was actually gaining some confidence through the match and shouldn't have been on the penalty. Donie was superb again, some of the points he was scoring was unbelievable. All the players that have trained all year deserve great credit, really disappointed for them. There has to be serious change though, not slating anyone but the state of the bench we had. A black day for Laois, hopefully it brings some brightness down the line.
The worst I can remember in over 30 years following Laois. Sadly I dont believe we are at rock bottom yet. That is yet to come. f**king Antrim, and a horseshit Antrim team at that.
Agree with you there DD the worst is still to come.
Still sick after the result, two years in a row knocked out by lower division teams. Age profile of the team not great either. Under age has been very poor to average at best. I think the worst is to come.
From the independent:
'Laois are likely to be on the lookout for a new manager, as Tomas O Flatharta made a quick exit from O'Moore Park, without appearing for the post-match interviews. Some reports suggested that the Kerryman had left the ground even before some of his players had even made it out of the dressing-room.'
So who do we want as new manager? Probably the more important question is who wants to manage Laois?
Can't see to many people lining up to take the job.
Why would anyone want it.
There are worse county sides out there than Laois lads, I think Laois are definitely better than they have shown under O Flatharta although the last two defeats may have long term affect on the players.
At the minute we are a mid table division 2 team and have some high quality players in the shape of JOL, Kingston and Quigley (and was very impressed with O'Carroll) but unfortunately we have a small pool of players with very little talent coming though which is what is needed to keep the thing fresh. From what i seen this year there is potential in the team and next managerial appointment is vital and get all the players in the county pulling in one direction. That is all that really happened when Micko came on board (although much better pool of players back then), the year before we were hammered by Meath and then we win Leinster, now im under know illusion we will be winning a Leinster but we could certainly compete against the majority of teams and maybe get ourselves up to Div 1 with a serious appointment, but as posters have said it is not the most attractive of posts and cant think of too many top candidates off the top of my head.
It's not a manager we want, It's a top class coach we need.
Kingston still top of the charts
(http://www.gaa.ie/content/images/news/player_of_the_month/football.jpg)
The Laois footballers exited the championship on Saturday, suffering a shock defeat to Antrim in Portlaoise. Kingston continued his excellent individual form in that game, hitting 0-7 to extend his lead at the top of the Golden Boot standings, but he is likely to be overhauled in the coming weeks, given that he will not have the chance to add to his tally this summer
A real low for Laois football ...TOF was never the right man for the job ..Hopefully the next appointment can be the right one because there is defo a lot of talent there and in my opinion we still have the players to be a top ten side!
It's pretty shocking that TOF made a quick exit after the game, you would think he would at least stay to wrap up the duties as it were, even if he was planning to pack it in this year.
Is anyone in the county board held responsible for this appointment? Two qualifier defeats at home to teams who were in division 4 that year (correct me if I am wrong as regards Tipp) is very poor. I remember someone in the county board coming out after McNulty was let go, saying that the next appointment will take us the next step or something to that regard. That ended up being clear horsesh*t!!
Quote from: Andy06 on June 23, 2015, 02:12:11 PM
It's pretty shocking that TOF made a quick exit after the game, you would think he would at least stay to wrap up the duties as it were, even if he was planning to pack it in this year.
Is anyone in the county board held responsible for this appointment? Two qualifier defeats at home to teams who were in division 4 that year (correct me if I am wrong as regards Tipp) is very poor. I remember someone in the county board coming out after McNulty was let go, saying that the next appointment will take us the next step or something to that regard. That ended up being clear horsesh*t!!
This type of criticism has to stop of players, managers and county boards. It achieves only one thing - to undermine the efforts of those involved.
Laois were in a winning position in this game and should have won. Not the county boards fault. Not the managers fault. And maybe not the players fault. Antrim came with a great late surge and got past the post.
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
Laois will play in Div 2 next year. Kildare and 15 other counties will play in divisions below them.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
You have to face reality; Laois have a number of top class footballers supported by average / good players.
O'Flaharta gone this evening.
Who's next up for the job?
So O'Flaherta is gone, bit of a managerial merry-go-round at the moment. Fair enough he didn't seem like a great manager, nor did he have a great record, but I would find it very difficult to point the finger solely in his direction for Saturday's loss. The players just seem to fold when any serious pressure is put on, which is a real shame considering some of the talent that is there.
Hard to know who would be really wanting to take over Laois now the way it is. I see other posters calling for a local appointment but realistically is there any candidate who would be suitable? I can't think of any..
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
TOF was not the man for the Job but I'm sure he gave it his best shot while he was here.
There is talent there.
Next appointment must be from within?
Lillis and Kavanagh bound to be in the running
Niall Tully?
Chris Conway?
Joe Higgins?
There is plenty of inside options!
Quote from: Unlaoised on June 24, 2015, 10:35:08 AM
TOF was not the man for the Job but I'm sure he gave it his best shot while he was here.
There is talent there.
Next appointment must be from within?
Lillis and Kavanagh bound to be in the running
Niall Tully?
Chris Conway?
Joe Higgins?
There is plenty of inside options!
I wouldn't let Mick Lillis manage my veg patch.
Kavanagh on the other strikes me as a shrewd "Cheddar" type of guy.
Wouldn't mind a Kavanagh, Higgins and Conway team.
I'd imagine Tom Conroy's name will be mentioned too.
The Antrim defeat hurt but it might be a turning point if we can get all players back on board for 2016.
Dessie Brennan?
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Lillis isnt the answer anyhow. Maybe its finally time for Pat Roe ;D
On a serious note i wouldn't mind Joe Higgins stepping up if he had an experienced hand alongside him. Done some time with 2 big clubs in arles killen and graigue. maybe alongside Sean Dempsey or Pat Ryan.
Another name from within the county, former county player Derek Conroy, he is with Mountmellick and the Laois under 21's
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 01:29:44 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Training Westmeath to a Leinster title had nothing got to do with his managerial ability. Let me repeat that, NOTHING. Also it was over 10 years ago. Football has moved on an amount since then. Did he train this Laois team?
His achievements as manager of Westmeath also happened close to 10 years ago, so still nothing new there.
We didnt ask for a manager to fix it, we asked him to come up with a way to deal with it. It seems like you're not a Laois man so its unlikely you've seen this team play all that much, and for that reason, I'll ask you to mind your own business and not be talking about historical facts.
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Quote from: Uisce on June 24, 2015, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
I think thats unfair. What you mean to say is you can't see a local person capable of getting everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Hurling supporters thought that too for a long time.
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:53:33 PM
Quote from: Uisce on June 24, 2015, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
I think thats unfair. What you mean to say is you can't see a local person capable of getting everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Hurling supporters thought that too for a long time.
Cheddar had to go and beg players to play. He's put a lot of his own money in to make the setup what it is. There's not many Cheddars around. The county board wont find one. The Messiah must rise himself.
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 02:01:48 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:53:33 PM
Quote from: Uisce on June 24, 2015, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
I think thats unfair. What you mean to say is you can't see a local person capable of getting everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Hurling supporters thought that too for a long time.
Cheddar had to go and beg players to play. He's put a lot of his own money in to make the setup what it is. There's not many Cheddars around. The county board wont find one. The Messiah must rise himself.
There aren't many managers out there who aren't going to have to go beg these players everyone demands involved. Micko was the exception, not the rule.
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 02:07:45 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 02:01:48 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:53:33 PM
Quote from: Uisce on June 24, 2015, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
I think thats unfair. What you mean to say is you can't see a local person capable of getting everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Hurling supporters thought that too for a long time.
Cheddar had to go and beg players to play. He's put a lot of his own money in to make the setup what it is. There's not many Cheddars around. The county board wont find one. The Messiah must rise himself.
There aren't many managers out there who aren't going to have to go beg these players everyone demands involved. Micko was the exception, not the rule.
That's what we're saying. It'll take a really big name to get everyone on board, the players don't want to play for their county otherwise. If we could find a football version of Cheddar that'd be great but that's not going to happen.
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 02:12:02 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 02:07:45 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 02:01:48 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:53:33 PM
Quote from: Uisce on June 24, 2015, 01:50:34 PM
Quote from: Teo Lurley on June 24, 2015, 01:45:06 PM
We need someone who can get all the players playing for the county. Someone that inspires everyone to join up and put everything into it. In some counties this kind of commitment is a given, not in Laois. For this reason we need a big name manager. Someone who'd make the same impact as Micko, just his name brought everyone on side to begin with.
If we appoint an inside man this wouldn't happen, if we appoint someone from outside similar to O'Flatharta they would be in the same position. The problem is that we don't have the money for a big name manager. We'll have to appoint someone local or second rate and hope the players show some pride and start playing for their county.
Fully agree with this. I can't imagine a local person who would get everyone putting their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
I think thats unfair. What you mean to say is you can't see a local person capable of getting everyone to put their shoulder to the wheel and get the top footballers in the county at their disposal.
Hurling supporters thought that too for a long time.
Cheddar had to go and beg players to play. He's put a lot of his own money in to make the setup what it is. There's not many Cheddars around. The county board wont find one. The Messiah must rise himself.
There aren't many managers out there who aren't going to have to go beg these players everyone demands involved. Micko was the exception, not the rule.
That's what we're saying. It'll take a really big name to get everyone on board, the players don't want to play for their county otherwise. If we could find a football version of Cheddar that'd be great but that's not going to happen.
And I'm pointing out barring McGuinness, who may not even be all that, this mythical figure isn't out there. We'd be better off asking why aren't these players interested enough in playing for Laois. I know why some recent defecetees got out, and I suspect they'll be back very soon, but the others, I think there's some sort of major malfunction in them fellas.
We can't afford a big name anyway. We'll have to make do with whoever we get. Some players will come back, others will leave, then we'll have the drop outs. We'll be saying the same stuff next year.
Whoever we do get as manager, there is no point in hounding lads to play who do not want to. There was much talk about Laois players mentality after the Antrim and Kildare games. The players on the field those days were lads who wanted to be there representing their county. I would be far more confident with lads like that over lads who did not want to be there.
I'm not sure any inside men would have the effect we need, although maybe Higgins and Conway would be worth a shout as selectors/coaches. I think this is a vital appointment, we're on a slippery slope at the moment. Would it be worth going after James Horan? Pat O'Shea of Kerry, Kevin McStay maybe? Maybe we couldn't afford them, but I'm pretty sure TOF was on decent money!
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:48:43 PM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 01:29:44 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Training Westmeath to a Leinster title had nothing got to do with his managerial ability. Let me repeat that, NOTHING. Also it was over 10 years ago. Football has moved on an amount since then. Did he train this Laois team?
His achievements as manager of Westmeath also happened close to 10 years ago, so still nothing new there.
We didnt ask for a manager to fix it, we asked him to come up with a way to deal with it. It seems like you're not a Laois man so its unlikely you've seen this team play all that much, and for that reason, I'll ask you to mind your own business and not be talking about historical facts.
This is a public forum and I'll comment on whatever topic I bloody well like. If you want your own forum setup a private one .
Your best club side were laid to waste last October by my club. If thats the best Laois have to offer at club level it's no wonder your county side is in the poor state it is. Youve done nothing at minor and u21 level for years . Your better off appointing your own because when they haven't done any better you won't be able to blame it on outsiders.
Laois have done well to stay in Division 2. They have had consistently operated in the top 2 divisions for a lair ong time. That is an achievement for a county of it's size. The graph is probably on a downward spiral now. It happens.
'Supporters' on here really need to get a grip of themselves - and should man up to the damage they do to the mentality of players with the spiel they spout. Turning their heads the wrong way.
Example: Ross Munnelly has been an absolute star for Laois throughout his career and to listen to Laois supporters abusing him is truly disgusting. Shame on those that stoop so low. Not nice stuff for him to have to deal with or for his family members either. It's not unique to Laois - it happens everywhere but Laois need a dose of reality - Laois are not going to win much on the next 20 years but the team still deserves support when it takes to the field.
Nobody here was abusing Ross Munnelly, maybe you heard it at the game or in a pub somewhere but it's not unusual to hear 'supporters' slagging off players no matter what the sport.
On our league status, we are where we are on merit. Would a drop down to Div 3, if it happens, be such a disaster? We won a league title playing football in Div 4 although times have changed and that will never happen again.
TOF was never going to do anything with Laois really and many questioned his appointment in the first place. My preferance would be an inside job but we don't have a glut of personalities available or of the standard required to take on the role. It is practically a full time job nowadays so there are ver few who can give that committment.
Wow some posts but bottom line a terrible result against Antrim. Definitely a slippery slope. It seems. And woild like tosay Ross has been a great player for the county.
Surely if we can find laois management it is worth a shot. Although Ayers need to want to give all for the shirt too. Management can only do so much
Who are all these players who won't commit and if they did would any of them actually make the team. I'm of the opinion that none would and they know it.
Healy of course the exception to above.
Billy is the only Laois player I have seen abused regularly both at games and on Internet forums, I cant say I have ever hear'd Ross abused.
Inside manager this time and it won't be easy as we'll probably hit the bottom over the next 2 years.
Nolan is Portlaoise number one, he'd start ahead of Brody. Healy as you say. McMahon if he trained all year, O'Leary is still only 29, Merideth if he trained all year, Walsh would start, Cahilane would start. Others like Meaney would be good bench options or maybe move O'Loughlin further forward. Begley could be released from half back if we had the options above.
It's not just the starting team that would benefit either. The bench would be stronger. At training there would be more competition for places and lads pushing eachother along. Also the quality of training matches would improve, no offence to the lads who bothered showing up when called for their county but some of the squad are nowhere near inter cunty standard. It's not their fault.
In 2003 we had everyone showing up for training. All the young fellas and older lads like Huey, Sweeney, Goggie and Mick Lawlor. Everyone was pulling in the same direction and put everything into it. Now we have lads retiring at 29 and throwing their toys out of the pram if everything isn't perfect for them. It's the attitude that's wrong and it needs changing.
TOF was a bad manager before he ever arrived in Laois, I remember when he arrived alot of people openly questioned the appointment. Considering his record there has to be questions asked how he was ever appointed Laois manager. The manager has to be a good appointment if not you lose the players quickly like Laois. I have never heard Ross being abused by Laois supporters but he no longer is the force he once was. Personally I would like a young manager with alot to prove. I would be in favour of someone based in the county.
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 04:33:46 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:48:43 PM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 01:29:44 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Training Westmeath to a Leinster title had nothing got to do with his managerial ability. Let me repeat that, NOTHING. Also it was over 10 years ago. Football has moved on an amount since then. Did he train this Laois team?
His achievements as manager of Westmeath also happened close to 10 years ago, so still nothing new there.
We didnt ask for a manager to fix it, we asked him to come up with a way to deal with it. It seems like you're not a Laois man so its unlikely you've seen this team play all that much, and for that reason, I'll ask you to mind your own business and not be talking about historical facts.
This is a public forum and I'll comment on whatever topic I bloody well like. If you want your own forum setup a private one .
Your best club side were laid to waste last October by my club. If thats the best Laois have to offer at club level it's no wonder your county side is in the poor state it is. Youve done nothing at minor and u21 level for years . Your better off appointing your own because when they haven't done any better you won't be able to blame it on outsiders.
I am deciding whether to report your post, it is nasty and mean spirited and not in keeping with the spirit of the GAA.
Portlaoise are not my Club either FYI.
Oh, and its you're, not your.
Quote from: OTF on June 24, 2015, 10:53:48 PM
Who are all these players who won't commit and if they did would any of them actually make the team. I'm of the opinion that none would and they know it.
Healy of course the exception to above.
Billy is the only Laois player I have seen abused regularly both at games and on Internet forums, I cant say I have ever hear'd Ross abused.
Inside manager this time and it won't be easy as we'll probably hit the bottom over the next 2 years.
O Leary
McMahon
Meaney
Cahillane
To name just 4
Oh and Ross took abuse from the stand in Tullamore in the replay. Couldnt believe it myself, but you'll have assholes in every walk of life. I've heard it from all counties, Kildare men abusing John Doyle, Dublin men abusing Alan Brogan, its just how it goes.
Quote from: Don Draper on June 25, 2015, 08:28:52 AM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 04:33:46 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:48:43 PM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 01:29:44 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Training Westmeath to a Leinster title had nothing got to do with his managerial ability. Let me repeat that, NOTHING. Also it was over 10 years ago. Football has moved on an amount since then. Did he train this Laois team?
His achievements as manager of Westmeath also happened close to 10 years ago, so still nothing new there.
We didnt ask for a manager to fix it, we asked him to come up with a way to deal with it. It seems like you're not a Laois man so its unlikely you've seen this team play all that much, and for that reason, I'll ask you to mind your own business and not be talking about historical facts.
This is a public forum and I'll comment on whatever topic I bloody well like. If you want your own forum setup a private one .
Your best club side were laid to waste last October by my club. If thats the best Laois have to offer at club level it's no wonder your county side is in the poor state it is. Youve done nothing at minor and u21 level for years . Your better off appointing your own because when they haven't done any better you won't be able to blame it on outsiders.
I am deciding whether to report your post, it is nasty and mean spirited and not in keeping with the spirit of the GAA.
Portlaoise are not my Club either FYI.
Oh, and its you're, not your.
Work away I could do with a laugh. But you don't own the board so I will comment on whatever topic I like and I won't be asking for your permission
There is still talent in this bunch and if we can get everyone on board like 2003 we could progress to the last 8 again I feel.
Its not going to be an easy job for the next manager but the first thing he needs to do is get Portlaoise Gaa on board and get the best from the best club team.
I know its up to individuals in that club but something needs to be done to get the best from our best club team.
There are many decent club players out there and a few promising gems coming through like Paul Kingston,Tom Shiel,Evan Keane,Evan O'Carroll,Alan Farrell,Evan Costello,and of course from the minors the talented Sean Moore,Cathal Dunne,and Shane Smyth are also prospects in the making...
How can we give up and say we have no talent or are not good enough..
Donie would get on any team in Ireland including Kerry
Jol and Quigley are as good as most midfield pairings
Timmons,Donoher,Strong,Boyle have still plenty to offer..
Brody is a great young keeper.
Try and stay positive lads!
great post unlaoised. about time someone on this site got a bit of perspective !! We have plenty of young good footballers, We just need a good manager to get the best out of them. Remember we beat monaghan in 2012 and look what they have done since with the exact same team!!!
Quote from: beano on June 25, 2015, 10:55:41 AM
great post unlaoised. about time someone on this site got a bit of perspective !! We have plenty of young good footballers, We just need a good manager to get the best out of them. Remember we beat monaghan in 2012 and look what they have done since with the exact same team!!!
Yes I know it might have been the league but it was an important game none the less...
Monaghan have belief which came from winning an ulster in 2013 which we might not have and probably have a few more quality defenders but if we got Healy,Merdith,McMahon from the start of the year,and maybe Seale,Whelan,Feane and Cotter from Portlaoise to come into the set up who's to say what we could do?
You can tell me i'm living in a dream world but it is possible for something stronger to come from this disaster of a year!!
Unlaoised- That was in the championship that we beat Monaghan!!! Got to the 1/4 that year and lost by 3pts to the dubs. At the time laois supporters were complaining about our style of play and it was an embarrassment when less than two thousand laois people went to look at the 1/4 final. That was a great summer as we got to play, Carlow, Monaghan, Letrim, Meath and Dublin. Three years on look at us now.- out before July. I just couldn't understand the negativity at the time and I have been proven right!!!
As someone said earlier the next appointment has to be more than just the senior manager. We need a director of football figure, someone who will come in on a 5 year contract and completely revitalise the whole set-up from underage to senior. Look what John Evans achieved in tipp. He may have moved on but the structures he put in place are now producing results.
I am not criticising anyone but at present the coaching set up is managed by the Co Sec. You need a specialised person in there to do it correctly.
If we just appoint a senior manager we'll be having this discussion again in 2 years when he resigns. I would suggest someone like tommy conroy. He has all the qualifications. Put somebody young (Joe Higgins or Chris Conway) in with him to take over senior job in 2 years for tommy to concentrate on coaching set up. Time to think long term
Quote from: INDIANA on June 25, 2015, 09:38:07 AM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 25, 2015, 08:28:52 AM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 04:33:46 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 01:48:43 PM
Quote from: INDIANA on June 24, 2015, 01:29:44 PM
Quote from: Don Draper on June 24, 2015, 09:16:54 AM
Quote from: Catch and Kick on June 23, 2015, 02:43:41 PM
Laois have been magnificent over a long period - punching above their weight given the population and number of clubs.
They were magnificent against Kildare and probably should be preparing for the Leinster semi final this week. But that's sport.
Magnificent? Used twice? Are you on drugs? Can I have some?
TOF was rubbish. We're not great, but we're worth more than the shit he has peddled these past 2 years.
Let this sink it
Wicklow
Wexford
Fermanagh
Carlow
And beaten by
Tipperary
Antrim (a f**king jokeshop Antrim outfit, by their own admission)
Thats where we are. And he calls that progress.
Like I said, we have a lot of problems, but he was a massive one. Nice man, but out of his depth, and that was known long before he arrived in Portlaoise.
Trained Westmeath to a Leinster title . As a manager on his own he brought them to the last 8 twice with some notable qualifier victories. Yeah he's rubbish alright
Bar Kingston and JOL you're short quality players. No manager in the world will fix that.
Training Westmeath to a Leinster title had nothing got to do with his managerial ability. Let me repeat that, NOTHING. Also it was over 10 years ago. Football has moved on an amount since then. Did he train this Laois team?
His achievements as manager of Westmeath also happened close to 10 years ago, so still nothing new there.
We didnt ask for a manager to fix it, we asked him to come up with a way to deal with it. It seems like you're not a Laois man so its unlikely you've seen this team play all that much, and for that reason, I'll ask you to mind your own business and not be talking about historical facts.
This is a public forum and I'll comment on whatever topic I bloody well like. If you want your own forum setup a private one .
Your best club side were laid to waste last October by my club. If thats the best Laois have to offer at club level it's no wonder your county side is in the poor state it is. Youve done nothing at minor and u21 level for years . Your better off appointing your own because when they haven't done any better you won't be able to blame it on outsiders.
I am deciding whether to report your post, it is nasty and mean spirited and not in keeping with the spirit of the GAA.
Portlaoise are not my Club either FYI.
Oh, and its you're, not your.
Work away I could do with a laugh. But you don't own the board so I will comment on whatever topic I like and I won't be asking for your permission
This is no laughing matter. I've however noticed your post count since, and I will just leave you off, its quite obvious posting on the internet with strange men is something that is very important to you. I wouldn't like to take that away from you, but just watch your step in future.
Quote from: Unlaoised on June 25, 2015, 10:43:36 AM
There is still talent in this bunch and if we can get everyone on board like 2003 we could progress to the last 8 again I feel.
Its not going to be an easy job for the next manager but the first thing he needs to do is get Portlaoise Gaa on board and get the best from the best club team.
I know its up to individuals in that club but something needs to be done to get the best from our best club team.
There are many decent club players out there and a few promising gems coming through like Paul Kingston,Tom Shiel,Evan Keane,Evan O'Carroll,Alan Farrell,Evan Costello,and of course from the minors the talented Sean Moore,Cathal Dunne,and Shane Smyth are also prospects in the making...
How can we give up and say we have no talent or are not good enough..
Donie would get on any team in Ireland including Kerry
Jol and Quigley are as good as most midfield pairings
Timmons,Donoher,Strong,Boyle have still plenty to offer..
Brody is a great young keeper.
Try and stay positive lads!
Portlaoise GAA don't have to be gotten on board, all you need is the better players, and of those not involved, you would say Healy is the best, but he's committed to hurling, Cahillane is the other, but he's committed to soccer. Lillis perhaps, but after that, there's nothing much more there apart from a few underage chaps. We have what we have from them. So I would leave Portlaoise out of it at this point.
leinster football is a joke lads, kildare beaten by 19 points they will have to have a open draw soon.
Quote from: Thewildcat on June 28, 2015, 06:26:50 PM
leinster football is a joke lads, kildare beaten by 19 points they will have to have a open draw soon.
Wonder was there any ambulance tweets on Kildare GAA's twitter page today? They weren't bet by half enough.
Great win for Westmeath yesterday, but it hammers home our early dismissal from the championship. It's galling to be sitting at home while other counties are playing away and performing heroics in Croke Park.
Is there any ambition in this county at all to do better?
Quote from: SCFC on June 29, 2015, 12:19:31 AM
Quote from: Thewildcat on June 28, 2015, 06:26:50 PM
leinster football is a joke lads, kildare beaten by 19 points they will have to have a open draw soon.
Wonder was there any ambulance tweets on Kildare GAA's twitter page today? They weren't bet by half enough.
And the f**ker who posted that tweet living in Laois and all.