galway v donegal

[galwayman]

The most likely replacement is Colin Forde

Seriously? I know you are a Killererin-ite DE but Forde is miles off the standard required for a county full back. Not even in the same ballpark.
Hanley had much the same sort of season as he's always had for us - when he comes up against a top forward he's in trouble. He will do okay against middle of the road players.
The problem in Galway is that we don't have much in the way of alternatives.

[ck]

Ha, ye lads are going through the same "full back" analysis as we did in Sligo. Our conclusion is that the next generation may provide the answer cos the current squad certainly does not posses the physicality required against a towering 14.

[Duine Eile]

The most likely replacement is Colin Forde

Seriously? I know you are a Killererin-ite DE but Forde is miles off the standard required for a county full back. Not even in the same ballpark.
Hanley had much the same sort of season as he's always had for us - when he comes up against a top forward he's in trouble. He will do okay against middle of the road players.
The problem in Galway is that we don't have much in the way of alternatives.

Cool the jets there a small bit!  I'm not saying he should be full back but looking at it logically Colin was on the panel and also started a number of games at full back earlier in the year until he did his curciate, which is why I said he's the "most likely" replacement for Hanley if he gets back from injury. If there's someone better in the county I hope he's found over the next few months, it's been a problem area for a few years now. Who would you suggest? I've seen a lot of club games and the only full back that stood out last year was Kieran Fitzgerald.

(Not suggesting Fitzy is a replacement for Finian either by the way  )

[Put Up That Flag]

So another year over for Galway. Overall some progression has been made but we're still well behind the top teams. We've tightened up a bit defensively and there seems to be a bit of aggression and pride there now which is great. Cathal Sweeney was this year's find of the year, he's played well in all galway's games this year, he just needs to curtail his runs forward a bit. Finian Hanley has had a stinker of a year, destroyed by both Aidan O'Shea and Michael Murphy in the space of a few weeks, enough to give anyone nightmares. He's been a loyal servant to Galway football over the years but I think it's time to call it a day. The ball that Murphy flicked down for McHugh's goal wasn't even contested by Hanley, he stayed stuck to the ground while Murphy jumped about 3 feet in the air. His best days are behind him at this stage. The most likely replacement is Colin Forde but who knows how effective he'll be after his injury layoff.  Kick outs on Saturday seemed to have no plan at all, most of them were hit and hope out to midfield which seemed to work for the first half with Conroy hanging back at midfield but completely fell apart once Donegal began to take a stronghold in the second half. Flynn and Ó Curraoin need to compete for the full game and not just in fits and starts. That said Flynn did have a better game than Ó Curraoin and brings more to the team I think. Ronan Steede is on the bench all year after having a great season with Corofin, he should have gotten a run at some stage. In the forwards Gary Sice has been our best player in championship this year. He seemed to be playing very deep on Saturday so his scoring chances were fewer. Conroy has been a disappointment this year, simple handling mistakes, misplaced passes, missing tap over frees. Micheál Lundy is being played completely out of position. He's received a lot of criticism all year for playing too deep and not scoring enough but he's obviously playing to the system or plan they've been given. His best position for Corofin has been at 11 or 14, he gets fast, quick ball and heading straight for a score is the first thing on his mind. He's lightening quick and is a fantastic passer of the ball but he's played so deep this year his scoring ability has been completely sacrificed. I'd love to see him playing off Comer in the full forward line next year. Damien Comer has the ability to be one of the top young forwards in the country but he needs to compete more and learn to catch a ball over his head instead of having to get the ball on his toe which usually ends up with him being bottled up by the opposition defence. If management can get the forward positions right they have serious potential. Kevin Walsh and his team seem to be meticulous in their preparation prior to games, we've started most games well this year but when the opposition change things up a bit they seem to be at a loss and don't know what to do, eg. Aidan O'Shea's dominance of Finian Hanley, he was given no help and when Donegal began to dominate midfield no changes were made to kick outs to avoid mid field or any extra bodies brought in to mop up breaking ball. Shane Walsh should also have been introduced much earlier. Still, it's their first year in and you'd hope they'll learn and move on from here. All in all, while we're still out of the championship before the quarter finals I do think we're in a better position than this time last year, the teams of the last few years wouldn't have ground out those wins against Armagh and Derry. The raw materials are there, let's hope they build on the bit of progress we've made. Roll on January and the FBD!

I dunno Duine Eile. I thought James Horan's column today was very good. He had a separate bit about Galway and his conclusion was he didn t see any real progress at all. I'd have to agree. And I agree with your assessment re Lundy. Not his game what he was doing and Ryan McHugh had a huge bearing on the game. Massive actually. Wouldn t be as optimist though about Comer as you though. Look this was a breakthrough game for Galway if they were good enough. Tactically a bit shy but not convinced about a lot of players as well.

I as well don't think Galway are improving. They are in dangerous territory of clapping themselves on the back for having a run of games in the back door. Nothing of real (and I mean real note) was achieved more than last year. Mayo still have ye at arms length. Ye brought more aggressiveness to the Mayo game this year. But intensity and discipline is what ye need. Anyway I could be patronising and tell ye what ye need to hear, But feck us Mayo hoars are in the same boat at another level. And we sure as sh1te hate being patronised about how close we are and so on! Anyway time to take a break,, take stock and get ready for a Div 1 assault!

Glad to see Jamesy is reading me posts lads. I was saying there was little difference in their year's Galway team after the Mayo game but I was being shouted down..

But you are always right, last year you said Kerry were finished and would win nothing and James O'Donoghue was a nothing player, who won the all Ireland and player of the year?

This year (every year actually) you were predicting Roscommon would get to the all Ireland semi final,  how did tyat work out for them?