Allianz Football League 2017 - Division 3

[ILikeStrawberryJam]

Great post Giovanni .. BallyroanAbu talking about sacking Creedon after 4 matches is beyond ludicrous ..
Give the man a chance. Lets all take a deep breath and judge where we are at after the league
The players are not there anymore .. No underage success in a decade ..
Tipp are the opposite of us.. Their recent success was built on hard slog at underage ..
Creedon was heavily involved in this ..

And i agree with Tony - stop talking out of your arse .. Creedon was at numerous Club Championship games.

[BallyroanAbu]

Right lads keep telling yourselves this gets better I will be back after the Antrim game, but for the guts of 5 years the same people on here or previous forum having been telling us more time.  This is a shambles the manager is no better than the previous two, your deluding yourselves that this needs time. 

[BallyroanAbu]

I am sorry if I come across overly pessimistic as I do realize most of you on here do have the best interests of Laois at heart and while I do not agree with you,  I hope your right and I am wrong.

[Unlaoised]

Look while to certain degree Ballyroanabu you are right its not really the thread for it..

Creedon has being dealt a weak hand at the start of this league and very unlucky to have key players missing in so many vital positions .

Meaney and Begley leaving the fray yesterday certainly didn't help matters.

I will give him more time before I judge him on the basis of what he had to work with so far.

Lets see how he does against a fancied Louth side with the u21s on wednesday night and take it from there.

[High Fielder]

There is no right or wrong, and your passion is obvious, but we're not at the races just now. Because we're a dual county, we might never be at the races again. The GAA climate doesn't look after counties like Laois, and realistically, we will always need a freak crop of players. We have a terrible habit of bigging up what look like good footballers, but in actual fact are only really ordinary. I personally don't think we have the players, particularly backs, so my expectations are low. I always get the feeling that those who expect a lot are those who overrate our players. Until they prove otherwise, they are what they are and it is what it is. Jim Gavin wouldn't do any better with this panel in my opinion.

[Tony]

Yeah I agree high fielder. We just don't have the players at the moment, and let's be realistic - we've never won an all Ireland in football. We've never had an excellent team consistently. Even in 2003-2006 we didn't make it beyond the quarter finals.
For that reason, my expectations are also low. But I've always said, if I see my team trying their best, I'll be happy enough. I do see these players, though most not good enough to challenge the top tier, are definitely busting a gut for the county. And for that reason I'm happy to follow them around the country.

In the last 30-40years we've only had 5or so relatively successful years in football. And that's just the reality of it. Following laois gaa is definitely not very rewarding in terms of success but to see 15 lads give it all for the county is enough. Having said that, to see a really great season again in the next five to ten years would be very much appreciated but not expected.

We've had six managers now since micko, time to stop blaming managers, we just don't have the ability at the moment to really challenge, especially with over 5 injuries to our top players and some not committing. That's just the way it is. That's why I'm going easy on creedon for now. You can tell a player what to do with an excellent game plan all day long but if they just don't have the ability, it's not the managers fault is it.

[High Fielder]

Of course it's not and I agree with every word of that post. It's too easy to be critical and we're not the only county struggling.

[Giovanni]

As a matter of fact, managers matter a lot.

It's not a coincidence that McNulty's teams made it very hard for the oppostion but two years later the same players were conceding huge scores under TOF.

Any manager should be judged according to whether he has managed to get the maximum out of his group of players. I think the record of the previous 5 or 6 managers is very variable in this regard. Certainly, I wouldn't like to underestimate the role of the manager.

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/sport/238487/14-man-laois-caught-late-on-by-sligo.html

[Gmac]

If we beat Antrim and offally which is not a given by any stretch we should stay up ,
I really think it's imperative we stay in div 3 and I think the future few years for Laois should be all about concentrating on the league and trying to get back to div 2 and consolidate there and try make a push for div 1 , seems miles away now but I really think the league should be Treated like Laois's championship for the forseeable future.

[Unlaoised]

Right ratings again from what I saw on Sunday up there.

Again just my opinion no disrespect to anyone I admire all the players in this county who commit to the Blue and white!

Graham Brody-8 Can't fault our keeper anyway I thought he was good one decent save and very good distribution his kickouts short and long were superb especially that one to Quigley late on.

Alan Farrell-5 Never really happened for the Ballylinan man ,he cover the ground and did the simple things well but like so many in the second half he coughed up possesion to easy and was very poor in the tackle.

Denis Booth-7 Can't fault the Heath man I thought he had another solid game kept his man relatively quite and caught a few dangerous balls.He is doing well for Timmons in there at the minute.

James Kelly -6 Was turned a few times which he needs to work on but did come out with some great ball and never gives up.

Darren Strong-6 Missed a great goal chance did keep possesion well at times in the second half when we were up against it.Hard to know where he was playing.Not suited to corner back in my opinion.

Stephen Attride-6 Spent a lot of time covering other men which is taking away from his game.Needs to work on his tackling. Did score a nice point when he got forward.

Colm Begley-# Hard to rate a player only on the field a little more than ten minutes

Kevin Meaney-4 Was doing so well up until that moment of madeness made the second goal and was winning great ball.I didn't see what happened but I've been told it was more than likely a red card.Disappointing!

John O'Loughlin -6 worked extremly hard and was one of Laois's better players when the tide was turning against us in the second half scored one excellent point in that second period.

Danny Luttrell-5 Another day that didn't really work out for the young Courtwood man lost possesion too many times and offered little going either way.Hopefully he can have a good game for the u21s Tomorrow night which will build confidence.


David Conway-6 Not really a centre forward as such but worked his socks off.won balls he should have never have won scored one great point in the second half and his link play was good all around.

Danny O'Reilly-5 Inexperienced at this level and it showed Again the u21 game on wednesday might bring him on more and build confidence.

Niall Donoher-6 Mixed bag for the courtwood man didn't lack effort or belief and always shows for the ball ,kicked a few silly balls away again which will annoy him but was better than the Tipp game for sure.

Donie Kingston-8 1-1 from play and a few nice frees his goal was a thing of beauty and in the first half he was unplayable at times.Drifted out the field in the second half and wasn't as much of a threat.Laois must learn how to use this deadly weapon better going forward.


Paul Kingston-7 Again 1-1 from play and in the first half he was superb .Him and Donie link so well and I still believe this will be a big year for the Kileen man.


Subs:
Padraig McMahon-7  for Begley  The Ballyroan man didn't look out of place and added great pace to Laois coming out with the ball which we haven't seen since him and O'Leary were off the scene.Was loose at the back and his man did kick a few too many scores.

Brendan Quigley -7 Nearly got a full half was rusty at times giving away two very bad hand passes which lead to Sligo scores did a lot of work in the middle and is very good at stopping and holding up a man which so many others can't.Caught three great balls which we have missed in previous games.

Gareth Dillon -6 Didn't do anyhting wrong but wasn't really a stand out for the time he was on.Could like so many Laois men be stronger in the tackle and maybe take more of the ball in tight situations as he is experienced enough now.


Ross Munnelly -5 Never really got on much ball and it was a hard ask for him when we played so deep .Not really his cup of tea although he did put the hard yeards in.Thought Finn or Walsh would been more suited to that role.


Overall a disappointing loss after been so good in the opening 25 minutes I really thought we were going to blow Sligo away at one stage.No doubt the Red card changed the whole complexion of the game as not only were we down to 14 but we had lost a player who was having such a good game before that so in reality it was a double blow.

Loosing Begley early didn't help matters although McMahon rolled back the years with a decent display.

Really was a sore one to take having battled so well for spells of the secong half and nearly doing enough to get a win or at least a point up there.

Results mean we are in a real battle now I just hope we can get the 4 points needed which should see us safe.

[redsetanta]

Did David Conway spend the game at centre forward? I don't understand that decision at all as Davy is a corner forward.

[Unlaoised]

Did David Conway spend the game at centre forward? I don't understand that decision at all as Davy is a corner forward.

Yeah he did same as the Tipp game but to be fair everyone was so deep in the second half he was down in his own half back line for much of it.

Still agree with you Play him further up the field.

[Clubber Lang]

Hopefully the couple of league games will stand to our u21s tomorrow night. Creedon has to be commended for persevering with these lads in the opening league games despite the criticism and some poor performances. The experience gained and trust show by the manager in their abilities will be vital to their development and should stand to them for u21 championship this year and allow them to step up as leaders on that team. With the favorable draw Laois could potentially find themselves in an under 21 final. Having Laois underage teams competing in Leinster finals again would be nice and help to lift the apathy that currently exists within the county. Tipp's underage success was built brick by brick and I think there is already evidence to suggest that Creedon is doing that in Laois. At senior level we are going to lose 6/7 key players in the next two to three years so it is vital for Creedon to introduce and develop young players from the off so that they are in a position to step up when the retirements do come about. While people may be criticizing results now, in the long term it will hopefully stand to these young players the experienced gained and lessons learned.     

[Giovanni]

Hopefully the couple of league games will stand to our u21s tomorrow night. Creedon has to be commended for persevering with these lads in the opening league games despite the criticism and some poor performances. The experience gained and trust show by the manager in their abilities will be vital to their development and should stand to them for u21 championship this year and allow them to step up as leaders on that team. With the favorable draw Laois could potentially find themselves in an under 21 final. Having Laois underage teams competing in Leinster finals again would be nice and help to lift the apathy that currently exists within the county. Tipp's underage success was built brick by brick and I think there is already evidence to suggest that Creedon is doing that in Laois. At senior level we are going to lose 6/7 key players in the next two to three years so it is vital for Creedon to introduce and develop young players from the off so that they are in a position to step up when the retirements do come about. While people may be criticizing results now, in the long term it will hopefully stand to these young players the experienced gained and lessons learned.   

Excellent post Clubber. Tomorrow will be very interesting indeed from that point of view. If the lads on the senior panel end up being leaders for the u-21s tomorrow, then the investment in these lads will have been worth it. I'd have some doubts that that's what'll happen but I hope I'm proved wrong.