Official Cavan GAA Thread

[Itchy]

Anyone read Alan o Mara piece in the celt. Doesn't sound impressed with mcglennan message at start of year versus what he actually done. Wonder are other players thinking the same. At least that was something to read anyway, no preview of Sunday's game or the minor semi which is pretty poor.

[mrdeeds]

Saw Alan on about it on Twitter and it was liked and retweeted by ex players.

[Westside]

Ah would Alan quit talking shite. We racked up huge scores in the league last year, spread of scorers was massive, the players then wanted Terry gone. They were promised they were going to be 'driven like a Ferrari'... Well if there's some Ferraris floating around Cavan they haven't been seen either at underage or since they graduated to the senior team (Gearoid being the only exception) Is his drive for self promotion bringing him down the Ger Loughnane route?

Savage stuff from the Minors today by the sounds of things. Second time in a row they've recovered from a bad start to win. Anyone at the game to give a report?

[Itchy]

Ah would Alan quit talking shite. We racked up huge scores in the league last year, spread of scorers was massive, the players then wanted Terry gone. They were promised they were going to be 'driven like a Ferrari'... Well if there's some Ferraris floating around Cavan they haven't been seen either at underage or since they graduated to the senior team (Gearoid being the only exception) Is his drive for self promotion bringing him down the Ger Loughnane route?

Savage stuff from the Minors today by the sounds of things. Second time in a row they've recovered from a bad start to win. Anyone at the game to give a report?

Wasnt at the game due to other commitments but listened on radio. Seemed like yet again very tactically naive and again poor discipline in 1st half but the individual class of Smith in midfield who got something like 8 marks and general never say die of the team got them over the line. Also young Curran from swad didnt play and he should be back for the final. I think Derry will probably be too tactical for us in the final but you never know with young lads. Maybe we need fellas that will just go out and play 1 on 1 and see where it takes us.

O Mara I am not sure about. I think we are regressing into a very negative style this year and the manager shouldnt have been talking shite at the start of the year about attacking being what he likes to do and then go ahead and do the opposite. I can see why players would be pissed off. However we dont have a player set to play that expansively so defend in numbers and pacy counter is our only way to success at the moment. The problem is the current manager has us countering at snails pace.

[mrdeeds]

Watching Down they had an outlet to kick to in full forward line. I can't help but think Dillon should be ours.

[Westside]

To be fair to John Brady, and I slated him after the U17 final, he does seem to have assembled a team that can score themselves out of a tight spot. I listened on the radio too and Mickey Hannon joined the commentary 20 minutes in or so and Damien laughed telling him he made a mistake taking the lift up. Very keen to see this midfield in action, heard great things about them and Smith sounded like he was outstanding today. The big thing is that we have 2 games now, win one of those and you have made big progress, either an Ulster title or an AISF. Ruairi Curran is still going to be a doubt for the final from what I hear, he would be a great lad to have back.

I have a problem with the general attitude that is the undertone of that article. The 'serious underage talent' is there and it's management holding us back.... again. Give over Alan ffs. You won one Ulster title and the team averaged about 13 points per game. The lads following up that win with 3 more were in the same mould for the most part. The forward units were ultimately limited ability-wise and that's showing on our senior side. Hyland was getting the very best out of the attack for the last two years, McGleenan is down players from that forward unit and is more inexperienced. Let's not turn this into another witch hunt for the manager. Paul Fitzpatrick should have had more wit than to publish that article IMO.

[Westside]

Watching Down they had an outlet to kick to in full forward line. I can't help but think Dillon should be ours.

Agreed. Would love to see him get a proper run as a full forward. Strong and skilful and has that extra bit of testicular fortitude that our other inside forward options lack.

Also, can anyone make a case for Clerkin being an automatic choice for Cavan every game? Am I missing something?

[mrdeeds]

Watching Down they had an outlet to kick to in full forward line. I can't help but think Dillon should be ours.

Agreed. Would love to see him get a proper run as a full forward. Strong and skilful and has that extra bit of testicular fortitude that our other inside forward options lack.

Also, can anyone make a case for Clerkin being an automatic choice for Cavan every game? Am I missing something?

It's hard to make a case for him to be part of match day panel in my opinion. But for some reason managers the world over always have blind spots to certain players. Good runner but won't beat a man with skill and kick a point.

Johnson not the answer anymore either. Would love to see Madden given run in there rather than on 40. Thought against Mayo he won great ball but his shooting was of.

As for minors I heard Derry are very good. Think going man for man is naive and would fear a repeat of u17 experience.

[Itchy]

I think madden has been harshly treated especially when you look at some others like Johnson who never even took a shot at the posts from play in 70 mins. Madden we need for the future, Johnson day is done. I'd gave preferred to see young lads in the forwards to brighten it up a bit, put Connolly and o reilly in there and see what they can do. Alas I expect another all out defend, snail pace counter attacks and probably a win by 3/4 points.

[mrdeeds]

Clerkin managed to play the whole game again. Jesus wept. McEnroe was poor in first half but swapping with Faulkner steadied ship. Seanie not suited to summer football. McVeety didn't get into game. Mackey quiet first half but kick passing in second half good. Gearoid can always do it against poor teams. Galligan made good impact. Buchannan two good points but carrying too much timber. Poor game. No intensity and riddled with errors.

[Itchy]

As someone who travelled, does anyone have any idea what the hell is our manager trying to do tactically. I was bamboozled by the positions. Looked like Martin reilly was midfield for half the game. Macketvwas corner forward, wing forward, wing back and midfield. Johnson played midfield again, looked disinterested and was subbed. I even witnessed Niall McDermott at centre back at one point. Galligan cost us 2 if not 3 points with more wayward kick outs. Mckiernan put up a decent score but I expect more from him in general play. McEnroe was good when he came out to half back line as were Gerry smith (contender for point of the season) and Ciaran Brady. A win is a win but manager needs to sort out whatever the hell he is trying to do as no one in the stadium, including the players, seems to know what is going on.

[Westside]

Not a bad game, lacking in quality but entertaining for sure. Not too bothered how we get there at the moment as long as we get over the line. Don't think we ever looked like losing it and it's probably better from a mentality point of view to scrape over the line than beat them out the gate. Few thoughts on the game:

-Our shooting and in particular our first half shooting was awful and only for Gearoid, it could have put us in real trouble. Just a lack of quality.

-Our midfield got absolutely decimated. Hugely worrying as this happened throughout the game and we continually kicked it long. Martin Reilly and Mackey competing under high hanging kick outs from our own keeper. It's not good enough if we have ambition to get a run in the qualifiers. We had a very obvious very effective kick out strategy last year, where has it gone?

-McEnroe was a mixed bag, some brilliant tackles and dispossessions mixed with some sloppy play. Ciaran Brady had a very good second half and should really be starting. Gearoid got the scores without putting in a dominating performance. Buchannan was fairly quiet but popped up with two lovely scores. Gerry Smith was decent and scored a fantastic solo point burning through the centre to pop it over, you'd have to wonder why a guy with his speed doesn't do it more often. McVeety was quieter than usual.

-Cian Mackey, the leader and go to man on this Cavan team. The going was tough in the second half and Mackey drove us forward time and again, carried ball, drew fouls, picked out wonderful passes. He was fantastic. He's not appreciated enough.

-We looked comfortable in the second half even when Offaly were coming back at us and were still playing relatively well it always looked as though we had the measure of them and would get the scores we needed. It was a professional enough job by Cavan which is all we want from these games.

-Management decisions were, as usual, perplexing. When I saw Connolly coming on early in the game it seemed blatantly obvious to me and the lads around me that Clerkin who had kicked 3 wides and being been dispossessed would be taken off. Instead Johnston was taken out and Clerkin, who things didn't get an awful lot better for, was still on the field at the final whistle. For a manager who was only too happy to haul Conor Madden off early on a few occasions including when he had just put him on, it seems bizzare.
Clerkin to his credit won a few balls in the second half inside but in general he was hesitant to shoot, was unable to break the tackle and just seemed out of his depth.
Gerry Smith was taken off right after he scored his wonderful point, Moynagh was subbed while playing fairly well straight after picking up a yellow. Try as I might, I don't see the logic in a lot of the decisions.

-Ryan Connolly was introduced early, he didn't really make much of an impact but he was game, he won the ball out in front at one stage, burned his man on the outside for speed and got his shot away. Clerkin and Johnston our starting corner forwards can't do that. Give him time and I think he could be a good player for us.
Thomas Galligan was introduced after Mossy got a farcical black card. He looked a bit nervous but played well and got stuck in.

[mrdeeds]

Not a bad game, lacking in quality but entertaining for sure. Not too bothered how we get there at the moment as long as we get over the line. Don't think we ever looked like losing it and it's probably better from a mentality point of view to scrape over the line than beat them out the gate. Few thoughts on the game:

-Our shooting and in particular our first half shooting was awful and only for Gearoid, it could have put us in real trouble. Just a lack of quality.

-Our midfield got absolutely decimated. Hugely worrying as this happened throughout the game and we continually kicked it long. Martin Reilly and Mackey competing under high hanging kick outs from our own keeper. It's not good enough if we have ambition to get a run in the qualifiers. We had a very obvious very effective kick out strategy last year, where has it gone?

-McEnroe was a mixed bag, some brilliant tackles and dispossessions mixed with some sloppy play. Ciaran Brady had a very good second half and should really be starting. Gearoid got the scores without putting in a dominating performance. Buchannan was fairly quiet but popped up with two lovely scores. Gerry Smith was decent and scored a fantastic solo point burning through the centre to pop it over, you'd have to wonder why a guy with his speed doesn't do it more often. McVeety was quieter than usual.

-Cian Mackey, the leader and go to man on this Cavan team. The going was tough in the second half and Mackey drove us forward time and again, carried ball, drew fouls, picked out wonderful passes. He was fantastic. He's not appreciated enough.

-We looked comfortable in the second half even when Offaly were coming back at us and were still playing relatively well it always looked as though we had the measure of them and would get the scores we needed. It was a professional enough job by Cavan which is all we want from these games.

-Management decisions were, as usual, perplexing. When I saw Connolly coming on early in the game it seemed blatantly obvious to me and the lads around me that Clerkin who had kicked 3 wides and being been dispossessed would be taken off. Instead Johnston was taken out and Clerkin, who things didn't get an awful lot better for, was still on the field at the final whistle. For a manager who was only too happy to haul Conor Madden off early on a few occasions including when he had just put him on, it seems bizzare.
Clerkin to his credit won a few balls in the second half inside but in general he was hesitant to shoot, was unable to break the tackle and just seemed out of his depth.
Gerry Smith was taken off right after he scored his wonderful point, Moynagh was subbed while playing fairly well straight after picking up a yellow. Try as I might, I don't see the logic in a lot of the decisions.

-Ryan Connolly was introduced early, he didn't really make much of an impact but he was game, he won the ball out in front at one stage, burned his man on the outside for speed and got his shot away. Clerkin and Johnston our starting corner forwards can't do that. Give him time and I think he could be a good player for us.
Thomas Galligan was introduced after Mossy got a farcical black card. He looked a bit nervous but played well and got stuck in.

I agree with everything you say but Gerry Smith was injured. That's why he was subbed. Why not give Dillon more time?

[Itchy]

Yeh smith was holding the hammer after his wonder point. Madden starts v Monaghan and doesn't get a minute today.

[mrdeeds]

As someone who travelled, does anyone have any idea what the hell is our manager trying to do tactically. I was bamboozled by the positions. Looked like Martin reilly was midfield for half the game. Macketvwas corner forward, wing forward, wing back and midfield. Johnson played midfield again, looked disinterested and was subbed. I even witnessed Niall McDermott at centre back at one point. Galligan cost us 2 if not 3 points with more wayward kick outs. Mckiernan put up a decent score but I expect more from him in general play. McEnroe was good when he came out to half back line as were Gerry smith (contender for point of the season) and Ciaran Brady. A win is a win but manager needs to sort out whatever the hell he is trying to do as no one in the stadium, including the players, seems to know what is going on.

Martin Reilly was played mf versus Monaghan. On Offaly kickouts they hit towards Reilly Clerkin and Brady and won a lot of marks. After 10 mins the positions all changed for no apparent reason.

Our manager is a spoofer of the highest order. After being knocked out of Ulster he said he couldn't be prouder of the players.