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Well, well, well...................thought the script was set for a revenge crack at Derry in the final, obviously not.

Fair play to Monagahan, totally bossed the game and prob should have won by much more.

MH will need a different approach to this one. Monaghan have nothing to lose and with the forward players they have.................................a very interesting game lies ahead.

c'mon monaghan!

19 year wait to get revenge on Noodie and Co, I rem it all too clearly, Tyrone played in red, it pissed down, and there cant have been more than 3 words said in the car on the way home.

Will be some Game I imagine. Monaghan will be confident thier nippy forwards can cause us a lot of bother.

Quote from: An Fear Rua on June 24, 2007, 05:19:35 PM
19 year wait to get revenge on Noodie and Co, I rem it all too clearly, Tyrone played in red, it pissed down, and there cant have been more than 3 words said in the car on the way home.

That was my first Ulster Final. Took months to get over it. It was a penalty too. Cranney you Mourne Maggot.

Where's FarneyboyII when you need him.

I wish Monaghan all the best in the Ulster final.

I assume it's in Clones?

  Should be a real cracker alright,
Ricey and Carlin will have their work cut out with T.Freeman and Hanratty,
hopefully C.Cavanagh at the edge of the square with his height might entice Vinny
into fullback as he would be a little much for Mulgrew IMO as i rate him quite highly at CHB,
D Freeman and Dooher should be a titanic battle,
Finley will be a huge loss to them, i hope its not too serious whatever it is.
Monaghan are def a talented bunch but Tyrone should just shade it, i hope.
Congrats on a fine win today lads.

What's the score with Paul Finlay  ? I hope he's ok.

Quote from: orangeman on June 24, 2007, 08:00:07 PM
What's the score with Paul Finlay  ? I hope he's ok.

Heard on the radio that his father has said that he hopes that the condition that his son is suffering from (didn't specify what) would clear quickly, but that he could not play football whilst afflicted by it.

I take it we'll be in all red for the final with Monaghan all blue - as it was in 2005 in Croker and 2006 in Casement.

i think tyrone will win the final easy. Derry are pretty aweful. dont think monaghan are a better team than Donegal to be honest. couple of tricky forwards mind

You'd think Tyrone will be big favourites for the final ? But football never works out like that - Monaghan will be underdogs and will have nothing to lose - so wtach out.

Quote from: ONeill on June 24, 2007, 08:16:01 PM
I take it we'll be in all red for the final with Monaghan all blue - as it was in 2005 in Croker and 2006 in Casement.

Would prefer if they allowed a toss-up to keep the white-with-trim.

What's the chances of seeing securicor at all matches from now on ? Like Hello, but imagine sending a man home with 200k in cash ? What were they thinking of ?

One paper Tyrone should win this match. However this is the Ulster Championship and the paper bes thrown out the window.

Tyrone had a terrific game last week, but on the back of a terrible run. We could so easily go back to that rut again. After all, there was emotive reasons why Tyrone upped their performances last week.

When you add to the mix that this is Monaghan's first final appearance in 20 years, you can bet they will be going for hell and leather. Their hunger is bound to be greater than Tyrone and they'll have nothing to lose.

Is that what they call daylight robbery ?

Not funny  >:(

Quote from: ziggysego on June 24, 2007, 08:32:13 PM
When you add to the mix that this is Monaghan's first final appearance in 20 years, you can bet they will be going for hell and leather. Their hunger is bound to be greater than Tyrone and they'll have nothing to lose.

Wouldn't necessarily agree with that Ziggy, all our lads will have to do is remember their last Ulster Final appearance, and if that doesn't spark their fire nothing will!  ;)

Edit: And Monaghan will have had no personal experience of appearing in an Ulster Final, which I think is a hugely significant factor. Just think back to ourselves in 1994 against Down, and that was a good team (Canavan et al.), the vast majority of whom had underage medals.

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 24, 2007, 08:29:59 PM

Quote from: ONeill on June 24, 2007, 08:16:01 PM
I take it we'll be in all red for the final with Monaghan all blue - as it was in 2005 in Croker and 2006 in Casement.

Would prefer if they allowed a toss-up to keep the white-with-trim.

You could be right - the McKenna semi this year had us in white and Farney in all-blue.

Lone Shark's Ladbrokes' odds:

USFC Final:

Tyrone           1/4
Monaghan     11/4

it is in clones on the 15th july.. will this be all ticket ? and who are the home team ? the home team should get to wear the colours of their choosing.....

I am backing the farneyarmy all the way. C'mon the farney. ;D

Quote from: gwan-ye-boy-ya on June 24, 2007, 11:47:29 PM
it is in clones on the 15th july.. will this be all ticket ? and who are the home team ? the home team should get to wear the colours of their choosing.....

Its a final so it is (supposed to be) a neutral venue, so there is no home team. Is there a possibility that the game will be moved to Breffni Park even though the ulster council said the game would be fixed for clones before the semi finals were played?

As the better half is from Monaghan I am hoping to get to the Ulster final, assuming we can get tickets.
It will be my first experience of a live Ulster final, am looking forward to seeing what all the craic is about.
And no I wont be supporting Tyrone.

On recent displays your would expect the Tyrone duvet to smother Monaghan, and if they play like they did against Donegal , Monaghan will be in for a long afternoon.

Monaghan did just enough yesterday against a very poor Derry team for whom alot more was expected. Tommy Freeman will be a handfull for Tyrone but you would not expect Monaghan to get the same amount of freedom they got yesterday around the middle of the field.

Anyway will be an interesting day out in Clones, and hopefully my adopted county will be able to provided one huge performance..

Quote from: stew on June 24, 2007, 11:48:36 PM
I am backing the farneyarmy all the way. C'mon the farney. ;D

Just like you were backing Donegal all the way, ha!  :D

Quote from: Kerry Mike on June 25, 2007, 09:02:41 AM
On recent displays your would expect the Tyrone duvet to smother Monaghan, and if they play like they did against Donegal , Monaghan will be in for a long afternoon.

Very good KM, i like that term

Definition of Fools - (1) those who are writing Monaghan off. Remember 2003 McKenna Cup Final and Ulster 1st Round that year as well when Monaghan shocked Armagh. Monaghan have a history of taking out favourites. They have very pacey forwards and they have always given Tyrone a game.

(2) those who send someone from a west belfast venue with several thousand pounds worth of cash thinking that everything will be grand and that nothing will happen. beggars belief.

Under no circumstances should anything be taken for granted where Monaghan's concerned, though let's not get carried away:

Quote from: clarshack on June 25, 2007, 10:55:53 AM
They have very pacey forwards and they have always given Tyrone a game.

2005 All-Ireland Qualifiers Round 4:

Monaghan: 1-07, Tyrone: 2-14

Derry were woeful yesterday, and this is a different Monaghan team from 2005 (though with largely the same players), and Tyrone will need to approach this game with exactly the same perspective as the Donegal game.

In that game, Monaghan led 1-5 to 0-2 after 22 mins. Scared the life outta me.

Quote from: ONeill on June 25, 2007, 11:22:55 AM
In that game, Monaghan led 1-5 to 0-2 after 22 mins. Scared the life outta me.

Indeed, took us a while to wake up.

To be honest I would be very wary of Monaghan. They have a good managerial team as much as I think McElkennon is just a mercenary he is a fantastic trainer/coach - never understood why Harte didnt go after him when Tally left.
Would have loved Tyrone to have got the chance to put right last years fiasco against Derry but am really looking forward to th final now. Clones will be packed to the rafters and the atmosphere should be electric - hard to beat for an ulster final.

Didn't see the game yesterday but heard Derry were very poor and that Monaghan not much better.
Yeah they've got lots of pace throughout the pitch but laboured at putting this Derry team to the sword.

A Derry mate (yeah I have some) said he was actually relieved they lost as Tyrone would hockey them and he couldn't bear to watch that.
He thinks a good club team could beat Monaghan but reckon that was just post match blues speakin and trying to up the pressure on Tyrone.
Dont shoot the messenger as not my words.

1988 was also my first Ulster final in Clones and I remember Paddy Ball playing a stormer but it was the first taste of an overhyped Tyrone team letting us done a bagful and we got a lot more of that over the years didnt we.

I reckon we will see the Red and Blue jerseys with Paisley invited by McGuiness to watch the spectacle and pretend its a another token of peace. :-)

I hope Tyrone do what they did against Fermanagh in 2003 and start like a whirlwind and knock the wind out of their sails. I'm not being big headed but if you let these so called less experieced team get a start on ya they then believe they can actually beat ya. Whereas if you knock them for six early on then they doubt themselves and can collapse like Donegal did

Look how Kerry played against Waterford this year and the game was over after 10 mins.
The 2001 game panned out like that where Monghan got off to great start and put it up to us. They knocked us for 6 and we started to doubt a little and they began to believe a little
However, they then sat back and let us into it and we clawed our way back and they had no leaders to stop the Rout.
Yeah I know, Typical bih headed Tyrone fan talk and ye can't wait to get at us, but I'm just getting a bot bored of all this
"Lettuce play it all down for the media" bullshit and that we better not understimate them just in case.

I'd like to see a good open game but I reckon lots of teams not purposely go out to rile our younger players and people like Mugsy and O'Neill always get lots of special attention.
I was happy with discipline last day, even though Jordan still annoys me with his diving and whinging.

If Mickey can keep feet on ground I think Tyrone by 6 points.

KM its a great occasion and the Hibernian bar is the spot for a boyo like you.  As for Tyrone V Monaghan, I would make Tyrone slight favourites here, Monaghan will bring a differnt meat to the pie than Derry would have done.  It has that bad feeling of an upset for me.  Atmosphere will be special,  great county Monaghan, great heart, now they have the players they will trouble anybody. 

SON is having a nightmare with his hamstrings. Another injury sustained in training, early doubt for the final. Pure sicknote compared with the wizardry and genius of '05.

Upset; upset; upset; upset;
Monaghan by 2

RRHF: yes looking forward to it dont think I will make of ff the Hiberian though.
Have seen a good bit of Monaghan teams up close over the last few years and have been telling the natives that I thought there was good potential there. Their defeat to Tyrone in Dublin in 05 was a setback when they were playing really well . Gave away a soft goal and that was the game gone.
There seemmed ot be a bit in the past of a mental block but hopefully Banty McEananey has instilled a winning belief in them.

There seemed to be a hunger about Monaghan yesterday however Derry were so poor it is hard to judge their progress and they should have won the game by more than the 2 points in the end. Finlay will be a big boost if he is back his workrate around the middle will be vital against the tigerish Tyrone lads. Lennon needs to contribute more too against Tyrone. I would worry about their full back line if pushed to the limit by Tyrone but they have some good forwards in the Freemans, Woods and Gollogly.

But its great for them to be involved in a Ulster final and should give a good boost within the county over the next 3 weeks. My only hope is that they dont get wallopped like Donegal. I think they will put it up to Tyrone but would expect Tyrone to have too much experience. But its on the day.

Tyrone will want to regain the Ulster crown again and after their destruction of Donegal they will be warm favourites for this game no matter how people try to play that down, that will play into Monaghan's hands if the Tyrone heads are not right.

KM, you didn't meet me for a pint at the Junior Club final.

What about for the Ulster Final?

When watching the analysis of the Derry Monaghan Match yesterday the panelists were talking about  how good the Monaghan tackling was and that even their forwards were tackling.They were praising it and saying it showed how much monaghan wanted to win!You would think this would ruin gaelic football!!!! ??? I'm sure ive heard this kind of play analyzed very differently before!!

From BBC GAA website

Stephen O'Neill is doubtful for the Ulster SFC final against Monaghan at Clones on 15 July after suffering a fresh hamstring injury in training.
Gerard Cavlan is back in training after a knee injury and Tommy McGuigan is also in training after a broken wrist.

Tyrone midfielder Sean Cavanagh was one of four players red carded as his club Moy lost by a single point at home to Loughmacrory on Sunday night.

The three-times All Star had scored two points before his dismissal.

He was sent-off in the last ten minutes as his side ended the contest with twelve men.

Clann Na Gael picked up a narrow win away to Edendork without the services of Brian Dooher and O'Neill.

The county pair were rested due to niggling injuries.

Dooher and O'Neill had registered seven points between them in last weekend's Ulster semi-final win over Donegal.

Sunday's games will be the last featuring county players before the Ulster final meeting with Monaghan on 15 July.

Monaghan are really going over the top with the underdogs bit and having no chance - no Ulster final is a foregone conclusion - so please, Monaghan, enough crying - you're there on merit and stand an excellent chance and with Derry having beaten Tyrone last year and with Derry having held Tyrone scoreless in the first half, I'd say Monaghan should be favourites ?????????

The shock isnt that our best county senior footballer was sent off.  Its that the game wasnt played in Ardboe..  ;) Only joking o/man.
Seriously though I heard it was not a yellow card offence never mind a red.  

Dont forget Tyrone folks -  well in 2005 Armagh were massive underdogs and we seen what 2 shitty referees and a f**king bagful of outrageous good fortune can do over the couple of games.  i would put Monaghan as a better team than the Armagh team that Tyrone faced in 2005.  they were good yeah.. but by no means a great team and they rode their luck until it eventually ran out in August.   

Absoultely delighted to finally have the chance to watch an Ulster Final in Clones involving our own team. I know the game against Derry was dire but it didn't stop me from jumping around the office like a lunatic once the ref blew the final whistle! Its brilliant to feel a buzz around the County, its not too often we have it and although we will be massive underdogs, this team will have done the County proud no matter what the result. Fair play to Banty and his backround team. He has firmly believed in his players from day one and despite many critics and doubters he has proved them all wrong. All the best on July 15th lads.

QuoteSON is having a nightmare with his hamstrings. Another injury sustained in training, early doubt for the final. Pure sicknote compared with the wizardry and genius of '05. 

I think MH should book an appointment with the fella both Ryan Gigs & Michael Owen went to see.  Giggsy has hardly a hamstring injury since.

I take it there'll be a full house for the final? Both counties Id imagine will get 14-5000 tickets each with the rest going to neutrals. What kind of support would Monaghan bring for a game like this? They can have no excuse regarding travelling etc. In a way I think itll create a better atmosphere on Ulster Final day with it being Monaghan and not Derry. Id say there'll be a bit of traffic going from Monaghan to Clones that day. If Tyrone dont pick up any injuries and dont get complacent they should win the game. Thats not to say they will and they will need to reproduce the hunger from the last day. Its 4 years from our last ulster title - must be due one.

Paddy Power:

Tyrone: 2-9
Monaghan 11-4

Way too short and longs odds, respectively, I'd say. More realistically it might have been Tyrone @ 2-5 and Monaghan @ 2-1.

Really looking forward to the final back in Clones, sure to be a full house and a good atmosphere, when was the last time Clones was full??
Just hope Monaghan can make a game of it

I had great time for the fine Monaghan team of the 1980's and travelled many a mile to see them play in both Clones and Croke Park.  There should be a special atmosphere now that the Ulster Final is back in Clones and with a fairly new pairing.  I was at the 1988 final, but expect Tyrone to win this one.

Find it a bit hard to believe that many Tyrone posters are so confident....whoever came out of Sunday's semi final was going to be difficult but Monaghan as a team on the up and with fast, tricky forwards are quite possibly the more dangerous than Derry. Tyrone on the form of the Donegal match would win the game but given that was by a long distance the best showing since September 2005 (amidst a sea of mediocrity) we can hardly bank on the same performance back to back. A repeat of the Fermanagh display for example will win Monaghan the Ulster title. Would be even more wary of Monaghan given the manner of their two victories, against Down trailing for most of the game only to hit back with a big finish then against Derry to be pegged back after leading with a goal against the run of play late on yet to still be on top in the closing stages. Suggests theyre strong mentally.
Again we'll need the big men (Ricey, Gormley, Jordan, S.Cavanagh, Dooher, Mugsy, SON) and a few of the newcomers to be on form to win. Anything less and Tyrone will be in trouble.

From Todays Irish Times.

An Irishman's Diary
Frank McNally
With reports that GAA fans have taken to snorting cocaine in Croke Park, it seemed like a good time to get out of Dublin and attend an Ulster championship match in West Belfast.
Andersonstown is the perfect antidote to the madness of life in the capital. Depending on the game you're watching, an afternoon in Casement Park can have the same sobering effect as a whole weekend in Lough Derg. Whatever the football lacks in dourness, the stadium itself makes up for.
At its best, the experience is a welcome reminder of those days - before we lost the run of ourselves - when the only way fans could get high at a GAA match was by watching it from the roof of the stand.
As usual, in recent times, the trip north was a chance to admire the M1: now stretching all the way to the Border. The only one thing that spoils the drive now is the road's de facto apartheid system, under which cars registered in the Republic are confined to the slower left-hand lane, while Northern cars get to use the faster one, on the right.
There's nothing to stop you as a Southern driver using the outside lane. It's just that when you do, a jeep with an aggressive Northern reg number - all those Xs and Zs look like expletives warning you to get out of the way - is liable to loom suddenly from behind, moving from nought to 60 per cent of your rear-view mirror in three seconds flat. Maybe it's the sterling differential, but Northern cars all seem to be able to do 20 miles an hour extra in the Republic.
Curiously enough, the system is reversed on the other side of the Border, where Northern drivers slow down and it's the Southerners' turn to ignore the speed cameras. It should all average out on a trip to Belfast. Except of course, that once you hit the Border (and you probably will hit it, unless you brake sharply), the M1 disappears suddenly, like Cinderella's coach, and turns into a mountain pass. You're still 50 miles from Casement Park, and the sobering experience has begun already.
The North's roads may still be catching up, but Sunday provided a dramatic example of the peace dividend in West Belfast, where the police - of all people - were directing match traffic. In the old days, the RUC avoided GAA matches like Free Presbyterians avoid drink. But there was the PSNI on Andersonstown Road, directing Derry and Monaghan supporters like it was the most normal thing in the world.
The mood of change even extended (unlike the PSNI) into the stadium, where, in a dramatic break with tradition, Monaghan played their opponents off the pitch. This sort of thing used to happen a lot back in the 1980s. But in the 19 years since we last reached an Ulster final, Monaghan fans had forgotten what it was like. By the end of Sunday's game, the memories were flooding back: of Nudie Hughes, and choc-ices, and ill-fitting crepe paper hats that the colours leaked out of when it rained.
It struck me for the first time that the logo on the current Monaghan jersey - FKM - looks very like a Northern car registration (in fact it's the name of an engineering company). And that's how it must have appeared in the wing mirrors of the Derry defence, as flying Monaghan forwards overtook them left, right, and sometimes centre, with reckless disregard for their own safety.
Everybody agreed afterwards that the winners were about seven points the better team, although of course only two of these points were on the actual scoreboard. Being a Monaghan supporter means that, no matter how dominant the side are, you never have a chance to relax and shout "olé" repeatedly as they string passes together in the closing stages of a game. Not that you're the sort of person who would, anyway.
Qualifying to meet Tyrone in the final next month was a dubious privilege. Conventional wisdom suggests the main issue about the game will be whether Tyrone win by a wide margin or an even wider one. But the result may be secondary on this occasion to Monaghan's main task: saving Ulster football's soul.
By reaching the final, paradoxically, Monaghan's modest support base has ensured that the province's showpiece will be played back where God intended it to be: Clones. We will leave it to future historians to explain how, for a few years in the early 21st century, the Ulster final was held annually in Dublin. Sufficient for now that this outrage has ended.
In fairness to Armagh and Tyrone, it can be argued that only the M1 and Croke Park could have dealt with the huge support bases (and their rapidly expanding egos) of recent years. But they must realise by now that too much big-city glamour can lead to decadence. Just look at the Dubs. If the Ulster Final continued to be held in Croker, Tyrone fans would soon have been snorting cocaine off their match programmes.
In St Tiernach's Park, Coke is still something that comes in bottles and it only gets up your nose if somebody makes you laugh when you're swallowing it. That issue aside, an Ulster final in Clones will be a welcome chance for Tyrone supporters to experience life in the slow lane again. Alternatively, they can try the other lane, where the traffic isn't moving at all.

Quote from: Tatler Jack on June 26, 2007, 08:20:07 AM
From Todays Irish Times.
By the end of Sunday's game, the memories were flooding back: of Nudie Hughes, and choc-ices, and ill-fitting crepe paper hats that the colours leaked out of when it rained.

Does anyone else think Frank has been reading our thread on things we don't see at football matches anymore? Soundvery similar to be a coincidence

I would actually be suprised if this is all ticket. I don't think many will be left waiting outside the gates come that Sunday afternoon based on attendances so far this championship.

I will however have a wee wry smile on my face as I see the usual suspects from my own county who will invariably decide that the UF is the day to turn out and support the team in person. 

Usually these are among the most vocal educationalists in the ground, informing all the rest of us idiots how the game really should be played (and wondering when Peter is coming on...................)  ::)

Anyhow..competition for places will make MH team selection very interesting.

For what it's worth I think CC will be given thne 3rd MF nod based on his 15min spell at the end of the Donegal game and the fact he could rotate into FF if Stevie is out the field.

Anyhow....................... what I'd like to see  (whcih is seldom what MH picks, but then he's right more than he's wrong)

Devine / McConnell (don't mind - each has good / bad points)
Ricey - invaluable if he keeps his head away from the panto stuff
Joey - must be a cert
Carlin - improving all the time. Starting to make more and more of the right choices with the ball (no shooting please though)
Nephew - mr reliable
Block - the best in Ireland
Model - getting back to his best, will be back among the points again
Sean - great to see us beat Donegal with an average performance from him
Hub - shooting and some headless passing aside, was an immense performance against Donegal, back to doing what he does best.
Dooher - no more needs said
Mulgrew - Finally delivering on big stage. Still feel he has more in him than Tommy.
C Cavanagh - Enda is off form, Mellon is hit and miss, worth a go.
Mugsy - back on form and losing beef
SON - if fit, enough said
McCullogh - worth another go.

That would leave a bench of Cavo, Tommy, Enda and Mellon for genuine forward options (i.e. MH will actually give them a game)

Interesting point Tyroneman regarding who Harte will actually use / trust in the white heat of championship battle. Defensively, I'd say he'd throw on McMahon juniour if a half back gets injured, McCaul or McGinley if a full back gets injured and the 4 forwards you've mentioned. At this stage can you see him throwing on McCarron, Treanor or Rouse? Don't think so. Kelvin at midfield? PJ Quinn, Peter Donnelly or Gourley, maybe. I suppose if there were 3 defenders needed to be replaced one of these guys would get a run out. When players cramp and injuries mid game start to strike, it'll be interesting to see MH's substitutions.

Please God...........................not Peter Donnelly, not even if we were 15 up with 3 min to go.................not Peter Donnelly

Definitely agree with tyroneman.  No harm, but anyone suggesting Donnelly needs their head seen too. 

QuoteAt this stage can you see him throwing on McCarron, Treanor or Rouse? Don't think so. Kelvin at midfield? PJ Quinn, Peter Donnelly or Gourley, maybe.

Mickey Harte's approach is very much "if it ain't broke don't fix it" so the lads on the fringes will only get a shot if someone else fcuks up (ala Cormac McGinley the last day out).  Once a player has won his place it's up to him to lose it.  It's the right approach imo.

QuoteMickey Harte's approach is very much "if it ain't broke don't fix it" so the lads on the fringes will only get a shot if someone else fcuks up (ala Cormac McGinley the last day out).  Once a player has won his place it's up to him to lose it.  It's the right approach imo.

Can you please explain how Cormac McGinley and Peter Donnelly got soooooooooooooooooooooo many chances after feckin up time and time again?  ;)

Quote from: tyroneman on June 26, 2007, 12:57:35 PM
Anyhow....................... what I'd like to see  (whcih is seldom what MH picks, but then he's right more than he's wrong)

Devine / McConnell (don't mind - each has good / bad points)
Ricey - invaluable if he keeps his head away from the panto stuff
Joey - must be a cert
Carlin - improving all the time. Starting to make more and more of the right choices with the ball (no shooting please though)
Nephew - mr reliable
Block - the best in Ireland
Model - getting back to his best, will be back among the points again
Sean - great to see us beat Donegal with an average performance from him
Hub - shooting and some headless passing aside, was an immense performance against Donegal, back to doing what he does best.
Dooher - no more needs said
Mulgrew - Finally delivering on big stage. Still feel he has more in him than Tommy.
C Cavanagh - Enda is off form, Mellon is hit and miss, worth a go.
Mugsy - back on form and losing beef
SON - if fit, enough said
McCullogh - worth another go.

That would leave a bench of Cavo, Tommy, Enda and Mellon for genuine forward options (i.e. MH will actually give them a game)

Agree with 1-10. 11 is still up for grabs. Mulgrew played well when Donegal collapsed. McGuigan played well under pressure but faded. The toss of a coin. 12 I'd have McGinley or Mellon as it's the pressure cooker of an Ulster Final at Clones. Both often deliver on the big days. 15 - He'll probably go with McCullagh but I'm not so sure anymore. He continues to underperform though his workrate cannot be doubted.

Sorry, post fixed...

Quote10 is still up for grabs.

Dooher? You have to be joking or wrong there O'Neill!

We'll do well to bring more than aboout 12,000 supporters to the game. Monaghan's fan base is usually about 8 or 9 thousand so when you add a lock a thousand bandwagoners on top of that, I'd say 12,000 is the height of it.

Quote from: charlie linkbox on June 26, 2007, 11:11:28 PM
We'll do well to bring more than aboout 12,000 supporters to the game. Monaghan's fan base is usually about 8 or 9 thousand so when you add a lock a thousand bandwagoners on top of that, I'd say 12,000 is the height of it.

From what I gather so far this week the andwagon is rolling Charlie! Monaghan could have 15000.

What do people think Banty will do for the final? This is my prediction:

                Duffy
Dessie       Vinnie     Strimmer

JP          McQuaid      Morgan
          D Freeman
       
       Spindley    Dick

Jinxy        Finlay        Woods

      Hanratty    Tommy

Strimmer/Morgan could be tight to start but I reckon they'll both make it. Flanagan is unlucky to miss out. IMO Smyth hasn't done enough in the last two games to get a start, he's a talented lad though, and will feature at some stage. Coming off the bench may suit him better.

Personally i think he will keep/start Cavanagh Jr at FF moving Mugsy out to CHF and Mulgrew to no.12 giving the starting team of:

1. Devine
2. McMenamin
3. Joey
4. Carlin
5. Harte
6. Gormley
7. Jordan
8. Cavanagh
9. Hughes
10. Dooher
11. Mugsy
12. Mulgrew
13. Mc Cullagh
14. Cavanagh Jr
15 O'Neill

Quote from: Deal_Me_In on June 27, 2007, 11:34:14 AM
Personally i think he will keep/start Cavanagh Jr at FF moving Mugsy out to CHF

Not so sure about this. Cavanagh Jr was poor enough in my opinion at FF against Donegal. Did better when moved to wing half playing well when the game was over. There is no chance Mugsy will he CHF especially with the possible doubts over O'Neill. Mugsy is a top quality inside forward and there arent too many of them about. Harte likes to spring at least one surprise to keep the opposition guessing but he knows that he needs mugsy in the full forward line and I fully expect to see him there.

I thought CC also struggled in at FF and is a bit young and not crafty enough to shake off a good FB at this level.

I'd have Calvo in FF line if Fit so he doesnt have to do loads of running or tracking back and is a great fielder so can hit big high balls into him all day.
That would mean 3 big talented men in FF line who can all shout with both feet, yeah even Mugsy does the odd time.

Dooher     Mulgrew      C. Cavanagh/Mellon/McGinley

O'Neill       Cavlan         Mugsy

Don't think Stevo though will last a whole game so reckon Mickey would rather bring him on rather than have to take him off.

When will Tommy's wrist be OK again?
I believe he's training with them again

Is Yung Gormley out til after Ulster final>

http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40662000/jpg/_40662228_monaghan_tyrone_203.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4750073.stm&h=152&w=203&sz=14&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=nhR4NqYB_cG-4M:&tbnh=79&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTyrone%2Bv%2BMonaghan%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2005-47,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN (http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40662000/jpg/_40662228_monaghan_tyrone_203.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/4750073.stm&h=152&w=203&sz=14&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=nhR4NqYB_cG-4M:&tbnh=79&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTyrone%2Bv%2BMonaghan%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWE,RNWE:2005-47,RNWE:en%26sa%3DN)

I can't see Cavlan making the starting line-up.  A scribe stated that Mugsy's hunger for football in the summer rather than the winter can be attributed to the sunshine and the smell of burgers wafting onto the pitch. Who am I to disagree? I was slagging him off against Fermanagh for being porky, but he looked trim and keen against Tir Connell. Mugsy has to stay in the corner. That's where he does the damage. 1-10 looks pretty well sewn up. Throw in Mugsy and SON and then it's great to see some competition for the remaining positions.

Quote from: Mr. Nakata on June 27, 2007, 01:56:47 PM
A scribe stated that Mugsy's hunger for football in the summer rather than the winter can be attributed to the sunshine and the smell of burgers wafting onto the pitch. Who am I to disagree? ...

Oooh... bitchy!  ;)

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 27, 2007, 04:35:40 PM

Quote from: Mr. Nakata on June 27, 2007, 01:56:47 PM
A scribe stated that Mugsy's hunger for football in the summer rather than the winter can be attributed to the sunshine and the smell of burgers wafting onto the pitch. Who am I to disagree? ...

Oooh... bitchy!  ;)

Mugsy said it himself

Quote from: ziggysego on June 27, 2007, 04:39:38 PM

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on June 27, 2007, 04:35:40 PM

Quote from: Mr. Nakata on June 27, 2007, 01:56:47 PM
A scribe stated that Mugsy's hunger for football in the summer rather than the winter can be attributed to the sunshine and the smell of burgers wafting onto the pitch. Who am I to disagree? ...

Oooh... bitchy!  ;)

Mugsy said it himself

And?  :)

We all love burgers in the summer ! So what ?

Quote from: orangeman on June 27, 2007, 05:10:53 PM
We all love burgers in the summer ! So what ?

Speak for yourself, chubby  ;) , I can think of better things to stuff my face with than burgers, summer or no!

Ah lads can we keep it to the football chat and not feckin kiddie stuff

I just think Calvo is a good target man and he's never played much in the FF line.
He is great at winning his own ball and his accuracy is not far away from PTG on his day.
Remember his point in 1996 semi v Meath animals out on the 21 on the righ sideline. Awesome angle with his right foot.

I just think he'd take some pressure off Mugsy and Stevie O and so it would be hard to mark three big lads as Armagh have with Marsden Clarke and McDonnell and even Hateful C**t Oisin.

At least in FF or corner Forward Cavlan wouldn't need to be doing loads of running and is gonna get you much more scores from that close to the goals. His days of playing in the Half forwards I think are numbered even if his passing is still class.
He can't chase back as much and if I was the other manager I would target my half backs to run him ragged.

Hope the weather picks up in July. We could do with a great day in the Sun as of days of old in Clones.

Quote from: Fuzzman on August 01, 1973, 06:02:44 AM

I just think he'd take some pressure off Mugsy and Stevie O and so it would be hard to mark three big lads as Armagh have with Marsden Clarke and McDonnell and even Hateful C**t Oisin.

Peter might be the great but Óisín is the greatest. The stats back it up

Frig sake bandit you are making an idiot out of yourself. 

Thats true he is the top scorer as stats say.
What is the points to match ratio I wonder?

That's why so many neutrals over the age of 30 have him in the best ever team.
He's the first name you think off after James McCartin Senior


Ooops I do not want to make this thread into yet another Tyrone v Armagh talking SHiet match so yeah you're right
Wee Oisin is the best footballer in Ulster, EVER, as he is the top scorer ever. Take a bow Oisin.

QuotePeter might be the great but Óisín is the greatest. The stats back it up

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics  ;)

Statistics can be used to prove anything ;)

QuoteRemember his point in 1996 semi v Meath

Jayz you're going back a bit there now! 

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I don't rate Cavlin.  When it's not an important game or the opposition aren't up to much, he can look very good alright.  However, when the work has to be done and when the pressure's on he's nowhere to be seen (except maybe for the odd free).  I can't remember the last time we won an important* game with Cavlin playing.  He's lazy and doesn't tackle back.

* any championship match of note in the last 10 years.

Quote from: Star Spangler on June 28, 2007, 01:20:15 PM
  I can't remember the last time we won an important* game with Cavlan playing. 

* any championship match of note in the last 10 years.

How about the 2003 final?  ;)

I stand corrected on that point.  ;D

However, I still wouldn't rate him above young Cavanagh or Colm McCullagh for that matter.

QuoteI can't remember the last time we won an important* game with Cavlin playing.  He's lazy and doesn't tackle back.

All Ireland Semif Final: Tyrone  v Kerry 2003

Didn't Cavlan destroy the Kerry midfield?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/northern_ireland/the_championship/6745037.stm

For the Stato's.  My OPINION is in line with what is said here.  Mc Conville is a great free taker, he wouldn't be as deadly as McDonnell from play.

As for Cavlan, simply has not delivered on his potential.  2003 final he played well - who will forget the beaut of a long range point he scored, but will any of us ever forget the stress he inflicted on us with that glaring goal miss after SON put it on a plate for him.  I would definitely put him on for the final, his handling and shooting skills would be priceless.  I just think he needs a good run in the team.  He always seems to be in, then out!!!

LIke Stevie O recently, Calvo seems struggle from wan injury to the next.
He rarely gets a full run in the time but all I'm saying is that he is more of a Rolls Royce type of player like Murice Fitz (Though no where near his level) than the Busy Volkswagen Beetle model of Dooher

Half forwards and half back in Tyrone are all work horses and runners whereas Cavlan I think is Mr Accuracy and can win his own ball unlike McCullagh and even wee Gormley.

I just reckon it would be interesting to give him a chance in a FF to see what he can do. He plays there well for his club and can you imagine the good quality ball that the likes of Mulgrew can fed him and hopefully one of the McGuigans later.

He's a class footballer and when his head is right he can outshine anyone on his day.
Keep him in FF line and so he doesnt have to tackle back so much

QuoteAll Ireland Semif Final: Tyrone  v Kerry 2003

Didn't Cavlan destroy the Kerry midfield?

I wouldn't agree.  He was virtually invisible that day.

I reckon Calvo's one of the best foot-passers of the ball I've ever seen.. his distribution  is first class, when he's on form... For that reason I'd have him out the field to feed the full-forward line.

But on this occasion I'd rather not have him on the field at all!!  ;)

Cavlan's display in midfield against Derry in the replay in 2003 was a joy to behold, an awesome display of majestic fielding and lethal distribution. Since his return, he's been too in and out, but he showed some hunger and fight against Fermanagh, when he did come on.

A great man to have on the bench, for when that something extra is needed, that extra bit of class to unlock a particulary stubborn defence, and always likely to get the odd long range point or two.  Maybe not one for the initial grafting in a game anymore, but certainly worth having in the panel. He'll be more suited to some games and times than others.

QuoteI wouldn't agree.  He was virtually invisible that day.

Second half maybe,but he gave an immense display in the first half. His fielding allowed Tyrone to launch wave after wave of attacks on Kerry.

I really feel that Tyrone will win this by a comfortable margin. Monaghan have done well to get to the final but lets be honest, they beat two of the worst Down and Derry teams I have ever seen. Derry were at their all time worst and were only a point behind with 6 or 7 minutes to go!! Im not trying to start a row but I really think Tyrone have far to much for Monaghan and if they play half as well against them as against Donegal they will win easy. I predict a 9 point win for Tyrone. ;)

QuotePeter might be the great but Óisín is the greatest. The stats back it up

How many extra games played did it take Oisin the Great to reach Canvan's scoring tally anyway?

Quote from: Over the Bar on June 28, 2007, 02:29:36 PM

QuotePeter might be the great but Óisín is the greatest. The stats back it up

How many extra games played did it take Oisin the Great to reach Canvan's scoring tally anyway?

That's one statistic too far I'd say  ;)

There's no doubt about Cavlan's passing ability and somedays his fielding his awesome.
Even if he does get a knee up on his counterpart's back for some extra leverage
Thinking of a great catch he did against the mighty Antrim in 2003 in semi final.

But what I'm trying to ask ye all is how do you think he would fair at FF or CF?
Has he played FF for Tyrone before. I don't recall him there.

Think he played 13 or 15 before but came out as 3rd MFielder.
Is he our own Star Donaghy that we just haven't fully utilised yet? How tall is he? 6'4''

Monaghan are so in the right place for a shock
They will be so playing the "Oh were just happy to be in the final" card

Tyrone need to be on the ball from the start otherwise we could get it tight if they get their tails up

Mc Conville is currently on 50 championship games, Canavan had 49.  I'd say alot of cameo's are counted in Canavans total though - i.e. Ulster Final Replay 2005, All Ireland Semi 2005 among others.

How many championship games did Frank McGuigan play?  I'd say it would be in the 20's.  That would make Conville twice as good as Frank.  I don't think so...

I remember Cavlan scoring a goal from  f/f against derry I believe.  Cavlan wastes his own talent, Tyrone wastes Cavalans talent - It has been a combination of both over the years.  If I was Mickey Harte I would tell Clavo this week that he'll be playing in the Ulster final in full or corner forward with Mulligan and stevie at either side.  That without question is Tyrones best ff line if all fit. 

Lads in the Ulster final thread

Lets stick to the topic and not let some Armagh lad try to get hijack another thread as they feel unloved recently.

Who's Monaghan's top performers so far this year then?
Will Freeman pick up Dooher again or will he play as a sweeper?

Will Tommy F be double marked or have Block on his case. He's small and fast so expect Carlin to take him but could get a roasting.
What's the Monghan midfield like. I havent saw them once this year so far

Finally, someone agrees with me. Thanks RRHF. I'd love to see that FF line getting good supply
Remember Fermanagh match in NFL semi back in 2003 I think we had Stevie, Mugsy and Peter in FF line.

touchy moy boy; touchy moy boy!

half foward line, Dooher, Mulgrew and Cavanagh / tommy if fit.

rest of team   - unchanged

BE nice to see mulgrew after another game under his belt. think he's begin to show the quality he has.

Yeah would be nice to see him control the whole forward line but I reckon Monaghan like other teams this year will target him and the Cavanaghs for some special treatment.

If you scare the Shite outta these young lads from the start then they might not perform is usually the belief.

Anyone hear in news from Training?
Who's flying and is McMahon playing at FB in any games?

I'm not convinced about Mulgrew at senior level just yet. He took his scores well against Donegal but I felt he was fairly anomomous in the first half only really came into it as Donegal seemed to lose heart and shape.

I wouldn't want to expect too much from him this season, but in 2 or 3 years time he should be controlling big game from chf

Mulgrew has more potential than any other young player coming through and therefore should be on the first 15 every time.  He needs that to make the breakthrough.  Brian McGuigan was at least two years consistently in there before his class started to show.  If Mulgrew gets the time he has the makings of a legend.

Hear tyrone's playin a game tonight. not sure where but there playing 1. Calvo seems like a man on a mission over the last two weeks. McMahon was playin no 6 last week as gormley was playing. Dooher didn't play in last game either. Hub also flying at the min

Quote from: rrhf on June 28, 2007, 04:27:19 PM
rest of team   - unchanged

Surely Joe McMahon has to start at FB in place of Cormac McGinley?

I would stick with young Mulgrew at no 11. He had a tough first season in 2006 amidst a lot of hype about his talent but he turned in some promising displays in the league and after hitting 1-1 against Donegal (and getting through a lot of work) I think it would be a mistake to then drop him.

As for Cavlan he has a few big games for Tyrone down the years but has largely failed to deliver on his own huge potential, certainly hasnt done enough IMO to merit a starting place against Monaghan. Have him on the bench to throw on if and when required.

SON if fit would go straight it at FF but given all the injuries (and the worrying talk of tendonitis) that might well be unrealistic. Maybe a similar cameo role with him coming in after half time will be the solution.

Id also stick with Enda at number 12. Ok he wasnt at his best against Donegal but he's a proven player, good fielder and great worker.

1.Devine
2.McMenamin
3.Joe McMahon
4.Carlin
5.Harte
6.Gormley
7.Jordan
8.Hughes
9.S.Cavanagh
10.Dooher
11.Mulgrew
12.McGinley
13.McCullagh
14. SON if fit, otherwise C.Cavanagh
15.Mulligan

That leaves the likes of C.Cavanagh/SON, Tommy McGuigan, Cavlan, N.Gormely if fit to throw in.

QuoteMc Conville is currently on 50 championship games, Canavan had 49.  I'd say alot of cameo's are counted in Canavans total though - i.e. Ulster Final Replay 2005, All Ireland Semi 2005 among others.

Strange stat that. Its the Ulster Championship only that we are counting remember and I'd reckon McConville has played a lot more Games in Ulster than Canavan.

Thinks look a lot more rosey than they did a few weeks ago. Its great what a good win and clear up of a few injuries can do. However at the beginning of the league thinks looked great with loads of options and we all know how things went wrong after that. There does appear to be a number of options for Harte to consider now particualrly up front. Everyone seems to want Joe McMahon at full back but Im not convinced that after the way Gormley played there the last day that he shouldnt be left there. McMahon could play centre half, difficult choice and would probably depend a lot on the opposition. Would like to see something like this team:
Devine
McMenamin
McMahon
Carlin
Harte
Gormley
Jordan
Cavanagh
Hughes
Dooher
Mulgrew
McGinley
O'Neil
Cavanagh Jnr
Mulliagn
Mulgrew will definately come under press from T McGuigan/Calvan. And Cavanagh Jnr will struggle to hold of McCullagh. There's also Niall Gormley, Ryan Mellon and Martin Penrose to consider. Aidan McCarron is supposed to have done rightly this year in training to. In defence there's decent back up from McCaul, Gourley and Justy McMahon. McMahon and Holmes also provide cover at midfield. Its still difficult to know at this  point if we're genuine all ireland contenders or not but there certainly is grounds to be hopeful.

That's a good position for us to be in TD, almost spoiled for choice. Wouldn't disagree with your assessment, though I'd doubt if Stevie O will be starting, though a definite on the bench.

yea damian f to pick up dooher. tommy f will roast anyone who marks him if hes on song and there's no rain. i think tommy loves a dry pitch. hanratty a star against down, poor against derry, so unknown for the final. woods showed well in belfast and might nick a start in clones. still dont know whats up with jap, medical results back next week,we need him...big time

does anyone know when the tickets are out??????

Quote from: gwan-ye-boy-ya on June 29, 2007, 01:24:07 AM
tommy f will roast anyone who marks him if hes on song and there's no rain. i think tommy loves a dry pitch.

Two teams that are looking for a dry ball I'd say, and two teams that it suits. A slippery ball, whilst not disastrous, will mar the spectacle somewhat.

Quote from: Fuzzman on June 28, 2007, 04:13:45 PM
Lads in the Ulster final thread

Lets stick to the topic and not let some Armagh lad try to get hijack another thread as they feel unloved recently.

Who's Monaghan's top performers so far this year then?
Will Freeman pick up Dooher again or will he play as a sweeper?

Will Tommy F be double marked or have Block on his case. He's small and fast so expect Carlin to take him but could get a roasting.
What's the Monghan midfield like. I havent saw them once this year so far

Finally, someone agrees with me. Thanks RRHF. I'd love to see that FF line getting good supply
Remember Fermanagh match in NFL semi back in 2003 I think we had Stevie, Mugsy and Peter in FF line.

The Bandit loves Monaghan and Armagh equally.

I just don't like people referring to an amateur sportsman as a c**t. Philly Jordan's dive as much as Conor Gormley's block won Tyrone an All-Ireland in 03, but I dont see the need to insult him.

I'd expect McMenamin to pick up Tommy and Carlin to mark Hanratty.

Gormley is the best defender in Ireland at the minute, he could be more effective against Monaghan at CHB to cut out the supply from Gollogly. McMahon has the potential to be a fine full back.

Damien Freeman will shadow Dooher.

Monaghan's midfield performed ok in the semi, Dick Clerkin had his best game in a Monaghan jersey IMO. However he is just as likely to be brutal the next day. Lennon will always win has share of ball and the battle with him and Hughes will be a good one.

Sean Cavanagh could destroy Monaghan in open play if he is let, and I'd expect JP Mone to be given a spoiling role to curtail him.

Tyrone have serious options in the forwards and even if Mulgrew starts badly, the likes of Cavlan/Tommy McGuigan will be on hand to replace him

fool

How so?

Mc Kenna cup final 2 years ago Brian Mc Guigan gave an exhibition that day - but as well as that Gavin Devlin played sweeper and totally blotted out Tom Freeeman and Rory Woods - I think it might have his last start for Tyrone - I'd go woth a sweeper again and crowd him out -

Quote from: thebandit on June 29, 2007, 11:31:35 AM
Gormley is the best defender in Ireland at the minute

FFS

any word on paul finlay, will he be fit for the final??

Quote from: bridgegael on June 30, 2007, 01:38:47 PM
any word on paul finlay, will he be fit for the final??

Apparently so, but you never can't tell until nearer the time.

I heard a statement that he is still awaiting results and has still not been given the all clear to resume training - and with him having missed the last few weeks, it would be unlikely if he were to have much of a role in the final.

Orangeman you heard right.
He's awaiting results of further tests that were carried out during the week.
I'd disagree about the value of his role in the final though. Paul Finlay is still more important to Monaghan even when not fully fit than most of our subs are. We don't have near the depth of panel the likes of Tyrone have and can ill afford to take on Tyrone without Finlay.

Quote from: charlie linkbox on June 30, 2007, 10:41:47 PM
We don't have near the depth of panel the likes of Tyrone have and can ill afford to take on Tyrone without Finlay.

Tyrone's depth of panel has been exposed more than once in the past. Sure, it's a strong panel, but all it takes is for one or two key men to be missing before it's 2006 all over again...... or even the latter stages of the NFL.

Point taken Ziggy but trust me; the like of Shane Mulligan, Mark Daly or Stephen Fitzpatrick wouldn't get near the Tyrone panel. We only have about 20 or 21 players you could have any degree of confidence in.

Incidentally, I don't care for Bandit's proclaimed equal love of Monaghan and Armagh. As far as I'm concerned you can only support one team, and I don't buy into crap like where parents or family or from. Nail your colours to the mast Bandit.

Anybody who doesnt recognise the quality of Conor Gormley in the Tyrone defence knows very little about gaelic football imo. He is undoubtly our most important defender and our only problem is we need 2 of him. He can play anywere from 2-7 and I really cant remember him getting a serious roasting in any game for Tyrone. I would rate him as good as Canty and cant think of anyone else as good. Tyrone definately wont win an All Ireland without him fit.

For the quiz buffs:

What was unusual about Monaghan's tally of 1-10, scored in the Ulster Final v Tyrone in 1988?

Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on July 01, 2007, 07:25:41 PM
Anybody who doesnt recognise the quality of Conor Gormley in the Tyrone defence knows very little about gaelic football imo. He is undoubtly our most important defender and our only problem is we need 2 of him. He can play anywere from 2-7 and I really cant remember him getting a serious roasting in any game for Tyrone. I would rate him as good as Canty and cant think of anyone else as good. Tyrone definately wont win an All Ireland without him fit.

Agreed, Gormley is really the rock upon which the Tyrone defence is buit, equally as important to that area of the team as a fit McGuigan was to the attack. Gormley would without any doubt be up amongst the best defenders in the land.

Quote from: ONeill on July 01, 2007, 09:32:26 PM
For the quiz buffs:

What was unusual about Monaghan's tally of 1-10, scored in the Ulster Final v Tyrone in 1988?

all scores from play???

Indeed. Moy Who.

No question he is the best defender in the country . For Tyrones sake they need him to keep intact . every time I watch him I am amazed by his reading of the game

Devenney must be some footballer, didnt he get 2 points from play off Gormley in the Ulster Semi?

Tommy McGuigan is back in full training and will be fit for the ulster final. Its hard to see him forcing his way back into the team after the good display against Donegal. In theory the only forward (going on performances the last day) who would be under threat would be Enda McGinley but then again he is a proven player at this level. At least it increases Hartes options if things are not going according to plan

Quote from: loughshore lad on July 02, 2007, 09:48:26 AM
Tommy McGuigan is back in full training and will be fit for the ulster final.

Good news LL, and even to have him on the bench for the Ulster Final is a great boost.

Devenney is Donegals best forward and is 2 points from play came when the match was over as a contest. When it mattered early on he didnt get a sniff of it. Its also impossible for any defender at the top level to keep the forward he's marking scoreless every game. Canty is rated by many as the best defender in Ireland and Donaghy scored of him in the 1st half yesterday.

Devenney must have slipped out of Gormleys pocket to score them too.

Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on July 02, 2007, 10:11:29 AM
Devenney is Donegals best forward and is 2 points from play came when the match was over as a contest. When it mattered early on he didnt get a sniff of it. Its also impossible for any defender at the top level to keep the forward he's marking scoreless every game. Canty is rated by many as the best defender in Ireland and Donaghy scored of him in the 1st half yesterday.

I thought 'STAR' got 2 points yesterday?

Canty is solid all right! Gormley is classy too! There's not many better defenders than Andy Mallon either.

That's 3 different types of defender...

Donaghy did get 2 points yesterday but not sure if Canty was still marking him when he got the second. I was expecting the Cork full forward to be useless but was wrong. Was suprised how similar his style was to Donaghy, he must have improved this year otherwise he surely would have been looked at before. Thought Donaghy looked impressive yesterday and will be a handfull. I see it says in the paper today that July 15th might be the only decent day this summer. Bet it rains now! When do the clubs receive the tickets for the final?

I have said on this board before that for me Gormley is the best defender in the country at the moment. He can play anywhere in defence and would also hold his own in the middle of the park. He is a fantasic all round player and has made a remarkable recovery from a terrible injury. I just feel he and a number of other Tyrone players let themselves down a bit at times by the way the conduct themselves on the pitch.

Gromley is the real deal ok - apparently doesn't smoke, doesn't drink and is an all round decent lad -

Oh No, is this what awaits next weekend!! Could be switching to the Waltons on RTE 1 for some excitement!

ANn word on whether the final is deffo all ticket?

Stevie O'Neill doesnt smoke or drink but think quite a lot of players now have done the same.
All about getting that edge

Thought Kerry looked beatable yesterday and that chance at the end for Kavanagh was an amazing miss

Any injuries over the weekend
Heard Stevie is recovering slowly and should be on da bench

Quote from: tyroneman on July 02, 2007, 01:33:32 PM
ANn word on whether the final is deffo all ticket?

heard it is all ticket in our club we have to have names in for tickets by sunday

Its all ticket. Think it should be reasonably full. You'd imagine with the hype about Monaghan that they'd bring around 12-15000 for the game. After Tyrone's last performance and the fact that its a final ypu'd imagine we could bring 15000 or so as well. Will probably no better next wek when the clubs get there requests for tickets. If the clubs arent going to be able to sell enough to fill the ground it would make sense to put some on general sale. Would be nice to see O'Neill fully fit for the final and get a game under his belt.

Punxsutawney Fergal
re Im sure you'll find something to do with yourself you tosser.


 

In the Free Metro paper here in Dublin they say that Tommy will be available for selection as his wrist has healed quicker than expected.
It also said Niall Gormley is bak training but no contact ball work
Also Stevie O'Neill should be OK for at least the bench

Has anyone any news from county training sessions?
Watching Donaghy and Cussen on Sunday and just wondered how tall is Block and McMahon and would they be outfielded against these two
Amazes me how many Full backs just dont punch it away from Donaghy

Freeman did get stiches in the wrist (14 I think) but a mate of mine was talking to him the other day and it would take a lot more than that to keep him out of an Ulster final was the response!

BTW I dont need to justify or apologise for supporting 2 counties. I'm very involved in GAA in Monaghan, but the family is Armagh.

Gormley is the best defender in the country IMO, and Dessie Mone must be the most improved defender

Yo!

Just bought my tickets for the final - up now on ticketmaster.ie

;D

Saw that - they only seem to have o'duffy terrace and hill. Id imagine they dont have to many. Wonder what the allocation for the 2 counties was? Bound to be a bit of excitment around Monaghan in the run up to the game with it being so long since theyve been in the final. Id like to see Monaghan get to the quarters but preferably through the back door!

Plenty of excitement in the County alright with pretty much everyone of the opinion that we have nothing to lose and that we have a good chance if we get the rub of the green. I'd say Monaghan will bring at least the 15,000. We get a decent following anyway but when you add the fact that its our first final in 19 years we should have a good crowd shouting the lads on. Pity about the weather, don't think either team would appreciate a drenched Tiernach's park.

The weather? Sure it's nearly 2 weeks away - have you got super long-term forecast?

Quote from: Maguire01 on July 03, 2007, 09:41:52 PM
The weather? Sure it's nearly 2 weeks away - have you got super long-term forecast?

Unfortunately, it looks like more of the same for the immediate-to-near term!  :-[

Quote from: Maguire01 on July 03, 2007, 09:41:52 PM
The weather? Sure it's nearly 2 weeks away - have you got super long-term forecast?

Actually yeah I do http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/14days.asp?zipcode=Monaghan (http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/14days.asp?zipcode=Monaghan)  ;D ;D ;D

Derek FahyLongfordwill referee the Ulster senior football final , on July 15th , in clones.

Tyrone will receive 11000 tickets  for the final.

After seeing first hand one of the best Munster finals in years last Sunday, I hope our northern brethern do not let me down with the quality of the game in the Ulster final on Sunday week seeing as its me first Ulster final and all.

Will be supporting the farney buckos though herself says she will not go to the game with me if I wear me Kerry geansai.  So if you hear some Kerry bollix shouting at the game its either me or one of Pat O'Shea's spies checking up on Monaghan for later in the year ;)

Am actually looking forward to the spectacle assuming i get me paws on a ticket but dont know what I will do while ye play and sing GSTQ before the game  :P

Quotewhat I will do while ye play and sing GSTQ before the game 

Well they said we are the new "England" in another thread so I suppose you had better sing along to your anthem.

Quote from: charlie linkbox on June 30, 2007, 11:08:09 PM

Incidentally, I don't care for Bandit's proclaimed equal love of Monaghan and Armagh. As far as I'm concerned you can only support one team, and I don't buy into crap like where parents or family or from. Nail your colours to the mast Bandit.

Think he took your advice charlie he's currently flying the biggest white and blue flag in the county.

I dont know how many we need but surely we'll get more than 11000 tickets? Would have imagined each couty would have got 14-15000 tickets with a few to ticketmaster and the rest to the other ulster counties. Dont think there'd be as many needed for other counties as in the past, with the new qualifier system dont think many neutrals would want to attend. Think they'll be lucky to fill the ground anyway. Anyone know the current capacity? - I always thought it was 35 or 36000 but it said somewere recently that it was 31000, unless health safety pushed it down but wouldnt imagine so.

Quote from: Mid Mon on July 04, 2007, 04:38:39 PM

Quote from: charlie linkbox on June 30, 2007, 11:08:09 PM

Incidentally, I don't care for Bandit's proclaimed equal love of Monaghan and Armagh. As far as I'm concerned you can only support one team, and I don't buy into crap like where parents or family or from. Nail your colours to the mast Bandit.

Think he took your advice charlie he's currently flying the biggest white and blue flag in the county.

You'll notice as well that the white and blue is the right way around unlike most of the flags!

BTW very poor show of flags around the county IMO

QuoteYou'll notice as well that the white and blue is the right way around unlike most of the flags!

most are Cavan flags that Breffni county natives have rented out to make few Euro.

QuoteBTW very poor show of flags around the county IMO

there'll be more when you are in Croke Pk.

I see Cormac M Ginley is a major doubt for Tyrone on 15th July - is this good news or bad news ?

I think it's a game that would suit Mc Ginley and I hope he IS fit cos we're not exactly coming down with full backs are we ? A fully fit panel is essential as it creates competition for places -

Bad news for Cormac McGinley - Good News for Tyrone. He has been a liability at FB so far

QuoteBad news for Cormac McGinley - Good News for Tyrone. He has been a liability at FB so far

Spoken like a true championship band-wagonner! lol

got tickets on ticketmaster this morning... checked it there again..seems to be all sold out.

Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on July 04, 2007, 05:00:05 PM
I dont know how many we need but surely we'll get more than 11000 tickets? Would have imagined each couty would have got 14-15000 tickets with a few to ticketmaster and the rest to the other ulster counties. Dont think there'd be as many needed for other counties as in the past, with the new qualifier system dont think many neutrals would want to attend. Think they'll be lucky to fill the ground anyway. Anyone know the current capacity? - I always thought it was 35 or 36000 but it said somewere recently that it was 31000, unless health safety pushed it down but wouldnt imagine so.

yea i was sure clones was 36000 since the revamp.. and i checked the net and its given as 36000...

Bad news about McGinley although it seems the injury list has shortened considerably.  It's great to hear that O'Neill is back in full training.

I'd be a wee bit sceptical about O'Neill returning to full training - he does seem to have long term problem with the hamstrings -but I hope hes 100% fit - that would be a big boost.

Is there any word on Brian Mc Guigan ? 

QuoteSpoken like a true championship band-wagonner! lol

Sory to disppoint but I'm a regular McKenna, NFL and Championship type of person  ;) and seen plenty (too much) of CMcG. The only worse option at FB was Peter (never again please MH) Donnelly

Maybe you disagree, and that's your perogative, but IMHO Cormac McGinley has veered from distinctly average at best to absolutley terrible in the majority of games he has played for Tyrone.

Roasted more times than enough and MH was quite right to take him off early against Donegal.

For me (and fingers crossed it doesn't come back to haunt me) Joey McMahon is head and shoulders the best option on the squad, when fit and burgerless, for FB

I wonder will MH consider playing block at full back. Probably not IMO as Smith for Monaghan was poor against Derry after a decent debut against Down and Joey should be well fit for him, but if it was Donegal in the final and CMG was injured, I don't think MH would have played Joey at number 3. Total conjecture there but anyway. McGinley's injury is not good as full back is a nightmare at the best of times. Taking block back from centre half is probably the only suitable option we have now, meaning restructuring of the always reliable half back line. Hopefully we stay injury free, but I think we'll be seeing how good the defenders on the bench are sooner rather than later.

What's the story with Collie Holmes?
How's he getting on for the Armagh Harps and would he not be an option for CHF or FB?

I know he's not the fastest ever but surely he must be in with a shout again if he's reasonably fit?
Gourley used to be a Fav of Mickey and remember (from his Book) who they were so keen to get him back for the AI final in 2003.

Is Penrose down the list again of forwards?
Anyone wanna name their forward line and why they would pick each player? eg strenghes and what they add to the team

I havent seen enough from Colm Cavanagh to see why he's getting so much recognition.
Think just cos he's Sean's bro and he has lots of potential alrite but any match I've saw him in OK he's done just OK.
Wheres young Gormley looks much more likely to beat his man and get you crucial scores

I'd have
Dooher - Hoover bag emptied and loves proving people wrong that he's past it
Mulgrew - Tough call with him or Tommy as Tommy seems bigger and stronger but Mulgrew oozes class and will shine more when has a good forward line to set up
McGinley - Bad last day but usually awesome and works so hard and can be targetted for kick-outs and helping out half backs - Could score more though.

Mugsy- Hopefully not a wet day as Mugsy seems to like the sunny summer GAA and can turn it on in an instant if confidence is high and getting good ball
Cavlan - Yeah I'd just like to see how the two footed artist with so much skill can play in so close to the goals and can focus on score getting and fielding withough having to
            bust his ass and weary legs tracking back
O'Neill - Completes my talent FF line who can ALL win their own ball and shoot with both feet and can ALL score goals. I think Stevie feels he has to prove himself all over again
            to the demanding Tyrone fans and he loves a challenge like that.

Surely if you get any decent ball into that FF line you're laughing

Thats not a bad forward line Fuzzman but not sure about Cavlan. Think he makes a great sub to bring in early in the 2nd half to change the match - a potential match winner in fact. Would question his speed to play in the full forward line and to get out in front and win ball. Also he hasnt always transferred his decent accuracy at club level to the county scene in front of goal. Would agree with you some what regarding Colm Cavanagh - has loads of potential and not totally sure if he'll deliver this season. However I saw enough in the 2nd half against Donegal and in the big stage v Dublin uner lights to suggest that he may make a big impact even this year. He's a great fielder and very quick and would probably be best deployed in the half forward line. Would def pick him ahead of Gormley who will struggle to win his own ball in a tight championship game - this was even in evidence in the 1st half versus a light Fermanagh team. Big day next up fpr Mulgrew - hopefully the Donegal game will give him the confidence to deliver on the big stage. Also think it would be harsh to leave out McCullagh who's work rate and vision was evident throughout against Donegal - touch of class when delivering the ball, some of his passes r similar to those delivered by Canavan.

QuoteMaybe you disagree, and that's your perogative, but IMHO Cormac McGinley has veered from distinctly average at best to absolutley terrible in the majority of games he has played for Tyrone.

The absence of Conor Gormley put a lot of pressure on the back-line during the winter and left the FB seriously exposed, not to mention the loss of Jordan as well.  Don't forget we won the McKenna Cup with CMcG at FB tho.   Admittedly he lacks pace however his postional sense is good and like Enda he is the man to put his head where others wouldn't put their foot!   He did have a 'mare v donegal, but overall the squad is worse off for his absence. 

Not too worried about McGinley's absence. I don't think he would've started anyway after 3 roastings this year. I like Cormac as a club player but he simply hasn't the temperament for this level, from what we've seen. That's a big pity as he seemed a decent full back and I was a big advocate of his. A second reason is that McMahon, who should start, or whoever is there at FB won't be as overworked as the two on either side of him. Monaghan launch this long ball into either Freeman or Hanratty - I'd be more worried about McMenamin or Carlin having an off-day. There's a good chance at least one of them will. If it's Ricey there'd be no problem moving him to FB, or if McMahon is handling himself well wherever he's taken, replace Ricey. Harte has shown he's not afraid to do that to the vice-captain. McGee's there but I'd worry about him too. Who else can hold the likes of Thomas? Remember what Freeman done to Sweeney in 2005? The only way Tyrone managed to limit the damage was to win their own ball around the middle and starve Freeman.

As for the forward line

Hoover - do we need a reason?
Mulgrew/McGuigan - no preference, Mickey'll probably veer towards Mulgrew.
McGinley - in case Hughes is having an off-day
Mugsy
O'Neill
McCullagh - good brain, good replacements in Gormley or Cavanagh.

Can't understand the feeling that Joey is not the man. He was immense in the run up to the 2005 final when he played at FB. Played as good a game on Ronan Clarke as I've seen.

I think the persistence with CMcG (positional sense????  :-\) stops the devlopment of other options. If he's not first choice under MH he will deffo be second. A la Peter Donnelly etc he is taking up squad spaces that others might bring more to.

Unless there is a 'marquee forward' to stop CG MUST be used at CHB. His reading of the game is second to none.

CMcG was playing against half fit teams for the most part in the McKenna and I certainly don't remember him standing out at any stage.

QuoteCMcG was playing against half fit teams for the most part in the McKenna and I certainly don't remember him standing out at any stage.

Devenney roasted him in the McKenna and he was taken off in the first half.

Selection will be down to whether Mickey wants to concentrate on the opposition or if he wants Minaghan to worry about Tyrone and who is on their selection - Personally I'd play a sweeper -

I'd say there is no doubt that a sweeper will play in front of Freeman but the question is who?
Dooher often gets back here anyway but it would be a waste to have him there all game.

How good is this Hanratty fella? Will he be hard to mark as well?

I predict Monaghan to start at 100MPH and try to stun us.

With exception for the Donegal game, recently we same to give teams a start and then begin playing
I preferred us tearing into teams for 1st 15 mins and often game was over at half time.

I can remember the first U-21 AI we won under Danny Ball against Kerry in Newbridge and we put up a cricket score against them in the first 15 mins.

Wonder what surprise Mickey will have up his sleeve this time?

Hanratty is useless...don;t worry about him. In fact free up his marker as an extra man on Tommy and leave him to one side  ;)

I'll reckon we'll start at 100mph but the problem will be keeping it going. Like Croke Park in the qualifier. But different level of fitness this time and I'll think we'll match Tyrrone for work rate and hunger.

Heard I good one re the tickets, apparently the Co board in Monaghan won't be allocating any Tickets to the clubs for the Gerry Arthurs Stand. I'm sure they got some and I accept that these should go the players allocation first. But where is the rest? Did they get many, have the ulster council got them, who gets them?

I see ticketmaster have sold out of their allocation during the week.

Quote from: bingobus on July 06, 2007, 12:22:07 PM

Heard I good one re the tickets, apparently the Co board in Monaghan won't be allocating any Tickets to the clubs for the Gerry Arthurs Stand. I'm sure they got some and I accept that these should go the players allocation first. But where is the rest? Did they get many, have the ulster council got them, who gets them?

I see ticketmaster have sold out of their allocation during the week.

Heard that too about Gerry Arthurs stand tickets.

BTW the clubs cant even get any indication what our allocation may be like as the Co board treasurer wont give out her phone number  >:(

Quote from: thebandit on July 06, 2007, 12:34:54 PM

Quote from: bingobus on July 06, 2007, 12:22:07 PM

Heard I good one re the tickets, apparently the Co board in Monaghan won't be allocating any Tickets to the clubs for the Gerry Arthurs Stand. I'm sure they got some and I accept that these should go the players allocation first. But where is the rest? Did they get many, have the ulster council got them, who gets them?

I see ticketmaster have sold out of their allocation during the week.

Heard that too about Gerry Arthurs stand tickets.

BTW the clubs cant even get any indication what our allocation may be like as the Co board treasurer wont give out her phone number  >:(

Heard that, contact by email only. I do think that its wrong that clubs don't know there allocation before the tickets go on Sale on Ticketmaster. If a club is left in the lurch then they have very little chance of alternative sources. Now people who do feck all with a club or even the county can secure their ticket before the club member/player/worker etc. Don't think we should have a problem with tickets but there is a chance.

There was plaenty of space in the Gerry Arthur stand against Fermanagh !!!!!!!!!!!

I could nearly give you the names of the people who will get:

VIP tickets (the white seats, and they get sangwiches :o)
The best seats from our club

There is no aspect of fairness concerning any of it  >:(

Quote from: thebandit on July 06, 2007, 04:40:09 PM
I could nearly give you the names of the people who will get:

VIP tickets (the white seats, and they get sangwiches :o)
The best seats from our club

There is no aspect of fairness concerning any of it  >:(

But sure no doubt you and the rest of the County board cronies will enjoy the nice dry white seats and sangwiches while we get wet and posioned by the green burgers on the way up the hill  ;)  ;)  :D

I'll probably be on the hill, only ever been in the white seats once, for a Cross game in the Ulster Club championship a couple of years ago.

I have this awful feeling about the club's ticket allocation being a lot less than what is needed  :-[

Edit: how am I a county board crony ???

Quote from: thebandit on July 06, 2007, 04:53:37 PM
I'll probably be on the hill, only ever been in the white seats once, for a Cross game in the Ulster Club championship a couple of years ago.

I have this awful feeling about the club's ticket allocation being a lot less than what is needed  :-[

Edit: how am I a county board crony ???

Relax, I was picking on you. As you said previously, you have some low level involvement with them and I know for what that is.

Have you's looked for many? What I'm more concerned about is people looking for tickets this weekend and during next week who didn't put there names forward before yesterday and who didn't get any on ticketmaster. They'll make out its the clubs fault despite our best efforts to spread the word and make sure everyone knew the cut-off point.

Whats the interest been like round the clubs for tickets? I take it there'll be more than enough to go round? Hopefully the weather will pick up for next weekend. Thought Hanratty was poor against Derry, but he obviously did well against Down. There'd also been a good bit of talk about Smith earlier in the year.

Quote from: thebandit link=topic=3388.msg113790#msg113790/quote]
BTW very poor show of flags around the county IMO

I'll agree with you on this one bandit. It's a fuckin disgrace. You wouldn't know by driving through Monaghan town that we were in a final at all; hardly a flag in sight.
Yet whenever Tyrone or Armagh got to the latter stages of the championship in the last few years out came the red and white or orange and white flags in Monaghan. It fuckin annoys me. We are the worst county in the country for latching onto the bandwagon of our neighbours. The flag outside my house is just about the only one in the parish yet in the last few years there's been plenty of Tyrone one about when they were in big games (I live on the Tyrone border).
This post should be on the "things that grind my gears" thread for this is hate No.1 on charlie's list.

Quote from: charlie linkbox on July 06, 2007, 10:23:06 PM

Quote from: thebandit link=topic=3388.msg113790#msg113790/quote]
BTW very poor show of flags around the county IMO

I'll agree with you on this one bandit. It's a fuckin disgrace. You wouldn't know by driving through Monaghan town that we were in a final at all; hardly a flag in sight.
Yet whenever Tyrone or Armagh got to the latter stages of the championship in the last few years out came the red and white or orange and white flags in Monaghan. It fuckin annoys me. We are the worst county in the country for latching onto the bandwagon of our neighbours. The flag outside my house is just about the only one in the parish yet in the last few years there's been plenty of Tyrone one about when they were in big games (I live on the Tyrone border).
This post should be on the "things that grind my gears" thread for this is hate No.1 on charlie's list.

Its number 2 on my list - Although Blayney and Carrick have improved since I wrote that

Number 1 is whinging townies who give out about blow ins  :D 

I believe Tommy's hand/wrist is ok, and word on Finlay?

Quote from: thebandit link=topic=3388.msg115315#msg115315
Number 1 is whinging townies who give out about blow ins  :D 
/quote]

If thats a reference to me then I can assure you I'm as big a bog man as you'll ever meet. Townie indeed!!! Such an insult.  ;D

I stand by my comment though. Monaghan or Armagh bandit??? Come on.....

Derry beat Armagh

Sligo beat Galway

I'm getting nervous about Sunday.

And with a lot of justification too Ziggy - however a team like Derry today who were on the rebound were always going to be hard to talk to - as well as that Armagh forwards have not been at the races lately - too much emphasis on defence -

Was chatting to Paul Finlay at the Armagh game yesterday, asked him was he going to be ok for next week's final.

He replied "I don't know it's dicey enough - Hopefully!"

What's the story with him?

From what i hear Finlay took a full part in a practice match during training on Friday night in clones..........not sure if he'll start but i'd be surprised if he doesnt see some action !

After Sligo ending their 32 year wait yesterday, its time for us to end our 19 years of pain !!

Weird weekend of results and makes you wonder how good or bad teams really are

Armagh should have beat Donegal and looked like they would back to full strength soon and could give it another rattle via back door
Then they get beat by a Derry team that looked awful against Monaghan and were lucky yesterday as Aramgh had them on the ropes but took the foot off the pedal I believe

Donegal only scrapped by Leitrim after being hockeyed by Tyrone and so as I kept saying they made us look good
Anyone hear what happened Sweeney.

Galway looked awesome v Mayo but looked terrible yesterday
Dubs and Kerry must be relieved Armagh have finally been laid to rest
Well at least til next year.

So where does that leave Tyrone.
Will we be much more wary now of the shock next Sunday?

Does anyone have any team news or how's training going?

Quote from: bingobus on July 06, 2007, 05:09:43 PM


Have you's looked for many? What I'm more concerned about is people looking for tickets this weekend and during next week who didn't put there names forward before yesterday and who didn't get any on ticketmaster. They'll make out its the clubs fault despite our best efforts to spread the word and make sure everyone knew the cut-off point.

Numbers wise, we got more or less what we were looking for, but the quality of the tickets isn't great. I've had more people looking for tickets today than I did the whole of last week >:(

KM has secured a ticket for next weekend, so am really looking forward to hopefully another shock result in a provincial final.

I think Monaghan will really put it up to Tyrone, but will be interesting to see how they cope with the duvet that smothered Donegal but also how they will handle Tyrone running at them with the ball.  If they can get a foothold around the middle and feed early ball to the likes of Freeman, Woods, Gologly, or Hanratty they could rack up the scores. They will need a plan to curb the likes of Dooher and Sean Cavanagh around midfield. Should be an interesting game and i really cant see much between them.

Am looking forward to seeing what this mystical Ulster final craic is all about.

Midfield will decide the game IMO, if Dick Clerkin has an off day we are fecked!

Defintely MF but Clerkin can't exclusively be blamed... We've seen Eoin Lennon havin quiet days too in his career. Clerkin is like Woods and tends to get in the faces of the opposition which is what you want at this level! He adds a lot physically to the diamond. I was impresessed with mid-field in the Derry game and it wasn't for their size or the amount of clean catches made but the amount of break-ball that was picked up by the smallest men on the team! That's how to win MF. It's 'not for the purists' I agree but don't really mind. Fermanagh done it yday also, crowded the centre so it's purely based on probability i.e. the more men you have local to the break-ball the better the chance of winning it. It's a risky enough strtegy I know as you are potentially leaving large gaps and exposing your FB line but one that can pay off. One good way to compete with Sean Cavanagh/Kevin Hughes it to spoil the ball and not always be trying the majestic clean catches. Another obvious tactic point from Fermanaghs game yesterday was they brought Ryan Keenan (I think) out the field but the Wexford full back stayed his ground. Fermanagh were pumping high ball into Maguire/Lyttle and the Wexford full-back mopped up almost every ball that came in, he made it look extremely easy! I reckon we need to employ Damian Freeman in a sweeper like roll and have Dessie/Vinny man mark Mugsy/SON/whoever.

  I know this is completely stating the obvious but If we can compete at MF, or in the event of not winning MF stop the supply to Tyrone's FF line, then it won't matter if the have god himself in there, never mind the SON of god!

  In saying all this it'll be one hell of a battle and Monaghan are gonna have to play 70mins football at full tilt..

bandit ffs that tri colour looks like shit. orange white and blue

Nothing to do with me.... Have you got your ticket for the soft seats yet?

Thankfully, there's no word of any further Tyrone injuries from the weekend's games.

Interesting match this for Tyrone.

On one hand the display against Donegal would suggest that things have finally started to click in the Championship for the first time since 2005 (bar maybe the first half of the Louth replay last year). Having watched the see-saw nature of Armagh, Derry, Galway, Donegal etc however you just couldn't put money on the game.

One would think that if they have AI aspirations Tyrone should be putting teams like Monaghan away, hgowever Sligo yesterday showed what hunger and a lack of silverware can do for a team. IF Tyrone match the hunger and appetite that Monaghan will show then you would imagine other factors like experience should see them though. Added to which Tyrone do have more quality players in the first 15 and more options on the bench.

Having said that I am dreading complacency (2003 McKenna for example) setting in.

Hopefully the younger players; Mulgrew, Cavanagh Jnr, Tommy, Carlin (if selected) who have yet to establish themselves will be well up for the game. Cavanagh Snr rarely (crossed fingers) has 2 quiet games in a row though the in yer face approach of Monaghan does not suit him.

QuoteCavanagh Snr rarely (crossed fingers) has 2 quiet games in a row though the in yer face approach of Monaghan does not suit him.

Agreed, he rarely has one quiet game, its a near impossibility that he will have one this weekend.  Below is the sides and scorers from their last meeting in the McKenna Cup Semi Final - Is big Rouse worth a shot.  Harte has barley give him a minute since this match!

Tyrone – Jonathan Curran, Paul McGurk, Cormac McGinley, Ciaran McCrory, Paul Quinn, Paul Marlow, Martin Penrose, Gerald Cavlan, Kelvin Hughes, Aiden McCarron, Tommy McGuigan, Declan Treanor, Paul Rouse, Stephen O'Neill, Niall Gormley. Subs – Damian McDermott for Niall Gormley, Christopher Colhoun for Declan Treanor, Brian Dooher for Stephen O'Neill, Mickey Murphy for Kelvin Hughes, Philip Jordan for Ciaran McCrory

Monaghan – Padraig McBennett, Donal Morgan, James Coyle, Ciaran Hughes, JP Mone, Jason Hughes, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Paul Finlay, Vincent Corey, Mark Daly, Rory Woods, Eoin Duffy, Paul Meegan, Brendan McKenna, Nicholas Corrigan. Subs – Stephen Gollogly for Mark Daly, Tomas Freeman for  Rory Woods, Dessie Mone for Paul Meegan, Dermot McArdle for Brendan McKenna, Conor McManus for James Coyle

Tyrone scorers – Stephen O'Neill 1-5, Paul Rouse 0-3, Declan Treanor 1-0, Tommy McGuigan 0-2, Brian Dooher 0-2, Christopher Colhoun 0-1, Aiden McCarron 0-1, Damian McDermott 0-1, Gerald Cavlan 0-1

Monaghan scorers – Paul Finlay 0-3, Donal Morgan 0-1, Paul Meegan 0-1, Stephen Gollogly 0-1, Brendan McKenna 0-1, Tomas Freeman 0-1

Just Read the following report on the BBC site, squad/bench options reduced, Ger Cavlan is aleays a good option to have, pity.




Ger Cavlan has joined Cormac McGinley in becoming a Tyrone injury concern for Sunday's Bank of Ireland Ulster SFC final against Monaghan (1415 BST).

McGinley has not trained for two weeks because of a groin injury while Cavlan has a hamstring strain.

On the plus side, Niall Gormley has resumed training after a jaw injury.

Mickey Harte has said Stephen O'Neill's hamstring and knee injuries are having to be "managed" but the forward should be in contention for a starting role.

"Cormac McGinley didn't train at all last week or over the weekend so he has to be in the very doubtful category," Harte told BBC Sport on Monday.


"Gerard Cavlan was coming along very well in training after missing the Donegal game but unfortunately he has now picked up a bit of a hamstring problem so that is giving us cause for concern.


"Stephen O'Neill is still not 100 per cent. We are still having to manage his injuries but it's moving in the right direction and we are hopeful that he will be in contention for this weekend's game."

Niall Gormley missed the semi-final win over Donegal because of a broken jaw but he has made an excellent recovery and looks likely to join Tommy McGuigan in being available for the provincial decider.

Squad members Justin McMahon and Aidan McCarron may miss out on places on the bench because they are troubled by hamstring injuries at the moment.

Tommy McGuigan was ruled out of the Donegal match because of a broken wrist after starring in the first-round win over Fermanagh.

His brother Brian remains out because of his serious eye injury and appears unlikely to return to action in the near future.

Last month, his father Frank said that he was concerned that the injury could end the centre half-forward's

Nope, I was wrong. Never mind.

Did Calvo start against Fermanagh? I know he kicked the winner but can't mind if he started a championship game the year. He's a big miss, class act on his day..

Tickets beginning to look scarce. Further ticket requests are been taken from clubs and if any are left the county board will be having a public sale tonight in monaghan town 9pm.

Quote from: GrandMasterFlash on July 09, 2007, 05:16:40 PM
Did Calvo start against Fermanagh? I know he kicked the winner but can't mind if he started a championship game the year. He's a big miss, class act on his day..

Don't think he started, but was pretty effective when he came on - not least for the last point. He would be a loss.

Today's Indo

O'Neill's cold comfort puts Red Hand in the final frame

By Cliona Foley
Tuesday July 10 2007

TYRONE full-back Cormac McGinley, who has not trained for two weeks with a groin injury, remains the Red Hands' biggest injury worry ahead of Sunday's Ulster SFC final but forward star Stephen O'Neill says he is ready for action.

And what he has done to get there demonstrates just how far Gaelic footballers will suffer for their art these days.

Ten times in recent months O'Neill (26) has submitted his body to minus-110 degrees at the cryotherapy chamber in Whites Hotel, Wexford.

Cryotherapy

It is the only facility of its kind on the island and nearly a 450-mile round-trip from his native Strabane.

But O'Neill admits he has gone to every extreme to try to rid himself of the repetitive hamstring and knee tendonitis that have dogged his career since he soared to 'Footballer of the Year' status in 2005.

The longest a body can last in these giant, recovery-boosting human freezers is two to three minutes.

"Aye, it's a scary place and a shock to the system," he admitted, grinning.

"But after 10 sessions, it's the first time in about six months I've no pain, walking, in my knee," O'Neill revealed.

"It's just numbed the pain and set up the recovery for the wee hamstring tear."

Between that, intensive physio and a gruelling individual weights programme, he feels he's nearing full fitness after missing half the season, including Tyrone's championship opening victory over Fermanagh.

But he came off the bench (and scored two points) against Donegal last time out and last weekend was happily in the midst of a Tyrone camp in the Breaffy International Sport Hotel in Mayo, whose new training centre has been designed by former Irish Lion Keith Wood.

Top of the weekend's agenda was undoubtedly Sunday's opponents Monaghan.

O'Neill says Tyrone are well aware of their threat, especially as Monaghan's new fitness trainer (Martin McElkennon) trained him as a Tyrone minor one season.

"The last time we played Monaghan in the league a couple years ago, they really put it up to us," O'Neill recalled.

"They went in six or seven points up at half-time and we came back to just beat them by a point.

Qualifiers

"We played them two years ago in the championship (Qualifiers) in Croke Park and if it wasn't for big Packie McConnell pulling off a great save in the first half, they'd maybe have been eight, nine points up at half-time.

"Monaghan are a really good team, they're fast, fit, they run all day and produced a very high work rate against Derry.

"They had two or three men around the ball tackling, so we know we're not going to get time on the ball and will have to make sure we do things fast and efficiently," he warned.

And he firmly dispelled any notion that Tyrone's two All-Irelands may have made them complacent about provincial honours.

"We were very disappointed two years ago to lose an Ulster final to Armagh."

However, they avenged that by defeating the Orchard county in the All-Ireland final that year.

"We're lucky enough now to get back to another final in two years but we haven't won one in four seasons, so it's a very big game and we're very hungry for it."

- Cliona Foley

Surely Tyrone have got a good enough reality check over the weekend -
Leitrim drew with Donegal !
Sligo beat Galway !
Derry beat Armagh !

Don't underestimate Monaghan !

Stevie must have been the appointed spokesperson this week - I see a familiar name on the byline of two articles in the IN today, one on O'Neill and the other on Damien Freeman. 

Quote from: Kerry Mike on July 09, 2007, 11:48:59 AM
KM has secured a ticket for next weekend, so am really looking forward to hopefully another shock result in a provincial final.

I think Monaghan will really put it up to Tyrone, but will be interesting to see how they cope with the duvet that smothered Donegal but also how they will handle Tyrone running at them with the ball.  If they can get a foothold around the middle and feed early ball to the likes of Freeman, Woods, Gologly, or Hanratty they could rack up the scores. They will need a plan to curb the likes of Dooher and Sean Cavanagh around midfield. Should be an interesting game and i really cant see much between them.

Am looking forward to seeing what this mystical Ulster final craic is all about.

Where you drinking? Im travelling back from england for the game, is there to be a mini board get together?

BBC are reporting that Cavlan is injured, AGAIN!

The Paragon is grand when Armagh aren't playing (and I'm an Armagh supporter - isn't that right charlie ;))

The 'buckfast brigade' lets the whole thing down.

Quote from: thebandit on July 10, 2007, 01:56:32 PM
The Paragon is grand when Armagh aren't playing (and I'm an Armagh supporter - isn't that right charlie ;))

The 'buckfast brigade' lets the whole thing down.

You're kinda takin ur life in ur hands there Bandit! Jaysus it's mental of a match day.. I'd say somewhere like the Lennard Arms on the diamond or the Hibernian at the bottom of Fermanagh St would be a bit more civil. Don't want these Kerry lads gettin pushed around or forced to drink in the company of those drinkin WKD and the likes...  ;) There's a great wee bar on the lhs about half way down Fermanagh St called 'Mc Cuskers'. Completely authentic and only open for match days. Not exactly the biggest bar in the town but a good atmosphere about her. Being a local man I'd usually drink about 'The Analore Bar' (owned by Admasons) on the Newbliss Road side of the town. Great drink about it and a big lounge at the back which caters well.

The analore bar serves a good pint alright - Leonard arms is a hole!

Hibernian is a civil pub alright

When's de last time you were in the Lennard Arms Bandit? I'm not jumping onto my high horse here but it has been 'done up' reasonably well lately. It's a good mate of mine that runs it so that's kinda why I'm defending it.. There's a BBQ out the fron of er on Sat night advertised 'The Farney Feed' which should be good valya! The bhoys that run it are Gaels and do try and get the craic goin when Monaghan are playin in Clones by spendin a few quid, which is more than some of the bars which only seem to be intent on takin money across the bar...

The Leonard Arms would be my regular spot for a pint and a feed on Tyrone match days over the last couple of years, have always found it a grand welcoming place.

Sorry, haven't been in it in 2 years, didn't realise it had been done up - if I had maybe I'd have gone to it ;)

Would agree with the positive sentiments about The Leonard Arms, grand spot on match days these days.  Can't say what it was like before it was done up though.

Looking forward to the game and the Monaghan fans should make it a great occasion. Probably should be a much better spectacle now that we're not playing Derry. Hopefully Stephen O'Neill will be available as we'll need him. Pity about Cavlan really thought he could have a big impact from the bench. Whats the interest like round the clubs in Tyrone? Surely some of are fans arent that fickle that they dont think an ulster final is worrth going to any more? Would really have liked to have seen Monaghan win the ulster title if they werent playing Tyrone but they are and I dont! My guess would be Tyrone will be unchanged from the semi apart from McMahon coming in for Cormac McGinley.

Monaghan team will be somthing like this:

Shane Duffy
Dessie Mone
Vinny Corey
Dermot Mc Ardle
Donal Morgan
Gary Mc Quaid
Damian Freeman
Lennon
JP Mone
Dick Clerkin
Shane Smith
Stephen Gollogly
Ciaran Hanratty
Woods
Tommy

Quote from: Hollow Man on July 10, 2007, 08:28:38 PM
Monaghan team will be somthing like this:

Shane Duffy
Dessie Mone
Vinny Corey
Dermot Mc Ardle
Donal Morgan
Gary Mc Quaid
Damian Freeman
Lennon
JP Mone
Dick Clerkin
Shane Smith
Stephen Gollogly
Ciaran Hanratty
Woods
Tommy

In truth, the team hasn't changed much during the year - a few positions are fluid, but most of the rest is a given.
Potential subs during the game could be:
IN
Finlay, McManus, MyElroy, McKenna
OUT
Clerkin/Woods, Smith, McArdle

Just up on RTE.ie

QuoteMonaghan unchanged for Ulster final
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 20:39
Monaghan manager Seamus McEnaney has named the same XV that started against Derry in the semi-final for Sunday's final against Tyrone in Clones at 2.15pm.

The only changes the Monaghan manager has made are positional.

In the defence, Damien Freeman switches to the left half-back position where he will pick up Brian Dooher thereby putting the two captains in direct opposition.

John Paul Mone is moved to midfield and is most likely to pick up on Sean Cavanagh while Shane smith moved to the 40 in a switch with Rory Woods.

Monaghan hope to end their 19-year wait for an Ulster title when they take on Mickey Harte's side.

Monaghan:

1 S Duffy,
2 D Mone, 3 V Corey, 4 D McArdle,
5 D Morgan, 6 G McQuaid, 7 D Freeman (Capt),
8 E Lennon, 9 JP Mone,
10 D Clerkin, 11 S Smyth, 12 S Gollogly,
13 C Hanratty, 14 R Woods, 15 T Freeman.

No surprises with personnel, but a few positional tweaks. Not sure i'd have Woods at FF - he's one of our better distance kickers, although Smyth has been a bit lost up front, so who knows.

Can't see Woods playing in there at all, excellent focal point of the attack and one of the few quality foot passers.
Hope Finlay make it on at some stage, quality player and has been for a while

wonder is this a ruse and will Finlay start after all?? Maybe instead of woods, with Smyth going to full forward...

Spot on with the team Maguire, even the little positional changes, you got a direct line to Banty??

I got a bit of a shock when I saw the betting prices for the game.
Tyrone at 2/7 and Monaghan at 10/3  in one place.
Looks like they don't want any money to be bet on Tyrone at all.
Are these prices a fair reflection of both teams form?
I would have thought 4/6 Tyrone  6/4 against Monaghan, considering Monaghan are at home.

Monaghan were not fancied  even to get to the Ulster final - so I think the prices are fair enough - do you want to lay a bit of 4/6 on Tyrone - alternatively do you know any bookies who are giving these odds ?
I think Monaghan at 10/3 or 7/2 represent a decent value bet .

Is there home advantage for the Ulster Final? I'd assume ticket availability is 50/50 - with Tyrone having a much larger population and traditionally big support, they might even have more people there.  Add that to the fact that Tyrone have played way more championship games in Clones in the past few years. I can't really see any 'home advantage' being a factor.

I wouldnt be at all surprised to see Finlay line out instead of Smith..................

QuoteI got a bit of a shock when I saw the betting prices for the game.
Tyrone at 2/7 and Monaghan at 10/3  in one place.
Looks like they don't want any money to be bet on Tyrone at all.
Are these prices a fair reflection of both teams form?

The bookies have a living to make.

I'd expect the team to line out something like this:
           
     1 S Duffy,

2 D Mone, 3 V Corey, 4 D McArdle,

5 D Morgan, 6 G McQuaid, 7 D Freeman (Capt),

8 E Lennon, 9 JP Mone, 10 D Clerkin,

   P Finlay, 12 S Gollogly, 14 R Woods,

      13 C Hanratty,  15 T Freeman

With Mone doing a spoiling job on Cavanagh (as I predicted before).

I'm expecting Finlay to start - even if he doesn't, he'd get some roar if he is introduced as an impact sub.

Manzie, Benny, Meegan, Smith/Finlay, McElroy could all have parts to play on Sunday

Dooher and Freeman will be some tussle. freeman will certainly not be lacking in fitness or athleticism to put it up to Dooher. Should be a good one.

On the betting front, Monaghan +3 points at 6/5 isnt a bad bet (thats on paddy power)
a three point start in any game between two ulster teams aint bad!

Quote from: Loup Bandit on July 11, 2007, 10:51:05 AM
Dooher and Freeman will be some tussle. freeman will certainly not be lacking in fitness or athleticism to put it up to Dooher. Should be a good one.

On the betting front, Monaghan +3 points at 6/5 isnt a bad bet (thats on paddy power)
a three point start in any game between two ulster teams aint bad!

He'll do a better job than Donegal's McGee did anyway!! - Looking forward to this...it'll be a lot closer than is expected. If it's tight & Finlay comes on, you'd expect Monaghan to push on & win!

On the other hand it's Tyrone!

It's obviously a pity if Finlay doesn't make it for his own sake as he has gave a great service to Monaghan thus far. It's a good tactic also by the management as if he starts it'll help the team (tho I can't see him starting) but he'll lift the roof if he comes on as a sub. And as pointed out, that might be the motivation a tiring team needs.. Gonna be a tough one! Think D Freeman will do a job on Dooher but my duels of the tie are Dessie/O' Neill and Vinney/Mulligan. I'd imagine McArdle will move out the field a bit to track his man.

Can't wait now...

I can't see what's different about this Monaghan team and the one we played in Croke Park in 2005.  Can any Monaghan supporters through light on why they feel the result will be different this time?

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 12:01:28 PM
I can't see what's different about this Monaghan team and the one we played in Croke Park in 2005.  Can any Monaghan supporters through light on why they feel the result will be different this time?

Different manager, different methods, different belief?

QuoteDifferent manager, different methods, different belief?

It's the same manager so I imagine the methods aren't much different.  Certainly different belief if the supporters are anything to go by.  I'm just wondering what I'm missing because I can't see where it's coming from.

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 12:04:12 PM

QuoteDifferent manager, different methods, different belief?

It's the same manager so I imagine the methods aren't much different.  Certainly different belief if the supporters are anything to go by.  I'm just wondering what I'm missing because I can't see where it's coming from.

Sorry, didn't think he was there in 2005, Martin Mc Elkennon perhaps?

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 12:01:28 PM
I can't see what's different about this Monaghan team and the one we played in Croke Park in 2005.  Can any Monaghan supporters through light on why they feel the result will be different this time?

But Tyrone are different, no Canavan, Mc Guigan, Lawn and a non match fit O'Neill

Indeed McEnaney was there in 2005. But it is impossible to compare the 2 teams. I have a feeling this will either be a surprise Monaghan victory or a big Tyrone win

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 12:04:12 PM

QuoteDifferent manager, different methods, different belief?

It's the same manager so I imagine the methods aren't much different.  Certainly different belief if the supporters are anything to go by.  I'm just wondering what I'm missing because I can't see where it's coming from.

I think 2005 showed Monaghan had potential. First 20 minutes we give you's a fright roasting. We were still in the game (on the scoreboard at least) with about 10 minutes to go but we couldn't get a score. Tyrone then put the foot down and pulled away to make it look like a comfortable win. I think we may even have been reduced to 14 men in this time.

That day our 4 midfield options all started and played well but midway through the second half they all died on there feet and that was end of our chances.

A bit more belief this time, as the team has prob never looked sharper or fitter.A Few players have come through - Hanratty, McKenna, Morgan - while a few have returned the Mones. The team is also alot more consistent this year, from the league through to date.

While there is a bit more belief and hope, I honestly think we'll just fall short on this ocassion. I doubt many would wnat to meet us in the qulaifiers though, if Tyrone manage to squeeze past us.

Here is the starting team from 2005

S Duffy,
C Flanagan, J Coyle, V Corey,
D Freeman, D McArdle, G McQuaid,
D Clerkin, E Lennon,
J McElroy, P Finlay, R Woods,
T Freeman, H McElroy, S Gollogly

Not a whole pile of difference from the one named last night !
One big crucial difference is the addition of the Mone brothers from Clontibret, Dessie and John Paul, Dessie has been outstanding in the last 2 matches, moving him and Corey into the full back line has really tightened things up.

Bringing McElkennon in was a masterstroke, Monaghan in 2005 werent as fit or as physically strong as they are today, plus 2 years building belief and confidence, relegated last year from division 1 but ran a lot of teams very close !

Remember we also played Tyrone last year in Omagh, and if memory serves correct we gave them a hell of a game and Tyrone only pulled through to win in the last 5 mins ! 
This years we've also added a number of great prospects from the Under21's Hanratty, Benny McKenna, Smith, McManus, Hughes etc Theres a better balance to the team this year, plus a lot more strenght in depth !

Roll on Sunday !

Tyrone lads taking nothing for granted, from the BBC:


Cavanagh expects tough encounter
Tyrone midfielder Sean Cavanagh
Tyrone midfielder Sean Cavanagh is a three-time Allstar
Tyrone midfielder Sean Cavanagh is not expecting a Donegal-style capitulation from Monaghan in Sunday's Bank of Ireland Ulster Football final.

Cavanagh says that Donegal's "falling to pieces" helped put further gloss on an admittedly superb Red Hand County display in the provincial semi-final.

"Tommy Freeman and Paul Finlay and the entire team are all top class footballers," Cavanagh told BBC Sport.

"They just haven't been recognised like the Tyrone and Armagh players."

Cavanagh added that Derry's victory over Armagh only increased the already-high respect in the Tyrone camp for Seamus McEnaney's squad.

"When you watched Derry's performance againstg Armagh, you can definitely read a lot into how well Monaghan played to beat that Derry team.

"It's going to be a 50/50 match on Sunday. It's going to be Monaghan's All-Ireland final and the county has been waiting for this game for these past weeks."

And from the Irish Times:

Out to revisit Tyrone's past glories

Stephen O'Neill tells Ian O'Riordan he is fit and raring to go ahead of Sunday's Ulster final yet is wary of Monaghan

Strictly speaking, a Monaghan victory over Tyrone in the Ulster football final wouldn't come close to rivalling Sligo beating Galway in Connacht last Sunday - a shock result that landed Sligo only their third ever provincial title and their first since 1975.

Monaghan have actually won more Ulster football titles (13 against Tyrone's 10), the difference being they've won only three since 1939, while Tyrone have won five since 1989. And by beating Derry in the semi-final Monaghan have sent out a clear warning of the threat they present on their home patch in Clones next Sunday.

Yet, given Tyrone's apparent return to form, a Monaghan victory would inevitably cue wild celebrations similar to those witnessed in Sligo, or more specifically, mayhem in the streets of Clones until long after dark.

One of the reasons behind Tyrone's renewed ferocity is the return of their most prolific scoring forward, Stephen O'Neill.

Although not a definite starter for Sunday, O'Neill is over the worst of the hamstring and knee injuries that severely limited his football for most of the past year. He's talking up a big performance too, acutely aware of the need to produce vintage Tyrone football.

"Maybe we're expected to win," says O'Neill, "but a lot of teams that are expected to win don't produce the goods. We know we have to get our consistency levels back up to where they were in 2005 and 2003, Because we haven't been that way in a long time.

"We've looked closely at Monaghan's performance against Derry, and they were very, very hungry. They work very hard, put two or three men around the ball the whole time, tackling hard.

"We know we're not going to have a lot of time on the ball and have to make sure we do things fast and efficiently.

"We also played them in the league a couple of years ago, and they really put it up to us.

"They're a very good team, very fast, very fit. They run all day, full of energy, and produce a very high-intensity work rate. They finished very strong as well.

"As players we're very worried about the game, and I'm sure the management are extra-worried. But Mickey Harte has done the best he can in preparing us."

O'Neill played only the last 25 minutes of Tyrone's semi-final win over Donegal, chipping two smart points, but that was enough to suggest he's fast coming back to his best. And at his best O'Neill is still a sight to behold, his 5-50 in the summer of 2005 just one reason why he claimed the full sweep of football awards that year - All Star and GAA, GPA and Texaco footballer of the year.

Last summer, however, was a downer; he missed Tyrone's Ulster championship defeat to Derry and played just a limited role in the qualifier defeat to Laois. He's gone to considerable lengths to get his injuries mended, including oxygen-chamber treatment and the more extreme cryotherapy.

"The hamstrings have been the main problem, though some people think it's coming from the back. I've also a bit of tendonitis in the knee, which isn't helping as well. It's been unfortunate but I am getting over it now.

"The physio team have been working very hard with me, doing a lot of weights to build up the muscles in my legs. I think the cryotherapy has also helped.

"I've found for the first time in about six months I've had no pain in my knee, after about 10 sessions.

"It has helped speed up the recovery from the wee hamstring tear as well.

"I still haven't had a good run at the training over the past couple of months, but I've been doing a lot in the gym. I suppose every player has their own programmes now to improve their fitness and prevent injuries. It's up to yourself to do the work."

Though O'Neill is still only 26, it feels as if he is one of Tyrone's most seasoned players, which of course he is, having won a minor and two under-21 All-Irelands before his two senior titles. Not surprisingly, he rates their win over Donegal as one of the best displays since 2005.

"I know Mickey Harte knew that performance was in there, but the players knew the performance was there as well. We were very disappointed with our performance in the Fermanagh game, and it had been a couple of years since we produced a good performance, at least for 70 minutes.

"We knew as well we had to produce that kind of performance to beat Donegal. They were the form team, and I think we did that. Everyone was really up for it, there was good banter going around, so I knew we'd give them a good game.

"We're very hungry to win an Ulster title now. Armagh have held sway in recent years, and we were very disappointed to lose to them two years ago. So we haven't won it in four years. And I'd still much rather the straight route to the All-Ireland. With no replays."

For now, at least, that's the way they're headed.

There are a number of reasons why this team is different to the team that lost to Tyrone in 2005:

1 - They now have belief. Don't underestimate the power of this. When a team is used to winning, they win - for the first time in years, Monaghan are used to back to ack wins (both in the League and Championship).

2 -  They had a year in division 1 where they beat Dublin by double scores and only narrowly lost out to Tyrone and Kerry. They're not afraid of the 'big' teams.

3 - They can now play for 70 minutes.  They have the fitness and the stamina (no doubt, in part at least, due to McElkennon). Importantly, they don't drop the heads if they slip behind in the second half. They play a full game.

4 - A few new men. Hanratty in particular - having a second nippy forward means that double marking Tommy may leave Hanratty exposed or vice versa. We're no longer firing into just one man on the forward line.

5 - We'll have a 16th man on sunday.

6 - We'll have an almighty hunger.

Some interesting points there alright.  I'd agree that Tyrone appear more vulnerable in 2007 than they did in 2005 although I think that defensively we're stronger.  McMahon at full back is an improvement and Dermot Carlin is improving on every outing.  It's as sold a back 6 as we're ever likely to have imo.

Tommy Freeman caused havoc in the opening 20 of the game in 2005 before he was shackled.  I don't expect he'll be surprising anyone this time round though.  If his couple of goals were taken out of the equation last time out it would have been a lot more one sided.  The one thing that stands out about that game was that Monaghan had the momentum but couldn't hold onto it.  Two years older and wiser now though.

I don't think the league game in Omagh can be used as any kind of measuring stick.  That was the league and this is the Ulster Championship final.

Quote from: orangeman on July 10, 2007, 11:23:48 PM
Monaghan were not fancied  even to get to the Ulster final - so I think the prices are fair enough - do you want to lay a bit of 4/6 on Tyrone - alternatively do you know any bookies who are giving these odds ?
I think Monaghan at 10/3 or 7/2 represent a decent value bet .

"do you want to lay a bit of 4/6 on Tyrone"
No, I don't gamble at all and not that soft in the head :)  but if I did, wild horses wouldn't drag me to have a bet on Tyrone at 7/2 on.
IMO  2/7 reflects  'maybe a bit of a scrap but Tyrone will pull away easily'. Whereas the language used here, is 'its gonna be tight'  
'don't underestimate Monaghan' well at least it doesn't reflect 2/7 unless Tyrone fans are all secretly thinking 'we're through bar a catastrophe'.
I have only seen the televised games that Monaghan have played. I'm biased but they look a better team than what played Tyrone before, re fitness levels, tactical nous and belief but not shooting accuracy from play. Against Derry I suppose the most impressive bit was that the team did not miss a beat when Derry scored that goal.
I'd love to be there, hope it's a good flowing game.

Monaghan may have slightly more hunger to win an Ulster title, this is their first appearance in an ulster final since 1988 and their players will possibly see this game as their best chance of silverware this season. Tyrone on the other hand might just have one eye further on down the line. Some times in football that bit of hunger and drive can contribute to dragging you over the winning line as much as abilty does. Quite a few of these Tyrone players are on the go since 2003, it is hard to keep motivating yourself for games especially when it is in the back of their minds there possibly may be bigger games ahead. Against Donegal they showed the energy and drive that has led to many magnificant performances over the last 4 years, if they can replicate this they have a great chance on Sunday, if not Monaghan may just sneak it. I reckon we could be in for a cracker particularly if the weather holds.

As a matter of interest, does anyone know of the last time where a team made it to the Ulster Final for the first time and actually won it? (I mean the actual team, of the majority thereof, and not the county per se.)

Probably Cavan in 1997.

Armagh in 99?

QuoteArmagh in 99?

Exactly, I suppose it is too much to expect Monaghan to win in similar style.

Do the Monaghan team have minor medals etc, several Armagh players in '99 had come from the minor team in '92.

The Tyrone side of 2001 was a relatively new side from the '96 vintage.

I can see why Monaghan are feeling confident. Theyve been making good steady progress for a while now and have two excellent championship victories under their belt this summer, one coming from behind late on with a burst of scores and another where they had a good lead and were unlucky to be pulled back but yet still finished the game off. That will give them a lot of belief. Similarly Tyrone arent in a great situation with many people now talking them up. Now ok they put in a superb performance against Donegal but thats 1 big performance in the last 2 years, you cant be sure they will reach those heights again on Sunday! And Monaghan wont roll over as easily as Donegal did. The continued absence of McGuigan added to SoN's ongoing problems also leave me uneasy. The long and short of it is that Tyrone will need a big performance to get over this hurdle and anybody expecting a routine victory is kidding themself.

As an aside does anybody know a pub in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will show GAA?? I know the Old Triangle pub has Tyrone connections but I dont know if they show games. I fly out to Canada on Saturday and would be loathe to miss this game.

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 02:40:26 PM
Probably Cavan in 1997.

Cavan had been there in the '95 final, think ONeill has it.

Given the build up that's been in it I can't see Tyrone approaching this game with any sort of complacency. I would imagine however that Monaghan's best chance will come from a tight game where maybe they enter the final 10min a point or two adrift.

The biggest danger when playing this Tyrone team is that once they get a wake up call (see Monaghan, Dublin and Kerry 05) by dropping a few points off the pace that usually sets them off in a more determined mood and onto a roll from which the momentum they build up is difficult to stop.

To be honest it's like watching Tyrone play Tyrone in terms of style there for I'm hoping experience offsets hunger.

Everyone talked up Donegal against Armagh in 2004 on the back of

a) a good result beating Tyrone
b) hunger for a trophy

and look what happened there...................................................

QuoteEveryone talked up Donegal against Armagh in 2004 

Equally Armagh in 2004 easily beat Donegal who had beaten a fancied Tyrone, but then couldn't raise their game for Fermanagh.
Donegal may well be a better team than Monaghan overall, but Donegal flopped against Tyrone, Monaghan may play the hardest they've ever played.

QuoteEqually Armagh in 2004 easily beat Donegal who had beaten a fancied Tyrone, but then couldn't raise their game for Fermanagh.
Donegal may well be a better team than Monaghan overall, but Donegal flopped against Tyrone, Monaghan may play the hardest they've ever played

Exactly my point (kinda) - Armagh were made well aware about the upset potential of Donegal and how they were hungry enough to kill dead things. Hence Armagh were well prepared for thier positon as favourites and won comfortably.

Against Fermanagh NO-ONE talked up the Erne men (compared to the hype Monaghan are getting)

I would put Monaghan  more in the Donegal bracket - media and fans playing up the giant killing act (and in some casses not even giant killing - they are being put on an equal footing)

Tyrone - in league and McKenna cup have always had good tight games with Monaghan. I would doubt they will be in any way complacent. It remains to be see if on the big day Monaghan can perform but I think they can. Donegal have boys who just don't seem to cut it at times and they are a tired team at this point in time. Put Devenney on McMenamin or McNulty and he doesn't want to know. McFadden hasn't done it at this level either really bar one Tyrone match.

Monaghan have boys who are at that kind of level and I think they can perform. Tommy Freeman against McMenamim(or whoever the respective marker is) should be very interested. He will clearly be earmarked for "attention" and it will be good to see a top player having a test to stand up to which hopefully he will pass.

I've never seen a half back cover more ground in my life than Damien Freeman against Derry. He will however probably have to cover more to stick with Dooher! That also has the makings of an interesting tussle. Also interesting to see Woods in full forward. Maybe a targetman to target a perceived weakness there perhaps?

All in all though Tyrone should have too much. I wouldn't expect the likes of Mulgrew or young Kavanagh to thrive like they did the last day but I think it will be a damn good test of their mettle and also young McGuigan/ Gormley if they get a chance.

Very interesting game for the neutral here.
Will Monaghan (how I haven't seen playing) put it up to Tyrone in their own back yard?
How good are Tyrone? who bad are Donegal? Sunday should tell a lot.
Tyrone's victory over Donegal has to be viewed in the light of Armagh's loss to Derry and Donegal's inability to beat Leitrim over 70 minutes.
Monaghan have beaten no one really as Down are poor and Derry are so inconsistent it isn't funny.
I would fancy Tyrone to pull away in the second half and win pulling up. Tyrone need to get O'Neill some game time before the serious stuff starts in the quarter final.
Is Dooher the captain for the rest of the year?

Quote from: SuperDooperCooper on July 11, 2007, 04:32:41 PM
Is Dooher the captain for the rest of the year?

Yep SDC, barring unforeseens.

Quote from: SuperDooperCooper on July 11, 2007, 04:32:41 PM

Is Dooher the captain for the rest of the year?

Dooher has been captain since Cormac McAnallen(RIP) with McMenanin vice captain filling in when Dooher has been out injured

Yes it's Dooher playing a captain's role !

Mickey, here's the team for Sunday;

1. Devine
2. McMenamin  3. McMahon  4. Carlin
5. Harte  6. Gormley  7. Jordan
8. Hughes  9. Cavanagh
10. Dooher  11. T. McGuigan  12. Mulgrew
13. Mulligan  14. O'Neill  15. McCullagh

I don't care how good Monaghan think they are, they wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell against this side!  ;D

1. Devine
2. McMenamin  3. McMahon  4. Carlin
5. Harte  6. Gormley  7. Jordan
8. Hughes  9. Cavanagh
10. Dooher  11. T. McGuigan  12. Mulgrew
13. Mulligan  14. O'Neill  15. McCullagh

That'll be very close. with those in bold as definites if fit. The others have alternatives, some moreso than others.

I rather leave Raymie at 11, and Tommy on the bench, at least to start. We may need Enda Mc Ginley's graft, initially at least, and he's due to come good.

Quote1. Devine
2. McMenamin  3. McMahon  4. Carlin
5. Harte  6. Gormley  7. Jordan
8. Hughes  9. Cavanagh
10. Dooher  11. T. McGuigan  12. Mulgrew
13. Mulligan  14. O'Neill  15. McCullagh

That'll be very close. with those in bold as definites if fit. The others have alternatives, some moreso than others.

You don't have Carlin as a definite - I assume that's a mistake! 

QuoteI rather leave Raymie at 11, and Tommy on the bench, at least to start. We may need Enda Mc Ginley's graft, initially at least, and he's due to come good.

I don't think it would be fair to drop Mulgrew in favour of McGinley after the Donegal game.  Also it wouldn't be MH's style to do that.

Will block be assigned the task of putting the shackles on Freeman?. MH obviously wanted Devenny tied down in the semi and Gormley done the business. He could get the same job on Sunday with Carlin making his now expected forrays up the park. Carlin did a brilliant job the last day in that role despite the wayward shot at the sticks. I think these tactics could be repeated.

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 11:20:25 PM

QuoteI rather leave Raymie at 11, and Tommy on the bench, at least to start. We may need Enda Mc Ginley's graft, initially at least, and he's due to come good.

I don't think it would be fair to drop Mulgrew in favour of McGinley after the Donegal game.  Also it wouldn't be MH's style to do that.

That's not what I said SS: Mulgrew at number 11, Tommy on the bench. Mc Ginley deserves another chance, and Tommy will always be there if he's struggling. And Colm Cavanagh's an option if the going's tough in the middle of the park.

I think Carlin is fast becoming a set-in-stone starter for Tyrone but I'm not convinced that McGee is completely out of the picture.

I don't think McGee will get a look-in while Carlin is in the form he is.  I watched the Donegal game there this evening and he really was immense.  His running was impressive but the way he kept Roper out of the game was even more impressive.

Who sorted Freeman out in the second half in 2005?

QuoteTyrone: P McConnell, J McMahon, C Lawn, S Sweeney, D Harte (0-1), G Devlin, P Jordan, C Gormley (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1), B Dooher, B McGuigan, O Mulligan, R Mellon (0-1), S O'Neill (2-6, 5 frees), E McGinley.
Subs: P Canavan (0-2, 1 free) for Sweeney, M Penrose (0-1) for Mulligan, B Meenan for Mellon

I can't really remember - did they shift Lawn or Gormley onto him?

Any word of a sweeper for Sunday ? Or will Dooher just fill the holes again ?

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 11, 2007, 11:35:13 PM

Who sorted Freeman out in the second half in 2005?

i dont think anyone really sorted tommy f out in 05.... tyrone dominated the midfield in the second half and the supply to the oriel fowards just dried up.. think they scored only 1 or 2 points in the 2nd half. monaghan couldnt keep up with tyrones fittness and the heads dropped.sunday will be different though as monaghans fittness is well improved and more experience has been gained since 05.. if the occasion dosent unsettle the oriel men and they get a dry ball.. monaghan could be heading for ulster title number 14..

and all this about derry being a bad team is rubbish.. (down maybe.. as we seen against meath) i taped the monaghan-derry game and what i seen was monaghan getting thier tactics right.. they didnt let derry settle at all and in turn derry looked shite. the same derry team beat armagh.. and if any team can beat armagh they are decent enough...

anyone know the weather for sunday?

Rain Rain and Rain.

Weather has been a day out each day this week but BBC say this morning it will rain. Friday the only good day!

Not a single flag out that I have seen in Tyrone yet I was in Monaghan last night and Cars, houses and Silotanks are all decorated.

StarSpangled, to answer you question, Gormley was shifted to mark Freeman in 2005. I distinctly remember the switch being made after approx 20 minutes and the first thing he done was whack him one.

Quote from: Wee Roddy on July 12, 2007, 08:55:48 AM
Not a single flag out that I have seen in Tyrone yet I was in Monaghan last night and Cars, houses and Silotanks are all decorated.

Would read nothing into that. This Ulster Final means a lot more to the county folk of Monaghan that it does to ourselves, and that's not being blasé or presumptuous about it. It's simply because Monaghan has been starved of any kind of real success for the last 20 years. That's not to say, however, it means anything less to the players -- Croke in 2005 still leaves a bitter, bitter taste.

Quote from: ONeill on July 11, 2007, 11:45:46 PM

QuoteTyrone: P McConnell, J McMahon, C Lawn, S Sweeney, D Harte (0-1), G Devlin, P Jordan, C Gormley (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1), B Dooher, B McGuigan, O Mulligan, R Mellon (0-1), S O'Neill (2-6, 5 frees), E McGinley.
Subs: P Canavan (0-2, 1 free) for Sweeney, M Penrose (0-1) for Mulligan, B Meenan for Mellon

I can't really remember - did they shift Lawn or Gormley onto him?

They shifted Lawn off him as he covered every 'blade on the lawn' (excuse the pun!) He got no ball in the second half so I could have been markin him and it wouldn't have mattered!

I see there's tickets back up on ticketmaster for the game again. Wonder is there many left. The maximum there'll be is 2 changes on the Tyrone team. McMahon in for McGinley. Depending on O'Neill's fitness he could come in for Colm C or Enda Mc. Cant se Tommy McGuigan starting.

Talking to Monaghan people, they're really up for the game and killing each other for tickets whilst Tyrone County board left 2000 tickets back last night - so much for the predicted sell out ! My information is that O'Neill is not 100% and will not start - impact sub role if all is not going according to plan.

Quote from: ONeill on July 11, 2007, 11:30:40 PM
I think Carlin is fast becoming a set-in-stone starter for Tyrone but I'm not convinced that McGee is completely out of the picture.

McGee is completely out of the picture for this season anyway as he has had an operation on his shoulder. As people are saying, i think Carlin is excellent at carrying the ball out of defence but i remain unsure about his man marking capabilities. Think he is a better half back than corner back but it would be difficult to getting a starting spot there as we probably have the best half-back line in the country!

If thats true about the tickets some of our so called supporters are a joke. As Ive said before some of the people who went to the newspapers in 05' to allow them to print sensational headlines about the GAA  being a disgrace cause they couldnt get tickets probably arent even going to the games now. Id be interested in the baby that there was all the fuss about at the time, i wonder if the family are all still going. I know its the same in most counties but its an ulster final and you'd expect to be able to sell your tickets considering the large supporter base. What I dont understand is if its Tyrone tickets why have they sent back decent McGrane stand tickets instead of allocating them before the crap tickets? At least the clubs get a chance to see who's taking the tickets now incase we would happen to be involved in a match were there's a scramble for tickets later on. I assume Mickey will be naming the team tonight as usual. Conflicting reports about the whether for Sunday - looks on bbc like a really nice day on the 5 day forecast but on rte earlier looks like a bad day with heavy rain. Take your pick.

Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on July 12, 2007, 03:06:25 PM
If thats true about the tickets some of our so called supporters are a joke. As Ive said before some of the people who went to the newspapers in 05' to allow them to print sensational headlines about the GAA  being a disgrace cause they couldnt get tickets probably arent even going to the games now. Id be interested in the baby that there was all the fuss about at the time, i wonder if the family are all still going. I know its the same in most counties but its an ulster final and you'd expect to be able to sell your tickets considering the large supporter base. What I dont understand is if its Tyrone tickets why have they sent back decent McGrane stand tickets instead of allocating them before the crap tickets? At least the clubs get a chance to see who's taking the tickets now incase we would happen to be involved in a match were there's a scramble for tickets later on. I assume Mickey will be naming the team tonight as usual. Conflicting reports about the whether for Sunday - looks on bbc like a really nice day on the 5 day forecast but on rte earlier looks like a bad day with heavy rain. Take your pick.

The GAA is one of the biggest band wagons on the go. I remember Monaghan taken 10,000 plus to Casement to play Down a few years back. Thye lost and met Armagh in the back door the following week, about 500 Monaghan folk turned up that day. The band wagon grows from match to match and year to year. I suppose a lot in Tyrone have been spoilt by the recent success and don't see the Ulster Final (which hasn't been won in 4 years) as a not very attractive tie (maybe its the venue??) and one that they'll win. Its not right but unfortunatley loyalty with a county team can't be measured.

It is things like this that I can never understand how a county suddenly struggles for All-iRELAND tickets. Surely a club has a record of who wanted and got tickets for the Ulster Final. How they can't ensure that everyone of these gets tickets is beyond me? That is why I disagree with Ticketmaster having tickets for a Ulster/Leinster final. No record of who got them, these people will have to go back to clubs etc down the line and that is when problems start.

As for weather, hope its dry and would always believe BBC above RTE. Not only about the weather mind you!!

Yeah I though McGee was out for a long term injury alright
I've a feeling Stevie will start but Mickey has often preferred to bring a man on if required than to take him off as this deflates the team.

After winning two AI in recent years it makes sense that the good weather armchair supporters are fading out as they expect more matches later in the season and trips to Dublin.
Even a lot of keen supporters I know who went to most matches in 2003 & 2005 are holding off this year as they think bigger games to come on sunnier days.

I suppose with it being such crap weather, Clones being a nightmare to get to and home from, rising ticket prices, wives and kids wanting to go now as well, match live on TV etc then  a lot of fans are preferring to hold off and save themselves for the BIG day out in Croker. (if it ever comes?)

I suppose ye can see the Kerry fan effect coming into play now more with Tyrone and even Armagh in recent times whereas fans from Donegal turn out in huge Nos now as at the NFL final.

I expect a HUGE Monaghan turn-out and am glad I'm in the Gerry Arthurs. Is Row A near the very front or nicely under the Roof?
I think AA is down the very front.

QuoteIf thats true about the tickets some of our so called supporters are a joke.

The bandwagoners expect Tyrone to win this game and so are saving their brownie points/cash/ticket favours for the quarter finals.  A good indication that they don't know their football either.

if smyth starts ahead of finaly, I'll be amazed...

I can also see McKenna starting somewhere

Quote from: Handball Ace on July 12, 2007, 03:36:42 PM
if smyth starts ahead of finaly, I'll be amazed...

I can also see McKenna starting somewhere

Big Benny is a fine fielder of the ball but isn't mobile enough to play against Tyrones midfield. He wouls be something similar to Donegals midfielder (Name?) who got cleaned out against Tyrone and was lost for most of the game. May make an introduction at some stage though but I think McManus would be one of first in, similar type of player to a Tyrone clone.

I agree with Finlay and have heard he will start but you tend to here these things when there is so much hype in a build up to a match.

Quote from: bingobus on July 12, 2007, 03:43:54 PM

Quote from: Handball Ace on July 12, 2007, 03:36:42 PM
if smyth starts ahead of finaly, I'll be amazed...

I can also see McKenna starting somewhere

Big Benny is a fine fielder of the ball but isn't mobile enough to play against Tyrones midfield. He wouls be something similar to Donegals midfielder (Name?) who got cleaned out against Tyrone and was lost for most of the game. May make an introduction at some stage though but I think McManus would be one of first in, similar type of player to a Tyrone clone.

I agree with Finlay and have heard he will start but you tend to here these things when there is so much hype in a build up to a match.

  If Finlay does start you'd have to think that he'll either directly replace Smyth at centre-half OR start at wing half forward which would push Dick back to MF which in turn would push JP back to wing half back which would unfortunately in turn push Donal Morgan to the bench!

  I know this would be harsh but am I right in thinkin that they should start with the 'most experienced' players at their disposal or is that a bit old-fashioned/short-sighted/unfair?

Quote from: bingobus on July 12, 2007, 03:43:54 PM
...something similar to Donegals midfielder (Name?)

Kevin Cassidy, Neil Gallagher (both muffled on the day).

Quote from: GrandMasterFlash on July 12, 2007, 04:21:04 PM

Quote from: bingobus on July 12, 2007, 03:43:54 PM

Quote from: Handball Ace on July 12, 2007, 03:36:42 PM
if smyth starts ahead of finaly, I'll be amazed...

I can also see McKenna starting somewhere

Big Benny is a fine fielder of the ball but isn't mobile enough to play against Tyrones midfield. He wouls be something similar to Donegals midfielder (Name?) who got cleaned out against Tyrone and was lost for most of the game. May make an introduction at some stage though but I think McManus would be one of first in, similar type of player to a Tyrone clone.

I agree with Finlay and have heard he will start but you tend to here these things when there is so much hype in a build up to a match.

  If Finlay does start you'd have to think that he'll either directly replace Smyth at centre-half OR start at wing half forward which would push Dick back to MF which in turn would push JP back to wing half back which would unfortunately in turn push Donal Morgan to the bench!

  I know this would be harsh but am I right in thinkin that they should start with the 'most experienced' players at their disposal or is that a bit old-fashioned/short-sighted/unfair?

I'd rather start now without Finlay - see how the team gets on without him - especially if he's not up to full fitness. Then if we do need to introduce him, it could be a great psychological boost to the rest of the team - and lift the crowd. It would be much better than pushing him to start when he's not ready and then seeing him being substituted, especially if we were behind at the time.

QuoteOr will Dooher just fill the holes again ?  

So that's why he spends so much time on the ground!

Quote from: Lamh Dhearg Alba on July 11, 2007, 03:01:54 PM
As an aside does anybody know a pub in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will show GAA?? I know the Old Triangle pub has Tyrone connections but I dont know if they show games. I fly out to Canada on Saturday and would be loathe to miss this game.

Doesnt look like Ill see the game on Sunday.....seems the only establishment in Halifax who have Setanta is the "True Blues" club ??? :o Seems a long shot theyll be showing GAA.

Quote from: Maguire01 on July 12, 2007, 04:38:17 PM
I'd rather start now without Finlay - see how the team gets on without him - especially if he's not up to full fitness. Then if we do need to introduce him, it could be a great psychological boost to the rest of the team - and lift the crowd. It would be much better than pushing him to start when he's not ready and then seeing him being substituted, especially if we were behind at the time.

Indeed, I'd rather see how we get on without him too but I'm hearing soundbytes that he will start so was just trying to work out where he'd be placed. That's a Mickey Harte tactic, 'Bring him on rather than take him off' which I'd agree with from a psychological point of view.

Quote from: tyroneboi on July 12, 2007, 02:58:54 PM

McGee is completely out of the picture for this season anyway as he has had an operation on his shoulder.

I didn't know that. I thought he was suffering the backlash from the Cork and Donegal NFL defeats. Any chance Gourley will make an appearance? Just trying to preempt at least one surprise....Mickey normally has one.

Canlt see a big change, Joey in at FB and SON in at FF if fit the only 2

Ciaran Gourley is a surprise inclusion in the Tyrone team for Sunday's Ulster SFC final against Monaghan at Clones.

Gourley has not played championship football for two years but he replaces injured Cormac McGinley at full-back.

Stephen O'Neill's injury problems means he is named on the bench although fitness doubt Gerard Cavlan does start.

Cavlan replaces Enda McGinley while Joe McMahon's selection at midfield sees Colm Cavanagh dropping to the subs with Kevin Hughes switching to full-forward.

In all, the side has three changes in personnel for the semi-final hammering of Donegal.

Mickey Harte told BBC Sport earlier this week that O'Neill's injuries were still "having to be managed" and he will be keep in reserve for Sunday's decider.

   
606: DEBATE
Can Monaghan shock Tyrone?

O'Neill has been suffering from hamstring and knee problems and while cryotheraphy has helped his recovery greatly, Harte clearly feels that it would be too big a risk to start the Clann na nGael forward.

The former Footballer of the Year has yet to start a championship match in the current series.

The availability of Gerard Cavlan is a boost for Tyrone as he was a fitness doubt after suffering a hamstring injury last week.

Monaghan boss Seamus McEnaney has kept faith with the 15 players who started the Ulster semi-final against Derry for Sunday's decider.

However, there are several positional changes, including moving Rory Woods from half-forward to full-forward.

John Paul Mone switches to midfield and Damien Freeman wears number seven.

Paul Finlay, a last minute withdrawal before the semi-final because of a health scare, is not in the 15 but could be in the subs to be named on Friday.

Tyrone: J Devine, R McMenamin, C Gourley, D Carlin, D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan, J McMahon, S Cavanagh, B Dooher, R Mulgrew, G Cavlan, C McCullagh, K Hughes, O Mulligan.

Monaghan: S Duffy; D Mone, V Corey, D McArdle; D Morgan, G McQuaid, D Freeman (cpt); E Lennon, J P Mone; D Clerkin, S Smyth, S Gollogly; C Hanratty, R Woods, T Freeman.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/6896656.stm



Good shout ONeill you must have some inside knowledge!

Holy fcuk. Harte never ceases to amaze me. Nervous with those changes. Will McMahon last 70min at misfield? Unless he's shed a stone in 3 weeks. Full back has to be the spot for Joey.

Must say I was suprised by the team named. I know Harte likes to  make 1 or 2 shocks but I thought it was certain that the only changes would be mcmahon into defence and/or o'neill into the forwards. Still a strong looking team and it suggests that Cavlan is going well to have forced his way into the team - didnt expect that especially after the media were told he'd picked up an injury. Would rather see Hughes at midfield - he cant shoot! Wouldnt be to difficult to change the team considerably by bringing in a forward for Gourley and moving McMahon and Hughes back. Id say McGinley and Cavanagh will be disappointed not to start but provide good options as do O'Neill and Mellon. A capable team even without O'Neill. Could see Gormley and Gourley switching - dont like the idea of Gourley at full back.

HUB AS FULL FORWARD  :o :o After the last display of shooting, god help us.

Cavlan...ffs.

I can see Hub taken off for O'Neill if the shooting boots aren't on.

Quote from: Hereiam on July 12, 2007, 09:05:07 PM
HUB AS FULL FORWARD  :o :o After the last display of shooting, god help us.

Would expect him to gravitate towards the middle of the park, and we shouldn't be too credulous perhaps until we see what actually lines out  ;)

Maybe Gourley will play midfield, McMahon at the back, and Hub as a 3rd man midfielder?

Anyone know the subs?

Certainly an interesting team and yet again Mickey shows us who's Boss of team selection.
Think he's trying to keep Monaghan guessing and wouldn't be surprised if they don't line out like that

Bit surprised Cavlo is named after last night injury scare.

I wonder if Harte just likes to stir it up for the sake of it Re team selecion or does he want to give Gourley a run out and think he's be best for marking Woods?

Then again there's no guarantee that this is the team that will line out on Sun.........................

Hub at FF though????  ::) ::) ::) Need to do better than his last outing

In fact can anyone remember a good game he HAS had at FF for the Seniors?

If Hub does remain at FF I'd imagine it would be in more of a Donaghyesque mode, i.e., catching and breaking for the onrunning attackers, which assumes that we'll be winning enough of the midfield to fire those balls in. If we're not, he'll quickly be moved to the middle I'd say.

Good oul Mickey - he plays horses for courses and keeps the opposition guessing. Total faith in Gourley against this opposition. If Woods roams he can be the last post if Freeman is skinning his marker. The good thing about this is the options if things are not going to plan and Harte isn't afraid to act early.

Hub at FF is a surprise though that I would never have predicted. I'd give him 20 mins max if things aren't working out. What is surprising though is that Hughes out-performed Cavanagh at MF last time out....why change that? Surely big Colm or the enigmatic Rouse would've been a more natural option. Even McGinley. Odd that one.

QuoteDonaghyesque mode, i.e., catching and breaking for the onrunning attackers

Dunno about that.  His catching isn't much better than his shooting.  Hub's strength is carrying the ball through the centre - that's where he'll probably play leaving space for Mugsy to isolate Corey.  Mugsy is our ony player that can consistently win a one on one ball from a standing start.

You'd have got rather long odss on predicting that 15 ! It will never line out that way surely ?

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 11, 2007, 02:29:28 PM
As a matter of interest, does anyone know of the last time where a team made it to the Ulster Final for the first time and actually won it? (I mean the actual team, of the majority thereof, and not the county per se.)

Done a bit of research on this and the results were startling. The last team to reach the final and none of the players (starting 15 plus used subs) had played in a senior Ulster Final was _____? I'll be mildly surprised but will admire if anyone gets it.

The last team to appear in an Ulster Final and win it and none of their players (starting 15 plus used subs) had played in a senior Ulster Final was _________? Tough one but topical.

Have plenty of faith in Harte and his selection. Wouldnt even be supirsed if there's one or 2 changes either personnel or position. He does like Hub at full forward - won an u21 all ireland with him playing there. Who's to say O'Neill wont be in for Gourley or Cavlan. Had Gourley been injured recently. I dont think Holmes is on the bench - anyone know if he's injured? Huge game for Cavlan to prove to Harte that he's capable of starting at this point.

Fermanagh ?

Armagh?

Quote from: orangeman on July 12, 2007, 10:34:32 PM
Fermanagh ?

No, slighly more recent than that, although that Fermanagh team were also virgins.

Quote from: ExiledGael on July 12, 2007, 10:36:52 PM
Armagh?

No, Houlihan came on in '99. He had also played in 1990.

Quote from: ONeill on July 12, 2007, 10:32:07 PM

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 11, 2007, 02:29:28 PM
As a matter of interest, does anyone know of the last time where a team made it to the Ulster Final for the first time and actually won it? (I mean the actual team, of the majority thereof, and not the county per se.)

Done a bit of research on this and the results were startling. The last team to reach the final and none of the players (starting 15 plus used subs) had played in a senior Ulster Final was _____? I'll be mildly surprised but will admire if anyone gets it.

The last team to appear in an Ulster Final and win it and none of their players (starting 15 plus used subs) had played in a senior Ulster Final was _________? Tough one but topical.

Thanks for that, Down in '91?

This isnt a bad forward line to be sitting on the bench:
Ryan Mellon
Tommy McMuigan
Colm Cavanagh
Niall Gormley
Stephen O'Neill
Enda McGinley
Im sure some counties in Ireland wouldnt mind that forward line. You can only put 15 on the field at one time though but its good to have a decent bench. We certainly didnt look to have options like this in the run up to the Donegal game - a few weeks can make a big difference either way.

Maybe Cavan in 97??
We'll get there eventually, answer better not be Tyrone!!

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 12, 2007, 10:41:02 PM

Thanks for that, Down in '91?

No, O'Rourke, Carr, Blaney etc had played in '86

Quote from: ExiledGael on July 12, 2007, 10:42:28 PM
Maybe Cavan in 97??
We'll get there eventually, answer better not be Tyrone!!

So, a rake of them played v Tyrone in '95 and before you ask - not Cavan in '95 as Stephen King had come on as a sub in '83 the oul bollix.

f**k all really left, Donegal in 92

Quote from: ExiledGael on July 12, 2007, 10:47:22 PM
f**k all really left, Donegal in 92

Afeard not - sure they'd been in the previous 3 finals.

Armagh in '77?

Quote from: ONeill on July 12, 2007, 10:48:21 PM

Quote from: ExiledGael on July 12, 2007, 10:47:22 PM
f**k all really left, Donegal in 92

Afeard not - sure they'd been in the previous 3 finals.

Showing my age badly here, I'll give up

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 12, 2007, 10:48:46 PM
Armagh in '77?

That team were virgins OK, but we've had virgin winners and finalists since then. It might scare you if you're superstitious.

OK - the last winners of the Anglo-Celt cup and all players were getting their hands on a winners medal having never appeared before in the final were......Monaghan!! In 1979.

Good thing I'm not superstitious then  ;)

The last all-new losing finalists were Derry in 1985...and they lost to....Monaghan!!

Quote from: ONeill on July 12, 2007, 10:53:55 PM
The last all-new losing finalists were Derry in 1985...and they lost to....Monaghan!!

Ah... but who were the last twice-SAM-winning Ulster finalists to lose to virgins?  ;)

J Devine,
R McMenamin, C Gourley, D Carlin,
D Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan,
J McMahon, S Cavanagh,
B Dooher, R Mulgrew, G Cavlan,
C McCullagh, K Hughes, O Mulligan.

Tyrone's last Ulster winners in 2003:

J Devine,
R McMenamin, C Lawn, D Carlin,
C Gormley, D McCrossan, P Jordan,
C McAnallan, S Cavanagh,
B Dooher, B McGuigan, K Hughes,
E McGinley, P Canavan , O Mulligan.

In the replay McConnell came in for Devine, McAnallan replaced Lawn, Gourley replaced McCrossan, Hughes was moved to MF, and Seamus Mulgrew played LHF. Cavlan then came on for Dooher.

It is getting more difficult to second guess Micky Harte each match. Why so many changes after a convinving win v Donegal??

Joe McMahon played very well when he came in at full back the last day & has always done a solid job when called upon in there!!

Kevin Hughes had a tremendous game at midfield the last day (bar his shooting!!)

I dont think the team will line out in those postions though.

Whats the betting Gourley moves into Centre Back and Gormley picks up Freeman.  Gourley will pick up the loose ball around the middle. 

Joe McMahon moves to FB to pick up Woods.  Hughes comes into MF and play with two full forwards.

???

I think Muzz has it near enough spot on.
It looks like MH is planning to employ the same system he used against Monaghan in the 2006 McKenna Cup Final when he fieded 7 backs and Horse Devlin played as a very effective sweeper, Monaghan's attacking threat was completely nullified that day and Tyrone won fairly much as they liked. Expect to see Gourley in the free sweeping role with the others all man-marking including McMahon at FB.
After their combined performance against a much touted Donegal midfield, only an egit would split up the Cavanagh/Hughes pairing and one thing for sure MH is not an egit.

I think Muzz has it all figured out..

The Finlay decision is at lunchtime today I believe

Does anyone think O'Neill might be starting instead of Ciaran Gourley? Would make sense on the context of the team named. Hope we dont start with 7 defenders. By dropping Colm Cavangh and Enda McGinley Harte is clearly showing the players that everyones place is up for grabs. Cavanagh had a good second half the last day and McGinley has played well over a number of years but both have still been dropped. Good competition for places. If we'e going to challenge for all ireland and possibly ulster honours this year its important that we have Stephen O'Neill at near full fitness. Provides that extra bit of class and is at the very top level of forwards in the country.

What the weather like for Clones for the weekend? And if its raining will it be more to Tyrone's advantage.

Am looking forward to seeing the game in Clones, hopefully it will be as good a game as the Munster final.

I'm wondering if...............

a) MH sees Monaghan launching a quick sustained attack in thre first half and wants to let this blow over with Hub drifting back to MF and maybe Cavlan rotating up to FF
b) He wants Sean Cavanagh freed up from normal MF work to shake off the 'special' attaention I'm sure Monaghan have marked out for him

Would not be suprised if team actually lines out as follows:

a)
             Devine
Ricey       - Joey -        Carlin
Nephew  - Gourley -     Model
              Block
          Hub - Cavlan
  Hoover - Mulgrew - Sean
       Mugsy - McCullogh

or b)
            Devine
Ricey        Gourley       Carlin
Nephew     Block         Model
         Hub          Joey
Hoover       Sean         Mulgrew
Mugsy        Cavlan        McCullogh

Looks the weather for Sunday might be good in the morning with rain in the evening
Good thing the match is on at 2.15 then.

From RTE
Dry at first in many areas on Sunday, with bright or sunny spells, but showers will develop through the afternoon, with widespread rain then developing later in the evening, turning heavy and persistent at times. Winds will be mostly moderate and will back easterly through the day. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees Celsius, possibly reaching a little higher in any good sunny spells and warmest through the northern half of the country

Mickey used to rate Gourley as a great man marker so you could see him start on Freeman. I'd expect his man to get switched a few times depending on yellow cards.
Hub has played at FF before, especially as a U-21 and was quite prolific so just cos he had a very off day against Donegal doesnt mean he can't shoot at all.

I think Calvo at left half forward could be exploited by their right half back. Calvo doesnt like tracking back and I would rather see him Further forward but of course his delivery of ball into FF line is as good as McGuigan and Mulgrew, if, maybe a little slower to hit his passes. I'd say he's there for his fielding again and expect him to make a few clean catches.

I just hope its not a 2003 Ulster final goal fest v Down repeat as my heart can't take another game like that.

As I've said all along we can't let them get off to a good start as they'll then take heart from that and believe in themselves.

Interesting what wee Marty McHugh was saying on that RTE program last nite, Road to Croker that if Monghan get 10 men behind the ball they could beat us but if they play their usual open style then they're F**ked!

Coming back to Dublin sunday from Derry Mayo game in Derry...........what would be the chance of picking up a few tickets for the Ulster final in Clones on sunday ?

Id say you'd pick up terrace tickets on Sunday ok. Ticketmaster are selling them now for collection in Clones on Sunday if your definately going.

Thanks.

Quote from: Kerry Mike on July 13, 2007, 10:01:43 AM
What the weather like for Clones for the weekend? And if its raining will it be more to Tyrone's advantage.

Am looking forward to seeing the game in Clones, hopefully it will be as good a game as the Munster final.

From the BBC for Enniskillen:

Sunday

Sunday's predominant weather is forecast to be light showers.
   
high of 20°C, low of 12°C

*****

Don't think a slippery ball will be to any team's advantage, though it just might disadvantage us a bit less.
   

Tickets no longer on sale from ticketmaster. Sell out?

Does anyone know the seating Rows in the Gerry Arthurs stand
I can only get a pic of the sections from Ticketmaster

Does Row A begin at the very front or is that row AA
Hopefully to row A is just behind the entrance tunnel
I'm in section M0 which is about the 21 yard line

Just cos there's no more on Ticketmaster doesnt mean anything just yet
I'd say there'll be tickets about on Sunday as usual but sure even if not the crack in the pubs in Clones will be hlaf the fun and ye'll have a nice warm DRY seat to watch both finals with £20 extra to spend.

Think Tyrone do OK with a wet ball
Remember 2003 Ulster final replay v Down in a very wet Clones
How many points did we score?

Very interesting selection from MH, he always likes to throw in a surprise to keep the opposition second guessing. I think the 15 he has selected will start as this is his usual poilcy its just where everyone will play that will be the interesting one. I think initially any way you will see Gormley on Freeman and Gourley on Woods. Would not at all be surprised if its a 3 man midfield of Hub, McMahon and Cavanagh, with Cavanagh told to hang loose, make his trademark bursts forward and let the other two guys take care of the physical stuff.

On another note read a piece in the Irish News today about McElkennon and his relucyance to get involved with Tyrone teams, interesting piece. It is a great shame that probably the two best physical trainers around i.e. McElkenon and Tally are not involved with the Tyrone team.

I think the Banty did Harte a favour in naming his team first but I wouldn't be surprised if he bluffed Harte and started with a different 15.

If Hughes does go out the field, I'd imagine it will be to counter Monaghans 3 midfielders - Lennon, Clerkin and JP Mone. He'll pick one of these up, Dermot McArdle will prob move to half forward (and then drop back as sweeper) and Corey will pick up Mulligan with Dessie Mone on McCullogh. Half back line will play as selcted. Woods on the forty, Shane smyth (Or Jap) at FF with Jinxy roaming and CF as named.

Monaghan will try and get men back behind play and move up in lines, such as Tyrone do. Could be a torrid affair with passages of play very broken.

Hasn't been mentioned before but I can see one of teams, possibly the two, ending up with reduced numbers. Think Monaghan will be bursting to get at Tyrone and Tyrone won't take a step back.

Quote from: bingobus on July 13, 2007, 12:35:21 PM
Hasn't been mentioned before but I can see one of teams, possibly the two, ending up with reduced numbers. Think Monaghan will be bursting to get at Tyrone and Tyrone won't take a step back.

Well let's hope we get a better ref than the muppets we had against Down and Derry. There's no doubt we have a few players with a short fuse - but we can't afford any of that on Sunday - we just don't jave the same bench as Tyrone if we needed to make switches.

Any word who is the Ref for Sunday. I know it is normally an out of province ref but for once I think it would have been wise to put the best available in charge......step forward Mr Pat McEneaney...surely the best choice for the day ;)  ;)  ;D

Referee: Derek Fahy, Longford

QuoteMonaghan will try and get men back behind play and move up in lines, such as Tyrone do.

Despite what McHugh said last night, I think it would be a mistake for Monaghan to try to play Tyrone-style against Tyrone.  Monaghan need to play the way that suits them and the way they perform the best.  Tyrone developed its format of play because it suited the players they have.  Unless Monaghan have very similar players they can only come out losers if they try to play similarly.  We always had very tough games against Armagh because they stuck to the style that suited them.  McHugh's assertion that Derry beat Tyrone last year because they adopted a similar style is inaccurate.  The remainder of the 2006 season (i.e. Louth and Laois) demonstrated that Tyrone lost to Derry simply because they were overrun with injuries and playing shite football.

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 13, 2007, 01:17:13 PM

QuoteMonaghan will try and get men back behind play and move up in lines, such as Tyrone do.

Despite what McHugh said last night, I think it would be a mistake for Monaghan to try to play Tyrone-style against Tyrone.  Monaghan need to play the way that suits them and the way they perform the best.  Tyrone developed its format of play because it suited the players they have.  Unless Monaghan have very similar players they can only come out losers if they try to play similarly.

If you've seen Monaghan play you'd have noticed that they are employing Tyrone's style to a certain degree, and have seemed to have adapted to it reasonably well. I don't understand why folk are talking about gulfs in styles as from what I've seen they're pretty similar. Vinney Corey and Dessie Moen have the pace and confidence to carry the ball out of defence and even get forward to have a pop as we've seen on occasion this season. This is similar to Ricey. Freeman/McQuaid in the half-back line are also attacking defenders, sound familiar? And as for emplying a Dooher type, again Damian Freeman or Stephen Gollogly fit the bill. So, I don't think their styles are vastly different and think that should make for a good energetic game of ball.

  I know this sounds clichéd but Monaghan's fortunes really depends on 'what Tyrone team turn up'. I sincerely hope I'm proved wrong and hope we don't let them play the way they're use to (which is what we did to Derry, and btw I don't buy into comments that Derry were poor, they weren't let play!)

Here's to an almighty contest with Monaghan to shade it!!

Yeee Haaaa!!

Quote from: Star Spangler on July 13, 2007, 01:17:13 PM

QuoteMonaghan will try and get men back behind play and move up in lines, such as Tyrone do.

Despite what McHugh said last night, I think it would be a mistake for Monaghan to try to play Tyrone-style against Tyrone.  Monaghan need to play the way that suits them and the way they perform the best.  Tyrone developed its format of play because it suited the players they have.  Unless Monaghan have very similar players they can only come out losers if they try to play similarly.  We always had very tough games against Armagh because they stuck to the style that suited them.  McHugh's assertion that Derry beat Tyrone last year because they adopted a similar style is inaccurate.  The remainder of the 2006 season (i.e. Louth and Laois) demonstrated that Tyrone lost to Derry simply because they were overrun with injuries and playing shite football.

Monaghan play similar style (see Grandmasterflashes post - cheers, saved me a bit of typing) with prob one slight difference in that they will let the play in earlier from midfield to the FF line.

If Monaghan are to win I think we'll need to spread the scoring around - last day only three players scored. We'll need Hanratty to chip in with a few plus a couple from Smyth/Finlay and from midfield/HB line. Any goal chances (and I think we'll get a few) will have to be taken. A good start is also a must, by a good start I mean keeping it tight and not let Tyrone build a lead by the end of 20 minutes.

Still think Tyrone will shade it but hopefully I'm more than wrong. I'll enjoy it anyways and intend to make the most of it  ;D

What do any of you Monaghan folk remember of referee Derek Fahy from your 2005 replay with Armagh? I don't think I've ever been to a game he's refereed, and if anything it would appear he's a bit whistle-happy.

Derek Fahy was the referee in the All-Ireland Junior Club Final this year.

On another note, I give up trying to second guess Harte's team selection. Hard to know what he's going to do from one game to the next  :D

I think Mickey is trying to keep players on their toes and use as many players as possible to get them used to playing with each other and in turn creates great competition

With the amount of yellow cards around recently you need spare defenders ready to come in and replace others on yellow cards
Also Mickey likes players to be versatile and can play anywhere.
Gourley is also good at pushing forward and can take a score when needed.

It gives players on the edge of the 1st 15 hope and motivation to try harder as Mickey can replace anyone at any time.

Wonder was the Calvo injury a rumour or will he start at all
I think both managers are doing a Mourinho

Without trying to sound condascending, I am a little surprised by the Monaghan optimism but I suppose you might as well be.
I have not seen ye this year live or on telly but heard from both Down and Derry mates that ye were nothing special.

I think it depends on how hungry Tyrone are and how they start
If they play with the attidude of Fermanagh 1/4 final in 2003 we could see a very one sided affair but as usual everyone else is playing it cool and scared to praise the favourite too much.

You never know in football but if both teams play to their potential there is only one winner.
If Monaghan strangle the game and defend like Derry and so many other teams did last year then we will get frustrasted and the flair players will not perform.
Mickey knows this as is why he is throwing spanners into his team selection. McCullagh and Carlin are the two smallest men on the field with Dooher probably next.

I hope Monaghan don't target Nephew for their kickouts like Donegal did. He often gets caught out as he's too slow to make up the ground. Bet he gets his usual point though.

QuoteI am a little surprised by the Monaghan optimism

I would expect the Monaghan team to have belief.
Certainly I haven't read a lot of optimism on this thread about Monaghan's chances.
But I have to admit to a slight increase when the greasy ball effect on Tyrone's game was mentioned.
Fair weather players :)

Quote from: Fuzzman on July 13, 2007, 03:21:14 PM
You never know in football but if both teams play to their potential there is only one winner.

Indeed....but how often have Tyrone played to potential over the last couple of years? Think any suggestion of Tyrone blowing Monaghan away is well off the mark, this will be a far tougher test than Donegal.

Dont think anybody saw these team changes coming. I thought Joey in at FB and SON at FF in the unlikely event of him being fit. Gourley and Cavlan though - big calls. Do recall reading in MH's 2003 diary though that he felt a fit and motivated Ger Cavlan couldnt be left off the team. Until the Donegal game Tyrone hadnt been running up decent scores this season and hopefully Cavlan can weigh in with a few scores on Sunday because we wont get 0-5 from Dooher every day. McCullagh could also do with getting a few more scores.

Well that's me lads off til the big game so hope ye enjoy it and may the best team win

I hope there's no negative football and Defo no sending offs but I suspect it could resort to that
We were reasonably disciplined via Donegal so I hope we keep that for this game

All the Best and Look out for a Brolly shirt in Clones.

Tyrone by 5.

Monaghan by 2 - Finlay to come on as a sub and land 2/3 frees

C'mon Monaghan make my weekend....

how many ulster titles have monaghan? i thought it was 13 but BBCni site have it as 14.....

any word on jap yet ?

Quote from: gwan-ye-boy-ya on July 13, 2007, 06:15:05 PM
any word on jap yet ?

nothing as yet - well not on BBC's evening news and nothing that i can find online.

13 I think

Quote from: Kerry Mike on July 13, 2007, 06:09:35 PM
C'mon Monaghan make my weekend....

Is that what it'll take for you to be allowed in to the saddle over the weekend Mike :D

KM
have a pint in Cavan on yer way down to Clones.
We are the aristocrats of Ulster Football, with 39 Ulster Titles along with our 5 all Irelands and all that.
I believe a Kerryman can relate and all that.  :P  :D

Quotearistocrats of Ulster Football, with 39 Ulster Titles along with our 5 all Irelands and all that

5/39 is some record, nearly as good as our 34/72  :P

QuoteIs that what it'll take for you to be allowed in to the saddle over the weekend Mike

Dont be talking about your sister like that.

Had a wee run over the 2005 match v Monaghan there. Remarkable the amount of scores McGuigan had a hand in. How he didn't get an All-Star was a mystery. O'Neill was in serious form.

What's the feeling here on heading back to Clines for the final?
Will be on the hill myself, should be a great atmosphere, hope there's a full house, though must admit I had very little bother getting my hands on a few tickets

Quote from: ONeill on July 13, 2007, 09:43:47 PM
Had a wee run over the 2005 match v Monaghan there. Remarkable the amount of scores McGuigan had a hand in. How he didn't get an All-Star was a mystery. O'Neill was in serious form.

Thats why I dont think we are genuine contenders this year. McGuigan was the creative heart of so much of Tyrone's best play in 2005 and O'Neill's scoretaking was exceptional. With our playmaker gone and our main scoretaker playing below 100% its a different team. The idiots who took out McGuigan in a reserve club game have a lot to answer for.

The thing about that, LDA, is that when that happens, others push their game to a new level. McGuigan's absence might inspire someone else to excel - maybe Mulgrew/Dooher. I think it's no fluke that Dooher's performance in the semi occurred when 2 of our most talented attacking options were absent. Another thing in our favour is the 'what else is out there' scenario. I haven't seen much, apart from the Munster final, to scare me.

More now is expected of Mulligan, Cavanagh etc and perhaps they'll deliver.

Quote from: ONeill on July 13, 2007, 10:18:09 PM
The thing about that, LDA, is that when that happens, others push their game to a new level. McGuigan's absence might inspire someone else to excel - maybe Mulgrew/Dooher. I think it's no fluke that Dooher's performance in the semi occurred when 2 of our most talented attacking options were absent. Another thing in our favour is the 'what else is out there' scenario. I haven't seen much, apart from the Munster final, to scare me.

More now is expected of Mulligan, Cavanagh etc and perhaps they'll deliver.

Fair points ONeill and I certainly hope youre right.

Ive also found a pub in Halifax, Nova Scotia which is showing the game live, happy days ;D ;D

Its strange that they sporadicaly (sorry for the spelling) go on and off that website. I could'nt get any from the club midweek so frantically tried ticketmaster on Wednesfay morning only be told they were not currently on sale but they reappeared wednesday afternoon, where i got sorted.

Is this from the few that clubs end up sending back? Not that I'm complaining mind, It's been a while since I was on the hill at a capacity match in clones so am really looking forward to it!

Did I hear right .Hub Hughes at Full Forward . Now where have I seen that before ?

Finaly's fit a rareing to go.
we have er!!!

Monaghan by 4

Where did that news come from?

The following has also just come up on irishnews.com

QuoteO'Neill overcomes injury for Tyrone
14/07/2007
09:34:35

Stephen O'Neill is set to return from injury for Tyrone's Ulster Football Final meeting with Monaghan on Sunday.

The twice All-Ireland champions have stormed through the province after enduring a poor league campaign.

O'Neill has said that their miserable springtime was a definite motivational factor for their summer run:

Tyrone and Monaghan face off in an Ulster Final for the first time since 1988 on Sunday in Clones.

It's the first provincial decider for Monaghan since winning the title 19 years ago.

Red Hand manager Mickey Harte has said playing the game at Clones will be a big boost for the opposition. 

Tyrone by 8 or 9 points. Better in every area of the pitch. ;)

QuoteRed Hand manager Mickey Harte has said playing the game at Clones will be a big boost for the opposition.

Mickey is getting his excuses in early.

Yeah, that's rubbish. Tyrone have played way more championship games in Clones over the last 10 years than Monaghan. Some parts of Tyrone are closer to Clones than the south of Monaghan. Tickets were evenly distributed for those who wanted them. If Monaghan fans did take more, then that's Tyrone's fault. I don't believe Clones in itself will be any advantage. I do believe that the crowd could be our 16th man, but i'd hope we'd have brought a massive crowd no matter where the Ulster Final was played.


Again regarding the Finlay issue - i tuned in to Northern Sound online and endured ten minutes of excruciating Country and Wobbly to hear the news and sport, but no mention. What's the story? I heard that the full panel had to be announced on Friday. Today's Irish News says he is unlikely to play any part. Have no announcements been made?

Any one know where I could get me hands on a ticket, the hill preferably.

At this stage i'd advise to travel early and start shouting at the bottom of Church Hill!

Cant imagine it would be to hard to get a hill ticket outside the ground. Ticketmaster still had them yesterday so if you'd tried there outlet tomorrow id say there'l be spare one's if not someone is bound to be selling one on the street.

 Does any of you know what radio station is carrying the game?

Quote from: Tyrones own on July 15, 2007, 03:44:39 AM
Does any of you know what radio station is carrying the game?

I would think RTE and Highland Radio, at least, would both presenting live coverage of most of the action.

i'd imagine Northern Sound are - you can listen online:
www.northernsound.ie (http://www.northernsound.ie)

 Cheers lads!

Good start from Tyrone. Gormley and Ricey solid. Calvan involved a lot.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh Jordan involved too..

Mulligan is diving. Tyrone look good but some good points from Monaghan also.

Some great scores. Good one from Harte. Monaghan doing well to come back into it.

Monaghan are back in it, but they don't look like closing that gap without a goal.

Quotei'd imagine Northern Sound are - you can listen online:
www.northernsound.ie

No it's not.  Where can I get it??

It is OTB, i'm listening to it

RTE live?

Quote from: Square Ball on July 15, 2007, 03:15:00 PM
RTE live? or RTE 1 radio

http://www.rte.ie/radio/liveplayer_av.html?1,null,200,http://www.rte.ie/smiltest/radio_new.smil
(http://www.rte.ie/radio/liveplayer_av.html?1,null,200,http://www.rte.ie/smiltest/radio_new.smil)

QuoteIt is OTB, i'm listening to it

OK got it now cheers.   What was the minor score?

0-10 to 1-6 for Tyrone in the minor

Tyrone 0-10 Derry 1-06

Deadly. To mis-quote the Righteous Brothers......."I've got that double feeling........."   :P

why do the Tyrone lads keep falling around the place looking for frees?

Quotewhy do the Tyrone lads keep falling around the place looking for frees?

'Cos the Sout Armagh sniper is on the hill takin them out?

Mark Sidebottom on Mulligan  "Hes as cool as a snowman eating ice cream" !!!!

Pheeeeeeeeew ;D

Hard luck to Monaghan. Great effort. No one will want to meet them in the qualifiers.

Good run Monaghan. You put Armagh out 4 years ago and never lay down today!  Tyrone salutes you!

Dooher lifts another bit of silverware as McGeeney wonders how he'll approach socialising and meeting girls for the first time........ :P  

That's another one we've relieved the Armagh men of, Jaysus i hate that................... ;)

Quote from: Over the Bar on July 15, 2007, 04:01:10 PM
Dooher lifts another bit of silverware as McGeeney wonders how he'll approach socialising and meeting girls for the first time........ :P  

dunno how dooher ever managed to talk to women with that desperate dan head  :D :D

Decent game, very exciting at the end.
Sean Cavanagh is an amazing player going forward, brilliant, but Monaghan definitely won the midfield battle today, picked up a lot more ball than Tyrone but couldn't convert that into scores. One of the main reasons was the defence especially  Conor Gormley, fantastic player and kept Tommy Freeman, in my opinion one of the best forwards around, relatively quiet.
Mulligan really annoys me, he is a cute bastard and more often than not it's him doing the holding, he has that earning a free down to a tee!
Mulgrew disappointed again, brutal wide from 25 yards when they had a man over, he steadied himself and still missed it.
Carlin's point was a cracker, as was Davy's compulsory outside of the boot score.
Think Tyrone will need to establish a strong midfield pair to go the distance, dunno what to make of McMahon in there, he was decent but not sure.
Also full-back line dodgy under high ball to Corey, fair play to Banty for his switches, nearly worked for them, think Donegal are starting to build up steam and would fancy them to beat Monaghan. As with Derry, they've a point to prove after a dreadful performance

PS. Tommy Freeman seemed to be really goading his man after the goal, not like him, could do without that shite, but maybe he was listening to a lot of crap in there too

Mugsy might be shrewd enough at geting free's when the ball is played but he desrves them for what was happening before the ball was played in and the camera picks it up. Was constantly pulled from the start of the match. Full back line needs sorted but dont think there'l be such a lack of cover in front of them for the rest of the campaign. Gourley is not the man for full back that was evident today. Forward line started great today even without O'Neill. Need more of a 70 minute performance if we're to go anywhere though.

QuoteDooher lifts another bit of silverware as McGeeney wonders how he'll approach socialising and meeting girls for the first time........   

Obsessed.


Decent enough game. Monaghan will probably never dominate a game as Tyrone as much again so it must be desperately dissapointing not to win. If they had drawn level there'd have been a real game but you always got the feeling that Tyrone had soemthing in reserve. Mulligan was lucky enough with some of the frees he won but sure thats football. Cavanagh's scores were superb and the goal was really well worked.

In the last 15 minutes I thought Monaghan were too intent and lobbying in hopeful balls when if they'd worked the ball into point scoring positions they might have put Tyrone under even more pressure. Hopefully Monaghan will lift themselves and it'll be a good team that beats Tyrone this year.

One other thing, the fella doing the BBC interviews - was that not the most stupid question to ask the Tyrone lads after the match. "How far do you think you can go?" They've won two All Irelands for f***s sake, whatever they might say, we all know that only wining Sam would be termed a sucessful season.

Quote from: TacadoirArdMhacha on July 15, 2007, 07:12:43 PM

One other thing, the fella doing the BBC interviews - was that not the most stupid question to ask the Tyrone lads after the match. "How far do you think you can go?" They've won two All Irelands for f***s sake, whatever they might say, we all know that only wining Sam would be termed a sucessful season.

he isnt as bad as the two girls that RTE employ to do their after match interviews!! the pair of them are absolutely terrible with their stating the obvious questions.


As for the game today, i thought Tyrone were decent enough in patches but got the feeling that they were playing in 3rd gear for most of the match. Think that when we hit Croker the team will step it up to another level. As someone mentioned it will take a good team to beat us and of whats left the only team that could do that is Kerry. Do not fear Dublin in the slightest and would actually love a crack at them come the third sunday in september.

QuoteOut of curiousity, is Brian Dooher the first player to lift the Anglo-Celt AFTER lifting the Sam Maguire?

BBC mentioned that he was today anyhow, so he probably isn't!

Both halves mirrored each other. Tyrone stormed clear, eased up and allowed Monaghan to dictate proceedings. Could very easily have been a draw. Monaghan have excellent self-belief and when their nerves finally went after 10 mins they were a match for Tyrone in all depts apart from efficiency with chances.

The good thing for Mickey is that whereas against Donegal it was Dooher, Hughes and Mulgrew who starred, this time it was Cavanagh, Carlin and McCullagh. Maybe soon they'll gel at the same time. Still not convinced that Tyrone are purring to the standard needed.

I'm sure Gourley will come in for a bit of stick yet I didn't think he performed badly. He was fouled for their goal and in Tyrone's purple patches he was steady. He was, however, repeatedly targeted by Monaghan with the high ball from 1-70 mins - sometimes you're not going to win it. Ricey, whilst inspirational at times, seemed to lack a wee bit of pace which was worrying though the heat was savage. Carlin was majestic going forward and scored an absolute gem after a wonderful dummy. Cavlan mixed the good with the bad. Some examples or his great vision yet some stupid and basic errors - over-carrying/pick off the ground/over-adventurous passing.

Was O'Neill fully fit or was he simply starved? I suppose Monaghan were in the ascendancy when he appeared. As for Monaghan, I hope they don't drop the head. Hanratty seems to have flattered to deceive. Freeman is All-Star material even though he was well handled today for the majority of the game.

Quote from: Fionntamhnach on July 15, 2007, 07:14:55 PM
Out of curiousity, is Brian Dooher the first player to lift the Anglo-Celt AFTER lifting the Sam Maguire?

Mmm - although it seems obvious from the start of the back door that he was, you never know. You'd need to find out if any previous Anglo-Celt winning captain was injured for the All-Ireland Final and that stand-in captain then took the reigns for a subsequent Ulster win.

QuoteAs for the game today, i thought Tyrone were decent enough in patches but got the feeling that they were playing in 3rd gear for most of the match. Think that when we hit Croker the team will step it up to another level. As someone mentioned it will take a good team to beat us and of whats left the only team that could do that is Kerry. Do not fear Dublin in the slightest and would actually love a crack at them come the third sunday in september.

Have to agree with you Tyroneboi - I don't mind which Ulster team goes on to win Sam, but I think Tyrone are the only one who realistically can. It looks like you and Kerry in a 2 horse race with Cork being the closest outsider. Dublin's antics and post match celebrations would suggest they are not ready for it. After their third Leinster title in a row I thought they would just want to get the presentation over with as soon as possible but that wasn't the case. Tyrone's celebrations were much more muted - they know the business is only about to start.

A very exciting and tense Ulster Final. Monaghan were outstanding, not allowing Tyrone to build on their great starts at each half. A bit of luck here and there, Monaghan would have been celebrating tonight.

Tyrone didn't seem to have the same drive today as they did against Donegal last month. They lost a lot of ball in middle field and made a lot of silly mistakes. ie Ricey before Monaghan's goal. That said, I felt Ricey had a good game. My biggest disappointment was Kevin Hughes, he messed up everything he touched and seemed to get in the way of everyone else.

Donegal aren't going to find it easy against Monaghan and I feel that Monaghan will progress to the 1/4 Finals.

Didn't think much of the referee either.

EDIT: Also KM, sorry I missed you again.

I'd dissagree with you Ziggy about the ref. I was moaning about the nr of cards Monaghan were picking up. In hindsight, the ref just about kept a handle on the physical side, dished out the yellow cards early and often, but no one got sent off and the physical side of the game was kept in hand. Tyrone kept their heads after each robust challenge and got on with the game, after a good rest of course.

The game was a slow burner. Well done to Tyrone, worthy champions, when playing well their game was a class act and disciplined. Still I think they badly need a fit O'Neill.
Monaghan showed they are a solid improved fitter team who battle (in more ways that one) to the end. It was no fluke that that they ended up in a position where they nearly crafted an equaliser.

Well it didn't quite go as planned, but Monaghan can hold their head up high. After a disasterous start, we managed to get back into the game and towards the end we just didn't have the luck with Vinny Corey (although a good move by Banty to send him up there - Monaghan need a man to field on the forward line - i would have assumed Hugh McElroy could have been thrown in, but VC was a good move).

I stand by my original idea that it would have been best to have introduced Finlay as a sub early in the second half. As like many matches before, his free taking was poor at times - in particular the 45s or any frees out around the 40. He obviously doesn't have consistent range and accuracy from this distance, so why insist on tring to score from the ground? A better option would be a short pass in (to Woods for example) and that player could shoot for the point.

All in all, the team done well. I expect the collapse at the start was due to nerves as much as anything! The atmosphere when the team ran out was unreal - lets have the same support against Donegal!

Why was Stephen Gallogly substituted in the 2nd half by Monaghan as I thought his workrate was excellent and would have been a definitive plus going into the last 10 minutes.
Maybe he was injured.

Quote from: Armagh Exile on July 15, 2007, 10:34:54 PM
Why was Stephen Gallogly substituted in the 2nd half by Monaghan as I thought his workrate was excellent and would have been a definitive plus going into the last 10 minutes.
Maybe he was injured.

He was yelllow-carded, and treading dangerously, perhaps that was the only reason.

'56 '57 '73 '84 '86 '89 '95 '96 '01 '03 '07

Do yiz not see the pattern?

great game today, just seen sunday game, an low an behold, pat and the lads thought it was a very good open game of football!! tommy lyons def thinks tyrone in with a shout come sept an i would be feelin pretty confident myself. got the feeling that tyrone played wit in themselves, an as mr lyons said, should only improve with the wide open spaces of croke park. on that note, lookin forward to gettin a championship day out in croke park again in high summer, seems like ages since the AI final 2005!!! by the way did any of ye's see the english dude wit the big beard playin the bodhron outside the hill entrance, legend! lol seen a load of fellas pelting him wit chips as he was walkin up the main st put a dampner on the title celebrations for me!! lol

Perfect Tyrone performance today. Not too good, so as everyone will get carried away. Not too bad, so that people write us off!

Did anyone think Gormley was just ok today, and not MOTM as the Sunday Game gave him? I thought he was out of position a few times, and was ball watching for the goal, if you see the replay from behind the posts. However I am judging him by his exceptionally high standards.

For me, Cavanagh just ahead of Carlin.

Quote from: Norf Tyrone on July 15, 2007, 11:13:12 PM
For me, Cavanagh just ahead of Carlin.

Agreed Norf, when Cavanagh turned it on he stemmed the tide and turned the flow of the game.

Cavanagh was MOTM with BBC NI.
Obvious choice.

A lot of people chatting about various mistakes being made, just wondering about the weather before the game, as I was watching on the internet from a fair distance away. Seemed to me that from the start the surface was giving players bother and they were getting some bad bounces when trying to run with the ball?

Quote from: Main Street on July 16, 2007, 02:03:39 AM
Cavanagh was MOTM with BBC NI.
Obvious choice.

Hard to believe, he did nothing in the 1st half (bar one good point) & he did nothing in the 2nd half (bar 2 good scores - his solitary catch led to one of these)
I don't think anyone really shone for the red hands, though Philip Jordan, Dermy Carlin both had sound games. Gormley was good, yet Freeman still got 1.02? from play off him!!!

For Monaghan I thought Finlay's distribution was very good, Tommy Freeman was a big danger & once Corey was moved out the field, he had a stormer! Dick Clerkin did a lot of good work round the middle also.

Dooher had a quiet game also...I suppose that means Damien Freeman had a good game. Also thought JP Mone did very well on Sean Cavanagh!

The game reminded me somewhat of that Sligo game in 2002!
Tyrone cruising it early, and then taking the foot off the gas allowing their opponents back into it. However yesterday Tyrone repeated the dose in the 2nd half which ensured they 'got away with it'. Curiously I think Monaghan yesterday were better than Sligo 2002.

Terrible start yesterday cost us big time yesterday. Still think Tyrone are the better team and could go up a few gears.

Strange that Monaghan prob kept the Tyrone big guns at bay (Dooher, Mulligan, McCullagh-from paly, Hughes, Calvin) but still couldn't beat them. Kavanagh drifted in and out but when he did contribute it had a big effect. He's one serious athlete.

Monaghan turned over very silly ball. JP's missed placed hand pass out in the second half and strimmers slip and foul on the ball in the first very prime examples of Monaghans bad use of the ball. But in fairness Tryone made similar mistakes and got punished - Riceys poor solo led to Monaghans goal. But the general ball into the Monaghan forwards was very poor and ive them no chance, particulary in the opening 5 minutes when we had some ball but didn't make anything out of it.

Team showed great spirit and fight but it isn't enough in championship football. Mulligan won two frees early on by pulling at the defender as much as he was pulled. Ref bought it twice and booke Corey for it. Old school won out and Mulligans tricks where something Nudie would have proud of.

Thought Finaly had a poor game, kicked a couple of nice scores from play but thought he struggled with pace of game and his marker (Carlin) hurt Monaghan on number of occassions going forward. Freeman had a poor first half but showed his class in second with well taken scores.. He should have hung off Coreys shoulder though near the end and on two ocassions Corey broke ball to no one and Tommy actually kicked one of th balls in to him.

Wouldn't be scared of Donegal though and am happy to take them. Would love a crack at Dublin if we get past them. Love it.

Thought Carlin was superb and my m.o.m however Cavanagh played for 35 minutes and was the difference.  Though it was very intense Monaghan hit very hard - a few sore Tyrone men last night but the game was in the right spirit.  Midfield was a tactical mess, We created that one ourselves by pulling 3 men in there.  Tyrone didnt win the breaks with Dooher off form.  Mc Menamin is a liability and mixes the good with the ridiculous, = no good.  Can any team in Ireland afford 2 attacking corner backs especially with your full back in midfield - I dont think so either.  Back to basics and Tyrone can win an all ireland but theres a few lads need to come down a level or two. Mulgrew i fear is struggling at that level the past 2 games..  Hub and Sean in the centre for the next game Joe to f/b.  When Dooher is off form we have no half forwards imo.  Great to win an Ulster title though, Tyrone football has flourished from the 80s and will not be pigeon holed  to a golden era of 10 years. I think its now fair to say that Tyrone have been the outstanding  force in Ulster football for the last quarter century.       

Good to win our 11th USFC yesterday. Monaghan can be proud of their efforts gave us a real fright and hope we will learn alot from it.
On the controversial umpiring in the Minor game the ball was defiantely wide. But in the Senior gam Ciaran Hanrattys point in the first half was also wide. Had a perfect view of it sitting in the Gerry Arthurs. Just making the point.

Throughly enjoyable game yesterday, agree with a lot of posters that Monaghan lost the game at the start (first 10 mins) when they seemed intent on spoiling Tyrone's game rather than focusing on their own strengths. After that early spell when Tyrone scored 1-03 Monaghan outscored Tyrone for the remainder of the game (approx an hour) by 4 pts. Good to see McCullough have a good game in relation to score taking again, this will continue to help with the confidence.

Couldn't understand why Joe McMahon wasn't dropped back on Corey in the Second half, Gourley was being roughed up and came out 2nd best for most of this half, McMahon have proven before to be probably our best current option when faced with that type of tactic/opponent. Also in the latter stages of the game Tyrone continued to go man for man on the full-back line (mostly 2 against 2) even though they were losing out in the individual battles, they were slow to bring back a spare man as cover in the end Justin Mc came back and Gormley was spare.

Thought that Gormley seemed to be carrying an injury, limped slightly throughout the second half and looked like a man with a lower back/hip problem.

All in all thought we were a wee bit fortunate to win on the day, we look to have more in us but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I have a head on me like a lobster. 4 hours in the baking heat of clones. I enjoyed the game though it was definitely not a classic. However, my pints tasted good, as the anglo celt is a greart return for the year thus far.. How did hub last the 70 minutes though? I'm looking forward to watching the tape to see how many times he touched leather. Midfield took one hell of a beating yesterday. I thought Joey played well, though he should have been put on Corey in the second half. When he was drafted in as full back against the Dubs in '05, he lorded it under the high ball. Think of the damage Donaghy would have done out there yesterday. This might sound harsh on Gourley who I thought defended well in patches. I think for SAM to be a realistic proposition, McGuigan would need to be directing affairs and a fully fit O'Neill would need to be playing, kicking points from every angle a la '05. I hope I'm wrong, but I am more than happy with an Ulster this year if that is all we get. The school boy errors that were made yesterday were all punished and a better team would have sent us packing.

Mr Nakata you love your pints.

To be honest I didnt enjoy the whole day yesterday though that's probably because I couldn't get in contact with my mate to get my tickets as mobile network was F**ed and then his phone was.

Anyway some of my points are.
I said prematch that if Monaghan rough us up a bit and even get someone sent off we will have a hard day at the office.
I thought they were very borderline on a number of instances with even a few punches and a knee drop onto Cavanagh I think at one stage.

Was disappointed Mickey let Gourely stay at FB all game as it seemed obvious to me he was struggling with even Corey making easy catches in his chest and not even above his head at times. Gourley was hestitant and giving him to much respect whearas Block or even big Joe would have been out first and not so fearful of making a mistake or letting him get goalside.

Devine did well all day I thought and think he's a bit more assured now. Was a great stop as Clorey did well putting it where he did though the other misses where brutal
Thought Ricey did OK but yes made a few misatakes that lead to important scores. Carlin was great I thought and is another smart player.
I think its fine if either CB pushes forward as others then cover back. Its a great tactic for unlocking 9 man defences which teams to do us a lot more now.

Dooher had a off day and as someone else said Mulgrew and Calvo did feck all in my book bar the odd incisive pass. Usually our half back and esp half forward line make up for poor midfield performances but to me this is where we lreally lost out yesterday and so they had loads of balls directly into their FF line so Gourley was getting bombarded all 2nd half.

I felt Tyrone were very economical with their scoring chances as for once we didnt actually create that many with the Monaghan defense HOLDING their man very tight and thus McCullagh and Mugsy were depending mainly on frees, which the both hit well.
My calls for Calvo at FF did materiialise at one stage but he looked well off the pace and I was calling for him to be replaced much sooner by SON.
Stevie didnt seem to get any supply worth chatting about and so I found it hard to judge his performance.
Maybe I'll see it better tonite when I watch the tape.

Anyway, I left feeling a bit dejected as I thought we probably didn't deserve to have won it in the end but maybe I was just feeling relieved as the Armagh Twat behind us in his full Orange gear and big Monaghan flag had been stirring it all day. Eventually I had to ask out LOUD
"Anyone hear how Armagh did last night in the BACK DOOR"

And of course about 10 voices replied with
Ach sure they werent playing

Yer man replies with
"Rackard Cup"

My biggest fear now is that every manager from now on is gonna go route one every time vi a Tyrone and even with Block in a FB, I would be wary of how well we will cope
Step forward Joey and prove me wrong

Teams will not run at Tyrone for the simple reason that there is no better team at coping with this than Tyrone. Their turnover haul was phenomenal from 03-05. All teams will hit this long ball be it diagonal or straight to cut out the traffic. If, like Monaghan, the opposition are allowed to do it almost unopposed for 70 mins, it won't matter how good your full back line is, every now and again the ball is going to fall to the opponent. The only way around this is savage workrate around the middle to prevent that delivery - only then will the opposition change that tactic, although Monaghan's tactics weren't working for the first 15 mins but they persisted with it and it paid off. However, they needed the big man in there to do that, and most teams now have natural FF of such a stature. If we can limit the delivery from MF and have our top FB line in place (Ricey, Joe, Carlin) we'll do OK. I'm not sure what happened around the middle yesterday but Monaghan do look strong there anyway. Another reason for teams to play this system of the long ball is that it prevents too many players going forward, leaving space for Tyrone's possession and support play to thrive. Derry suffocated Tyrone last year. It was good to see Tyrone vary their attacking options yesterday with Mulligan winning a few frees from the diagonal ball.

Was a decent game alright. Have to say that Mulgrew isn't quite up to the standard abeit he is still relatively young and don't think they'll ever find anyone to fully replace McGuigan. I'd be worried bout guys like McCullagh against bigger teams with better defenses too. Cavanagh's class shone through when Tyrone needed abit of spark.

What way does the Quarter final draw work now for Tyrone? Do we play winners of Galway V Meath?

Not sure how the 1/4 final works - any ideas ?

Quote from: orangeman on July 16, 2007, 03:16:51 PM
Not sure how the 1/4 final works - any ideas ?

Check out: http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=3737.0

It seems we couldn't meet Monaghan, but could meet Donegal again.

So close.. at least they went down fighting. Some atmosphere in Clones yesterday, disaster for parking though.

Monaghan got sucked up too far in the first 20 minutes, and by the time it was rectified we were 1-6 to 0-2 down. McQuaid should have held the centre and things definately improved when Damien Freeman went CHB. JP did as well on Cavanagh as was humanly possible, and Cavanagh was only really effective when JP was switched off him.

Monaghan won midfield yesterday but got cleaned out in 2 10 minute spells at the start of each half in the full back line.

Tyrone probably have another gear or 2 in them, Dooher and Mulligan will be more effective. Someone said earlier that Mulligan was fouled persistently - it didn't take a whole pile to put him down! He blatantly dived in the corner in the 2nd half (I think Damien got booked for it?). Carlin is some player, and Jordan played well.

Bring on Donegal!

Quote from: thebandit on July 16, 2007, 03:29:35 PM
So close.. at least they went down fighting. Some atmosphere in Clones yesterday, disaster for parking though.

Monaghan got sucked up too far in the first 20 minutes, and by the time it was rectified we were 1-6 to 0-2 down. McQuaid should have held the centre and things definately improved when Damien Freeman went CHB. JP did as well on Cavanagh as was humanly possible, and Cavanagh was only really effective when JP was switched off him.

Monaghan won midfield yesterday but got cleaned out in 2 10 minute spells at the start of each half in the full back line.

Tyrone probably have another gear or 2 in them, Dooher and Mulligan will be more effective. Someone said earlier that Mulligan was fouled persistently - it didn't take a whole pile to put him down! He blatantly dived in the corner in the 2nd half (I think Damien got booked for it?). Carlin is some player, and Jordan played well.

Bring on Donegal!

Jaysus, Bandit took you a while to appear today...must have been the bad drink in Taveys and Switch  ;)

I'm still not sure who this is..... would you be a 'neighbour' of mine?

Quote from: thebandit on July 16, 2007, 03:42:19 PM
I'm still not sure who this is..... would you be a 'neighbour' of mine?

About time you clocked it!!!

well done to Tyrone yesterday - a work in progress and work at f/b and midfield needs to be done but they can now work hard to launch a major ai offensive.

Agree with a lot of the points made on here.

1. Gormley was majestic for the most part. I think he started to worry too much about covering Gourley in the 2nd half and got caught once or twice.As was said on thre Sunday Game - what Tyrone need is 2 of him.
2. Joey was poor at MF - accoridng to the program he is 6'3 and Cavanagh 6'1???? Not sure about that but Joe is by far the best option at FB to combat the high ball in.
3. Gourley is a superb man marker but not particularly tall or adpth at handling the big diagonal ball. MH had a wee blind spot there I think.
4. THought Hub did fine in 2nd half whn told to revert to type and spoil the MF. First half he seemed all over the place. Hopefull ythat ends the FF experiment (not that he spent much time there anyway)
5. Cavo on last legs - poor show apaty from goal and one pass when off balance.
6. MCCullogh getting better.
7. Big Sean anonymous until MH moved him out to wing forward.Stil below par by his standards.
8. Carlin improving all the time. Fisted point was proof he learns game to game.

To be honest I can't see where the IN etc are coming from saying Monaghan were the better team.They played well and gave 11% but Tyrone alweays looked in 3rd gear bar the start of each half. If we had've drawn or lost that game after 7 and 8 point leads we would need some serious inquiry.

We need full back sorted big time - teams are going to start to target that area and if left exposed. we'll be hammered !

Call up for Chris Lawn perhaps?

Jaysus lads that Monaghan team are fairly physically strong. Every one of them looks as if they've spent a lot of hours in the gym over the winter, especially the upper body and arms. They looked physically like Armagh yesterday.

Quote from: AZOffaly on July 16, 2007, 06:04:47 PM
Jaysus lads that Monaghan team are fairly physically strong. Every one of them looks as if they've spent a lot of hours in the gym over the winter, especially the upper body and arms. They looked physically like Armagh yesterday.

Well those tight short sleeves have been adopted, but seriously it's obviously been a winter programme under McElkennon.
Great pic of Mulligan in the Times today, ball in hand racing away from his man but still with a hand full of his markers shorts.
Think he does far too much of this to mask his own lack of sharpness.
Clever ploy and wins frees when the two then obviously go tumbling, but has the talent if fully sharp to be a deadly attacker

(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43999000/jpg/_43999942_final1_413.jpg)

Quote from: tyroneman on July 16, 2007, 05:37:29 PM
Agree with a lot of the points made on here.....
To be honest I can't see where the IN etc are coming from saying Monaghan were the better team.They played well and gave 11% but Tyrone alweays looked in 3rd gear bar the start of each half. If we had've drawn or lost that game after 7 and 8 point leads we would need some serious inquiry.

I don't go for the 3rd gear explanation.
Tyrone played so smoothly for lengthy enough spells in each half, not in 3rd gear then, more like overdrive. A class above what Monaghan could achieve.
In the last 15 - 20 mins Tyrone were flat out and driven to distraction to the point that with the last free kick off the game there was about 6 or 8 of the Tyrone lads ballwatching with only one Monaghan lad running into a position of danger and he nearly pulled it off.
I'd say that would have been the major issue in the inquiry
but because the ball was hammered over the bar, you don't need an enquiry  :)
.

I thought it was a really good game, Ulster Football gets a lot of stick on here but that was fast open hard game with a lot of good scores from both teams. Tyrone really should have put Monaghan away long before the end but the Monaghan lads deserve great credit for sticking at it despite facing a couple of big deficits and still coming close to grabbing a draw at the end. Dont think you can seriously say they were the better team though, behind the whole match after all.
Tyrone have plenty to work on and I still have my doubts about their AI prospects but it might help that people saw a few of the flaws on Sunday.....a lot of people were in danger of going OTT after the Donegal game. Full back clearly the big problem, the point about the two Gormley's is bang on! We need SON fit as well.

Feel a similar performance from Monaghan in their qualifier will take care of Donegal.

Is anyone else completely scorched after attending yesterdays match?

Was on the hill, no hat or sunscreen (for gods sake I took an umberalla that i left in the car after the weather we've had recently) and now look like a human tomato.

I have albino blood in me I'm sure, took a bit of grief today in work I can tell ye!  :-[

QuoteI have albino blood in me I'm sure, took a bit of grief today in work I can tell ye!

Was your father umpire in the minor match?

A good game to judge by TV but I wouldn't consider it evidence that Tyrone are now fair set for a long summer.  Monaghan were very close and could have sneaked it with a little more composure and a better final ball.  Finlay being off the pace didn't help - missed his own scores and saw his own man score at the other end.

For Tyrone, being cleaned at FB didn't help either and not much better fare at MF.  Then what about the forwards? Even Monaghan people would admit to some concern about their FB line and granted they gave, or were conned into, bad frees but despite that the return from the Tyrone forwards was abysmal and will need to be corrected if they are to progress. Three of the six starting forwards were replaced during the course of the game.  Of the nine of them, how many scores did they get from play? Two points!!! Granted I know Kavanagh in the second half was operating at wing forward but if the answer to your scoring problem is to put your best MF into the forwards to cover the shortcomings of nine others, then you have problems, and what then when you get good, stay on the feet, don't dive in CBs that don't offer you 7 scoreable frees...

BTW - Goats, I think it was McQuaid and not D Freeman that was on Dooher.

There's work required paddy, to be sure, but a win's a win here, and something to be built on and deficiencies addressed. Tommy Mc Guigan and Niall Gormley are due back, and I think we could have used Colm Cavanagh yesterday in around the middle. Surprised that he wasn't called in.

Edit: And, if we had managed to get any kind of a handle on midfield there wouldn't have been the avalanche of balls raining down on the full-back, though that's an area that needs to be fixed.

I think criticism of the Tyrone forwards is a little harsh - if yr being cleaned out at MF then there's not much supply going into them. Most teams operate now with 2 main 'marquee' scoring threats - we have Mugsy and SON. Dooher and the rest will chip in between them.

I thought our forwards did just fine with the service they got TBH.

Quotebut I wouldn't consider it evidence that Tyrone are now fair set for a long summer

On Betfair, odds for Tyrone have moved out a little since the UF, so it seems that people agree with you Paddypastit (or you are laying Tyrone!).

SON might help the forwards, but a certain Kerry player with Tyrone connections would reap havoc with high balls.

Quote from: ONeill on July 16, 2007, 07:02:52 PM
(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43999000/jpg/_43999942_final1_413.jpg)

And from the front...

(http://www.tyronegaa.ie/image?tn=Block&key=blockID&colname=blkContents&keyval=769)

In fact a new Tyrone tactic? Or Monaghan come up short?

(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43999000/jpg/_43999946_final5_413.jpg)

Did Mulligan win a free for that "foul"?

If so, hopefully referees will take note.

After watching the game again last night, I was shocked about the level of possession that Monaghan won in the middle of the field.  I am now convinced that Monaghan with cooler heads should have won the game, If it had been Kerry we would have been pulverised.  Tyrones midfield set up did not function (this includes break ball winners in the half back and half forward line) and our Full back line actually coped fairly admirably under the strain.  As for the comment about Cavlan being finished.  He contributed a lot more to the game than Mulgrew in terms of creativity and scoring threat.  Id like Tommy in there again for the next day.  Incidently congratulations Cavo on becoming the most decorated Tyrone player ever in the Ulster championship with 5 medals.   

After watching that game and most of the other games this season our main problem is full back. I think if we are playing against a team that works the old fashioned way of long high balls like on Sunday that C Mc G would get another chance. This is where he is good and would have cut alot of the highballs out on Sunday. He will get destroyed by a small speedy FF so I guess he is a 'horses for courses' player.

EC - I take your point about full back but Cormac has been cleaned on too many occasions by small FFs and big FFs - we need to look at Joe there -

Quote from: J70 on July 17, 2007, 04:31:38 AM
Did Mulligan win a free for that "foul"?

If so, hopefully referees will take note.

FFS J70 have a wee word with yerself !!!

Forwards have been doing it for years and will continue to do so to try and obtain an advantage.

You obviously have never played if your looking for referees to take note.

However if you like im sure Croke Park could give you address of the referees committee in each county and you could send them a wee letter to be on the lookout !!

Quote from: Bensars on July 17, 2007, 10:12:37 AM

Quote from: J70 on July 17, 2007, 04:31:38 AM
Did Mulligan win a free for that "foul"?

If so, hopefully referees will take note.

FFS J70 have a wee word with yerself !!!

Forwards have been doing it for years and will continue to do so to try and obtain an advantage.

You obviously have never played if your looking for referees to take note.

However if you like im sure Croke Park could give you address of the referees committee in each county and you could send them a wee letter to be on the lookout !!

I remember the full-back on my primary school team winning frees by this same methond and that was nearly 20 years ago so this is hardly Mulligan's invention.

In all fairness top forwards have had to take so much physical abuse over the years so why is there such a kick-up when they get a bit of subtle retribution?

When you play at full forward and you're being marked tight by a quicker full back you need to keep hold of him otherwise you'll be made a show of.  It leaves the full back with the option of giving you space which is not ideal either.  Full forward/full back battles are always won by the cutest.

and none of you have commented that the back has a hold on Mugsy - one sided or what!

enjoyed the game on sunday, and unlike the pre match reports the only roasting dished out in Clones, was to the fans on the hill, god im sunkissed!

anyway, great game, Monaghan put up a fantastic display, and probably should have won, the first minutes of each half is what beat them in  the end.


it still amazes and totally infuriates me how TYrone, who allegedly are such a wonderfully skilled team still have to resort to diving, and time wasting,
god they go down quicker than a ten dollar whore!
and the minute theyre in possession again they're up like lazurus!

the minute the monaghan goal was scored, down went the tyrone boy "injured" for a few minutes to kill the momentum!


Its not a new trick, its as old as the hills but Tyrone are definelty the masters, and is there no bloody ref who is going to take them to task and just ignore them when they hit the ground.
god it just makes it impossible to admire a team who resorts to this to win a game.


anyway, well done Monaghan, and congrats Tyrone on your win, but I'm sorry for me, this Tyrone teams success will always be tainted with horrible cynical tactics. Which is a pity for wonderful players like Sean Cavannagh and Stephen O Neill

your points are noted and we'll get back to you when we give a shit.

nice! 

you talk a little less shite and Ill be very nice

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 11:54:22 AM
anyway, well done Monaghan, and congrats Tyrone on your win, but I'm sorry for me, this Tyrone teams success will always be tainted with horrible cynical tactics. Which is a pity for wonderful players like Sean Cavannagh and Stephen O Neill

I am not a Tyrone fan but I find these comments ludicrous. For a start I will remember this Tyrone team as a group of players who overcame the death of 2 players to win 2 All-Irelands.

You also have to remember that the way Tyrone plays leaves them open to big hits so it's unfair to say they are a team of divers. I was at the match on Sunday and Monaghan didn't hold back and most players would lie down after a few of those hits. None of the hits were dirty but they were bloody hard.

I think it is silly that after such an exciting game played in a wonderful atmosphere we are still trying to pick out negatives out of it.

everyone is entitled to an opinion, just because you disagree with me,doesnt make them "shite" as you so eloquently put it,

im not trying to piick negatives, i thought it was a great match.

one mans  diving is another man's wonderfully talented skill!


you decide  ;)

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 11:54:22 AM

anyway, well done Monaghan, and congrats Tyrone on your win, but I'm sorry for me, this Tyrone teams success will always be tainted with horrible cynical tactics. Which is a pity for wonderful players like Sean Cavannagh and Stephen O Neill

Bit sad, when some contributors can't help but to bitch and moan, even with backhanded compliments.

It really gets my goat when posters from other counties jump on an ill-informed bandwagon and accuse Tyrone of a) timewasting and b) diving.

Timewasting is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING NEW - Kerry do it, Cork do it - all of them do it when it suits. Do you honestly think managers tell thier team - "if we are a point up heading into injury time lads - make sure ye keep the ball alive and let the opposition get a fair rattle at ye, it's the daycent thing to do"????? Get real.

I stood beside Fermangh fans who told me to watch thier keeper at kick outs - they said he was famous even at clulb level for delaying as soon as the opposition got 2 points in a row. Sure enough he had a mystery leg injury every time. Not enough to keep him from running 50 yards to get involved in handbags mind you. Do I see anyone slating Fermangh on the board - NO.

And lets not even get started on the masters of the tactic - Armagh. Big Joe had them using every trick in the book to slow games down. Surrounding refs, mystery cramps you name it.

On the diving issue - again I will freely admit sometimes Cavanagh etc can go down a bit easy - but this is no different to ANY other team.

After all the sh**e in 2003 from Armagh fans especially (particularly in respect of Dooher) I sat with an Armagh crowd and watched the 2003 final again. We slowed down and counted every time a player went down in 'dubious' circumstances. Armagh won it by a landslide, which even thier own supporters in the room had to admit. due to the 'hard man' myth of Amrgh though - no one accuses them of being divers. On further viewing all those 'dives' by Dooher turned out to be big hits -  funny that.

It seems very convenient to label a team and sit back and watch as other supporters buy into the stereotype withour any evidence to back it up.

Tyrone beat monaghan with the midfield and the half forward line all non existant, is it just me or should there be changes made for the next match??

After a day's reflection and some soothing after sun lotion, I feel that this type of performance from the lambh dearg was exactly what was required. If we had've dished out a pasting to the farney, confidence would have been sky high, fans would be dreaming of mid-September etc. etc. As it stands, MH has 3 weeks to get midfield and full back nailed. I haven't seen the tape yet but I think Devine has to take some of the blame for the midfield raping. Every time hub made a (pretty pointless) decoy run, his man didn't follow him, then Devine proceeded to make it obvious he was going the other side where the extra man was there to help out. Add to that the fact that the hoover had an off day because there was no clean catching throughout. The lack of break ball was frightening. 

I'm not going to get drawn on diving and time wasting by boys obviously looking bite...

methinks the lady doth protest too much!!!


if you cant take the criticism then just shut up 

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 02:13:16 PM
if you cant take the criticism then just shut up 

Was someone criticising, or just bitching and moaning... just bitching and moaning, nothing more. Sad.

im sending you a dictionary, as you seem to be  struggling with comprehension.


but if  it makes you feel better, ill not laugh too much at your ignorance

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 02:25:45 PM
im sending you a dictionary, as you seem to be  struggling with comprehension.
but if  it makes you feel better, ill not laugh too much at your ignorance

Perhaps sort out your own grammar first? Still bitching...

Are Louth women still all badgers.  I went with a Louth woman once - a total badger.  Every time I think of Louth women I think of their tarnished reputation as Badgers.  how stupid does that sound anluaabu?

 :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

you're the best entretainment I've had all day!

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 02:32:45 PM
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

you're the best entretainment I've had all day!

Always happy to help the afflicted.

Are the rows still going on over there ?

that doesnt sound one bit stupid, its possibly one of the most profound statements I have ever heard.

Of course EVERY louth woman is like the "badger" that had the pleasure of you and your wisdom for whatever short time.



You are so right that we are all the same, every single woman from louth exactly the same.
What a intellect, god she must be still crying over losing you.

Too right it was short .. What a complete Badger she was..

Plenty for Harte to work on for the next day. Tyrone played OK in patches but their games was riddled with mistakes.

Two basic mistakes by Devine led to two Monaghan scores. First the free kick from the wrong place and then diving on the ball in the large square. He did make up for those with the leg save but a decent keeper would have not made the other basic errors. Having said that the ref was quite inconsitent by not blowing other players from taking the free from the wrong place. In any case that is a silly rule. If the ref adjudges the free to be taken from the wrong place then just make the team take the kick again. Devine also seemed to scuff a kick in the second half that Jordan should have gathered but didn't.  Ricey fluffed an attempted solo that lead to the Monaghan goal. Plenty to work on for the next day.

well, ifs its short mate, its proably best you broke up with her

size does matter  ;)

she was a fat badger allright.  Are ye all the same?

well your the one who says so


you mustn't get too many offers if you have to resort to fat badgers.

Drink can be an awful affliction allright.   

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 02:41:44 PM
well, ifs its short mate, its proably best you broke up with her

size does matter  ;)

Quote from: rrhf on July 17, 2007, 02:47:07 PM
she was a fat badger allright.  Are ye all the same?

Is it just me or where are the words 'petty childish bullsh%t' in the subject line of this thread? Stop making a fu*kin balls of this message board with this sh&t. Goto the Cbeebies website or the likes if you want to particiapte in noddy speak.

Jaysus, I never heard the likes of it.

Roll on September until the schools get back

indeed

Quote from: anluabu2 on July 17, 2007, 02:56:15 PM
indeed

>:( Take it elsewhere can't ya!

damn irony of it all.

apologies
to other posters, i had contributed my opinion on the subject to this thread, which was hijacked by childish repsponse the had nothing to do with my original opinion.

Idiots like that annoy me and i should have ignored him for the sake of the rest of you

so I'm sorry :-\

Don't worry about it An Lu ! Good luck with Cork -

Its a sign of the times that we won the Ulster title but still werent totally happy. Think Mickey Harte (and the minor management of 01' and 04') and the current group of players need congratulated for being involved in the most successful years in the history of Tyrone football. 2 all irelands, 2 national leagues, 3 ulsters, 3 all ireland minors and 2 under 21 all irelands is a far cry from what came before. Sometimes I dont think are own fans fully apprciate these achievements. Tyrone won the All Irealnd title in 05 having lost McAnallan, Hughes and Cavlan from the 03 team. I think it would be the biggest achievement of all if they could come back again without the sevices of Canavan and McGuigan and win another all Ireland.

However Im not convinved yet we can but we're in with a decent shot. Hard to know what our best team is even at this stage which is a worry. Question marks remain over full back and whether Mulgrew can fully deliver at centre forward. The hernia op required by Dooher is also a worry and looks like he'll have to fight through the pain barrier. However the team deserves credit for chalking up decent scores with an injured O'Neill and no McGuigan. I think full back is a toss up between Gormley and McMahon depending on the full forward. Not sure if McMahon is the man for centre back though if Gormley goes to full back. We need Cavanagh back in the middle, probably with Hub (needs to get back on form though). McGinley and Colm Cavanagh will probably fight it out for half forward. With everyone fit would have McCullagh in the corner coming out, and O'Neill and Mulligan making up the rest of the forward line. Would be nice to have Cavaln as back up to bring in for the last 20 mins. Much like 05 still lots of questions to be answered at this point. We cant complain about the side of the draw we're on though but sometimes thats when the focus can slip.

apols for that rant an lu et al.  :-*   Just had enough of Tyrone pkayers reputations being tarnished.

Watched most of the match again last night and as most other matches it's amazing how much you miss when you are actually at the game and don't have different angles and are influenced by crappy commentators

Is it just me or is live commentary getting really poor.
Every game now they get people names wrong repeatly, they make a call on a tackle but when they see the replay MOST don't have the balls to change their mind.

Of course we can all watch incidents in slow mo but depending which hat we're wearing we will see it differently
But there was an incident near the start, when Corey was all over Mugsy and mugsy was trying to make a run and then ye see Corey's leg kick out at him and trip him.
When Mugsy gets up again he tangles with COrey and holds his arm then, which is what Marty NO chin Morrissey choses to highlight and so for those NEUTRALS who can't think for themselves, ye automatically hear what U want to hear and say Mugsy is pulling him.

ITs hard to say but usually the forward want to get away from his man to win the ball and so will only start pulling his man if he's at it.
Another indicator to WHO started it question is yer man Corey drops to the ground before the throw in and Mugsy turns to two umpires and starts to smile.
Nothing happens and Corey gets back up again and starts his close marking.

I'm not saying Mugsy was all innocent but I think Corey let Mugsy know from the start what type of an afternoon he was in for, as did a lot of the other Monaghan lads

I was particularly pleased with the discipline Tyrone showed and there was NO MORE of this surrounding the Ref or whinging for frees or red cards.

Did you see Tommy Freeman after the goal. In Gourleys face? Has no-one else mentioned this
I expect this from teams now when they play Tyrone as ye must try everything to get an edge

BUT FOR f**k SAKE Get a Grip about diving and Time wasting.
You are watching it from afar and U dont know how bad a man is injured.

Watch it again and see how many times Monaghan charge a man after the ball is released and 3rd man late tackle style. Hub was at the brunt of loads as was Big Sean and Dooher.

Neutrals or those afraid of  meeting Tyrone later down the road, are trying to play the Diver, easy foul card to get us a reputation which we had in 2003 but teams change and if you watch that game again, Name me 5 or more times when Tyrone won frees for NOTHING.
Name the incidents and time on the clock

Undoubtedly Joe McMahon should move back to full back.  Watching him play at midfield highlights why Hub is so good there.  McMahon took too much time looking round to find a man to release the ball and was in fact caught out a few times.  Hub on the other hand can play a quick pass to a man running through and start a fast moving attack.  Hub is also hard to move when he has the ball in hand which is vitally important in the midfield sector these days.  McMahon fell on his hoop a few times when the hits came in.

I don't understand all this shite about not being able to cope under the high ball.  When a full back is isolated because his two corner men are up the field of course he won't cope.  It's not that Tyrone as a team can't cope under the high ball - it's Tyrones tactics that don't cope under the high ball.  Winning a ball in the square 9 times out of 10 is about who picks it up when it breaks.  When it's Tommy Freeman your probably fcuked.

Cavlan should have been replaced early on as he constantly fcuked things up (e.g. lifting the ball of the ground).  The only time he hit a good pass was when he mis-hit it a pass to Mulligan (as he fell on his arse) and it was picked up and knocked over by McCullagh.  Again he showed he had no stomach for a fight when the pressure was on.  I don't want to have to say I told you so but....  I'd have Tommy McGuigan at centre forward with Mulgrew moved out to the right wing.  We need a fully fit O'Neill at full forward asap.

Ignore them anluabu. Tyrone men are very ungentlemanly.

Ye should be ashamed of ye'reselves, talking to a lady like that.

tsk, tsk....No honour on the pitch, no honour off the pitch.

QuoteBUT FOR f**k SAKE Get a Grip about diving and Time wasting.
You are watching it from afar and U dont know how bad a man is injured.

Yes, but dont you see, this is why it is so distasteful when somebody DOES feign or exaggerate injury.
It plays on peoples caution about doing the right thing. Plus it ruins the spectacle as the play is
continually stopping so any excitement in the game is killed.

I wouldnt have any faith in a forward line with Mulgrew on the wing and Tommy McGuigan at centre forward. Both too similar and you need a real worker on the wing which Mulgrew isnt. Think Mulgrew is slightly better than McGuigan for centre forward but havent seen enough of McGuigan to know - probably should have had a go during the league. I just hope he doesnt revert back to Penrose in the role as he to slow to pass the ball to others. Hope at least the boys not involved on Sunday get a run out with their clubs this week - they need the football.

Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on July 17, 2007, 04:42:15 PM

Question marks remain over full back and whether Mulgrew can fully deliver at centre forward. Would be nice to have Cavlan as back up to bring in for the last 20 mins.

Two valid points. Harte seems to have serious belief in Mulgrew and I thought on Sunday he was starting to look around when on the ball which is a good sign. Although he's still learning at this level, I thought he looked more composed against Monaghan and trying to maximise his talents. Can we afford to wait on him...we did with McGuigan.

Cavlan doesn't seem to have the legs anymore for 70 mins and the more tired he gets the mistakes start to creep in. He'd be a fantastic option late on when fresh to unlock defences, maybe even in place of Mulgrew.

Quote from: Fuzzman on July 17, 2007, 06:00:58 PM

I was particularly pleased with the discipline Tyrone showed and there was NO MORE of this surrounding the Ref or whinging for frees or red cards.

Spot on. Maybe Mickey reads this board! We gave him and the team some abuse after the Fermanagh game for the silly and petty occasions when the ref moved the ball forward for mouthing. That seems to have been eradicated. I think you even gain more respect from the referees.

You could be right O'Neill maybe we do need to give Mulgrew time to settle in, after all its only his second season. Whether we can afford to do it at this time of year is another matter. Everything the lad does is classy, my only problem is I dont think he does enough yet which is a problem considering centre forward has been a key position in the Tyrone tactics. McCullagh is coming more into things and is a wonderful passer but dont think he's big enough for centre half forward. Cavlan should definately be left on the bench and brought on, can change a match but not fit for 70 mins. Think Colm Cavanagh can still have a big part to play in the half forwards if his head is right. Will look forward to the quarter final draw, wouldnt be supirsed if we got Derry.

Agree that Mulgrew is bedding in, and it's probably a critical phase in the nurturing of that talent at that level. We (Mickey) should hold our nerve. Tommy Mc G is a great replacement to have on the bench, and there may even be an argument for playing the two of them together (horses for courses). Colm Cavanagh's a option in the last third too.

Correct about the discipline too -- was remarking on that before the game and how it had turned a welcome corner.

Correct too about Cavlan as a replacement, not a man to start a match any more but great to spring from the bench where the miles on the clock are not evident.

QuoteCavlan doesn't seem to have the legs anymore for 70 mins

He was having bother around the 15 minute mark on Sunday!

Quote from: rrhf on July 17, 2007, 05:05:11 PM
apols for that rant an lu et al.  :-*   Just had enough of Tyrone pkayers reputations being tarnished.

aye you covered yourself in glory  ::)

Quote from: ONeill on July 17, 2007, 08:03:16 PM

Two valid points. Harte seems to have serious belief in Mulgrew and I thought on Sunday he was starting to look around when on the ball which is a good sign. Although he's still learning at this level, I thought he looked more composed against Monaghan and trying to maximise his talents. Can we afford to wait on him...we did with McGuigan.

Its hard to know with Mulgrew. Yes he has great potential and is starting to show some nice glimpses of what he can do but the next Brian McGuigan he is not. I feel people are putting the lad under too much pressure Tyrone will never replace McGuigan they will just have to learn how to work aorund not having him. They are totally different types of player, Mulgrew is all about his silky skills while McGuigan was just a cut above anybody else - he has the vision, ball winning abilty and this unnering capacity to control a game that comes along once in a lifetime. Mulgrew should be given time to blossom into the great player he could potentially become and not be consistently referred to as the next Brian McGuigan. As O'Neill has pointed out Tyrone had to wait until 2003 to see the best of Brian as Art and Eugene persisted in playing everywhere but where CHF where he should have been.

I watched the game there again (can't bate Sky+!) and watched Mulgrew in particular. I think he had a very good game. He made some telling passes and wan't dispossesed as handy as before
. I also noticed Monaghan gave Dooher a lot of additional attention off the ball!  Dive of the day has to be Corey's dying swan impression in the penalty area in the 53rd minute!

So, push comes to shove and we draw Cork in the All-Ireland quarters. We have a full strength team except McGuigan. Pick it - no ifs, buts or ors....

McConnell

McMenamin - Joe McMahon - Carlin

Harte - Gormley - Jordan

Hughes - Cavanagh

Dooher - Mulgrew - Mellon

McGinley - O'Neill - Mulligan

The two I'd need to defend are Mellon and McConnell. I know I'm in an ever-decreasing minority but I just feel that Mellon can be trusted on the big day, ahead of McCullagh. With O'Neill and Mulligan on the field, McCullagh's free-taking expertise is less crucial. Mellon can score from distance as well as throw his hand around the middle. Almost the same for McConnell, I think Pascal has the big-game temperament and could be crucial if Tyrone continue to be exposed to the high ball. I feel he deals with this better as well as clever with the ball in his hands under pressure.

Just watched it myself, Clerkin could and should have walked on 3 or 4 different occasions, lennon and Woods
weren't a lot better. The Monaghan goal was the direct result of a blatant push in the back which created the room necessary,
well taken no doubt but should have been a free out on the 21.
Is it just me or is T Freeman not doing himself any favours with his antics, Imo Gormley had him closed down well until he
ran into Finlay in the 1st half, don't think he was at himself after that.
My team for the next one would be:

           McConnell (a little game time may be good for him for Cork or Kerry if and when we meet them)
Ricey    Joey      Carlin
Harte    Conor     Jordan
     Hub         Sean
Dooher   Tommy   Mulgrew/C Cavanagh
O'Neill     Mulligan    McCullagh

I do believe in horse's for course's though and we do have options 8)

Quote from: ONeill on July 17, 2007, 11:45:34 PM
So, push comes to shove and we draw Cork in the All-Ireland quarters. We have a full strength team except McGuigan. Pick it - no ifs, buts or ors....

McConnell

McMenamin - Joe McMahon - Carlin

Harte - Gormley - Jordan

Hughes - Cavanagh

Dooher - Mulgrew - Mellon

McGinley - O'Neill - Mulligan

That's a strong side although I'd make one or two changes.  I don't think it would be fair to drop McCullagh based on his performances to date in the championship.   Enda McGinley has not played well this year and hasn't done enough to win a starting place over McCullagh.  I'd start McCullagh in the corner instead of McGinley.  I'd put McGinley at No. 12 though although Mellon had a reasonable game against Fermanagh.  With Mellon, T McGuigan and C Cavanagh on the bench Mickey will have some useful options if needed.  My big fear with Mickey though is the Penrose factor!!

It's nice to have a few choices at this stage all the same.

McConnell

McMenamin - Joe McMahon - Carlin

Harte - Gormley - Jordan

Hughes - Cavanagh

Dooher - Mulgrew - McGinley

McCullagh - O'Neill - Mulligan

thank  you Mikesheey a true gent :-*

Quote from: ONeill on July 17, 2007, 11:45:34 PM
So, push comes to shove and we draw Cork in the All-Ireland quarters. We have a full strength team except McGuigan. Pick it - no ifs, buts or ors....

McConnell

McMenamin - Joe McMahon - Carlin

Harte - Gormley - Jordan

Hughes - Cavanagh

Dooher - Mulgrew - Mellon

McGinley - O'Neill - Mulligan

The two I'd need to defend are Mellon and McConnell. I know I'm in an ever-decreasing minority but I just feel that Mellon can be trusted on the big day, ahead of McCullagh. With O'Neill and Mulligan on the field, McCullagh's free-taking expertise is less crucial. Mellon can score from distance as well as throw his hand around the middle. Almost the same for McConnell, I think Pascal has the big-game temperament and could be crucial if Tyrone continue to be exposed to the high ball. I feel he deals with this better as well as clever with the ball in his hands under pressure.

Just when yous mention that we have a full team apart from Brian Mc Guigan, I would also like to point out that Mickey Mc Gee is currently out of action for six months due to a recent shoulder operation. Any of yous see the shoulder support he had on on Sunday. Jes it looked very uncomfortable. Would like to wish Brian and Mickey both a speedy recovery and a quick return to full fitness.

What did ye all think of Kevin Hughes on Sunday ? Was he lucky to have escaped with a sanction before the throw in - did he headbutt as alleged by others ? In general play I thought he was poor enough, missed a lot of tackles - I do like him as a player and think there's more in than that - I thought his performance against Donegal was awesome ( apart from the shooting of course ).

Question:
Have Tyrone ever reached the quarter final stages of the championship before having only played 3 games?

In 2001 I think.

I was thinking that but I can't remember and I can't find any info on it.  That was the year we beat Derry in the Ulster championship and then they beat us in the quarter final (and God was sent off).

I thought hub was awful and surprised he lasted the 70. However, I agree he was excellent in the semi. Midfield was tinkered with to combat the farney's physical presense, but it didn't work. Hub and Sean were dominant against Donegal, but the hoover played such a big role in that sector. I would concur with previous posters and opt for a return for big Packy. Better kickouts although memories of the 2 boo boo's against Mayo in the league are still fresh. Thought the farney keeper had some kick on him. The kickout is important. Both keepers are prone to the odd crazy decision.

Id go with onions bag selection. Although Enda McGinley would need to get back to his old self and could come under pressure from Colm Cavanagh. Not convinced we'll have a fully fit team for the quartrers and may have to leave O'Neill as a sub once again. If this happens Id go for either Colm Cavanagh or Mellon (if he's showing anything in training) at full forward. Dont think we can afford to drop McCullagh who's in good form and could deliver in Croke Park. Someone earlier said Cavlan did nothing. Having watched the match again it was Cavlan's set ups in the 1st 7 minutes that directly lead to 1-3 being scored - not bad. Any update on his injury? The quarter final draw will be extremely interesting especially if we can avoid Cork on our side of the draw.

On another point made by someone Id say there is a strong possibility Penrose will start in the quarter - Harte constantly goes back to the same players no matter what. He did ok down in Kerry but his inability to pass the ball is a severe drawback.

                     Devine
Ricey              Joey              Carlin
Harte              Gormley         Jordan
             Sean               Hub
Dooher            Mulgrew        O'Neill
McCullagh         Mulligan         Gormley

Don't think that GK should be changed, devine has done everything asked of him and his kickouts have been good in general. Think the open spaces of Croke will suit McCullagh and Niall Gormley was impressive against Fermanagh so i think deserves another chance. O'Neill can get more involved in the game when Half Forward (although can swap with McCullagh).  This also leaves us with strong options n the Bench including Cavlan, T Mc Guigan, Mellon, Mc Ginley etc.

dont be suprised if u c Enda McGinley wearing the number 3 jersery in the next game.

Quotedont be suprised if u c Enda McGinley wearing the number 3 jersery in the next game. 

He was tried there last year, obviously to no success in Hartes eye's.  But he has certain qualities that would make him suitable to No. 3. 

I'd be happy to see the following side out with either/ or at 12.  SON would be no use at 12 at this stage considering the lack of games and training he's had this year, FF is the only place for him.

McConnell

McMenamin - Joe McMahon - Carlin

Harte - Gormley - Jordan

Hughes - Cavanagh

Dooher - Mulgrew - McGinley/Mellon

McCullagh - O'Neill - Mulligan

Your having a laugh if you think Mulgrew will ever get u's anywhere! Completely overrated.

You weren't saying that whenwe played Donegal - I thought he wasn't the worst forward on display on Sunday.

I thought Canavan's column in today's Mirror was interesting. On the plus side he says that it is promising for Tyrone that they can win an Ulster Final with up to 11 players under-performing. He maintains that the other side of the coin is that there are serious questions over Tyrone's fitness levels, with the tank emptying halfway through each half.

Interesting indeed. 

Canavan's article was very intersting indeed......also suggested that Joey should have been switched to FB..next Tyrone manager is a distinct possibility

A big Tyrone fan suggested to me Penrose was the next Canavan...............can't see it myself

Are you serious? he shouldnt even be on the squad! tommy and colm cavanagh are better players...and will go for ever ball!

Quote from: hardstation on July 18, 2007, 02:46:15 PM

Quote from: tintin25 on July 18, 2007, 02:26:14 PM
Your having a laugh if you think Mulgrew will ever get u's anywhere! Completely overrated.

Jaysus, you're awful hard on him. I think he has improved a lot this year. I thought he was ok against Monaghan, he always seems to pop up in the half back line and win important breaks. His distribution is excellent. He never gives stupid passes and always finds a man.

he never gives stupid passes as he hardly ever touches the ball! however i do think he should be given one last chance to see what he can do in croke park.

Quotehe never gives stupid passes as he hardly ever touches the ball! however i do think he should be given one last chance to see what he can do in croke park

He's 21 FFS ::) playing in one of the most difficult positions on the filed.....in the Ulster Football Championship where space is at a premium. I for one would like to see him cut loose on a big pitch against some 'open' opposition.

Another stone or 2 on, a full championship or 2 under his belt and he will be destroying teams by the time he reaches 23.

Agreed tyroneman, his relative callowness is too often forgotten. A big park will suit him grand.

PS Any way to post Canavan's piece from the Irish Mirror?

Quotehe never gives stupid passes as he hardly ever touches the ball!

I think you need to watch the Monaghan game again.  Mulgrew played about ten passes that either created a score or led to an attacking move that created a score.  Of the current squad he is one of only three or four players that's deadly accurate off both feet.  You could see that he was under instruction to play deep, pick up the ball where he could and play it long into Mugsy (you'll notice every time Mulgrew picked up a ball in defence Mugsy started to run).  Two or three of these passes on Sunday where from 30 or 40 yards and he hit them perfectly (including the one where Mugsy hit the crossbar).  The only thing I'd ask him to do different is to try and get on the end of a move two or three times a game as he's well able to take good scores - he sometimes played too deep (full back line on occasions).  He's a very intelligent player and has the potential to become a Tyrone great.  You can be sure he'll continue to play at no. 11 while Brian McGuigan's out.

Us fans and even ex players are a fickle bunch

We hammer the NFL champions who hadn't been beaten all year by how many points and we all think we're back with a vengenance.
Talk of very solid defense with plenty of forwards options.

Monaghan rough us up a bit and we play in fits and starts but get cleaned out at midfield again so we all go looking for reasons.
Many postmatch point the finger at weak Full back line again even though Clorey pushes Gourley for the goal chance and he scores a point himself.
In hindsight, yeah maybe Gourely wasn't brilliant but with the volume of high balls being pumped in would Joey or even Block have not made some mistakes.

Now we're back looking at fitness levels. Didnt seem much problem with fitness v Donegal.

As PTG said, it shows our quality now that 11+ players under perform or at least are outplayed for long periods yet we still win
Sign of a good team to play badly and still win and we can't under estiamte the hunger of Monaghan
They probably we're PEAKING for this game whereas maybe we were NOT. Hopefully NOT.

What's the best performance you've saw from Penfold and whats his best position?

Penfold - best position no 31.
Best game - in training.
Mickey is wrong on this one .

Penrose had a huge game against Dublin in the national league against Dublin ( the first floodlit encounter ) - remember him going down the wing and him putting Ciaran Whelan into the 5th row of seats in the Cusack stand ? Do you remember that ? No ?

Yip i do and you certainly pointed out a pivotal moment in Tyrone season.  ::) How much of that game did Whelan play again?

It all until Penrose put him into the stand !

think Penrose was a cracking player at minor level but just hasnt produced the goods at senior level- think his time should soon be coming to an end. playing him at half back that time was a joke. hes not the first quality club player not been able to step up in the past few years- here are a few 1. P ward- Dromore 2. P Donnelly- Coalisland 3. Cormac McGinley- Errigal 4 Meenagh- Killyclogher 5. B Donelly- Eglish 6. G Devlin- Ardboe 7. M Penrose- Ayghran 8. M Murphy- Galbally 9. M Coleman- Ardboe 10. P loughran- Errigal 11. Frank McGuigan jnr- Ardboe 12. A McCarron- Fintona 13. M Harte- Errigal 14. D McDermott- Errigal 15. R Thorton- Coalisland

Quote from: longball on July 20, 2007, 12:02:45 PM
think Penrose was a cracking player at minor level but just hasnt produced the goods at senior level- think his time should soon be coming to an end. playing him at half back that time was a joke. hes not the first quality club player not been able to step up in the past few years- here are a few 1. P ward- Dromore 2. P Donnelly- Coalisland 3. Cormac McGinley- Errigal 4 Meenagh- Killyclogher 5. B Donelly- Eglish 6. G Devlin- Ardboe 7. M Penrose- Ayghran 8. M Murphy- Galbally 9. M Coleman- Ardboe 10. P loughran- Errigal 11. Frank McGuigan jnr- Ardboe 12. A McCarron- Fintona 13. M Harte- Errigal 14. D McDermott- Errigal 15. R Thorton- Coalisland

That team would beat a fair few counties

Quote from: longball on July 20, 2007, 12:02:45 PM
think Penrose was a cracking player at minor level but just hasnt produced the goods at senior level- think his time should soon be coming to an end. playing him at half back that time was a joke. hes not the first quality club player not been able to step up in the past few years- here are a few 1. P ward- Dromore 2. P Donnelly- Coalisland 3. Cormac McGinley- Errigal 4 Meenagh- Killyclogher 5. B Donelly- Eglish 6. G Devlin- Ardboe 7. M Penrose- Ayghran 8. M Murphy- Galbally 9. M Coleman- Ardboe 10. P loughran- Errigal 11. Frank McGuigan jnr- Ardboe 12. A McCarron- Fintona 13. M Harte- Errigal 14. D McDermott- Errigal 15. R Thorton- Coalisland

Dont know how you can include the horse here, if anything he nearly over performed over the course of 2003/2004. During these two seasons he used his abilities to the maximum to become a mainstay in Mickey Hartes team over this time. His lack of pace undid him in the end.

Whose Meenagh (Killyclogher)?

Being totally independent I thought Horse was outstanding in 2003 and definitely would have got an All Star award to go along with his All Ireland medal in 2003 -

Quote from: snappiered on July 20, 2007, 01:31:40 PM
Whose Meenagh (Killyclogher)?

Think it was meant to be Brian Meenan.

Has anyone got pics of the good minor teams of the late 90s to see how many are in the current panel.  

Neutral try the following Links, it's the team photo's of the All Ireland Minor Semi-Final and All Ireland Minor Final Final from 1998:

http://www.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?position=176&archiveType=ImageFolder&sorting=ModifiedTimeAsc&search=tyrone%20minor&fileId=4C3ABA64E9D5C430719D19E637E06F040B41EBD67AFD4DB45349769D3DA29DA5FC788D58B16C1545D9DFF19DCC0CAFF51CD2FE7937D6917BBCF3F32DC138275808C1BAE7F82F89A22A7703626CB89FF0B9D6BA7E5C7ACC993BA2D69153C3DA69341AE3F1076D3B7B13652CF607E32A349FF91492FEA645B9E0EB424C83A585E9 (http://www.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?position=176&archiveType=ImageFolder&sorting=ModifiedTimeAsc&search=tyrone%20minor&fileId=4C3ABA64E9D5C430719D19E637E06F040B41EBD67AFD4DB45349769D3DA29DA5FC788D58B16C1545D9DFF19DCC0CAFF51CD2FE7937D6917BBCF3F32DC138275808C1BAE7F82F89A22A7703626CB89FF0B9D6BA7E5C7ACC993BA2D69153C3DA69341AE3F1076D3B7B13652CF607E32A349FF91492FEA645B9E0EB424C83A585E9)


http://www.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?position=175&archiveType=ImageFolder&sorting=ModifiedTimeAsc&search=tyrone%20minor&fileId=4C3ABA64E9D5C430719D19E637E06F040B41EBD67AFD4DB45349769D3DA29DA5FC788D58B16C1545D9DFF19DCC0CAFF51CD2FE7937D6917BBCF3F32DC13827589C93F9CFA82AAC642A7703626CB89FF0B9D6BA7E5C7ACC993BA2D69153C3DA69341AE3F1076D3B7B13652CF607E32A349FF91492FEA645B9E0EB424C83A585E9 (http://www.sportsfile.com/fotoweb/Preview.fwx?position=175&archiveType=ImageFolder&sorting=ModifiedTimeAsc&search=tyrone%20minor&fileId=4C3ABA64E9D5C430719D19E637E06F040B41EBD67AFD4DB45349769D3DA29DA5FC788D58B16C1545D9DFF19DCC0CAFF51CD2FE7937D6917BBCF3F32DC13827589C93F9CFA82AAC642A7703626CB89FF0B9D6BA7E5C7ACC993BA2D69153C3DA69341AE3F1076D3B7B13652CF607E32A349FF91492FEA645B9E0EB424C83A585E9)

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 20, 2007, 01:45:18 PM

Quote from: snappiered on July 20, 2007, 01:31:40 PM
Whose Meenagh (Killyclogher)?

Think it was meant to be Brian Meenan.

Ciaran Meenagh surely

Quote from: Gabriel_Hurl on July 20, 2007, 03:16:03 PM

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 20, 2007, 01:45:18 PM

Quote from: snappiered on July 20, 2007, 01:31:40 PM
Whose Meenagh (Killyclogher)?

Think it was meant to be Brian Meenan.

Ciaran Meenagh surely

He's Loughmacrory not Killyclogher?!

Ciaran Meenagh, the handballer from Loughmacrory, was on the panel for a while, as was a Brian and Leo Meenan from Killyclogher.

Quote from: Fear ón Srath Bán on July 20, 2007, 01:45:18 PM

Quote from: snappiered on July 20, 2007, 01:31:40 PM
Whose Meenagh (Killyclogher)?

Think it was meant to be Brian Meenan.

sorry poor spelling- it was brian meenan

Thats a high number of successful county careers from 1 team.  What constitutes making it?.. Surely it would be a great honour just to pull on a county jersey for a few games even if your intercounty career lasted only a year... you would have still made a contribution etc.   Lynch was a good one from memory, What about Mc crossan and Harte - the 1997 AIFinal team contains Gary Hetherington - Donaghmores Mr consistency for the last 10 years, dont think he ever even got a trial after that.

can ne1 confirm rumours that sean teague has been asked to join the Tyrone management team as a defensive coach? heard this from one of the players C_____ G____  ;)   8) he reckons Sean Teague will be in the mix whenever Harte decideds to walk away!   :-[

If not Sean Teague, who might be next Tyrone manager - Martin Coyle, Liam Donnelly, Raymond Munroe and his team, Brian Mc Ivor ?? Any suggestions ?

Quote from: orangeman on July 21, 2007, 09:22:37 PM
If not Sean Teague, who might be next Tyrone manager - Martin Coyle, Liam Donnelly, Raymond Munroe and his team, Brian Mc Ivor ?? Any suggestions ?

Sean Teague? Are you joking?
Someone who tries to throw punches in The Hogan Stand at opposition players? aye........

McGuinness looks too happy for a Derry man,  me thinks

(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44003000/jpg/_44003120_brian_dooher270.jpg)

Quote from: Loup Bandit on July 22, 2007, 10:16:11 AM

Quote from: orangeman on July 21, 2007, 09:22:37 PM
If not Sean Teague, who might be next Tyrone manager - Martin Coyle, Liam Donnelly, Raymond Munroe and his team, Brian Mc Ivor ?? Any suggestions ?

Sean Teague? Are you joking?
Someone who tries to throw punches in The Hogan Stand at opposition players? aye........

Have to agree, how would the players have discipline when the manger doesnt, and anyway a junior all ireland with greencastle doesnt make him a county manager,thats not taking any thing away from him, i think peter the great will make a good manger... played under him at school and won a couple of all ireland's

Peter would be too close to the players would he not ?

Quote from: orangeman on July 22, 2007, 10:29:24 PM
Peter would be too close to the players would he not ?

Agreed. this is why i think the rumours about Sean Teague could actually be true, has had a good run with Greencastle and wud be a ruthless manager- not doing the job ur off straight away!

Would be surprised if Harte has drafted in Sean Teague as a defensive coach and with a view to grooming him as a long term successor. The job is Hartes as long as he wants it, he appears to have an unrelenting appetite for Tyrone football, between minors, under 21's and seniors he has probably managed a Tyrone team for almost 15 years non stop. Harte is very mch his own man, I dont think his approach lends itself to grooming a successor.
There will be plenty of potential candidates touted but in my opinion the only stand out one would be Brian McIvor. My big fear is that Coyle and Donnelly are being groomed as the next senior management, I wouldnt be too confident with them at the helm.

Bad news this morning with Dooher, Cavlan and O'Neill all struggling. O'Neill's ailment is something different altogether again. If he was a horse.....

Brian Mc Ivor would be my man for the job -

Quote from: orangeman on July 22, 2007, 10:29:24 PM
Peter would be too close to the players would he not ?

Was thinking more of down the line orangeman, i hear theres a fat man from crossmaglen looking a job ;)

Quote from: longball on July 20, 2007, 03:44:38 PM
can ne1 confirm rumours that sean teague has been asked to join the Tyrone management team as a defensive coach? heard this from one of the players C_____ G____  ;)   8) he reckons Sean Teague will be in the mix whenever Harte decideds to walk away!   :-[

Can't say I've heard that one before. There was all sorts of rumours about Sean flying about after the All-Ireland win and none of them had a truth about them.