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McDonald for me.

Clarke is a very good player but when you make your biggest mark in a team with at least 2 other top class forwards, its always going to be easier to get a fraction more space and time. McDonald seems to be tainted by Mayo's lack of success. I don't care how exceptional you are, if the team falls apart (2004) there is very limited damage limitation you can do.

When Clarke is the main man we'll know more, he definitely has the potential to change my mind but McDonald has that something you can't teach and his physical attributes weren't/aren't as important to him as they are to Clarke

In answer to the question posed in the title.........

hes a sc**bag, pure and simple

Spot on

Only having the option of looking online, I would say the Impartial shades it. Although if your at home its hard to beat the Heralds coverage of all the GAA happening

[They dominated the Monaghan game, yet only won by 4 points when their haul included 2 relatively lucky/sloppy goals.]

I would be afraid that Fermanagh just won't get the scores. They dominated the Monaghan game, yet only won by 4 points when their haul included 2 relatively lucky/sloppy goals.
Like everyone else, I'm hoping they can do it. The battle of nerves may be a factor. Monaghan had a terrible start against Tyrone last year and had they settled earlier, would have won. Armagh won't have any nerves - this is a normal day at the office for them.

They completely dominated the Derry game also, yet only won by two points, with their haul including a relatively lucky/sloppy goal.

Fermanagh will struggle against Armagh, because Armagh will not afford them space in their forward line, and it's hard to see where Fermanagh's scores will come from. Armagh's direct approach to their own forwards is in contrast to how Derry and Monaghan played, where the half-forward line were laboured in possession allowing Ferm defenders/forwards to close the space and crowd the defence. I can't see Armagh struggling in this regard. Plus, Armagh will have plenty of players capable of winning break-ball, so I'd expect them to at least break even in the middle third possession stakes.

I expect Armagh to win by about 3-5 points, but we're along way off the final yet!

I'm a wee bit soberer than last night  but I, along with a lot of Fermanagh supporters have argued that 2004 was far from a fluke, and that with the right mentality we can be a competive team. Now i'm not saying that we will win the AI, but before the previous games we didn't have a chance, when we won there was a multitude of reasons for why, but too many people cannot seem to grasp that we were the better team on both days (based on the last 5 years better overall in the championship).

If Armagh beat us, fair play to them. But I will guarantee that if they score a goal or goals like Fermanaghs in the past few matches it will be because 'Armagh can grind out results' whereas we just 'hang in there' and are lucky!

Anyway getting away from that, the diagonal ball could and may be a problem for Fermanagh but I would be surprised if RC & SD will be allowed to win it cleanly, and if they do I would expect a minimum of 2 Fermanagh men around them by the time they look up. We will need to keep the score down, as eveyone knows but I feel we are capable of doing it. The first few scores will be interesting, as I fully expect Armagh to come out of the blocks flat out but if they don't get the scores registered early I would fancy us to keep chipping away

I know what you are saying southderryman, but in my opinion I think we have always troubled Armagh in the recent past and the tactics haven't changed that much (imo from Armagh's side).

The quote in the Derry game at 1/2 time on Setanata was Fermanagh would lose because Derry would score from 40 yrds and we couldn't! I have a chip on my shoulder about that kind off thing but scores aren't easy from 20/30/40 yrds and I could not care less if we beat Armagh by 2 points to 1.

As I say I'm quietly (sometimes not) confident but at this stage its all opinions

I know what you are saying southderryman but the problem with Fernanagh when they get it right is that we have movement above and beyond anything else in Ulster. I honestly think in my heart of hearts that if you want to foul them, work away because we have free takers that will punish.
Before we depended on breaking ball to get parity in the middle third, but we now have McGrath and Murphy who can win clean ball individually, and McElroy (x2), Kelly & Little who will bust a gut to get their hands on a 50/50 ball.

I fully expect Armagh to be clear and overwhelming favourites but i will be quietly confident

I can't pretend to be neutral but my prediction is Fermangh 1-11 Armagh 0-13

I don't want to jinx anything but I don't think we have anything to fear, Fermanagh are better and Armagh are worse than prevous years

Delighted, only word for it.

First time today my eyes can focus on the screen, but I wasn't surprised by the patronising sh&%e I heard & read before and after the game!

I have just read Bogball's post and I must have been watching a different game! Fermanagh have been relatively naive for years by trying to play the game and getting punished for it, by 'hard tackling'. Now when they have a few lads that are no small men, they are dirty and negative tactics, it really is sour grapes. Fermanagh were no worse than Derry yesterday (in my opinion Fermanagh were cleaner) and to say any different is rubbish. Can anyone enlighten me as to how Maguire had to leave the field with blood when the ball was at the other end of the field?? What happened him?

Anyway, here goes with the negative before the positive:

The referee was shockingly bad. I watched it on TV (i'm ashamed to say, although in a different country) and he was terrible. Muldoon hit McGrath with a carbon copy of the penalty challenge minutes earlier, and he waved play on. The penalty was a joke, no-one was even sure what he was giving and the only injustice was the 45 going over the bar.

Peter Sherry was extremely unfortunately to be sent off. Two fouls that weren't bad, were punished by (in my opinion) an incompetent official. Does he miss the final? If he does, Fermanagh should have an appeal in before the offices open in the morning. He was roasted by Bradley time and again yesterday, but I still maintain he is a natural  half back and looks a bit lost in the corner at times

Analyists/Experts/Posters : Please, please, please stop being so patronising! This wee Fermanagh thing has been annoying me for years and the fact that it is still trotted out is silly (trying to keep the language clean). We were a Division 1 that got shafted in the new format. Have been highly competitive when you take out the teams that have won AI's in the last 5 years and yet still we get this patronising crap. Someone posted that they can't see us having a chance against Armagh, why???
Surely beating the two favourites for Ulster this year would buy us respect but instead everyone spouts on about Derry. As someone said earlier, all of the fellas on the panel were confident they would win, as were a large number of fans. Even when Derry had there purple patch we were by no means being steamrollered.
The funiest bit was at half time one of the commentators informed us that Derry would pull away because they could throw it over from 40 yds which Fermanagh couldn't do, my blood was boiling! They couldn't do it in the first half with the wind but it was only a matter of time before they pulled away apparently.
And they constantly called players by the wrong name, at one point they called Keenan, McElroy! Now Ryan was pratically glow in the dark yesterday with the good weather in Tempo recently  but they still couldn't spot him!

Anyway rant over, but for all you people from bigger counties you have to be in the situation

Well done to everyone yesterday. O'Rourke has kicked on from were Mulgrew left off, and has (i'm repeating someone here) made the players believe. There was no panic after Derry took an early lead and again at the end when the pressure was on, they held firm.
Our lads wanted it more and got the reward for the effort. Little, Maguire, Kelly, McElroy interchanged and covered an unreal amount of ground. Every single player showed there worth and the subs had the desired impact at the right times.
Not many counties can leave a 2 times allstar on the bench  . Delighted the Owens got the goal and he deserved a bit of fortune at the right time.

I didn't see the stats but I would think our chances to conversation ratio would have been better than the Monaghan game?

Anyways as I've said before Well Done and thanks to all the Fermanagh contingent. I can't wait to another game where we don't have a chance 

Delighted by the performance and the result yesterday. The team have been steadily improving under Malachy, and it was great to see a Fermanagh team not letting the heads drop at the start of the 2nd half when Monaghan were severely testing for the first sustained spell in the match. I'm not going to number lads, cause I didn't think that any one player had a bad game but here was my thoughts.
Gallagher dealt with one awkward ball at the edge of the square, and was cleaned up by Brady?. Was good distance on the kickouts, and looked assured.
Goan grew into the man-marking role as the game went on, and has continued to improve year on year. As someone has said previously, the next day will be a another big test for him.
Brady, to be honest I didn't notice him that much which is a good thing. As much as I like Barry Owens making heroic catches and tackles etc, i'd prefer our FB to be bored! Having little to do, suits me fine.
Sheery still looks like a wing back to me, and I don't think he's necessary that comfortable at times in the corner. However in saying that, he was immense yesterday and make a mockery of my pre-game ramblings (and my 1st sentence about him!), am struggling to remember any mistakes he made.
Kelly, wasn't his greatest day out but always available for the pass and bar one double bounce, where he appeared to look like he thought support was coming and didn't arrive, didn't do much wrong.
McCluskey, is as Fermanagh people have been quoting for years is a class act. Its laughable now, but I remember a fella telling me he was far to slow for county football! Distribution assured, positional sense close to perfect and organises and encourages all around him.
McElroy was possibly the lick of the half back line. Never stops running, makes opposition players track him and let men in possession run. I personally think this has the potential to be the best Fermanagh half back line in my lifetime of watching (approaching 20 years in case someone asks)
Murphy despite not having his best game of the year (which says more for the level he has been playing at, than his performance yesterday) was solid, hard working and had a few great fetches threw in that we take for granted at this stage. He definitely has more in him, and hopefully he can push on and show what all the chat has been about.
McGrath, what can I say. At last we seen the player that was an all-star. Injuries have curtailed his capacity this last few years, but he was back to the player we knew with that showing. Him and Murphy complemented each other well, and again have great potential as a partnership.
McElroy has started to show the qualities that have had him in or around the panel for a while now. Got stuck into the dirty work and deserved his scores. Another who has more in him, and this win should help him settle.
Sherry, did what he needed to do, but slightly disappoints by always being on the peripheral of a game when he has all the talent in the world to take it by the scruff of the neck and make it his own.
Keenan also had his best game in some time. Was decent with the shooting, although will know he could have had more. Nice to see him playing football and not getting worked up and wasting his time playing the man rather than the game. Possibly being exposed to county at such a young age didn't help him, but a real confidence player who can push on and impress for the rest of the summer. (I dunno where he got that tan, but the Tempo weather must be like the Algarve at the minute!)
Little in my eyes was MOTM. Covered an unreal amount of ground, and was the basis for most attacks and the picked up an unreal amount of ball within our own 45 & 21 yard lines.
McBarron. It was too much to expect 2 goals, but a real team player yesterday! Is a real pain for the opposition marker, unorthodox as they come but will not give up on a ball.
Maguire, done superb to actually get the ball back towards goal when McBarron scored and was his usual self yesterday. Attacks the ball with no fear, and good of both feet. Won some great 50/50 balls and as I've said before is our best forward.
As for the subs,
McCabe done well. Superb point, which if Paddy Bradley scored Brolly would have passed out with excitement. Showed why Mal wanted him in the panel. Hopefully falls in love with it and devotes himself to it for  a year or two
Keenan looked a bit of the pace which is understandable but got his hands on the ball a few times which should help him. Although he has a tendance to run straight at the man with the ball and not check his runs, bringing more opposition players into the ball carrying players immediate area

All in all a good game. The one thing I would say is that some of the players need a wee bit more common sense when shooting. I'll never criticize a man for having a go, after spending the last 4 years roaring at them to 'hit the f%^&ing' thing but some of the decisions were slightly ambitious. Its hard to say without sounding critical but thats not the intent, so here goes.
At a few points in the game some of the lads just lost themselves and went for Superstar scores. Goan and T.McElroy both at different times made great work up the wing and then from 40 yards took highly ambitious attempts which rarely make it. The same started to happen after McCabe scored. Everyone was trying with the outside of their foot when easier alternatives were available. It doesn't matter now, but it would be a shame if the lads didn't maybe look at it again and think they might have done differently. In saying that if the alternative is the return to basketball passing across the 21, then they can shoot from 50 yds!

And finally onto Monaghan. I am no expert on Monaghan so I can't say whether the media ban was a factor or not. But it is strange that the favourites used it. As people have said before, some people use it to create a siege mentality but if no-one is against you I don't know what benefit it is. The players have normal lives, so its not as if they didn't know what was being said in the build up.
I was disappointed in Monaghans discipline yesterday and the referees failure to stamp it out earlier. At one point Kelly & Sherry? were taken out in the corner with off the ball challenges. T.Freeman had a few swipes at McCluskey at one point on the Vesey side of the field and nothing was done. D.Freeman? getting involved after McGrath  put him over the sideline. Countless shirt pulls within place kicking distances were let go. What your man thought a kick, a stamp, and a punch were gonna achieve is beyond me. I have been slightly surprised when people have accused Monaghan of being a dirty team but yesterday I thought they let themselves down with both their performance and their behaviour.

Now that I'm on a bit of a rant, would someone please put an advert in the national papers that says that if you have some small players (like Fermanagh) that 'hit them hard' is not a new or especially effective tactic! After playing with and against lads like Little, Maguire, Keenan being hit hard is not something they have not came across before, and will at some point (very nearly happened already with Maguire) cause a extremely serious incident. Now I'm not asking for football to be non-contact by any means but I do think that referees need to protect the skillful players a bit more. I don't think that it was a coincidence that McQuaid took the swing at McCabe, rather than McGrath or Murphy or a bigger lad. All the hardness of a soft boiled egg

Being a bit removed from the Build up, it seems like a wee bit of mis-information from the Monaghan camp. McQuaid & Freeman are now reported doubts although locals that I know fully expect both to start. Suppose time will tell, but either or both would be big losses for Monaghan.

Being a native of the Erne county, I am quietly confident for this game (as much as you can being from Fermanagh that is) with that familiar sense of apprehension!

The team overall have been impressive from my point of view. Previously Owens & McGrath were relied on a bit to much to dig us out of a hole when things are going wrong, however with both missing games, others have stepped up to the plate. McCluskey is playing like everyone thought he would if he was played at CHB, Murphy has developed his all round game to match the fielding ability he has, Maguire looks like he is enjoying his football again.
Fringe players like Kelly, McElroy x 2 have impressed at various stages., with the biggest benefit being that half forwards are having to be wary of the Fermanagh half back's having to much time and space. Each has good distribution (from hand & foot) and none of them are afraid to bomb forward if given the space.

Ultimately I hope that game matches the anticipation, and that it the game of the year so far (or the worst game as long as we win!). All in all it should be entertaining