Messages

It was such an odd line up. We are playing to narrow especially in the forwards. With Donie static in the middle we had Lowry and Bennie Carroll roaming around the middle third. problems appeared again and again on the wings., one was number 12 was always free and got on a lot of ball. They went up the field down the sides several times from short kick outs to score. Donie or if either midfielder never got across to close this space down, they sailed up the line.. They were also working Gareth Dillon down the side. His man got four points from play, nearly all one on ones, but it was mostly unpressurized passes in that killed him. We need both wing backs pinning the forwards back but without Begley out there. There is no real threat that side. The full forward line was very static. Evan should have made real hay against that full back. He has potential to do massive damage but often fades out. Murphy was a big disappointment, looked lost in the corner. I still think he will be dangerous more central.Ross nipped away but I wish he played closer to Evan. It's a pity he hasn't pace to burn markers as he takes up great positions. He gets good ball but often he recycles it back out. Getting the right balance in the forwards still needs a bit of work.

Just wondering if many clubs in Laois have produced a club history. I am aware Portlaoise did a few

Interesting to see if the team starts to settle down or will changes continued to be made. There has been a few injuries but the panel seems very open ended and a lot of players tried. A few players who started or were involved in earlier games are not making the subs now. Anybody know who is on the panel at the moment.

A lot of changes again. I really hope that the team play far quicker tonight and use the kick pass more. Our kicking game has been terrible at times and We don't  have much of a scoring threat from the half forward line so I am hoping the changes are aimed at leaving the three lads in the full forward line tonight and aiming ball in at them, especially for marks. A bit what Dublin did to mayo last week. Benny Carroll and Lillis are very good passers and along with Boyle I am hoping that we use them rather than this horrible lateral game we seemed to have got trapped in. Jol should be trying to get any ball he wins to these three or Begley to get accurate ball in. If he starts drifting across the field then we are going to face the same problems of slow play or forcing runners into carrying it. I was a bit iffy on Ross starting, especially with Donie if we start this hand passing . Neither are going burn lads with pace and Ross has found it hard at times to create separation with his markers. His cuteness will get him a few frees but if he starts finding himself on his own half back line then we probably should be playing someone a bit faster. I had big hopes for Murphy in this regard as he shows very well for ball but he is not getting a look in. If Ross stays near goals he might feed off the other two and nab a few scores.

Agree with a lot of posters above, really awful stuff. I don't think we scored from play for the last 55 minutes and bar Evans goal chance we didn't look like we would. Forwards are a major problem, no real pace from midfield up. We are terrible lateral and only Scully and Begley offered any threat from deep. Dillon was shoring up the full back line so he can't push forward and attride was at sea at centre back and ended up in the corner so another option was gone. options in midfield aren't great at present but I think after today meaney is offering nothing new.

I love to know what sugure's Forward plan was today. When it goes pear shaped or you are chasing the game you end up with teams doing mad stuff like Hail Marys. For some reason we started this fairly early, one in particular by meaney. Donie's role around the centre was bewildering. He offered nothing and barely moved. Once Evan didn't like the marking he was getting, they should have been switched or at least put Evan out onto the wing. To be honest donie should have been off if he wasn't going to be played nearer goals. He wasn't the only one that could have been subbed, they bullied our forwards especially in the second half and we wilted. The three forward subs offered nothing and to me Colm Murphy has shown more in previous games to be brought on ahead of Ross and Lowry. At least he appears to have the pace he show for the ball. The Longford game now is a real four pointer

That coverage of the game was filmed through a pair of binoculars. It was really poor

i thought Sligo were terrible, really very limited and we seemed to find it hard to get away from them for long periods. Probably a lot to do with trying to bed in a few players didn't help but they still managed to score two goals which was a disappointment.  Kickouts a bit better today but at times we struggled when we fell back into kicking it long into the centre. its good to see a few young players getting a run and murphy looked very sharp when he came on.

in relation to the sending off, it happened just below me scully put two massive hits before hand but he was just off with that one.

What's the view on the team

what ever about having a target man in midfield for kickouts, I just thought we should have had some sort of plan b when they pressed us. lumping it out when they had a clear height advantage is asking a lot of the two lads especially when at times they were moving backwards trying to field it. sean byrne was probably a loss as an option on the wing.  Dublin in the second game had a few basketball type moves where they bunched in the centre and then all broke to both sides, it reminded me of something Tully used to do with Ballyfin in the schools football. it was simple but very effective. With Lillis suspended I wonder who will start with the others it seems in the post above gone from the panel.

hopefully whoever does start doesn't fall into the lateral handpass that we often revert to when faced by a massed defense. A midfielder with pace that can break forward and long pass accurately is badly needed but there doesn't look to be too many of them around.

Down beat Sligo, Offaly and Longford draw. Do we go with the strongest team next week against Sligo, or do we stick with what we are doing. Vital game already in a tight division

Alarm bell one. Our two midfielders were giving away a lot of height. Long kicks meaningless. Alarm bell two. Two inexperienced and nervy defenders left isolated without a sweeper. Alarm bell three. One of their forwards clearly rinsing one of our inexperienced backs and creating the perfect conditions for incoming attackers. Tackling powderpuff. Support play the stuff of negligence. Lads not tuned in and watching their team mates getting bottled up time after time. Just one of those performances that make you think that we made a fortune backing Louth at whatever ridiculous price they were. We can't be that bad and I know we're not but yet I can't understand what the hell happened today. I know we have lads playing who are a long way off what is needed even in the lower Divisions

My thoughts exactly. The management for some reason have not developed any sort of kick out strategy other than lumping it on jol the majority of the time. Even after losing Lillis we still aimed everything at him. With their height advantage they just broke ball off him. Most teams work kick outs for a high retention return, ours seemed to be 50/50.

Does anybody know how bad Sean Byrnes injury is??

A bit like what is going on with the rugby team, today was a shocker for the team and management. Louth were no word beaters but they seemed far more mobile and clued in to what they were doing. We were shambles a lot of the time, with no shape to defense and no idea how to deal with their mass defense. The sending off further compounded matters as they used the spare man well. The three goals were shocking and really exposed us. If we had even a big of composure at the end we could have made them nervous, but some horrible options taken. I don't know what really you can say, it was that bad, we ended the game with our goal keeper chasing around their full back line trying to win back possession. At least he was trying

did he play in 2002?? I thought he started in 2003 in the league

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