Messages

Anyone care to comment on Brian Mallon's performance? Why does he continually make the starting 15? What exactly did he contribute to the team on Saturday night?

Brian Mallon is a super footballer! He's most affective in the full forward line, but he's not going to play well if the right ball isn't given to him... much like anyone you put in there! - In the first half v Down the ball was low & in front... he won every ball & Down had to switch men on him. The ball stopped coming in & he was pulled out to half forwards to do the donkey work again.

Apples... Duffy is a line breaker! Antother supreme talent! He starts most of our attacks & is very direct & comfortable on the ball - which is a refreshing change, from those players 'dilly dallying' & playing backwards passing!!

Can get very frustrating reading reviews on here about players giving their all!

As I stated before its all about opinion, if you are frustrated then don't use the board, I don't expect everyone to agree with my assessment but there you go....my assessment. You will never hear me question anyone's effort either for club or county, players don't set out to play badly...it just happens.

yea but theres posting opinions and then theres being blind. duffy started most of armaghs attacks on saturday night and when the defence got the ball you can see them looking for paul to link defence and attack. you also speak of AK's "vision and playmaking skills". paul is twice the player in that department IMO. you then say that paul is shaky in defence. one of the reasons AK was moved to CHF was because of his poor defensive skills. i can only imagine that that you have tainted opinions of pearse og or just paul himself

Not at all, as I said that is my opinion I respect your right to disagree, please respect mine. I didn't even know he was an og's player.

Anyone care to comment on Brian Mallon's performance? Why does he continually make the starting 15? What exactly did he contribute to the team on Saturday night?

Brian Mallon is a super footballer! He's most affective in the full forward line, but he's not going to play well if the right ball isn't given to him... much like anyone you put in there! - In the first half v Down the ball was low & in front... he won every ball & Down had to switch men on him. The ball stopped coming in & he was pulled out to half forwards to do the donkey work again.

Apples... Duffy is a line breaker! Antother supreme talent! He starts most of our attacks & is very direct & comfortable on the ball - which is a refreshing change, from those players 'dilly dallying' & playing backwards passing!!

Can get very frustrating reading reviews on here about players giving their all!

As I stated before its all about opinion, if you are frustrated then don't use the board, I don't expect everyone to agree with my assessment but there you go....my assessment. You will never hear me question anyone's effort either for club or county, players don't set out to play badly...it just happens.

[£170 spend vs a fiver stolen]

No comparison between these two cases, I am surprised the police proceeded with the Tesco case. As a retailer by trade I have generally found the Police to take a balanced pragmatic view. The reason most solicitors will advise clients to opt for Jury trial is because it is easier to convince a jury of reasonable doubt than it is a magistrate, particularly if the amount is small. From what I have read in relation to the shirt incident the reasonable doubt existed from the outset, £170 spend vs a fiver stolen. I am surprised the police did not advise no further action.

If that's true, then it's even more ridiculous.

Such was my disgust, that I decided to boycott Tesco. Until I found out they had Oyster Bay at half price.

Still half price?

No comparison between these two cases, I am surprised the police proceeded with the Tesco case. As a retailer by trade I have generally found the Police to take a balanced pragmatic view. The reason most solicitors will advise clients to opt for Jury trial is because it is easier to convince a jury of reasonable doubt than it is a magistrate, particularly if the amount is small. From what I have read in relation to the shirt incident the reasonable doubt existed from the outset, £170 spend vs a fiver stolen. I am surprised the police did not advise no further action.

[yet]

have to say I don't see what the attraction is with Dyas, someone suggested playing in the HF line come championship WTF? I have yet to see him play well for Armagh

I think he's over rated myself and what has he achieved in club football to warrant a call up. A spell in Aussie Rules seems to be enough, he may well be a lot better than i think but i haven't seen it yet

The lad has just come back from a serious injury. In each game he has played that i have seen he has not lookked out of place at all. He seldom wastes a ball and the ball he sends in to the forwards is good ball.What do you want from him?

All about opinions I disagree, good going forward but shaky in defence and with none of AK's vision or playmaking skills.

I personnally don't see what Paul Diffy has to offer and although a defender of Moriarty in the past (pardon the pun) I thought he was way off on Saturday.

Couldn't disagree more, Duffy was one of the few consistant players for Armagh throughout the league and championship last year. Not the best out and out defender, but when his defence abilities are coupled with his strength going forward then he certainly has a lot to offer (especially with the state of the half forward line last year). And as for Finn Mo, first competitive match in the best part of 5 months after playing most of the championship with an injury, after being imo Armagh's best player of the league. Didn't think he was that far off the mark anyway, a bit rusty but so was McKeever and McDonnell. Got forward a couple of times, provided a few good balls to the forward line and had a good intercept too. Personally, Duffy and Moriarty would be two of the first names on my team-sheet.

As I said in my opinion I don't see what Duffy offers I've been watching him for a couple of years now, would take your point on Mo though as I said a bit disappointing I suppose given that he's just back from honeymoon he's bound to be a bit of the pace.

[yet]

have to say I don't see what the attraction is with Dyas, someone suggested playing in the HF line come championship WTF? I have yet to see him play well for Armagh

I think he's over rated myself and what has he achieved in club football to warrant a call up. A spell in Aussie Rules seems to be enough, he may well be a lot better than i think but i haven't seen it yet

I think most people remember the Dyas that inspired the Abbey, he has yet to reach those heights with the county, but injury has hammpered his development. He deserves a little more time. I personnally don't see what Paul Diffy has to offer and although a defender of Moriarty in the past (pardon the pun) I thought he was way off on Saturday.

Mixed feelings regarding tonight, gifted Dublin the early lead and if you take that first (joke of a) goal out of the game our prospects in this division seem a lot more positive. That said I am still disappointed that we lost, especially with about ten mins to go we had made a great comeback and seemed to have the momentum. Dublin are probably the fitest team in the country so for us to match them in that department was promising. Some good individual displays, CV my MOTM. I have criticised him before but he got through a mountain of work tonight. Likewise Nippy, wasn't convinced with him at FF but after tonight he has more than proved his worth in that position. BJP was good for when he was on and C McKeever also played very well.

I felt our biggest problem tonight was fannying about in defence, especially full back line and also the quality of ball going into the FF line - granted the second half was much improved as McDonnell stroked some classy points. Feel McEvoy needs to up his game, although I was at the opposite end in the stand I felt he could have done more for the second goal and feel he is at fault. Had it been big Hearty he'd have taken man and ball.

Hearty would probably have stopped both, that said the defending wasn't good in the runup to both.

Tend to agree with Hardstation on this. She shouldnt be stealing and she told lies the whole way to the Court instead of admitting it. Whats she stealing jeans about? Ya play with fire ya get burnt end of story and before anyone starts about my car misdemenours i have paid for them!

Hypocrite. The £10 is a whole lot less than you would have defrauded the exchequer of with your red diesel etc.

Punishment doesn't fit the crime here.

Actually it does, she could have opted to plead guilty in frot of a magistrate but instead chose to go fory trial by jury at a cost to the Government or about £20K which plonkers like me and you have to fund.

Yes, so to really rub it in, jail her for three months which will double what plonkers like me and you have to fund.

It'll only be 6 weeks if she is good, and it will deter theives. shop lifting costs jobs and adds more to a retailer's margin than your average VAT rise when you consider the loss of goods and the cost of prevention.

Tend to agree with Hardstation on this. She shouldnt be stealing and she told lies the whole way to the Court instead of admitting it. Whats she stealing jeans about? Ya play with fire ya get burnt end of story and before anyone starts about my car misdemenours i have paid for them!

Hypocrite. The £10 is a whole lot less than you would have defrauded the exchequer of with your red diesel etc.

Punishment doesn't fit the crime here.

Actually it does, she could have opted to plead guilty in frot of a magistrate but instead chose to go fory trial by jury at a cost to the Government or about £20K which plonkers like me and you have to fund.

wouldnt be too harsh on O'Rourke just yet, they've been missing maybe 8 players that would normally start and whatever new cross players that would potentially come into the panel.  I'd save the judgements for when he has a full complement of players to pick from

I would agree, POR hasn't had a full panel yet. The McKenna Cup has been littered with poor performancesin the past. My one concern is perhaps the over complicated nature of some of our play and donal Murtaghs defensive mindset. I would like to see us attack and score more. The players are there. Why is Tasker not being considered, given the rave reviews he got in last years Cross games.

I think James Morgan is our best hope for CB.
We're a bit light there at the minute.

I'm maybe being naive but I don't want to see us counteracting a defensive set up like Antrim's by flooding our own defence like we have done a lot in the past. If O'Rourke wants us to be a bit more offensive then I'm all for that. The personnel on the pitch yesterday will not be within an asses roar of what will be on it come the business end ( I counted 5 players that started championship last year, with 3 of them playing out of position and the other two (V Martin and M Mackin) hardly counted as mainstays of our team). Ciaran McKeever and Brendan Donaghy, in particular won't allow the same gaps in our defence that were in evidence yesterday.

I think you've hit the nail there mackers, altough I think you were harsh with you earlier assessment of AK.

I hear that clown murtagh was way out of his depth today!!

A bit unfair to call him a clown. It was surprising though that he wasn't taken off until 60/65 minutes. Full back line was a disaster. Paul Duffy was nowhere to be seen as McGourty pulled the strings and Toner was too slow always behind his man and didn't look like a full back. I don't think too many of the absentees have much to worry about. Grugan was the shining star and Clarke and McParland deserved longer on the pitch than some others. Dyas played well. We had had noone to win the dirty ball around the middle. Lavery was up against three men all the time. McEvoy in goals was poor, the goal seemed to shatter any confidence he had. Having said all that the quality of ball O'Rourke and Murtagh were getting was also poor.

Billy Joe WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! O'Rourke must go, if your going to take blow ins at least take a decent one.

Not that long ago they were saying the same thing about John Donaldson.

Well Donaldson was a born and bred Armagh man to be fair.

To suggest that O'Rourke should be sacked for utilising all the playing resources available to him is pathetic, particularly when the player in question clearly has the potential to make a decent contribution to the county.

I wasn't serious about the sacking bit, however Billy Joe struggled with Mayo and in my opinion this is a retrograde step, I would rather see Tasker in there.

Billy Joe WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! O'Rourke must go, if your going to take blow ins at least take a decent one.