Messages

Colin Goss of Louth

I'll have you know that Colin Goss' direct man did not score from play in our entire championship run last year. That's 7 games and not a single score. Now, the opposition mightn't have been top class but it still has to be better than Canty's 2007 All-Star 'credentials'.

Just back from the game myself. I thought it was quite entertaining and played in good spirit. (A few little scuffles but nothing major - I'm not sure what A. Brogan got sent off for cuz i was watching another scuffle down in the corner)

Here are a few of the points which are probably of zero use but sure here it goes:
- Fennell was outsanding in the first half, destroyed McGrane totally and should have been left on him when Whelan came on as McGrane started to have an influence on the game a bit more.
- Whelan is dirty 
- Aaron Kernan was good in the second half comig out of defense but B.Brogan (Dubs best forward) must have scored 1-2/1-3 from play,
- Vaughan hardly touched the ball and McKeever was obviously out to ruffle him up (which he done by the book from what I could see)
- Dublin's full back line was shocking, Clarke absolutely destroyed McConnell. I think he's a fantastic player. If Shane Lennon plays half as well as that in the championship we'd be in with a shout. McDonnell mixed the good with the bad bbut finished up with a goal and a few points.
- I liked the look of P. McKeever today, sprayed the ball around well but that was in large part to C. Moran (who was terrible and hardly touched the ball) dropping back in front of the full back line for the entire match. The Armagh crowd didn't seem too confident in his free-taking though 
- M. O'Rourke must have covered every blade of grass and won a mountain of ball.
- A lot of Dublin's big players didn't show - Cullen (who IMO hasn't played well in 2-3 years), Keaney, Moran, Vaughan etc.
- The referee was good in the first half but seemed to give Dublin a lot in the 2nd.
- P. Andrews gave McDonnell a rough time of it in the second half

Can someone PM me the details please? A couple of our lads are related to Gaels folk and I heard some quare stories about the Cavan panel so I would like to hear the details! As BHMan says, I'm worse than a woman!

Sligonian, trust me, I'm delighted we won despite us playing poorly and Sligo putting us under serious pressure. From what I have seen, Sligo shouldn't be in the position they are in. And, even though I believe, the ref favoured Sligo, yous were unlucky with the added time, again the referees fault.

But it really annoys me how bad the standard of refereeing is at the minute. I know they have a tough job etc. etc. but can we not expect an, at the very least, impartial ref?

Another thing, is it not a bit unfair to have a Down ref refereeing the game when Down are in our league? Especially when the game was a must-win game for both teams.

[it is very annoying to drive 3 hours to a game and have to endure such poor officials.]

Although I dont want to use it as an excuse for the defeat to Leitrim yesterday, but the referee was terrible. Even the Leitrim fans couldnt understand some of his decisions, he gave them everything. The Leitrim players copped on to this pretty quickly and played to his style of refereeing, at one stage I thought DJ Kane was using a sniper rifle in the stand to take them out, they were acting like they had been shot when in truth there was only minimal if any contact. Its not the first time this has happened this year and not just to down as well, but it is very annoying to drive 3 hours to a game and have to endure such poor officials.

Well, that's it DG, people show so much passion for our games and travel to every corner of the country to see their team only to see them cheated out of it by a sub-standard ref. Surely we should expect a basic standard of refereeing at least, it's not that hard to ask is it? I'm aware that if Louth lost yesterday this thread would look like sour grapes but the fact of the matter is the ref was so bad he ruined any chance of the game being enoyable to watch, regardless of the scoreline

Awh I know that, it's not often we win when we play absolutely terrible. I'll give refs credit where it is due but it just seems that the refs we have had the whole season have been absolutley brutal. While we can't blame the refs for the results we have had this year, the standard of refereeing has made the football terrible to watch.

I was at the Louth Sligo game yesterday and I just can't put my frustration to bed. While we (luckily) won, I'm still totally bewildered at the standard of refereeing. There hasn't been one game this year where you could say the ref was decent. The standard of refereeing yesterday was abysmal, if it was the English Premiership the ref wouldn't see the light of day again. From all reports, the ref at the Armagh Meath game was just as bad. I honestly think that that the standard of refereeing has a lot to do with the poor standard of football we are looking at.

Am I just being a total grouch or is there some truth to what i am saying?

I wouldn't usually start a thread like this but seein as there are a few Sligonians posting I might as well.

At the start of the year both teams would have imagined themselves at the other end of the table but sure you have to go with what you have. Following Louth's heavy beating of Sligo in 2006, we will have to be wary of Sligo looking for revenge. If we can perform to near the level of the Longford game I think we should win. I have to say Sligo have really disappointed since their Connaught win, if we had to have beat Cork last year, I think we would have easilt beat Sligo in the Quarters. They still seem to be poor in the forward line and may try to employ their defensive game on Sunday.

I'll go with a 3-4 point win for Louth. However, a good performance will be more important

[The knives are being sharpened.]

Well.

That's that then.

The knives are being sharpened.

Glad I didn't travel. Auld Shamrock said Longford today were a joke - and a bad one at that.

Will someone please think of the children.

Was thinking that myself SS. From the body language and attitude from the players I guess that Dempsey ha stayed a year or two too long?

I have absolutely no sympathy for Damien Freeman - vaughan deserved to go i ave no problem with that he was stupid enough to rise to the bait. But Freeman acted the gurrier for the previous 40 mins. Now when i played Gaelic Football - what went around , came around. So if you acted the bollix like Freeman last Sunday- some day, some opponent was going to level you with a box. Now i'm not saying that's desirable in Gaelic Football, but in a physical contact game somewhere along the line some opponent will do you if you carry on like that.
My only regret is that Vaughan was stupid enough to take the bait- and it's something he has to correct. I agree pillar shouldn't have shook his hand- because i wouldn't have- but Monaghan came down to play a particular brand of football and gave as good as they got in both the verbals and the physical stakes- something a lot of people here don't seem to recognise.
I think Pillar has to get a grip though of his management team. There is too many of them running around like lunatics. If you're not an official selector- you should be sitting with the subs- that's my view. So i think some of the criticism of Caffrey is warranted but i repeat i have no sympathy for D Freeman based on what i saw last sunday.

Personally i think Indiana has a point here. Both teams gave as good as they got so I wouldn't make a big deal of it.

Te headbutt incident is an absolute disgrace and I would treat that as a separate incident altogether althoug Pillar seriously has to reign in his selectors/backroom team members

Lads, I think we all need to calm down a wee bit! This thread is turning into a bit of a farce.

Granted Pillar probably shouldn't have shook Vaughan's hand but maybe he didn't realise the offence was as bad or whatever, it's too hard for any of us to guess what was going on in anyones head at any given time, never miind in a high pressure situation like that. I've no doubt that Vaughan recived a few harsh words behing closed doors, if he didn't then Pillar is a worse manager than I thought. Vaughan should have been taken off at half time but that IMO has more to do with Pillar's inadequacies than anythin else.

Bingobus, to say that Vaughan was not on the receiving end of any 'treatment' is a bit rich. Monaghan haven't shied away from that end of things in the last few years and it was clear from watching it on telly that there was quite a bit of sledging etc. from both sides. Don't be trying to paint Monaghan out as totally innocent

I think Pillar has acted appropriately since the game, he has done everything which I would expect from any other manager

Fair play AZ, keep 'er coming! Looking forward to the next one

I thought the central defence of Liverpool was all over the place, they where caught out 3 or 4 times with simple long balls over the top and did not look comfortable all day in anything they done.  As much as i like Carragher, i think he is starting to slow and is not the dominate force he once was at the back.  To me its looks like Agger, when he is back, will partner Skertal as we need to build for the future.

I agree, DD12. Carragher, I thought, had a mare and think his performances are beginning to tail off, very worrying, particularly in the absence of Agger. Rooney, however, would cause problems for most defences and only for Reina would have had a hatful.

I'm not sure if I would subscribe to the idea that Torres was kicked around the place by Ferd/Vidic. I just thought lumping balls up to Torres, on his own against a quality defence, was crazy. He got no help whatsoever and I think Crouch could have helped him. The sending off didn't allow Rafa to bring him on though.

Although the sending off (and Torres' yellow) were harsh, I think it was important to note that the referees were going to cut down on backchat considering what happened with Ashley Cole. Saying that, how many times can Rooney get away with telling the ref to f*uck off and not get a yellow??

Something similar to Benny, tough work!

I would only do it again if I was getting paid 

As a neutral (with a slight leaning towards Monaghan mind  ), I thought it was quite an entertaining game played in tough conditions and on a tight pitch which often leaves it hard to play attractive fastflowing football and make scores from play. I believe it also contributed to a lot of the niggling (which both teams were guilty of, let's be honest).

There are negatives and positives to be taken for both teams. Dubs were missing there 3 All-Stars and the Vins lads (even though they will struggle to make the team IMO) while Monaghan where missing, as someone said, one of their top players in McQuaid. Hanratty will also make a big difference when the pitch is hard and there is more space to exploit. Both teams, when ahead by 4/5 points should have closed out the game but in the end I wold say a draw was a fair result, neither team will get to down about it. Monaghan have indeen taken a more physical approach to the game which was seen against Kerry too and I wonder will that come against them later in the year, especially when some of their players 'fall' very easily for frees.

On the Dublin side, I would have reservations on Whelan, I know the Dubs think he's a bit of a God but, honestly, will he make THAT much of an impact? He has played feck all ball the last couple of years. IMO Shane Ryan is the leading Dubs midfielder at present, despite what the great Pillar thinks