Messages

I hate to say it because I am not particularly fond of the man - he comes across as a right arrogant so and so, but I think John Maughan could be the man to shake up the squad. I know he didnt endear himself to the Rossie folk, but he broke up the old boys club click that existed within their county team, similiar to what we have now. I think he is the man to ruffle up some of the old guard (if rumours are to be believed some of these guys were telling younger members of the squad to take it handy at training and slow down!!)
I think we would need a fairly tactically astute selector/assistant along with him as his past record in this regard is pretty shocking - Mayo /Meath All Ireland Final being the prime example.
Paudi O'Shea has Sligo connections and we all now that his motivational powers brought a provincial title to a Westmeath team who played with serious heart. Would be serious moneyimplications though and distance is also an issue here.
Mickey Moran is an option (think he got shafted by Mayo), but doubt he would take the job again.

Luke Dempsey is knocking around after his stint at Longford, Mulgrew is available.
At the end of the day the co board need to get the finger out and appoint someone at the very latest by first week in October. We do not want the situation like this year when players fitness levels never reached the levels of the Brehony campaign because the hard miles were not put in in the winter months.
I know SLIGONIAN that you have reservations about O Flaherty at u-21, but I have talked to some of the lads who played at this level and also at senior level last year  and they have said his training and dedication to detail was way ahead of what was encountered in the senior set up this year. I would definetly have him as u-21 manager again next year and I think that he should be involved with some level with the seniors with a view to grooming him for the senior job in a few years.

F*ck ye lads, if ye are out there will ye at least give our players a chnce for next year and appoint someone soon!!!!

Same as that

Was chatting a few mayomen and they were very negative about mayo and some said they wont be going to that game. Locally in North Sligo there is big demand for tickets which is unusual for my area especially at this time of year. Really hope a huge Sligo crowd goes, big lift for the players when they run out to a sea of black and white......

Interestingly a Mayoman is tipping Sligo to win in the Sligo weekender newspaper.

John Bannon from longford is down for the referee. That should ensure a fair game.

I would say Mr McHale was saying that with tongue firmly in cheek!!

A good enough draw for our seniors against Curry on Saturday night keeps us in the hunt for Division 1. We were missing quite a few starters and played well in the first half with the breeze. Curry upped it in the second half but were very wasteful. Eventually the scores came and in the end we were hanging on a bit but that point could be vital.

Less said about our Div 4 "efforts" the better. Absolutely disgraceful stuff. We were very short, kicked about 20 wides and a crazy decision by the ref (influenced by some eejits yahooing and acting the pr**k on the sideline) reduced us to 14 after about 15 minutes but even still the performance was abject. Disgusted.

Elsewhere - the wheels seem to have come off completely for Johns. Talking about county finals v. Tourlestrane one week and losing to Cloonacool the next.

Have Ballisodare improved much since the soccer season has ended Seanie? Where are there best players positioned?
We got beat by Mullinabreena in a game where if we had a bit more composure from our forwards we could easily have won. They have  a few very nippy forwards, seem to concentrate a lot on goals. I still cant see them going too far in the Inter champ. I think they are over reliant on Shane o brien who was class act for them yesterday around the half forward line. O Donnell of the high shorts made a few riculous calls in this game - no change there.
Looks like it could be a very tight end to the season in the chase for second place. We have lost some momentum, with the emphasis on the inter champ. Marys and Tour seem to be coming strong. Could get interesting, I would nt like to call it.

McGuire did fine, same old. looks in fine shape considering the injury. Naughton was the big suprise, not his biggest fan, well not at fullback anyway but the lad is brimming with confidence and that was a powerful display he put in as third midfielder. If mcguire does start fb well if naughton is dropped and mcnamara starts he can feel very hard done IMO.

Was at the game there also Sligonian. I am starting to have serious reservations about starting MMac against Mayo. He contributed absoulutely nothing last night as third midfielder as against Mayo. As you say Naughton won serious ball in 2nd half as 3rd midfielder. Could be an option against Mayo.

Div 4 result from last Night. St.Michaels 2-17, St.Molaise Gaels 1-7.
St Michaels very strong with many of their Intermediate team playing.
We struggled to field (our intermediate manager made it known that anyone who was togged on sunday for Inter champ aginst St.Michaeals was to be at training last night and not go to the game - by the look of that result its more games and not training thats needed)and brought on a lad in the second half for his debut in a pair of tracksuit bottoms!!

Was over at the game for the weekend. Sligo started very slow and were hesitant in possession and not winning much around the middle of the park. Londons big midfielder Waldron went off and Sligo started to come in to it. Londons defenders could not keep up with the pace of Gaughan , Kelly and Davey and were resorting to pulling and dragging. It would have come to no surprise if they had  two or three sent off for persistant and blatant fouling. There was a nice bit of late hitting. McNamara seemed to get a few slaps off the ball, including a blatant punch to the nether regions. O'Hara done serious chirping to the ref and on one occasion was running side by side with the linesman roaring at him "are you watching it!!!?" when some off the ball antics were taking place. I have great time for the man but have this awful feeling if he persists with that kind of crack he wont last long on the pitch against the muck savages.
The highlight of the first half for me was Egan's play at CHB. He hit hard and mopped up serious breaks. Defo better option than MMcN. McN was playing in a kid of roving role around CHF but disappointingly he did not win one break in the first half and curiously seemed to pull away from the action in the direction of the opponents 21 on our kick outs. Interstingly in the second half he was stationed on our own 45 for our kickouts and attacked the break from there and won several of them.
We crowded the midfield sector a lot during the game and tried to isolate Kelly and Davey in a 2 man ff line with Gaughan getting up to support them. 75% of our scores came from frees on these three men. Mayo will be way more disciplined.
Player ratings
Greene- 6 - not a lot to do, looked a bit uncomfortable under one high ball. A few poor kicks out. Penalty hit straight at him.
Charlie- 7 - Done his usual high standard job
Naughton-6-  Does not look at home at FB, however done what he had to do, gave away one ridiculous free for a shove on the back on the 21, hopefully Noel back for Mayo
Ross- 7 - As per Charlie
Mcgovern- 6 - Great tackling as usual, but still no confidence shooting. Turned back on the 21 at one stage a la in croker last year.
Egan- 8 - Superb work rate and tackling . Great hard hitting and reading of the game at CHB. Needs to learn to keep the head though, at one stage thought he was going to get himself sent off.
McHugh- 7 - Impressive debut. Got stuck in, highlight was a superb pass of 40 yards along the right wing in the 1st half to set up a score. Don't know will he have the experience for Mayo. I hope he proves me wrong.
Quinn - 5 - Looked a bit off the pace. Had one of those days when everything went wrong from passing to soloing. We need him Back to last years standards for Mayo game.
O'Hara- 7- Not the all action O'Hara of a few years back. Now sticking to playing between the two 45s. Broke ball well in the 2nd half. Has to learn to keep quiet.
McNamara-5- Disappointing. Got a few hits and did not seem to like it. Won a few breaks when playing in a deeper role in 2nd half. Taken off near the end
Curran-6- Got a nice point. Not as prominent at the breakdown as usual. Tried for goals a few times when a point was the easy option
Brehony-9 - Some achievement to score 1-11 in a championship game regardless of opposition. Seems to have bulked up and toughened up a fair bit. Got hit by three London lads in one clash and never budged.
Gaughan- 9- My MOTM, Excellent work rate and willingness to tackle back. Most impressive thing for me was that he sees a gap and goes for it unlike our usual failing in turning back looking to offload to someone else.
Davey-8 - won a lot of frees. Hit a great free from 45 on the sideline in first half with that short run up. Cant help feeling that he plays better running on to the ball and towards goal than away from it. The ball in against Mayo will have to be better. Too much ball played out to the corners will allow Mayo corner backs to swallow up Jonny and Kelly
Kelly- 8 - As per J Davey.

Now to castlebar-who knows, I for one think we can do it.

 I would love utd to Play the following team:
         Vds
Brown      Ferd      Vidic      Evra
                 Hargreaves          Scholes       Anderson

  Ronaldo             Rooney              Tevez   

He seems to have gone off Anderson lately. I think he is a serious player and would be one of my first names down.   

I think Fergie will pick the following:
            Vds
Brown      Ferd      Vidic      Evra
Ronaldo        Fletcher              Scholes       Carrick      Park
            Rooney

I have a feeling he will pick Fletcher for this game. He is never afraid to throw him in for big games, plus he had a stormer earlier on in league at OT.   Don't think he will go with both rooney and tevez in starting 11, as who can you leave on bench to make impact if needed. Sicknote Saha??


Think Chelsea if all available will be:
            Cech
Essien      Terry         Carvalho      Cole
            Makelele
      Lampard         Ballack
   Cole                     Malouda
            Diver(sorry drogba)

      

Well Sligonian, I had €100 on them last year at 16/1 but I am sorry when I say I wont be putting a red rex on them til after I see what kind of performance they put in over in London.

So you wouldn't put on money now, but you might on the basis of a performance against London?! There's not much logic to that, is there?  London are an unknown quantity each year - Sligo could beat them by 25 points and still be hammered by their next opponents.  The London game will tell you very little about where Sligo are.

What I was getting at Maguire was the team selection for the London game. I think the team can perform way better if the team selection is correct and players are picked where they are best suited. I dont think the manager knows his best starting 15 if the league is anything to go by.The experiment of moving Maguire out from Full back was madness. The full back line has picked itself for the last two years.
So that is why I am withholding judgement until after the London game.

Well Sligonian, I had €100 on them last year at 16/1 but I am sorry when I say I wont be putting a red rex on them til after I see what kind of performance they put in over in London. Thought it good value last year as Ros kinda were not in good form and who knows in a one off game in the final. To win Connacht this year we would have to put two serious performances back to back (semi and Final). Are we capable of it? Time will tell. Would be some feeling leaving McHale with a win (If we beat London!)

Ya MS, how did i get them mixed up!!! He makes some strange decisions, but i never seen anyone get too thick with him! He usually ends up balancing out the decisions by the end of the game. How many more years has red left in him? Himself and McHale must be having some kind of competition!! Seamus Hoey seems to be getting in on the act now as well. Really enjoying the division this year. Its a dream playin with some of our younger lads. Hopefully in 2-3 years time we will be on the up.

We just about fielded as well Seanie, Our 15th Man took to the pitch 10 minute in almost under the radar of Cathal O'Donnell. Draw a fair result I think. Good Battle.

As for Con, well as Seanie said he has the medals to show for his efforts, and if your clubmen had half the commitment then maybe ye wouldn't be such a useless shower for an amalgamation of that size.

Granted the comments re the much travelled Con were also despicable. However, OMS, I don't think you are in a position to throw around comments about St.Molaise Gaels and their commitment. What do you know of the levels of commitment shown by players from this club. Are you there at 8 O'Clock in the morning keeping a watching eye when these lads are pounding the beach in Mullaghmore?  I am sure you play football yourself and  you will know that playing club football at even Intermediate level requires a serious level of of dedication. So to condemn Sligonian (rightly) for his comments and simultaneously insult his club smacks of double standards.

Sligonian. Jesus man, you are losing the run of yourself. I know we are all pissed off with the way things are going at the moment, but to make comments like that about one of your own is in my opinion the most cowardly act. Would you say this to him face to face if you met him. From what I hear he is one of the more dedicated trainers on the Sligo Senior Panel. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as long as it is a reasoned one. I feel you should retract those disgraceful comments about E.McHugh. I am disgusted.
Getting back to the u-21 game. It was a serious Jekyl and Hyde performance. In the first half our midfield were outstanding and working in tandem with one another. One stayed put and minded the middle whilst the other broke forward and vice -versa. Henry was superb in the that 1st half. Super ball being deliverd into the full forward line. One criticism I would have is I thought Kelly could have got a few more scores. If only he had the conviction to put the ball over when he steals the half yard on his man. Coen did nt have to think twice about it.
As always seems to be the case the game changed when  they went down to 14. They seemed to flood the defence and play a running game supporting their men before letting the ball in quick once they crossed the half way line. The Sligo management tried deploying Ewing in front of the full back line but he didnt really influence matters. I cant remenber us winning primary possesion too often in the second half. Look ross built up a serious head of steam, but I would like to see how many kickable frees that Sligo conceded to Shine in the 2nd half. I would guess that if we had cut out some ot those frees we would have held on. Its all ifs and buts now.
Yet again Sligonian I think you should retract those comments.

Good news alright MS. Something has to be done about this blatant body check tackle in Gaelic football when the man in possession offloads and goes to re-recieve. O'Hara has been a victim of this allthrough his career and it seems to wind him up when these lads go unpunished. Could not make Carrick, but heard something along those lines happened, ie he took out the man before he could be body checked and the man went down like a woman.  Heading to Kiltoom tomorrow, hopefully the young lads can show the same grit and determination as against Galway. I am hoping for a serious backlash from the seniors against Fermanagh. Hope they have the fire back in the belly. Dont want Louth away ending up as a do or die game!