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if smyth starts ahead of finaly, I'll be amazed...

I can also see McKenna starting somewhere

Big Benny is a fine fielder of the ball but isn't mobile enough to play against Tyrones midfield. He wouls be something similar to Donegals midfielder (Name?) who got cleaned out against Tyrone and was lost for most of the game. May make an introduction at some stage though but I think McManus would be one of first in, similar type of player to a Tyrone clone.

I agree with Finlay and have heard he will start but you tend to here these things when there is so much hype in a build up to a match.

  If Finlay does start you'd have to think that he'll either directly replace Smyth at centre-half OR start at wing half forward which would push Dick back to MF which in turn would push JP back to wing half back which would unfortunately in turn push Donal Morgan to the bench!

  I know this would be harsh but am I right in thinkin that they should start with the 'most experienced' players at their disposal or is that a bit old-fashioned/short-sighted/unfair?

I'd rather start now without Finlay - see how the team gets on without him - especially if he's not up to full fitness. Then if we do need to introduce him, it could be a great psychological boost to the rest of the team - and lift the crowd. It would be much better than pushing him to start when he's not ready and then seeing him being substituted, especially if we were behind at the time.

I can get it in Dublin ,dont know what your chances would be any further South .

it's an Ulster GAA paper so i doubt it's circulated south of Ulster at all.

Availability is the biggest problem.  It's a nightmare to get in Belfast - i managed to track down one newsagent in Holywood that stock it, otherwise a trip up the west is required. You'd at least thing that Eason's would stock it. Gonna be hard to establish a publication if you can't readily buy it!
If ever there was an time to establish it in Monaghan it would be tomorrow's issue. If they have any business sense they would overstock every newsagent in the county.

There are a number of reasons why this team is different to the team that lost to Tyrone in 2005:

1 - They now have belief. Don't underestimate the power of this. When a team is used to winning, they win - for the first time in years, Monaghan are used to back to ack wins (both in the League and Championship).

2 -  They had a year in division 1 where they beat Dublin by double scores and only narrowly lost out to Tyrone and Kerry. They're not afraid of the 'big' teams.

3 - They can now play for 70 minutes.  They have the fitness and the stamina (no doubt, in part at least, due to McElkennon). Importantly, they don't drop the heads if they slip behind in the second half. They play a full game.

4 - A few new men. Hanratty in particular - having a second nippy forward means that double marking Tommy may leave Hanratty exposed or vice versa. We're no longer firing into just one man on the forward line.

5 - We'll have a 16th man on sunday.

6 - We'll have an almighty hunger.

Congrats to Sligo!

There was a massive cheer at the game in Clones on Sunday when the result was announced over the PA.

Let's hope Monaghan can do the same on Sunday!

Is there home advantage for the Ulster Final? I'd assume ticket availability is 50/50 - with Tyrone having a much larger population and traditionally big support, they might even have more people there.  Add that to the fact that Tyrone have played way more championship games in Clones in the past few years. I can't really see any 'home advantage' being a factor.

Just up on RTE.ie

Monaghan unchanged for Ulster final
Tuesday, 10 July 2007 20:39
Monaghan manager Seamus McEnaney has named the same XV that started against Derry in the semi-final for Sunday's final against Tyrone in Clones at 2.15pm.

The only changes the Monaghan manager has made are positional.

In the defence, Damien Freeman switches to the left half-back position where he will pick up Brian Dooher thereby putting the two captains in direct opposition.

John Paul Mone is moved to midfield and is most likely to pick up on Sean Cavanagh while Shane smith moved to the 40 in a switch with Rory Woods.

Monaghan hope to end their 19-year wait for an Ulster title when they take on Mickey Harte's side.

Monaghan:

1 S Duffy,
2 D Mone, 3 V Corey, 4 D McArdle,
5 D Morgan, 6 G McQuaid, 7 D Freeman (Capt),
8 E Lennon, 9 JP Mone,
10 D Clerkin, 11 S Smyth, 12 S Gollogly,
13 C Hanratty, 14 R Woods, 15 T Freeman.

No surprises with personnel, but a few positional tweaks. Not sure i'd have Woods at FF - he's one of our better distance kickers, although Smyth has been a bit lost up front, so who knows.

Monaghan team will be somthing like this:

Shane Duffy
Dessie Mone
Vinny Corey
Dermot Mc Ardle
Donal Morgan
Gary Mc Quaid
Damian Freeman
Lennon
JP Mone
Dick Clerkin
Shane Smith
Stephen Gollogly
Ciaran Hanratty
Woods
Tommy

In truth, the team hasn't changed much during the year - a few positions are fluid, but most of the rest is a given.
Potential subs during the game could be:
IN
Finlay, McManus, MyElroy, McKenna
OUT
Clerkin/Woods, Smith, McArdle

Yes, but for Antrim, you'd probably have to discount at least 60-70% of the population to get a better idea of the population that would play/have an interest in/have schools who participate in GAA.

Ah, I see. So when calculating the pool for potential GAA fans in a particular county, you discount people who have no interest in the GAA - except in Dublin. Thanks for that.

Well no, obviously.  But it's a bigger issue in northern counties. 

I wasnt seriously comparing Dublin GAA and London or NY , i just hate this population argument .
At the end of the day their are many soccer/rugby/other sports clubs in parts of the world  with far larger populations who would love to get 20,000 in crowds let alone 80,000

Having a small population has never done Kilkenny any harm.
Having a large population has never done Antrim any good.

As you say, population isn't everything.

Yes, but for Antrim, you'd probably have to discount at least 60-70% of the population to get a better idea of the population that would play/have an interest in/have schools who participate in GAA.

Using the approximate figures below for comparison:

Monaghan - Population 55,000
Dublin - Population 1186,000

A crowd of 82,000 Dubs represents approx 6.7% of the county's population.
If only 6.7% of Monaghan's population was to turn up, there'd be a grand total of 3685 at their games.

I know these are very crude measurements, but 82,000 looks much less impressive when you do consider the population differences.
Yes, the Dubs do bring great support and money to the games (although not always in time for the start of the game  ), but to ignore the population in your analysis just doesn't work.

I read that there was a grand attendance at the Antrim/Kilkenny match of............wait for it.........31!
Antrim could have dedicated a score to each punter!

Did Calvo start against Fermanagh? I know he kicked the winner but can't mind if he started a championship game the year. He's a big miss, class act on his day..

Don't think he started, but was pretty effective when he came on - not least for the last point. He would be a loss.

What's population got to do with it. I don't see 80,000 turning up to see London or NY play

No Gaelic grounds in London or NY holds 80,000 Gnevin

Ok but their a city's in UK and Europe that have over 2 million people and the local soccer team wouldnt get anywhere near 20,000 let alone 80,000 and its not like following the Dubs is a sure thing . Like the bigger clubs in the uk

How can you compare dublin GAA with London or New York?
Firstly, it's largely only ex-pats who play/watch GAA outside Ireland. Secondly, London has how many premiership clubs? (I honestly don't know - i'm not into soccer, but i know there's a few and would guess that if there was only one, they'd hardly have a problem topping 80,000) You're argument doesn't really stand up.
You can't separate the level of support for Dublin from the fact that it has over 20% of the country's population.

I'm confused. I was at this game as a neutral and thought Stephen was one of Armagh's best players!