Messages

[Canavans esp Ruari. Is he still on the panel?]

Tyrone can surely beat Mayo. Kobe McDonnell had some superb moments in last 2 matches and l would sacrifice Teague to track him. Would also bring in 2 more from u20 squad esp McDermott as a strong last 20min goal scorer.
Hope Kennedyy is OK he is surely vital but injury against Rossies looked like recurrance of old problems. And what about the mystery of the Canavans esp Ruari. Is he still on the panel?
About Armagh it is all strong running and strength which fits 2 point game set up. 4 point goal is so badly needed to rebalance 2pt impacts (how to cause dispair from distance, can really suck the heart out of a team conceding or missing these esp. smallish team like Tyrone?)
Also l would bring Morgan out in 2nd half and bring in O'Kane who is good enough now for a game like this. With McElholm really getting the feel of it against Rossies he should surely blossom against black hearted Mayo.  Hit O'Shea a good belt early and he will creep into his shell (its not baywatch ye know boy!). McDonnell is the big danger,mad like his Da too.

Yes he is, RC was with the squad in Roscommon last time out. And on the pitch afterwards with the rest of the team
Kennedys injury looked really bad at first, but he seemed happy enough afterwards as well. On the pitch with a new born.
Fingers crossed a few more men are available v Mayo as squad looked pretty bare last time out. Conor O'Neill from the 20s likely the only realistic chance of making the 26. He's an option for me in the half forward line

I am no gaa manager but how could the lads not see the absolute massacre on the long kick outs and not try to at least mix it up a bit? The abundantly clear reason that game was lost was kick outs and not maintaining possession off our own restarts.

Fantastic year getting to an unexpected final but still a shame to have left that behind.

Staggering stat on teamtalkmag, we won of our own kickouts
We had 26 kickouts

But... What's your plan B then? Kirby & Co are cleaning up at midfield... Do tell. Kerry went man to man they were bigger and better. And they won. How do you stop that?

Whatever about tactics etc Derry had a killer edge, a conviction about them with RG
They've been plaster Paris since. Flakey as hell.

Unbelievable how reluctant they are to kick the ball in direct to a forward
Zero consideration for a 2 point effort until the game is gone

Bringing on a 19yr old, just coming off a serious injury just screamed *desperate*

Not much leadership from the captain either, I'd like to see more grit and determination from him. A bit of anger even.

Hard to know where next for Derry. Some talent there for sure, but just maybe not enough depth in it.

An error strewn performance from Tyrone minors this evening. Tyrone dominant in the middle third, but left a ton of scores behind...
high ceiling if they can improve their score efficacy

With Kennedy's ongoing injury and fitness concerns, hopefully Oguz and Ben McDonnell regain fitness soon. Will be a short summer if we are looking at Ruairi McHugh as our next option at midfield.

Sounds like you have an agenda
On the board long enough to recall similar chat when Kennedy arrived on the scene

Conan Canavan (Joe's Son) has the same posture and kicking style as Peter. An excellent display.

How light has that panel got all of a sudden

Yeah shocked at that. 3 lads yet to make a senior appearance - McHugh, McCann & McCaughey

In saying that i feel McHugh in particular should have had minutes before now.

[Realisitically Ciaran Daly Ronan Cassidy and Seanie O'Donnell are all going to start in the half forward line]

I would swop Clarke with Devlin and is Ruari C not fit?. If available l would play him at 12 (other side from the brother)? No word there? Prefer him to Seanie we need more scoring threat than runners there l believe. McCurry great career but l believe only 2nd half 20 min effectively in him at this level now Never strong/big enough ( Brian McGuigan exceptionnal in that regards but not for Dazzler?) or creative enough for CHF wonderful reliable scoring threat and passer inside but shied away from shots he would have scored from, in other days, in last two outings l felt.

Tyrone up next weekend

Morgan

Quinn
Teague
Devlin

Mckernan
Joey Clarke
Mcgeary

Conn
Kennedy

Seanie O'Donnell
Mcelholm
Ben McDonnell

Darragh Canavan
Mattie D
Ethan Jordan

Will they go with Cassidy, Mcelholm, r canavan at 11?

Will Ben McDonnell start again? Conor Oneill will be left for the under 20s surely?

Is there anyone who can come in defensively? No left sided free taker so will McCurry start? 

Realisitically Ciaran Daly Ronan Cassidy and Seanie O'Donnell are all going to start in the half forward line - all are well established at this stage under O'Rourke and while they come in for criticism I find it hard to see them not starting
Inside you are probably looking at Darragh Canavan and Mattie Donnelly and one of Jordan McCurry or McElholm.

Niiiiiiii we are getting to the reason

For the record I would have Seanie O'Donnell playing from wing back and my preferred half forward line would be something like Cassidy McElholm Oguz.

Oguz has never done it in a Tyrone shirt. Super footballer with size and athleticism. Id probably give him another chance in there - just because of the sheer lack of options. Half forward line is such a crucial line on the field now. You need to have kick out options, and you must have a 2 point scoring threat.
Rory Gallagher mentioned last night on his Insta page how he would only play Darragh Canavan at 11. I have to say i agree with him. We dont get enough out of DC in the corner. He possesses that 2 point scoring threat, and can penetrate the defensive screen around the arc with his movement and passing ability

Id go

            N Morgan
N Devlin / A Clarke  / C Quinn
M McKernan / P Teague / S O'Donnell
       C KIlpatrick & B Kennedy
J Oguz / D Canavan / K McGeary
R Cassidy / M Donnelly / E McElholm

This game is perfectly set up for the oak leaf. Relatively injury free, waiting in the long grass, with a point to proove.

Derry for me.

Would it not lead to a lot of dead rubber games very early on?

Surely better than no games at all to June!

Develope your squad with more playing time for fringe players

Incentive to make the top half prior to the cut

Walter, i like it!

A good few lads wouldnt have been considered starters at beginning of the year, now showing up very well
Aodhan Quinn, if he was a month younger he'd still be on the minor team instead of the 20s. Superb footballer.
Enda Donaghy very very good also. Hope to see all 5 Donaghy brothers on the Loughmacrory team this year. Adrian McGurren sort of come from nowhere as well - maybe some eyebrows were raised when he made the panel after the McRory cup final, where Liam McGeary Lorcan McMurray and Eoin long all starred yet none made the cut. Paul Dook judgement spot on again.

No skin in the game, I expect Armagh to win this

I just feel its impossible for Down to rise to that level of performance again, two Sundays in a row. The workrate, the tackling, the volume of sprints, the hits... its bound to take its toll.
I expect Armagh to pull away in the last 20. Armaghs greater experience, know how and just sheer muscle memory to come to the fore.

I think the other semi final will be tighter than alot expect. It wouldnt suprise me at all if it went to extra time. But i just think Derry are that wee bit better than Monaghan at the moment.

Armagh v Derry ulster final.

Surely Paul Devlin has to come in as manager at end of the year - a man with a proven track record of developing young talent. A man that wins big games.
Our senior management has won two big games in two years, Dublin (who are not the Dubs of old) and Donegal who had just won Ulster. They failed in every other big game and I see young talent such as O'Hare not even playing.  The man deserves the job.

Paul Dook has done an amazing job at underage level with the U20s and Minors before that. The one criticism that'll be thrown at him is that he's not managed a senior team, at either club or county level. I stand to be corrected on that but I think that's a fairly big question mark that he has against him. It's not one that cant be overcome but it's certainly not irrelevant

I'd say managing  AI winning minor and U20 teams is more important than managing a club team.

You rather have him, in my opinion, with that experience etc., than a lad who's managed a Top 5 club team in Tyrone. No debate about that.

Plus he knows a good cohort of these younger lads coming through the underage system in Tyrone. When U20s is over, I'm sure he watches a lot of senior club games in Tyrone.

He's omnipresent at Tyrone club games.

Im not sure he wants that Senior gig. If he did he would likely have taken a cherry picked senior club side by now. He looks very content where he is.

McCullagh - Long standing back injury
Concannon - Hamstring

Its a pity the final is so soon. Neither lad will be available next week.