Could the wait be over?

[Dougal]

Word was James Reilly, all star nominee goalie from Cavan and Gerard Pierson also from Cavan were over in UK too. Are they not involved with London too?

havent heard any word on reilly,but i believe pierson is back,or coming back soon.yup,he is back,according to the celt he scored 5 points for gowna at the weekend.

[irunthev]

Word was James Reilly, all star nominee goalie from Cavan and Gerard Pierson also from Cavan were over in UK too. Are they not involved with London too?

Gerard had been approached and as far as I know had been training with Tir Chonaill Gaels but as has been pointed out, he is back playing at home now.

I don't know about James Reilly. There was talk of him going to England but he didn't seem to indicate that football was any kind of priority. I truth though, the goalkeeping position isn't a priority for London as Tipperary man Evan Byrne is a top class keeper and has been around for a few years in the squad, as back-up to Brian McBrearty, and also spent a year in NY where he played for them in last year's Connacht Championship. Evan has really earned the right to be London keeper and deserves it, replacing him with someone, even as good as Reilly, would send out a terrible message to the rest of the players.

I believe that Lorcan Mulvey was also in London but I see he is turning out for Cavan at the moment, so I don't know if he is still in London or not. I know London had their eye on him over the winter.

One of the challenges that the management team have is that last year they spent a lot of money on players that weren't included in the Championship panel. At times there were 40 odd players involved. The difficulty with this is firstly, the management need to know at some stage what the panel is and you need to put a value on being included on the panel. If you maintain the revolving-door policy and grabbing every player that comes along and dispensing with the ones you have, then you are never going to achieve anything.

And secondly the whole process becomes extremely expensive and London had serious financial difficulties before the credit crunch, heaven only knows what the finances are like now. In fact at the start of this season, neither the hurlers or the footballers had a sponsor and the hurlers won Div 3 last year and got to Croke Park, so at least they had something to sell to a sponsor, but still failed to get one.. Money is as big an issue in London as it is in Ireland.

One of the reason why Noel Dunning wasn't re-appointed manager last year by the CB was because, in the words of one CB officer he had "no respect for money". The clubs pushed for him to get back as part of a "management team" and he is commonly known as the manager, but in fact the CB stripped him of that title partly because he wasn't really managing anything, he was just facilitated a free-for all and inviting every player in the place on board and costing the CB a fortune, while still not making any real progress with the football team. He works very hard for the team, but he is very inexperienced, and in my view, even though he is now five years managing a losing team, it can only be described as bad experience as you only get a chance to develop when you get things right and have your philosophies proven to be worthwhile.

You could of course argue that he hasn't had decent players before, but at the same time, if an entire team is going to land on his lap this year and they do have success, you could argue that he had little or nothing to do with it and you could give the credit to the banksters, the TDs and the developers!

There has to be a certain honour involved in playing for a county, whatever county it is, but if you step off a plane and are out on the county team the following week, where's the honour? I know plenty of players down through the years who have played for London before they ever played for their club side in London and there would be a few of the current team in that position as club football has started in London this year yet. I also know others who never played for their club side at all, but still played for London. You've hardly bought into the London concept is that's the case.

[AidyMac]

I watched what can only be described as a shambles yesterday at the London V Leitrim game.

I know a few of the lads who play for London, so I am aware of the current issues of what is going on, but yesterday was the first time I saw it happen.

The biggest issue of the lot is the farce that the county board allowed/facilitated 3 mangers to run a team.  Yesterday within the first 20 mins, they had issued different messages to players who looked at them as if to say WTF.

A few other things were a disgrace in allowing players to dictate to the managers of where they want to play, not removing players who were totally out of their depth, but moving them about to keep them on the team; standing along the sideline at halftime in a huddle, smiling for the papers ...

There are more items that could be said, but I will not say, but if this team want to cause an upset, then it is surely time to get this sorted now.  There is talent there, but, form experience, there is only room for 1 man to call the shots on the line.  If there are more than 1, at the very least sing of the same sheet.

[irunthev]

I watched what can only be described as a shambles yesterday at the London V Leitrim game.

I know a few of the lads who play for London, so I am aware of the current issues of what is going on, but yesterday was the first time I saw it happen.

The biggest issue of the lot is the farce that the county board allowed/facilitated 3 mangers to run a team.  Yesterday within the first 20 mins, they had issued different messages to players who looked at them as if to say WTF.

A few other things were a disgrace in allowing players to dictate to the managers of where they want to play, not removing players who were totally out of their depth, but moving them about to keep them on the team; standing along the sideline at halftime in a huddle, smiling for the papers ...

There are more items that could be said, but I will not say, but if this team want to cause an upset, then it is surely time to get this sorted now.  There is talent there, but, form experience, there is only room for 1 man to call the shots on the line.  If there are more than 1, at the very least sing of the same sheet.

I'll have to say that was a shocker of a result yesterday. My fear is that some of the players are better qualified and more experienced than those managing the team. Once players spot a weakness in the manager, then the manager is doomed or in London's case, the three managers are doomed.

Only London could step back to 1920 and install a selection panel instead of an out and out manager, all that they are missing now is the parish priest to have the final say on team selection and the bishop to throw the ball in at the start of each game.

And only the London clubs could install a management committee made up of people that the CB had categorically stated they didn't want and quite obviously couldn't work with. Sadly, now in their 17th season in the league, they have failed to learn one single thing about being a serious inter-county team

[AidyMac]

It is pretty shocking how yesterdays game turned out, but surely they can turn this about

They have the skill and talent, but due to the issue on the sideline, some of the players do not seem interested

[irunthev]

One of the big questions would be - can you build a team capable of winning a game in the Championship in ten weeks? And if you can, why then do teams start training in November and why do teams spend fortunes on trainers, managers and facilities if it is possible to do it so easily?

[Cosmo Kramer]

I see London gave Carlow a good run for their money yesterday. I'd say Carlow and Roscommon would be about on a par at this point in time, so maybe London are starting to get their act together just in time after a bad run earlier in the campaign.

[ross4life]

we beat Louth, lost to Offaly & fermanagh by one point, Antrim by two & wexford beat us with a last minute goal

all those team's would beat london with plenty spare why can't the rossies at least beat london?

[Cosmo Kramer]

Depends what London turn up on the day really, at this stage Ros would take them no bother alright, it's just a case of whether they can get their act together for the championship.

They've gone close against better teams before, they'll surely see the draw this year as an opportunity. But yes, they will definately have to improve further if they're to win.

[irunthev]

There are a few issues starting to raise their heads in London and all will not be plain sailing for them over the next few weeks.
Against Leitrim London played a player from Westmeath called Brian Smyth who is studying in London. They assumed that his transfer has been passed but it hadn't and the player's home club had blocked it. Now the player, as well as the London CB Chairman and Secretary, have all been banned for 48 weeks. I have no idea why this hasn't been a bigger story, but they are appealing the ban this week in the CCC.
It would also appear that Eamon McGee is very unlikely to play for London in the Championship, although there is still a slight possibility as no paper work has been submitted yet but the general vibe doesn't seem too good with regards to his future with London. He didn't play against Roscommon either.
I agree with Rossie though. I, as much as anyone, would love to see London win against Roscommon, but having watched the Roscommon year with great interest, they are no where near as poor as their position would suggest. They have had a few very close calls against very good teams and against both Antrim and Offaly it was the sluggishness of their start that caused the problems for them. London would never score more than 1-6 or 1-7 against a Louth, Antrim or Offaly, not any London team I was involved with and not this current one either. Add to that the boost of the Under-21 crown and you will have a decent Roscommon team pulling into Ruislip. As much as London may have their eyes set on the potential of a Connacht Final, so too do Roscommon.
The Carlow game has to be taken into context and very few teams who play in Ruislip on a Saturday put up any sort of a show. They've generally been traveling all day before the game and have half an eye on a night out after the game. That's what happened to Waterford last year and they ended up losing to London and probably costing themselves promotion. London's midfield on Saturday was made up of their two lads who have been sharing the role of full back all year. Hardly what you would expect at this time of the year.
London will give Ros a decent game in the Championship, they will even give them a scare, but the fact is that London do not know how to win close games, they have zero experience of it, so therefore I would expect Roscommon to squeeze home.

[INDIANA]

Depends what London turn up on the day really, at this stage Ros would take them no bother alright, it's just a case of whether they can get their act together for the championship.

They've gone close against better teams before, they'll surely see the draw this year as an opportunity. But yes, they will definately have to improve further if they're to win.

London haven't a hope in hell of beating Roscommon. They haven't been able to get the best players over there to play for them. If they got them out they'd have a chance. But London is a nightmare for trying to get people together in the same spot for training because its so big.

[irunthev]

Depends what London turn up on the day really, at this stage Ros would take them no bother alright, it's just a case of whether they can get their act together for the championship.

They've gone close against better teams before, they'll surely see the draw this year as an opportunity. But yes, they will definately have to improve further if they're to win.

London haven't a hope in hell of beating Roscommon. They haven't been able to get the best players over there to play for them. If they got them out they'd have a chance. But London is a nightmare for trying to get people together in the same spot for training because its so big.

You have a point but there is much more to it than that. The biggest single question about London is "What does this team mean to the players that are on it?". The answer is all too often "very little" and too many players, especially these days, are using London as some sort of a meal ticket now that things are bad at home. The thing is, London have very little to offer any player coming into town. Some clubs in London do, but the London CB do not. Therefore, the allegiance of many of these players is not with the county team but with the club that is looking after them. For many years I lived more than 40 miles away from where we trained and I never missed a session or was even late for one. Sligo's Brendan Egan played for them while he studied in Loughborough in the midlands and barely missed a session,while others like Garry Fearon, Eamon Brennan and Daniel Davey have had journeys of well in excess of 200 hundred miles round trips and they were as dedicated as anyone to the cause. That's because the team meant something to these guys. For far too many guys living in London, the London county team means nada and unless you can get the person behind the player to really buy into the project, then the player is of no value to you. They will pay it lip service but that's all.

[sammymaguire]

more chance of Fermanagh winning Ulster or Wicklow winning Leinster, dream on

[BennyHarp]

more chance of Fermanagh winning Ulster or Wicklow winning Leinster, dream on

So should they give up? A very incisive comment sammy  - i can't understand the mentality of someone who reads this thread and thinks, i know what i'll write - and adds the comment you just made! Very interesting!

[irunthev]

more chance of Fermanagh winning Ulster or Wicklow winning Leinster, dream on

No one is suggesting that London can win Connacht, however with the line up of Roscommon and then Leitrim blocking their path to a Connacht Final, then they are entitled to dream. That's not being disrespectful to either of those counties, as it is far from a foregone conclusion that London could beat either of them, but given that in most years London would face either Galway or Mayo in either the first round or semi-final, then in 2010 at least, they are entitled to have a little dream / ambition - regardless of how improbable it may seem to most.