Monaghan v Kildare

[Main Street]

By the sounds of Grimley, the broken hearts is an even bigger issue than missing the spine of Vinny Corey and JP Mone.
He regards it as next to impossible to lift this team up before Saturday.

[The Konica]

Is this a newspaper interview or something?

[Donnellys Hollow]

You can have Mick Wright back

I'd take him. Is he gone to the dogs?

Ah Mick was alright. Very unfortunate to be sent off in the 2003 Leinster Final after having a stormer against Meath in the semi-final.

He's still playing away with Celbridge (won the county title 2 years ago - made a great block from Alan Smith I think in the dying stages of the replay that effectively won them the match). He was on the panel for the league in 2008 but must be over the thirty mark at this stage.

Is he related to our Tomás O'Connor?

Or ours?

We are owed compensation for Davy Dalton jnr after all. Before you say it - Cathal Sheridan won't do us! Any chance there's a young Giles or Ollie Murphy about?

[Maguire01]

You can have Mick Wright back

I'd play him left back.

[Jinxy]

By the sounds of Grimley, the broken hearts is an even bigger issue than missing the spine of Vinny Corey and JP Mone.
He regards it as next to impossible to lift this team up before Saturday.

I dunno why they'd have broken hearts.
It's not like it was a close game, they were absolutely hosed.
I would have thought they'd be glad of a chance to redeem themselves.

[The Konica]

Me too. I expect a Farney win.
I think the first 10 minutes will tell you if Monaghan have turned up to win or not.
I won't expect a thriller either, this one could get messy, there'll be a lot of bruised ego's on the Monaghan side, a lot of men didn't perform to their billing the last day.

[Main Street]

By the sounds of Grimley, the broken hearts is an even bigger issue than missing the spine of Vinny Corey and JP Mone.
He regards it as next to impossible to lift this team up before Saturday.

I dunno why they'd have broken hearts.
It's not like it was a close game, they were absolutely hosed.
I would have thought they'd be glad of a chance to redeem themselves.

There's only so much redemption going around Croke Park on Saturday and Louth have first call. It would be beneath us to use up what we would need on the day and deprive Louth of their reclamation.

Play the blues.  no captain, no JP Mone and a broken heart.

[Hound]

looks like it will be a good crowd on Sat, lower tier nearly sold out, opening the upper tier

Are you sure Dinny?

I heard that they still had not sold out the lower tier. There are no upper deck tickets available on ticketmaster and I believe that as of this morning there were only lower deck tickets available from the outlet in Dorset St.

Has anyone got any upper deck tickets?

[Dinny Breen]

That was from a mate's wife who works in Croker but not in the ticket office so I think she was a bit premature alright

[Donnellys Hollow]

O'Connor ruled out according to Da Herild.

Smith would have started anyway but it takes away a good option from the bench especially with Monaghan missing their first choice full-back.

I'd say Roli and Smith will start inside on their own with Johnny dropping deep. If it's not working out for Roli like last weekend I'd hope McGeeney would consider bringing him out to wing forward and moving Jimmers inside where we could get more out of both of them. Eoghan Flats and Cribbin are good forward options to have on the bench to bring on in the last quarter when the backs will be tiring. They should relish the wide open spaces of Croke Park.

[Main Street]

rte.ie tip Monaghan to bounce back and do not fall for the fool's adage that you are only as good as your last game.  Does Keith Barr in the Indo count?

On Betfair, by far the biggest volume of betting is on this game and by far the biggest volume is on Kildare.
Which means zilch I guess, because laying and backing are two sides of the same coin there..

[Dinny Breen]

On Betfair, by far the biggest volume of betting is on this game and by far the biggest volume is on Kildare.

Population of Kildare is quite big and very much a gambling county with a lot people employed in the racing industry so wouldn't worry about the odds, Dublin's odds are always quite distorted as well.

Glad to see rte.ie tip Monaghan, they tipped Derry last week to win comfortably so they have no previous...

[Will Hunting]

Very difficult game to call this one, but having seen both teams in action last weekend, you would have to say Kildare are probably worthy favourites. The problem with Ulster teams is that they generally have to peak too early in the season (only teams with big squads like Tyrone have been able to remain fairly consistent all the way through, but not always) and Monaghan appear to have done this against Armagh a number of weeks back. They hit a brick wall at Clones on Sunday and must be very difficult for them to get back on track. Especially without Vinny Corey and JP Mone - who was probably their best player last week (are these guys def out?). The defence looks much weaker now, and the goalkeeping problems don't help.

Another worry for Monaghan is that they are totally unproven against teams from outside Ulster. Their only victory against non-Ulster opposition in 5 seasons (and there have been few enough games I know) came against Wicklow I think in 2006. Two league victories this year came against Tyrone and Derry.

Kildare look more settled. There's a decent shape and structure to their play and with players like Doyle, Callaghan and Earley bang in form they pose a serious challenge. They've re-jigged their defence since the Louth defeat and the right-back Kelly(?) was excellent against Eoin Bradley last weekend. I'd expect him to pick up Freeman.

I was impressed last week with how fit Kildare looked - physically and mentally. And they were bringing guys off the bench that didn't weaken them. McGeeney looks like he's prepared his side for this point of the season. They came very close to beating Tyrone last year, so they're not far away. They'd fancy another crack at them.

Kildare by 3 points.

[Main Street]

That would be based on the  'you are only as good as your last game' adage.
For the most part, the qualifiers for Monaghan have been an extension of the Ulster in-house dog fight. But you can only beat the dog that you are matched against.

Dinny I take your point about Kildare gamblers, but on Betfair the gamblers also lay the odds.
AFAIA, you cant back unless some other gambler offers.

[The Konica]

Monaghan.

I think Kildare are a good team, I don't think (and no disrespect to them) Derry was as much of an achievement. I think this will be a far harder game for them especially after a few weeks on the road too. I know both teams played and have short turn arounds, but there'll not be much between them. Callaghan is doing well and Doyle will take marking, but Walsh or most likely Dessie Mone will take him. We all know what Mone is about, and that'll be the kind of game it'll be.

Monaghan will be smarting after the last weekend.
Embarassed at home after (5 years of hard work) and 8 months of hard training in Clones in front of their own people, I think Monaghan will be out in force for this one.

Playing in Croker will liberate them too, in many ways it'll be easier than playing at home in Clones for them and I expect them to empty the tank this weekend.

Kildare won't have met a team like this yet this year and while they are well drilled I think this will be a dog fight with Monaghan going back to rough, tough negative win at all costs football.

Grimley came in and has tried to bring in attacking positive football, but based on last week and his knowledge of the Kildare camp, Monaghan will tighten their defence as tight as anyone can and go back to last years style of badger everything that moves.

Injuries will be tough on Monaghan, but here's a brave bet - MOTM - I expect Darren Hughes to get Man of the Match. Hugely underrated footballer and liberated now to CHB will attack at every chance, regardless of the man he has to mark as he's currently fit enough to do both.
Lennon and Clerkin will have big games, because they had nothing to do last weekend!!! (Ok a bit harsh), but they'll be angry at how Tyrone won and neither stepped up after the League they had. Expect Early to get a wallop in the first 30 seconds too and I'd be surprised if he finishes the game.

I know I'm going against the grain, but I think Monaghan will pull a surprise out of the bag.

Don't expect a good game.