Cork V Tyrone NFL

[realredhandfan]

some shocking performances on Saturday night,  some shocking analysis on here today.  O Neill seems to have finally accepted Joe Mc Mahon as county full back but still persists with RMellon.  Tell me where hub Hughes has justified inclusion in anybodies championship team, 3 sendings off in 6 games says it all.  one good half of football against Dublins second string midfield. The man seems to have lost his power of 2003 and I believe has not earned a starting jersey in 2007 4 years later.  I agree he needs persevered with but maybe now is the time to look at the relaively untried Kelvin Hughes. 
1) tyrone had no plan b on Saturday.  Whatever Plan A was wasnt working and they had no variation.  This was why I thought Rouse should have been on and the team restructured earlier.
2) mulligan and O neill had off days but they are the only natural scoring full forwards in Tyrone football so they must be played in that line, and Mulligan needs the outside of his foot bent back inwards.  To have no variance on that sliced kick is ruining his game.
3) Cavlan wasnt good, Big sean was worse.  When Big seans off form Tyrone will probably lose.  The reason I believe is we havent got a second midfielder to give him some support.  He cant show all star form allo the time.  Cavlans workrate was poor.  He is an enigma, at 32 his only role will be in the forward line. 
4)Our full back line is atrocious againmst half decent forwards.  None of these 3 are worth their place starting in these positions,  This is the area of the pitch we were poorest in. Slack unfocused degfenders the three of them.   
5)Our half back line looked uncordinated unsure when to run forward and clogged the play up often running into trouble, they lacked the ability to vary the gameplan with kick passes etc. 
6) Eoin was roasted and hes out of his depth at chf, Mulgrew bar some of his passing was probably one of Tyrone better players.  Colum beside Eoin was poor, I think hes still learning his game at this level, dont ruin him with expectation. He'll come good.
7) Full forward line,  Not enough natural corner forwards here, ONeill needs fitness training was roasted,  Mc cullagh had a poor marginal game - very disaapointing. Mellon was poor yet again..
Subs: Poor subs: peter Donnelly - that attempted block,
Paul Quinn that attempted pass
Hub Hughes - that attempted weak back pass.
Cork were good, disruptive and probably played as well as anyone could in them conditions.  If I could sum it up>  Tyrone were lucky not to concede more. They had 2 many nonscoring forwards on, and they need a variance on their game plan.  It is unfair to criticise the strength in depth of the panel as the new lads were not given a chance on Saturday.  This game was lost by our established  stars.  Our so called strength in depth was on the bench or not selected for the bench..  I think Harte faces more challenges now than ever before.  The talent is there but something is seriously wrong. 

[recall06]

"Real red hand fan" Your comments suggest that your not even close to a real fan. It's very easy to stand back in the crowd and comment on players. Nobody knows whats happenin behind the scenes. Big Sean did have an off day but nobody knows that Sean recieved an injection in his right foot. His foot has been bothering him since the dublin match. Thats why he limped of and has an Off day.
"Our full back line is atrocious against half decent forwards.  None of these 3 are worth their place starting in these positions"
How the hell did you come up with this one. Did you see the match? Do you know anything about football? The game was lost around the middle. Cork drove forward in numbers often having two men overlapping all the time. The full back line done reasonable well considering the amount of pressure they were under the whole game. Carlin and McGee were two of the better players until both went of injured.
It seemed to me that Cork wanted to win more then Tyrone. Around the middle their men were puttin in alot of work. their half back line drove forward at every opportuntiy. Every break somehow seemed to bob over a tyrone man and land in the corks man hand.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

I agree recall06, that was not the game and this is not the time for mass recriminations -- there was a general malaise (for whatever reason) that afflicted just about everyone. Let's leave the post-mortem to the Donegal game, if the lads can't produce for that one then it'll be time for some serious circumspection.

[realredhandfan]

Nobody knows whats happenin behind the scenes. Big Sean did have an off day but nobody knows that Sean recieved an injection in his right foot. His foot has been bothering him since the dublin match. Thats why he limped of and has an Off day.
Exactly..... did you not read my post I did not criticise Sean Cavanagh anywhere, I never have and rarely will.  His committment to Tyrone football is always total.
I stand over my comments about our full back line.  This is not based on Saturdays match alone.  Carlin and Mc Gee and Mc Ginley all lost their individaul battles, and their men took the scores that won the game.  i look forward to the return of ricy and Mc Mahon. Carlin has more potential in the half back line and currently is being used everywhere theres a gap, hardly fair but probably neccessary. 
I stand over all my criticisms... a general malaise in a football team after men supposedly had to fight for places is simply not good enough.  Im sure there were good men who didnt make that panel watching that and questioning their exclusion.   

[Star Spangler]

Eugene McGee's analysis in todays Indo.  It's difficult to disagree with him.

Tyrone's shocking ineptitude may not be just a once-off
Monday February 26th 2007

AMID all the hoopla of the sporting weekend, one amazing Gaelic football result could easily slip through the radar into oblivion - the shocking performance of the Tyrone footballers when losing by 0-15 to 0-7 to Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.

It is not the actual defeat that is astonishing because Tyrone have lost several league games in the Mickey Harte era, to Kerry, Roscommon and Wexford among others, but it was the manner in which Tyrone performed in Cork that deserves serious analysis - particularly by the Tyrone players, management and fans.

Putting it bluntly, the performance of almost every Tyrone player used in the game was diabolical and it is this facet of the game that makes it so newsworthy.

After all, these Tyrone players had played seven games in the McKenna Cup and National League so far in 2007 and won them all in a convincing manner.

In the process, many of their players performed very well indeed for so early in the year, most notably Seán Cavanagh, Raymond Mulgrew and Conor Gormley.

Owen Mulligan was looking like a real possibility in the centre-forward position and some young newcomers were also shaping well.

In an interview prior to Saturday's game, Mickey Harte said that he was looking for a strong panel of 30 players to put pressure on the first 15 and he also wanted a strong panel of 36 players to put pressure on the previous 30.

It seemed everything in the Tyrone garden was rosy and in the past couple of weeks there has been a steady stream of bets on Tyrone to win this year's All-Ireland and they had been installed as clear second favourites behind Kerry.

As always, Tyrone's pre-match preparations were meticulous - they travelled to Tipperary for a Friday night stay-over to be in good shape for the Cork game.

Good shape? The subsequent performance must go down as one of the worst since Mickey Harte took control of Tyrone.

And this despite the fact that the return of full-forward Stephen O'Neill was a huge boost, as was the availability of Kevin Hughes following yet another last-minute intervention by some high-up GAA committee which once again over-ruled a yellow card handed out by a diligent referee.

So what went wrong for Tyrone when they as table-toppers faced up to Cork who were at the bottom, and pointless, of the same table?

Before looking at how Tyrone behaved, it is only proper to acknowledge the excellence of Cork's performance.

They had been really brutal when losing to Kerry in Tralee last time out when only scoring 2-2, but this time they were all fired up.

They worked a lot harder, ran faster and made better use of possession than Tyrone and fully deserved to win by the margin of eight points. James Masters returned to his best scoring form and himself and Kevin O'Sullivan scored 11 points between them, nine of them from play.

Ger Spillane at centre-back ran the show, while midfielders Hurley and Kavanagh also controlled their area.

The Cork defence, in which the youthful Michael Shiels was very impressive at full-back, kept Tyrone scoreless for 15 minutes in the first half and a staggering 29 minutes in the second.

So from a Cork perspective, this was an outstanding performance which should kick-start their league campaign as they head off to play Dublin in Parnell Park in the next round.

But back to Tyrone and their problems. In no area of the field did they have any regular control and the total eclipse of Mulligan by Ger Spillane was the start of their troubles.

The failure of Seán Cavanagh to make any impact at midfield was equally serious as Tyrone have seldom won an important game in recent years without a major contribution from Cavanagh. In that context, it was surprising that Kevin Hughes did not make his appearance at midfield until the 56th minute, by which stage the Cork grip was rock-solid.

During their current period as one of the best teams in Ireland, one of Tyrone's hallmarks has been a ferocious work-rate, something which forms the cornerstone of their entire game plan.

They are famous for hunting in packs, pulling as many as 10 players into their backline when being attacked and then breaking upfield at speed with the ball when possession has been regained.

This is an excellent football theory when you are leading and it is on that basis that Tyrone have used it most effectively. But on Saturday, they were only in front for the opening four minutes of the game so they could not afford the luxury of employing a blanket defence as they had to go searching for scores.

Instead, it was Cork players who used the tactic of total movement and often we saw forwards such as James Masters back deep in their own defence collecting the ball.

You can afford to do this, with the inherent risk involved, when you are comfortably ahead as Cork were for most of the game.

In essence, therefore, Tyrone were denied the chance to utilise one of their main football weapons, and it showed.

As the game wore on, even their biggest names appeared very ordinary as they were forced to play 'catch-up'.

This is a role that Tyrone players have coped poorly with on the odd occasions in the past they had to play it.

Frustration set in, as exemplified by the rash tackle by Mulligan which earned him a straight red card that will keep him out of a few league games if it too is not rescinded by some GAA body or other.

They could not afford the luxury of employing a blanket defence as they had to go searching for scores

When Stephen O'Neill missed a free straight in front of the goals, it was clear that frustration and panic were the order of the day in the Tyrone team and things went from bad to worse then.

Cork ambled through the Tyrone backline for a flood of points with ridiculous ease - six in the final 12 minutes to which Tyrone could only muster one in reply. The demolition job was complete.

Years ago, when a very good team collapsed like this, the wise men would start muttering about a row in the camp or a half-time dressing-room bust-up.

I'm sure that didn't apply to Tyrone on Saturday night however and Mickey Harte will have much to ponder on as to what the real reason was.

He is still missing crucial play-makers Brian Dooher and Brian McGuigan whose real value to the team is being highlighted in their absence.

But a lot of other big names were out of it on Saturday and that will be a greater cause of concern.

Granted, Tyrone will probably come storming back in their next league game against unbeaten Donegal in Omagh, but a performance like Saturday's cannot be washed away that easily.

If it happened once, it can happen again and that's the biggest worry for Tyrone who, despite the undoubted pool of talent at their disposal, still, like most of the top teams, rely on a handful of key men playing well to generate success.

Eugene McGee

[realredhandfan]

the day we sit on our laurels is the day the golden era for tyrone football stops.  I have heard nothing but praise for the Tyrone team this year from each of us.  As we celebrate victory we must anaylise and if neccessary criticise our defeats.  This defeat may guarantee Tyrone will not get caught out later in the year, if they address what went wrong....  If they have a plan in place where it to happen again. 

[realredhandfan]

BTW all credit to Cork. decent side... they are capable of a decent go at it this year. 

[Goats Do Shave]

That's a bit over the top.

1 bad performance against a team that HAD to win!

McGee wasn't at the match...it was in Pairc Ui Rinn for a start! - & as said earlier, Big Sean had injections in his foot. He said that he couldn't even feel his foot - it was numb. Then it started to half wear off & half his foot was sore & the other half was numb!

I wonder does this bring up another issue though. A medical issue! I don't agree with players having these pain killing injections. It does not cure their problems, simply hides it. People feel pain for a reason - its the body's way of telling you to stop what you are doing & rest!

I read Di Canio's book recently. He nearly lost part of his leg when he was younger due to these injections. His injury was not getting a chance to heal properly!

It has seemed to back fire already for Philip Jordan (Who needs a double hernia op.).

Sean Cavanagh should be protected for the 'bigger' games leter in the year!

[realredhandfan]

agreed totally. Why worry about Sean cavanagh now.  It seems hes played in almost every game no matter how small.  We know what he can do.  Give the lad a couple of games off to sort his foot out.  put Hughes and Hughes on for the next 2 games and see whos the better footballer to go alongside Sean.  I think its time for the other midfielders to support big Cav not leave him to do it all of the time.  Ill admit now I was wrong about Ger,  he hasnt the workrate for midfield.  
As for the painkilling injections.  I believe theres a lot of skeleton stories ready to come out. 

[SuperSub]

Wasn't expecting to win this one but was plesantly surprised in the end.I wouldn't be all doom and gloom about Tyrone either lads they are a class team and for me they will go all the way this year.We are improving but it will be some step up playing Tyrone on a hot summers day in Croke Park rather than a cold Feburary night
Still happy with the result though  and hopefully it will kick start our season

[loughshore lad]

As for the painkilling injections.  I believe theres a lot of skeleton stories ready to come out. 

Agree totally with this. The vast majority of people have no idea what some of these players go through to play in games, it could come back to haunt some of them in a few years.  It took Mcguigan months to recover after the 2003 All Ireland final - God knows what they pumped into him.

[tyroneman]

As the game wore on, even their biggest names appeared very ordinary as they were forced to play 'catch-up'.

This is a role that Tyrone players have coped poorly with on the odd occasions in the past they had to play it.

Jaysus the meejda can be arseholes at times like this. We all know hyperbole sells tomorrows fishwrappers but some of these comments are staggeringly poor.

As far as I can remember in the last 2 years alone (where the majority of this team were playing together) Tyrone managed to play catch up quite well:

- against Dublin under lights 2007
- against Dublin in the Championship 2005
- against Monaghhan in the championship 2005
- against Kerry in the AIF 2005
- against Armagh in the AI SF 2005

so how we have 'coped poorly' on the 'odd occasion' is truly beyond me.

Teams will have off games. MH sometimes gets it wrong. These things happen.

Lets not panic. Before the game we already knew Mugsy is no CHF. We knew Hub is off form. We knew McGinley is not the answer at FB. Agreed some other options (Rouse, Hughes) could have been used but hey - that's life. Cork were good we wern't. Perhaps there was some complaceny, perhaps not.

One thing is for certian - there will certainly not be against Donegal in 2 weeks.

Who to do CHF though?? Cavo - hope so.

And whats the story with Jordan?

[realredhandfan]

agreed.
Donegal will be a chance to comeback and show what we are made of. 
chf - Cavlan is an option here, his workrate is a problem.  However to freshen things up I would play Calvo / Rouse full forward for a couple of games, with O neill and Mulligan on either side. i think Harte has made mistakes there, but he has also the chance to corretc things.  The next 2 games are so crucial now. 

[nrico2006]

Some serious slabbering about Cavanagh on here.  People who play or have played gaelic, or indeed any sport, will know that you are going to play shite some times - simple as that.  Cavanagh wasnt at his best, maybe he had an injury to his foot, but as someone quite rightly pointed out he plays nearly all the games tyrone are involved in.  People expect him to be at his best every time, but hes only human.  Very similar to the way Armagh fans were picking on Stevie Mac last week, as he another who plays nearly all the games there is and always performs to a high standard.Its been a good year so far, result wise.  Cavlan may have been poor on Saturday, but hes been looking brilliant up until.  And with news of McGuigan showing well for Ardboe also things are looking better.  I believe its actually a good thing losing to Cork, because it makes us more determined to perform well against a donegal side looking for revenge from last weekend!

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Jaysus the meejda can be arseholes at times like this. We all know hyperbole sells tomorrows fishwrappers but some of these comments are staggeringly poor.

As far as I can remember in the last 2 years alone (where the majority of this team were playing together) Tyrone managed to play catch up quite well:

- against Dublin under lights 2007
- against Dublin in the Championship 2005
- against Monaghhan in the championship 2005
- against Kerry in the AIF 2005
- against Armagh in the AI SF 2005

so how we have 'coped poorly' on the 'odd occasion' is truly beyond me.

Totally agree, go a year or two further back and you could add being 9 points behind against Down in Ulster Final in 2003 and being 8 or 9 behind (I think) against Galways in the league semi in 2004 and coming back to level both games. Turning games around from a losing position has been one of the hallmarks of Mickey Harte's Tyrone....a really flawed piece of analysis by Eugene McGee there. As for his kiss off line "If it happened once, it can happen again and that's the biggest worry for Tyrone who, despite the undoubted pool of talent at their disposal, still, like most of the top teams, rely on a handful of key men playing well to generate success". You dont say

7 wins and 1 defeat so far this year and a huge number of players tried over those matches....things look ok for February to me.