Antrim v Galway

[Farrandeelin]

And the fact David Heaney could nearly always do a good job on him!

[Duine Eile]

Another disaster of a year for Galway. If I hear one more person describe us as a team in transition i'll do damage, we're a team in transition since 2002 if that's the case. We're not good enough at present, it's as simple as that. We have a severe lack of leadership on the field, nobody is willing to stand up and take a game by the scruff of the neck, it took a 35 year old in the 15th year of his career and carrying a knee injury to come on last Saturday and try to pull the game out if the bag and he very nearly did only to be let down by terrible defending by his own team mates. Why was nothing done about the extra player dropped back into the Antrim defence early on in the game and what plan was given to Gary O'Donnell when he discovered he was our extra man in the defence? The persistence with Sean Armstrong is another puzzle, Sean can be a fine player on his day but he needs someone to feed him scores, he's not a centre forward and hasn't played well all year, he's had a horror of a few years with injury and has lost some of his sharpness and should have been dropped for the Sligo game, he was anonymous against Roscommon, maybe losing his place would have been the kick in the arse he needed to up his game. Joe Bergin is another one who only plays well when the team is playing well, at his age and with his experience he should be a player the lads look to for guidance and a bit of cuteness when a game like this is in the melting pot but we have his usual falling around the place like a small calf learning to walk and horrendous wides. Danny Cummins constantly being the first forward called on when theres a substitute is being made is another question, the amount of times he kicks the ball into the keepers hands and fluffs his chances is unreal. Paul Conroy coming out from full forward to take frees was just ridiculous, why wasn't he told to go back in where he was and mind his business, we had Mark Hehir and Mike Meehan on the field at the time, there was no need  for him to be anywhere near the frees. Saturday showed a real naiveness (if such a word exists!) on the part of the management, playing Conroy full forward worked against Roscommon, didn't work against Sligo and didn't work again against Antrim yet he was left there all day again, this game called out for a Cormac Bane type player who can kick from distance, Galway couldn't get the ball past the packed defence, why wasn't Micheal Boyle thrown in? This lad fears no one, is lightening fast and can score but didn't get a sniff at all in the championship this year. The traditional Galway attacking game doesn't work on it's own anymore, we have nobody capable of being a bit cynical, when Antrim fouled they did it around midfield, away from the danger area and it gave them time to get their men back into a defensive position. I think Alan Mulholland needs someone in his backroom team with experience of senior team management, this Galway team were set up like a minor or u-21 team as others have said, and that's not going to cut it anymore. We've had 5 managers in the last few years, Peter Forde, Liam Sammon, Joe Kernan, Tomás Ó Flatharta and now Alan Mulholland. Each time a new man has been appointed we've heard about how they're going to trawl the county for talent, this however seems to consist of holding trials in Loughgeorge and requesting clubs to send in a few lads they think are good enough. The management team needs to get out and see the club games, both league and championship, relying on clubs to send the players just isn't good enough. To listen to the older followers of Galway football, people that have been attending games since the 1950s, over the weekend is seriously depressing, the general concensus is Galway football has had its dark days in the past but we've never been as low as this. 

[myball22]

Can someone explain to me what structures we have in the county? We seem to be able to create a decent minor or U-21 team once every five or six years and praying they will all make it like what happened in 94/95. We are waiting for a miracle again! Are there any development squads/academies to try to bridge the gap between under-age and senior football?

Leadership at all levels is an issue, on the pitch there are no leaders anymore. We used to have Joyce, Donellan, Walsh, Fahy, Finnegan to took on leadership roles at different stages during the years, now when the tide is out we have no one capable of giving any leadership on the field at all. Some of the senior players like Bergin and Hanley need to be doing more!

We are so naive too, most counties are applying defensive tactics now and our traditional play is not working against this at present. Even kerry had cut their cloth accordingly. We are so open a the back sometimes and our backs are constantly exposed, I'm sure there is some middle ground between the Donegal type of play and the traditional type of play we have, we had to adjust accordingly.

And in terms of attitude if the footballers showed half as much as the hurlers did, we'd still be in the championship. I wouldn't like to see Mulholland go but I was hoping to see some progress this summer, its going to be a long winter for us

[Tony Baloney]

Only a f**king Antrim player would be wearing matching "diamond" earrings in a tv interview. 

[Gold]

Only a f**king Antrim player would be wearing matching "diamond" earrings in a tv interview. 

Different class

[Tony Baloney]

Only a f**king Antrim player would be wearing matching "diamond" earrings in a tv interview. 

Who?

Johnston.

[seafoid]

Can someone explain to me what structures we have in the county? We seem to be able to create a decent minor or U-21 team once every five or six years and praying they will all make it like what happened in 94/95. We are waiting for a miracle again! Are there any development squads/academies to try to bridge the gap between under-age and senior football?

Leadership at all levels is an issue, on the pitch there are no leaders anymore. We used to have Joyce, Donellan, Walsh, Fahy, Finnegan to took on leadership roles at different stages during the years, now when the tide is out we have no one capable of giving any leadership on the field at all. Some of the senior players like Bergin and Hanley need to be doing more!

We are so naive too, most counties are applying defensive tactics now and our traditional play is not working against this at present. Even kerry had cut their cloth accordingly. We are so open a the back sometimes and our backs are constantly exposed, I'm sure there is some middle ground between the Donegal type of play and the traditional type of play we have, we had to adjust accordingly.

And in terms of attitude if the footballers showed half as much as the hurlers did, we'd still be in the championship. I wouldn't like to see Mulholland go but I was hoping to see some progress this summer, its going to be a long winter for us

They'll never turn hurling into rugby league. Something like Iarla Tannnian-Joe Canning link up for the first goal is what the footballers needed.

Maybe at some psychological level the players couldn't be arsed playing shite football. 
5 more matches played in the football equivalent of treacle - maybe they just didn't want it.
Meath are not adapting very well to the regime either.

[seafoid]

Interesting, seafoid, very interesting.

do you know what is going to happen now?
Tipperary are going to cream Antrim
And lose the next round

[Armamike]

Galway continue to be the big under achievers of gaelic football. Is there the appetite in the county to change things?  Countless managers tried over the past 10 years and the same results.

[Duine Eile]

PJ ain't one bit pleased, from HoganStand;

Joyce disillusioned
17 July 2012

Galway and Killererin star Padraig JoycePadraig Joyce has delivered a damning assessment of Galway football.

In the wake of Saturday night's shock defeat to Antrim, Joyce pointed out that the westerners are nowhere near the level that people think they are:

"There is a perception that Galway should be up there because they are a big county, but you have to earn the right to be up there with the Corks, Dublins, Kerrys and Tyrones - teams who have done it," the Tribe veteran is quoted as saying in The Examiner.

"We haven't done it consistently. We'll come with a spell and we'll go, and we'll come back in a couple of years time. God knows when we'll be back again.

"It's happened too many times for people to say we're cursed or anything like that. Look at the teams who beat us - with all due respect they are teams we should be beating.

"We thought that we had a good mix this year but that was well and truly blown out of the water against Sligo and we didn't learn anything in the six weeks since. That's the worst of it.

"We didn't improve or learn since Sligo. They and Antrim are Division Four teams. We're not that bad but we're definitely not up there where some people think we are.

"It's not bad luck, it's about making mistakes and taking wrong options. We were a point up twice in the last five minutes and still coughed up the lead. We weren't cute enough and didn't know how to slow the game down.

"It's not good enough at this level. Not good enough at all."

[AQMP]

PJ ain't one bit pleased, from HoganStand;

Joyce disillusioned
17 July 2012

Galway and Killererin star Padraig JoycePadraig Joyce has delivered a damning assessment of Galway football.

In the wake of Saturday night's shock defeat to Antrim, Joyce pointed out that the westerners are nowhere near the level that people think they are:

"There is a perception that Galway should be up there because they are a big county, but you have to earn the right to be up there with the Corks, Dublins, Kerrys and Tyrones - teams who have done it," the Tribe veteran is quoted as saying in The Examiner.

"We haven't done it consistently. We'll come with a spell and we'll go, and we'll come back in a couple of years time. God knows when we'll be back again.

"It's happened too many times for people to say we're cursed or anything like that. Look at the teams who beat us - with all due respect they are teams we should be beating.

"We thought that we had a good mix this year but that was well and truly blown out of the water against Sligo and we didn't learn anything in the six weeks since. That's the worst of it.

"We didn't improve or learn since Sligo. They and Antrim are Division Four teams. We're not that bad but we're definitely not up there where some people think we are.

"It's not bad luck, it's about making mistakes and taking wrong options. We were a point up twice in the last five minutes and still coughed up the lead. We weren't cute enough and didn't know how to slow the game down.

"It's not good enough at this level. Not good enough at all."

He obviously doesn't study the league tables too closely.

[rrhf]

Without the Mc Gourts would Antrim not be consdidered division 4 specialists?

[Duine Eile]

The most cynical man still playing the game indeed.

Seriously Hardstation, I've asked before but care to elaborate on this statement? 

[imtommygunn]

Without the Mc Gourts would Antrim not be consdidered division 4 specialists?

Define what you mean by specialists?

We aren't in division 4 and the mcgourty's don't play for us so at a guess the answer to your question is no.

Bit disrespectful of Joyce. To be honest Antrim aren't overly good at present - there are some very good players(McCann's and Loughrey were as good as any Galway player on an individual level) but the tactics can sometimes be depressing.  We aren't a division 4 team though and haven't been in a few years.

Sligo are actually a decent team though.

[Duine Eile]

You are the most forgetful person on this board.

Now that I can wholeheartedly agree with