Kildare v Sligo

[Hardy]

I'd say if they lose, they'll be running the coach.

[Hound]

Actually think it might be on TV3 (if they cancel Stuart Little 2). RTE have a game (presumably Laois/Meath) pencilled in for 3.00 until about 5.30. Surely TV3 are showing one?

I thought Kildare-Sligo would have been a shoe-in for the primary telly slot.

[Donnellys Hollow]

The Kildare supporters club are running a coach leaving Newbridge at 3pm.

Tally ho

[Dinny Breen]

I see this game being won or lost at midfield and sadly our midfield was terrible v Mayo.
We need to play a 3rd midfielder and pull the plug quickly on non performers.

I would like to see johny dAvey starting and pkssibly mcmanus and hughes(if fit) at midfield to see if we can at least hold our own there

You think you have midfield problems, Earley, Lynch and Flynn all not fit enough to start, we played a full back and a full forward in there against Limerick and replaced the full forward with a centre-half forward. The lads are good footballers but don't seem to understand the subtleties of inter-county midfield play.

[Donnellys Hollow]

I'd prefer to have Mick at the back but he was superb there on Saturday. Interesting to hear McGeeney's take on it when interviewed by KFM. He said that he felt more of a running game was needed and that's why Paudie was introduced. Also said that another game could require more of a ball winner like Dermot or Lynch.

Chalky has apparently being going really well around the middle for Sarsfields recently and is always a player I thought would be suited to demands of midfield. Any chance he seems to get for Kildare in recent years has been in the backs and usually out on one of the wings rather than in a central position.

[Dinny Breen]

So many question marks over Kildare going into this match:

1. What to do with Mick Foley?

Peerless at midfield against Limerick but also needed at the back. Peter Kelly has been caught out a few times in recent games.

2. Is it time to abandon the O'Connor experiment?

I love the physicality of the lad and his never say die attitude but it only seems to work against weaker defences. To be fair to him the supply is often poor and we are often slow in getting support running off him. He does seem reluctant to shoot which opposition teams cop onto quickly. Fogarty kicked a few wides when he came on but he kept his marker honest or was that simply a case of the Limerick team tiring? Would O'Connor be better used as a Plan B late on in matches or could he do a job further out the field?

3. Is Callaghan fit for 70 minutes?

Leper helped turn the game when he came on against Limerick and his link play and ability to anticipate the breaking ball has been sorely missed in recent matches.

4. Who to play at midfield?

Foley, Kelly, O'Neill, Flynn, Earley, Lynch, Chalky, O'Connor?

McGeeney will have to earn his corn this week. Most of the other 11 teams left appear to have settled enough teams but it's nigh on impossible to predict how Kildare will line out.

What I would go with for what it's worth:
1 Connolly
2 McGrillen
3 PKelly - to mark Marren
4 Lyons - to mark Kelly
5 Bolton
6 MOF
7 EDoyle
8 Foley
9 Flynn - don't know what the story is with him at the moment, maybe Chalky is worth a try here if he's not fit
10 Leper - EOF hasn't been playing to what he's capable of recently but he has been asked to play deeper to be fair
11 Conway
12 JDoyle - probably back on freetaking duty from the left hand side
13 Kavanagh
14 TOC - don't be afraid to switch him occasionally out the field and mix it up a little, all too predictable at the moment
15 Smith

EOF, Paudie, Rob Kelly, Dermot, Fogarty, Lynch, Mac and the Cavanman leave us with plenty of options on the bench to change things around.

Agreed, need to revert our more natural running game but I have been impressed by our kick passing, O'Connor is just so good at winning ball but we are clueless when he does, I thought Fogarty did well won his ball but mixed it up, should have had a point but hard to get to the pitch of the game.

1 Connolly - Agree
2  PKelly - to mark Marren Agree
3 Foley - needs to back where he belongs despite his heroics
4 Lyons - to mark Kelly Agree
5 Bolton Agree
6 MOF Agree
7 E Doyle  Agree
8  O'Neill - his ability to make runs and win ball will be crucial
9 Flynn/Lynch/Earley Just need one recognised midfielder in there
10 Leper -  Agree
11 Conway  Agree
12 JDoyle -  Agree
13 Kavanagh - maybe swap him with Conway and start the Johnson..
14 Fogarty - Just to give us something different
15 Smith  Agree

[Dinny Breen]

I'd prefer to have Mick at the back but he was superb there on Saturday. Interesting to hear McGeeney's take on it when interviewed by KFM. He said that he felt more of a running game was needed and that's why Paudie was introduced. Also said that another game could require more of a ball winner like Dermot or Lynch.

Chalky has apparently being going really well around the middle for Sarsfields recently and is always a player I thought would be suited to demands of midfield. Any chance he seems to get for Kildare in recent years has been in the backs and usually out on one of the wings rather than in a central position.

Thought Chalkie did well when he came on, not sure if has the engine for midfield but do like his physicality.

[ross4life]

The last meeting between the two was a one point win for Kildare in Newbridge that resulted in relegation for Sligo, revenge on the mind of yeats men?

[magpie seanie]

I see this game being won or lost at midfield and sadly our midfield was terrible v Mayo.
We need to play a 3rd midfielder and pull the plug quickly on non performers.

I would like to see johny dAvey starting and pkssibly mcmanus and hughes(if fit) at midfield to see if we can at least hold our own there

What happened to James Clarke? He was getting into the team during the league and was excellent for the U-21's at midfield but hasn't been seen against Galway or Mayo. Hughes is badly needed but with our lack of midfield options surely Clarke must come into the mix? He could play a target men on the edge (or in!!!!) the square either.

[seafoid]

There must be a wall of money on the lilies

http://www.oddschecker.com/other-sports/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/kildare-v-sligo/winner

[Donnellys Hollow]

Agreed, need to revert our more natural running game but I have been impressed by our kick passing, O'Connor is just so good at winning ball but we are clueless when he does, I thought Fogarty did well won his ball but mixed it up, should have had a point but hard to get to the pitch of the game.

It's always been that way with Kildare as long as I remember. Martin Lynch was probably our last effective target man and there have been a whole host of big lads tried in there since he retired with various degrees of success - Roli, McKenzie-Smith, Dermot, Ken Donnelly, Mick Wright, Paudie Mullarkey, Ross Glavin, Jason Phillips, Willie Heff. Some of them were probably not good enough and others who were converted from different positions probably did not have that natural instinct that an inside forward needs.

The direct ball can be very effective but Kildare just can't seem to master it for whatever reason. It's not O'Connor's fault either because he's only as good as the ball going into him and the support he's getting. We've nearly always played our best football getting runners forward and cutting through defences with short intricate handpassing. It suits the players we have like Callaghan, Doyle, Conway, Kavanagh, Bolton etc. The trouble is that against the best you need to be able to vary your gameplan to keep the opposition guessing. With Kildare it more often than not appears to be either one way or the other. Kerry are able to mix it up with direct ball to Donaghy and also using runners like the two O'Sullivans who can carry ball at pace and break tackles. They are the benchmark and Kildare just cannot seem to achieve anything like that sort of variety in their forward play. We managed to achieve it against Tyrone in the Div 2 final but subsequent events have shown that they are not quite the quality outfit that they were being built up to be before that match.

I'd be fairly certain O'Connor will start next Saturday and I'm sure we could effectively combine the two gameplans with him in the team but to do it we'll have to change how we use him. He has to be switched around more. Too often he's just left welded to the 21 yard line directly in front of the goal. We can't be afraid to bring him out to the half forwards or midfield on occasions for a few minutes and keep the opposition defenders guessing. If he's double marked like he was on Saturday then we have to bring him out more towards the corners and even use him as a decoy. I saw him make a run to the corner and receive a ball on Saturday with two Limerick markers following him. Rather than attacking the space that was created in front of the goal two other Kildare forwards just followed him out towards the corner like sheep and ended up clogging up the space. That's fairly basic stuff that you would be telling underage lads not to do.

O'Connor himself also has to be encouraged to have a crack at the posts himself. I don't know whether that's a confidence thing or whether he's been told to look for lay offs but it's far easier to defend against a player when you know he's not going to shoot. He can potentially be a very potent weapon for Kildare but our use of him is far too predictable when we come up against an organised defensive system.

[commonman]

Actually think it might be on TV3 (if they cancel Stuart Little 2). RTE have a game (presumably Laois/Meath) pencilled in for 3.00 until about 5.30. Surely TV3 are showing one?

Maybe before the GAA decided somehow that more tv coverage was a bad thing. Just come and sample the Hyde's excellent atmopshere 

Syferus, since you seem to know it all, can you recommend a good parking and exit strategy for the Hyde, will be coming in via Athlone as will probably the other 10K Kildare supporters?

If your coming from North Kildare  via the N4, you could always stay on the N4 to Mullingar and then go Via Ballymahon and Lanesboro into Roscommon Town at the Lidl.Aldi roundabout, you can park on the circular road around Mart etc - theres plenty of options, and that would totally avoid Athlone and the bulk of kildare crowd. Its actually shorter by distance but less motorway and therefore about 20 minutes longer.

[Syferus]

Actually think it might be on TV3 (if they cancel Stuart Little 2). RTE have a game (presumably Laois/Meath) pencilled in for 3.00 until about 5.30. Surely TV3 are showing one?

Maybe before the GAA decided somehow that more tv coverage was a bad thing. Just come and sample the Hyde's excellent atmopshere 

Syferus, since you seem to know it all, can you recommend a good parking and exit strategy for the Hyde, will be coming in via Athlone as will probably the other 10K Kildare supporters?

If your coming from North Kildare  via the N4, you could always stay on the N4 to Mullingar and then go Via Ballymahon and Lanesboro into Roscommon Town at the Lidl.Aldi roundabout, you can park on the circular road around Mart etc - theres plenty of options, and that would totally avoid Athlone and the bulk of kildare crowd. Its actually shorter by distance but less motorway and therefore about 20 minutes longer.

Never like that area myself. The hospital side is far better if you're coming from the east and you don't have a 10-15 minute walk. The back entrance to the Hyde on the Sacred Heart Hospital road (for non-Rossies, a nursing home completely separate to the county hospital) always has loads of parking in the industrial units beside the entrance and the waste ground beside the units. usually decent to get out of, not spectacular but not much of pain.

[From the Bunker]

Does Hyde Park have floodlights? This is a game that could go into extra time!

[emmetryan]

This looks the best game of the four to me. Sligo's defence could give Kildare nightmares, could prove very interesting.