Down Club Hurling & Football

SHEEDY · January 30, 2011, 07:02:58 PM

with all the injuries and colgan suspended. my team would be;
mc veigh

bonny gordon howard

carr mckernan garvey

fitzpatrick king

hughes poland coulter

murtagh j clarke m clarke

im ready to be ridiculed!!!!

whitegoodman · January 30, 2011, 07:06:29 PM

id say james knows his best team alright but getting to play them is a different matter!!!!

Due to injuries u could see something like the following

B McVeigh
L Howard
D Gordon
A Brannigan
C Maginn/A Carr
K McKernan
C Garvey
P Fitzpatrick
K King
D Hughes
M Poland
B Coulter
J Clarke
R Murtagh
M Clarke

Put mcginn/carr in half back line as i dont think any other fit squad member is yet fit to play at that level. Any other suggestions welcome.

Like the forward line but wouldnt have much confidence in the defence.

whitegoodman · January 30, 2011, 07:07:56 PM

sheedy we almost simultaniously posted nearly identical teams, great minds think alike lol

alba2 · January 30, 2011, 07:16:02 PM

Quote from: whitegoodman on January 30, 2011, 07:06:29 PM
id say james knows his best team alright but getting to play them is a different matter!!!!

Due to injuries u could see something like the following

B McVeigh
L Howard
D Gordon
A Brannigan
C Maginn/A Carr
K McKernan
C Garvey
P Fitzpatrick
K King
D Hughes
M Poland
B Coulter
J Clarke
R Murtagh
M Clarke

Put mcginn/carr in half back line as i dont think any other fit squad member is yet fit to play at that level. Any other suggestions welcome.

Like the forward line but wouldnt have much confidence in the defence.

Either of the above are not bad teams - and like you said - the forward line has that classy look about it.. If we get the supply of ball to them the defence will take care of itself.. Carr has been going rightly lately in |CHF but we need a wing half back and he has experience there - plus M Poland is a better option at CHF than him. Not sure abour Brannigan in corner back - loads of pace but not much ability on the ball...

SHEEDY · January 30, 2011, 07:19:26 PM

great minds think alike and all that but will wee james agree.

alba2 · January 30, 2011, 07:31:48 PM

Quote from: SHEEDY on January 30, 2011, 07:19:26 PM
great minds think alike and all that but will wee james agree.

Well he might not have any option other than to agree..... he has limited resources at his disposal.

whitegoodman · January 30, 2011, 07:41:57 PM

Quote from: alba2 on January 30, 2011, 07:16:02 PM
Quote from: whitegoodman on January 30, 2011, 07:06:29 PM
id say james knows his best team alright but getting to play them is a different matter!!!!

Due to injuries u could see something like the following

B McVeigh
L Howard
D Gordon
A Brannigan
C Maginn/A Carr
K McKernan
C Garvey
P Fitzpatrick
K King
D Hughes
M Poland
B Coulter
J Clarke
R Murtagh
M Clarke

Put mcginn/carr in half back line as i dont think any other fit squad member is yet fit to play at that level. Any other suggestions welcome.

Like the forward line but wouldnt have much confidence in the defence.

Either of the above are not bad teams - and like you said - the forward line has that classy look about it.. If we get the supply of ball to them the defence will take care of itself.. Carr has been going rightly lately in |CHF but we need a wing half back and he has experience there - plus M Poland is a better option at CHF than him. Not sure abour Brannigan in corner back - loads of pace but not much ability on the ball...

i would be of the opinion that pace is just as vital as ball playing ability for a corner back. Id be more worried about the other corner back more than brannigan although brannigan wouldnt be my first choice

alba2 · January 30, 2011, 08:00:57 PM

i would be of the opinion that pace is just as vital as ball playing ability for a corner back. Id be more worried about the other corner back more than brannigan although brannigan wouldnt be my first choice
[/quote]

yeah it is as vital - but for intercounty players now a days - they must be comfortable on the ball and brannigan aint. Howard is a great player and will def push for a starting place come championship time. Now that Dan Mc Cartan is out - i dont see him getting back into the team to be honest. He will have a 6 - 8 week layoff with his hand and then the team will be going well (hopefully) and hard to change a winning formula.

SHEEDY · January 30, 2011, 08:25:21 PM

brannigan gives his all every week but imo is v rash at times and gives away alot of frees. thats why i would give young bonny a chance. agree about howard, think he is v good player but "great" might be abit strong yet. theres def places in defence for somebody to stake a claim for.

whitegoodman · January 30, 2011, 08:33:59 PM

IMO howard hasnt been the same player since he injured is knee, think he may have lost a yard or 2. Wasnt impressed with him in the fords run to the final last year.

I think Dan McCartan is a cert for the championship starting lineup for 2 reasons, a) given that the first few games in the league will have a very inexperienced defence, i dont see too many impressing and b) Dan was more often than not put on one of the oppositions better forwards last year and i cant recall him getting cleaned out once, there is no reason for him to be dropped IMO

Mid Down Gael · January 30, 2011, 08:56:42 PM

Jesus our defence worries me big time for the start of this division 1 campaign. To suggest lads like Bonny, Howard, Brannigan, Garvey with little game time and Gordan at 3 with only 4 or 5 games ever played in that position, could be asking too much. We really have very little back up in defence and Mayo, with a new manager will be well up for it and have some very handy forwards in the shape of Alan Freeman, Dillon, the Mortimers, Aidan OSe and Andy Moran. I think we will struggle at the back, Rafferty in particular is a big loss, our best defender last year. I think we have better defenders outside the panel in Seamus Grant, Gerard McCartan and Sean Parr.

supersub · January 30, 2011, 09:00:12 PM

Has Gerard mcCartan not been given a chance at all this year? Shaun hasn't played as a back for a few years and it showed in McKenna cup last year when he was at 5.

whitegoodman · January 30, 2011, 09:12:08 PM

think gerrard mccartan and sean parr opted out this year on the back of not getting much game time last year, thats the case with gerrard mccartan anyway. He def would have had a chance of starting next wkend if he was about.

i always though grant was a half back or half foward but every time i seen the bridge he seemed to be in the full back line. Think he needs to bulk up a bit to be able to play county football

Mid Down Gael · January 30, 2011, 09:15:34 PM

Quote from: supersub on January 30, 2011, 09:00:12 PM
Has Gerard mcCartan not been given a chance at all this year? Shaun hasn't played as a back for a few years and it showed in McKenna cup last year when he was at 5.

He mightened have but he is a much more accomplished half back than some of the guys getting chances. I dont think McCartan went after pulling out of squad last year although he was in uujs ranks in McKenna cup.

alba2 · January 31, 2011, 08:13:01 AM

Quote from: whitegoodman on January 30, 2011, 08:33:59 PM
IMO howard hasnt been the same player since he injured is knee, think he may have lost a yard or 2. Wasnt impressed with him in the fords run to the final last year.

I think Dan McCartan is a cert for the championship starting lineup for 2 reasons, a) given that the first few games in the league will have a very inexperienced defence, i dont see too many impressing and b) Dan was more often than not put on one of the oppositions better forwards last year and i cant recall him getting cleaned out once, there is no reason for him to be dropped IMO

Howard has class and you will see that this season with him and Mc Cartan wasnt cleaned out at all... 9 points in all ireland final of which he conceeded 3 frees his man scored and he also popped over 3 from play on him. IMO thats a cleaning of the highest order. But in previous games he did rightly.