The Official Roscommon Thread

[Shrewdness]

Yellowbus, you've covered it well enough there. Nobody is under any illusions in Roscommon about how difficult Division 1 will be.. But, imo, there are several winnable games for us. The bottom line must be to be competitive......As for the championship, it is imperative that we beat New York, Leitrim And Sligo. We Must get to the Connacht Final, probably against Mayo. We must leave no stone unturned to give them the mother and father of a battle. If that's still not good enough to beat them, then so be it. We must restore the credibility that we lost in 2015.. Anything less than that, will be a bad start for our new management.

[theyellowbus]

We have to be competitive first and foremost for all games next year both league and championship.
Even though we got promoted last year some of the performances in last years league games left alot to be desired.
Every league and championship game next year with the exception of the New York game will be tough and for the squad to keep gaining confidence as the year progresses they will have to try and build on each performance.
In terms of being competitive we have to try and set the bar high early and not let that slip.

[Shrewdness]

We need to identify an authorative and commanding centre half back. We've been too open down the centre. Does anyone think that it might actually be Niall Carty's natural position?

[Syferus]

We need to identify an authorative and commanding centre half back. We've been too open down the centre. Does anyone think that it might actually be Niall Carty's natural position?

It sounds like his knee might be fûcked. If he was able to get fit he's the best CHB.

[Rossfan]

I think so anyway Shrewd.
We need major improvement in defence both personnel and strategy wise.
Too many run around tippy thappy attacking wing back types. Grand at underage and Colleges but one or two more than enough at serious adult level.
Midfield another area needing more consistency while we have decent forwards we need quicker ball up to them.
Endless hand passing in our own half has to stop.
I have great faith in our new management but implementing changes to game plans etc and searching for our best 15/21 means we may have to suffer relegation in the process.
Will be worth it if we're organised for the Championship.
Anything less than a CF appearance will mean failure unless we make a Qtr Final via the Qualifiers.
I'm hopeful but feet firmly on the ground.
Believe!! The best is yet to come.

[Shrewdness]

Surely 2016 needs to see an injury free breakthrough for Thomas Corcoran?.... I agree Rossfan that we need to adopt a defensive strategy, one that would see us defend as a unit. Could we also see Thomas Fetherston emerge as a regular starter in 2016?

[mrhardyannual]

Roscommon must be back in training as they were out of championship very early.

[Rossfan]

Fetherston has been part of the panel since the end of the 2014 u 21 campaign but got little or no game time.
Hopefully him and Mullooly will get tried early by Fergalkevin.
If Ward and Brogan don't make it this time around it will be the end of the County road for these 2 injury prone lads.
Corcoran, Cathal Compton and O'Rourke should be knocking on the door for starting places.

[Shrewdness]

There are a lot of talented young players waiting in the wings, so hopefully many of them will
at least get a run in the FBD

[Rossfan]

I'm a biteen underwhelmed at some of the names mentioned in the Ros Herald as being back on the panel.
A lot of injuries knocking around too.
So we won't be retaining our FBD title opening the door for the Rhus to get their only bit of silverware for 2016.
Relegation is very likely too but I'm hopeful of a decent Summer.

[Beffs]

Yellowbus, you've covered it well enough there. Nobody is under any illusions in Roscommon about how difficult Division 1 will be.. But, imo, there are several winnable games for us. The bottom line must be to be competitive......As for the championship, it is imperative that we beat New York, Leitrim And Sligo. We Must get to the Connacht Final, probably against Mayo. We must leave no stone unturned to give them the mother and father of a battle. If that's still not good enough to beat them, then so be it. We must restore the credibility that we lost in 2015.. Anything less than that, will be a bad start for our new management.

Which ones?

[Shrewdness]

Beffs, our three away games against Kerry, Cork and Donegal
will be difficult, as will the Dublin game in Hyde Park.

But I believe the Three home games in Hyde Park against Monaghan
, Down and Mayo are games that are winnable for us.
Having said all that, Ros seem to be carrying a lot of injuries
at the moment, so we might be lucky if we can field a team at all
for the FBD. Kevin Higgins needs shoulder surgery and will miss
the entire NFL....Over the Christmas period, Ros will play Meath
and Laois in challenge games in Kiltoom.

[Beffs]

Down, I'll give you, but Monaghan are the current Ulster champions. They finished 3rd in last years league standings, and they won 4 out of their 7 games, just like Dublin. I wouldn't be taking a win against them for granted. Or Mayo.

[larryin89]

I would of thought survival in the top flight would be the most important factor in roscommons progression but I do think it might prove a very difficult task . A lot of these div one games hinge on timing as in if Mayo for example need a win to get a semi spot or survive ,we would be going hell for leather in the Hyde in the last game plus there the championship marker type thing.

Monaghan are a very good side so like beffs above me I wouldn't be pinning too much hope on that one ,catch the kingdom early or Donegal and you might get a surprise result there because of their training pattern .

Interesting times ahead for Roscommon though I'd agree with that . Very hard to know how exactly they will fair . Mc stay is still hurting from being snubbed by his native county , he will be determined to take JJ Nestor out of Castlebar and back to Roscommon but it will be thirty years since Ross beat Mayo in Castlebar (fbd excluded) . One hell of a task to break that duck.

[Beffs]

Kerry and Donegal could be better bets for a cheeky 2-4 points, even more than Mayo & Monaghan. Neither of them give two shits about the league & that is usually reflected in how well they do in it. They'll be vastly different animals come the summer time, though. So it's hard for a newly promoted county (like Roscommon) to know where they really stand, when it comes to measuring themselves against the heavy hitters.