2019 Allianz Football League Division 3.

[Butch Cassidy]

Good post Tony but i worry abou the pace on that team around the middle. The only one with natural pace on the half back line/midfield/ half forward line is Attride. The way the game has gone pace and power are essential and it's a big weakness on our team. Farrell and Damien O'Connor have good pace so can see them starting

[on the hop]

Alarm bell one. Our two midfielders were giving away a lot of height. Long kicks meaningless. Alarm bell two. Two inexperienced and nervy defenders left isolated without a sweeper. Alarm bell three. One of their forwards clearly rinsing one of our inexperienced backs and creating the perfect conditions for incoming attackers. Tackling powderpuff. Support play the stuff of negligence. Lads not tuned in and watching their team mates getting bottled up time after time. Just one of those performances that make you think that we made a fortune backing Louth at whatever ridiculous price they were. We can't be that bad and I know we're not but yet I can't understand what the hell happened today. I know we have lads playing who are a long way off what is needed even in the lower Divisions

My thoughts exactly. The management for some reason have not developed any sort of kick out strategy other than lumping it on jol the majority of the time. Even after losing Lillis we still aimed everything at him. With their height advantage they just broke ball off him. Most teams work kick outs for a high retention return, ours seemed to be 50/50.

[Giovanni]

Wasn't at this match yesterday but, in fairness, I thought they had clearly worked on kick outs for the down match. I doubt if they abandoned all that yesterday.

[on the hop]

Down beat Sligo, Offaly and Longford draw. Do we go with the strongest team next week against Sligo, or do we stick with what we are doing. Vital game already in a tight division

[les Antiques]

Good question . Bound to be changes with Lillis suspended and can't see Evan playing  if he is involved in Siegerson this Wednesday and again possibly the following Wednesday. Looks like he'll miss stick with Piggot at centre back for the league anyway and start Begley midfield against Sligo .
Quigley a long way off and Meaney a bit of the pace still .
Can see Cahillane starting next week . I wonder the extent of Sean Byrnes injury !?

[Nameless]

They say you learn more in defeat and I think that was the case yesterday. It's clear that we have huge issues with pace. Especially around the middle. We saw it against Down but it was exposed by Louth. We just haven't got the speed to keep up with runners from deep. Do we have players to come in who can change this? I'm not sure. We have some pacier players who lack a bit of power on the panel while also having players with power who lack pace.
I thought Nerney did quite well and Seale and Campion did well enough considering they were left 1v1 most of the time. However, it's unlikely any of them will be starting if injuries clear up. Piggot has some qualities, he's strong, a tight enough marker. I don't like to be critical but maybe he lacks a bit of quality when in possession. I think Begley is our centre back and he's vital for us there. Attride hasn't been at his best. The other wing position is up for grabs. Maybe drop O'Connor back or try out Buggie, Kelly, Crowley, Collins, when injuries/sigerson cup clear up. Or Scully who looked ok when he was on.
Midfield is a bit of an issue. As has been pointed out, fielding and pace are the concerns. Better movement on kick outs can help the first part and can be worked on. Like others, it'd be nice to see what Meaney can do. Again, I don't want to be critical but although Boyle is a good passer, he just lacks the agility needed at this level. Wing forwards need to be extremely athletic, have huge engines to go back and forward for the game. Again, not sure we have anyone like that. Byrne deserves another run. Maybe O'Reilly should be given a go. We'll probably try Kingston at centre forward again. Maybe it's the virus but he was struggling after a few runs yesterday. Cahilane could be trialled if we're using our 11 as a creator. Paul Kingston hasn't started the league well. Ross played well but was dispossessed too easily on a few occasions. Murphy found it a bit tougher but we should stick with him.
We shouldn't be getting too carried away with anything. The league is for trying things out and seeing if players can fit into what Sugrue is trying to do. I don't mind if none of the big guns start. Let other players stand up and prove themselves if they have it in them. There's a big panel there who have been training extremely hard. Let's see what they can do. It'd be nice to get promoted but finding out what we have available is more important. Survival in division 3 will be enough after that.

[Unlaoised]

Complacency was the biggest factor on Saturday .

It came from the manager with the team selection and filtered through the players ..

I've no doubt we will thump Sligo the next day ..

Not going to criticise too many but I'd only give pass marks to munnelly Boyle Brody Begley Scilly was unlucky to be taken back off.

The train on the way home was a sober one with the rugger heads crying into their beer aswell

[Don Draper]

Complacency was the biggest factor on Saturday .

It came from the manager with the team selection and filtered through the players ..

I've no doubt we will thump Sligo the next day ..

Not going to criticise too many but I'd only give pass marks to munnelly Boyle Brody Begley Scilly was unlucky to be taken back off.

The train on the way home was a sober one with the rugger heads crying into their beer aswell

What was wrong with the team selection?

[blueandwhite1]

First few games in the league can be hard to call. Teams find form at different times and form can be up and down.

Nameless makes a good point about pace. You can have 3-4 lads that don't have the pace but in the modern game you can't have more than that. Laois have struggled with this for a few years and will be interesting to see how Sugrue handles this. It may mean giving youth a chance over experience and taking short term pain over long term gain.

[Tony]

I don't agree that it was a complacent team selection. Why? Because A: it's the league, and you should try out newer players so they'll be more ready for the all important championship. And B: Colm and Donie are clearly not at full fitness due to coming back from injury and recent virus respectively. Evan is playing more than enough games in the sigerson.

So unless you want a stack of injuries, you have to allow fellas time to come back, the HEALTHY way.

And C: you want to give all your players confidence and to be able to count on them so they'll feel more ready when the big games come and they're throw in against a big name player after 50 mins of a game during summer. Starting a league match and playing 70 mins is fantastic preparation. Spend a penny, save a pound, etc.

So, no, it wasn't a complacent team selection. Let's not get too depressed (!) it's the start of February in the freezing cold. Time to calm down and relax. It will all be ok  . The same lads would be complaining that Begley and Donie were brought back too early if they happened to pick up an injury during the first half. Time to face reality : Sugrue and the setup know better than you  .

[Laoiseabu]

Complacency was the biggest factor on Saturday .

It came from the manager with the team selection and filtered through the players ..

I've no doubt we will thump Sligo the next day ..

Not going to criticise too many but I'd only give pass marks to munnelly Boyle Brody Begley Scilly was unlucky to be taken back off.

The train on the way home was a sober one with the rugger heads crying into their beer aswell

Saying we will thump Sligo on Sunday is more complacency. I'd take a one point win now any day of the week

[High Fielder]

I wouldn't say complacent but I would say wrong. I'd like to know what the full panel is but I do know that when I see certain lads' names on the team I am either disappointed or worried. There are lads in the Under 20s I'd rather see on the team or at least around the panel. Hard work is always a welcome trait, but if you're out of position, nervous, or maybe just not good enough, you will get found out. We seem determined to put square pegs in round holes sometimes and it doesn't always work. The team selection was odd to say the least in light of everything that went wrong in the first half in Newry

[Tony]

It's easy to say it's wrong, now, with the power of hindsight. At the time, it was worthwhile persisting with certain fellas in certain positions. It's the 2nd League game in all fairness. Let's be fair, nearly all of us thought we'd have enough against a team who hadn't won a competitive game since 2017. It wasn't complacency, it was just being realistic. The team named was ok. Changes will be made going forward. The fact that you have hindsight on your side now, doesn't make you an expert.

[Giovanni]

To be fair to HF, if you look back through his posts you will see that he said was worried about the team selection well before the game on Saturday. So I don't think you can say that his views are only based on hindsight. I'm curious though about which U-20 players he thinks would improve things?

[Don Draper]

Do lads want us to throw a few more lads to the wolves? That didn't do us much good with the likes of Shiels, Keane and Moore. Give them a chance develop ffs, we'll get more out of them that way.