2022 National Football League

[Gmac]

Brutal stuff fermanagh haven't scored 3-15 in a game I would dare to say ever

[town1980]

The only criticism I have with this management team is how Ross is getting on ahead of a younger panel member give the younger member his chance not an older guy who has all his football kicked  it's not Ross 's fault but billy and Chris what is to be gained from it nothing only panel members walking away and players refusing to go in maybe ,, the result well we can still stay up I still think they need time to develop there team

[BallyroanAbu]

I agree on Ross,  but his not the reason we're not going well.  Just another signpost to mediocrity ( could be hopeful on that)

[Butch Cassidy]

Ross isn't the issue and it's wrong to keep signaling him out. I'm sure if everyone was available (2 Kingstons and Moore) he wouldn't be getting as much game time. We lack a ball winner around the middle and badly lack pace. Unfortunately we lack powerful athletes and can't see too many that could come in and make a difference. We should beat Wicklow but need another draw/win to ensure we stay in division 3

[recyclebin]

Very poor in Enniskillen today. Fermanagh gifted Laois two goals too so it could have been even worse.

I don't know whether they are just following management orders or if some players just don't have a football brain but what is the point in driving in long balls if there is one Laois player against 2-3 Fermanagh defenders in the full forward line? Lillis must think he is playing rugby, he tried to drop kick a long ball in once if not twice! The Fermanagh supporters around me were actually laughing at him and saying he should be in Lansdowne road. I don't know where Evan O'Carroll was supposed to be playing but he was too far out the field to be effective and was a shadow of himself. He is normally one of our best forwards. Dicey Reilly was the only positive from today. He came off the bench and moved the ball quickly and ran at Fermanagh.

The funny thing is Division 3 is still wide open and Laois could go still go up or down at this stage. I would not rule out Billy O'Loughlin's Longford sending us down in the last league game.

[town1980]

My only issue is the panel members seeing him come on you can say what you want from the outside but on the inside I know deep down the players are wondering why there in there whether there good enough or not is not the issue because of the little impact he has comming on that's all any player would have similar impact so just use the young lads ,,,we all know these next few years are painful

[on the hop]

I suppose the reality of where we are at is starting to emerge. It's a young panel in most parts buts it's weak, the options off the bench are very weak at present, taking into consideration injuries etc. the loss of the three port players is huge as potentially that could have been the spine of the team. To off set this the management have relocated Collins to full back and JOL to centre back, though he appears to be playing more a shield/ sweeper role. So far this has had varying degrees of success until yesterday. A very mobile sweeper is essential for the system we are playing but also one that can move the ball quickly to the 4 forwards we are playing up when turnovers occur. This is not happening at the moment. Paddy o Sullivan at wing forward makes no sense where he is completely lost and his excellent kick pass ability especially coming out of defense with a ball is lost. While there are plenty of players that might do a job in certain areas the lack of a ball winning but especially mobile  midfielder is one of our biggest problems. We have had problems in this area for a while and there is no real solution with Sean Byrnes non involvement, potential candidates on the u-20's teams in the last few few haven't progressed from what I have seen at club level.

With three vital games going up the management will be under pressure to at least win one to stop relegation and possibly a second one in such a competitive division. We will probably stick with the four forwards up the field and two wing forwards deep protecting our backs, even more so after yesterday's game. It's asking a lot for the wing backs/ forwards to help with scores with the amount of running they have been doing. In a perfect world we would have a midfield chipping in with a couple of scores in every game. Hopefully our very poor scoring rate improves, at present we are stuck at around 12 scores a game, the three goals in two games ( mistakes from opposite kickouts in both games) give a better look to our average. In fairness there was good presses on for some of them but we won't win to many games with those totals. A lot of work to do but we have home games to give us some advantage

[The PRO]

Ultimately the good O'Byrne Cup campaign and away win in Louth seem to have given us false hope.
I doubt if any other county has as many players who've turned down the call up to the county team. We simply can't absorb that.

[Spiritof86]

Sean O'Flynn starting midfield Sunday beside Lillis . Kavanagh, Bennett and Alan Farrell all starting in defence too . Absolute must win . In hindsight this is probably a more important match than the championship meeting next month .

[town1980]

in reality look at the teams we are faced and are facing not one super power of the gaa,,if we dont beat a scutter wicklow team i duno where were going as a county ,,i expect top win by 6/7 points pulling up,,feking hell limerick are top of the table whipping boys of munster ,,antrim the whipping boys of ulster and wicklow the wipping boys of leinster ,,lets take our heads out of the sand here we should be winning handy sunday

[Chrimtain]

in reality look at the teams we are faced and are facing not one super power of the gaa,,if we dont beat a scutter wicklow team i duno where were going as a county ,,i expect top win by 6/7 points pulling up,,feking hell limerick are top of the table whipping boys of munster ,,antrim the whipping boys of ulster and wicklow the wipping boys of leinster ,,lets take our heads out of the sand here we should be winning handy sunday

It says a lot about you when you describe our opposition as 'scutter'.

[Laoiseabu]

in reality look at the teams we are faced and are facing not one super power of the gaa,,if we dont beat a scutter wicklow team i duno where were going as a county ,,i expect top win by 6/7 points pulling up,,feking hell limerick are top of the table whipping boys of munster ,,antrim the whipping boys of ulster and wicklow the wipping boys of leinster ,,lets take our heads out of the sand here we should be winning handy sunday

This is the kind of ignorance that I can't understand. Nothing we have done so far would suggest we will win handy Sunday . That Laois team that was named will do very well to beat Wicklow . That's the level we are at I'm afraid . If Wicklow are scutter ( which they are ) well then we are scutter too . Fermanagh who made a laugh of us last week only drew with that Wicklow team .

[Pugwash]

I disagree saying The O'Byrne was a false dawn, with all due respect it's nothing more than a pre season competition and it shouldn't have been an indicator (results wise) in terms of how our league campaign was going to pan out.

Staying in Division 3 should always have been our number 1 priority and it should remain that way too. I'd actually rather see Laois stay in Division 3 and build slowly than get promoted upto Division 2 with the likelihood of us being relegated.

Before we all get carried away and start calling Limerick, Antrim, Fermanagh etc the second coming of the Kerry team of the 80s or the Dublin team of the 10s they're not. There is very little between Laois and the above, but what's the shame in saying maybe that they're a little ahead of us at this moment?

As I said on here a number of months, let's not focus on short-termism or worry about anyone else. Laois football has been at a very low-ebb now for a while, success doesn't come overnight and I firmly believe the only way is up, but it will take a number of years to get to where we want to be.

Predicting a 2 point win on Sunday against Wicklow.

[town1980]

Chrimtin am I wrong ..?? Wicklow are scutter or do you think there good 

[Spiritof86]

Can you elaborate on your scutter analogy ?