Tír Eoghain v An Mhí (AI Quarter Final '07)

[Star Spangler]

Is there any truth that Mugsy isn't training because of a back injury?

[orangeman]

From what I can gather, this one was NOT scheduled - it was as a result of some leakage from the retina - this one is not part of the planned treatment.

[tyroneman]

Latest I heard.......

McGuigan - will be lucky to be back for 2008 championship - no 2007 at all
Mugsy - needs back treatment but this is an old thing that re-occurs and should be ok for QF
SON - tendonitis in the knee the big issue now, still not training properly, bench for QF again
Dooher - no-one can identify the source of the groin trouble as of yet, could barely walk after UF - hopeful but prob bench for QF
Cavlan - not as bad as feared - hopefully ok for QF, especially if others out

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Latest I heard.......

McGuigan - will be lucky to be back for 2008 championship - no 2007 at all
Mugsy - needs back treatment but this is an old thing that re-occurs and should be ok for QF
SON - tendonitis in the knee the big issue now, still not training properly, bench for QF again
Dooher - no-one can identify the source of the groin trouble as of yet, could barely walk after UF - hopeful but prob bench for QF
Cavlan - not as bad as feared - hopefully ok for QF, especially if others out

In Dooher's possible/probable absence, what about Gourley in his place? Have an inkling he was tried there before not so long ago to no great success or purpose, but not too sure.

[rrhf]

Justin Mc Mahon and the relatively untried Kelvin Hughes might well be options for that half forward position with Hughes also offering a potential option as the big target man at 14.  I know Hughes has very good feet on him and would be ahandful for any f/b, and let the hub go back to midfield.   Tommy could hold the chf spot possibly better than Mulgrew although Id give Mulgrew one more go at it.  Colm Cavanagh whilst not possessing the neccessary power yet will offer a good option also at either f/f or one of the half forward positions.  My initial feeling was if Dooher was injured though would be to pull Davy Harte or Phillip Jordan to the half forward or both (to chase back if you know what I mean) and replace them in the half back line with 1 of or 2 of Mc Caul or Mc Mahon.  Mc Caul is full of football, verastile, a manmarker and could be used.  I believe Dooher has always made Tyrones half forward line their most important line on the pitch Jordan and Harte are old enough and imporatnt enough to martial this line. Full Back must be Joe Have we any other options available.  Another option would be Big Sean into the half forward line to bolster it whilst Putting K Hughes and K Hughes in midfield. 
(These would need to be tried in training first Mickey before using them on the big day.  ....  Thanks)     

[rrhf]

Oh by the way.  rest for the end of the season may well be the only cure for O Neill.  Should not have been used the last day with that injury.  Did these guys need Mc kenna cup matches at the start of the year,  I fear we may have burned out some of our key resources.  Lets wrap them in cotton wool now and try to get them to an ALL Ireland final intact.

[Shadylimp]

come on guys, lets hear who yous think should start next game, regardless of who the opposition is!

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Worst case scenario and Dooher,Cavlan and O'Neill cant start I think a team like this would be as good as we had:
Devine
Carlin
McMahon
McMenamin
Harte
Gormley
Jordan
E McGinley
Hughes
C Cavanagh
R Mulgrew
S Cavanagh
McCullagh
Mellon
Mulligan
That would leave plenty of running potential from the half forward line. Would leave Cavanagh in the forwards cause we'd need his scoring potential with the other guys out. Could move McMahon to midfield and play Gourley at chb or full back, or even try Justy McMahon midfield with Hughes. Need Mellon to win ball and take the odd score. Granted he hasnt been on form for a while but he has all the attributes and maybe being dropped is the kick up the backside needed. Some people said he only ever played well in the All Ireland final but in the louth replay last year he was one of our best players. Hopefully the njury crisis will ease but Im not hopeful. We definately need O'Neill to be able to make a significent contribution from the bench.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

On other note I see some clubs with notices saying only 1 ticket per member etc. Surely for a game like this that wont sell out we should be encouraging as many Tyrone supporters to go as possible to go.

[supersarsfields]

^{In Dooher's possible/probable absence, what about Gourley in his place?}

this was tried in 2004 in the Mayo game and he made no impact at all. If Dooher is missing then I'd imagine Enda McGinley would step in to do the same job. That is depending on his fitness as well tho.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Dont role out Penrose in Doohers role. Is an all action player, pity he wont pass the ball though! He'd be a good one a side player. Does provide great work rate and does get on the ball quite a bit.

[Mr. Nakata]

I was fearing a situation like this, however, at this stage, I think injuries to 3 key defenders would be a bigger disaster. Imagine, no Gormley, Ricey and Carlin. Now that would be traumatic. This is where Harte earns his corn. At the best of times, he always throws in at least one surprise. I bet the team announced for the quarter will leave many a red hand gael scratching their noggin. That is if those 3 players will be absent. Dooher's groin problem explains his poor performance. If he's snookered Mulgrew will need to step up his hoovering. The draw will be interesting and may dictate team selection to an extent. At the end of the day, 15 fit players need to be selected.

[johnpower]

From today's Gaelic Life, Jarlath (Burns) very impressed with Mulgrew in the Monaghan game, though I wouldn't be so sure on his sentiments about how it's Tyrone's to lose at this stage.

All-Ireland is now Tyrone's to lose

Last Sunday, during the Championship programme, in an attempt to show a little perspective on how the world has changed since Monaghan last contested the Ulster final, we showed a few clips from their 1988 effort. Apart from the cheap and cheerful set, the dodgy hairstyles and the grassy/muddy Hill, the type of football played was a light year away from the modern game. Back then, it was catch and kick, no third midfielder, no tactics, no gameplan, no seventh defender; just good old fashioned and very bad football.

For those who like to lament the modern method and point to a glorious bygone age of better, harder and faster, the TG4 series 'All Ireland Gold' has been a rude awakener. Remember the classic semi-final of 1977 between Dublin and Kerry for the right to slaughter the winners of Armagh and Roscommon? When you see it again now, it is amazing in its mediocrity; grey men playing grey football in a grey stadium with seemingly no regard at all for holding onto possession or building moves on the overlap.

But all has changed, changed utterly. Systems, strategies, mental imagery, tactics; gaelic football bears no resemblance to even ten years ago. All of which brings me to the latest 'innovation' in our modern game: The 'numbers mean nothing' tactic. When the match began on Sunday, I spent the first ten minutes trying to get a handle on who had moved where and onto whom and why. I gave up. Cavlan in the corner, Hughes in the centre, Cavanagh at right half forward:is he? Or is he just playing a more forward role because Joe McMahon is a defensive player, and is Dooher in the centre or has McQuaid moved over to mark him? And what have they done in defence? Gormley has picked up Freeman, well then who's playing centre half back? Harte? No, but his man Clerkin has gone into midfield and who's marking him? Has Mugsy gone into full forward, or has Corey gone to mark him because both of them are doing a sort of ballet dance with elbows every time the ball has gone in there. And the boy Finlay who wasn't even named on the first fifteen. Calculus would be easier than this. Managers have always tried an aul move just to upset the opposition, but the recent trend is sort of taking the biscuit. This year in the Sigerson I watched an entire forward line move over one place just like a volleyball sextet every time a point was scored. It was hilarious and confused them more than any of us.

But our county managers are canny folk and there is sound reasoning behind the reshuffling of the trump players. Since psychology is becoming more a part of the game, players and their mentors are now beginning to focus more on the opposition and try to second guess what their strengths and weaknesses would be.
A team with a big midfield and small full back would be sure to see lots of short kicks out and high balls into the square from the opposition. Monaghan in particular enjoy the thrill of strangling their opponents' game plan. For their game against Down it was easy: spoil Dan Gordon and double mark Benny Coulter. For Derry it was slightly more complicated. Crowd midfield again, blot out the high ball going into Muldoon and stand in front of Paddy Bradley. And they managed to disrupt the Tyrone momentum with great flair on Sunday. Monaghan have learnt a lot from their outings this year and they discovered that if they put all their eggs into the midfield basket again, breaking ball would have to end up in their hands and boy did this work.

Over the seventy minutes there were forty kicks out. Monaghan ended up with twenty nine of them. Under normal circumstances, this would translate into a handy victory, but not on Sunday because Tyrone have a tactic of their own which is their ace card. Just watch their three half forwards when they are attacking. Running, supporting, overlapping.

UGLY

That's the easy part. Then they lose possession and now watch them. They turn on their heel and all three of them put their head down and head back into defence. These are the ugly runs. The stuff no one notices, but contain the nuts and bolts on which victory is fashioned. I couldn't see much of Raymond Mulgrew's creativity on Sunday, so I watched him closely for fifteen minutes just to see what he was up to. He never stopped running. Down the field providing options, then turning and racing back. On three occasions he ended up with the ball back in his half back line and set up an attack. OK, he didn't score, he only ended up with one shot on goal, but his workrate was outstanding. Dooher the same. No scores this time, but still honest endeavour. At the end of the day, it's hard to beat hard work and Tyrone have plenty of men prepared to get their hands dirty.

So no fairytale ending for Monaghan. Against Down, Hanratty was the main man with 2-1. For the Derry match, Freeman stood up to the mark and got seven fine points. For Monaghan to win on Sunday, it required both of them to be on their game in a way they have never played before, but while Freeman tortured Conor Gormley, Ricey put Hanratty in his pocket and on a day when all possession in the middle was ending up in Monaghan hands, there was just not enough options for the men on the ball to turn possession into scores.

But they still deserve credit. A brilliant match and a great return to the natural home of Ulster football. Monaghan lost by two points. You get the feeling however that if they were still playing, they would be two points behind and bearing down on goal. This All Ireland is now Tyrone's to lose. Let's hope they go all the way.

Good article .Jarleth knows his stuff . The work rate is the key thing . Tyrone V Meath or Cork would be very interesting match ups .How would the Coyler and Billy prepare for Tyrones 15 man game ?

[Elias]

Disaster, thats it fucked completly lads.

In '05 Messer Burns never tipped Tyrone to win a match after the Ulster semi final against Cavan, and we know what happened.

The ballox has put the blight on us now 

[tyroneman]

Personally I wouldn't  like to meet Donegal or Cork

the rest I would be ok with, though none are an easy touch.