ROSCOMMON v CORK (MARCH 2)

[heineken_on_tap]

I think its officially due to a finger injury Tatler

Mannion and O'Carroll may offer more in terms of hard graft though neither are inspirational.

You may be right Tatler but I think they have the makings of a strong midfield unit - both decent fielders and cover the ground well. We also have finneran on the bench who is a really good fielder of a ball but still looks light in himself for this grade. I think O'Neill days are over - he just does not have the required speed for the modern game, well not around the middle anyway. I wonder would he be any addition in as a full forward target man?

[Tatler Jack]

I think O'Neill days are over - he just does not have the required speed for the modern game, well not around the middle anyway. I wonder would he be any addition in as a full forward target man?

I dont think he thinks quickly enough for a full forward, Might be OK against a poor team in the league but not intelligent enough to play a Donaghy type role at FF and would probably get booked even faster in there. If he stays in the panel he could be useful coming on as a sub though I doubt he would settle for that.

[Rossfan]

A vital game for us and hopefully the Meath game wasnt just the traditional one good game for the year. We used to have that against Longford in recent times.
A win here and we should certainly go on to stay in Div 2;a defeat and we will certainly be relegated while a draw would leave us still hovering till we go to Crossmaglen.
So come on lads repeat the Meath form and take more of ye're chances and it could be "fortress Kiltoom" henceforth.

[spectator]

Looked a great talent when he first came on the team but never really developed or matured. He needed an older and wiser head to support him at midfield in the early years. 

Imho Tatler, he played his best football in his early years when partnered by Stephen Lohan. However when Stevie departed the scene, he seemed to suffer from the lack of a decent midfield partner, being expected to do it all on his own. While he could be and often was very influential & contributed consistently on the scoreboard too, Rossies somehow expected more than that from him. His main problem was that he had too big a repuation to live up to after the 2001 performance and didn't get the on-field support required to live up to it. The player coup fiasco & subsequent revolving doors involving managers didn't do him any favours either - it was at that stage of his career that he needed to be handled by an experienced coach \ manager, imo. I was hopeful when JM came along that he might get more consistent performances out of O'N  and while he seemed to improve in that regard for JM' first few games in charge, things soon went pear shaped again. Regarding his temperament, while admittedly he was a big man, he took a lot of abuse too. I remember players from Longford and Leitrim being sent off for striking him to the head in successive games a couple of years ago. He took a lot of that type of abuse & it only increased as inferior opponents found this chink in his armour.

I wonder would he be any addition in as a full forward target man?

I think he's worth trying at FF - he'd give us another option, as he's a good ball winner, is strong on the ball & can score too. Whether he'd be able to withstand  the niggling from opposition full-backs is a big question mark though, as mentioned by Tatler.

[Shrewdness]

Interesting to see that out of 10 subs named by Roscommon for Sunday, no fewer than 8 of them were on the All Ireland Minor team in 06, plus David O'Gara at right half back on the team means that 9 of the minors from that year will be togged next Sunday.

[heineken_on_tap]

Interesting to see that out of 10 subs named by Roscommon for Sunday, no fewer than 8 of them were on the All Ireland Minor team in 06, plus David O'Gara at right half back on the team means that 9 of the minors from that year will be togged next Sunday.

I wonder are we asking too much of these lads at this stage? No question, they are a very talented bunch and seriously improve the team but most of them are playing club, U-21 and college football as well. In the long term are we doing more damage than good - hopefully when these lads turn 26 and 27 which should be their prime they aren't suffering from burnout.

[bombidal]

Interesting to see that out of 10 subs named by Roscommon for Sunday, no fewer than 8 of them were on the All Ireland Minor team in 06, plus David O'Gara at right half back on the team means that 9 of the minors from that year will be togged next Sunday.

Cathal Cregg at wing forward is another

[Tatler Jack]

Cathal Cregg at wing forward is another

Cregg was a minor in 05 and was not on the winning team in 06. He is on the U21 team this year.

[thebandit]

The Rossies will have 31 (and possibly half of Cork) Counties shouting for them on Sunday

[Rudi]

Hopefully we wont let the country down, on  paper cork are a far stronger team, half back line in particular. Ros have 2 decent backs, a midfield that wont win clean ball, but will work hard & score, a forward line thats decent with options on the bench. Hard to call perhaps a one point victory for the Rossies. Specator - agree fully with your comments on O Neill.

[Rossfan]

Interesting to see that out of 10 subs named by Roscommon for Sunday, no fewer than 8 of them were on the All Ireland Minor team in 06, plus David O'Gara at right half back on the team means that 9 of the minors from that year will be togged next Sunday.

I wonder are we asking too much of these lads at this stage? No question, they are a very talented bunch and seriously improve the team but most of them are playing club, U-21 and college football as well. In the long term are we doing more damage than good -

Agree with your comments there heini. By the end of March I would guess that those lads will have played anything up to 17 or 18 games of all sorts and maybe 30 training sessions - anything up to 50 days activity in 90 days.
Too much activity by far.
I know we're not blessed with a lot of Over 21 talent but I think the 19 and 20 year olds should be kept at U 21 until their run is over ( May Bank Holiday weekend  I hope). 

[rocco]

Interesting to see that out of 10 subs named by Roscommon for Sunday, no fewer than 8 of them were on the All Ireland Minor team in 06, plus David O'Gara at right half back on the team means that 9 of the minors from that year will be togged next Sunday.

Cathal Cregg at wing forward is another.

FINTAN CREGG was the guy on the minor team of 2006

[Tatler Jack]

FINTAN CREGG was the guy on the minor team of 2005

Fintan was on the winning 06 team. Cathal was  minor in 05

[rocco]

FINTAN CREGG was the guy on the minor team of 2005

Fintan was on the winning 06 team. Cathal was  minor in 05

i did mean all ire winning team 2006

[Rudi]

Poor ould Cregg was singled out for some rough treatment from O Leary yesterday. Cork were the better team well drilled & motivated, expect them to win their 5 games & challenge for promotion.  Pearse O Neill and their 2 corner forwards were excellent yesterday. Roscommon did well and are improving all the time, however Westmeaths win yesterday will make staying up in div 2 difficult.