Donegal V Monaghan

[J70]

Bollocks is all I have to say!

[orangeman]

Monaghan to shade this one - have Donegal a wee garden of a ground where they could take Monaghan into and frustrate them ??

[Maguire01]

If Monaghan are going to match last year, we're going to have to do it the tough way!

Revenge wasn't enough for Derry, but we really embarrassed Donegal in Omagh last year. Will be interesting to see if that is enough motivation. With Donegal beating Roscommon yesterday, it's hard to really know where they're at.

Monaghan will have Finlay and McQuaid back as well - Finlay in particular will be a massive boost for this one. Hanratty and Gollogly both did a good enough job to warrant a starting place though. Hard to know who would be dropped to bring Finlay back in. Clerkin, with Finlay in midfield?
One big positive from yesterday was our range of scorers:
C Hanratty (0-03); C McManus (0-01), D Clerkin (1-00), S Gollogly (0-02); R Woods (0-01), T Freeman (0-05, 2f) - I don't think anyone could call that over reliance on one man. Considering Finlay is always worth a few points, the attack is looking good.
Anyone know if Ronaghan will be available for next week, or is his foot injury more longterm?


I'm assuming we're talking 7pm next Saturday night in Ballybofey. I'd expect a big travelling crowd after yesterday's result.

[J70]

Could take them to the rain and the wind in Ballyshannon I suppose.

It will obviously be in Ballybofey though. One thing in our favour is that the Donegal team were widely condemned after their capitulation against Monaghan last year when they gave up with 25 minutes to go and will have a point to prove. They will not (or at least should not) be lacking for motivation. That doesn't mean they'll be good enough to beat Monaghan, but that, along with home advantage, provides them with a big opportunity to show, if they're able, that they are a serious team.

That said, by all accounts we were poor against the Rossies yesterday, so McIver has a lot of issues to sort out within the space of a week.

[orangeman]

This will be a great contest - tie of the round !

[J70]

A big worry is that Roscommon did very well at midfield yesterday. That was an area that Monaghan cleaned us out in last year. Rory Kavanagh was tried there yesterday but had little impact, so we're back to square one with the immobile Neil Gallagher and A.N.Other.
As well, McFadden and Devenney made no impact whatsoever against the Monaghan defense last time. Every time McFadden got the ball, he was surrounded by three players, while Devenney ended up just stopping making runs because the ball wasn't being delivered. Apparently Devenney played more of a centre-forward role yesterday and did quite well after he came on, so I presume it will be McFadden and Murphy up front. Corey and Freeman tore us to shreds at the back that day too, so McIver will have to come up with something to combat that. I'm not what he can do if we're getting hammered at midfield though.

[orangeman]

This is Donegal's shot at redemption after last year - have they got in their beings to put right the humiliation of last year or will this be Mc Ivor's last stand ? If I know Mc Ivor, Donegal will be coming out with all guns blazing - they will not lack passion or commitment - will it be enough ?

[J70]

If they do come out lacking commitment and passion and end up getting humiliated again, then McIver will get the road.

However, if the effort and organization is there, we can't complain, whatever the result. If the other team is better, so be it.

Based on the two games so far this year however, I haven't been overly impressed by McIver, to be honest.

[Maguire01]

This is Donegal's shot at redemption after last year - have they got in their beings to put right the humiliation of last year or will this be Mc Ivor's last stand ? If I know Mc Ivor, Donegal will be coming out with all guns blazing - they will not lack passion or commitment - will it be enough ?

Surely we can't ake him resign twice? 

[orangeman]

If they do come out lacking commitment and passion and end up getting humiliated again, then McIver will get the road.
However, if the effort and organization is there, we can't complain, whatever the result. If the other team is better, so be it.

Based on the two games so far this year however, I haven't been overly impressed by McIver, to be honest.

He'll not get the road - he's too smart for that - he'll go down the road - if Donegal could match his passion and ambition, then things might be differnt but commitment on the part of the players seems to be a constant issue -


You were mighty impressed with him last May when he delivered the first silverwear in a long time by bringing home the NFL - Unfotunately for you, half the lads went on the piss after it ( before the championship ) !

[J70]

If they do come out lacking commitment and passion and end up getting humiliated again, then McIver will get the road.
However, if the effort and organization is there, we can't complain, whatever the result. If the other team is better, so be it.

Based on the two games so far this year however, I haven't been overly impressed by McIver, to be honest.

He'll not get the road - he's too smart for that - he'll go down the road - if Donegal could match his passion and ambition, then things might be differnt but commitment on the part of the players seems to be a constant issue -


You were mighty impressed with him last May when he delivered the first silverwear in a long time by bringing home the NFL - Unfotunately for you, half the lads went on the piss after it ( before the championship ) !

I was talking more about tactics this year e.g. his utter failure to do anything to deal with Paddy Bradley or the set-up of the team last night (I'm relying on McHugh's criticism for the latter point).

The players have to take responsibility for their commitment to training and fitness and so on, but the manager is responsible for his selection, tactics and changes.

[orangeman]

Mc Gee and Lacey didn't turn up that day - how big a loss is Paddy Campbell ?

[J70]

Mc Gee and Lacey didn't turn up that day - how big a loss is Paddy Campbell ?

Never rated Paddy too highly at inter-county level myself, so I don't see him as a significant loss.

Lacey should have been on Paddy Bradley from the get-go, instead of leaving Neil McGee there to drown on him. And McIver never went with the bleeding-obvious tactic he used so successfully in the 2006 game of dropping someone like Barry Dunnion in on front of the backs to sweep up and cut out the supply. Fermanagh certainly made use of this tactic in the subsequent round. But then he tries it last night, against the Rossies, using Ryan Bradley, when there was no need! All it did was cost a few frees that Bradley gave away in scorable positions. To give him credit, he changed it at half-time and it made a difference.

[orangeman]

Mc Gee and Lacey didn't turn up that day - how big a loss is Paddy Campbell ?

Never rated Paddy too highly at inter-county level myself, so I don't see him as a significant loss.

Lacey should have been on Paddy Bradley from the get-go, instead of leaving Neil McGee there to drown on him. And McIver never went with the bleeding-obvious tactic he used so successfully in the 2006 game of dropping someone like Barry Dunnion in on front of the backs to sweep up and cut out the supply. Fermanagh certainly made use of this tactic in the subsequent round. But then he tries it last night, against the Rossies, using Ryan Bradley, when there was no need! All it did was cost a few frees that Bradley gave away in scorable positions. To give him credit, he changed it at half-time and it made a difference.

I always thought Campbell was rock solid - not afraid to go toe to toe with anyone. Just the sort of player Donegal would have needed against Derry and the threat of the Bradleys.

[J70]

bump for GrandmasterFlash