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Not a bit surprising how we played. Amateur set up. No structure and no pattern to our play. Lads did their best which is good enough to beat the wicklows and carlows. Thank god Wicklow played man on man. Such a pity as we may not be good enough to beat the dubs but we could be a lot closer with a well run setup.

I don't think anyone is advocating 15-men-back blanket defence. I for one am just glad they are even thinking about a system. Way way too late though to be adding structure in May. We would be sitting pretty in division 2 next year and be much better prepared for the championship had we being honing a system starting at the Galway game. As McNulty showed, it takes years to get a system to work, certainly not weeks.

Seems we played blanket defence against Kildare according to one of the reports. Better late than never I suppose.

Hard to know where this team are at. Seemed to have the heads wrong against Offaly and no changes were made when things went wrong. Against Carlow the bench subbed in young Keyes early who was on fire and made a fierce difference but then didn't make any more changes until very deep into the second half despite some poor performances and the need to give some more experience to other players. Also, Lee Cleere was carrying an injury in the second half when the game was in the bag and should have been given a break given his importance to the team.

In general, the team will need to display a much higher level of accuracy and will need to be less sloppy. They seem to drop a little too much ball or take too many goes to get the ball into the hand which will cause problems against Dublin. However, if the first touch is right they have a good chance.

Dublin game 3pm next Saturday in Portlaoise.

Do or die.

Correct me if im wrong but is this not the third time we have played Westmeath in Challenge matches since January !? The Heath and St Lomans were the venues I believe . Don't see an enormous benefit playing a Division 4 side again so close to championship .

Maybe Westmeath have cancelled because as division 4 side they don't feel they would learn enough from playing a division 3 side ahead of the championship....

Not sure we will learn anything more from challenges anyway. If we aren't working on tactics and strategy then we might get past Wicklow at a push but the summer will be a short one thereafter.

Blew it. We were WAY better but played with a complacency that allowed Offaly back in. Their heads did not look right at all.

Thought Westmeath were very good in first half. They were sharp, hungry and smart. Which means we had to play really well to win this.

Was delighted to see that we had another gear and played very well in the second half. Cha's point where he was double marked was unreal, class act. I was particularly delighted that the younger guys showed so well - Mullaney, Bergin, Purcell, Lennon and Mark Kavanagh when he came on all show signs of a bright future.

Cahir, Darren Maher, Neil Foyle and Cha showed great character throughout.

If only we didn't have to play the two man full forward line. It gives the opposition easy possession on the puck outs and puts our backs under fierce pressure.

Contrast the Tyrone approach to grooming managers to our own:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2016/0407/780119-monaghan-under-21-ciaran-mcbride-tyrone/

Possible 15 based on lads who have been given a run to date:

If Picky is not available (confirmed?) then Joe Phelan could come in at corner back with Delaney on the half back line and Foyle moving forward. That would leave almost no experienced subs to come in......

Definitely a big ask considering where this team must be mentally and the lack of players available. One thing for certain, they won't be taking it for granted.

Rowland
Delaney
Maher
Healy
Mullaney
Foyle
Bergin
Purcell
Stapleton
Dwyer
Maher
Reddin
Lennon
Dunphy
Scully

The big concern is that this team is operating at it's potential

i haven't been to any of the games recently so i haven't been commenting here, but the above is a fairly big statement.
i would disagree with that. if the lads are pissed off with the set up, be it tactics or management or training or whatever, then they are not playing at their full potential. but that is where the main problem lies. Cheddar and the coaches need to figure out how to get the most out of what they have, i don't think they are doing it so far.

My comment was a proposition rather than a statement - I really hope we are operating well below our potential. I believe that we are playing well under our potential. If I am wrong and IF this team are operating to their potential then we are rightly screwed for 2016 and beyond. I don't believe that any of the players are blaming the setup, they seem to see it as their responsibility to turn it around which is fair to a point. There are reports of the players being mentally and physically exhausted which can be partly remediated between now and the championship. If they are fresh and energized going into May, then maybe we will see different performances.

Our only hope is that there is a grain of truth in that the players are training at full pelt still and are sluggish as a result. If we taper off on time, we may peak when other teams are off-peak and our fitness and first touch will prevail. That and of course the return of Zane, Willie, Roddy etc. The big concern is that this team is operating at it's potential, which would mean that we are in reality a Division 2 side for a while.

I can't believe that Lillis didn't even seem to be questioning himself and his methods. 'I don't believe in these northern systems', 'defending from deep doesn't suit Laois' - what the hell? Even Kerry and Dublin completely changed how they play football in response to the evolution of the tactical game born in the north. If he believes that we can continue to play 'the way football should be played' then he should be given his P45 now because guess what - it is no longer played that way. He is basically committing to inspiring this team on to try harder and play better with no plan.

I'm with Tony on this one. Laois individually showed loads of character against Derry, Tyrone and Cavan but came out on the wrong end of the results because of a non existent game plan. Every player bust a gut against Tyrone but the decision making was terrible. We couldn't break down their blanket defence because there was no plan - people didn't understand their roles and just resorted to kicking aimless balls outside the scoring zone. Same against Derry and Cavan defensively. Look at that team no.1 to 23 and tell me who is not giving everything? I don't see it.

All I'm saying is : We have a good squad. We have potential this year, believe it or not. All we need is a man with a good brain at the helm. We don't need world class facilities. It's frustrating seeing these kinds of pityful displays when we can do so much better. A decent manager would have us challenging for promotion, I'm convinced of that. Wolly was right, Lillis is a waste of time. I'm saying that out of frustration at his managerial ability, not a personal attack - I'm sure he's a nice guy. I'd kill for a good manager with this squad.

Totally agree Tony. We don't have a problem with individual talent or strength and conditioning. We have some fine athletes. Many people are making comments on our club structure and coaching and they are valid in terms of providing future talent to the senior team. What we have right now is just fine. Largely we are still based around Leinster and All-Ireland winning minor and Leinster winning U-21 players. When we played Tyrone it stood out that we had as much size and skill but were playing as individuals whereas every aspect of their game was thought through and practiced to death. Kickouts, breaking ball, defending against a slow build up, defending against high balls, defending against diagonal balls, defending against quick ball into full forward lines, turning the ball over in the tackle, zone defence, breakdown strategies, counter attack strategies etc. etc. Everyone knew their role in every situation which means that the team are operating way above the sum of their parts. Our lack of planning and scenario drilling makes great players (Evan O'Carroll, Donie Kingston, Colm Begley, John O' Loughlin etc. etc.) look like poor players - they are not. They are trying to make it up as they go along. This is the tragedy. We need a manager who can get this moving as it takes a couple of years to make it happen, or at the very least Lillis needs to employ someone who gets this. When unqualified pundits like me and others can see how glaringly amateurish this set up is, surely the county board and other influential voices in Laois can see it. Is there anyone in the county that has a demonstrated understanding of how to set up a modern inter-county football team? Surely we can afford to employ an ex Tyrone footballer - someone like Peter Canavan for example for a couple of years? The cost of not doing so would seem to be much higher than the cost of doing it.