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We all love being critical. However, why did he go to the papers crying about it? Why is he even giving the critics airtime? You have to wonder what his state of mind is.  I thought the Louth comments were childish.

O'Neill - i think it's a case of too much football for him. He looked very narked and agitated the whole game on Sunday. I just think he needs a breather.

A serious amount of shit stirring on this thread. Slim, RRRHF etc are having some craic with this one.

McDonnell's probably the hardest working player on the Armagh team - always gives 100%. He was having a stinker of a game on Sunday though, nothing went right for him. From where i was, I never heard any personal abuse or abuse per se thrown at him.  I think he's overreacting a bit. Ideally i think he should be rested for a game or 2  to recharge the batteries -he has been a constant for Armagh in the mckenna cup, league and championship in recent years, while others around him have had time off. At the moment though Armagh can't afford to leave him out.

Good result for the Nab, considering the players suspended. How in hell did ST manage to get 4 players sent off?  Were they trying to get the game abandoned? Anybody here at the game? 

Saw enough of McKeever at CHB against Kerry last year to do me a lifetime - acres of space given away. He's a good tight marking wing back though, with a bit of strength that was missing against Kerry in the same game.  

It would have been asking a lot for a very inexperienced and disjointed team to get a result yesterday away from home.  The warning signs are there for the year ahead though. I would like to see Toal tried as a corner forward in an early league game to see how he gets on.

Who's Conor McGinley?

I was very happy with the Armagh performance today, given that the line up was unrecognisable as an Armagh team. It's not meant to be disrespectful to Donegal posters on here but that WAS our third string!  I thought Armagh's best performers were Toal, McClelland, Donnelly and Swift.  The McCreeshs did well at the back too.  Toal has that bit of class and scoring potential about him that we could really do with in the forward line this year and if he keeps the level of workrate up that he has shown in the last couple of games then he should be able to nail a starting spot. If he had got a better supply of ball in the second half he would have been able to do a lot more damage.  I don't think there are too many individual star performers among those lads but in the last few games they have shown a remarkable level of composure, confidence and maturity in their play for guys who are mostly in the 19/20 age bracket. Played well as a unit too. 

Armagh's line up for the first few league games is going to be interesting! The university players will be back but none of those lads are regulars themselves.  The growing injury list and the absence of the Cross contingent will mean another experimental line up for the early games. I hope we can salvage some points early on and hang in there until the cavalry arrives later on.

A few points from yesterday's match. A solid, if unspectacular Armagh performance.  Well organised and sound at the back, strong around midfield (during the first half in particular) but lightweight in the full forward line, with McDonnell the only real threat here.  As mentioned, the two Granemore lads did well, particularly McClelland. The Harps lads likewise. Paedar Toal covered a lot of ground, scoring a couple of nice points.  JP Donnelly put the recent transfer speculation behind him with a good performance from the back, roving forward quite a lot.  Swift did quite well in patches.  McKinney continues to be a very assuring presence in goals.  The forward division is going to be a big worry for us this year.  If Toal keeps putting in the effort he'll be in with a shout, but we need more in the full forward line. Kevin O'Rourke looks a lively player, but as someone else has said here, he lacks an end product at the minute. We have to plan to be without Clarke and Mallon (if either or both come back it will be a bonus) and look at the options up front.

As a footnote, Armagh seem to keep producing big lads from underage level who aren't the quickest, whereas the opposite is the case in Tyrone! Bit of a generalisation i suppose , but it struck me again yesterday.