Division one 2021

Started by tonto1888, December 14, 2020, 07:59:23 PM

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the goal was on

Whats the crack with the suspended Banty being on field with players and in huddle after game. The man is a law to himself!!

lurganblue

#766
I had a little bit of trepidation going into this league as an Armagh fan but excited to see how we would stack up.  You'll not find many fans that aren't happy with the progress the team is making.  A few injury problems and yet the lads who have came in have stood up well.

First 15 mins of the Roscommon game and things were looking ominous.  Fairly closed up shop from the water break onwards.  Would be nice to have a decent rattle at Ulster now.

brokencrossbar1

Was a strange league campaign given the condensed nature of it. I believe if it had have been over the 7 game format we would have survived comfortably ahead of Roscommon, Galway and Monaghan, on par with Tyrone and Donegal, Kerry and Dublin clear.
Yesterday was a solid performance against a team I have an irrational dislike for. Really don't like Roscommon. They have an arrogance than is unearned. Anthony Cunningham the manager being the prime example of it so to win yesterday was a bit sweeter.

On the game itself as has been said the first 15 minutes was poor. McStay made a huge issue about the water break, and I would have to agree with him to a point. There was a significant switch of dynamic after the 1st break. The Roscommon momentum was stopped and we got on a run. Rian settled into his game after snatching at a few balls and Jemser Hall started finding space. A few of the points round the goals were well worked with good runs and fast hands. I wonder what influence Donaghy has had on that as fast hands were his trade mark and a clear cross over from basketball.

At this stage we were winning midfield and breaking their attacks down comfortably enough. Swarm defence was working well and they never looked likely to breach us. The base of this was coming though from a dominance round the middle with Grimley, the O Neill's interchanging from FF and MF and a lot of loose ball being picked up by Hall, Forker, McCabe and McCay. Roscommon made a substitute and he brought them back into it but they never really threatened our goal.

Second half we pushed on and they never really looked up for it at all. Management used our substitutes well, Burns and Turbitt put in good second half shifts, Hall looked gassed when he came off so wasn't a bad change. The whole team 'managed' the second half well and Roscommon never got into it. They needed a goal but never looked close to it. We finished it out well and we're very comfortable and the winning margin was not undeserving.

overall the team did well, kick outs steady, defensive shape was strong, midfield dominant and forwards took some excellent scores, Rian, Oisín and Soupy had some excellent scores. On Soupy a bit of a curates egg I felt. Worked his absolute socks off, covered so much ground, but sometimes his decision making was lacking. Against the next level teams that is exposed. And that takes me on to my inevitable caveat point, the one issue I would have was that sometimes with our defensive system and breaking in transition our final pass, final decision was off. This was not exposed yesterday but will be against faster, stronger opposition, which it was against Donegal. We played well but the opposition has to be factored in and I didn't see any of the required aggression from Roscommon that will inevitably be the case in championship.

With championship in mind we should not underestimate Antrim. They have basically a free hit against us but they are playing good football and will be hard to beat. They have a run of confidence. The confidence of promotion as against the confidence of avoiding relegation? Hard to tell which is most important. We have the quality to win but like everything it's 1 game at a time. It is an old cliche but it is true!

Maroon Manc

Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.

galwayman

#769
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.
We have some talented players and there will be more hopefully to come on stream like Hernon and McLoughlin in the next few seasons.
But we also have some passengers and that is holding the team back - imo anyway.
Some of the guys we were bringing in off the bench were weakening the team considerably.
Daly and Flynn are badly needed back at this stage. Is Ronan Steede still out injured?
Also, I thought at the time it was sheer madness to replace Shane Walsh with Matthias Barrett near the end of normal time. Now Shane wasn't having one of his better games but why would you take off your best player? We were 5 points up. He was coming deep to pick up ball and carrying it into the heart of the Monaghan defence. If we got the ball to him he would at least take some pressure off us and chew up some time on the clock. He may well have manufactured a free or produced a bit of magic for us. It was madness. The sideline has to take responsibility for that. Johnny and Matthias were found out at this level yet again and that cost us badly.

Maroon Manc

Quote from: galwayman on June 14, 2021, 11:38:24 AM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.
We have some talented players and there will be more hopefully to come on stream like Hernon and McLoughlin in a few years.
But we also have some passengers and that is holding the team back - imo anyway.

A good few passengers, Shane Walsh was poor by his standards but there's no doubt the criticism of him will be over the top. He's Galway's best player but is spending far too much time in his own half and is possibly one of the reasons why he missed some of those chances yesterday. His free taking has massively improved, he's nailing all the one he should do and he's only missing the speculative ones. Galway once again don't have the right balance between defence and attack and are not getting the best out of Walsh.

Solo_run

Quote from: lurganblue on June 14, 2021, 11:20:22 AM
I had a little bit of trepidation going into this league as an Armagh fan but excited to see how we would stack up.  You'll not find many fans that aren't happy with the progress the team is making.  A few injury problems and yet the lads who have came in have stood up well.

First 15 mins of the Roscommon game and things were looking ominous.  Fairly closed up shop from the water break onwards.  Would be nice to have a decent rattle at Ulster now.

Genuinely thought we would go down in flames after the game against Donegal in Ulster last year.

We were shocking in the first 15 minutes. A few wides, dispossessed or lost possession easily and playing against an up for it Roscommon team.
After the water break O'Neill took the ball and put the ball over the bar and that for me was a significant turning point as we then put another two points up in quick succession and we started to click and players changed their starting roles slightly - especially Grugan.

Armagh are way off defensively and it is by far our weak point now - hence the blanket defence. If we were able to sort the defence out we would have a very well balanced team that would be very capable.





manfromdelmonte

Quote from: brokencrossbar1 on June 14, 2021, 11:24:37 AM
Was a strange league campaign given the condensed nature of it. I believe if it had have been over the 7 game format we would have survived comfortably ahead of Roscommon, Galway and Monaghan, on par with Tyrone and Donegal, Kerry and Dublin clear.
Yesterday was a solid performance against a team I have an irrational dislike for. Really don't like Roscommon. They have an arrogance than is unearned. Anthony Cunningham the manager being the prime example of it so to win yesterday was a bit sweeter.

On the game itself as has been said the first 15 minutes was poor. McStay made a huge issue about the water break, and I would have to agree with him to a point. There was a significant switch of dynamic after the 1st break. The Roscommon momentum was stopped and we got on a run. Rian settled into his game after snatching at a few balls and Jemser Hall started finding space. A few of the points round the goals were well worked with good runs and fast hands. I wonder what influence Donaghy has had on that as fast hands were his trade mark and a clear cross over from basketball.

At this stage we were winning midfield and breaking their attacks down comfortably enough. Swarm defence was working well and they never looked likely to breach us. The base of this was coming though from a dominance round the middle with Grimley, the O Neill's interchanging from FF and MF and a lot of loose ball being picked up by Hall, Forker, McCabe and McCay. Roscommon made a substitute and he brought them back into it but they never really threatened our goal.

Second half we pushed on and they never really looked up for it at all. Management used our substitutes well, Burns and Turbitt put in good second half shifts, Hall looked gassed when he came off so wasn't a bad change. The whole team 'managed' the second half well and Roscommon never got into it. They needed a goal but never looked close to it. We finished it out well and we're very comfortable and the winning margin was not undeserving.

overall the team did well, kick outs steady, defensive shape was strong, midfield dominant and forwards took some excellent scores, Rian, Oisín and Soupy had some excellent scores. On Soupy a bit of a curates egg I felt. Worked his absolute socks off, covered so much ground, but sometimes his decision making was lacking. Against the next level teams that is exposed. And that takes me on to my inevitable caveat point, the one issue I would have was that sometimes with our defensive system and breaking in transition our final pass, final decision was off. This was not exposed yesterday but will be against faster, stronger opposition, which it was against Donegal. We played well but the opposition has to be factored in and I didn't see any of the required aggression from Roscommon that will inevitably be the case in championship.

With championship in mind we should not underestimate Antrim. They have basically a free hit against us but they are playing good football and will be hard to beat. They have a run of confidence. The confidence of promotion as against the confidence of avoiding relegation? Hard to tell which is most important. We have the quality to win but like everything it's 1 game at a time. It is an old cliche but it is true!
you dislike Roscommon because they have beaten armagh on a good few occasions recently and actually have won a few provincial titles in the past few years?
anyway, Roscommon seem to be disimproving since the first season Cunningham was in charge

macker15

What happened with young O'Neill and Conor Cox at the end of game? Cox refused to shake hands.

naka

bf armagh were excellent yesterday but i was surprised at roscommon allowing them to collect a short kickouts.
first 15 minutes i thought Armagh were in trouble but the water break came at the right time and they started to get to grips with Roscommon.
was pleasantly surprised at murnin returning, i really enjoy watching him as a footballer and his catch just after half time was fantatstic
defence is still a work in progress but the attack is starting to look the part, i enjoyed the deep running to penetrate the blanket defence( having been in fermanagh a few years ago (and watching us play like headless chickens( it was a joy to see confidence in shooting from distance as well as quick passing.
all in all a good year so far for Armagh

fearsiuil

Quote from: galwayman on June 14, 2021, 11:38:24 AM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.
We have some talented players and there will be more hopefully to come on stream like Hernon and McLoughlin in the next few seasons.
But we also have some passengers and that is holding the team back - imo anyway.
Some of the guys we were bringing in off the bench were weakening the team considerably.
Daly and Flynn are badly needed back at this stage. Is Ronan Steede still out injured?
Also, I thought at the time it was sheer madness to replace Shane Walsh with Matthias Barrett near the end of normal time. Now Shane wasn't having one of his better games but why would you take off your best player? We were 5 points up. He was coming deep to pick up ball and carrying it into the heart of the Monaghan defence. If we got the ball to him he would at least take some pressure off us and chew up some time on the clock. He may well have manufactured a free or produced a bit of magic for us. It was madness. The sideline has to take responsibility for that. Johnny and Matthias were found out at this level yet again and that cost us badly.
Radio commentary were mentioning Shane Walsh looked injured.

galwayman

Quote from: fearsiuil on June 14, 2021, 09:07:10 PM
Quote from: galwayman on June 14, 2021, 11:38:24 AM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.
We have some talented players and there will be more hopefully to come on stream like Hernon and McLoughlin in the next few seasons.
But we also have some passengers and that is holding the team back - imo anyway.
Some of the guys we were bringing in off the bench were weakening the team considerably.
Daly and Flynn are badly needed back at this stage. Is Ronan Steede still out injured?
Also, I thought at the time it was sheer madness to replace Shane Walsh with Matthias Barrett near the end of normal time. Now Shane wasn't having one of his better games but why would you take off your best player? We were 5 points up. He was coming deep to pick up ball and carrying it into the heart of the Monaghan defence. If we got the ball to him he would at least take some pressure off us and chew up some time on the clock. He may well have manufactured a free or produced a bit of magic for us. It was madness. The sideline has to take responsibility for that. Johnny and Matthias were found out at this level yet again and that cost us badly.
Radio commentary were mentioning Shane Walsh looked injured.
Sure he came straight back on again for extra time.

mouview

Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.


Jeez, if we're 7/8 players away from the big one, who are the other 7/8 players we have currently? Because I'm really struggling to see any at this time. Don't think we have any defender that would get on the Mayo or Dublin sides, any right midfielder either (though Tierney may finally fill a spot for us there), and no forward that would make a Kerry or Dublin team bar Walsh at his best. It almost beggars belief that we can't transition some good underage players through to adulthood/senior level but there just seems to be a disconnect there now. Structures must be lacking or something.

Our hurlers finally seem to be doing this properly. They have currently a very good U20 team arising out of several AI-winning Minor teams; they're already conditioned to play Senior but won't be rushed in until good and ready.

Main Street

Galway did well to hang on in there against Monaghan until virtually the last kick of the game. But hey we won't be flagellating ourselves up over our inability to kill the game off more effectively against such opposition.  Galway punched above their weight on sunday against Monaghan, fair dues to them.

An Fhairche Abu

Quote from: mouview on June 14, 2021, 11:32:08 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 14, 2021, 11:33:50 AM
Quote from: Tubberman on June 13, 2021, 11:22:46 PM
Quote from: An Fhairche Abu on June 13, 2021, 11:07:42 PM
Quote from: Maroon Manc on June 13, 2021, 10:07:39 PM
Lets see what the championship brings although I've very little optimism.

Same boat here, have to support whatever happens but really not seeing where some massive transformation will come from at the minute, the results don't lie.
PJ didn't speak to the media afterwards either, a really, really poor look, I know this is a backbreaking loss but have to front up and own it, you're the man in charge.


He looked absolutely crushed at final whistle which is understandable,  but as you said, he's the manager and it's his job to come out and represent his team and defend them.
Having said that, i think ye might be a bit hard on him/the team.  They should have won that match, and i still think they may well win Connacht. They lost their nerve in final minutes of last year's connacht final and again today which must be a worry but they did a lot right up to then.
They wouldnt have a hope against Dublin in a semi final but sure there's very few, if any, that would.

I don't expect to win Connacht but its not going to be a major shock if Galway did. If they can get beat Roscommon everyone knows that Mayo struggle to break down a packed defence which I'm sure is what Galway will provide.

If we're been realistic looking at the Galway and Mayo teams individually Mayo look like their only a few players away from challenging for the big prize and they may find them this summer whilst Galway are probably 7 or 8 players away, now like Mayo they may find a couple of players may nail down a place over the next few months but that gap to the Dubs shouldn't be that big with the underage success Galway have had.

Now clearly that isn't just Joyce's fault but there are a good few players who aren't the panel who like Varley & Kerin who would be in my starting 15. Kerin was a bit rash in his last appearance for Galway against Mayo a few years ago but prior to that he'd never let Galway down and put in some excellent performances.

Galway have had some really tough defeats to deal with in the last 9 months and ultimately the manager is too blame, game management was non existent throughout the match.


Jeez, if we're 7/8 players away from the big one, who are the other 7/8 players we have currently? Because I'm really struggling to see any at this time. Don't think we have any defender that would get on the Mayo or Dublin sides, any right midfielder either (though Tierney may finally fill a spot for us there), and no forward that would make a Kerry or Dublin team bar Walsh at his best. It almost beggars belief that we can't transition some good underage players through to adulthood/senior level but there just seems to be a disconnect there now. Structures must be lacking or something.

Our hurlers finally seem to be doing this properly. They have currently a very good U20 team arising out of several AI-winning Minor teams; they're already conditioned to play Senior but won't be rushed in until good and ready.

This is certainly part of the problem,. None of this is done, what is the long term plan to put structures in place that would even allow Galway to be at least competitive at the top level every year instead of standing still year after year bar the odd blip like 2018. If the plan is wait for a set of generational players to all hopefully come along in the same timeframe then best of luck with that.
Too many on county board don't care once the hurlers are doing alright is the truth of it as well, you only need look at the selective edit they made to KW's statement when he left the gig that highlighted the problems at their end.