Division one 2021

[Blowitupref]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

[Hound]

McGeeney confirms Jamie Clarke not involved with Armagh this year, which I think had been flagged.

Some other interesting comments on rte.ie:

On player opt-outs

Everyone has a personal choice. Jamie is an exceptionally good fella, I have a lot of time for him personally and he was always straight up when he goes.

Some people just have different passions. I don't really think it's got to do with the football or the commitment. They just tend to give commitment to other things, I suppose it depends where your cards are aligning on your particular journey.

I think we're all caught in a time warp. We tend to focus in on the three/four players (who don't commit) of the 3000 who are involved with inter-county, I think it's a small percentage. I would actually think the opposite, I think football nowadays is far more enjoyable.

You have to remember that when we (90s-early 00s players) were going back training/travelling home, we were going back to run. We did a pre-season in September, another one in January and another one in April/May, and all we did was run. That's all we did, run. The summer months were great but you still ran until a week or two before championship when you got to sharpen up with a few sprints.

Now it's just all football, outside of pre-season, it's all game scenarios. I think it's a great time to be involved in football. I genuinely do. I think it's moved on exponentially, in terms of what they're doing for their players, and even just to be able to access the different things that you can now as a footballer.

It's not for everybody, especially when you're not getting first-team hurling or football, it's easy to get disgruntled because in everything like that, people are going to have different opinions, mine might not be right and a manager might pick different players but I think in general, players are enjoying football and hurling.

On Kieran Donaghy:

We have Kieran Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever and Ciaran McKinney. It seems to be the four Ciarans. It's a bit of craic when they're giving out to us.

The reason I went after Kieran (Donaghy) was Kieran made a career out of bringing other people into the game and I just think that's something we were still missing in Armagh. It's sometimes hard to explain to people. Sometimes, I think you can have too many good forwards. You need people to make them tick, a bit like Kilkenny does for Dublin, like Kieran would have done for Kerry, things like that. I just thought Kieran would have that type of background in his basketball too.

Kieran is a very gregarious type of character anyway. He is good fun. They (the players) find it hard to stop laughing at me all the time... It's good to have somebody else in with a sense of humour. I don't think it's so much where people come from. I also think the fact that although playing underage with Kerry, that he got in through the Underdogs system, he has a great humility about him as well.

He has loads of All-Irelands in the back pockets, All-Stars and things like that, International Rules. He has got everything but there is a great humility about him too, and a great humility about the way he does things. I don't really think it makes a difference where you are from. Your characteristics you bring to it will definitely add a different dimension. I think the three Ciarans all have their own character, but Kieran's pathway has definitely given him all the attributes to be a great coach.

[rosnarun]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

few names missing from that galway team  injuries or not in favour? m daly ,A o laoi Sean andi ,cein d'arcy, Ian burke,varley and E brannigain   
They were ther guys mayo hated to see coming esp Varley who never seemed to play as well against anyone else
has Robert Finnerty applied for a mayo passport

[galwayman]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

few names missing from that galway team  injuries or not in favour? m daly ,A o laoi Sean andi ,cein d'arcy, Ian burke,varley and E brannigain   
They were ther guys mayo hated to see coming esp Varley who never seemed to play as well against anyone else
has Robert Finnerty applied for a mayo passport

Daly Burke and Varley all opted out of the panel.
The others you named are on the panel - the team
above was just one persons prediction of what a team might look like.
Would disagree with you totally on Varley - he has played well off the bench for us plenty of times not only Mayo. Never really nailed down a starting berth though

[Maroon Manc]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

few names missing from that galway team  injuries or not in favour? m daly ,A o laoi Sean andi ,cein d'arcy, Ian burke,varley and E brannigain   
They were ther guys mayo hated to see coming esp Varley who never seemed to play as well against anyone else
has Robert Finnerty applied for a mayo passport

Daly Burke and Varley all opted out of the panel.
The others you named are on the panel - the team
above was just one persons prediction of what a team might look like.
Would disagree with you totally on Varley - he has played well off the bench for us plenty of times not only Mayo. Never really nailed down a starting berth though

Varley did very well when he came on as a sub against Kerry in 2018, from that list of drop outs he's the only one that disappoints me; Michael Daly has never kicked on and Ian Burke has done nothing since 2018. McDaid can't catch a break although he had a shocking first half against Mayo last November.

Cooke coming back is a bonus and lets hope Comer can stay fit but as others have pointed out it remains to be seen whether he can get back to his best. There's not too many counties who can match Galway's underage success the last 5 years but not enough players from those teams have really kicked on especially in the forward line. Galway far too reliant on Walsh & Conroy for scores, that needs to change. Culhane has been outstanding the last 2 years in the 17's and 20's but he's still got this year and next at u20 level. Some of Finnerty, Conneely, O'Laoi, Cunningham and two Costello's have to make an impact.

[Louther]

Div1 me hole. Division 4 is where it's at.

[tonto1888]

McGeeney confirms Jamie Clarke not involved with Armagh this year, which I think had been flagged.

Some other interesting comments on rte.ie:

On player opt-outs

Everyone has a personal choice. Jamie is an exceptionally good fella, I have a lot of time for him personally and he was always straight up when he goes.

Some people just have different passions. I don't really think it's got to do with the football or the commitment. They just tend to give commitment to other things, I suppose it depends where your cards are aligning on your particular journey.

I think we're all caught in a time warp. We tend to focus in on the three/four players (who don't commit) of the 3000 who are involved with inter-county, I think it's a small percentage. I would actually think the opposite, I think football nowadays is far more enjoyable.

You have to remember that when we (90s-early 00s players) were going back training/travelling home, we were going back to run. We did a pre-season in September, another one in January and another one in April/May, and all we did was run. That's all we did, run. The summer months were great but you still ran until a week or two before championship when you got to sharpen up with a few sprints.

Now it's just all football, outside of pre-season, it's all game scenarios. I think it's a great time to be involved in football. I genuinely do. I think it's moved on exponentially, in terms of what they're doing for their players, and even just to be able to access the different things that you can now as a footballer.

It's not for everybody, especially when you're not getting first-team hurling or football, it's easy to get disgruntled because in everything like that, people are going to have different opinions, mine might not be right and a manager might pick different players but I think in general, players are enjoying football and hurling.

On Kieran Donaghy:

We have Kieran Donaghy, Ciaran McKeever and Ciaran McKinney. It seems to be the four Ciarans. It's a bit of craic when they're giving out to us.

The reason I went after Kieran (Donaghy) was Kieran made a career out of bringing other people into the game and I just think that's something we were still missing in Armagh. It's sometimes hard to explain to people. Sometimes, I think you can have too many good forwards. You need people to make them tick, a bit like Kilkenny does for Dublin, like Kieran would have done for Kerry, things like that. I just thought Kieran would have that type of background in his basketball too.

Kieran is a very gregarious type of character anyway. He is good fun. They (the players) find it hard to stop laughing at me all the time... It's good to have somebody else in with a sense of humour. I don't think it's so much where people come from. I also think the fact that although playing underage with Kerry, that he got in through the Underdogs system, he has a great humility about him as well.

He has loads of All-Irelands in the back pockets, All-Stars and things like that, International Rules. He has got everything but there is a great humility about him too, and a great humility about the way he does things. I don't really think it makes a difference where you are from. Your characteristics you bring to it will definitely add a different dimension. I think the three Ciarans all have their own character, but Kieran's pathway has definitely given him all the attributes to be a great coach.

Good luck to Clarke.
Good read there. Cheers for posting

[galwayman]

Galway team named.
Power
Glynn Mulkerrin Silke
O'Donnell McHugh Heaney
Cooke Conroy
PKelly Tierney Brannigan
Conneely Comer Walsh
Subs
Sweeney Steede Molloy SKelly Gleeson Barrett OLaoi Finnerty Culhane LCostello Duane

Flynn and Daly injured. Sean Kelly carrying a slight knock I think hence is on the bench. I think 9 of that team started the Connacht final.

[galwayman]

On a separate note... wondering what the best way is (if there is any) to watch Galway-Kerry on Saturday aside from subscribing to Eir Sports or dabbling with IPTV again?
The GaaGo domestic pass for €25 (seems great value actually) excludes games shown on tv in Ireland.
There is an option to purchase the individual game for a tenner. Unavailable in Ireland it states - anyone know if I were to buy it would it work with a VPN or have GaaGo got the VPNs blocked like some other providers?
Cheers

[MayoBuck]

On a separate note... wondering what the best way is (if there is any) to watch Galway-Kerry on Saturday aside from subscribing to Eir Sports or dabbling with IPTV again?
The GaaGo domestic pass for €25 (seems great value actually) excludes games shown on tv in Ireland.
There is an option to purchase the individual game for a tenner. Unavailable in Ireland it states - anyone know if I were to buy it would it work with a VPN or have GaaGo got the VPNs blocked like some other providers?
Cheers

I've watched gaa go with a VPN previously so that should work.

[armaghniac]

It is ridiculous that you have to feck about with VPNs to give the GAA money in Ireland.
They need to rethink this TV thing. In my opinion the GAA should require anyone getting rights to have something like the Now TV day pass in order to see it.

[macker15]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

few names missing from that galway team  injuries or not in favour? m daly ,A o laoi Sean andi ,cein d'arcy, Ian burke,varley and E brannigain   
They were ther guys mayo hated to see coming esp Varley who never seemed to play as well against anyone else
has Robert Finnerty applied for a mayo passport

Daly Burke and Varley all opted out of the panel.
The others you named are on the panel - the team
above was just one persons prediction of what a team might look like.
Would disagree with you totally on Varley - he has played well off the bench for us plenty of times not only Mayo. Never really nailed down a starting berth though

Varley did very well when he came on as a sub against Kerry in 2018, from that list of drop outs he's the only one that disappoints me; Michael Daly has never kicked on and Ian Burke has done nothing since 2018. McDaid can't catch a break although he had a shocking first half against Mayo last November.

Cooke coming back is a bonus and lets hope Comer can stay fit but as others have pointed out it remains to be seen whether he can get back to his best. There's not too many counties who can match Galway's underage success the last 5 years but not enough players from those teams have really kicked on especially in the forward line. Galway far too reliant on Walsh & Conroy for scores, that needs to change. Culhane has been outstanding the last 2 years in the 17's and 20's but he's still got this year and next at u20 level. Some of Finnerty, Conneely, O'Laoi, Cunningham and two Costello's have to make an impact.

Cunningham is the player the soccer with Galway Utd

[galwayman]

Forgot about Mulkerrin, replace him with Johnny Duane in a possible starting 15.

few names missing from that galway team  injuries or not in favour? m daly ,A o laoi Sean andi ,cein d'arcy, Ian burke,varley and E brannigain   
They were ther guys mayo hated to see coming esp Varley who never seemed to play as well against anyone else
has Robert Finnerty applied for a mayo passport

Daly Burke and Varley all opted out of the panel.
The others you named are on the panel - the team
above was just one persons prediction of what a team might look like.
Would disagree with you totally on Varley - he has played well off the bench for us plenty of times not only Mayo. Never really nailed down a starting berth though

Varley did very well when he came on as a sub against Kerry in 2018, from that list of drop outs he's the only one that disappoints me; Michael Daly has never kicked on and Ian Burke has done nothing since 2018. McDaid can't catch a break although he had a shocking first half against Mayo last November.

Cooke coming back is a bonus and lets hope Comer can stay fit but as others have pointed out it remains to be seen whether he can get back to his best. There's not too many counties who can match Galway's underage success the last 5 years but not enough players from those teams have really kicked on especially in the forward line. Galway far too reliant on Walsh & Conroy for scores, that needs to change. Culhane has been outstanding the last 2 years in the 17's and 20's but he's still got this year and next at u20 level. Some of Finnerty, Conneely, O'Laoi, Cunningham and two Costello's have to make an impact.

Cunningham is the player the soccer with Galway Utd

No Rory Cunningham from St Brendans Ballygar club. The lad playing with GUFC isn't involved with Galway footballers anymore.

[An Fhairche Abu]

Galway team named.
Power
Glynn Mulkerrin Silke
O'Donnell McHugh Heaney
Cooke Conroy
PKelly Tierney Brannigan
Conneely Comer Walsh
Subs
Sweeney Steede Molloy SKelly Gleeson Barrett OLaoi Finnerty Culhane LCostello Duane

Flynn and Daly injured. Sean Kelly carrying a slight knock I think hence is on the bench. I think 9 of that team started the Connacht final.

Interesting to see how they go, genuinely have no idea if they will be good or poor tomorrow. Tough match up as Kerry have been seething since the Cork match last year so expecting them to come out all guns blazing, Galway had a terrible post COVID lockdown season with 3 losses on the bounce and outside of Sean Kelly and Conroy - who was unplayable for club and county - not too many performed up to standard at all, good bit of pressure on there as well.
Overall there's no point getting too up or down about this league once they show some bit of form ahead of the Roscommon Connacht semi-final and aren't relegated.

[Angelo]

Tyrone will probably the county with the most attention on them in Div 1 this season. The only county with a new management team involved and the potential for McKenna and McShane to play at senior level for the first time together is certainly exciting.

Most teams have a lot of unknowns about them.

Galway for example, they were all hyped up about 15 months ago but looking at that team named I think it looks weak and wouldn't expect much from them this year. Now granted, there are a lot of unfamiliar players there and 18 months can do a lot for young players coming into panels if they have been working diligently on their conditioning and physique. With gyms closed and lack of group training in that time though it will likely have interrupted that development for many.

I think MacNiallais is back for Donegal which is great for the game, such a skillful and talented footballer. Bonner will surely be under pressure here, can't see him getting another turn if they don't get to an AI semi final this year. I think they really need to stop flogging Murphy. Keep him on the 45 and allow him play.

Kerry and Dublin probably both fairly unchanged in terms of personnel?