Messages

No one is saying Mc Namara is playing well. Simply I am explaining how he was an integral part of the team last year and why he isnt as effective this year -- the fitness of the surrounding players and the change in gameplan.

Your last sentance Sligonian "Unlike the hearsay and speculation on here phillips has done it for Sligo and more recently harps "  makes no sense from a footballing sense vis a vis Naughton nor does it reflect well on yourself. Everyone has different opinions and the joy of this actual thread is that people are making their points in an articulate and reasoned manner so there is no need for the hearsay and speculation rubbish Sligonian. Its certainly extremely rich use of words coming from someone who libelled Tommy Brehony on this website last Autumn. Lets stick to pure football without trying to belittle other peoples opinions simply because you disagree with them.

O Neill has had injury problems over the years and I dont actually think the profile of the Coolera panel have helped him in the sense that over the last few years they have had excellent backs which allowed them play him as a forward quite alot. This seems to have led to a belief in intercounty circles that he is a forward. He isnt a forward at inter county level but a half back. He is unquestionably a better wing half back than McGowan and Kivlehan. Comparing him to Phillips is chalk and cheese as Phillips is a central player at this stage. There are very few sligo players with a Sigerson medal at home.

Regarding McNamara , to say he was a poor passer because of one mistake doesnt make sense.As I said in my initial post Ma Namara was the playmaker of the Sligo team and whilst you may disagree with that , it was abundantly clear to me that was his role. One of your heroes Sligonian, McGuire would be long finished at intercounty level if he was dropped for all the mistakes he made over the years.However he ended up maturing into a top quality intercounty footballer.  

Cant see too many viable alternatives to Naughton at full back so hopefully he will cement his place.

Big game alright. Agree that it is hard to see the loser staying up. Disappointed to hear that John Mac is injured at this stage of the season. Feel that John needs an injury free pre season to get him in the shape he needs to be for Connaught semi final.

In fairness to Michael mc Namara , he has in recent times came in for alot of criticism and I would like to defend him. He did play extremely well last summer and I feel that the team was in some ways built around him because he has strengths that were crucial to the teams strategies. He was in my opinion the playmaker with easily the best kick passer and a conduit for handpassing the ball out of defence. His lack of aggression was compensated for with  the work ethic of Kieran Quinn and Brian Curran working back. This season the style of football has changed and Quinn and Curran arent fit enough yet to cover back as freely as in the summertime. I always though he flattered to deceive in the forward line and save for a point after about 30 seconds in Hyde park cant remember him been overly effective up front. In essence , I think if he will make the team it will be at No. 6.

Up to last season always thought Mcquire was a better half back than full back so not surprised about him playing there. Dont think OHara is a viable alternative at centre half back. Again I would go slightly against the grain about Naughton. Feel he is victimised alot over the sins of Karl Mannion beating him in 2004.Prior to that , he was ultra consistent at intercounty level. Karol Mannion is an excellent footballer. Naughton has been one of the standout footballers in club football over the last 5 years in Sligo and I feel he deserves his chance and quite frankly is the only alternative in the full back line. I would prefer him at No. 6 and McGuire at full back. Finally how Karol o Neill is on his 4th Sligo manager and has yet to get a run puzzles me greatly. Again he is consistently amongst the best footballers in the county.

In fairness the forwards are shaping up ok with Kellys form being the revelation. At the end of last season , one had to question whether he would actually make it at this level but obviously the DCU acamedy is working wonders with him.

We had a good win alright. To be honest we will play an awful lot better and lose this year but its a crucial win. Enniscrone have probably some of the best footballers in the division but there lack of discipline is awful and likely cost them a win yesterday. If what OMS is saying is right abour Johns / Michaels match its a disgrace particuliarily in leagues where scoring difference actually could have meaning. Standout positive results were Tubber , Geevagh , Shamrock Gaels with standout results in a negative sense from Farnans , Drumcliffe and Ballisodare. Its a long year ahead though !!!

"Sligo IT's interest in this year's Sigerson Cup came to an abrupt halt this afternoon when they went down to a comprehensive 4 -12 to 10 points defeat against keen rivals UUJ at Ballinode. The Ulster college led by 3-06 to 6 points at the half time break and went on to record an easy win in the end"

Courtesy of Oceanfms website in Sligo.

Happy New Year !!

To be honest am finding it extremely hard to work up much enthiusiasm for Club football in February with 3 weeks off in May and another 3 in late July !! Our chairmans address urging people to play their football in Spring and Summer doesnt quite ring through with gaps like those in peak footballing months. Also find it hard to reconcile county board asking foir more and more monety from clubs with forcing every club to be forking out considerable expense in lighting / hiring of all weather for training in January when they will have to be arranging challenge matches in May and July. On the positive side , the decision to finish the league including the finals before start of championship is undoubtedly positive as is continued excellence of the sligogaa site. Best wishes to Mark Boland and Eamomn Mc Munn on their recent appointments to County Board, both are young and have alot to offer. Finally on a small point , nice to see the leagues called Divisions 1 , 2 ,3 ,4 rather than the ridulous 1A and 1B etc.

Far too early to be thinking of championship but I would fancy Curry and Tourlestrane again to be at the top of Division 1 with Easkey and Bunninadden struggling. Would expect Marys and Calry to be up there in a very balanced looking division 2 with Harps and Farnans struggling. Johns, Molaises Gaels and Pats I think will be at the top of division 3 with O Gaels , Cloonacool and Curry struggling . Coolaney should be the banker bet of the season to win division 4 with Coolera just ahead of the rest in again a very balanced looking division where the usual "regradings" of players making a difference.

I note John Murphys address to the convention last night is on sligogaa.ie . In fairness its very well written and he covers alot of points.

Any word on the filling of other posts apart from Secretary ?? Didn't realise that Clifford and Hosey were also stepping down along with the tresurers.

Sadly Murphy addresses the breakdown of negotiations in buying a combined facility with Owenmore Gaels. Its as bigger blow to us than to the county board I feel but hopefully the groundwork is now done for a move in the future either in partnership with County Board or on our own.

Intrigued by the CCC draft fixtures plan been launched last night. again to be commended in principle but is there any details available yet. Did I pick up that Round 5 of the league will be completed by March ??

Like Davy Fitz , who was an average goalkeeper in 1995 but who developed into an outstanding goalkeeper  by 2002 ish , Donal Og was an average goalkeeper when he first emerged. However in the last few seasons he has developed into an outstanding goalkeeper and is in my opinion now the best goalie in the country. Fitzhenry is undoubtedly the most consistent goalie in the country over a ten year period.

With Seanie in this one OMS and dont think its right to marry league and championship and as far as i Know its not allowed ( though these things didn't stop the ccc in recent years). Any word yet on how many teams will be relegated in Senior/ intermediate championship in 2008 ??

Slightly disappointed in nominees for county board in that there doesn't seem to be much new blood coming through and as OMS says its a reshuffle of the deckchairs . Tommy Kilcoyne has given incredible service to Sligo football and I think its will be the first time in something like 70 years that a Kilcoyne wont be secretary of Sligo GAA. I know Croke park are talking about each county having one , but certainly in Sligo we are crying out for a Commercial Manager who I'd be certain would more than repay their salary.

See St Johns attempt to avoid 3rd Tier football in Sligo was rejected. Had to be really otherwise complete anarchy would have broken out with Marys and Coolaney having similiar cases. Johns primary reason they were relegated was the complete breakdown between their appointed manager and the non county players who had other priorities.

However I would feel that there needs to be a radical overhaul of Club football in Sligo as clubs are genuinely been penalised for producing players for the county. Simply when there are 14 league matches to be played primarily in April / May and June as there is in Sligo, it is impossible to get the county players playing regularily for the clubs. I would return to single round league with uneven number of teams in most divisions ( to ensure each club has a designated weekend off)  something like 9 , 9 ,9 and 7 in each of the respective leagues. I would not start club football in late February as its way too early but start it no early than Patricks day. I would also move at least some rounds of the Benson cup etc into the summer so ensure football even on championship weekends. This would give each club 8 league matches , 3 benson cup matches and  the current 4 guaranteed Championship matches. As at least 2 of the guaranteed championship matches would be played after Sligo are eliminated from Championship ( say on average 1 August) one only needs to fit in 10 clubs matches for the county players from Patricks Day to end of July ( ignoring Benson Cup) , which by my calculations is approx 10 matches in 19 weekends. If 15 matches isn't enough for the ordinary club player then a couple of 9 a side blitzs could be organised to cater for these players. I genuinely think though that having to Committ for 22 matches a summer is actually driving players away from club football in Sligo , just look at the age profile of most club sides.

I read in the Sligo Champion this week that RTE's only Outside broadcast unit for the all stars tonight is in Gurteen. It certainly increased my optimism for Ross Donavans chance of an all Star. Fingers crossed !!

Agree with Seanie in that the reasons given in the press release are 100% genuine. No one could have anything but praise for all that Tommy Brehony has achieved in the last 18 months. To see an intercounty manager training his club U13's immediately after Sligos exit from the senior championship is the mark of the man.

Disagree with Barneys comment that this puts Sligo way behind for 2008 as to be honest there is very few operating outside the panel that show up in the club championship and it is only in the next few weeks that collective panel training would commence again.

As for a successor , presumably the strategy will again be to look inside the county first with the old reliables of Anthony Brennan and Denis Johnston being 2 of the more obvious candidates.

Thats interesting on the relegation Seanie. Not a year to remember for CCC though they will point to all club competition been finished by mid October in their defence. The relegation been the biggest issue but also the cancellation of the 10 day rule , their failure to schedule the last round of the leagues until the championship been over which could have had a catastrophic effect on promotion/ relegation, Their decision on O Gaels postponement withCoolaney , pitch choices for championship matches, calling off matches for intercounty minor matches and the making of relegation draws before the last round of league stage of championship rendering some teams better off losing matches  are all issues that I felt were incorrectly handled by CCC.

In my view there are 2 many league matches and not enough championship matches in Sligo Adult Football and a root and branch review of all club fixtures is needed.

Was at a wedding last Friday so didn't get to post my prediction but it would have been that Harps would win as Ross Donovan would eat Gerry Mc Gowan !!! Congrats to Mano in particuliar and hopefully they will do well in Connaught next weekend. Tony Talyors loss was always going to be hard for Harps to overcome as its the weakest area of their panel.

No tears in Collooney for Coolaney going down to the dreaded Division 4 but with their relegation and the likely relegation of Johnsto Division 3, perhaps there will be moves to redraw the divisions. Definitely think there are areas that can be improved but more of that later in the year.

Seanie asked a week ago about our Relegation playoff but it appears that we are safe. Curry go down on points scored !! To be honest, if they had got a late point in our match to have put them ahead of us on points difference , I would have encouraged us to go down the DRA route as its written in black and white on Sligo gaa website that there would be relegation playoffs in event of teams been equal on points. Presumably for Curry its not as big a deal. Intertested to hear Paddy's rumours on Shmarock gaels appeal. That could yet end up very nasty if true .

Sorry Sligonian. I find your last post crossed a line of decency and reflects very poorly on yourself. How an anonymous poster can come online and abuse in theory a clubmate who evidently is putting way more time and effort into Grange GAA than  a "supporter" like you is totally reprehensible and beyound any true GAA supporters comprehension.