Sligo V Down Rd 4 Qualifier

[Mano]

Sligonian stop with the overreaction. Yesterday match was a meaningless game to the players. After last weeks devasting defeat in a game they expected to win it would be extremely difficult for them to pick themselves up within 6 days. The margin of defeat yesterday was obviously disappointing but i would be much more disappointed with losing the previous week.
I hope Walsh stays for another year. We will have astronger panel next year with hopefully McGovern, McNamara, Egan back in the fold from the start. Hopefully other players who didn't commit to the cause last year will have a change of heart and we can have a right good crack at it again next year and learn from this years experience.

Mano, What do you mean yesterday's game was ''meaningless to the players''

Did anyone bother to tell this beforehand to the thousands of loyal Sligo supporters who put their hands in their pockets to travel to Cavan to support their team?

How could it be meaningless? They were only one game away from Croke Park. Even Kevin Walsh is on record as saying that was their target at the start of the year. If that wasn't incentive enough for them, then they should be ashamed of themselves.

Did you not see the final score?

[snoopdog]

Sorry lads but maybe sligo are no where near as good as you thought.
We believed the media hype about, and were unsure what to expect,  but we didnt have much of an issue on the pitch.
How another craic at getting into an All Ireland QF can be classified as meaningless is beyond me.

[AZOffaly]

I think this game illustrates what I meant last week about how this game would tell more about the character of that team than winning the CSFC would have done.

Having seen the result in Breffni Park, now imagine what a supreme testament to their character it would have been if they had lifted themselves and managed to win that game instead?

That's where I was coming from.

[Hound]

How another craic at getting into an All Ireland QF can be classified as meaningless is beyond me.

Indeed, for anyone to claim that was a meaningless game is just to try and make excuses for the poor performance.

Imagine, Sligo v Kerry this Saturday in an All Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park. Would that be meaningless too I wonder?

[paddypastit]

Hound - guess some of just don't do imagination very well

[SLIGONIAN]

Id say in the players mindset it was meaningless enough, when a team goes out decides to give up after 20 mins with a Qtr final place up for grabs its very sad day. Im not saying the players intentionally went out to lose, they saw downs intensity and werent willing to give the effort required to beat them. Against Roscommon you see in the players body language and the way they played that "we shouldnt have to be working this hard to beat roscommon". One of the greatest myths in gaa is that players give 100%, how many of players emptied the tank in castlebar and breffni? How many can say i left everything out on the field? The only man who left the field saturday sweating was Eamonn O Hara. The above is the main reason we lost the connacht final and why we got hammered, i can see everyone in Sligo is lying to themselves with the excuses of 6 day turnaround, just wasnt our day, i dont know what went wrong...these are all excuses to hide the above.

If i asked a player what went wrong this yr and he says "i dont know", how can you fix what went wrong if doesnt know? I know it was completely mental what went wrong. We have to change our mindset to one where there will be no excuses if you come off the field not giving it everything.

[mannix]

Well said Sligonian, but its harder to put those words into practice than you think. Sligos heads swelled bigtime after they beat Mayo and Galway. Not sure where this leaves sligo today other than make them wonder what they must do to win consistently and not give up like they did against down. If you figure it out let us in Mayo know.

[SLIGONIAN]

In Galway salthill programme EOH says the following about the remarkable slump in 08, "we trained but our atitudes were poor", "Tommy Breheny had left, Tommy Jordan came in and we didnt him the respect he deserved. We didnt do the training hard enough and when he was looking for 10% more, we werent willing to give it. We pretended to; thats being frank and honest about it. Tommy in his naivety accepted that. He was unbelievably nice fella and i wouldnt have a bad word to say about him but inexperience allowed him to accept that mediocre atitude. Lads werent drinking but maybe become a bit big headed and werent willing to the extra yard"

Im bringing this up as a lesson, this atitude creeps in over and over again in Sligo. For me it answers what happened in castlebar and breffni 100%. The above is O Hara words about 08, but now he could say the same words again, but he wouldnt be saying WE, he'd be saying them, and he couldnt include himself in that bracket. The Sligo lads werent willing to go the extra yard to beat Roscommon and as soon as Down lifted it we collapsed. Its sad its honest and its true. I would rather 15 useless footballers but serious atitude guarnteed to give 100% at training and in matches than 15 great footballer with heads as big as jupiter and careless atitude when it matters. We are inconsistent with this atitude as against antrim, mayo and galway it wasnt there as we did go the extra yard them days. Interesting quotes all the same. Maybe they should printed on the Sligo dressing room wall for eternity to ensure it doesnt happen again.

[neilthemac]

In Galway salthill programme EOH says the following about the remarkable slump in 08, "we trained but our atitudes were poor", "Tommy Breheny had left, Tommy Jordan came in and we didnt him the respect he deserved. We didnt do the training hard enough and when he was looking for 10% more, we werent willing to give it. We pretended to; thats being frank and honest about it. Tommy in his naivety accepted that. He was unbelievably nice fella and i wouldnt have a bad word to say about him but inexperience allowed him to accept that mediocre atitude. Lads werent drinking but maybe become a bit big headed and werent willing to the extra yard"

Im bringing this up as a lesson, this atitude creeps in over and over again in Sligo. For me it answers what happened in castlebar and breffni 100%. The above is O Hara words about 08, but now he could say the same words again, but he wouldnt be saying WE, he'd be saying them, and he couldnt include himself in that bracket. The Sligo lads werent willing to go the extra yard to beat Roscommon and as soon as Down lifted it we collapsed. Its sad its honest and its true. I would rather 15 useless footballers but serious atitude guarnteed to give 100% at training and in matches than 15 great footballer with heads as big as jupiter and careless atitude when it matters. We are inconsistent with this atitude as against antrim, mayo and galway it wasnt there as we did go the extra yard them days. Interesting quotes all the same. Maybe they should printed on the Sligo dressing room wall for eternity to ensure it doesnt happen again.

that proper attitude is usually fostered at a younger age.

[Shrewdness]

Sligonian stop with the overreaction. Yesterday match was a meaningless game to the players. After last weeks devasting defeat in a game they expected to win it would be extremely difficult for them to pick themselves up within 6 days. The margin of defeat yesterday was obviously disappointing but i would be much more disappointed with losing the previous week.
I hope Walsh stays for another year. We will have astronger panel next year with hopefully McGovern, McNamara, Egan back in the fold from the start. Hopefully other players who didn't commit to the cause last year will have a change of heart and we can have a right good crack at it again next year and learn from this years experience.

Mano, What do you mean yesterday's game was ''meaningless to the players''

Did anyone bother to tell this beforehand to the thousands of loyal Sligo supporters who put their hands in their pockets to travel to Cavan to support their team?

How could it be meaningless? They were only one game away from Croke Park. Even Kevin Walsh is on record as saying that was their target at the start of the year. If that wasn't incentive enough for them, then they should be ashamed of themselves.

Did you not see the final score?

Everyone saw the final score.

My point was that if the players saw a chance at redemption as a meaningless game, then they should be ashamed of themselves.
Judging by some of the other posts on this page, i'm not alone in thinking that.

I just feel the Sligo supporters deserved better.

[Buckass]

Some ferocious nonsense being written here imo. No player goes out not to give 100%. Watched the Connacht final again today and Sligo had our chances esp @start of 2nd half when 5 great chances went abegging including 2 into keepers hands. The players' effort and determination almost ground out a result on a day when everything was, to use Mike Finnerty's phrase, 'malfunctioning'. There were some great blocks etc when chasing the game. The most frustrating aspect watching it again were the nature of the frees we conceded when we had Ros tied up in 2nd half. Going in with high arms...criminal.
Yes complacency seeped in, and that was the toughest problem facing KW in run up. I believe he did the Johnno search of the room for silverware after the Galway win and all talk was of threat of Ros with nothing to lose, but that feeling of 'we'll win' thats re-inforced by all the soft talk ya hear from supporters takes the edge that nerves should bring.
Roscommon had superb displays from Cregg, Shine and others, and on the day their display deserved the spoils.
On the Qualifiers, 6 days is ridic. The stats don't lie.
Even if we were at full motor we'd have been hard pressed to match a Down side whose midfield is awesome.
For the lads the depression of failing to bring home silverware would take a week to shake. Instead they'd to dust themselves down and take on a side chomping @ the bit. You talk positive and try convince urself that it'll come right and then wham. Down were superior all over the pitch. We did well to hang onto their coat tails when being opened early doors and a point effort that dropped short from EOH ended up as a Down point. Instead of 5-4 it was 6-3. From then on it was a procession.
I'd agree with Sligonian in highlighting EOH's performance. He dug in, won some great breaks and hit round him. Thought Ross D, Kelly and Coen were good too.
But when game was finished ten into 2 nd half nothing went right. A couple of subs were overkeen to get name on scoresheet and it just fell to bits. Down had subs like Murtagh who usually wouldn't kick 1-5 in a championship year shooting the lights out.
Travelled to Breffni convincing myself that we'd recover cos Galway draw was like a defeat but in honesty there was no comparison. No player ever goes out to get destroyed like Sat. Some were not up to it, most were mentally empty.
There's loads to work on and with. Think Sligonian's piece on guys to be persevered with is mostly spot on. Conor Davey is a great talent, but raw and needs a league. Division 2 will not be a soft easing-in period tho. Brendan Egan also vital. In League think Kevin Beirne is playing v. well and should be gotten in. I believe he turned down all approaches this year so far.
Only point I disagree with ya on Sligonian is Kelly & Coen together. Pace on both corners with a strong ff wud be ideal. Ask any corner back.

[Mano]

Sligonian stop with the overreaction. Yesterday match was a meaningless game to the players. After last weeks devasting defeat in a game they expected to win it would be extremely difficult for them to pick themselves up within 6 days. The margin of defeat yesterday was obviously disappointing but i would be much more disappointed with losing the previous week.
I hope Walsh stays for another year. We will have astronger panel next year with hopefully McGovern, McNamara, Egan back in the fold from the start. Hopefully other players who didn't commit to the cause last year will have a change of heart and we can have a right good crack at it again next year and learn from this years experience.

Mano, What do you mean yesterday's game was ''meaningless to the players''

Did anyone bother to tell this beforehand to the thousands of loyal Sligo supporters who put their hands in their pockets to travel to Cavan to support their team?

How could it be meaningless? They were only one game away from Croke Park. Even Kevin Walsh is on record as saying that was their target at the start of the year. If that wasn't incentive enough for them, then they should be ashamed of themselves.

Did you not see the final score?

Everyone saw the final score.

My point was that if the players saw a chance at redemption as a meaningless game, then they should be ashamed of themselves.
Judging by some of the other posts on this page, i'm not alone in thinking that.

I just feel the Sligo supporters deserved better.

Of course the fans deserved better. However it is very difficult to pick oneself up mentally after 6 days. The players must have been devastated after throwing away a Connaught title. If they had another 2 weeks like Limerick had they would have put in a better performance.

Its not the Sligo players fault its the Connaught Council or whoever arranges those fixtures. Why does it take so long to complete a championship with 5 teams plus New York and London. Leinster championship was finished in half the time.

[Rossfan]

When the dust settles and calm reflection takes place  Sligo will know they had a decent year despite the end of season major dissapointments.
I expect them to be in the shake up for Connacht again next year with a rejuvenated Mayowr and maybe even Galway also seriously involved again .
It should be one hell of a Conancht Championship.
The 6 day turn around is a disgrace for losing Provincial Finalists and especially for connacht ones where there are so few teams in the Championship.
As an aside that floot Finnegan on Shannonside yesterday had me ready to smash the radio with this gem of stupidity -
" I don't buy into this 6 day excuse at all. Look at Munster ...they can play in France one weekend and then play and win again the following weekend"
A*****le

[Halfquarter]

The stats show that it was impossible  for Sligo to beat Down on  Saturday:

Dublin (2001) are the only beaten provincial finalists to have won a fourth-round qualifier tie on the following weekend since the back door was opened nine years ago. Eleven others tried and failed (when Monaghan and Sligo are included).There must be a few bob to be made at the bookies using these Stats.!

Makes sense really as the physical and psychological effort expended in playing and losing in a provincial final needs more than a few days recovery time.

Walshe more or less said the same thing before the match was played  -:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/walsh-frustrated-as-provincial-rota-bias-shackles-runnersup-2267905.html

[snoopdog]

The stats show that it was impossible  for Sligo to beat Down on  Saturday:

Dublin (2001) are the only beaten provincial finalists to have won a fourth-round qualifier tie on the following weekend since the back door was opened nine years ago. Eleven others tried and failed (when Monaghan and Sligo are included).There must be a few bob to be made at the bookies using these Stats.!

Makes sense really as the physical and psychological effort expended in playing and losing in a provincial final needs more than a few days recovery time.

Walshe more or less said the same thing before the match was played  -:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/walsh-frustrated-as-provincial-rota-bias-shackles-runnersup-2267905.html

Nothing is impossible