Tyrone v Fermanagh

[ONeill]

What forward division will we expect from the Wet County? Is Stephen Maguire still on the go?

[FermPundit]

Stephen Maguire decided to take a year out of inter county football this season. I'm not sure what team Mulgrew will put out but I suspect the forward line will probably be - Mark Little, Tom Brewster, Eamon Maguire, Ciaran O'Reilly, Mark Murphy, Colm Bradley. This will depend though on the fitness of players such as Liam McBarron and James Sherry.

[KIDDO]

Niall  Gormley , registered 8 points on Sunday May 6th , for his club Trillick , in the Tyrone  championship , with Eoin mc Cusker also registering 8  points in this tie for Dromore , who won the game 1.15, to 0.9.
 Niall Gormley won his Mc Rory cup medal in 2001  , with St michaelsEnniskillen,  when they shared the title with omagh cbs , the replay unable to proceed due to the foot and mouth outbreak in Tyrone , with St Michaels nominated to represent  ulster in the all ireland   semi final , which they lost to a Michael Meehan powered St Jarleths Tuam.

[realredhandfan]

Mark my words.  Tyrone are not favourites for this game, only based on recent history.  The reality is this will be a much weakened atrtack on Sunday.  can we score 10 points - I simply dont know?

[Star Spangler]

Despite the injuries, defensively Tyrone couldn't be in much better shape especially with Gourley back in the reckoning.  The Fermanagh forward division (or any forward division for that matter) will do very well to work up a significant score against Tyrone this year.  Obviously we need to score at least as much though!

[tyroneman]

If we are going to be realistic about this we need to keep Fermanagh below 10 and hit around 15 ourselves just to be sure.

In wild specualtion I would hope (if the following play):

From the backs:
Ricey:  1
Davy:  1

In the Middle:
Big Cavanagh: 2

Forwards:
Dooher: 2
Mellon: 1
Mugsy: 4 (2f)
McCullogh: 2 / Gormely: 2
Cavlan: 2
Wee Cavanagh: 2

So hopefully, maybe, possibly if all went well and all score........................17 points

Chance of a sneaky goal too....................

Lets try and be optomistic at least

[Star Spangler]

The lads that get a chance to play up-front on Sunday should be determined to make their mark in order to keep their place when the injuries eventually start to reduce.  They'll be more motivated to put on a performance than the first-choice players would have had imo.  They're not going to take Fermanagh for granted because it won't just be to beat Fermanagh that they'll be upping their performance.

[ONeill]

The identification of doubts in the scoring dept is a valid one. Up until 12 months ago, Tyrone were famed for the capacity for raking up mammoth totals. Recently, we've struggled to hit double figures over the bar. The absence of McGuigan as playmaker, O'Neill and Canavan can go some way to explaining this.

NFL 2007

1-11 v Mayo
0-9 v Kerry
1-8 v Limerick
1-8 v Donegal
0-7 v Cork
0-14 v Fermanagh
0-11 v Dublin

SFC 2006

0-6 v Laois
1-12, 2-16 (AET) v Louth
0-5 v Derry

[tyroneman]

Really time for him to start preforming for Tyrone considering he is one of their more experienced forwards

Off the top of my head....

V Dublin 2005 Replay - Sublime
v Kerry 2005 AIF - Man of Match award

It's not that he doesn't perform, he has been excellent many times in the past,  just that he does not have the level of consistancy you would hope for.

Also what way are the up and coming talent being blooded, I remember hearing good things about Cathal McCarron not so long ago. And Raymond Mulgrew being the next Canavan in the making

If anything Mulgrew would be the natural successor to Brian McGuigan.He's also played plenty this year so not sure what you mean about being blooded.Without going back over old programmes / reports I seem to remember him playing a role in all of our NFL games this year.

[illdecide]

Lads i just noticed the bookies are giving Fermanagh 7 pts start on the handicap betting, LUMP ON. Tyrone should get the better of Fermanagh but with them injurys i think there will only be 2-3 pts in it.

Sell your house, car and if you can get any money for your wife/girlfriend take it and gamble. 

[realredhandfan]

O Neill - the stats dont lie, it has been the exception not the norm for Tyrone to put match winning scores together over the las year and a half.  Only for the heroics of their defensive stategy they would have been beat in many more games. Some supporters point to personnel missing.  
Now heres my take on it, Tyrone have the players that I believe should make a quarter final in the current era even without a system. This system is past its sell by date.  Football has mioved on and we have too much belief in the system and not enough in new talent.  Tyrone have definitely adequate footballers to fit into their own system but results have been going down the pan.  Tyrones original and magnificent total football system has become a bastardisation of the original free flowing model, with falling fitness levels and aging and missing personal the system during the league was choking team performances.  What was good in 2005 and 03 will not win the ai in 2007.  Tyrone have some good light and young forwards in the county and in the mould of Canavan and Cush they should be thrown in there to find their feet.  But my fear is that their system is now too cautious too deep too defensive for the personnel they will be charging to carry out the plan.  Tyrone were able to disentegrate their half forward line to support the backs, but they were able to reintegrate with the half backs supporting the forwards at brethtaking speed.  I dont believe that speed or support is at the unreal levels it once was.  Those 6 players and Big sean are the key to making this Tyrone team.  Niall Gormley , or Mulligan cannot lead the line on their own,  they need men on top of them, feedoing to them and from them, for scores, if 5 - 12 arent efficient this year and Mickey sticks with his system then Tyrone might have another very short summer.    

[tyroneman]

I see Raymie as a Brian Dooher type. He's a workhorse, wins loose ball all over the park and links up the play

The work ethic is somehting which Mulgrew has added big time to his senior game however even a casual observance of him in action, especially in non Senior Matches would easily mark him out as a creative force. He probably has the best hand/feet co-ordination outside McGuigan on the panel and takes the time to try and identify usefull ball rather than aimless running. I would be very suprised if in 3-4 years time he is not the Senior CHF (assuming Brian makes a recovery)

MH certainly sees him as a special talent - I was at a Club Tyrone function a couple of years ago where MH was asked who the up and coming talent was...... initially he declined to single out names but eventually he identified Mulgrew alone as the next big thing, I'm almost sure he suggested he would be an all-star player no bother - and MH does  not come out with this type of hyperbole as a rule.

In general terms I think Tyrone have a few issues which have not been sufficiently addressed:

1. Fitness is not what what it was - 2005 was an exception in that we played our way to fitness. In early rounds we were often relying on skill and system alone. I believe the loss of Paddy Tally was very understated.

2. The system itself - since ourselves and Our'ma many other teams have copied and developed this style of play, Tyrone have (perhaps hand forced through injury) seemed to concentrate on fitting players into the old system rather than take it forward. Unfortunatly with the level of analysis managers go into now it's become easy to identify weaknesses and counteract threats. I would almost suggest that wre have regressed slightly with the level of aimless running into trouble from our backs and the almost complete lack of long early ball into the forwards

3. Hunger has been replaced by complacency  - strangely in many of the 'newer' players. whether they believe that no matter what happens MH wil revert to the old guard in a tight spot (and whatching Peter Donnelly huff and puff round a park it's easy to see why)they might despair or whether they are complacent due to the success factor that surrounds the county at present - it's hard to pin down. Watching Donegal destroy us in the NFL though suggested we are missing that x factor.

Having said all that MH will do all he can to put this right and we do have the personnel to win matches. It;s more in the heads and legs at present that needs sorting out.

[Star Spangler]

I'm more confident about our prospects this year than last year believe it or not, even with taking the injuries into account.  We now know that being perceived as one of the top 2 or 3 counties brings a lot of pressure not least when other teams are hell bent on making a name for themselves by beating you.  There are far more doubts about Tyrone this year and I think that will play into our hands.  Opposition might start expecting to beat us rather than have the "nothing to lose" attitude and that will put more pressure on them.  I'm sure Fermanagh fancy their chances big time and that's exactly what Tyrone would want.

[Mr. Nakata]

If Mulgrew is not fit and therefore not named tonight, I'll not be too depressed. The team doesn't need 2 hoovers in the forward line, Dooher is the man for that job. If Raymond is future all-star material, he needs to start performing at a much higher level. Yes, he has improved and has even beefed up a little from last year, but I've only seen tiny glimpses. His best game was Croker against the Dubs. He really struggled to make an impact in all other league games and is easily marked by big strong hallions in defense. If he is named, I hope he does the business and I'll be the first to congratulate him.   

[Bensars]

Lads i just noticed the bookies are giving Fermanagh 7 pts start on the handicap betting, LUMP ON. Tyrone should get the better of Fermanagh but with them injurys i think there will only be 2-3 pts in it.

Sell your house, car and if you can get any money for your wife/girlfriend take it and gamble. 

Which bookmaker is giving 7 points

Paddy Power is giving 5.