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I have it on very good authority that Mooney was told categorically to go long with his KO's. That was the level of planning that went into a 1/4 final, 1 night of training between games and told to boot it out as far as ya can.
MonaghanMan44life (Monaghan) - Posts: 222 - 29/06/2026 23:07:02
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The Louth game should end all talk of Malone being the next manager.
ORIELMAN85 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1136 - 29/06/2026 23:07:51
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Replying To farneygael3: "Mooney has no short to medium range. He was told to go long to advert the danger of kicking to a Louth man on the arc. It was then midfield sector to win primary or secondary ball, which they didn't. As it's been said by most posters on here, a tactical meltdown from GB." Mooney had a short to medium range in the first half. Louth simply pushed up on our kickouts much more effectively in the 2nd half. Perhaps he should have been instructed to bypass midfield entirely in the 2nd half as9if a shorter kick not on) rather than kich repeatedly into MF. We had only 1 sizeable midfielder yesterday That way a better chance to utilise our extra man.
Shelbourne1 (Monaghan) - Posts: 455 - 29/06/2026 23:10:10
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Replying To level: "The insights here have been the most interesting part of the follow-up to yesterday's game. Everyone who knows football knows that Monaghan always punches above its population size and everyone knows that yesterday's game was there for the taking. But only the Monaghan fans on here really understand their football and their footballers.
Monaghan attack (once they were a man up) - slow the attack, drag Louth over to defend in numbers on Monaghan's left, move the ball quickly to the right, and a scorer comes onto the ball in space and scores. That had a near 100% success rate from what I could tell. So the 1 man advantage worked in attack. Monaghan has tons of reliable scorers. When Monaghan moved at speed, the Louth defense looked a man down and tried protect the goal in numbers (even if we did concede two). So basically, Louth decided to limit the goal damage and put pressure on the 2 point kickers. Single points were there for the taking and Monaghan could have clocked as many scores as possession and time would have allowed them.
Louth kickouts - with the extra man, Monaghan pressed effectively so Louth's kickouts mostly went out to the big men and Louth won the percentages (mostly). However, it seemed like Monaghan's press came as the expense of more coverage at the back so when Louth offloaded the marks at speed to ball carriers, the Monaghan half back line was very exposed.
Monaghan defense - new rules means that Monaghan could have always been 12 vs 11 on defense behind the half-way line. Monaghan had a few turnovers when Louth had to build slowly from the back (and Monaghan usually punished those with scores) but it honestly felt like the Louth inside forward line and ball carriers coming from deep (McDonnells, Lennon, Downey) had it way too easy to get space when the ball was moved quickly or carried at pace. Maybe everything just went right for the Louth lads (they did seem very efficient) but it felt like the Louth lads would win all of the inside forward 1 on 1's and even some 1 on 2's. That could be the consecutive weeks of games or lack of prep taking its toll. Louth have a few lads playing in Monaghan and might have some tactical smarts. But still -- it was too easy given the numerical advantage.
Monaghan kickouts - don't think it's fair to put any blame on the keeper brought it. With Rory, Monaghan always felt like it had a quarterback who could call the shots and everyone had a decade working with him so they knew what runs they were supposed to do. Without Rory, the new had 14 experienced lads in front of him who should know how to make the extra man count by making space. Wasn't in Croker so can't tell whether he just didn't know/see the runs they were making or if the outfield players just didn't know how to pull the shape from the Louth middle.
Am I right in thinking:
- Monaghan would have been much better off conceding the Louth kickout, covering deeper, and survive on turnovers
- Monaghan defense needs work (probably has the right players but lacking in experience or nous). Once Louth got going, it was way to easy to get scorers on the ball in scorable positions.
- for some reason, Monaghan's players didn't try or succeed in finding space further from the arc on its own kickouts. So the kickouts ended up going into fielding 50-50 or worse fielding battles. That was mostly the fault of the outfield players who couldn't make the numerical advantage turn into space." The runs were made but the kicker was in the "land of nod"
ORIELMAN85 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1136 - 29/06/2026 23:11:51
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Replying To Corklegend: "3 out if the 4 teams that played in the quarter final went through after playing 3 weeks in a row. Dublin had extra time against Donegal las week and finished strongly and won.Monaghan did not look fit, nor did their mindsets look like a winning one. Still can't believe 14 men beat 15 in that heat in Croke park. I would say that's a first in the new rules!" The 1 week turnaround was a factor not the deciding factor as it was last year when we easily beat Louth. And the old rules made it easier to use the extra man. But of course extra man should still be an advantage if used effectively. Louth had 3 or 4 big men across midfield we had 1. The Louth press was very effective in the 2nd half & our young keeper (with 1 training session) couldn't just couldn't bypass their big men around the middle.
Shelbourne1 (Monaghan) - Posts: 455 - 29/06/2026 23:29:32
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Replying To veterngaa: "Sure what's it worth these days. It has no relevance to the all Ireland series" As an "Also ran at best" it's all you have got
offtheditch (Cavan) - Posts: 191 - 30/06/2026 07:36:15
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Two days later and its still extremely raw. That was a complete and utter horror show from start to finish. Cannot believe Stephen Mooney didn't start that game. Really thought we had turned a corner with injuries, mentality of the squad and team selection from earlier in the league. However, the news throughout the week and at the weekend which displayed the fact so many people knew our squad before the turnstiles even opened on Sunday still bewilders me. Shows the mentality of certain individuals.
I gave him credit last week but I'm sorry this one is 100% on Gabriel Bannigan and his management team.
ConyersHill04 (Monaghan) - Posts: 97 - 30/06/2026 09:30:39
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Replying To MonaghanMan44life: "I have it on very good authority that Mooney was told categorically to go long with his KO's. That was the level of planning that went into a 1/4 final, 1 night of training between games and told to boot it out as far as ya can." Mooney isn't the issue. it's like giving out to your child for not getting 600 points in the leaving cert despite him getting Cs all his life. What level must Mulligan be at if he was overlooked.
farneygael3 (Monaghan) - Posts: 740 - 30/06/2026 11:09:57
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Replying To ConyersHill04: "Two days later and its still extremely raw. That was a complete and utter horror show from start to finish. Cannot believe Stephen Mooney didn't start that game. Really thought we had turned a corner with injuries, mentality of the squad and team selection from earlier in the league. However, the news throughout the week and at the weekend which displayed the fact so many people knew our squad before the turnstiles even opened on Sunday still bewilders me. Shows the mentality of certain individuals.
I gave him credit last week but I'm sorry this one is 100% on Gabriel Bannigan and his management team." Think it's harsh to say 100% their fault. It felt like we ran out of options a bit - down our best player and goalkeeper and with only one real midfield target in McCarville (who I thought done well and worked extremely hard) for the whole game. I see the kickouts discussed at length here and definitely agree it was a weak point, from the upper tier it really looked like the young goalkeeper wasn't helped by the movement in front of him, all very static. Still edging ahead with 5 minutes to go and a man up it's massively disappointing but overall feel Louth deserved it.
Looking ahead you can only hope that the strong U20 team filters a few in, more depth needed in a few key positions particularly around the middle.
sporto (Monaghan) - Posts: 200 - 30/06/2026 11:23:09
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We can give it the usual 'it was great to be in Croke Park' shtick, but we shouldn't. Because it wasn't.
Sunday was an abject failure in management, not just on the day, within the game, but going back a long time before. When the air thins and the margins tighten, you then see the accumulated weaknesses for what they really are. Sunday was that.
At 8:40am on Monday 21st, Peter Dooley and Gavin Devlin started planning for playing Monaghan in CP without Rory Beggan. Kickout strategy, loading midfield, packing the short spaces, McDonnell deep for any long options. It took until Thursday night for Monaghan to accept that reality. One short training game later and a decision was made that may have the effect of damaging the careers of two young goalkeepers, not just one. A decision of such recklessness that it is scarcely believable. Were any of the senior management setup in the Athletic grounds in April?
I said all last week that Dara McDonnell at 6 was key and a solution was needed. Did anyone watch the Louth Dublin and Armagh games and if so WTF were they looking at?? Woods had to drop in but not a bit of it. The red card was a get-out-of-jail moment and that was passed up too. Just go 14-14 and bring Hanratty on even if only to block on kickouts. Gallagher out was an obvious issue (it took 15 minutes to take him of after the injury v Westmeath BTW), but the lack of cover was the real long term problem. A year after the Donegal meltdown we are back to square one. Too many viable midfield options have walked away - you have to ask why. The hairy fella, ill-disciplined and all as he was, was needed in a crisis. No sign. Two more major midfield options not on the panel at all in 2026. A panel like Monaghan just cannot pass up on these lads. Stephen Mooney too was superb when he came in- should have started, probably instead of the un-droppable man. Harsh but the truth.
Even with all that said, Monaghan still led with 4 to go, before all sorts of panic broke out. It showed what could have been but wasn't. The control needed was absent on the pitch and on the line. An unforgivable meltdown.
I've truly admired what this setup has done for Monaghan football, they steadied the ship when we were looking very bleak after Vinnie's departure. I do think however that the time is up now. Two big opportunities missed in Croke Park, we cannot waste any more with this generation of players. The ruthlessness to win when it matters is missing and that's what's needed now. Simple question, would Monaghan have won if Devlin was running the show on Sunday? Go from there
Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1376 - 30/06/2026 11:44:16
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Just seen from X that it is confirmed that Oisin McGorman fractured his jaw in that head high charge from the Louth player. That settles the debate on if it was a red card. That type of dangerous challenge has to be stamped out. It's amazing he passed the concussion protocol and played 55 minutes. He has displayed huge passion for playing for Monaghan this year and is one who can improve so much more in the coming years.
Still very much in the grief part of the post QF result. Being realistic, options were very limited given the injury situation. I think management made a mistake not starting Stephen Mooney who has been very good the past 4 weeks and was again good at the weekend. Carey's form has been more down than up , but started due to being one of the more taller players available.
It's most definitely a lost opportunity for Monaghan and management need to take a look at how team was set up, how to take advantage of being a man up, starting line up too. As I posted before, wouldn't blame Jamie Mooney. He's been with county senior squad for the last 6 weeks but kick outs are a combo of good player movement and kick out technique. Beggan didn't develop his kickouts overnight and that took years of refinement. An important aspect of Beggan being absent was how Beggan would often clog up opposition options on their kick outs. He's a huge lad and was caused so much disruption on opposition kickouts and made some inspirational clean catches too. Given Monaghan's lack of physicality at the weekend, that was a huge miss and in no way were Mulligan or Jamie Mooney going to make up for that. Louth won I think over 80% of their own kickouts.
sleater (Monaghan) - Posts: 208 - 30/06/2026 11:53:30
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Monaghan need to get all irland winners in that bein there done it louth have 3 in ronan oneill paul herthy and devlin himself that makes sun difference on the line
Lolou37 (Louth) - Posts: 43 - 30/06/2026 12:33:20
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Replying To monaghanmad: "No thanks, we definitely don't want to follow the Roscommon way of thinking, we will stick to playing with the big boys in Croker. Keep cuddling the Nestor Cup." That's grand, sure win nothing so. Roscommon will have a fair amount to build on if they get the heads right next year. I'd imagine most of your squad don't have an Ulster medal.
Ros2013 (Roscommon) - Posts: 667 - 30/06/2026 12:47:38
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Replying To ConyersHill04: "Two days later and its still extremely raw. That was a complete and utter horror show from start to finish. Cannot believe Stephen Mooney didn't start that game. Really thought we had turned a corner with injuries, mentality of the squad and team selection from earlier in the league. However, the news throughout the week and at the weekend which displayed the fact so many people knew our squad before the turnstiles even opened on Sunday still bewilders me. Shows the mentality of certain individuals.
I gave him credit last week but I'm sorry this one is 100% on Gabriel Bannigan and his management team." yano i walked away accepting defeat as louth were the better team...but this comment hit hard...it was a bloody horror show!
MalsBalls (Monaghan) - Posts: 286 - 30/06/2026 12:54:25
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It's hard to blame management or players for what happened this last week your thrown this curved ball with 2 massive injuries and you have to figure it out iwith 1 training session f mulligan started who knows but the 3 balls he kicked out in clones ,Westmeath won them ?what I do know is Rory was there last year v donegal 7 up at half time 6 down 50 minutes gone not good enough and this needs to be addressed and rectified winners on the line and height on the field badly needed the taller lads need more gametime forget about going back to div 1 until we build something genuine that can take on the top 4 round the middle forget about keepers we were lost at midfield last year and this year if your top 4 midfielders are not available ( last 3 years )there has to be a plan in place to get the next 4 midfielders up to speed and that only comes with playing time I dunno our bigger lads do not get any favours when it comes to selection even for mckenna cup but jase we love the 5 ft 6 players in monaghan move with the times and develop them how many of our lads were at full tilt and louth barely had to leave the ground
Farneyblueandwhite (Monaghan) - Posts: 189 - 30/06/2026 13:40:41
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All the discussions on this won't change what happened on Sunday, our no2 goalkeeper should have played on Sunday, there had to be a knock on effect on the rest of the squad the way this was dealt with.We need bigger men around the middle. We go great entertainment from this group all year and hopefully this is only a bump in the road and lessons are learned from this.Roll on. Next year and hopefully we get as good as we have seen this year.. apart from Sunday .Best of luck to Louth
stoneygrey (Monaghan) - Posts: 257 - 30/06/2026 13:53:37
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Replying To Eddie the Exile: "We can give it the usual 'it was great to be in Croke Park' shtick, but we shouldn't. Because it wasn't.
Sunday was an abject failure in management, not just on the day, within the game, but going back a long time before. When the air thins and the margins tighten, you then see the accumulated weaknesses for what they really are. Sunday was that.
At 8:40am on Monday 21st, Peter Dooley and Gavin Devlin started planning for playing Monaghan in CP without Rory Beggan. Kickout strategy, loading midfield, packing the short spaces, McDonnell deep for any long options. It took until Thursday night for Monaghan to accept that reality. One short training game later and a decision was made that may have the effect of damaging the careers of two young goalkeepers, not just one. A decision of such recklessness that it is scarcely believable. Were any of the senior management setup in the Athletic grounds in April?
I said all last week that Dara McDonnell at 6 was key and a solution was needed. Did anyone watch the Louth Dublin and Armagh games and if so WTF were they looking at?? Woods had to drop in but not a bit of it. The red card was a get-out-of-jail moment and that was passed up too. Just go 14-14 and bring Hanratty on even if only to block on kickouts. Gallagher out was an obvious issue (it took 15 minutes to take him of after the injury v Westmeath BTW), but the lack of cover was the real long term problem. A year after the Donegal meltdown we are back to square one. Too many viable midfield options have walked away - you have to ask why. The hairy fella, ill-disciplined and all as he was, was needed in a crisis. No sign. Two more major midfield options not on the panel at all in 2026. A panel like Monaghan just cannot pass up on these lads. Stephen Mooney too was superb when he came in- should have started, probably instead of the un-droppable man. Harsh but the truth.
Even with all that said, Monaghan still led with 4 to go, before all sorts of panic broke out. It showed what could have been but wasn't. The control needed was absent on the pitch and on the line. An unforgivable meltdown.
I've truly admired what this setup has done for Monaghan football, they steadied the ship when we were looking very bleak after Vinnie's departure. I do think however that the time is up now. Two big opportunities missed in Croke Park, we cannot waste any more with this generation of players. The ruthlessness to win when it matters is missing and that's what's needed now. Simple question, would Monaghan have won if Devlin was running the show on Sunday? Go from there" that is a 100% accurate post.. fair play
SouthMonMan (Monaghan) - Posts: 181 - 30/06/2026 14:04:48
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The loss of Beggan was massive at the weekend but losing Gallagher was a bigger issue for Monaghan. It's easy to blame Jamie Mooney as Beggan has a very high profile and stepping into those massive size 16s is a tough job, Jamie did an admirable job on Sunday, He hit 5 kickouts short to the arc and Monaghan won them all, He hit 7 Kickouts to McCarville on the half way line to the right and Monaghan won 5 out of the 7. Even with McCarville being double marked at times with blockers in place to stop him getting under more balls. Jamie sprayed balls left and right and did not focus on one area. He did mix it up with long and short and medium balls between the 45 and 60. We just didn't win enough of them due to Louth winning 12 out of our 30 kickouts due to the size difference. This was even more exaggerated on the Louth Kickout. they were very secure losing only 6 out of 26 kickouts.. 77% Kickouts won compared to 60% for Monaghan and a lot of them were long where they had easy routes into our defence for easy scores. We saw an outstanding display from Michael mcCarville for Monaghan and an outstanding display from Dara McDonnell for Louth, he won 9 kickouts. Both teams top target men were top notch, it was after that were Louth had the upper hand. We needed Karl Gallagher to provide that second option for Jamie to hit. His loss arguably was bigger than losing Beggan. Stats courtesy of Stephen O'Meara.
Farney (Monaghan) - Posts: 833 - 30/06/2026 14:38:56
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Replying To monaghanmad: "No thanks, we definitely don't want to follow the Roscommon way of thinking, we will stick to playing with the big boys in Croker. Keep cuddling the Nestor Cup." I hate to see posts like this, anytime we play the big boys in CP as you say, we come home with our tails between our legs .We would love to win Ulster.
patmouse (Monaghan) - Posts: 125 - 30/06/2026 14:39:30
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Replying To Eddie the Exile: "We can give it the usual 'it was great to be in Croke Park' shtick, but we shouldn't. Because it wasn't.
Sunday was an abject failure in management, not just on the day, within the game, but going back a long time before. When the air thins and the margins tighten, you then see the accumulated weaknesses for what they really are. Sunday was that.
At 8:40am on Monday 21st, Peter Dooley and Gavin Devlin started planning for playing Monaghan in CP without Rory Beggan. Kickout strategy, loading midfield, packing the short spaces, McDonnell deep for any long options. It took until Thursday night for Monaghan to accept that reality. One short training game later and a decision was made that may have the effect of damaging the careers of two young goalkeepers, not just one. A decision of such recklessness that it is scarcely believable. Were any of the senior management setup in the Athletic grounds in April?
I said all last week that Dara McDonnell at 6 was key and a solution was needed. Did anyone watch the Louth Dublin and Armagh games and if so WTF were they looking at?? Woods had to drop in but not a bit of it. The red card was a get-out-of-jail moment and that was passed up too. Just go 14-14 and bring Hanratty on even if only to block on kickouts. Gallagher out was an obvious issue (it took 15 minutes to take him of after the injury v Westmeath BTW), but the lack of cover was the real long term problem. A year after the Donegal meltdown we are back to square one. Too many viable midfield options have walked away - you have to ask why. The hairy fella, ill-disciplined and all as he was, was needed in a crisis. No sign. Two more major midfield options not on the panel at all in 2026. A panel like Monaghan just cannot pass up on these lads. Stephen Mooney too was superb when he came in- should have started, probably instead of the un-droppable man. Harsh but the truth.
Even with all that said, Monaghan still led with 4 to go, before all sorts of panic broke out. It showed what could have been but wasn't. The control needed was absent on the pitch and on the line. An unforgivable meltdown.
I've truly admired what this setup has done for Monaghan football, they steadied the ship when we were looking very bleak after Vinnie's departure. I do think however that the time is up now. Two big opportunities missed in Croke Park, we cannot waste any more with this generation of players. The ruthlessness to win when it matters is missing and that's what's needed now. Simple question, would Monaghan have won if Devlin was running the show on Sunday? Go from there" Why do our big lads walk reason is they don't get game time and it's showing year on year doesn't matter who is kicking the ball out mooney beggan mulligan push up on them and that's it game over you cannot go to croke Park flying on 1 wing Gallagher missing this year half fit mohan last year unless we have 6 good lads round the middle we will get left behind now people are going to say there not in the county but look at m mcarville development in last 2 years why because he is geting game time and a genuine chance but no we let them walk sooner than let them play meanwhile our 5 6 players get 7 years of chances and still not proven there is an opportunity for great things in monaghan but we need more inspiration from county board when it comes to winners on the line last all ireland winner Paul Grimley 2010 colm coyle 2003 its 2026 big men and winners needed and stick with them our previous ways is not working
Farneyblueandwhite (Monaghan) - Posts: 189 - 30/06/2026 15:34:53
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