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lads sort out the living room before going out the front door, you had your moment in the sun buts its gone for now, county is fooked from top to bottom DCFCGAA (Derry) - Posts: 65 - 10/04/2023 18:41:56 2470088 Link
Replying To Donegal_abroad: "Agree with all points there but I'm not convinced by Hughie, inside or anywhere else tbh. Could be a case though that we have to start him. If that's the case then it has to be full forward and he has to get the ball in, not twice in 70+ minutes. It should be rehearsed to death in training in how to use it properly, how to use it as a decoy and using it in sync with the other forwards. Maybe then it'll have use. Patton Ban McCole Curran McKelvey McMenamin Mogan McGee McGonagle Thompson Langan Gallen O'Donnell McFadden Brennan That's my team (might be unaware of injuries). Think Gallen might work better in the half forward line, maybe push Conor O'Donnell inside. Jamie Brennan needs to get going. Full back line, best I can think of tbh, don't see Ward as good enough." Will Gallen be fit, he hasnt trained since before Mayo game I hear. Thompson only back this week too. A few of the biggest issues are the fact that Langan, Brennan and McGonigle are all playing very poorly but continue to get selected. Perhaps there is no option but if we simply drift into the Down game without any major shake up in team selection then Down will beat us out the gate. It needs to be horses for courses. PeterQ92 (Donegal) - Posts: 154 - 10/04/2023 20:50:39 2470098 Link
Replying To StockholmGael: "I think we're deluded as a county if we're wishing to see Hughie inside. McBrearty's day in the sun is gone also, as anyone with a sober eye could see before his injury and Brennan is no longer the threat of old. I think we need to be more open to scouring the county for players who didn't come through the underage ranks and to be willing to drop players who used to play well but have gone off the boil." Totally agree. McBrearty has lost mobility over the last few years and smacks of a player that started out at County level early and will finish up early also. From the days of Tony Boyle, to Adrian Sweeney and Devenney, Murphy McFadden and McBrearty, we really have been blessed with some great forwards over the years. We seem a long long way from any of those now. No marquee forwards, and no teak tuff defenders.... you would definitely worry. ninety-two (Donegal) - Posts: 27 - 11/04/2023 07:59:10 2470111 Link
Replying To PeterQ92: "Will Gallen be fit, he hasnt trained since before Mayo game I hear. Thompson only back this week too. A few of the biggest issues are the fact that Langan, Brennan and McGonigle are all playing very poorly but continue to get selected. Perhaps there is no option but if we simply drift into the Down game without any major shake up in team selection then Down will beat us out the gate. It needs to be horses for courses." Don't think he will be fit. Hamstring injury and I heard 6 weeks from the Mayo game which is too tight to get any training done. Better to hold him off for the last 16 stage. SignTheContract (Donegal) - Posts: 197 - 11/04/2023 08:06:07 2470112 Link
Replying To DCFCGAA: "lads sort out the living room before going out the front door, you had your moment in the sun buts its gone for now, county is fooked from top to bottom" Our moment in the sun yielded 5 Ulster titles, Sam Maguire and another AI final appearance. You lot win one Ulster and you're all excited. If anyone knows the wilderness well it'll be you! Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1404 - 11/04/2023 08:13:14 2470114 Link
Replying To PeterQ92: "Will Gallen be fit, he hasnt trained since before Mayo game I hear. Thompson only back this week too. A few of the biggest issues are the fact that Langan, Brennan and McGonigle are all playing very poorly but continue to get selected. Perhaps there is no option but if we simply drift into the Down game without any major shake up in team selection then Down will beat us out the gate. It needs to be horses for courses." I do tend to agree about poor form, my concern is that with no Murphy, McBrearty and McHugh, we are already down a considerable amount of experience. Perhaps a level of continuity and familiarity might settle things as there is still the nucleus of a good team there. But I take the point, who would you bring in and in which positions? Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1404 - 11/04/2023 08:50:06 2470121 Link
We fluked upon Murphy, McHugh, Lacey, McGee, McGlynn etc. Elite footballers in any era who would come to fore even without Academy. In future, the counties with their houses in order will consistently find more elite footballers due to excellent academy structures and progression plans in place for footballers between the ages of 17 and 23. Donegal have made huge leaps towards this end from where we were, but realistically it all came about because of the wave of support and funding the McGuinness era brought with it. We would always find it difficult to bridge the gap between a freakish period of excellence with no Academy structure, and the post-Convoy world where we could rely on the hard work done by Lacey & co. to create the next era of Donegal football. My only whinge would be that we never even attempted to replace the likes of McGee, McHugh, McBrearty sooner, knowing that their levels were already lower than 2012-2014 era. At the least, DÓB should have been getting game-time at #12 and Curran at #2 for the last three years. Instead we were getting MacNiallais and McGee coming on in the last few years, which seems pointless in retrospect. SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 452 - 11/04/2023 11:13:59 2470174 Link
Replying To DCFCGAA: "lads sort out the living room before going out the front door, you had your moment in the sun buts its gone for now, county is fooked from top to bottom" This new child on the block should be ignored. He has just gone various forums (Donegal / New York / Mayo / Roscommon etc) trying to insult and annoy people. Obviously has his own problems if that is what his life is about. letsgetgoing (Roscommon) - Posts: 725 - 11/04/2023 11:58:02 2470200 Link
Replying To PeterQ92: "Will Gallen be fit, he hasnt trained since before Mayo game I hear. Thompson only back this week too. A few of the biggest issues are the fact that Langan, Brennan and McGonigle are all playing very poorly but continue to get selected. Perhaps there is no option but if we simply drift into the Down game without any major shake up in team selection then Down will beat us out the gate. It needs to be horses for courses." Who would you drop the three lads for? TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1208 - 11/04/2023 12:46:15 2470230 Link
Replying To letsgetgoing: "This new child on the block should be ignored. He has just gone various forums (Donegal / New York / Mayo / Roscommon etc) trying to insult and annoy people. Obviously has his own problems if that is what his life is about." He sounds like he belongs on the terraces of the Brandywell rather than among GAA people but Derry would have got a lot of that type jumping on the bandwagon last year. Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3181 - 11/04/2023 12:46:38 2470231 Link
Replying To SurelyToGod: "We fluked upon Murphy, McHugh, Lacey, McGee, McGlynn etc. Elite footballers in any era who would come to fore even without Academy. In future, the counties with their houses in order will consistently find more elite footballers due to excellent academy structures and progression plans in place for footballers between the ages of 17 and 23. Donegal have made huge leaps towards this end from where we were, but realistically it all came about because of the wave of support and funding the McGuinness era brought with it. We would always find it difficult to bridge the gap between a freakish period of excellence with no Academy structure, and the post-Convoy world where we could rely on the hard work done by Lacey & co. to create the next era of Donegal football. My only whinge would be that we never even attempted to replace the likes of McGee, McHugh, McBrearty sooner, knowing that their levels were already lower than 2012-2014 era. At the least, DÓB should have been getting game-time at #12 and Curran at #2 for the last three years. Instead we were getting MacNiallais and McGee coming on in the last few years, which seems pointless in retrospect." Doesn't it make it all the more remarkable when you look at what Jim achieved when you consider the county board he had to deal with? and taking over a group of players who aways had potential but lacked discipline and leadership. Of course he brought the best of his U21 team with him but still can you imagine anyone coming in now and turning this shambles around? It's a far worse mess now than in 2010 I know, we had some very talented players back then and some hardy boys who had been through a lot of good and bad days. It's very hard to see where we are going now, the county board obviously needs reform and we need the academy going again but even then we are looking a good few years ahead and hoping we can develop into a serious team again with real potential. The current team with good management and leadership still have the potential to be a decent team, we live in hope for better days ahead, confidence is very low for this season though. Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3181 - 11/04/2023 12:57:44 2470233 Link
I see some posts that we don't have the talent etc but I don't fully buy it. We've had a couple of underage teams who put it up to Tyrone in the last few years when they then went on all the way. Unfortunately everything is stagnated now with the reluctance of at least two people who won't do the right thing and move on. I really hope that the power of the people will see them eventually fold and things can start turning back positive. This includes getting Karl Lacey back in situ and getting the Kav/Lacey/Jim ticket in. If this happens I think things will turn the other way quickly. Unfortunately this year is a write off already. panamasam (Australia) - Posts: 2855 - 11/04/2023 18:56:37 2470371 Link
I don't buy this idea of a Kav/Lacey/Jim ticket unless Jim is fully on board. And if he is fully on board then he should be the man in charge! Wouldn't that be a ticket and a half!! SignTheContract (Donegal) - Posts: 197 - 12/04/2023 09:19:49 2470416 Link
Replying To SignTheContract: "I don't buy this idea of a Kav/Lacey/Jim ticket unless Jim is fully on board. And if he is fully on board then he should be the man in charge! Wouldn't that be a ticket and a half!!" agree, don't think either Lacey or Kavanagh have done enough in their management/coaching careers up to now that anyone can say with confidence that they are ready to take on an inter-county job. Watched Eunan's a few times last year, the football they played was awful, death by 1000 handpasses. greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 627 - 12/04/2023 10:18:19 2470434 Link
Replying To greenfan: "agree, don't think either Lacey or Kavanagh have done enough in their management/coaching careers up to now that anyone can say with confidence that they are ready to take on an inter-county job. Watched Eunan's a few times last year, the football they played was awful, death by 1000 handpasses." Apart from Martin Regan is there anyone else that has done enough within the county to take on the Senior job...? Don't think Jim will be back in a role full time with us anytime soon. If we need to look outside the county who would people like to see in the role. Mid Don (Donegal) - Posts: 70 - 12/04/2023 11:59:41 2470483 Link
Replying To greenfan: "agree, don't think either Lacey or Kavanagh have done enough in their management/coaching careers up to now that anyone can say with confidence that they are ready to take on an inter-county job. Watched Eunan's a few times last year, the football they played was awful, death by 1000 handpasses." You make a good point. The academy situation needs to be sorted and hopefully Lacey back in place, but I don't think the academy will solve all our problems. The standard and style of play in most of our clubs is poor. Most senior games are unwatchable. Far far to conservative, no one-to-one contests and fear of losing the ball. I hear someone complaining recently that there are too many players from Junior and intermediate clubs on the Donegal panel.... but in some ways, maybe those players have been allowed to develop without having all the football 'coached' out of them by clubs. Overall though, we are at the point where we need to start developing managers from within the county. Our geography means we can rarely attract 'big' names to come manage us, so we need to develop from within. First step is appoint a local manager with all local backroom team. himachechy (Donegal) - Posts: 293 - 12/04/2023 12:05:01 2470485 Link
This is probably an unpopular opinion and by no means biased by the parish politics we sometimes see here but did Rory Kavanagh not leave us in the lurch as a county, and as a result we got the botched affair of the late Paddy Carr appointment? Lacey has no coaching cv at this level, nor does Murphy. If you see what Henry Shefflin did, by managing Ballyhale and winning a county championship, I'd like to see Murphy and Lacey to do the same before they're given a crack at senior county management otherwise we're just looking at a John Joe or Declan phase 1 management attempt, hiring people we're sentimental over from their playing days as opposed to their managerial credentials. StockholmGael (Donegal) - Posts: 143 - 12/04/2023 12:14:27 2470490 Link
I'd be more worried with St.Micheals /Bundoran not being able to field at senior level playing division league 1 football. It's bad for a catchment area of St.Micheals not able to to put together 15-20 players to play a league game! I know Fanad are going for the league in soccer but how many are playing for them from the club? Any club teams playing attacking football this year? tickets (Donegal) - Posts: 103 - 12/04/2023 12:15:28 2470492 Link
Replying To SignTheContract: "I don't buy this idea of a Kav/Lacey/Jim ticket unless Jim is fully on board. And if he is fully on board then he should be the man in charge! Wouldn't that be a ticket and a half!!" If Jim joins in it would be as an advisor which means he might offer those in charge some advice. If anyone thinks Jim is coming in to go to training and watch Karl or Rory Kav take sessions and throw out a few cones your deluded. He might make an appearance at an odd session or talk to the players once a month. A bit like what Peter Canavan did with Tyrone under 20s when Dooher and Logan had them. This idea that Jim would be there more or less full time is crazy. I hope I'm wrong but can't see it. I know he came out publicly and said he was overlooked for the job but think that was an attempt to remove the two lads from the CB a wee bit quicker. Also can't see the Kav and Jim ticket working out now since after the county final. Even if Kavanagh got it now would be want Jim on board after Jim was secretly training Glenties before the final. TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1208 - 12/04/2023 12:36:37 2470503 Link
Noticed I haven't seen anything from Muckrosshead in a long time, used to enjoy their posts. JUNIOR_B_SUB (Donegal) - Posts: 27 - 12/04/2023 12:39:29 2470506 Link