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It's not hard to see the interconnection of chaos and bad practice of the powers that be in Donegal and how it all led to the result and performance today. Pathetic political managerial appointment process, ruination of an academy, players walking, they are responsible for today. Make no mistake about that. I have a lot of sympathy for everyone involved with today. Lads tried hard but we have been left in dire straits, by our own people. Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1285 - 23/04/2023 16:12:05 2472777 Link
Replying To Donegal_abroad: "It's not hard to see the interconnection of chaos and bad practice of the powers that be in Donegal and how it all led to the result and performance today. Pathetic political managerial appointment process, ruination of an academy, players walking, they are responsible for today. Make no mistake about that. I have a lot of sympathy for everyone involved with today. Lads tried hard but we have been left in dire straits, by our own people." 100% agree that politics in the county board has brought us to this place and that people within the county board over the past few years have put self interest over the interest of the county team. However, the players have to show some desire when they put on the jersey. And also the management need to reward current effort and performance over reputation. There are a few players in that line up who are there based on reputation and not performance. How Bradley and O'Rourke were allowed to stay on is beyond me. Nothing has changed from the league campaign. We are fine for the first quarter and look ok. Once the pressure comes on, we fold. Then in second half, we completely collapse when a team comes at us. This is worse than 2010. At least our party boys had an excuse and the ability to turn things around. I'd be very worried about this panel, if we don't get players back. ballboy101 (Donegal) - Posts: 189 - 23/04/2023 16:22:34 2472783 Link
Replying To ballboy101: "100% agree that politics in the county board has brought us to this place and that people within the county board over the past few years have put self interest over the interest of the county team. However, the players have to show some desire when they put on the jersey. And also the management need to reward current effort and performance over reputation. There are a few players in that line up who are there based on reputation and not performance. How Bradley and O'Rourke were allowed to stay on is beyond me. Nothing has changed from the league campaign. We are fine for the first quarter and look ok. Once the pressure comes on, we fold. Then in second half, we completely collapse when a team comes at us. This is worse than 2010. At least our party boys had an excuse and the ability to turn things around. I'd be very worried about this panel, if we don't get players back." I do agree about players not playing near their potential but it's impossible to insulate players from the shambles that has been going on above them and as a consequence, around them. Watching players walking away as a consequence of the incredible mishandling of the managerial appointment process, whatever way it is explained out case by case, must have an effect on lads. I do feel for those who remain. You talk about Bradley and O Rourke staying, again, who is to blame for that? I am terrified where we are going to end up at this rate. Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1285 - 23/04/2023 16:37:07 2472786 Link
Replying To Donegal_abroad: "I do agree about players not playing near their potential but it's impossible to insulate players from the shambles that has been going on above them and as a consequence, around them. Watching players walking away as a consequence of the incredible mishandling of the managerial appointment process, whatever way it is explained out case by case, must have an effect on lads. I do feel for those who remain. You talk about Bradley and O Rourke staying, again, who is to blame for that? I am terrified where we are going to end up at this rate." Yeah I know that's a county board issue and some are of the belief that this is the preferred team that the county board wanted. I do agree that it's tough for the players when this is going on but they still need to show some leadership. They came out against Carr and when you do that, you need to be able to back it up with performances. On another note, who made the call to play Langan? Stupid decision. Anyone who has ever had a hamstring injury will know how volatile that injury is and how a reoccurence can set you back weeks if not months. Smacks of desperation. ballboy101 (Donegal) - Posts: 189 - 23/04/2023 17:18:36 2472803 Link
Replying To ballboy101: "Yeah I know that's a county board issue and some are of the belief that this is the preferred team that the county board wanted. I do agree that it's tough for the players when this is going on but they still need to show some leadership. They came out against Carr and when you do that, you need to be able to back it up with performances. On another note, who made the call to play Langan? Stupid decision. Anyone who has ever had a hamstring injury will know how volatile that injury is and how a reoccurence can set you back weeks if not months. Smacks of desperation." Yeah I agree that when they made Carr walk they needed to back it up, it was a high stakes move to make in a year where there was already a lot of chaos, players leaving the panel etc. I also agree regarding Langan. It was a desperate move by playing him because perhaps the feeling was we were already down so many attacking threats through players leaving the panel or injury, that he needed to be playing no matter what? But yeah, this is where we are at. Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1285 - 23/04/2023 17:40:30 2472808 Link
The level of coaching is shocking! Blame the coaching not the players veterngaa (Monaghan) - Posts: 65 - 23/04/2023 17:46:21 2472818 Link
The fact is everyone club in the county are responsible for we're we are. The last 10-15 years of defensive football at all levels has destroyed are player development. THE EXTRAMAN (Donegal) - Posts: 548 - 23/04/2023 18:01:47 2472827 Link
You can't blame any of the players today that showed up. The lads that haven't made themselves available are a little responsible as well I feel. And they might think taking a year off is fine and well, look at the damage being done this year. What kind of setup will there be to come back into? When we have to rely on a player who just turned 18 this year to play a championship match, then we're in bother and the commitment level of our best 30 players has to be called into question, not the lads who played today and who will finish the season, but the boys who didn't even lace their boots up and play for their county. SignTheContract (Donegal) - Posts: 157 - 23/04/2023 18:15:56 2472842 Link
Replying To rorysboys: "With bonner gone now no doubt you'll be in newry Sunday ha. Hopefully now the standard of club football will improve in Donegal and that teams will emulate the gweedore team of a few years ago and win Ulster. It takes a good team to win it . Anyway the tickets are got the jerseys ready roll on Sunday. Il be there cheering on the minors and senior. As proud Donegal people will do. Tir Conal Abu.. as John Mullane says I love my county." Hard luck to the seniors today, its just been a horrible year all round, and we just need time to reset and start from scratch again. Next year hopefully will be the start of a rebuilding process. On a positive note, well done to the minors, a great Victory and gives us hope for the future. And wasn't there a certain barrett that was the only one that actually wanted the Donegal senior job and was totally ignored. Not the same person but shows you the internal politics of our county board. Maybe he should have been given the job as he was the only man that stepped up and looked for it. On the Down Victory, it just shows that if you work together and have belief in your management then anything is possible. I dont think that Down team is a great team, but they have a strong work ethic and play as a team, so will be hard to beat. In order to be successful at anything you need a strong foundation and work ethic. That was the difference today between the teams Down have that foundation and Donegal dont. The keeper (Donegal) - Posts: 667 - 23/04/2023 18:19:51 2472851 Link
Just back from pairc esler....second only to our ulster final loss to cavan as one of the most embarrassing donegal performances since 2010. A clueless, gutless and rudderless performance against a team who will be in the tailteann Cup. Down were poor and we were abysmal. High time players stopped looking for scapegoats, they hVe collectively as a group downed tools this year. Our urgency, basic skill execution and lack of leadership all over the field is quite shocking. Good luck to down who deserved their win. They haven't been helped by both county board appointments, Carr and then his mgt team that replaced him. Donegal support I thought was thin enough in Newry today, up to team now to start giving the one's who are going something to cheer about, heart and effort would be a good start. totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 865 - 23/04/2023 19:06:34 2472886 Link
On a separate note nice to the coaching officer grinning after the game..... totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 865 - 23/04/2023 19:08:31 2472887 Link
Replying To TheRock2121: "Good luck to the players and management on Sunday. Going to be a tough day for them with who we are missing. Can see Down getting a few goals so we'll need around 19 points to win. Big ask." Our wides cost us but in truth , we probably didn't deserve to win. TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1049 - 23/04/2023 20:13:14 2472920 Link
Just in from Pairc Eslair. Stupidly I hoped and kinda expected more fighting spirit but we got more of the same half heartedness. Beaten fairly by a poor Down team who will go no-where. Where to from here? I'd be very concerned about the group stages of the All-Ireland, a few hammerings could set us back years. Hearing already that some of the Donegal team have been approached by USA clubs so some may jump ship. We are in a very sorry state of affairs all round. We know the utter shambles behind the scenes but today I can't see past the players not fighting for the jersey. They got rid of Paddy Carr (O'Rourke and Bradley should have gone too) and I've no problem with that but where is the players own accountability? Is that being harsh, perhaps but we are in a very sorry mess and we haven't seen a response from the players either in Div.1 or today against a poor Div.3 team. At least the minors won. PeterQ92 (Donegal) - Posts: 61 - 23/04/2023 21:21:12 2472967 Link
Replying To totalrecall: "On a separate note nice to the coaching officer grinning after the game....." Hope they are happy with the shambles that they have contributed to - time to see the big picture for the good of the county & step aside.. Donegalfanforever (Donegal) - Posts: 1 - 23/04/2023 21:43:25 2472979 Link
Back from Newry, very disappointing result and performance. Spent nearly hour getting out of Newry not help mood. Where to we go from here. Only had 3-4 players to play to a decent level O'Baoill did well, McGee, Ward did ok, McGonagle worked hard. Disappointed in more senior players, Jamie Brennan no score again, big Hugh out of gas mid way through 2nd half. Eoin ban just receiving kick outs at no.2 and not adding points in attack. Big ask for bench to make impact given lack of depth. Was surprised he didn't try to bolster panel after league. Was worried at half time as had decent wind and Langans injury and went in level. We didn't look sharp and fitness looked behind Down. In attack we were poor, no line breaks and shooting under pressure. Free taking inconsistent. I cannot see us doing much in group stages, team seems to be drifting and needs leadership.The minors though were good. It needs a downings type meeting with all key players coaches and administrators in football in county- when you look at it our seeding doesn't lie we 4th seeds 12-16 beaten by div 3 team and look at where we are and what has to be done. Excuses of personalities and politics needs to stop. It's too serious not to get this right. CB need to call croke park to get review done before end of May. We need time to get right structures and right management teams in place for next year. We cannot have a situation where number of quality players playing league football the sat night before our marquee team takes field on Sunday for Ulster Championship. It's going to need all hands on board to turn shop around. We have to start now. DonegalDanny92 (Donegal) - Posts: 39 - 23/04/2023 22:15:51 2472988 Link
It's bad enough that players may go stateside after receiving offers, what's worse is that some are planning to go, they have set their fee. SignTheContract (Donegal) - Posts: 157 - 23/04/2023 22:37:35 2472999 Link
Simple fact is that Donegal team wasn't properly prepared. No sharpness, no game plan, no direction.. that's down to bad coaching and preparation from a management team out of their depth. Just watch how poor the warm up was. Makes it more baffling why they got rid of Paddy Carr and left O'Rourke and Bradley there. 2 of the 'senior players' who met with Paddy Carr showed little leadership on the pitch today. Mcfadden hasn't played a full game for Donegal for about 3 years. Watched Oisin Gallen, he started warming up straight after half time, don't understand why he wasn't on earlier. greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 368 - 23/04/2023 22:50:02 2473006 Link
Disappointed but not surprised. Hard luck to the players, they did their best. Positives from the game... We were more assertive going forward. If we had an inside forward in form, then we would have a template to work from. Despite hitting wides, we got some good scores, replacing the unassertive football we played in the league. The players are having a go instead of passing the buck now. Hard to judge from the game today on how poor we are. This is down to our fitness. We didnt seem to be up to the same level as the Down players. If our fitness is there, then our intensity would follow. But it is a long way off atm. Congrats to Down and their supporters. They have been beaten regularly in championship football over the years, and they are a proud footballing county. I hope their summer is a good one. Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 23/04/2023 23:49:33 2473013 Link
Replying To DonegalDanny92: "Back from Newry, very disappointing result and performance. Spent nearly hour getting out of Newry not help mood. Where to we go from here. Only had 3-4 players to play to a decent level O'Baoill did well, McGee, Ward did ok, McGonagle worked hard. Disappointed in more senior players, Jamie Brennan no score again, big Hugh out of gas mid way through 2nd half. Eoin ban just receiving kick outs at no.2 and not adding points in attack. Big ask for bench to make impact given lack of depth. Was surprised he didn't try to bolster panel after league. Was worried at half time as had decent wind and Langans injury and went in level. We didn't look sharp and fitness looked behind Down. In attack we were poor, no line breaks and shooting under pressure. Free taking inconsistent. I cannot see us doing much in group stages, team seems to be drifting and needs leadership.The minors though were good. It needs a downings type meeting with all key players coaches and administrators in football in county- when you look at it our seeding doesn't lie we 4th seeds 12-16 beaten by div 3 team and look at where we are and what has to be done. Excuses of personalities and politics needs to stop. It's too serious not to get this right. CB need to call croke park to get review done before end of May. We need time to get right structures and right management teams in place for next year. We cannot have a situation where number of quality players playing league football the sat night before our marquee team takes field on Sunday for Ulster Championship. It's going to need all hands on board to turn shop around. We have to start now." How long did it take you to get out of Newry... (great town, btw)? foreveryoung (USA) - Posts: 1784 - 24/04/2023 04:54:24 2473027 Link
Down gave us our own kick out, why?? Because they knew they would have more than enough time to get their defence set by the time we would get to their 45 metre line. I don't know what orourke and Bradley have been doing in training, we played the exact same muck we went through the league with. The players shot Carr and haven't been able to back it up. We can look forward to some tankings in the group stages... totalrecall (Leitrim) - Posts: 865 - 24/04/2023 09:27:44 2473059 Link