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Monaghan GAA thread

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Replying To 222:  "Will the slide stop if we drop to Division 2, it is a testing place and you could be caught very easily in the Tailteann."
Absolutely! That's the danger. Division 2 is always a minefield. Just look at Kildare's fall since we pipped them by a last minute point last year.

Tyrone, Donegal, Dublin all dropped down but went straight back up. It did them no harm in the long run but Monaghan have a habit of slipping up in games they're expected to win.

As things stand now, we'd be up against Galway, Cavan, Meath, Fermanagh, Louth, Down, and Westmeath. Maybe not as tricky a group as this year but certainly no guarantees.

antok (Monaghan) - Posts: 6 - 26/02/2024 10:50:06    2528253

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Replying To mick2007:  "Considering we've only won 2 ulster titles in 35 years I would agree our chances of winning ulster are probably zero and slim most other years… but hey we're 10 years in div 1…… I expect us to beat a decimated Galway team at home and prob a 2nd string mayo team to ensure we stay up another year in div 1 and paper over the cracks until next year again before another struggles starts instead of going down to div 2 and getting a winning mentality going again….in fairness to Vinnie I always said the day we lose Beggan is the day were goosed and so it's largely proved… he brings so many facets to the game it's unreal…usually no man is irreplaceable but he is… what really concerned me yesterday was the lack of fight from Monaghan…"
I said above nobody should be really surprised by any of this as it has been coming. We won six games last year in 14 league and championship games and still stayed up and made all ireland semi final. Think we were fortunate. We did play well when we got to croke Park to be fair got a lift but some of the displays before that were poor. The match v kildare was awful to watch two poor sides that day and we just got out of jail. Beggan factor is huge been our most important player bar none for last few years. To state the obvious it's a complete period of transition and a lot of patience needed. The team at the minute with so many players missing is a lower div 2 upper division 3 outfit . Realistically we should be aiming to rebuild and stay in sam maguire over next few years. Do that I'll be happy.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1799 - 26/02/2024 11:11:53    2528262

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Replying To Jjoniel79:  "Vinny is paying the price for malachy and Bantys short sighted win now mentality's. He's very few young lads that were blooded 5 years ago. Bannigan and o'Hanlon.. anyone else?

It goes to the clubs too. When the big senior clubs - ballybay, blayney, Clontibret and scotstown were going well the county was flying. Look at the last 15 years of county finalists, they're all struggling massively - probably as a consequence of the same short sighted thinking.

Clubs in Monaghan are not going well at all, particularly those with the bigger picks. Scotstowns starting lineup has maybe 13 men well over 30 on it - that should send alarm bells ringing. Truagh got to a county final and fell asunder. Carrick only have 1 contribution to the panel and yoyo between senior and intermediate. The collapse of blayney has been startling but coming for years. The harps have long been poorly considering their population. Magheracloone are a prime example of what's wrong too - they got a few stars and stopped working to develop the others.

Fair play to the likes of inniskeen and corduff for coming through and taking what's theirs when others won't. Ballybay done it on a few occasions and I hope more come along and knock the big boys out of senior a la Truagh and blayney. Might knock some sense into them.

Holistically tough I think the whole football structures in Monaghan needs a shakeup. The league is a challenge match competition and the championship is set up to suit the big boys, who have to loose 3 times to be knocked out. We should bring in the Kerry competition format, Meath have done it recently and it won't be long paying dividends there."
You can hardly blame Malachy, he's a long time gone. Most of the harm done during Banty's reign.

BrehonBlonde (Monaghan) - Posts: 31 - 26/02/2024 11:16:16    2528264

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Replying To antok:  "Absolutely! That's the danger. Division 2 is always a minefield. Just look at Kildare's fall since we pipped them by a last minute point last year.

Tyrone, Donegal, Dublin all dropped down but went straight back up. It did them no harm in the long run but Monaghan have a habit of slipping up in games they're expected to win.

As things stand now, we'd be up against Galway, Cavan, Meath, Fermanagh, Louth, Down, and Westmeath. Maybe not as tricky a group as this year but certainly no guarantees."
Agree with this. Its OK to drop to Division 2 but you don't want to sink any further. Its a lot easier to convince a lad to put his life on hold and commit when he has a chance to play against Kerry and Dublin in Division 1 or even the likes of Down or Meath in Division 2, than if he is facing marathon bus trips to Waterford, Tipp or Carlow.

When the rot sets in can become embedded very quickly. I remember the attitude to the county team in the late 90s and early 2000s when we were down scrapping around Division 3 and 4. Lads I knew who were well able for county football were more interested in heading to the States for the craic during the summer than committing to the county and at the time I couldn't blame them as the thing was a shambles.

We were super lucky last time we were in Div 3 in that we got Malachy to come on board and we know what happened then.

TheHunter (Monaghan) - Posts: 14 - 26/02/2024 11:19:32    2528267

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Replying To Jjoniel79:  "Vinny is paying the price for malachy and Bantys short sighted win now mentality's. He's very few young lads that were blooded 5 years ago. Bannigan and o'Hanlon.. anyone else?

It goes to the clubs too. When the big senior clubs - ballybay, blayney, Clontibret and scotstown were going well the county was flying. Look at the last 15 years of county finalists, they're all struggling massively - probably as a consequence of the same short sighted thinking.

Clubs in Monaghan are not going well at all, particularly those with the bigger picks. Scotstowns starting lineup has maybe 13 men well over 30 on it - that should send alarm bells ringing. Truagh got to a county final and fell asunder. Carrick only have 1 contribution to the panel and yoyo between senior and intermediate. The collapse of blayney has been startling but coming for years. The harps have long been poorly considering their population. Magheracloone are a prime example of what's wrong too - they got a few stars and stopped working to develop the others.

Fair play to the likes of inniskeen and corduff for coming through and taking what's theirs when others won't. Ballybay done it on a few occasions and I hope more come along and knock the big boys out of senior a la Truagh and blayney. Might knock some sense into them.

Holistically tough I think the whole football structures in Monaghan needs a shakeup. The league is a challenge match competition and the championship is set up to suit the big boys, who have to loose 3 times to be knocked out. We should bring in the Kerry competition format, Meath have done it recently and it won't be long paying dividends there."
RORY BEGGAN, CONOR BOYLE, RYAN WYLIE, FINTAN KELLY. DESSIE WARD, DERMOT MALONE, SHANE CAREY,RYAN McANESPIE, CONOR McCARTHY, STEPHEN O'HANLON, MICHAEL BANNIGAN, NIALL KEARNS,

ORIELMAN85 (Monaghan) - Posts: 121 - 26/02/2024 16:45:10    2528406

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Replying To BrehonBlonde:  "You can hardly blame Malachy, he's a long time gone. Most of the harm done during Banty's reign."
Malachy is a great manager - who won the club all Ireland 2023??

Bernardo (Monaghan) - Posts: 595 - 27/02/2024 05:36:42    2528527

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Replying To Bernardo:  "Malachy is a great manager - who won the club all Ireland 2023??"
It was probably during Banty reign that we had to try a lot of new players but sure he was never going to risk that … In many ways we have become spoilt over the last 10/15 years. With our population we have no right to be at the top table but we plug away. The season has changed so much that the league is about blooming the players now and preparing them for the championship.. even the ulster champ the same .. it's all about the all ire champ now with the big teams

veterngaa (Monaghan) - Posts: 390 - 27/02/2024 08:04:37    2528532

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Won't write their league obituary until after the Galway game, win it and we are back on track, lose and we are in difficulty
The last couple of performances have been a concern though. Midfield being a major concern.
Last Sunday the refereeing display knocked the stuffing out of them early on, I can remember a similar thing last year, I think against Kerry where they just threw in the towel like on Sunday.
That's not to knock Roscommon who were always going to win IMO, they are a good team, underrated, don't lose by much if they do lose, which is a good sign, I fancy them to get another win that should mean us having to win two. I expect us to fight for it like they always do, and not give up on it yet, like some

mhunicean_abu (Monaghan) - Posts: 1044 - 27/02/2024 09:00:15    2528542

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Too early for the PTSD about our years languishing in Div 3 & 4, we've haven't gone from being ten minutes off an All-Ireland final to the lows of that era overnight. More has changed about Monaghan football than league results since then. Things are still going in the right direction under Corey, but Div 1 is ruthless this year, and we're not at the right level yet, injuries or no injuries.

Big game now against Galway.

MunnionOfMunnionHill (Monaghan) - Posts: 4 - 27/02/2024 10:52:36    2528564

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Replying To veterngaa:  "It was probably during Banty reign that we had to try a lot of new players but sure he was never going to risk that … In many ways we have become spoilt over the last 10/15 years. With our population we have no right to be at the top table but we plug away. The season has changed so much that the league is about blooming the players now and preparing them for the championship.. even the ulster champ the same .. it's all about the all ire champ now with the big teams"
Monaghan will be in the all Ireland qualifiers even if we lose in Ulster so like last year depending on the draw we could get to a semi final. Depends on who we get.

All teams fade away. Look at Kerry and Dublin . Two of the greats but they have had rough patches.

I think our aim every year is to win Ulster and then to try out best for the All Ireland.

Bernardo (Monaghan) - Posts: 595 - 27/02/2024 12:09:52    2528590

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Replying To Bernardo:  "Monaghan will be in the all Ireland qualifiers even if we lose in Ulster so like last year depending on the draw we could get to a semi final. Depends on who we get.

All teams fade away. Look at Kerry and Dublin . Two of the greats but they have had rough patches.

I think our aim every year is to win Ulster and then to try out best for the All Ireland."
That's just not feasible with our squad anymore.. you have 3 competitions. There's not as much merit in Ulster anymore as we are going to be in the all Ireland series .. us getting knocked out last year give us time to regroup for the all Ireland.

veterngaa (Monaghan) - Posts: 390 - 27/02/2024 13:19:41    2528610

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Replying To veterngaa:  "That's just not feasible with our squad anymore.. you have 3 competitions. There's not as much merit in Ulster anymore as we are going to be in the all Ireland series .. us getting knocked out last year give us time to regroup for the all Ireland."
Wouldn't be panicking yet , hard to have any structure in the team with the amount of injuries that have inflicted the team , as for the Ulster championship it would be no big deal to go out in the first round and take the 5 or 6 wks to prepare properly for the all Ireland series. A lot of teams going full tilt already this year

stoneygrey (Monaghan) - Posts: 213 - 27/02/2024 13:30:57    2528617

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Replying To stoneygrey:  "Wouldn't be panicking yet , hard to have any structure in the team with the amount of injuries that have inflicted the team , as for the Ulster championship it would be no big deal to go out in the first round and take the 5 or 6 wks to prepare properly for the all Ireland series. A lot of teams going full tilt already this year"
Would be a shame if it was cavan to knock us out.

222 (UK) - Posts: 694 - 27/02/2024 15:58:33    2528673

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Replying To 222:  "Would be a shame if it was cavan to knock us out."
That may be so but sure you are in the all Ireland series where a win and draw gets into a quarter. The provincials are over.. yes in Ulster we love them but it was a huge prestige because it got you into a quarter final. Maintaining div 1 and 2 status gets you the equivalent nearly. Our squad is small enough to compete on all fronts so let's see how this year turns out first

veterngaa (Monaghan) - Posts: 390 - 27/02/2024 17:39:45    2528698

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The same people saying that Banty should have tried all these new players would have been the same ones jumping immediately to attack when we inevitably lost games due to him trying new players.
It's also just completely false as he trialed god knows how many lads in the McKenna Cup.

HB245 (Monaghan) - Posts: 206 - 27/02/2024 18:39:48    2528710

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Replying To HB245:  "The same people saying that Banty should have tried all these new players would have been the same ones jumping immediately to attack when we inevitably lost games due to him trying new players.
It's also just completely false as he trialed god knows how many lads in the McKenna Cup."
He did but often reverted to the tried and trusted as they were better, stronger, expierenced and division 1 standard. Alot of the new players currently are not. I'm no fan of banty but he gave alot of players their chance, Woods, mulligan, Jones, leanord, garland to name a few.

222 (UK) - Posts: 694 - 27/02/2024 22:19:45    2528743

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Peter Canavan tipping us this weekend, says there will be a sting in the tail from Monaghan. What do people think? I also read/heard somewhere that Fintan Kelly is retired, is this true? I don't remember seeing anything official.

MrPBoylan (Monaghan) - Posts: 112 - 01/03/2024 15:04:33    2529084

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Replying To MrPBoylan:  "Peter Canavan tipping us this weekend, says there will be a sting in the tail from Monaghan. What do people think? I also read/heard somewhere that Fintan Kelly is retired, is this true? I don't remember seeing anything official."
No need for anything official. Sure Shane Carey is retired too

veterngaa (Monaghan) - Posts: 390 - 02/03/2024 11:37:59    2529194

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Replying To veterngaa:  "No need for anything official. Sure Shane Carey is retired too"
There should definitely be some official acknowledgement of any player who retires. Fintan & Shane may not have been household names across the country but they gave stellar service to our county over a long number of years and their commitment should have been recognised on the Monaghan GAA social media channels.

monaghan_ultra (None) - Posts: 211 - 02/03/2024 12:49:34    2529203

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Congrats to Rory and Darren on their All Star awards last night. Kieran Hughes can count himself very unlucky to not pick one up too.

antok (Monaghan) - Posts: 6 - 02/03/2024 16:29:11    2529243

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