Galway GAA discussion thread

T0001

Did Gary Sice not walk out last year or was that a different gguy?

Uncle Ben

Hulk Hands wrote: »

McGrath, Lundy and Sice would be the certainties for a place imo. Daithi Burke would have a great chance if he decided to play. Ian Burke, Farragher, Silke, Steede and Healy should all be on the panel at least.

Probably worth putting 15 maroon jerseys on the Corofin team. Could only be an improvement for what has passed as county football for the last few years.

Hulk Hands

T0001 wrote: »

Did Gary Sice not walk out last year or was that a different gguy?

Dispute with management. Duane is back this year so i'd hope everyone is on a clean slate

TCDStudent1

aidan24326 wrote: »

For me this is the best club team that I've seen. They are so well drilled,so well coached and so good in everything they do. You could stick maroon jerseys on them and call them Galway and they would put it up to alot of county teams.





I really hope you're wrong. Lundy is an obvious choice but Gary Sice and Ian Burke have to be there also, and a couple of others would have a shout based on superb performaces all year. To pick only Lundy would be a complete joke.

Was discussing this with a friend yesterday - we both felt that in a Corofin v Galway match, that Corofin would win. That they would be the superior team. Not often you can say that about a club team versus their own county team.

McGrath, Lundy and Sice would be the certainties for a place imo. Daithi Burke would have a great chance if he decided to play. Ian Burke, Farragher, Silke, Steede and Healy should all be on the panel at least.

Healy needs to put in some serious work on his kick-outs to be starting for Galway though. They were awful against Vincents and werent great in the final either.

RobbieRuns

Brilliant win for corofin. Fantastic for the club and the county.

Corofin are a great club side, but sorry, they would not beat the Galway side ! Ye're getting carried away now lads. The county team played absolute rubbish v Cavan and the corofin boys went and won shortly after, but it is time to calm down now. A club side from Derry and even Vincent's are not county teams. The whole Corofin team will not be wearing Maroon next week.

homeofhurling

one of the best club sides over the years their brand of football is lovely to watch no 15 men behind the ball, i knew they were good when they gave Dublins Vincents a lesson in the skills of the game in the semil, as Vincents also are a top side.

Tommybojangles

Just joining in the corofin love, fair play, the longest in a long line of club teams to bring some light to the county in depressing times

Diabhal Beag

RobbieRuns wrote: »

Corofin are a great club side, but sorry, they would not beat the Galway side ! Ye're getting carried away now lads. The county team played absolute rubbish v Cavan and the corofin boys went and won shortly after, but it is time to calm down now. A club side from Derry and even Vincent's are not county teams. The whole Corofin team will not be wearing Maroon next week.

I'd agree with you about most club sides that won Galway county titles but there's a lot to be said for current Galway's lack of confidence. I don't think Galway would hand out merciless beatings in the same manner that Corofin shamed Milltown or Michaels' this season. And they did in such an attractive style. I can see this turning into a Portlaoise/Crossmaglen situation for the next decade too.

megadodge

Big congrats to Corofin.

I don't want to brag, but I did say here last October that I thought they were good enough to win it out. They are a serious outfit and as well-coached a club side as I have seen. Their foot-passing in the last 18 months or so has been just fantastic.

I honestly think with the age-profile they have that they could win the All-Ireland again (more than once) if they want.

Borders no.2

Good win for the u21s against Mayo, into final now against Roscommon.

MfMan

Borders no.2 wrote: »

Good win for the u21s against Mayo, into final now against Roscommon.

Set for Easter Saturday, venue?
Listening to it on the radio, seemed to be better side but struggled to put them away a bit. Senior player Damien Comer the star man, but performance dropped a bit when he was black-carded later in the game. Forwards had chances but didn't take them all apparently. Reading between the lines, I'd say they're up against it in the final unless fair improvement to find.

Borders no.2

MfMan wrote: »

Set for Easter Saturday, venue?
Listening to it on the radio, seemed to be better side but struggled to put them away a bit. Senior player Damien Comer the star man, but performance dropped a bit when he was black-carded later in the game. Forwards had chances but didn't take them all apparently. Reading between the lines, I'd say they're up against it in the final unless fair improvement to find.

As far as I know Galway will be at home (as last time Galway played Roscommon 2 years ago was in Hyde Park) so probably Tuam even though I remember an u21 final v Roscommon in Pearse Stadium the year Galway won the All Ireland (2011 I think).

Roscommon annihilated Sligo in midweek and will probably be favourites as they comfortably beat Galway in the Hastings Cup final not that long ago. Roscommon beat Mayo well last year I think and will be keen to make amends after caving in to Dublin in the final last year. Winning in Castlebar and getting a competitive game will benefit the Galway team.

Mightn't be any harm to be underdogs.

donnem33

disappointing day for both the hurlers and footballers

hurlers play waterford next sun in waterford. should be noted todays game was irrelevant and an important one for dublin. however, disappointing second half display - i suppose at least they are creating goal chances - just not taking them.

Borders no.2

Football was diabolical and that is being kind. We are heading for Division 3.

Utopia Parkway

What are the footballers at? That's half-time leads of 6, 5 and 6 points they've thrown away, 3 weekends on the trot.

threeball

Practically guaranteed relegation now. Roscommon will beat us soundly and I have a feeling kildare will put us to the sword too. Some turnaround from being on the verge of promotion. Serious lack of bottle in both codes at the moment. We wave the white flag as soon as the pressure comes on.

gammygils

And no white flags at all in 2nd half. Gave away 2 terrible goals. Absolutely shambolic defending
Division 3 beckons

Worthwent14

And I thought v Laois last year was bad....

RobbieRuns

It's defensive frailty that's costs them. You have to be able to defend a lead. Too many times they throw it away.

Utopia Parkway

threeball wrote: »

Practically guaranteed relegation now. Roscommon will beat us soundly and I have a feeling kildare will put us to the sword too. Some turnaround from being on the verge of promotion. Serious lack of bottle in both codes at the moment. We wave the white flag as soon as the pressure comes on.

In fairness to the hurlers I actually think they are a tough enough nut to crack these days. Lost today but it was a game that counted for nothing for them against a side that had to win to be guaranteed of staying up.

The footballers are another story. 3 big leads thrown away in as many weeks. No score at all today in the entire 2nd half. Desperate stuff.

Borders no.2

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

In fairness to the hurlers I actually think they are a tough enough nut to crack these days. Lost today but it was a game that counted for nothing for them against a side that had to win to be guaranteed of staying up.

The footballers are another story. 3 big leads thrown away in as many weeks. No score at all today in the entire 2nd half. Desperate stuff.

In relation to the hurlers I think we have tolerated this kind of attitude for far too long. Ah sure its ok we didn't need the win today. Kilkenny v Clare today on the face of it meant nothing to Kilkenny but did to Clare but Kilkenny still went out and did the business. Everyone who went out wanted to stake a claim. Tipp were 12 down away against Cork and won by 1, if we were hurling for another 100 years we'd never turn around a lead like that.

Galway gave games to some new and recycled players today but if you take away the goals 26 pts to 14 doesn't make for good reading especially being outscored 13-5 in the 2nd half.

We need to settle our team and finish this league strongly if we hope to have any sort of summer. Really we need to win next weekend and give us at least one more game to find our team and setup before the Dublin game.

Football was a disaster. Last week was bad and horrific to watch but to concede the two goals we did this week was awful at this level. Really Laois drove a few more wides in the 2nd half and had another goal chance in the first half. The wind was difficult to score with but Laois still created a lot of chances in the first half and we were unable to push on with the usual ponderous build up play with the wind at our backs killing us.

We are really seeing the loss of Tom Flynn in these last few games. O'Curraoin looks a fraction of the player and Conroy as one of the senior players has shown zero leadership in the last two games.

Damien Comer had a fine game with the u21s by all accounts on Saturday. Why was he playing again today though? This wouldn't happen in a proper setup. We need to be looking after our good young players not flogging them.

Defensively we are a mess. Brian O'Donoghue will have to take the blame for the two goals but he did make one good save to stop it being even worse at half time but to say our half back line is all at sea is being very kind. We are too easy to play against.

I think we have plenty of decent footballers when things are going well but there is no-one to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and pull us through. Really it wouldn't have taken a lot to win the last 2 and by all accounts 3 league games but when things started running against us players started hiding, everyone looks for the short hand pass and pass it off again rather than take responsibility. There was one spell early in the 2nd half where there must have been 20 hand passes over and back around the midfield sector going nowhere and no-one looking to take on responsibility, Laois dispossessed us and were on the attack. That pretty much summed it up.

Alan Mulholland got a lot of stick during his time in charge but I don't see this new management team offering anything new. The pace Galway are playing at is even slower than under Mulholland, our defensive structure is shambolic and would see a Division 1 team rattle 4 or 5 goals past us at their ease and without Tom Flynn at midfield we have been cleaned out the last two weeks.

I really thought after the Westmeath win that promotion from a poor division was possible but we now looks odds on for relegation. In all honesty it says a lot for how poor Galway are that its almost certain that no team in division 2 will make any sort of significant impact on the championship yet we could easily lose 5 of our 7 games in a year where we had 4 home games.

Syferus

Galway certainly aren't going to make an impact if they have your attitude; don't drag the rest of us down with you in your oh woe is us yarn.

threeball

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

In fairness to the hurlers I actually think they are a tough enough nut to crack these days. Lost today but it was a game that counted for nothing for them against a side that had to win to be guaranteed of staying up.

The footballers are another story. 3 big leads thrown away in as many weeks. No score at all today in the entire 2nd half. Desperate stuff.

I don't think you can pick and choose when to turn it on and the hurlers are no different. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Tipp last year when it was easier to bury them. Galway teams for the last few years have been chokers, only the demolition of kk in the leinster final a few years ago was a bright spot but we went on to throw away the final.
Either the teams man up and take responsibility/ownership for all losses or dwell happily in mediocrity where everyone can say well that one didn't count we'll sort it out the next day.

Diabhal Beag

Drag the Corofin boys away from the Bulmers for the week, there's Rossies to be baytin.

threeball

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

Drag the Corofin boys away from the Bulmers for the week, there's Rossies to be baytin.

Can't see the Corofin lads making enough of a difference to save our bacon, most of our frailties are in defence and most of thr Corofin lads that could get the nod are forwards. They also won't change the systems that are in place and are obviously not working

Utopia Parkway

threeball wrote: »

I don't think you can pick and choose when to turn it on and the hurlers are no different. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Tipp last year when it was easier to bury them. Galway teams for the last few years have been chokers, only the demolition of kk in the leinster final a few years ago was a bright spot but we went on to throw away the final.
Either the teams man up and take responsibility/ownership for all losses or dwell happily in mediocrity where everyone can say well that one didn't count we'll sort it out the next day.

I should have clarified that I don't think the current set of hurlers lack bottle. I just don't they are all that talented bar a few of them. Too many average players in amongst them. Hence they will lose games to better sides. And even to sides that they are better than occasionally.

Borders no.2

Syferus wrote: »

Galway certainly aren't going to make an impact if they have your attitude; don't drag the rest of us down with you in your oh woe is us yarn.

Ok tell me one team in division 2 who has the potential to make an impact on the championship? Roscommon may do ok in Connacht but that'll be about the height of it. If they get up to Division 1 they may be able to push on.

Be honest, division 2 is a pile of dung and aside from the odd decent side like Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan and Kildare (a few years ago) having a brief stay in the division the standard is woeful. The likes of Dublin would wipe out the pick of the division. Its no coincidence that the quarter finalists are nearly always division 1 sides.

Diabhal Beag

threeball wrote: »

Can't see the Corofin lads making enough of a difference to save our bacon, most of our frailties are in defence and most of thr Corofin lads that could get the nod are forwards. They also won't change the systems that are in place and are obviously not working

I wouldn't write them off entirely before Lundy is back. The man is what the system is dying for: an all out runner with a brain. Bradshaw has been told not to do so seemingly and Walsh can take too much out of a break at times.

And I agree with borders. Even the Rossies won't make the mark on the championship in terms of besting a Quarter final. There's a huge gap between Division 2 and the top sides.

Syferus

The list of D2 teams making AIQFs and AISFs (and even AI finals) is a lot longer than you think. I'd be careful spouting off like that when you're factually incorrect.

Diabhal Beag

I'm always careful honey. That's why I wrote "There's a huge gap between Division 2 and the top sides".

WallyGUFC

Every team in Division 1 bar Derry would wipe the floor with everyone in Division 2 the way things are going and the gap is constantly widening. There is no doubt in my mind that Roscommon are on the up and are the 2nd best team in Connacht but come Championship, ye wouldn't have a prayer against Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Cork, Monaghan or Mayo imo. I'm sure 1 or 2 Division 2 teams will reach a QF but won't go any further. And I'd be sure as hell Galway won't be one of them. They're performances are bordering on embarrassing and I'm expecting a a good beating in the Hyde.

Borders no.2

Syferus wrote: »

The list of D2 teams making AIQFs and AISFs (and even AI finals) is a lot longer than you think. I'd be careful spouting off like that when you're factually incorrect.

If it does happen often its by default of the draw, for example Galway last year didn't beat any team in division 1 or 2 to reach the quarter final and Kerry showed us up then.

Armagh got to a quarter final last year but their only victory over a division 1 side was (admittedly) a fine away win against a Tyrone side who didn't get going last year.

I think in 2012 it was all the division 1 teams in the last 8.

Any other sides from division 2 who have made any impact have proven themselves a level above division 2. For example Donegal should never have been in division 2.

T0001

A fine first half display by Galway, ecellent attacking football opening up spaces running at Laois and solid at the back, were it not for a disaster of a goalie it would have been perfect....

Second half, reverting to that blasted defensive football that a) is so f*ckin boring and b) never works for Galway cause they're not doing it right.

Tried v. Mayo in Connacht final for first 15-20 mins and scored 2 points and conceeded 2-5 or so, went all out attaking and outscored them 0-14 to 1-9 afterwards, tried v. Tipp in the qualifier, scored 4-16 going attacking to 0-11, went defensive and got outscored 4-01 to 0-01, tried v. Roscommon in the FBD League final for the last 20 mins and conceeded 4 goals!! Tried v. Cavan in the second half and got outscored 0-10 to 0-2, tried v Laois today in 2nd hald and got outscored 1-09 to 0-00... I think its safe to say the damn thing doesnt work period. When Galwat go attacking they're outstanding cause their talent is based in the forwards and our half backline are sharp shooters also. We have the scoring power when going attacking to outscore even the best of teams. The best defence is a good offence in my eyes and always will be.

Tbh I didnt pay much attention to the hurling, it was a very experimental line-up and the bench was emptied v. quickly after ht so I'm not reading into it at all. Going to Walsh Park next week to take on Waterford. We'll win it by 3 points or so, the lads areplaying well and I'm loving their never say die attitude. Goals have been lacking but Mannion and Canning at the edge of the square today reaped the rewards and will most likely keep them therefor that purpose. I think Cathal Mannion could grow into a sharp shooting goal getter after he gains more experience, still only in his second year and a bit light to be fighting 1v1 with a defender, but give him time and he will blossom.

I would go with v. Waterford:

1. Callanan

2. Coen 3. P. Kileen 4. F. Moore
5. D. Collins 6. G. Lally 7. I. Tannian

8. A. Smith 9. A. Harte

10. N. Burke 11. J. Glynn 12. D. Higgins
13. C. Mannion 14. J. Canning 15. J. Flynn

T0001

T0001 wrote: »

A fine first half display by Galway, ecellent attacking football opening up spaces running at Laois and solid at the back, were it not for a disaster of a goalie it would have been perfect....

Second half, reverting to that blasted defensive football that a) is so f*ckin boring and b) never works for Galway cause they're not doing it right.

Tried v. Mayo in Connacht final for first 15-20 mins and scored 2 points and conceeded 2-5 or so, went all out attaking and outscored them 0-14 to 1-9 afterwards, tried v. Tipp in the qualifier, scored 4-16 going attacking to 0-11, went defensive and got outscored 4-01 to 0-01, tried v. Roscommon in the FBD League final for the last 20 mins and conceeded 4 goals!! Tried v. Cavan in the second half and got outscored 0-10 to 0-2, tried v Laois today in 2nd hald and got outscored 1-09 to 0-00... I think its safe to say the damn thing doesnt work period. When Galwat go attacking they're outstanding cause their talent is based in the forwards and our half backline are sharp shooters also. We have the scoring power when going attacking to outscore even the best of teams. The best defence is a good offence in my eyes and always will be.

Tbh I didnt pay much attention to the hurling, it was a very experimental line-up and the bench was emptied v. quickly after ht so I'm not reading into it at all. Going to Walsh Park next week to take on Waterford. We'll win it by 3 points or so, the lads areplaying well and I'm loving their never say die attitude. Goals have been lacking but Mannion and Canning at the edge of the square today reaped the rewards and will most likely keep them therefor that purpose. I think Cathal Mannion could grow into a sharp shooting goal getter after he gains more experience, still only in his second year and a bit light to be fighting 1v1 with a defender, but give him time and he will blossom.

I would go with v. Waterford:

1. Callanan

2. Coen 3. P. Kileen 4. F. Moore
5. D. Collins 6. G. Lally 7. I. Tannian

8. A. Smith 9. A. Harte

10. N. Burke 11. J. Glynn 12. D. Higgins
13. C. Mannion 14. J. Canning 15. J. Flynn

Wouldn't really disagree with your team bar Higgins... Can't see why he'd displace J.Cooney thus far, wins very little ball and not exactly a sharp shooter.
Looks a bit like another Regan thus far.

galwaylad14

T0001 wrote: »

A fine first half display by Galway, ecellent attacking football opening up spaces running at Laois and solid at the back, were it not for a disaster of a goalie it would have been perfect....

Second half, reverting to that blasted defensive football that a) is so f*ckin boring and b) never works for Galway cause they're not doing it right.

Tried v. Mayo in Connacht final for first 15-20 mins and scored 2 points and conceeded 2-5 or so, went all out attaking and outscored them 0-14 to 1-9 afterwards, tried v. Tipp in the qualifier, scored 4-16 going attacking to 0-11, went defensive and got outscored 4-01 to 0-01, tried v. Roscommon in the FBD League final for the last 20 mins and conceeded 4 goals!! Tried v. Cavan in the second half and got outscored 0-10 to 0-2, tried v Laois today in 2nd hald and got outscored 1-09 to 0-00... I think its safe to say the damn thing doesnt work period. When Galwat go attacking they're outstanding cause their talent is based in the forwards and our half backline are sharp shooters also. We have the scoring power when going attacking to outscore even the best of teams. The best defence is a good offence in my eyes and always will be.

Tbh I didnt pay much attention to the hurling, it was a very experimental line-up and the bench was emptied v. quickly after ht so I'm not reading into it at all. Going to Walsh Park next week to take on Waterford. We'll win it by 3 points or so, the lads areplaying well and I'm loving their never say die attitude. Goals have been lacking but Mannion and Canning at the edge of the square today reaped the rewards and will most likely keep them therefor that purpose. I think Cathal Mannion could grow into a sharp shooting goal getter after he gains more experience, still only in his second year and a bit light to be fighting 1v1 with a defender, but give him time and he will blossom.

I would go with v. Waterford:

1. Callanan

2. Coen 3. P. Kileen 4. F. Moore
5. D. Collins 6. G. Lally 7. I. Tannian

8. A. Smith 9. A. Harte

10. N. Burke 11. J. Glynn 12. D. Higgins
13. C. Mannion 14. J. Canning 15. J. Flynn

Joe Cooney deserves to start ahead of Higgins, he's been doing decently enough anytime I've seen him where as Higginshas been very average.

I wasn't at the game yesterday so don't really know about your full backline, I think it would be very harsh to drop Mannian though, I think he's had a very good league. I didn't think Johnny Coen was going great really but seemingly he did okay yesterday, apparently Moore was poor though? Either way I think the corner backs will be 2 from those 3 and I think Mannian has looked the best of them so far. Did Killeen look a better option at 3 than Hanbury? Another option back here would be Daithi Burke, I think he'd be a fine full back but I presume he hasn't hurled much at all this year yet so probably couldn't throw him in on Sunday.

I agree with your half back line, midfield and full forward line though. I think if we're looking for big physical wing backs then Tan is a far better option than McInerney, similiar enough physically but Tan is a far better stick man.

Seemed like the 2 wing backs were cleaned out yesterday, taken for 9 points between them. I wouldn't go dropping Collins but I think a change at 7 would be justified. An awful lot of Dublin's scores seemed to be frees aswell so indicates a slight discipline problem although from listening to Sean Walsh it did seem like some of Johnny Ryan's decisions were hard to fathom.

T0001

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Wouldn't really disagree with your team bar Higgins... Can't see why he'd displace J.Cooney thus far, wins very little ball and not exactly a sharp shooter.
Looks a bit like another Regan thus far.

Forgot about J. Cooney!! saw his name and the paper and though it was Conor so thought he was injured!! My bad

T0001

galwaylad14 wrote: »

Joe Cooney deserves to start ahead of Higgins, he's been doing decently enough anytime I've seen him where as Higginshas been very average.

I wasn't at the game yesterday so don't really know about your full backline, I think it would be very harsh to drop Mannian though, I think he's had a very good league. I didn't think Johnny Coen was going great really but seemingly he did okay yesterday, apparently Moore was poor though? Either way I think the corner backs will be 2 from those 3 and I think Mannian has looked the best of them so far. Did Killeen look a better option at 3 than Hanbury? Another option back here would be Daithi Burke, I think he'd be a fine full back but I presume he hasn't hurled much at all this year yet so probably couldn't throw him in on Sunday.

I agree with your half back line, midfield and full forward line though. I think if we're looking for big physical wing backs then Tan is a far better option than McInerney, similiar enough physically but Tan is a far better stick man.

Seemed like the 2 wing backs were cleaned out yesterday, taken for 9 points between them. I wouldn't go dropping Collins but I think a change at 7 would be justified. An awful lot of Dublin's scores seemed to be frees aswell so indicates a slight discipline problem although from listening to Sean Walsh it did seem like some of Johnny Ryan's decisions were hard to fathom.

Kileen was more sure of himself, he was better under high ball than Hanbury has been and he wasnt dropping ball either.

Yea its a bit harsh on Mannion, Moore wasn't too bad yesterday but I would put him in v. Waterford for his experience, I could see the 3 options for corner back being used. As a Ahascragh man myself Padraig is a much better wing-back than corner back as he makes great runs upfield to score. Possibly a better option for no. 7

MfMan

T0001 wrote: »

Tbh I didnt pay much attention to the hurling, it was a very experimental line-up and the bench was emptied v. quickly after ht so I'm not reading into it at all. Going to Walsh Park next week to take on Waterford. We'll win it by 3 points or so, the lads areplaying well and I'm loving their never say die attitude. Goals have been lacking but Mannion and Canning at the edge of the square today reaped the rewards and will most likely keep them therefor that purpose. I think Cathal Mannion could grow into a sharp shooting goal getter after he gains more experience, still only in his second year and a bit light to be fighting 1v1 with a defender, but give him time and he will blossom.

I would go with v. Waterford:

1. Callanan

2. Coen 3. P. Kileen 4. F. Moore
5. D. Collins 6. G. Lally 7. I. Tannian

8. A. Smith 9. A. Harte

10. N. Burke 11. J. Glynn 12. D. Higgins
13. C. Mannion 14. J. Canning 15. J. Flynn

Been a funny league so far for Galway. Earned home wins on a ploughed field of a pitch over Clare and KK thanks to a late, contentious free and goalkeeping heroics respectively, games they should have both lost. Made defensive mistakes for goals v Cork and Tipp, games they should well have won. Don't share your optimism for the Waterford match. Your highlighting of Canning and Mannion is correct, they're the only forwards worthy of the name we have I think. Dean Higgins needs more experience at this level, his game needs broadening. Regan not good enough, Jason Flynn scarcely. As I've said before, Glynn makes an odd catch, but is very limited ability-wise and carries little scoring threat - his ball-winning alone isn't enough to keep him on the team. Cooney is too slow, awkward and very limited in making room for himself and taking his own scores. In the games I've seen all the aforementioned have spurned good goal scoring chances through sheer lack of ability, (though Cooney in fairness finished his well v Clare.) In addition to all this, their movement is too slow and passing and stickwork not crisp enough.

If Waterford beat us next Sunday, and frankly I will be astonished if they don't, a lot of it will be because of our glaring shortcomings up front. Hate to be so down about it, but I feel we're a very modest team led by an ordinary manager.

HighKing33

Syferus wrote: »

The list of D2 teams making AIQFs and AISFs (and even AI finals) is a lot longer than you think. I'd be careful spouting off like that when you're factually incorrect.

Divsion 2 is shambolic. Last years finalists, Monaghan and Donegal are so far ahead of the current contenders that it worries me about the standard of football in the country right now and we're talking about some of the standard bearers of the nineties and noughties - Galway, Kildare, Meath, etc.

galwaylad14

MfMan wrote: »

Been a funny league so far for Galway. Earned home wins on a ploughed field of a pitch over Clare and KK thanks to a late, contentious free and goalkeeping heroics respectively, games they should have both lost. Made defensive mistakes for goals v Cork and Tipp, games they should well have won. Don't share your optimism for the Waterford match. Your highlighting of Canning and Mannion is correct, they're the only forwards worthy of the name we have I think. Dean Higgins needs more experience at this level, his game needs broadening. Regan not good enough, Jason Flynn scarcely. As I've said before, Glynn makes an odd catch, but is very limited ability-wise and carries little scoring threat - his ball-winning alone isn't enough to keep him on the team. Cooney is too slow, awkward and very limited in making room for himself and taking his own scores. In the games I've seen all the aforementioned have spurned good goal scoring chances through sheer lack of ability, (though Cooney in fairness finished his well v Clare.) In addition to all this, their movement is too slow and passing and stickwork not crisp enough.

If Waterford beat us next Sunday, and frankly I will be astonished if they don't, a lot of it will be because of our glaring shortcomings up front. Hate to be so down about it, but I feel we're a very modest team led by an ordinary manager.

What a stereotypical Galway hurling "supporter's" post that is. Slate everyone but don't propose any alternatives at all. So you're dropping Glynn, Flynn, Regan and Cooney. Who's going in for them?

As it happens I agree with you on Regan but disagree on the rest. Flynn and Cooney both have something to offer and you literally couldn't be more wrong about Glynn.

Glynn is the second most important forward we have (after JC obviously). If you can't see what he brings to the team then could I politely suggest that you find another sport to watch because the hurling is sailing well over your head.

Glynn is one of the best ball winning forwards in the country both in the air and in the ground rucks. He's vital to us. And what's more he's a very powerful runner with the ball and unselfish to boot. Look at the Clare league game for perfect examples. Catches high ball aimless ball in the first half, lay off to Mannian, goal. Wins horrible ball from a ruck in the second half, straight through the middle with it and lay off to Cooney, goal.

You're right to say he's not the best striker in the world (though he has improved) but everything else he brings makes up for that.

We were years crying out for a big tough ball winning half forward to lay off ball to our scorers, now we have one and there's people calling for him to be dropped. Only in Galway

galwaylad14

galwaylad14 wrote: »

What a stereotypical Galway hurling "supporter's" post that is. Slate everyone but don't propose any alternatives at all. So you're dropping Glynn, Flynn, Regan and Cooney. Who's going in for them?

As it happens I agree with you on Regan but disagree on the rest. Flynn and Cooney both have something to offer and you literally couldn't be more wrong about Glynn.

Glynn is the second most important forward we have (after JC obviously). If you can't see what he brings to the team then could I politely suggest that you find another sport to watch because the hurling is sailing well over your head.

Glynn is one of the best ball winning forwards in the country both in the air and in the ground rucks. He's vital to us. And what's more he's a very powerful runner with the ball and unselfish to boot. Look at the Clare league game for perfect examples. Catches high ball aimless ball in the first half, lay off to Mannian, goal. Wins horrible ball from a ruck in the second half, straight through the middle with it and lay off to Cooney, goal.

You're right to say he's not the best striker in the world (though he has improved) but everything else he brings makes up for that.

We were years crying out for a big tough ball winning half forward to lay off ball to our scorers, now we have one and there's people calling for him to be dropped. Only in Galway

Certainly agree on Glynn.

After Canning he's our most important player.

Any lad who can pick a ball out of the air over under extreme pressure is worth a few points a game.

The main problem now is we're wasting him out the field, if he was left in at FF he'd draw near a penalty a game if decent ball was played in, the best a defender will do is break it as he's unlikely to be out fielded.
He also comes out of the rucks with an unreal amount of ball and has decent pace.

The problem thus far is AC just doesn't seem to have any sort of clue how to get the best out of him... which for me is as a FF with nippy Damien Hayes type corner forwards feeding off him around the breaks.
As of now we're using lads who are far too slow in the corners, we don't have room for C.Cooney, Canning, Flynn, Mannion, Glynn all in the forwards.

I think Mannion might be better at MF, one thing I notice from him is his inability to catch a ball even under easy circumstances, he always uses his hurl.
Maybe a MF role feeding off the breaks will suit him better, would also hide his pace a bit more.

Flynn can catch a ball but he's just another player out of the Canning/Glynn mould.
We're overloaded with similar styled players and I think AC is trying to shoe horn in too many of them.

It's funny that 5/6 years ago we were saying Galway were producing too many small and skilful hurlers and it was to our detriment.... now we've only one in the fold in contention(Molloy).
Healy was looking like a good option for that area last year until his injury struck.

You'll find it very hard to score goals if there's too many slow forwards, pace in hurling is very underestimated in the four corners IMO.

galwaylad14

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Certainly agree on Glynn.

After Canning he's our most important player.

Any lad who can pick a ball out of the air over under extreme pressure is worth a few points a game.

The main problem now is we're wasting him out the field, if he was left in at FF he'd draw near a penalty a game if decent ball was played in, the best a defender will do is break it as he's unlikely to be out fielded.
He also comes out of the rucks with an unreal amount of ball and has decent pace.

The problem thus far is AC just doesn't seem to have any sort of clue how to get the best out of him... which for me is as a FF with nippy Damien Hayes type corner forwards feeding off him around the breaks.
As of now we're using lads who are far too slow in the corners, we don't have room for C.Cooney, Canning, Flynn, Mannion, Glynn all in the forwards.

I think Mannion might be better at MF, one thing I notice from him is his inability to catch a ball even under easy circumstances, he always uses his hurl.
Maybe a MF role feeding off the breaks will suit him better, would also hide his pace a bit more.

Flynn can catch a ball but he's just another player out of the Canning/Glynn mould.
We're overloaded with similar styled players and I think AC is trying to shoe horn in too many of them.

It's funny that 5/6 years ago we were saying Galway were producing too many small and skilful hurlers and it was to our detriment.... now we've only one in the fold in contention(Molloy).
Healy was looking like a good option for that area last year until his injury struck.

You'll find it very hard to score goals if there's too many slow forwards, pace in hurling is very underestimated in the four corners IMO.

I'd agree with bits of what you say there. We certainly do lack a small bit of pace up front alright. If Donnellan gets back in he'll add some (though he certainly isn't the nippy corner forward type you're referring to but he is very quick) Canning despite what some would have you believe is very quick aswell. But again he's not the type of player you're referring to.

I also wouldn't agree with you about moving mannion out to midfield. He's having a good league and he's one of our best finishers of both goals and points so I'd leave him inside close to goal.

I used to think like you about Glynn, but this league has changed my mind, he's very good at powering through the middle with the ball so I think he has a role to play in the half forward line because we need him for the puckouts. I think the best way to go about it would be to swap himself and canning between 11 and 14 intermittently during the game. Could potentially get the best out of both players and would keep the defenders guessing.
It looks like this year we'll play a lot with just 2 men and sometimes 1 in the full forward line at different stages. To me anyway, if you're playing like this then the full forward line will be outnumbered a lit of the time so we'll need a really good ball winner left in there all the time. So to me that means I'd always want to see one of Glynn, Canning or Donnellan (if he gets back to his best) positioned in at full forward.

MfMan

galwaylad14 wrote: »

What a stereotypical Galway hurling "supporter's" post that is. Slate everyone but don't propose any alternatives at all. So you're dropping Glynn, Flynn, Regan and Cooney. Who's going in for them?

As it happens I agree with you on Regan but disagree on the rest. Flynn and Cooney both have something to offer and you literally couldn't be more wrong about Glynn.

Glynn is the second most important forward we have (after JC obviously). If you can't see what he brings to the team then could I politely suggest that you find another sport to watch because the hurling is sailing well over your head.

Glynn is one of the best ball winning forwards in the country both in the air and in the ground rucks. He's vital to us. And what's more he's a very powerful runner with the ball and unselfish to boot. Look at the Clare league game for perfect examples. Catches high ball aimless ball in the first half, lay off to Mannian, goal. Wins horrible ball from a ruck in the second half, straight through the middle with it and lay off to Cooney, goal.

You're right to say he's not the best striker in the world (though he has improved) but everything else he brings makes up for that.

We were years crying out for a big tough ball winning half forward to lay off ball to our scorers, now we have one and there's people calling for him to be dropped. Only in Galway

I'm a "supporter" for nearly 30 years as an adult and have followed the team through ups and downs all over the country.

Mannion is our second most important player after JC because he's our most likely scorer after him. His goal against Dublin is a case in point; in the league games I've seen so far, I've seen all our other forwards miss chances from the same position, Glynn included. Not for nothing I think have we reached a ceiling in what we're scoring during matches, (20 points). I think you're overstating Glynn's importance; the ball falls off him as often as he wins it in the air. He had a good game v. Clare but was very quiet v KK and Cork. In the latter match, he only caught one ball in the first half, 4 in the second, (yes, I was counting). And whether we agree or not on his ball winning, I think his distribution also leaves something to be desired, as often as not the handpass after a strong run gets misplaced or overcooked, (Donnellan has exactly the same habit). Do agree that nearest goal is his best position, re: Tipp. match in Thurles last year, also agree that Mannion is probably better deployed out the field in his more natural area.

As a team, Galway haven't progressed in the 2 full years since the '12 AI final. We've only beaten Laois twice in the c'ship and made scant impression in Leinster or in the league. We're stagnating as a team (and as a county in general it seems, doesn't seem to be any players coming through that excite) and are led by a manager who doesn't inspire.

In summary, it's not that I want to be singling out any one player in general, and I think that Glynn is a good lad with good heart and attitude, but I can't agree that he's as important as is being made out, he simply isn't that good.

Utopia Parkway

MfMan wrote: »

. I think you're overstating Glynn's importance; the ball falls off him as often as he wins it in the air. He had a good game v. Clare but was very quiet v KK and Cork. In the latter match, he only caught one ball in the first half, 4 in the second, (yes, I was counting).

Catching 4 balls in one half is pretty good going in any game. Especially as Galway are not blessed with forwards who can win their own ball. I think the problem is not Glynn but putting another 3 or 4 forwards up there with Canning and himself who can put the ball between the posts with some consistency. Bonner Maher is not the silkiest hurler in the world but he works great for Tipp because he wins ball and he has lads around him like Callanan, Bubbles, Corbett, etc who can score from anywhere. Only Galway player who can pick off points from distance consistently is Joe.

galwaylad14

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Catching 4 balls in one half is pretty good going in any game. Especially as Galway are not blessed with forwards who can win their own ball. I think the problem is not Glynn but putting another 3 or 4 forwards up there with Canning and himself who can put the ball between the posts with some consistency. Bonner Maher is not the silkiest hurler in the world but he works great for Tipp because he wins ball and he has lads around him like Callanan, Bubbles, Corbett, etc who can score from anywhere. Only Galway player who can pick off points from distance consistently is Joe.

I'd agree with this. Maybe Niall Burke on his day can score from range too but he's inconsistent.

Essentially the issue is that we have one top class scorer (canning), though in fairness mannion is showing promise in this regard.

The counties we are trying to beat like tipp, Kilkenny and cork each have 3 or 4 top class score takers.

So that means we have to find another way to compete as we haven't the firepower to win a shoot out and that means we need to play a more defensive style and try turn the game into a lower scoring one. Whether or not it works is another issue entirely.

Dublin and limerick will fall short for this same reason, not enough top class forwards. Clare have them but I can't see them featuring this year. Too much going on down there I think.

blue note

I'm really looking forward to this game on Sunday. It's a very hard one to predict - Galway are often a really good league side.

We're largely untested against good opposition so far, so while we might have looked good and I'm optimistic, I'm not confident.

It's great to get to knock out games anyway! Best of luck on Sunday!

T0001

The following Corofin players commenced training with the Galway senior panel this week:
- Tom Healy
- Ciarán McGrath
- Liam Silke
- Ronan Steede
- Gary Sice
- Michael Farragher
- Ian Burke
- Micheal Lundy

MfMan

T0001 wrote: »

The following Corofin players commenced training with the Galway senior panel this week:
- Tom Healy
- Ciarán McGrath
- Liam Silke
- Ronan Steede
- Gary Sice
- Michael Farragher
- Ian Burke
- Micheal Lundy

Throw 'em all in on Sunday, do them and team no harm. Defence needs a major rejuvenation.

Hurling team announced.

Colm Callanan; Johnny Coen, Paul Killeen, John Hanbury; David Collins, Greg Lally, Gearoid McInerney; Andy Smith, Iarlaith Tannian; Joseph Cooney, Joe Canning, Jonathan Glynn; James Regan, Cathal Mannion, Jason Flynn.

How in gods name Regan got back in ill never know.
That's all there is to say about this MGMT team really.
Sort of like Trap leaving out Prem starters for Green.
It's not even a selection that would divide opinion like say Flynn/Cooney or Hansbury he's never had one good game in a fair few years now.

patsyrockem

Apologies for butting in but I am in Galway tomorrow with herself and am looking for a pub to watch the Limerick/Dublin game on tg4. I am worried that the Munster/Connaught rugby will be on everywhere. Is there any haunt in Galway that hasn't jumped on the bandwagon?