The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

augustus gloop

i see O Meara saved a peno for Plunketts at the death to help them progress last week in the Dub Champ. He is surely our best option for goals now. Gilly is a time bomb at all times, one which usually goes off on the biggest stage

augustus gloop

Lemlin wrote: »

You can't stop young players travelling if they wish to. In regard to Dublin:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/rory-ocarroll-an-ocean-of-calm-for-blues-26892602.html



Cavan GAA also has the finance to make sure its players are looked after. It's well known that a number of the current crop were helped to get jobs. Cian Mackey was on the verge of going to Australia for example.

I'd say Clarke could do with a break at this stage. He won an Ulster minor title in 2011, and was playing with both the U21s and seniors the following year and has been since. That's 3 hard years of football. He has also had long seasons with Shercock and played college football with Athlone IT and Jordanstown.

Cian and Jack Brady got jobs in Intel through Cavan for sure, but I would wonder how much they can do for the other lads, it is worth knowing Cian is a plumber by trade so he was also the right man for the job, not just a gift from the county board.... although being regimented into getting up at 5:30am every morning has helped his game dramatically:pac: he really looked down and out when he ran the pub in BJD

Lemlin

augustus gloop wrote: »

i see O Meara saved a peno for Plunketts at the death to help them progress last week in the Dub Champ. He is surely our best option for goals now. Gilly is a time bomb at all times, one which usually goes off on the biggest stage

He looked very weak under the high ball against London and Kerry in Croke Park last year. His kick outs can also be poor. I'll never forget the 2011 U21 final where he continued to drive the ball down the middle despite Cavan being obliterated at midfield.

I'd like to see this year's U21 'keeper James Farrelly given a chance. He looks the best of the three available for me.

augustus gloop wrote: »

Cian and Jack Brady got jobs in Intel through Cavan for sure, but I would wonder how much they can do for the other lads, it is worth knowing Cian is a plumber by trade so he was also the right man for the job, not just a gift from the county board.... although being regimented into getting up at 5:30am every morning has helped his game dramatically:pac: he really looked down and out when he ran the pub in BJD

It's been happening years. Ronan Flanagan, Dermot Sheridan and Seanie Johnston (look how that was repaid!) walked straight out of college into teaching jobs on their doorstep. I know a girl did the same course as the 3 lads and she ended up in Cork after a lengthy search for work.

I don't find any problem with it though. Just pointing out it happens. If anything those 3 lads can help with the development of football in the county through working in the schools.

The County Board is full of businessmen that employ people too.

County players also have a huge advantage when it comes to jobs like sales reps because they are so well known.

Lemlin

I haven't the heart to go back a month or two over this thread and see how positive things were during the league. 3 weeks to Championship and we're not looking at:

1. It's 90% Clarke will go the States from what I hear. Hasn't trained with the team since the League final and they were away on a team bonding session at the weekend and he didn't attend. Now this could also be put down to him having his finals but people I'd trust aren't expecting to see him with the team this Summer.
2. McKiernan is struggling with an injury. With the forwards not scoring well, the 3 or 4 points he regularly knocks over in a game is vital. Not to mention the way he can drive the team on.
3. Keating is also struggling. He didn't play for Sylvesters in the Dublin championship last weekend and that would have me worried. It looks like he has a niggly problem that he isn't totally recovering from.
4. It was a poor performance in the League final. Serious questions were asked about numerous positions throughout the team.

It's by no means all doom and gloom but its certainly nowehere near the positivity we were looking at during the league.

Tinkerbell4484

I heard at a bailieborough match the weekend that Argue may need an op on his knee too although I'm not sure how true this is

cavan4sam

jaysus lads have ye any good news

re.clarke cant blame the lad for wanting to go to states , he was very close to going last year with his brother and a few friends .

i dont think a job organised by Co.Board will keep these lads in the country if they want to head and for someone like clarke who has been playing county ball at underage and senior for the past couple of years with very little of a break i dont think they should try and keep them here .

let them go and while we will miss them we will see them in county colours for many more years

Tom Joad

It's all a bit doom and gloom around these parts but this is always a funny time between the end of the league and the start of the championship.

We did achieve our objective and got promoted and the extra day out in Croke Park will stand to the team. We didn't really find out anything that day that we didn't know already esp re our forwards.

Killian Clarke owes the county nothing and if he feels he wants to travel good luck to him. Hopefully he will come back fresher and hungrier than ever.

Really worried about Gearoid though but hopefully it's nothing serious as it would be tough on him to have another lengthy lay off from the game.

Wouldn't read too much into the Keating situation - well known in Dublin circles that he is looking to move clubs so "injury" possibly linked to that.

Game against Armagh will tell us more accurately where the team is but would like to see a few of the under 21's get into the panel.

Minors are playing in Clones on Sunday night and hopefully will get a good crowd - I know we hear it every year but signs are that we have a damn good minor team this year.

Lemlin

Tom Joad wrote: »

It's all a bit doom and gloom around these parts but this is always a funny time between the end of the league and the start of the championship.

We did achieve our objective and got promoted and the extra day out in Croke Park will stand to the team. We didn't really find out anything that day that we didn't know already esp re our forwards.

Killian Clarke owes the county nothing and if he feels he wants to travel good luck to him. Hopefully he will come back fresher and hungrier than ever.

Really worried about Gearoid though but hopefully it's nothing serious as it would be tough on him to have another lengthy lay off from the game.

Wouldn't read too much into the Keating situation - well known in Dublin circles that he is looking to move clubs so "injury" possibly linked to that.

Game against Armagh will tell us more accurately where the team is but would like to see a few of the under 21's get into the panel.

Minors are playing in Clones on Saturday night and hopefully will get a good crowd - I know we hear it every year but signs are that we have a damn good minor team this year.

In fairness the one good thing about the League final was that it tempered people's expectations a bit. Some supporters were running away with themselves. A run out in Croke Park is always good for us.

Here's the Cavan team I said I expected to see in the League final.

Gilsenan
Joshua Hayes, Rory Dunne, Killian Brady
James McEnroe, Alan Clarke, Fergal Flanagan
Gearoid McKiernan, Damien O'Reilly
Niall McDermott, Martin Reilly, Cian Mackey,
Eugene Keating, Martin Dunne, David Givney

Here's the Cavan team that started the League final:

CAVAN: Conor Gilsenan (Bailieborough); Joshua Hayes (Cootehill), Rory Dunne (Redhills), Feargal Flanagan (Butlersbridge); James McEnroe (Ramor United), Alan Clarke (Kingscourt), Damien O’Reilly (Belturbet); Gearoid McKiernan (Swanlinbar), Killian Brady (Mullahoran); Cian Mackey (Castlerahan), Niall McDermott (Ballinagh), Martin Reilly (Killygarry); Jack Brady (Ramor United), Martin Dunne (Cavan Gaels), Eugene Keating (St Sylvester’s).

To be honest, I wouldn't expect to see that many changes come the Armagh match. I'd like to see Farrelly get a run ahead of Gilsenan but I don't think it'll happen. In terms of the backs, Flanagan, Dunne, Damien O'Reilly and Alan Clarke are always going to start IMO. So you're looking at two then from Hayes, McEnroe, McLoughlin and Killian Brady. I felt sorry for Brady in the League final. He was arguably our best player in the league.

In midfield, I wouldn't mind seeing Mossy Corr start. He's a physical presence in there but he missed most of the league. That will mean leaving Givney and Argue on the bench though. We've a strong panel though and big decisions will have to be made.

The forwards, five of the six are definites for me. McDermott, Reilly, Mackey, Keating and Dunne are going to start IMO unless injured. So you're looking at the rest - Tierney, Argue, Jack Brady Mooney, Niall Smith - battling it out for one position. I'd expect Jack to probably start like in the League final. One player I'd like to see is Niall Smith come on for twenty minutes at the end. Mackey is now a marked man so people will do all they can to stop him running. Let Smith come on for the last twenty minutes and start using that pace of his to run at tired defenders who won't want to drag him down due to the black card.

Bear on the square

I wouldn't be too worried about Gearoid, word is he is back in training. However I would be greatly worried about Argue and Mackey. Heard Argue needs an operation on his knee and Mackey has a bad groin injury and hasn't played since the Galway challenge and even if he does play will have no training under his belt.

Lemlin

Bear on the square wrote: »

I wouldn't be too worried about Gearoid, word is he is back in training. However I would be greatly worried about Argue and Mackey. Heard Argue needs an operation on his knee and Mackey has a bad groin injury and hasn't played since the Galway challenge and even if he does play will have no training under his belt.

Mackey was carrying an injury through most of the championship last Summer and it doesn't appear he has ever got a chance to really shake it off.

Re Argue, I'd let him have the operation now so he's fit and ready for the U21s next year. He's their marquee player.

celt262

Lemlin wrote: »

Mackey was carrying an injury through most of the championship last Summer and it doesn't appear he has ever got a chance to really shake it off.

Re Argue, I'd let him have the operation now so he's fit and ready for the U21s next year. He's their marquee player.

We could have a short summer if we don't have a fully fit Mackey, Clarke and Gearoid not fit, if we were to add Argue to that we would be well fcked at midfield.

Lemlin

Clarke is a big loss but we have other corner backs ready to fill the position. Killian Brady featured sparingly last year and was one of our best players in the league. Joshua Hayes played every league game, did well and didn't feature at all in the championship last year iirc.

McKiernan and Argue would be losses but neither were large features of the team last year.

We'd still have Givney and Corr for midfield with players like Reilly and McEnroe more than capable of playing there.

Mackey is irreplaceable but Niall Smith could take up some of his running duties.

blowitupref

Ulster minor quarter final Cavan 0-6 Armagh 1-13. Was 5-5 at half time a rare under performing underage result for Cavan.

Lemlin

blowitupref wrote: »

Ulster minor quarter final Cavan 0-6 Armagh 1-13. Was 5-5 at half time a rare under performing underage result for Cavan.

The conveyor belt seems to be coming to an end. Since the Ulster title win in 2011, we have struggled at minor this is the second of 3 years that we've been knocked out in the first round iirc.

celt262

Lemlin wrote: »

The conveyor belt seems to be coming to an end. Since the Ulster title win in 2011, we have struggled at minor this is the second of 3 years that we've been knocked out in the first round iirc.

It was a very poorly drilled team no game plan or leadership on the sideline or on the field. This team was made up of mainly the St Pats and Virginia College team so they should have been better than what was on show.

Lemlin

McKiernan still not back training fully. I can't see him being match fit for Armagh. Less than two weeks now.

benjy1000

Any word on how the game went in Munterconnaught on Saturday night? Who played well etc? Any fresh injuries?

Lemlin

benjy1000 wrote: »

Any word on how the game went in Munterconnaught on Saturday night? Who played well etc? Any fresh injuries?

I heard Cavan won well but that the junior team was sent up to play. A friend mentioned that the seniors had a challenge against Clare but I've no confirmation if that is true or not.

Killian Clarke played with the All Star selection.

Tom Joad

celt262 wrote: »

It was a very poorly drilled team no game plan or leadership on the sideline or on the field. This team was made up of mainly the St Pats and Virginia College team so they should have been better than what was on show.

Reflects what I heard from a lot of people than know the set-up. Time to bring in some fresh ideas at management level. There was also too many stories of the county management clashing with St. Pats etc. The talent available is definitely not the issue.

Tom Joad

Lemlin wrote: »

McKiernan still not back training fully. I can't see him being match fit for Armagh. Less than two weeks now.

Think it would be better to let him get back fully fit rather than rushing him back before he's ready. Normally missing a few weeks training would not be an issue at this stage of the season but Gearoid has missed so much football that it would be a huge gamble to risk him.

Lemlin

Confirmation of what has been known locally for a few weeks now:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/cavan-lose-clarke-to-boston-30306790.html

Cavan will be without their defender Killian Clarke for the championship as he prepares to leave for a summer in Boston later this week.

Clarke, who has won three successive Ulster U-21 medals over the last three years and is recognised as one of the province's most promising defenders, has made his mind up to go.

The 2013 All Star nominee is due to leave on Thursday after intensive efforts to persuade him to stay for a summer campaign failed.

Though the move had been flagged, it hadn't been confirmed as Cavan sought to convince him to stay up until late last week.

The Shercock youngster was instrumental in Cavan's extended summer run last year and high hopes were pinned on building the defence around him in future years.

He is expected to link up with the Wolfe Tones club in Boston.

Clarke was a member of the Jordanstown team that were beaten by UCC in this year's Sigerson Cup final, while defeats within a week of each other in a Division 3 final against Roscommon and an All-Ireland U-21 semi-final against Dublin brought frustration.

A big loss but hopefully he'll be back and better than ever next year. He needs the rest to be fair.

keane2097

Big loss alright, was fantastic any time I saw him last year. A real talent.

Lemlin

keane2097 wrote: »

Big loss alright, was fantastic any time I saw him last year. A real talent.

He'll be back and is leaving on good terms. He won an Ulster minor title in 2011 and has been playing U21 and senior since so he's had a tough 3 years of it. His club Shercock also won the junior and made the intermediate final another year so he hasn't even got a rest at club football.

It's probably best that he takes this Summer off to rest and comes back ready for the League next year.

keane2097

Yeah it will do him no harm to blow off a bit of steam for a couple of months.

willabur

I dunno lads, its worrying (Purely from a Fans perspective). While I am all on for lads heading away to blow off a bit of steam etc it can and very often does change a lad. Its a big world out there and playing football for cavan can seem fairly small when you are out in the big bad world, he may not want to come back and put in the level of training required , make all those sacrifices even to get back to the level he is currently at let alone fulfill what is blinding potential.

In a way I think some solution needs to come up where by players are managed and looked after in such a way that there is sufficient provision for RnR.

munchkin_utd

willabur wrote: »

I dunno lads, its worrying (Purely from a Fans perspective). While I am all on for lads heading away to blow off a bit of steam etc it can and very often does change a lad. Its a big world out there and playing football for cavan can seem fairly small when you are out in the big bad world, he may not want to come back and put in the level of training required , make all those sacrifices even to get back to the level he is currently at let alone fulfill what is blinding potential.

In a way I think some solution needs to come up where by players are managed and looked after in such a way that there is sufficient provision for RnR.

the problem with lads like Clarke though are that they are playing club senior/ club u21/ county u21/ college and county senior either in parallel or back to back.
And that after doing similar at underage with club and county and school.

Its next to impossible to coordinate all that and build in a quiet period for a player. At least Cavan separated the U21 and seniors so lads werent on both at the same time.

Syferus

willabur wrote: »

I dunno lads, its worrying (Purely from a Fans perspective). While I am all on for lads heading away to blow off a bit of steam etc it can and very often does change a lad. Its a big world out there and playing football for cavan can seem fairly small when you are out in the big bad world, he may not want to come back and put in the level of training required , make all those sacrifices even to get back to the level he is currently at let alone fulfill what is blinding potential.

In a way I think some solution needs to come up where by players are managed and looked after in such a way that there is sufficient provision for RnR.

There's enough pie in your sky to feed the Dail for a year.

Lemlin

munchkin_utd wrote: »

the problem with lads like Clarke though are that they are playing club senior/ club u21/ county u21/ college and county senior either in parallel or back to back.
And that after doing similar at underage with club and county and school.

Its next to impossible to coordinate all that and build in a quiet period for a player. At least Cavan separated the U21 and seniors so lads werent on both at the same time.

Player burnout is definitely an issue. There's simply too much football and you have amateur players now involved in what is pretty much a professional setup.

I know a few of the present Cavan panel have commented that they can't see themselves still playing football when they are 27/28 because of the sheet commitment required. Hopefully they won't feel like that when they reach that age.

willabur

Syferus wrote: »

There's enough pie in your sky to feed the Dail for a year.

#goodone

Lemlin

A very experimental line up from us in the junior hammering Wexford 12 points to 3 at HT.

Cillian O'Connor's cousin Paul O'Connor has six points.