Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

davegrohl48

jjdonegal wrote: »

This begs the question: Where do we want him to play?
What do people think / want? Id be interested to see where Mayo people want him to play.

On the right between full and half forward a tap over free from goals. I don't like 14's standing too high as the endline/goalie n the two defenders cause issues for the 14 n runners. Id like him to take McGee plus another away from the centre. I think Freeman will come in early second half. Ye have a slight height vulnerability if Mayo also spring Kirby. OConnors are both tall also. Ye need taller lads to help out from midfielders forwards

jjdonegal

Any inside knowledge from Devenney yet?

Nidgeweasel

jjdonegal wrote: »

Any inside knowledge from Devenney yet?

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote:

We're the side who will need the goals given our dismal point scoring this year.

Scored a goal in every game we have won. Didn't score one against Monaghan. I said earlier we needed goals to win games. Someone disagreed.

Redsoxfan

jjdonegal wrote:

Any inside knowledge from Devenney yet?

Hopefully he is on UTV later. I told people looking for a team he was announcing it tonight.

jjdonegal

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Hopefully he is on UTV later. I told people looking for a team he was announcing it tonight.

Murphy and Gallagher 100% out he was saying!!!. Knee and hamstring :-0

Redsoxfan

jjdonegal wrote:

Murphy and Gallagher 100% out he was saying!!!. Knee and hamstring :-0

Papa has retired. Frank has grout. At least three players failed drug tests after the Armagh match.

jjdonegal

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Papa has retired. Frank has grout. At least three players failed drug tests after the Armagh match.

Ah balls I thought that was an unfounded rumour!

Nidgeweasel

Right, this is where I'm at now.

Gun to my head- I think we'll lose. Why? We look knackered and there's too many question marks over us.

Going into it in more detail though.

We have been easy to run through this year given the way we sit back abit compared to actively engaging in defence if that makes sense. Mayo's running game is going to cause us massive problems already and even more so if we are carrying passengers (those who have questions over carrying injury i.e Karl, McGee, Frankie or indeed whether they are match fit, Thompson). Funny enough I read in the week that we're conceding less than the previous few years but to my mind we are lethargic in the tackle and our lines are being broken through too easily, that is most un-Donegal like. Their half back line is excellent and I would be very, very worried about their direct running.

I think Mayo have a very competent midfield. I like the balance with Parsons and t'other O'Shea. Even so, I would expect to at least break even with Big Neil and McElhinney given the help available from the half forward line and no doubt we'll see Murphy loitering around there at some stage. Of course the biggest thing about their midfield is the absence of Aidan O'Shea and he's now able to barge around further up the field causing havoc.

Their forward line is steady. Good players there but I wouldn't be gone on McLoughlin (great worker though and he'll be a massive pain in the arse for us) or Jason Doc. Cillian O Connor is there and we'll need our tackling to be 100% or he will quite easily make us pay. Moran is a class act and I really like the look of the younger O'Connor. This then leaves us with 'himself', and the question where does he play.

I hope he (O'Shea) is in at the edge of the square personally. I think it'll be easier for us to deal with him with numbers back and it would give us a boost mentally on the pitch as well as in the stands if we were to start coming out on top of that battle given the publicity about it. If it was me, I'd start him at 11 and push him up if Mayo were going well which would mean we'd then be forced a rethink during the game and things would start getting messy and start getting away from us.

There's also a lot of talk about Mayo's full back line and rightly so. The thing is, Cafferky, Vaughan, Higgins are all serious footballers and have been round the block. Murphy will be too hot to handle for anyone inside but the other two boys could easily wrap up whoever is left inside (assuming we go with more than just McBrearty). The big thing for them is not leaving the full back line exposed, that's more a question of tactics than it is personnel. We can get 100% change out of that full back line but it won't be the free for all that I think some people are expecting. Even so, we need to f*cking go at that back line with everything we have. We need goals to win this game as we aren't scoring enough points.

Looking totally at ourselves for a second the biggest concern I have is we don't really know where we are at. We are a battle hardened solid division 1 outfit with some brilliant players, we will be difficult opposition for Mayo but we have not seen any sort of a consistent performance from us this season. We cannot just assume that tomorrow at 6pm we're going to hit the turbo boosters and everything will click into place and we'll give a complete performance.

The sliver of hope that we could win comes from the number of dogfights this year. We would be well placed to have another one. Added to this the impact of the bench last weekend and how we went up through the gears.They really powered through that and it was the first time all year that we've had that level of contribution and impact from any substitutes. That's a question for Rory, I'd drop the likes of Toye or even Colm for them to come in and push us over the line in the last 20 minutes if things are there or there abouts. That's our best hope for me, reducing this to a dogfight, shutting down O'Shea and O'Connor and then springing the bench for the last 20. If things go that way,entering the last 20 minutes I'd be certain we would win.

It's getting to that point though which is easier said than done. We can't afford any lapses or we will be punished, severely.

Looking at this year we play in fits and spurts and that won't be good enough against Mayo. Our barren spells are highly alarming and a regular occurrence and that will not be good enough against Mayo. Our current dreadful shooting and poor conversion rates will not be good enough against Mayo. We are lethargic and leggy and that will not be good enough against a Mayo team who are fresh as daisies and have so much experience.

For Donegal to win this we need the following to happen

1) Mayo get it wrong on the line, Man on Man & no sweeper, AOS left inside too long and bottled up.

2) Rory to get it right on the line. Murphy up top, the right matchups elsewhere. McNiallis drifitng into pockets left by their runners for a quick counter. The right bench at the right time to finish strongly.

3) Defensive intensity. We cannot concede any goals it is that simple.

4) Test that full back line.

If we can produce a full 70 minute performance and introduce the devilment into our play and drag this game into a scrap then we can win it. Sadly, I don't think we can get it to that stage given our own deficiencies coupled with Mayo's experience, fitness, and freshness.

Mayo by 4.

jjdonegal

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Right, this is where I'm at now.

Gun to my head- I think we'll lose. Why? We look knackered and there's too many question marks over us.

Going into it in more detail though.

We have been easy to run through this year given the way we sit back abit compared to actively engaging in defence if that makes sense. Mayo's running game is going to cause us massive problems already and even more so if we are carrying passengers (those who have questions over carrying injury i.e Karl, McGee, Frankie or indeed whether they are match fit, Thompson). Funny enough I read in the week that we're conceding less than the previous few years but to my mind we are lethargic in the tackle and our lines are being broken through too easily, that is most un-Donegal like. Their half back line is excellent and I would be very, very worried about their direct running.

I think Mayo have a very competent midfield. I like the balance with Parsons and t'other O'Shea. Even so, I would expect to at least break even with Big Neil and McElhinney given the help available from the half forward line and no doubt we'll see Murphy loitering around there at some stage. Of course the biggest thing about their midfield is the absence of Aidan O'Shea and he's now able to barge around further up the field causing havoc.

Their forward line is steady. Good players there but I wouldn't be gone on McLoughlin (great worker though and he'll be a massive pain in the arse for us) or Jason Doc. Cillian O Connor is there and we'll need our tackling to be 100% or he will quite easily make us pay. Moran is a class act and I really like the look of the younger O'Connor. This then leaves us with 'himself', and the question where does he play.

I hope he (O'Shea) is in at the edge of the square personally. I think it'll be easier for us to deal with him with numbers back and it would give us a boost mentally on the pitch as well as in the stands if we were to start coming out on top of that battle given the publicity about it. If it was me, I'd start him at 11 and push him up if Mayo were going well which would mean we'd then be forced a rethink during the game and things would start getting messy and start getting away from us.

There's also a lot of talk about Mayo's full back line and rightly so. The thing is, Cafferky, Vaughan, Higgins are all serious footballers and have been round the block. Murphy will be too hot to handle for anyone inside but the other two boys could easily wrap up whoever is left inside (assuming we go with more than just McBrearty). The big thing for them is not leaving the full back line exposed, that's more a question of tactics than it is personnel. We can get 100% change out of that full back line but it won't be the free for all that I think some people are expecting. Even so, we need to f*cking go at that back line with everything we have. We need goals to win this game as we aren't scoring enough points.

Looking totally at ourselves for a second the biggest concern I have is we don't really know where we are at. We are a battle hardened solid division 1 outfit with some brilliant players, we will be difficult opposition for Mayo but we have not seen any sort of a consistent performance from us this season. We cannot just assume that tomorrow at 6pm we're going to hit the turbo boosters and everything will click into place and we'll give a complete performance.

The sliver of hope that we could win comes from the number of dogfights this year. We would be well placed to have another one. Added to this the impact of the bench last weekend and how we went up through the gears.They really powered through that and it was the first time all year that we've had that level of contribution and impact from any substitutes. That's a question for Rory, I'd drop the likes of Toye or even Colm for them to come in and push us over the line in the last 20 minutes if things are there or there abouts. That's our best hope for me, reducing this to a dogfight, shutting down O'Shea and O'Connor and then springing the bench for the last 20. If things go that way,entering the last 20 minutes I'd be certain we would win.

It's getting to that point though which is easier said than done. We can't afford any lapses or we will be punished, severely.

Looking at this year we play in fits and spurts and that won't be good enough against Mayo. Our barren spells are highly alarming and a regular occurrence and that will not be good enough against Mayo. Our current dreadful shooting and poor conversion rates will not be good enough against Mayo. We are lethargic and leggy and that will not be good enough against a Mayo team who are fresh as daisies and have so much experience.

For Donegal to win this we need the following to happen

1) Mayo get it wrong on the line, Man on Man & no sweeper, AOS left inside too long and bottled up.

2) Rory to get it right on the line. Murphy up top, the right matchups elsewhere. McNiallis drifitng into pockets left by their runners for a quick counter. The right bench at the right time to finish strongly.

3) Defensive intensity. We cannot concede any goals it is that simple.

4) Test that full back line.

If we can produce a full 70 minute performance and introduce the devilment into our play and drag this game into a scrap then we can win it. Sadly, I don't think we can get it to that stage given our own deficiencies coupled with Mayo's experience, fitness, and freshness.

Mayo by 4.

Excellent summary NW. Largely my concerns too. I really feel we will see AoS at 11 and he'll torture us from there.
Mayo by 5+ for myself but as it gets closer I'm getting less confident even in that and am developing a worry that they might bloody annihilate us like 2013.
After the Monaghan game I really thought they would beat us by 10+ if we met them but Jesus I hope that does not come to pass.

2moreMinutes

We're gonna win by at least 3.

Why you may ask? Why indeed. That's a very good question and one I will answer in great detail.


















Cos I'm ever the optimist.

Redsoxfan

That's a ****ing great post Nidgeweasel. I'd like to buy you a pint tomorrow win lose or draw. Spot on IMHO.

Redsoxfan

And the rest of the squad

16 MA McGinley
17 Thompson
18 Doherty
19 Magnus Toye
20 David Walsh
21 Hugh McFadden
22 Dec Walsh
23 McLoone
24 Gary McFadden
25 C McGinley
26 EB Gallagher

So no Jigger, no Eoin McHugh and no saviour from Castlebar Stephen Griffin.

Boom__Boom

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Added to this the impact of the bench last weekend and how we went up through the gears.They really powered through that and it was the first time all year that we've had that level of contribution and impact from any substitutes. That's a question for Rory, I'd drop the likes of Toye or even Colm for them to come in and push us over the line in the last 20 minutes if things are there or there abouts. That's our best hope for me, reducing this to a dogfight, shutting down O'Shea and O'Connor and then springing the bench for the last 20. If things go that way,entering the last 20 minutes I'd be certain we would win.

One big caveat on the impact of the Donegal subs last weekend - Donegal made 2 subs at half-time and had 2 more made before Galway made their first sub in the 57th minute. So Donegal had 4 subs in action before Galway made their first sub. You look at the impact of Donegal subs all through the league and in the championship and last week was very much the exception.
As such I would be very surprised if the Donegal bench managed to have a big impact on the game twice in a row.

Redsoxfan

Boom__Boom wrote:

One big caveat on the impact of the Donegal subs last weekend - Donegal made 2 subs at half-time and had 2 more made before Galway made their first sub in the 57th minute. So Donegal had 4 subs in action before Galway made their first sub. You look at the impact of Donegal subs all through the league and in the championship and last week was very much the exception. As such I would be very surprised if the Donegal bench managed to have a big impact on the game twice in a row.

That was probably due to the fact that we started with 2/3 squad players. Most of those who came on would/should be starters.

Boom__Boom

Redsoxfan wrote: »

That was probably due to the fact that we started with 2/3 squad players. Most of those who came on would/should be starters.

Yeah it is unusual - saw some stuff elsewhere that Donegal had only made 4 subs a game prior to the Galway game and that a huge percentage of the subs were in the last 5 minutes.

I think a tactic like that (starting squad players) has more likelihood of working against Galway as they don't have anything like the experience on their subs bench as Mayo will and I would say that their fitness might be a tad behind that of a division 1 team.

With the rumoured injuries/knocks, I'm not sure it would be the wisest approach to be trying anything too unusual with the subs.

Redsoxfan

Boom__Boom wrote:

With the rumoured injuries/knocks, I'm not sure it would be the wisest approach to be trying anything too unusual with the subs.

I would gamble on starting Paddy on the bench at least.

I will be surprised if Lacey starts but then again, maybe not.

henke

Can't wait for this now. Definitely nervous. This is surely going to be tough to win but I'd fancy/hope we give them a better game than in 2013. If we win tomorrow though the form will be great and we will all be looking forward to another crack at taking down the Dubs. Here's hoping.

Redsoxfan

Really hope we have the legs for 70 minutes today. That's my biggest fear, over and above our suspect tactics.

Anyway, heading in for a look.

Until Victory, Always.

jjdonegal

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Really hope we have the legs for 70 minutes today. That's my biggest fear, over and above our suspect tactics.

Anyway, heading in for a look.

Until Victory, Always.

Hopefully. Jesus I'm so nervous.

Nidgeweasel

2moreMinutes wrote: »

We're gonna win by at least 3.

Why you may ask? Why indeed. That's a very good question and one I will answer in great detail.


Cos I'm ever the optimist.

And right you are too!

Any reasoned argument has been parked (pointing for home) until afterwards. From here on it it's positive vibes and sure lets see what happens.

Sport has a knack of making reasoned assessment look redundant. Hopefully it's the case today!

K-9

Well most of ye called it.

Bizarre thing is, 30 seconds before half time I thought we stand a right chance here, not playing great and a point behind.

McBrearty has been disappointing season long, outclassed at midfield and when we actually needed Murphy further out, the manager persists with him at FF.

We just didn't have the scoring options all season barring a naive Galway and Armagh teams.

Nidgeweasel

A shame. But it had a sense of the inevitable about it. I was fearful early in the second half that it was going to end up as a 2013-esque rout.

Funny enough if you look at the game we were quite unlucky with how it panned out although not with the result.

-Sticking with it.

-Concede a preventable goal on the stroke of half time.

-Lose Neil McGee

-Concede a freak goal.

It was an uphill battle after the first but losing McGee and then conceding a goal straight away meant it was all but insurmountable. We lost Odhrán too which didn't help.

I felt McGee was just shading the battle with AOS up to the goal too. Thought it was really great to watch aswell. That sort of man on man battle just doesn't happen anymore and it's a pity in some respects. Remember watching Fay however many years ago etc, it was always such a highlight of a match seeing a FF and a FB going at it.

Just on that goal, I can't understand why it was Mark McHugh left with Neil. I noted Hugh McFadden immediately reacting to the space, a panic stations look, and sprinting back. I know he hadn't been playing that deep but I think there could have been something in that. McHugh being there was ridiculous really, and pointless.

Up until the first goal there wasn't a whole pile in it, I felt Mayo were comfortably the better team though and could have upped through the gears if they wanted to and the same problems for us were evident again. The one key difference and positive from our perspective was that we were sticking it out and rallying back. There was no massive gap between scoring that I recall bar maybe 5 minutes or so.

I thought we were in an 'alright' position for the second half just to keep it nick and tuck and then we concede the goal. Great take and finish by AOS but without rehashing the above I'm disappointed we left MMH in there. Waste of time.

Hard to analyse the match really as the second half is usually the one where things move forward. We'd clearly planned a tight first half and then to up it in the second so it's a pointless exercise even looking at the second half. The match was was done and dusted as soon as Keegan got the second goal. You can't tell much from it. Disappointed the way the heads dropped obviously but it went tits up for us having to switch men around and then being up against such quality opposition who knew exactly what they were doing.

Without dealing with it in order and even on the assumption that we'd have gone in a point down we got rinsed at midfield. McElhinney did just about ok at times in the 2nd half but you have to qualify that with the fact that Mayo were toying with us. I'm bitterly disappointed in our midfield return. It was negligible and gave Mayo a platform to play. We got nothing from Gallagher today, he was wrapped up and was well looked after tactically.

There's no real point looking at anything else, we were sticking in there in the first half without ever doing enough getting at Mayo. I thought there were opportunities for us to expose Barry Moran who wasn't great and we didn't do it. We got absolutely nothing from any of our forwards with the exception of Michael and when our half backs broke through they were left isolated and were dealt with comfortably. We had a half chance with Colm for a goal and really needed that.

We did alright at times in defence in the first half, we turned over alot of ball but again, and what really has been a big problem this year is that we did nothing with it. Zero attacking strategy. We struggled badly with their runners though, shock horror.

Kickouts were a f*cking diaster. Theirs and ours. That short kick out crucified us just because it let them build knowing that we wouldn't be trying that hard to engage them in the tackle.

Even given the way it panned out and a non-event for the second half Mayo were full value for that. You could see their emphasis on not conceding a goal. Our points return this year has been diabolical and we needed goals to win that. Mayo knew that, defended well and picked off their own. We needed a clean sheet to have any hope of winning that game and even at that it probably wouldn't have been enough and we looked to be more concerned with Mayo and what they were doing than playing our own game.

Good on Mayo, they got everything spot on, performances from their big players and were operating a few levels above us. They'd probably have rathered a tighter game in truth but the first half will be a help to them going forward and they'll gain great confidence in the way they dealt with our forwards. They still need to sort our that sweeper for me, he was too lax.

I'd give the first half a 6/10 from us an the second half a No grade.

Going forward for us, we've had a slog of a championship. Rotten stuff in Ulster all the way through and looking at Monaghan today we really did leave a provincial final behind us. Second half v Galway was nice, today was a shíte end to a tough year.

Get the club championships ran off asap and give these boys a solid rest over the winter. I'm expecting retirements. Eamonn I'd say is a certainty. Colm and Christy could well go but those lads look like they'll be around for ever.

The drop off from McGuinness has been huge. And remember the garbage from the media and the know nowts about how "Rory Gallagher has put his stamp on this side now" after a facile win in Armagh. A clueless bunch. There'll be no knives out (and rightly so) but we need a big improvement on the line next year.

Also, a real disappointment this year was the underage teams. We know minor football is all on the day but it's a terror that we went out at the semi in Ulster. That was a really good minor side and they could well have went on to win the All Ireland. The 21's lost a provincial final (again) and I'd be happy to see Bonner getting the 21 job now and pushing them over the line. We're squandering alot of talent there I think at the minute. We need to start preparing these players for seniors and I think Bonner's the man to do that.

Massive gratitude to the players as ever this year. They are a super bunch of lads and are an absolute credit. Great role models inside the county and ambassadors outside. Good rest and a few additions and let's give the Anglo Celt a good rattle in 2016.

Tír Chonaill abú.

North of 32

Many many bitter Mayo people today.

Nidgeweasel

North of 32 wrote: »

Many many bitter Mayo people today.

You'll get that.

Be some party if they ever managed to win it though. I'd nearly go down myself. Good luck to them going forward It'd be fantastic for them to win but selfishly I'd love a Dublin v Kerry final.

km79

Long suffering Mayo supporter here
Have to say it was a privilege to see Michael Murphy 's point taking today
Superb footballer

Nidgeweasel

km79 wrote: »

Long suffering Mayo supporter here
Have to say it was a privilege to see Michael Murphy 's point taking today
Superb footballer

His father is a mayo man no less.

km79

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

His father is a mayo man no less.

aaaaaggggghhhhhh!
I heard that in the lead up to the 2012 final alright but had forgotten/blocked it out of my mind !

2moreMinutes

**** that for a racket.

I know a lot of people thought it last year and the year before but surely today really was the last time we're gonna see the mainstays of that team together.

Today was disappointing even if amongst all the misguided optimism, it was also expected. It's as disappointing to think that these kinda days may be a rarity in years to come.

harpsman

Had me long post written then computer restarts-aaarrgghh.

Anyway long story short-we needed a repeat of goal breaks going our way like Dublin game last year, instead we missed half chance and they score on the stroke of HT-instead of leading we're down 4-game over.
Thought McHugh should have done better but sold himself completely. See some surprised to see him there but hes been our sweeper for years so theres every reason he could end up in that position.

No problem with management-its no secret we,re a team passed our peak and with the draw we had we did ok-who knows how UF would have gone had Murphy been fit. Hopefully we can add bit of new blood to make up for inevitable retirements though Lacey in particular and big Neil will take soem replacement.

Not a bad season by any stretch, would have been great to win Ulster again but not to be.

Think 1st game showed theres a big difference between playing at home in Clones and Croke Park-Monaghan got a lesson in football and actin the gurrier from the masters,not much sympathy for them but shown up as a 2nd rate side.