Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Nidgeweasel

Don't care re: the jersey. We've had worse, we've had better. Meh.

Down, Cork, Roscommon are they 3 most winnable for me. Agree with RSF, a win on Saturday gets us off on the right foot. Get as many points on the board as soon as possible and then stick the young players in.

Ceist_Beag

Same as Nidge, I don't really mind the jersey - not something I get too hung up on unless they ever try and make it look as bad as a Carlow jersey! The one thing I took from the pics was how lean Murphy looks - hopefully he's hungrier than ever.
On the league, agreed lads, Saturday is one we need to win if we're to stay up. A fair few division 1 teams have a new manager this year so it's hard to predict which teams will be eager to impress and which will be a work in progress but points on the board early always helps, especially if we're looking to blood a few of the young lads who turned out earlier this month.
One thing I find a bit strange with the fixtures is playing the Dublin match in Croker on Easter Saturday - what with all the commemorations this year I thought that weekend would be free from league fixtures but obviously the GAA must be looking to have their own piece of the action. I would imagine there will be something planned for the match so if anyone is in town I'd say it could be a good one to go along to.

doc_17

I think we have to beat Down on Saturday night otherwise we'll be in real trouble. We'll most likely struggle to get anything in Kerry and Dublin. Our recent record against Monahan in Clones is worrying and a home games against Cork and Maybe will be tough. Add to that the usual struggles that we have in THE O'Donnell Park and I can see us getting relegated. But a win on Saturday might keep in the hunt at least.

And the new jersey isn't very nice at all.

The Assistinator

doc_17 wrote: »

I think we have to beat Down on Saturday night otherwise we'll be in real trouble. We'll most likely struggle to get anything in Kerry and Dublin. Our recent record against Monahan in Clones is worrying and a home games against Cork and Maybe will be tough. Add to that the usual struggles that we have in THE O'Donnell Park and I can see us getting relegated. But a win on Saturday might keep in the hunt at least.

And the new jersey isn't very nice at all.

I like what you done there listening to highland radio too I take it

Alvin Holler

I'm full of optimism* for the year. Bed in a few younger players and our panel should be stronger than ever. Hopefully Ryan McHugh, McBrearty and MacNiallais can step up and take more of the slack off the older guys and an Ulster title should be winnable.

*optimism might vanish after two hours in the freezing cold in Newry tonight

Alvin Holler

I'm full of optimism* for the year. Bed in a few younger players and our panel should be stronger than ever. Hopefully Ryan McHugh, McBrearty and MacNiallais can step up and take more of the slack off the older guys and an Ulster title should be winnable.

*optimism might vanish after two hours in the freezing cold in Newry tonight

Redsoxfan

Unless I have missed it, we don't seem to have named a team?

Nidgeweasel

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Unless I have missed it, we don't seem to have named a team?

It's thrown in now and I still can't find one!

Nidgeweasel

Half time:

Down foul, Murphy scores and repeat x 6.

ghostfacekilla

Very early days and we have to remind ourselves we were playing Down but that aside, I'd be very positive after watching that. Murphy looks rejuvenated, Ciaran Thompson looks full of the grit needed to hit the ground running. McLoone looking hungry. We won't get a decent idea of the yardstick until we play Mayo this time next month I'd say.

LilNiall

Agreed. Couldn't have went much better. Down likely to be cannon fodder but we've done our job.

jjdonegal

Marry O Reilly played his best game in a Donegal shirt for me. Was everywhere. Murphy excellent as always; Paddy too. Was a game I was very worried about; great result. With that in mind; Down were absolutely atrocious. Zero plan; could easily see them lose every game judging by that performance.

Nidgeweasel

Good result, pointless reading into it.

Happy with the return of some of the debutants.

downthemiddle

Thoughts on last night. Down were abysmal and on this performance will be cannon fodder. We looked sharp despite the opposition and our transition from defence to attack was impressive. The pitch was poor and really not suited to an inter county match. I was disappointed by David Gough, a ref I normally rate and thought he made some strange decisions.
Thoughts on the players-
Peter Boyle- Little to do bar the penalty save which he got a good hand to. The penalty came from his only short kick out of the night although it should have been gathered. There is a lack of penetration on his kick outs which makes it easy for opposition to attack. He will have to change the flight if he is to progress.
Eamonn Doherty- A genuine whole hearted player who , unfortunately is beginning to look like a good player just short of inter county level. He lacks a yard of pace to play at the top level.
Neil McGee- Neil did what Neil does until the penalty which came from someone else's mistake, the best full back in the game. Thought the card was harsh, he got the ball.
Paddy McGrath- Paddy looked sharp and won a lot of dirty ball. He also set up a lot of attacks and looked strong on the ball.
Ryan McHugh- Played the role of the link man in a mature composed manner. He has wintered well, looks stronger and is now a key player.
Frank McGlynn- Started strongly and was a key player in establishing the half time lead. He is vital to our prospects this season.
Anthony Thompson- Good to see him back to full fitness. He showed what we missed last year. One tackle in the first half where he held up the player and turned him back prevented a clear goal opportunity. Was good under the break.
Odhran McNiallais- A decent performance but needs a physical presence alongside him if he is to play in the middle of the park. He faded in the second half but will get stronger as the season goes on.
Hugh McFadden- Still trying to establish his niche on the team. He is a good honest player who is still developing. I would like to see him get an extended run in the full forward line.
Mich al Carroll- Great to see him starting although he looked nervous and made a few poor decisions. A very talented player who will grow into his role as a senior player.
Ciaran Thompson- A good debut. Linked up the play well and didn't shirk his responsibility. If he continues to progress like he has he won't be long establishing himself as a regular. The opening point was a lovely score and a sign of his composure.
Eoin McHugh- Great to see him restored to full health. He has something that can't be coached, raw pace. He ran some great angles and is a very good ball carrier.
Patrick McBrearty- Took his goal well and is starting to develop as a leader on the team. Once he gets out in front of a defender you expect him to win the ball and cause damage.
Michael Murphy- Legend. The sideline and the flick up were worth the journey up.
Marty O'Reilly- A very strong performance. His work rate was excellent and looked the part.
Subs
Eamonn McGee- You get rid of Neil and he is replaced by Eamonn, hardly a respite. Looked good and was dominant in the air. He didn't have anything to say about the black card when he came off.
Leo McLoone- Came in and kicked two points before finishing the game at full back, a sign of his versatility and how important he is to the team.
Stephen McBrearty- Good to see him make his debut after his injury woes. He is a player will be key to Donegal's hopes for many years to come.
Neil Gallagher- Looked thrilled to get ten minutes! As usual he directed traffic and is a key play maker.
Rory Kavanagh- Great to have him back
Caol n McGonagle- Understandably was nervous and didn't settle on the ball, however he will be the better for the experience.

P.S. I didn't think the jersey looked as bad under the lights.

Redsoxfan

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Redsoxfan

Wasn't at the game but watched it live. So even harder form me to read anything into it.

Still, I will take the two points - especially after losing in Newry in 2012 and 2014 and our away form has been generally awful.

It was good to see Peter Boyle, Eoin McHugh, Michael Carroll and Ciaran Thompson get starts and for Stephen McBrearty and McGonagle to get a run. Thompson and Carroll look like good options - tall and if they fill out are exactly the type of players we lack. I thought their tackling was poor/lazy however, but that seems to be the way it's coached these days. I don't like it myself, especially when you have a fussy ref. I couldn't argue with too many of Gough's decisions in fairness, but the Dublin v Kerry game seemed to be referred very differently from what I saw.

It was great to see Paddy win a few direct balls - we need to be able to vary our attack.

MacNiallais bothers me. He's a classy footballer, but is a bit too lackadaisical. His short hand passing in particular, cost him a yellow card last night.

It is great to see Leo involved from the start this year. Anthony Thompson too.

Ryan McHugh is a class act.

Wtf happened in the lead up to the penalty, typical shoddy camerawork meant anyone watching missed most of it. Did Boyle kick it to Doherty and was he even ready for it?

In may ways the game was like the Armagh game last year - the opposition are not the same level as us, but unlike that game, we got better as the game went on.

It's better than nearly anything I saw in the League last year, but I won't get carried away. Let's see how Cork travel next week - they didn't come looking to do much last year in Ballyshannon.

Neil McGee- Neil did what Neil does until the penalty which came from someone else's mistake, the best full back in the game. Thought the card was harsh, he got the ball.

Sliding tackle is not allowed?

downthemiddle

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Wasn't at the game but watched it live. So even harder form me to read anything into it.

Still, I will take the two points - especially after losing in Newry in 2012 and 2014 and our away form has been generally awful.

It was good to see Peter Boyle, Eoin McHugh, Michael Carroll and Ciaran Thompson get starts and for Stephen McBrearty and McGonagle to get a run. Thompson and Carroll look like good options - tall and if they fill out are exactly the type of players we lack. I thought their tackling was poor/lazy however, but that seems to be the way it's coached these days. I don't like it myself, especially when you have a fussy ref. I couldn't argue with too many of Gough's decisions in fairness, but the Dublin v Kerry game seemed to be referred very differently from what I saw.

It was great to see Paddy win a few direct balls - we need to be able to vary our attack.

MacNiallais bothers me. He's a classy footballer, but is a bit too lackadaisical. His short hand passing in particular, cost him a yellow card last night.

It is great to see Leo involved from the start this year. Anthony Thompson too.

Ryan McHugh is a class act.

Wtf happened in the lead up to the penalty, typical shoddy camerawork meant anyone watching missed most of it. Did Boyle kick it to Doherty and was he even ready for it?

In may ways the game was like the Armagh game last year - the opposition are not the same level as us, but unlike that game, we got better as the game went on.

It's better than nearly anything I saw in the League last year, but I won't get carried away. Let's see how Cork travel next week - they didn't come looking to do much last year in Ballyshannon.

Neil McGee- Neil did what Neil does until the penalty which came from someone else's mistake, the best full back in the game. Thought the card was harsh, he got the ball.

Sliding tackle is not allowed?

Thought Neil stayed upright during the challenge.

The penalty came from a short kick out which plopped in front of Doherty and he fumbled it.

Anyone know what Eamonn's card was for?

Redsoxfan

downthemiddle wrote:

Thought Neil stayed upright during the challenge.

Nope. He was down on one knee. Clear penalty for me.

downthemiddle wrote:

The penalty came from a short kick out which plopped in front of Doherty and he fumbled it.

I don't like those dinked efforts unless the opposition is really deep.

downthemiddle wrote:

Anyone know what Eamonn's card was for?

No idea as they didn't show the incident. If I had to guess, he might have pulled yer man to the ground and then been hit a slap.

Alvin Holler

Thought it was a penalty, got the ball but took the man first so a black card too. Generally thought the ref was okay, booking Murphy for trying to ref the game was no harm.

Was at the game and I'd agree with downthemiddles ratings, there was a few things i noticed...

Could do with working on a kick out strategy, understandable with new goalkeepers and young players in the half forward line but apart from a long one to big Neil we'll have to work on hitting runners in the half forward line.

Playing Frank in the forward line gives him that little bit more freedom so he can get on more breaking ball around the middle.

Thought McBrearty was a bit isolated, especially in the first half. We can't rely on teams giving away the amount of free kicks that Down did. We seem to have a lot of options around the middle and half forward line so I'd prefer to see Murphy and McNiallais playing closer to goal.

While it's great to see the young players coming through, thought Eoin McHugh and C Thompson played really well, in terms of 2016 championship having McLoone, Kavanagh and Thompson fully back will be much more important.

McBrearty and Ryan McHugh have the potential to be as good as there is in the country.

Nice to see O'Reilly and McFadden looking more comfortable at the level although we'll know more after the next few games.

Nidgeweasel

The tackling annoyed me also, it's been steadilly getting worse. First game back and all the rest but we need to improve it.

It's lazy, results in too many fouls and too many needless cards. Getting too fond of leaving a lazy arm in to stop the play. I don't like it. Our tackling under McGuinness was exceptional, need to get back up to that level.

P.S Stonewall penalty, gone to ground. It was for all intents and purposes, a slidetackle.

ProudDUB

Eamonn McGee was on Off The Ball yesterday. He said he got his black card for mouthing off (my words) to an opponent. The umpire over heard it, told the ref and he got the card for "provocative behaviour" - his words, not mine.

When pressed on what the mouthing off may have been, he said it may have had something to do with slagging off a Down player for missing a free. He didn't appear to be all that....eh...ethusiastic....about the black card process.

Ceist_Beag

Eamonn McGee in slagging shocker, who would have thought! Maybe the referees have been given instructions to try and clamp down harder on sledging this year which is no bad thing if true but I fully expect Eamonn to just make sure he's out of earshot of the umpires next time around!

Redsoxfan

So, you know who is back in training and could feature this weekend.

jjdonegal

Redsoxfan wrote: »

So, you know who is back in training and could feature this weekend.

I take it Mark? Heard he was coming back under a final warning but didn't expect it to the Mayo game from what I heard.

downthemiddle

jjdonegal wrote: »

Redsoxfan wrote: »

So, you know who is back in training and could feature this weekend.

I take it Mark? Heard he was coming back under a final warning but didn't expect it to the Mayo game from what I heard.

Tbh at this stage I think we are better off without him. He was an exceptional player for us in 2012 but has never repeated that form. He has a history of causing unrest in the camp and has antagonised senior players. How many opportunities does he need?

jjdonegal

downthemiddle wrote: »

Tbh at this stage I think we are better off without him. He was an exceptional player for us in 2012 but has never repeated that form. He has a history of causing unrest in the camp and has antagonised senior players. How many opportunities does he need?

I'll reserve judgement. I think he has something to offer if I'm being honest and I'm hoping that little warning from Gallagher will be the catalyst for him to get back to his old ways. A fully committed Mark is a serious asset for the team.

opiniated

jjdonegal wrote: »

I'll reserve judgement. I think he has something to offer if I'm being honest and I'm hoping that little warning from Gallagher will be the catalyst for him to get back to his old ways. A fully committed Mark is a serious asset for the team.

If he commits, it would be great. If he doesn't - well - it's a talent wasted, but those who are willing to commit are more deserving of the chance.

That's my take on it, for what it's worth.

ghostfacekilla

I feel sorry for him in a way. An allstar at that young an age, that tackle he endured against Monaghan but on the other side of the coin, I've seen his screaming at his teammates for what he perceived as their mistakes.
If he learns to mind his own game and fights for his place, keeps his mouth shut and contributes positively to the panel...then fair enough.
Otherwise, turf him and let the next Donegal manager give him a chance if he's looking for it.

Nidgeweasel

Any team announced?

Mayo lost today. Be great to win tomorrow and then we could feasibly be safe having beaten Mayo in Ballybofey in a few weeks.

Be great if it was that easy wouldnt it! Easier said than done of course.

Redsoxfan

Nidgeweasel wrote:

Any team announced?

No, we're too cool for that.