Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

Murphy14

Disappointing Developments regarding Cieran Kelly resigning something must have been badly wrong for him to go he brought great professionalism to the role and will be sorely missed played a major part in securing sponsorship. A genuine straight talker

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Glenman wrote: »

They are not on sale yet for the Roscommon v Donegal match are they?

Ye play us at 5pm on Saturday week in the Hyde. I'd imagine tickets will be on sale next Monday.

Redsoxfan

Finding it hard to make the case for us tomorrow.

We may be Ulster Champions, but Dublin are a massive step up from any of the opposition we faced.

Then, you have the new format. We can still make an All Ireland Semi Final if we lose on Saturday.

Paddy is a huge loss. I don't think he would be the difference tomorrow, but his loss will really be felt in the remaining games.

He had a fine game against Dublin in Croke Park in the league, and so did his brother in a brief cameo. Doesn't seem like we will see either tomorrow. No idea how we will set up without Paddy. Don't think we can afford to have Michael inside unless either McElhinney or Mullins has something in them that I have not seen before.

Will be fascinating to see how our midfield and kick outs go. Fenton and McCarthy are much better than anything we have faced. Big game for Patton also. Still inexperienced at this level. Will be interesting to see if Dublin do anything special to counteract McHugh and Gallagher.

No idea how we will approach it. Don't think we can play 'defensive' football anymore. Do we just go out and give it a lash and see what happens? If we lose by less than 5 I will be relatively happy if the performance is decent. A hammering would worry me, but we really won't know if it means anything until the next game.

It's not beyond belief that Donegal, Throne and Roscommon could end up tied on 2 points. In that case, you'd probably say Throne are favourites due to the fact that they play Dublin in Omagh. We need to keep the game as close as possible tomorrow. No issue if we are Ulster Champions but we don't make it to the Semi Finals, but we need to show we can compete against the top teams. At least show that there is something to build on over the winter.

Declan Bonner deserves great credit for re-invigorating this team. But, my fear is that we get found out once we leave Ulster, as some of his underage teams have in the past. I hope I'm wrong about that.

charlie14

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Finding it hard to make the case for us tomorrow.

We may be Ulster Champions, but Dublin are a massive step up from any of the opposition we faced.

Then, you have the new format. We can still make an All Ireland Semi Final if we lose on Saturday.

Paddy is a huge loss. I don't think he would be the difference tomorrow, but his loss will really be felt in the remaining games.

He had a fine game against Dublin in Croke Park in the league, and so did his brother in a brief cameo. Doesn't seem like we will see either tomorrow. No idea how we will set up without Paddy. Don't think we can afford to have Michael inside unless either McElhinney or Mullins has something in them that I have not seen before.

Will be fascinating to see how our midfield and kick outs go. Fenton and McCarthy are much better than anything we have faced. Big game for Patton also. Still inexperienced at this level. Will be interesting to see if Dublin do anything special to counteract McHugh and Gallagher.

No idea how we will approach it. Don't think we can play 'defensive' football anymore. Do we just go out and give it a lash and see what happens? If we lose by less than 5 I will be relatively happy if the performance is decent. A hammering would worry me, but we really won't know if it means anything until the next game.

It's not beyond belief that Donegal, Throne and Roscommon could end up tied on 2 points. In that case, you'd probably say Throne are favourites due to the fact that they play Dublin in Omagh. We need to keep the game as close as possible tomorrow. No issue if we are Ulster Champions but we don't make it to the Semi Finals, but we need to show we can compete against the top teams. At least show that there is something to build on over the winter.

Declan Bonner deserves great credit for re-invigorating this team. But, my fear is that we get found out once we leave Ulster, as some of his underage teams have in the past. I hope I'm wrong about that.

Well said.
Haven`t a clue myself how this will go. Not optimistic tbh. I would have been perhaps a bit more if we had Paddy though.
Right now it is a case of hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Dublin go for goals early to kill teams off, so hopefully we can avoid that and see where it goes from there.
Maybe press up on Dublin, make Cluxton kick long and then fight like dogs. Easier said than done I know especially in Croke Park.
For our own kick outs maybe like 2014 hit it long and by-pass midfield.
I really do not know.

Not really convinced about us at the back though.
However it goes, happy with another Ulster, how we have played, and getting to the Super 8`s will bring those younger lads on.

At least unlike the last few years it looks as if there is hope for the future, and that we actually take to the field with a game plan to actually go out and win games.

Ollieboy

The Dublin game is kind of a nothing game, it's more important for us to leave Croker with no injuries or suspension, then head to Roscommonand and win and then beat Tyrone at home and meet Kerry in the semi’s and finally beat the Dubs in the final. Easy!

If we are going to take on the Dubs, then we better beat them because to lose to them after working are ass off and then get beat by Roscommon would be a disaster.

I reckon Tyrone win, we beat Roscommon too and then it's down to the final game at home. I fancy us to make the semi

ArnoldJRimmer

Ollieboy wrote: »

The Dublin game is kind of a nothing game, it's more important for us to leave Croker with no injuries or suspension, then head to Roscommonand and win and then beat Tyrone at home and meet Kerry in the semi’s and finally beat the Dubs in the final. Easy!

If we are going to take on the Dubs, then we better beat them because to lose to them after working are ass off and then get beat by Roscommon would be a disaster.

I reckon Tyrone win, we beat Roscommon too and then it's down to the final game at home. I fancy us to make the semi

I don't think it has to be one or the other. The team have had a three week break and know exactly what they're up against in the next few weeks. I see no reason why we cant go hell for leather against the Dubs and still put in a high class performance a week later. Bearing in mind that scoring difference could also be important, I hope for a high intensity performance, win or lose.

doc_17

Who is gonna stay up with Brennan? I honestly can’t make a case for anyone to be effective in that role tomorrow except Murphy.

Solomon Pleasant

It's going to be an interesting one lads.

I'm hoping to see Murphy in full forward and pump ball into him as that direct style of play has caused Dublin issues in the past. If we have runners coming in (and Donegal do have a running game) then we could get goals. Dublin aren't the defensively perfect unit which many perceive them to be.

Kickouts are going to be fascinating. I'm fairly sure Donegal will push up for the majority of them. Force Cluxton/Dublin keeper to work hard to find his own players. There are mistakes in Cluxton - It's happened several times over the last few years. But the pressure has to be there. I'm hoping we'll have the athleticism and fitness to match them for kickouts.

There are two concerns I reckon:

1) The Dublin bench. They have serious depth which no other county in Ireland can match. It's such a huge reason why they've been so successful over the last few years. How many times has Kevin McManamon appeared from the bench and run an exhausted defense ragged in the last 20 minutes of a tight game? We may match Dublin's aggression, tactics, fitness, hunger, kickouts and runners for most of the game but their bench can still win it for them. In fact, there's a fair chance it will.

2) Donegal's defense vs Dublin's attack. Can we contain them? When Dublin are at their best, they have 3 players running at you, each of them fast, direct and operating cohesively. It takes incredible discipline and fitness to track those runs every single time. Very few teams manage to do that.

If we don't win it's not a huge worry. Roscommon and Tyrone won't touch Dublin.

charlie14

doc_17 wrote: »

Who is gonna stay up with Brennan? I honestly can’t make a case for anyone to be effective in that role tomorrow except Murphy.

I would love to see him in there. Dublin did look suspect in the first half of the Leinster final when Laois kicked diagonal balls in to Kingston.
Problem with that though if Murphy is stationed inside we are going to have serious problems in midfield. Nobody other than Murphy will have a prayer against Fenton imo.

doc_17

I think we all know what tests we will face tomorrow, pity the answers weren’t as obvious. I love watching Mannion play. I’d put him in the top 5 in the country. He’s their new Flynn almost. So reliable and consistent.

Redsoxfan

Here is the problem.

The only player capable of kicking the ball into Michael is Michael.

charlie14

doc_17 wrote: »

I think we all know what tests we will face tomorrow, pity the answers weren’t as obvious. I love watching Mannion play. I’d put him in the top 5 in the country. He’s their new Flynn almost. So reliable and consistent.

A tough start but still absolutely delighted we are there and got there by ocollecting the Anglo Celt along the way. Great credit to Declan Bonner, all the management and players.
A good result tomorrow would be absolutely brillaint but not vital. Reckon we can take both Roscommon in the Hyde and Tyrone in Ballybofey with a bt of luck.

charlie14

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Here is the problem.

The only player capable of kicking the ball into Michael is Michael.

Ryan McHugh a la Karl Lacey ?

Ollieboy

ArnoldJRimmer wrote: »

I don't think it has to be one or the other. The team have had a three week break and know exactly what they're up against in the next few weeks. I see no reason why we cant go hell for leather against the Dubs and still put in a high class performance a week later. Bearing in mind that scoring difference could also be important, I hope for a high intensity performance, win or lose.

They have to play 4 games in 5 weeks and to reach a AI final, they only need to win the last 3 of those 4 games with one week off in-between this last 3 games. The new structure is totally designed to suit a big panel.

Have a go at the Dubs, and Ryan gets injured and Murphy sent off and the season is over at the 1st hurdle. It's a marathon not a sprint and the last 3 games are very winnable. Of course Dublin mightn’t turn up.

I don't care what happens tomorrow once we win the next two games and get revenge on Kerry for 2014 then we can kick the xxx out of the dubs in a AI final.

If Clarsberg!

Redsoxfan

charlie14 wrote:

Ryan McHugh a la Karl Lacey ?

Has he demonstrated the ability yet?

A fine player, but I just can't get past him kicking a sideline ball backwards to a Monaghan player when it was screaming for a ball into the square. This was the USF replay in 2015.

I don't recall anyone making a decent effort at it since the 2012 Footballer of the Year in the All Ireland Final.

Prove me wrong Ryan.

ArnoldJRimmer

Ollieboy wrote: »

They have to play 4 games in 5 weeks and to reach a AI final, they only need to win the last 3 of those 4 games with one week off in-between this last 3 games. The new structure is totally designed to suit a big panel.

Have a go at the Dubs, and Ryan gets injured and Murphy sent off and the season is over at the 1st hurdle. It's a marathon not a sprint and the last 3 games are very winnable. Of course Dublin mightn’t turn up.

I don't care what happens tomorrow once we win the next two games and get revenge on Kerry for 2014 then we can kick the xxx out of the dubs in a AI final.

Players get injured during sloppy performances too, and Michael himself was sent off in a diabolical team performance against Galway last year. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer to this, but in my mind this is a free shot at the Dubs and should be treated as such. I would find a heavy defeat to be much more damaging in the run up to Roscommon than some tired legs in the days after the Dublin game. Remember that Roscommon will be in a tough battle this weekend too

You;re right in that a strong panel will win the thing, so the only obvious winner is Dublin. No other team has the dept that they have, I wouldn't even see Kerry as having an advantage over Donegal at this moment in time

I do hope your scenario comes true though

Redsoxfan

ArnoldJRimmer wrote:

I don't think it has to be one or the other. The team have had a three week break and know exactly what they're up against in the next few weeks. I see no reason why we cant go hell for leather against the Dubs and still put in a high class performance a week later. Bearing in mind that scoring difference could also be important, I hope for a high intensity performance, win or lose.

Go hell for leather and lose and then have to play away next week? I dunno, I think we need to stay fresh. They have had a break but going all out to win and falling short could deflate a team. Agree that we need to run them close.

charlie14

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Has he demonstrated the ability yet?

A fine player, but I just can't get past him kicking a sideline ball backwards to a Monaghan player when it was screaming for a ball into the square. This was the USF replay in 2015.

I don't recall anyone making a decent effort at it since the 2012 Footballer of the Year in the All Ireland Final.

Prove me wrong Ryan.

Not sure if he can either tbh, but I know that ball by Karl in 2012 was practiced over and over in training beforehand so maybe the same may be going on for the past few weeks.
Saying that, I still cannot see Murphy playing at full.



I would give Ryan a bit of slack on 2015.
That was probably a tactical work of genius dreamt up by the then gruesome twosome management brain trust.

Minister Boyce

doc_17 wrote: »

Who is gonna stay up with Brennan? I honestly can’t make a case for anyone to be effective in that role tomorrow except Murphy.

True - Far be it from being a like for like replacement but Leo McLoone could serve a purpose in Full Forward for a while. He's no giant but he's strong, good hands and not better man to bring runners into play.

Looking forward to see if Paul Brennan tracks Kilkenny - He has really come on this year. Has the right kind of agression also. Kilkenny won't have had a marker like him since the league.

Redsoxfan

Ha, Brennan P is one of the few who might annoy them now that E McGee, Big Neil and Rory have retired.

bob skunkhouse

Jaysus, am I the only that gives us a chance? I don't think this Dublin team is as good as previous years and like an earlier post not convinced with their first half performance v Laois - certainly not the first 25 mins. I can see us going more defensive than previous games and while we didn't shine in that area of the game in the first few games we've had time to improve. Brennan is an asset at six. EBG is our Jack McCaffrey and will take a bit of watching too. Should Murphy play on the square (which will only be cameo roles I think) OMacN can deliver the said balls a previous poster asked about. I'm not sure his overall work rate is enough against a fast moving team like Dublin. Maybe a play like this for the last 15 perhaps. Either which way, great achievement to get this far, especially as Ulster champions. I'm looking forward to an enjoyable game down in croker and hopefully the right side of the result.

NinetyTwoTeam

Redsoxfan wrote: »

my fear is that we get found out once we leave Ulster, as some of his underage teams have in the past. I hope I'm wrong about that.

i think that's exactly what will happen. those easy wins over Down and Fermanagh are not an indication that they can hang with the champs imo. Look what Kildare did to Fermanagh, though they were very motivated by having to fight for the game to be played at home.

I think the Dubs win by double digits. I don't think playing them first is ideal tbh.

Redsoxfan

bob skunkhouse wrote:

Jaysus, am I the only that gives us a chance? I don't think this Dublin team is as good as previous years and like an earlier post not convinced with their first half performance v Laois - certainly not the first 25 mins. I can see us going more defensive than previous games and while we didn't shine in that area of the game in the first few games we've had time to improve. Brennan is an asset at six. EBG is our Jack McCaffrey and will take a bit of watching too. Should Murphy play on the square (which will only be cameo roles I think) OMacN can deliver the said balls a previous poster asked about. I'm not sure his overall work rate is enough against a fast moving team like Dublin. Maybe a play like this for the last 15 perhaps. Either which way, great achievement to get this far, especially as Ulster champions. I'm looking forward to an enjoyable game down in croker and hopefully the right side of the result.

Good man Bob. You are dead right about MacNiallais on both counts.

Up Donegal!

doc_17

NinetyTwoTeam wrote: »

i think that's exactly what will happen. those easy wins over Down and Fermanagh are not an indication that they can hang with the champs imo. Look what Kildare did to Fermanagh, though they were very motivated by having to fight for the game to be played at home.

I think the Dubs win by double digits. I don't think playing them first is ideal tbh.

How the beaten provincial finalists fare in R4 of the qualifiers tells nobody anything.

babybuilder

Donegal reverted to Bonner tactics. Depressing approach today especially keeper. No proper press on Dublin kickouts. Playing with fear and not contesting long kickouts. No transition play because of shirt kickouts.

Lots of players hiding and not showing for ball. Dublin not at 80%

retalivity

Dublin too good but playing within themselves.
Those donegal kickouts....

fullstop

retalivity wrote: »

Dublin too good but playing within themselves.
Those donegal kickouts....

Yeah the difference in the kickouts was the outfield players. Every dublin player knows what they're doing and where they should be but looked like Donegal didn't know what they were at and Patton had nothing to hit half the time

Stoner

Was a good game today lads, the second goal seemed to kill it. Good first half might be a better way of putting it

We were thinking that it might be a poor game if Donegal were planning on beating Tyrone and Roscommon or Tyrone beating Dublin, they might not go for the kill. Certainly seemed to be the case towards the end.

Both back lines looked a bit ropey, in the first half Donegal hit some lovely passes over the Dublin half back line that caused trouble. That all stopped in the second half.

Plus in midfield Donegal were below par in the middle and the kickouts were poor enough. In the first half Donegal had Cluxton hitting some poor passes, again after the second goal that all stopped.

babybuilder

We had 6 or 7 players within 20 metres of our goal for both goals. Brutal defending. It's been evident on one or two occasions this year that there are weaknesses in our backline. Marking space is now redundant, players must be more physical in their defending.
I just think we started off today on the wrong premise i.e. dropping players back and hitting Dublin on the counter. And playing it out from short kick outs. We hadn't the energy to sustain that. Also, our full court press on their kickouts was poor. Loads of times we were caught out. Jamie Brennan needs to learn to put his foot through the ball. Kicks the ball a little bit awkward, a bit like Raheem Sterling.
In the end of the day if we beat Roscommon today's match will soon be forgotten. Good experience for the younger guys, they know now how high the bar is set.

Nidgeweasel

Every time I see him I just shake my head.

Cluxton is absolutely ridiculous.