Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

doc_17

Mayo were brutal. And we still couldn’t beat them. 5 up, a man up, and we retreated. Awful management. Also, some players need a shake up, more worried about their shorts than anything else.

Redsoxfan

Awful.

Don't know what else to say.

Puke football, pissing about with the ball until we are turned over. Serious questions about Ryan McHugh decision making and play in general.

Should have been further ahead at half time. Was obvious what was coming in the 2nd half.

How did Mayo have a man standing in yards of space in midfield in the 2nd half? Keeper kicks the ball right to him, one pass later and it's over the bar.

Mayo sent 2 men to the ball carrier in the last 5 minutes to force turnovers because they knew they were likely to succeed. Most of our players don't have the physical strength or the smarts to break away from that sort of press.

Why didn't Michael take the penalty? Paddy might have placed it OK, but not enough power. Henelly motm for me even with some of his awful kick outs.

Put Keegan, Mullin and Ruane in that team and they probably beat us easily in the summer. This was a great opportunity and we blew it, again.

Hard not to question the character of this team.

I don't believe Armagh are as good as they were allowed to look last night. And I think we can match them in the scoring stakes. But we need to cop on if we are to beat them in April.

Redsoxfan

I thought Conor O'Donnell did well enough. Took his point well after some bad misses last week. Has some skill on the ball as well.

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556084#Comment_118556084

Put Hugh, Neil, McMenamin, Thompson, Brennan and Gallen back in that squad etc

Every team has players missing at various times of the year.

For the first real outing of the year we were decent for the first sixty minutes but we appeared to run out of legs in the last ten minutes.

Score the penalty and the game is dead and buried. When we were on top we were patient but decisive when we broke. We carved them open regularly but didn't take our goal chances. As conditions deteriorated we started to turn the ball over in contact and the majority of Mayo's chances in the last 15 mins came from our mistakes.

The relative newcomers, McCole, McClenaghan and Conor O'Donnell all had good moments. Langan has developed onto one of the best players in the country. While there is plenty of room for improvement a draw with the All Ireland finalists, despite the circumstances, is not the disaster some are portraying.

On a separate note the standard of officiating is a real cause for concern. The lack of consistency is a major issue and the ignoring of off the ball thuggery is wholly unacceptable.

Redsoxfan

If you want to take the positives, fair enough.

I just don't see that many.

McClenegehan and McCole aren't really newcomers. McCole did well, which is a positive.

And what's the story on McMenamin - is he close or what's going on?

Redsoxfan

Based on the post match interview, Michael seems to have given up hitting the penalties? Seems crazy.

Ceist_Beag

A bit like the Monaghan game, one half good, one half absolutely terrible.

Yesterday was so frustrating to watch because you just knew what was coming once we missed yet another penalty. While the players must take some of the blame, most of it lies firmly with the management team. As has been said already, the substitutions smacked of giving a lad a run out rather than improving our lot on the field. The tactics continue to disappoint and as a lot of us said last year, Declan really doesn't seem to know how to change things. We're predictable and one dimensional. I don't really buy the narrative that this was Mayo character that won them the point - it was us who invited them on and us who retreated, despite being a man up. We simply don't know how to put teams away when the chance is there.

Obviously there were some positive individual displays yesterday and Langan really can kick a ball accurately (and some distance) but for me the overall feeling yesterday was that as a team we're not making any progress and are now firmly back in the chasing pack alongside a lot of other improving counties.

Nidgeweasel

No positives from yesterday. Any 'good' things that might have been there we have seen before and they aren't a surprise.

The minute that penalty was missed you just knew we wouldn't leave with a win.

The big question for this group is whether they can close out a game or deal with a team who properly goes at them and yet again they completely collapsed. It was laughable how that game was thrown away but they seem to do it on an annual basis. To not win that game being a man up in those conditions is not acceptable and it points to a bigger issue. We are becoming a soft touch again.

Ryan McHugh's level of performance is alarming. It has been going on for a while now and that free to Patton at the end summed up where he is at at the moment.

Must win game next weekend.

charlie14

There has been far to much backchat to referees the past few years and it just seems to be getting worse. Pointless, stupid and shows poor discipline. I have yet to see it at any level resulting in anything other than a free moved forward to a better scoring position.

I`m not saying that was solely the reason for us leaving that league point behind us, but imo it didn`t help. The referee up until the last 15 minutes, at least in his own mind, had an idea as to what constituted a fair challenge and what constituted a free kick. Reducing them to 14 may also have been a factor, but for those 15 minutes what was a fair challenge and what was not seemed to go out the window. The one in particular that stood out for me was Michael Murphy being blown for over-carrying when I think it was Flynn and O`Connor were hanging out of him and eventually dragged him to the ground. There were a few more in that period to even term them borderline would be giving them the benefit of a lot of doubt.

Either way, whatever the reasons for some of those questionable decisions, constant mouthing at the referee is never going to help your cause and we are doing away too much of it

doc_17

Yeah, Ryan struggling a bit. He was caught out when Mayo put Durcan on him in 2019 Super 8 game. The switch to wing back saw him exposed horribly against Tyrone in the sf last year. Has t played consistently well for a couple of years now and his sideline ball cost us a score just before they got their equaliser.

babybuilder

Donegal messing about in the backline has become a feature of our game in the last couple of years. Also, when things get tight especially against more physical opponents, we tend to wilt and players hide. If we can't beat Mayo in the first round of the league we have no chance later in the year.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118564544#Comment_118564544

Messing about like that at the back is asking for trouble and only encourages the opposition, but I`m not sure the fault can be just laid squarely on the backline. I played at corner back, not anywhere near county level, but the only thing on my mind when I won a ball was to get it the hell out off there as quickly and with with as little damage as possible. A lot of our problems to me anyway in that area is lack of support for the man on the ball, but even worse, a lack of a possible out ball due to bad organisation, or players not making themselves available to receive one.

Nidgeweasel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118565112#Comment_118565112

It really is ridiculous. Mayo are physically stronger and more athletic than us - particularly when you do direct match ups. When they pressed the ball carrier we weren't strong enough to break out, or technically good enough to retain possession under pressure. Really irritating given that we had an extra man and had been moving the ball quite well for most of the game.

And you're right about players not looking for the ball at times. But what is worse than that is when Ryan McHugh anoints himself as the chosen one and won't bring other players into the game where players are free and we need to stretch the opposition.

The other thing I'll say is that Patton is nowhere near good enough to be arsing about looking for ball out the field at inter county either. It was a matter of time before he got caught and it was laughable how he threw himself to the ground waiting for contact for the equaliser.

We should be beating Kildare anyway even with their great performance at the weekend.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118566364#Comment_118566364

The galling thing for me is that we learned, and every other team learned, in Castlebar 3 years ago about our physicality and nothing has changed. Sunday we were coasting and management knew who they were going to bring in to attempt to save them. In the situation we were in then any substitutions should have been to counter what they were bringing in. It`s not as if the same hasn`t happened before either. 15 mins to go in Ballybofey in 2018 we were 4 points up and Tyrone looking like a beaten docket when they unloaded their bench and outscored us 2 -7 to 0 -2. We just do not seem to learn.

Agreed on Patton. That messing around was a disaster just waiting to happen.

Whether we should or should not be beating Kildare, after Sunday`s performance we need to if we do not want to see ourselves in trouble further into this league. It should tell us hopefully something about the character of this team if we do after both results last weekend

Minister Boyce

The 4 day 'recruitment competition' for a new Manager still irks me and unfortunately, we are seeing some of the fruits of this now. A fair minded analysis of the previous 4 championships would've offered insights to our shortcomings. Was that not enough for the executive to look outward for a new manager or at the very least, listen to other proposals?

Redsoxfan

Pauric McShea with a glass 90% full review of the match in The Democrat. The players missing would make any team in the country (sorry, they wouldn't), Ryan McHugh had a fine game, Mayo were the team struggling for identity needing to replace the whole spine of their team (I'd say they were trying things, didn't work, so they made changes) and lost full back to a red card (that was an experiment that went badly wrong and not really a great way to start your role as captain). It was quite deluded. I doubt anyone is getting carried away based on one game but FFS there are some concerning trends and Mayo have proved they can get to Championship pitch for when it really matters whereas we have fallen short of Semi Finals and Finals for several years now. That's the reality and nothing we saw on Sunday suggests to me that we are on the road to correcting that.

With respect to subs, I don't think we had many options. Thompson and Ward were injured, OMCFF was booked (he is a disaster really, makes the dumbest and obvious fouls and Bonner does not trust him enough to leave him on if he's booked, which is awful management really). I thought Conor O'Donnell was hooked quicker than he needed to be, but no real complaints with Niall O'Donnell coming on.

There was nobody left on the bench with proven impact to bring on, was there?

Wouldn't necessarily say Sunday is must win but we should be winning.

Redsoxfan

'Squad' finally revealed.

Jamie Brennan shown wearing 15 and Stephen McMenamin on the bench.

FreeChocco

Glad to see Brennan starting, one of the main criticisms of this team is the inability to kill matches off when we're in control and imo Brennan is the best player for grabbing a goal or two when you're already up

moghrasa

Joel Bradley Walsh and Aaron Doherty late additions to the squad. That's some exciting news, two young lads in very exciting form.

Redsoxfan

Is a 6 point lead enough this week? We'll see. Playing the 2nd half without Michael and maybe against the wind also.

Conor O'Donnell and Mogan doing well. Despite scoring 1-1, Ryan hasn't been great.

Our defence would worry me all the same.

moghrasa

Severe lack of respect from RTÉ there with those highlights. Every other game gets extended highlights and analysis. We got about 90 seconds of pretty shots with no buildup play, no analysis, and a 3 second clip of Murphy limping. Donegal and Kildare supporters short-changed massively by our national broadcaster.

charlie14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118592991#Comment_118592991

Not as if they were short on time either. Showed more of the Kerry v Dublin game plus analysis and that game was shown live last night.

Ceist_Beag

Very disappointing by RTE alright. They spent more time showing clips of the "fracas" in Armagh than they did of our entire game - and they spent way more time talking about it after too!

Any reports from the game? Is Conor O'Donnell continuing to show form? Why was Niall O'Donnell off the panel, did he get injured?

downthemiddle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118593689#Comment_118593689

Having been at the two games I thought the performance against Mayo was far superior. However it was clear in the last ten minutes yesterday that lessons were learnt from the Mayo game and we closed out the match comfortably.

Kildare were poor yesterday and look certainties to be relegated. We should have won more convincingly but dropped too many balls short and had too many cheap turnovers. We also had an erratic refereeing performance where we got every decision in the first half but we were at the receiving end of some terrible decisions in the second half.

We were comfortable for most of the first half and deserved our lead. Kildare barely threatened and bar a preventable goal looked toothless. We dominated their kick out and scored the second goal directly from it. Losing Jason, to what looked like a cheap shot, changed the balance of the game. We also played Mogan as sweeper in the second half which invited them on more. In the first half he caused them as kinds of problems with his direct running.

We have changed how we attack and it clearly needs some fine tuning. In Jim's time we attacked in pods of three with two players getting in front of the ball carrier. That quick counter attack seems to be a thing of the past. We now hold the ball until the opportunity arises for a runner from deep to break the defensive line. There were a number of opportunities to counter quickly or to play the ball into space when the full forward was in front of their men that we didn't avail of yesterday.

We look more solid at the back this season but I'm not convinced that Bán is the man to pick up the opposition danger man. He causes havoc going forward but is conceding scores. The running of Bán, Mogan and Odhrán Ferry is now essential to how we play. They are the players most likely to penetrate the opposition defence.

Paddy and Ryan were a mixed bag yesterday, just like last Sunday. Hopefully the goals will give them a boost. Caolán is now one of the bedrocks of the team while Michael Langan is one of the best footballers in the country.

Conor O'Donnell continues to improve and his shot selection is now much better. He looks a genuine prospect. There was a good cameo from Shane O'Donnell but some of the other subs looked out of their depth.

The injury list continues to be a worry although it was good to see McMenamin back, he brings some much needed aggression to the side. He's not a goalscorer though. It's unlikely Murphy will feature again in the league so we need to get some of the others back. Three more points should see us safe and we should be targeting the Monaghan and Tyrone games. The Armagh game in Letterkenny will be shadow boxing.

There are still question marks over the team, and will be until we win a close battle. However we are a team that has the capabilities to beat anyone. There were signs, yesterday, of lessons being learnt. Hopefully this continues.

agfasfos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118594218#Comment_118594218

It looks like a hamstring injury for Michael again......worrying.

Redsoxfan

Michael shouldn't even travel to Kerry.

Good to win yesterday. But felt like we were let off the hook by Kildare who seemed like they missed enough easy chances in the 2nd half that if converted would have made it a draw.

Really beginning to like the look of Conor O'Donnell. After a poor night against Monaghan in the McKenna, he has had 2 good performances on the bounce. Feels like he is a threat to score when inside the 30.

After a good first half, thought Mogan regressed in the 2nd. He wasn't alone, there were so many misplaced passes. Unlike last week, where we were being turned over, we just have away possession ourselves this week. Sloppy.

And, in common with last week, Ryan McHugh's decision making at the very end was woeful. A free (I think, it might have been a pass) kicked to nobody and then a chance for a point badly fluffed.

Patton had some wonderful kick outs, even against the wind. He can't afford to keep taking as much time all the same. And, his issues with balls in the box remain.

Could not figure out what Paddy McBrearty role was. Far too often he appeared on the left, where he is no threat at all.

Encouraged that we held it together and won without Michael and that we saw McMenamin back in action.

Hopefully we don't roll over in Kerry. I certainly don't expect us to win, but feel we need to have a go.

Plenty to improve on. Armagh hype building.

BaywatchHQ

Recently uploaded

https://youtu.be/hIPt_rXIrdA

Alvin Holler

Great video albeit with an interesting camera angle and classic 80s half time music. Taking all frees off the ground was madness. Hardly surprising we lost with Rambo and Brian Murray taking our 45s. A lot of the All Ireland winning team playing, think this was the team:

Gary Walsh

John Joe Doherty

John Connors

Cathal Campbell

Donal Reid

Brian Touhy

Martin Shovelin

Anthony Molloy

Martin Gavigan

Pat Ward

Marty Carlin

Tommy Ryan

James McHugh

Brian Murray

Seamus Carr

Brendan Dunleavy

Joyce McMullin

ArnoldJRimmer

Wasn't expecting much from this game, but this has been dreadful beyond all low expectations

FreeChocco

That first half was so bad. I think our first WIDE, with 2 points on the board, was in the 40th minute. There was a spell in the second where it looked like we could bring it back... if McHugh converts the goal chance then we're only 3 points behind with 65 mins on the clock and a load of momentum behind us. But then we waste the chance and the heads drop and we're back to looking like we don't belong on the same pitch as Kerry.