Donegal GAA Discussion Thread

BonnieSituation

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

Delighted to see Neil is shortlisted in the three players in the running for Player of the Year, fully deserved and a great recognition of his year.
Also two in for young player of the year in Ryan and Paddy - a bit surprised Paddy made it given he didn't start many games but fair play to them both. 9 nominated for team of the year. No big surprises other than Murphy is in the half forward line so looks like they are making room for Donaghy at full forward which is disappointing tbh - I much prefer to see players nominated in their proper position and Murphy is an infinitely better candidate than Donaghy at full forward imho.
Full list of nominations here

I honestly don't think that there will be that large a transistion period. The more I look at your team for this year and the younger lads coming through I think it is clear that you guys are firmly in the top-4 and will be for a few years yet.

The other good thing that Jim has brought is the fear that the CB will have with ****ing up his replacement. They will get this right and won't be rushed into it.

ghostfacekilla

McHugh has just ruled himself out of the running

That really leaves R Gallagher, D Bonner or Jim's most recent backroom team if the don't look outside anyone that has been or is involved with the county setup

Glenman

ghostfacekilla wrote: »

McHugh has just ruled himself out of the running

Also Declan Bonner has ruled himself out. Looks like Gallagher will get it, there won't be many other options.

Ceist_Beag

There must be a fine line between making a statement to rule yourself out of the running and just assuming you're not in the running in the first place! I don't think McHugh was seriously in with a shot here but will give him the benefit of the doubt in that he was probably being asked the question a lot and had to make a statement to end the questions!
I would say it will be a case of trying to keep the momentum going in which case it will probably be Rory or Declan who gets the job. I think it would make most sense to give it to Rory and move Declan up to the 21s personally.

Update: Just saw your post Glenman! It's Rorys gig I'd say alright.

ghostfacekilla

I have a feeling that most viable candidates want to wait to pick up the pieces from what they hope will be the failings of Jim's successor.

Nidgeweasel

Strong rumours today that John Joe and Maxi joint ticket are being considered.

Glenman

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Strong rumours today that John Joe and Maxi joint ticket are being considered.

John Joe was the manager before Jim, that didn't go too well!

Ollieboy

Bonner already managed the seniors from 1997 to 2000 and it didn't go great, so I can't see him getting the job and I think his own skill sets suit working with younger players better.

I'm not 100% sure about Rory either. It was never fully explained why he left and the rumours about his leaving wouldn't make him the ideal candidate to take the job.

Pity about Horan, I think he was perfect for us.

Still think we should be strong in Ulster next year and hoping for top 4. But this will be a big decision for the County Board.

henke

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Strong rumours today that John Joe and Maxi joint ticket are being considered.

It would be a joke if John Joe was anywhere near it.

Timmyctc

Jesus.

Smartly Dressed

Jesus, that's a tight aul draw.

Timmyctc

Monaghan laughing all the way to the final

Nidgeweasel

Easy run to the Ulster final.

Alvin Holler

Taking a positive outlook on the draw, I would absolutely love to beat a McGeeney managed Armagh. I think that game would be in the Athletic Grounds.

Timmyctc

The only fixture I'd be worried about up there, is unfortunately, the Prelim.

Nidgeweasel

Are we at home as we were out first?

Are we going to have ballybofey-gate again?

Alvin Holler

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

Are we at home as we were out first?

Are we going to have ballybofey-gate again?

Yeah, at home, I doubt the demand will be anywhere near what it was in 2013.

Nidgeweasel

Timmyctc wrote: »

The only fixture I'd be worried about up there, is unfortunately, the Prelim.

More worried about the quarter against armagh . They are Pigs to play against and head hog on the line this year.

Expect a new level of thuggery.

Timmyctc

Alvin Holler wrote: »

Yeah, at home, I doubt the demand will be anywhere near what it was in 2013.

League campaign could/will have large influence on that imo

Nidgeweasel

Timmyctc wrote: »

League campaign could/will have large influence on that imo

It'll be close enough to a sell out anyway regardless I'd have thought.

Racking my brain here, I can't remember a worse draw in Ulster for a while.

jimmy the car

Nidgeweasel wrote: »

It'll be close enough to a sell out anyway regardless I'd have thought.

Racking my brain here, I can't remember a worse draw in Ulster for a while.

Maybe swap Monaghan for Down and it's perfect storm of a draw. But sure we're not Leinster or Munster, it's not that easy unfortunately.

Boom__Boom

That draw does very little to help in terms of persuading the guys contemplating retirement to give it a go for another year.

By comparison if Donegal were drawn in Monaghan's place, there would be far more of an incentive to give it a go for another year.

You look at that draw and you can see that even getting to an Ulster final is going to be a serious slog, nevermind challenging for Sam.

Boom__Boom

jimmy the car wrote: »

Maybe swap Monaghan for Down and it's perfect storm of a draw. But sure we're not Leinster or Munster, it's not that easy unfortunately.

Down have the 2 lads back from Oz so could well be a bit tricky next year.

BonnieSituation

jimmy the car wrote: »

Maybe swap Monaghan for Down and it's perfect storm of a draw. But sure we're not Leinster or Munster, it's not that easy unfortunately.

Don't be lumping us in with that Southern ****show. At least ours was competitive once.

Boom__Boom wrote: »

That draw does very little to help in terms of persuading the guys contemplating retirement to give it a go for another year.

By comparison if Donegal were drawn in Monaghan's place, there would be far more of an incentive to give it a go for another year.

You look at that draw and you can see that even getting to an Ulster final is going to be a serious slog, nevermind challenging for Sam.

I dunno about it being as bad as you are making out. The loser of DL and TE will be in the early rounds of the qualifiers and should make headway. Same goes for the loser of DL, TE and AH.

When it was drawn I was delighted because the football will be compelling. As the man says above, the league will give us an idea of how it will play out.

Nidgeweasel

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Don't be lumping us in with that Southern ****show. At least ours was competitive once.




I dunno about it being as bad as you are making out. The loser of DL and TE will be in the early rounds of the qualifiers and should make headway. Same goes for the loser of DL, TE and AH.

When it was drawn I was delighted because the football will be compelling. As the man says above, the league will give us an idea of how it will play out.

Our set up under McGuinness was not suited to the back door.

Depending on who the new guy is, and if he is going to keep certain aspects in place, the backdoor still won't suit us.

It did years ago, we were a momentum team and even going out first round I'd have fancied us to get to Croke Park. Now I'm not so sure.

BonnieSituation

I think it's too early to be that pessimistic. To be honest, let's see the league first.

ArnoldJRimmer

Absolute stinker of a draw but at least its a home game to start off with. And for the new manager, its some opportunity to prove their worth. To win Ulster would probably be the hardest route Donegal have ever had, but why should this set of players fear anyone anymore? I know I'm sounding very optimistic here, but I still have huge belief in this squad (and I've had a few beers tonight).

Nidgeweasel

BonnieSituation wrote: »

I think it's too early to be that pessimistic. To be honest, let's see the league first.

Not being pessimistic at all. I fancy us to beat Tyrone and we'll have a decent chance against Armagh but it will be incredibly difficult. Then you're in a semi final.....

It's not negative or positive either it's a fact. Our set up was geared towards staying in the provincial championships as long as possible. The way Donegal is with people away and that it's only come May or June that they get a full complement of players back. It's why Jim said the Derry game was so important, it gave us a clear run of a month together before Antrim in the semi.

Well the league will most likely be poor, not that it matters. Kerry were close to going down last year. In 2012 only a later rally kept us up. In 2013 we went down but a point would have kept us up. Doesn't make a difference. We have a small panel of players a lot of them need a good rest is be more than happy for them to write the league off.

Ceist_Beag

As Nidge said, I don't think we've ever had a tougher draw. The only positives I can see are the fact we're at home first out and Monaghan are the far side of the draw. Apart from that it's as tough as it could possibly be. If (and it's a big if given Tyrone are due a win over us) we get past Tyrone, Armagh away will be a massive task.
I was talking to one of the backroom team the night of the All-Ireland and his one big issue was the imbalance between Ulster and other provinces in terms of winning an All Ireland. We would need to be at the top of our game right from May through to September to achieve that which is a huge ask of this bunch of players.
I heard Rory has also now ruled himself out so it looks like ghostfacekilla was right in that most candidates seem reluctant to be the one to follow Jim. At this rate is there anyone who has actually declared they are interested in the job?

Alvin Holler

Getting ahead of myself a bit here (for something that obviously won't happen )but in terms on the qualifiers being split into groups A and B like this year. We'd be in the tougher side of the qualifier draw with the losing teams from our side of the draw plus the loser of Galway and Mayo. Plus some crap from Leinster and Munster.