Galway GAA Discussion Thread #2

threeball

MattressRick wrote: »

That's no excuse. Plenty of mayo people I know commute to Galway every day and those same people have been at Connacht finals outnumbering Galway. It's a poor excuse for a one off final.

Well Mayo would travel to outer Mongolia to follow the team. Galway have never had that. Most people wouldn't cross the road to watch the sh1te that KW calls football but there's plenty of reasons that people don't follow that team.

spurshero

JJJackal wrote: »

I agree with that - but lets say we won today (with a 5 point lead at half time we should have) - do you think a new manager would bring us further than Walsh? I dont think we have the back 6 (see the goal today) be in the top 5 teams come the business end of season?

I think u could be right but we won’t know unless we try somebody else. Walsh has 5 years got that’s long enough . Even players need a new voice .

Doctors room ghost

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Don’t get me wrong. Walsh has to go, but you also have to question the mental toughness of the players. When Roscommon put it up to them today they just didn’t fancy it at all. Did a Galway player win a 50/50 ball in the 2nd half? I doubt it. In fact they lost a few balls that were 70/30 in their favour.

They melted like fcukin lollypops while “management” looked on and introduced subs in added time
Nothing short of a farce

JJJackal

Frozen Veg wrote: »

1. Power
2. Kerin
3. O Ceallaigh
4. Silke
5. Molloy
6. Daly
7. McDaid

Are you saying this is or isnt good enough?

Starting at no 1 the kickouts werent great

RMAOK

JJJackal wrote: »

I agree with that - but lets say we won today (with a 5 point lead at half time we should have) - do you think a new manager would bring us further than Walsh? I dont think we have the back 6 (see the goal today) be in the top 5 teams come the business end of season?

I get what you're saying, but we would/should be scoring more. This ultra defensive stuff never works without a coherent attack plan. When Donegal won their all-ireland in 2012, they had to change their style from 2011. Same with the dubs after 2014. We just sit back marking space, but bizarrely, leave huge gaps in our defense.

Some of the forwards we have are Good footballers, but when they're way back in their own back line, they won't score enough to win you the game. Some of the forwards today, also, seemed incapable of shooting in the second half. That kind of coaching/training couldn't get any worse under a different management set up imo.

threeball

If a new manager came in with a new style and they were still muck then hands up but I don't believe we have bad players. You see them at club level and some of them are amazing footballers. Corofin are the best in Ireland and some of their toughest games come from within the county.

We have never played like this as a county and it doesn't suit us. I'd rather lose in a shoot out than watch the whole world complain about how horribly defensive we are and have to watch crap like that year in year out.

Diabhal Beag

I think today is the breaking point for me believing that Walsh, Silke and Co aren't holding back this side from being a proper All-Ireland contender. The kickouts are eternally open contests rather than in our favour, the off the ball movement is static and predictable, the right players are not being brought on when they're needed and ultimately the blanket is a huge failure.

We have a good enough panel to be a good prospect for any decent manager. The budget behind the footballers is not low by any means. The County Board will make a balls of it though for sure.

GalwayLurker

The first mistake made today was Power being replaced in the goal. Against Sligo the restarts were quick, players were making the run, kicks were finding a Galway man and Power was controlling his back line. Today, nobody was running, so many players had their backs to the kickout and the amount of ball we gave away through sloppy kick outs was criminal. I really don't know what they think Lavelle offers over Power. Fiontán Ó C and Peter Cooke weren't match fit and shouldn't have started, bringing in Molloy and Farragher when the game was completely unfathomable, these 2 should have started IMO. The sooner Walsh and his management go the better, he's completely destroying the talent he has at his disposal.

threeball

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I think today is the breaking point for me believing that Walsh, Silke and Co aren't holding back this side from being a proper All-Ireland contender. The kickouts are eternally open contests rather than in our favour, the off the ball movement is static and predictable, the right players are not being brought on when they're needed and ultimately the blanket is a huge failure.

We have a good enough panel to be a good prospect for any decent manager. The budget behind the footballers is not low by any means. The County Board will make a balls of it though for sure.

I said last year that he was wasting players careers. The likes of Shane Walsh, Comer and others wasting away in obscurity when they should be putting Dublin to the pin of their collar.

I think Walsh will actually get more defensive in the qualifiers. Its all he knows. If you concede it's because you left yourself open at the back, not because you invited them on.

threeball

GalwayLurker wrote: »

The first mistake made today was Power being replaced in the goal. Against Sligo the restarts were quick, players were making the run, kicks were finding a Galway man and Power was controlling his back line. Today, nobody was running, so many players had their backs to the kickout and the amount of ball we gave away through sloppy kick outs was criminal. I really don't know what they think Lavelle offers over Power. Fiontán Ó C and Peter Cooke weren't match fit and shouldn't have started, bringing in Molloy and Farragher when the game was completely unfathomable, these 2 should have started IMO. The sooner Walsh and his management go the better, he's completely destroying the talent he has at his disposal.

It was obvious from the team announced that there were numerous issues with the full forward line and half back line. Both proved to be the case. Putting Lavelle anywhere near the team was the tin hat on a complete example of just how clueless Walsh is.

GalwayLurker

Last year it was plain to be seen our HB line was a liability, no speed, no direct running and needed a serious injection of pace. What do we get this year? O'Donnell and Bradshaw, yes we have John Daly but that's only one step of 3 in the right direction.

threeball

GalwayLurker wrote: »

Last year it was plain to be seen our HB line was a liability, no speed, no direct running and needed a serious injection of pace. What do we get this year? O'Donnell and Bradshaw, yes we have John Daly but that's only one step of 3 in the right direction.

With Molloy sitting on the bench until the 74th minute

briandebum

Walsh has to be gone after today, if you're looking for reasons for the poor attendances then look no further than our style of play. We play some awful ****e.

Now looking forward to his replacement, a name I heard mentioned today was John Divilly of the 1998 crop. He's won 2 Sigerson's with UCD. Maybe with Padraig Joyce as an assistant?

But I'm not too concerned who they replace Walsh with, more that they make sure to replace him!

GalwayLurker

threeball wrote: »

With Molloy sitting on the bench until the 74th minute

Absolute madness. Johnny Heaney, Sean Kelly, Eamonn Brannigan all on doing the same job, we needed another scoring forward and McDaid was sent on. Farragher left on the bench after scoring 1-1 against Sligo and Varley sent on after not kicking a ball all through the league. Some seriously strange decisions.

MayoAreMagic

I feel galway's gameplan was initially designed to beat mayo. It worked in fairness, but when galway face different types of teams, they struggle. Walsh has been trading off that one trick for a while now and ultimately they need to have more ambition there. Outside of beating mayo, they have not shown well.
They are also probably suffering from the increased coverage of their games. After a while you can do nothing that opposition arent expecting. Both mayo and galway are probably lacking a plan B at present and it is going to be what costs them both.

threeball

GalwayLurker wrote: »

Absolute madness. Johnny Heaney, Sean Kelly, Eamonn Brannigan all on doing the same job, we needed another scoring forward and McDaid was sent on. Farragher left on the bench after scoring 1-1 against Sligo and Varley sent on after not kicking a ball all through the league. Some seriously strange decisions.

Its so bad I wouldn't let him see out the year. If he didn't walk this evening then they should relieve him of the position.

GalwayLurker

MayoAreMagic wrote: »

I feel galway's gameplan was initially designed to beat mayo. It worked in fairness, but when galway face different types of teams, they struggle. Walsh has been trading off that one trick for a while now and ultimately they need to have more ambition there. Outside of beating mayo, they have not shown well.
They are also probably suffering from the increased coverage of their games. After a while you can do nothing that opposition arent expecting. Both mayo and galway are probably lacking a plan B at present and it is going to be what costs them both.

Galway didn't seem to even have a Plan A today.

Happyilylost

Worrying thing is for 2019 we potentially have only one game changer in Comer coming back in. Molloy possibly another major improvement. The likes of Kelly (who I am a massive fan of) McDaid, Brannigan are they streets ahead of a Heaney or O'Laoi? Same with a number of other players in different positions. Slight improvement possibly but not turning a Ford into a Ferrari upgrade.

Looking at today:

Lavelle had two poor consecutive kick outs in a row after hurting his eye. Other than that I thought he was fine. He was quick to get in position for kick outs, went short when he could if he couldn't went long as is our norm. Outfield runners needs to improve. No issue with Power or Lavelle. Nothing between them although for me Lavelle a slightly better keeper.

Full back line. Kerin fine. Gets a lot of flake don't always see why he's tough tenacious and turns over ball when he can. Silke was poor today lost a couple of high balls early on seemed to knock him. He's one of our best players so I wouldn't worry going forward. Sean Andy is a worry. Caught out for the goal and in general has two options for defending. Option one win the ball in front. Option two foul. Option three of actually defending would be a nice addition.

Half back line. Not the worst line today. GOD slightly ineffective. All three ponderous at times but I thought John Daly and Bradshaw were ok. Tried to push us forward best they could. Daly out on his feet at the end yet left on baffling.

Midfield. Started ok. FOC especially. Dynamic changed when he went off. Flynn poor. Cooke anonymous.

Half forward line. M. Daly ok first half took his scores. Too afraid to take them on for most of the game. Became more endemic as the game went on. Heaney had a few breaks but very anonymous. Brannigan was ok kicked a nice score but fell apart like the rest the more the game went on.

O Laoi kicked great scores. Lively as always. Starved of ball second half. Became ineffective. Ian Burke. Disaster. Could of been taken off at half time. Seeing how much time he spent back in our half back line defending killed my soul a little in the second half. Shane great first half got a terrible blow late on seemed to knock him completely. Noticed a few times in the second half he seemed to be holding his head. Not sure if it was an issue or just him dismayed at the cluster f**k going on around him. None of the subs made on difference some obviously brought on much to late to make a difference.

Anyone else wish Danny was on the pitch when that high ball came floating in?

Hard to see where it can be rectified and as good as he is it's a stretch to believe Damo will transform this team. I'll head to Corofin Friday and hope he togs for Annaghdown against Tuam.

GalwayLurker

threeball wrote: »

Its so bad I wouldn't let him see out the year. If he didn't walk this evening then they should relieve him of the position.

Never going to happen. Can't help but think the job is his for as long as he wants it.

threeball

Happyilylost wrote: »

Worrying thing is for 2019 we potentially have only one game changer in Comer coming back in. Molloy possibly another major improvement. The likes of Kelly (who I am a massive fan of) McDaid, Brannigan are they streets ahead of a Heaney or O'Laoi? Same with a number of other players in different positions. Slight improvement possibly but not turning a Ford into a Ferrari upgrade.

Looking at today:

Lavelle had two poor consecutive kick outs in a row after hurting his eye. Other than that I thought he was fine. He was quick to get in position for kick outs, went short when he could if he couldn't went long as is our norm. Outfield runners needs to improve. No issue with Power or Lavelle. Nothing between them although for me Lavelle a slightly better keeper.

Full back line. Kerin fine. Gets a lot of flake don't always see why he's tough tenacious and turns over ball when he can. Silke was poor today lost a couple of high balls early on seemed to knock him. He's one of our best players so I wouldn't worry going forward. Sean Andy is a worry. Caught out for the goal and in general has two options for defending. Option one win the ball in front. Option two foul. Option three of actually defending would be a nice addition.

Half back line. Not the worst line today. GOD slightly ineffective. All three ponderous at times but I thought John Daly and Bradshaw were ok. Tried to push us forward best they could. Daly out on his feet at the end yet left on baffling.

Midfield. Started ok. FOC especially. Dynamic changed when he went off. Flynn poor. Cooke anonymous.

Half forward line. M. Daly ok first half took his scores. Too afraid to take them on for most of the game. Became more endemic as the game went on. Heaney had a few breaks but very anonymous. Brannigan was ok kicked a nice score but fell apart like the rest the more the game went on.

O Laoi kicked great scores. Lively as always. Starved of ball second half. Became ineffective. Ian Burke. Disaster. Could of been taken off at half time. Seeing how much time he spent back in our half back line defending killed my soul a little in the second half. Shane great first half got a terrible blow late on seemed to knock him completely. Noticed a few times in the second half he seemed to be holding his head. Not sure if it was an issue or just him dismayed at the cluster f**k going on around him. None of the subs made on difference some obviously brought on much to late to make a difference.

Anyone else wish Danny was on the pitch when that high ball came floating in?

Hard to see where it can be rectified and as good as he is it's a stretch to believe Damo will transform this team. I'll head to Corofin Friday and hope he togs for Annaghdown against Tuam.

This year is a write off. I said in March that if Walsh didn't start implementing the attacking plan in the league our year was done. Others here were convinced he would do it come championship. Reality is he couldn't implement it that late and was never going to anyway. So I wouldn't be too worried about who comes back now. This team doesn't need more demoralizing displays in the super 8s. Wrap it up and move to another management. Some u20s to add next year and Mcdaid.

Lavelle was terrible for the goal. Dived the wrong way completely trying to cut out a shot off the right foot even though the player kicked with his left.

MattressRick

Molloy was limping at the end of the match too on the same leg that was strapped

GalwayLurker

Happyilylost wrote: »

Worrying thing is for 2019 we potentially have only one game changer in Comer coming back in. Molloy possibly another major improvement. The likes of Kelly (who I am a massive fan of) McDaid, Brannigan are they streets ahead of a Heaney or O'Laoi? Same with a number of other players in different positions. Slight improvement possibly but not turning a Ford into a Ferrari upgrade.

Looking at today:

Lavelle had two poor consecutive kick outs in a row after hurting his eye. Other than that I thought he was fine. He was quick to get in position for kick outs, went short when he could if he couldn't went long as is our norm. Outfield runners needs to improve. No issue with Power or Lavelle. Nothing between them although for me Lavelle a slightly better keeper.

Full back line. Kerin fine. Gets a lot of flake don't always see why he's tough tenacious and turns over ball when he can. Silke was poor today lost a couple of high balls early on seemed to knock him. He's one of our best players so I wouldn't worry going forward. Sean Andy is a worry. Caught out for the goal and in general has two options for defending. Option one win the ball in front. Option two foul. Option three of actually defending would be a nice addition.

Half back line. Not the worst line today. GOD slightly ineffective. All three ponderous at times but I thought John Daly and Bradshaw were ok. Tried to push us forward best they could. Daly out on his feet at the end yet left on baffling.

Midfield. Started ok. FOC especially. Dynamic changed when he went off. Flynn poor. Cooke anonymous.

Half forward line. M. Daly ok first half took his scores. Too afraid to take them on for most of the game. Became more endemic as the game went on. Heaney had a few breaks but very anonymous. Brannigan was ok kicked a nice score but fell apart like the rest the more the game went on.

O Laoi kicked great scores. Lively as always. Starved of ball second half. Became ineffective. Ian Burke. Disaster. Could of been taken off at half time. Seeing how much time he spent back in our half back line defending killed my soul a little in the second half. Shane great first half got a terrible blow late on seemed to knock him completely. Noticed a few times in the second half he seemed to be holding his head. Not sure if it was an issue or just him dismayed at the cluster f**k going on around him. None of the subs made on difference some obviously brought on much to late to make a difference.

Anyone else wish Danny was on the pitch when that high ball came floating in?

Hard to see where it can be rectified and as good as he is it's a stretch to believe Damo will transform this team. I'll head to Corofin Friday and hope he togs for Annaghdown against Tuam.

Can't agree with your assessment on Lavelle, he's a liability every day he plays. Power is a far superior keeper.

Happyilylost

GalwayLurker wrote:

Can't agree with your assessment on Lavelle, he's a liability every day he plays. Power is a far superior keeper.

Lavelles record speaks for itself. He has one of the best clean sheet records of any goalie in the last two years. But again I've no issue if Power is the goalie. I think Galway have bigger issues than the goalie.

threeball

Happyilylost wrote: »

Lavelles record speaks for itself. He has one of the best clean sheet records of any goalie in the last two years. But again I've no issue if Power is the goalie. I think Galway have bigger issues than the goalie.

His clean sheets are more down to our ultra defensive style than anything else. Galway have conceded very few goals regardless of who was between the sticks. We just don't score many either.

GalwayLurker

Happyilylost wrote: »

Lavelles record speaks for itself. He has one of the best clean sheet records of any goalie in the last two years. But again I've no issue if Power is the goalie. I think Galway have bigger issues than the goalie.

Clean sheets are misleading TBH, he has a massed defence around him. He has made some fantastic saves in the past in fairness to him but the way football is played now kick outs are nearly more important and Power is streets ahead in that department.

MfMan

After today, Power may well walk. Wouldn't blame him, what did he do wrong v Sligo to be replaced?

Wrote it here last week, if Galway lose, KW has to consider his position. Absolute clusterf*ck of a performance, no plan B, no tactical plan, no coaching in how to tackle without fouling, no pace when attacking. Took off a forward more likely to score than some left on. Destroyed at midfield in the second half (FOC big loss when he went off). Once again, years too slow in making changes to try to rescue a situation. After 5 years of this, back to square 1. After this display, the Prairie in Salthill would hold the crowd that will go to see us playing next. At least the hurlers died fighting.

TCDStudent1

Lavelle is a good goalkeeper. Remember the save he made from Dean Rock in the league final. His kickouts are good too. However, the quality of his kick outs drop dramatically when Galway are under pressure. And thats when you need your goalie to keep a level head. Nothing worse than being under pressure and you keep kicking ball back to opposition. I find it hard to understand why Power was dropped though - he played well v Sligo except for one poor kick out that was straight to a Sligo man.

MayoAreMagic

Happyilylost wrote: »

Full back line. Kerin fine. Gets a lot of flake don't always see why he's tough tenacious and turns over ball when he can. Silke was poor today lost a couple of high balls early on seemed to knock him. He's one of our best players so I wouldn't worry going forward. Sean Andy is a worry. Caught out for the goal and in general has two options for defending. Option one win the ball in front. Option two foul. Option three of actually defending would be a nice addition.

Agree on SA O'C, he is very rash at times. If galway went man to man I think he could cost them. He has good attributes but he looks like he wants to take the mans head off all the time. A cute forward will play to that kind of tackling.
Re silke, well smith was probably put in their to target the corner backs lack of height. He was never going to win many aerial duels with smith. It was a smart move by cunningham and id be looking at walsh rather than silke on that one.

threeball

TCDStudent1 wrote: »

Lavelle is a good goalkeeper. Remember the save he made from Dean Rock in the league final. His kickouts are good too. However, the quality of his kick outs drop dramatically when Galway are under pressure. And thats when you need your goalie to keep a level head. Nothing worse than being under pressure and you keep kicking ball back to opposition. I find it hard to understand why Power was dropped though - he played well v Sligo except for one poor kick out that was straight to a Sligo man.

Walsh doesn't fancy Corofin players. He won't play them at all unless almost forced to.

RobbieRuns

Lots of good conversation about the goalkeeping selection but for me the Cooke for Cummins decision was baffling ! Before throw in some Rossie fans near me pointed out that he was not starting and they were delighted after what he had done to them before.

Cooke is a good player but has hardly played. Danny could not have done more during the league to fight his way into that team. Top goal scorer in the league, always up there in the points charts despite not being a free taker. Destroyed the Rossies two years ago with some wonderful goals. I kept waiting for him to be brought on, but no. Strange stuff indeed. Would not blame him if he jacked it in. He stayed loyal to that team for ages, even when others did not, he should be in his prime and has lots of experience but he does not suit the system that Walsh wants to play obviously. Something not right.

Two points in the second half........... still can't believe how bad we were.