The Official Cavan GAA Discussion thread.

celt262 · 08-03-2023 11:14am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120324818#Comment_120324818

Don't forget Martin Reilly either if fit he will be pushing for a place also.

Cavan_King · 08-03-2023 6:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120328964#Comment_120328964

The time has come for Martin to be an impact sub.

Anyone listened to the Seanie podcast on the GAA Social yet? Meant to be out today.

Cavan_King · 09-03-2023 4:12pm

Had a listen to the GAA Social earlier.

Found it fairly boring to be honest. Nothing I didn’t expect him to say. Nothing that hadn’t been rumoured at the time, such as the DCU Julie Davis connection with the Kildare setup.

No questions asked re how he fell out of favour with Val Andrews or how he managed to get back to the Cavan setup.

It would be good to see a journalist who had a better knowledge of the topic at the time question him but I don’t think that will ever happen.

All in all, a very “safe” discussion on the topic.

celt262 · 09-03-2023 5:56pm

Listened to it earlier I feel when he says that when the transfer finally went through and during his time with Kildare that they didn't get the player they though they were getting as he didn't really want to be there was a cop out.

They though they were getting a top level forward and Seanie was always below that level.

I would have liked him to have been asked about going out off his way to kick a free against his own county.

Cavan_King · 09-03-2023 6:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120336209#Comment_120336209

Good point. He says he would have preferred not to go on but couldn’t say that. By no means though, did he need to take that free.

He also says he got too big for his boots but states that it was “after” the move. He obviously wasn’t dropped for a lack of footballing ability so what does he think he was dropped for? That question also wasn’t asked.

The straw that broke the camel’s back I have heard, from players in the setup at the time, is that he was captain and arrived late for the Longford pre match arrangements having being busy playing a round of golf that morning.

Also, players like Mackey & Flanagan bided their time and came back into the setup. How did he feel that if he hadn’t of thrown his toys out of the pram he could have been back a year later?

All in all, I generally find the GAA Social a decent pod but the hard questions were definitely avoided.

Not much point in Niblock spouting around Twitter that it’s a no holds barred interview when it clearly isn’t.

celt262 · 09-03-2023 6:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120336277#Comment_120336277

He was definitely to big for his boots and apparently he was removed from the coaching team and didn't leave off his own accord at end off last year. Anyone else hear that?

Thunderbirds · 09-03-2023 7:39pm

Taking the free with his wrong foot was worse than just taking free. Flanagan was never dropped so that was incorrect plus Seanie said he was 25 and entering his peak. He was 27 in 2011.

mylestheslasher · 09-03-2023 8:53pm

Does anyone even care. As far as I'm concerned the lad was a league footballer who didn't show up in championship, had massive notions about himself and the only mistakes that were made was letting him back into the fold as a player and as a coach last year.

Look at the lads we have in our county panel now, an absolute credit to the county - just no comparison.

KeepTheFaith · 09-03-2023 9:57pm

As King says, he got an easy ride. More should have been made about why Val chose to drop him and why he elected to take that free against Cavan.

Also, McConville talking through his arse saying it was purely a football decision to bring him on. They were hammering us, he knew what the reaction would be. Any manager with an ounce of regard for the player or a bit of class in general would have left him on the bench and let it fizzle out.

I'm glad he came back and redeemed himself. His presence didn't have any negative effect on the squad and he played his part in some big league and championship wins.

Hopefully that late 00s era of Cavan player power, terrible attitude and misplaced hero worship will never return.

mylestheslasher · 09-03-2023 10:59pm

What championship wins did he redeem himself in when he came back?

As far as I'm concerned, the only way he could've redeemed himself was a full public apology to Cavan gaa. That was never going to happen though.

tanko · 09-03-2023 11:06pm

I can’t stand the sight or sound of him but his performance against Wicklow in a qualifier in Breffni was something else iirc. He kicked a point from near the corner flag. When was that game or am i raving.

celt262 · 09-03-2023 11:13pm

He never even really said how it came about in the first place all he did was mutter how he knew Julie Davies. I doubt it had anything to do with her McGeeney was trying to draft in at least two others around the same time and was behind the whole thing.

Very weak interview.

Thunderbirds · 09-03-2023 11:25pm

That was under Tommy Carr I think after two players sent off.

baconsarnie · 09-03-2023 11:26pm

I remember that game well. We had two men sent off, it was under Tommy Carr and Johnson came on as a sub with a point to prove and played out of his skin.

celt262 · 09-03-2023 11:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338129#Comment_120338129

And the reason he wasn't started was he didn't bother his hole training the week before the game.

mylestheslasher · 09-03-2023 11:28pm

Yes, the mighty Wicklow. He had been dropped for that game and scored 6 pts in 2nd half when it was 13 v 15. It was an incredible show. But it was Wicklow in an obscure qualifier. But that was before he went to Kildare.

KeepTheFaith · 10-03-2023 12:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120337958#Comment_120337958

He was brought back in by the manager who brought about Cavan's revival and was involved in dropping him initially. He broke into a very good Cavan side in his 30s, he played well in lots of games. Most notably for me the Tipp win in 2018 to send us to Div 1, there were others. By the time he slipped off the panel, there was no longer any circus about Johnston he was just another member of a, by then, very solid squad.

For me, that's redemption. Others may feel differently.

mylestheslasher · 10-03-2023 8:00am

In 2018 Cavan beat Tipp by a point, Conor Madden with a last minute score. Johnston was a sub that day, went on with 15 minutes left and did not score. He had some good days the following season in the league in Div1. But I was countering your claim he played well in championship games during his 2nd coming. Not to my memory he didn't, much like before he went to Kildare.

KeepTheFaith · 10-03-2023 10:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338886#Comment_120338886

He played on the 40 when he came on against Tipp and had a huge impact on the game picking out passes to open the Tipp defence. Reading back stats on a match report probably won't tell you that though.

Also saying he didn't play well in Championship before he left simply isn't true. He was brilliant against Antrim and Armagh in 2008. As mentioned the Wicklow qualifier. You are clearly determined to write off every good thing he ever did. Reduce it to scores and championship to suit your narrative.

You can dislike the guy all you want but let's not rewrite history. If Johnston come on the scene today he walks onto that Cavan team.

baconsarnie · 10-03-2023 11:04am

Listened to the interview last night, and have to agree with all of your analysis. It is a very soft interview. For one, it neglects to set any context. The previous two managers dropped him for being too big for his boots. Johnston just says "Val wanted to go with the u21s and i was dropped". Every Cavan Gael knew that the culture for our senior county team was shocking for years and more or less anyone i knew welcomed Val Andrews and Terry bringing in the broom, sweeping out inflated egos who had never performed and starting from scratch. The suggestion that McGeeny is some tactical genius is the biggest load of my hole i have ever heard. He brought on Johnston to stick two fingers up to Cavan. Nothing else.

Listening to the interview i had to ask myself: "why now"? What is the value of a soft-sell interview with BBC NI for something that happened 10 years ago? I didn't need to relive and be reminded of the basket case that our county team had become. The whole saga clearly had an impact on his life and he seems to be somewhat contrite, but let's be honest, what did he expect?? He wasn't the first and wont be the last lad to get dropped from a county panel. Fair play to Terry Hyland for having the grace to bring him back in 2016 as it provided some level of full stop to the whole saga.

baconsarnie · 10-03-2023 11:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120338140#Comment_120338140

That was where we were at in 2010. Celebrating clawing our way back from defeat at home to Wicklow. It was some performance from Johnston and he loved the post-match interview buzz of sticking two fingers up at Carr (who i am no fan of, for the record!!). But let's put that in context of being dumped out of Ulster by Fermanagh (in Breffni) and then taken to the cleaners by Cork the following week.

Blue47 · 10-03-2023 1:15pm

This is what SJ said in the interview: "I think the most important point for me to say, and it's probably something I haven't been forthcoming enough with, is to say that looking back now, I was wrong in a lot of things I did. It's probably taken until nearly 2023 to admit it.

"At that stage, I was 25 or 26 years of age at time, I had worked my backside off, in my head, to be the best player I could possibly be and I got too big for my boots, is the first main thing I would like to say.

Give the lad a break, that's not easy to admit in public, he came back in 2016 and did what he could to get us to Div 1. It's just a shame that at what should have been his peak around 27 to 29 he was languishing in Kildare and not playing for Cavan when they turned the corner from 2013 onwards. I'm sure that gnaws away at him too.

celt262 · 10-03-2023 3:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340167#Comment_120340167

He only got to big for his boots according to him after he went to Kildare but in reality it was long before that and was the reason he was dropped from the county panel in the first place. If he wasn't to big for his boots he would have never gone to Kildare and been back on the county panel as he was Cavan's best forward of that time whether he did it come championship or not there was no one better than him.

mylestheslasher · 10-03-2023 3:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120339374#Comment_120339374

Lad, of all the games you could pick on the 2nd coming of johnston you picked one where he came on as a 15 minute sub. I was at that game and remember it well and the man who got Cavan over the line that day was Cian Mackey. So you are right, don't re-write history. Johnston played some very decent games in the league for Cavan against Kerry for example in 2019 that you could have referenced. The one you did reference was very odd. But like I said, I wasn't questioning his performances in league football. I was debating with you your comment about him playing well in championship games when he came back. If you can reference one he played well in I'd be grateful.

Blue47 · 10-03-2023 3:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340912#Comment_120340912

Played very well against Armagh in 2016 in Breffni, 3 from play 4 frees. I don't ever recall any talk about not picking him when he came back, deserved his place.

KeepTheFaith · 10-03-2023 3:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120340912#Comment_120340912

Mackey also played a blinder that day. Two players can play well. I referenced that game because of its importance in the context of Cavan football and because his introduction was key to winning that game. As was Mackey's.

He had a great game against Armagh in the 2016 Championship. Scored 7 points.

Cavan_King · 10-03-2023 7:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120339554#Comment_120339554

2010 followed an arguably worse 2009 when we had a clear run to the Ulster final but couldn’t beat Antrim and then lost to Wicklow:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2009/0711/251836-wicklow_cavan/

I believe that was the infamous Oxegen game when the team bus allegedly picked up three players from the concert.

Those really were bleak years from 2006 up to 2012 in the senior championship. I remember standing in Breffni in 2012, towards the end of Val’s tenure, and a League game against Offaly. They were atrocious, one of the worst intercounty teams I had seen, and we lost to them.

The attitude around then was terrible. Thank god it has totally turned around since.

mylestheslasher · 10-03-2023 9:21pm

In all my years watching county team, this was the worst result I ever saw. To think some lads on this team had notions about themselves...

https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2011/0625/281491-cavan_longford/

celt262 · 10-03-2023 9:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120342457#Comment_120342457

The defense was brutal looking back at it now. The forwards were decent enough.

cavan4sam · 10-03-2023 9:35pm

Maybe a terrible result but not as bad as the Waterford 2006 or Wicklow relegation play off ones

there was some fine footballers on that team all the same

Ré the Johnston interview i thought it was quite good and wasn't expecting it to be too groundbreaking

I think he was headstrong and probably easily enough led at the time but It wasn't as if he transferred to Monaghan so I wasn't too fussed over it

Wasn't the most glorious time for Cavan football but thank god those days are over... For now at least lol

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