horsebox77
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Our trees & mountains are silent ghosts, they hold wisdom and knowledge mankind has long forgotten.
Posts: 2,037
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Post by horsebox77 on Feb 25, 2024 20:53:20 GMT
Resisted in adding my two cents worth last night, as tensions and emotions were high.
Truth is we were rudderless yesterday, very poor last night, I've never seen us so out of sorts, it's alarming that Dublin have figured out a way to nullify Clifford to a degree, they appeared to have a successful plan for the Fossa lad, and the more he tried, he was only forcing it. Secondly, by putting a man directly on Tadgh it pulled us wide and as a result wide open, this has been a ploy adopted by several teams over the last 18 months with varied success for them… Still, two things are alarming me, our named team for Sat was more or less 12 of our expected C'ship XV. Does this mean that Jack goes back to the drawing board or just consider it a blip?
Secondly we didn't have a plan b either on the field or on the sideline with Jack and Co, to counteract the Dublin play. Our players are seasoned, they looked rudderless and void of ideas,
The only good point is, it’s only February and not the end of the world but certain players we had earmarked for championship may not be the standards required. Dublin on the other side, had only 8 or 9 regulars…. The league is now blown out of the water, a win next weekend is needed but a more cohesive display and maybe a jiggle of bodies on our starting xv is needed.
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Post by oldschool on Feb 25, 2024 20:56:49 GMT
Few points 1 We left 2gls 3pts behind us, Had we scored these it might have been a different story
2 I've been saying for the past 2 years that our kick out strategy (ours and counteracting opposition kickouts) is seriously flawed. It contributed a lot to our woes last night.
3 Study the video from last night and act on it
4 No way are we 10 points behind any team
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Aodhan
Senior Member
Posts: 797
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Post by Aodhan on Feb 25, 2024 21:01:38 GMT
Dan o'Donoghue is a glaring omission, he had a very good county championship. Best man marker we have. Comfortable at 6 also. Jack needs to bring out the peace pipe for the good of Kerry football. Surprised that Cillian Trant is not being groomed as a future midfielder, impressed every time I saw him.
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Post by veteran on Feb 25, 2024 21:02:05 GMT
You get a better over all view of a match by being there . In that context , I am interested in the comments of some of those present regarding Graham O’Sullivan . Misteallaigh Abu was very impressed with him while others were far less enamoured.
I agree that the likes of Mark O’Shea and Cillian Trant should be involved. They are not ready yet but being involved would bring them on a ton for next year. Our need is dire at midfield. Presumably, the O’Connors are our best but bet the situation is exacerbated by the poor form of Barry Dan. Came on against Mayo and gave away a needless free resulting in a Mayo point when the game was on a knife edge. Got sent off last night . The poor man looks exhausted. Long season with Dingle? Carrying an injury?
I was in the Canal End last July . Tadgh Morley was outstanding at full back against Con O’Callafhan in that first half. It was obvious that Jason was struggling badly early on last evening , would a switch between him and Tadgh have helped matters? The first half last night reminded me that NFL match in Thurles a few years ago. Did we concede four goals that day?
In the heel of the hunt , no matter what switches were made our fate would have been defeat on the evidence of what I saw on TV. However, a Kerry football team should never be humiliated regardless of the time of the year, regardless of training schedules.
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Post by southward on Feb 25, 2024 21:29:35 GMT
it's alarming that Dublin have figured out a way to nullify Clifford to a degree, they appeared to have a successful plan for the Fossa lad, and the more he tried, he was only forcing it. Not so sure he was nullifed, horse. Quiet by his standards alright but he did have 3 goal chances that on another night he puts away. Those go in, it's a different picture today.
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Post by colinsworth1 on Feb 25, 2024 21:33:49 GMT
First of all Con in form is so difficult to mark Only a top man marker has any chance Speed is absolutely essential which Jason has but a smaller back would be a better match up someone around 5 8 or 5 10 imo Also if and when Morley is engaged at 6 which more teams are doing surely then the 15 takes that plus one role but again the 15 needs to be a super runner /tracker /tackler /scorer Morley being the plus one is now no longer guaranteed so let’s go to plan B our 10 and 12 don’t drop like many of todays wingers We then have to find more cover somehow. Our 8 and 9 didn’t seem to drop back either last night all in all Very naive with not enough collective joined up defending
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exiled
Senior Member
Posts: 313
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Post by exiled on Feb 25, 2024 22:11:07 GMT
One thing about DC last night was that on 2 occasions there was a pass on to a player in a better position but he shot himself. Does he not trust his teammates. Maybe the coaching staff are to blame
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Post by southward on Feb 25, 2024 22:41:28 GMT
We did concede 4 goals in Thurles Vet but we outplayed Dubs bigtime that day and drew the game.Last night was borderline humiliating only for the spell at start of second half.I was at game in Cusack/Davin last night and thought Graham did well at half back but tbh Kilkenny his marker had a great game too.Im in the midst of watching game again 20minutes in and David was well below par.Because he has such confidence in his own ability (not a bad trait)David loses concentration easily and has a habit of kicking short into keepers hands and missing easy chances.Last night he missed a couple of very easy chances in first half and even fielded a ball over Murchans head and then fluffed it.While Dublin do seem to have a good plan to mark him its his own mistakes rather than good marking that cost him.I have highlighted this previously over the years with David and some think Im anti David.Nothing could be further from the truth but he frustrates me cos I know there is so much more in him.For a high scoring forward David misses an awful lot and while some are hail Marys.some are simple and its simple concentration .Because David is such a wizard of a player and a guy that scores spectacular scores sometimes its not picked up on the amount he misses.The likes of Shane McGuigsn Con O Callaghan Oisin Gallen would have a better ratio because they do the simple things easy.Now tbf ptopbably no one makes as many chances as David either.Besides the Galway final in 22 nearly every game Ive seen David play in he has nissed very scoreable scores and just a little bit more concentration and he would nearly blow a fuse in the scoreboards every game.Even last night he had as many chances as Con and Con could have had 4 goals only for a fab save from Ryan.No one is too good to learn new things and Ot is my opinion if we had a forward coach like Maurice or Gooch then David Clifford would be 20% better and thats something because I have never seen a better all round footballer in my lifetime. That's a pretty fair assessment.
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Post by kerry4sam88 on Feb 25, 2024 22:44:53 GMT
Resisted the temptation to comment last night as emotions were all over the place as we strolled back through the cold moonlit streets of the capital. Obviously I won't go into the performance too much because I think a lot of it has already been said by a lot of posters. It is slightly concerning that we basically had our championship 15 bar a couple of places up for grabs while Dublin, who I thought were simply excellent last night have more bodies to come back into the reckoning and still won at a canter. The only positive at the moment that I'm clinging to is it's still only February and better the get the dirty diesel out the way now and not in the middle of the summer.
One issue that irked me last night and I've noticed it a few times lately is on our own restarts. For some unknown reason I can't understand why we don't bunch together like Dublin did last night and other teams have done it. It makes it so much easier to get the short kick away as you have basically nearly the bones of 16 men hustled together, blocking opponents and allowing at least 2 to get away free to either wing. Shane Ryan is only as good as the free runner for him and I saw it first hand last night in Cusack Stand people getting agitated with him because he's not getting the kick away quick enough even though we might see the free runner from the stands I'm assuming it's completely different to when your actually on the pitch most of the time we just retreat into our numerical positions followed by their opponents so it makes it harder for him to see the space. I really hope we change our tactics on kickouts because its clearly killing us at the moment especially when we no longer have the high fielding ability of a Moran.
Obviously a lot of sole searching is needed in the coming days and perfect opportunity next Sunday to rectify it with Cillian Burke and a thought Graham O'Sullivan to a lesser extent while yes he struggled at times on Kilkenny I thought he tried his level best to male himself available on our own restarts.
The big question now is do we stick with the same 15 for next Sunday and let them try and rectify the performance last night or freshen it up with 3 or 4 coming in hoping to stake a claim for the summer and risk losing again at home and putting a little bit more pressure on trying to stay up. I for one would like to see it changed up by bringing in a few of the younger lads because at the moment bar Burke and maybe to a lesser extent Dylan Geaney we're left with nearly the same panel from last years All Ireland. We need to give these lads more than just a half to show what their made of and build a panel that we're confident enough to call on in the summer months
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Post by Whosinmidfield on Feb 25, 2024 22:45:50 GMT
Dan o'Donoghue is a glaring omission, he had a very good county championship. Best man marker we have. Comfortable at 6 also. Jack needs to bring out the peace pipe for the good of Kerry football. Can you expand on that, no one seems to know what has happened Dan after he got the injury when he was having a great league when Jack came in first. He’s definitely at the level required there’s no doubt about that, I even saw him get the better of David Moran at midfield last year for Spa in the county championship.
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Post by shannonsider on Feb 26, 2024 0:33:42 GMT
it's alarming that Dublin have figured out a way to nullify Clifford to a degree, they appeared to have a successful plan for the Fossa lad, and the more he tried, he was only forcing it. Not so sure he was nullifed, horse. Quiet by his standards alright but he did have 3 goal chances that on another night he puts away. Those go in, it's a different picture today. Just on that specific topic and I hate sounding like criticising David Clifford because he’s a genius but his finishing of goal chances last night and in a few games over the last year has been, well iffy one might say? Don’t think that’s being unfair. The 2 goal chances he had last night, the first one should definitely have been stuck but he blasted it over. We all know he was off colour in last years final but he blasted a goal chance wide in that game too. It’s something he used to be lethal at and I’m a small bit concerned at that, on top of much more obviously with the team post that game.
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Post by anriochtabu23 on Feb 26, 2024 0:45:03 GMT
DC has been impressing more for his point scoring than goal scoring in recent times.
He is well able to take lads on in a 1v1 like he did against O'Horain the league final or when he burned Paddy Durcan in the 21 QF. His shot in to the side netting should have been a handpass across the square. How many goals have the dubs got like that over the years. Maybe Gooch can have a word in his ear.
I can't see us getting a full game out of Paul Geaneys this year. Hopefully Killian Spillane can push on. We really don't have much options.
All will be forgotten if we bring Sam home. The dubs drew with Roscommon last year in a dire game.
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Ballyfireside
Full Member
People of an eternal time and an infinite place
Posts: 97
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Post by Ballyfireside on Feb 26, 2024 1:45:39 GMT
Foley is rocket fast so if we can find a FB could CHB be an option, bearing in mind PK couldn't - so can someone now give us the line out for our the backs?
I have noticed Jason listening to others a lot when things are tough and Morley appeared to be THE high priest when they reappeared after HT. Ah maybe he is quiet and being a good listener is a positive, but maybe he needs to start kicking ass, just like goalies have license to do. He is the 2nd last line of defence so maybe he needs to add that dimension to his game. If others are being beaten then coping with Con is trying to push out the tide - it was the same damage limitation with McShane and Foley was deemed not to be cutting it, well until the other options were not limiting the damage as much as Jaso was.
I believed this was our greatest ever team so either I know very little or last night was a freak, hopefully not to be repeated! Of course I could also know very little and my assertion could still be right, and hopefully that will be the case.
Look - games are played in a specific hour and who knows, if KO was 5pm it might have been a different scenario and so hopefully 'the next time' we meet it will be just that.
The facial expressions on the way into Fitzgerald in Killarney next Sunday will be interesting and it won't be all to do with what is said from the altar, unless of course Rome was watching Sat evening!
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Post by anriochtabu23 on Feb 26, 2024 9:18:15 GMT
Tyrone at home is the ideal game to face into and focus the minds.
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Post by thehermit on Feb 26, 2024 9:30:33 GMT
Still in a bit of shock this morning after what I witnessed in HQ Saturday night. It actually bogles the mind a team as talented as that looked like a bunch of strangers that were randomly picked up on a bus headed for Dublin and told to take the field.
Regardless of time of the year or competition it is simply unacceptable to perform like against your big rival in front of 36,000 and the nation's cameras. I'd be sorely tempted to send the County Board and email asking for a refund. Between the meek surrender of our proud home record to Mayo last May, the AI final result and now this your confidence in this team and management has would really be rattled.
Insult to injury was the carry on of the Dublin "supporters" around where we were in the lower Cusack. Two in particular behind us (not a shred of their county's colour on them of course) responded to our enthusiastic shouts of Up Kerry as the ball was thrown in by spending the rest of the game loudly hurling abuse at the Kerry team. To hear them laugh and mock David in particular was very hard to take and maybe sometimes not rising to it isn't the best idea! The booing by large sections every time there was a Kerry free was also pathetic, I know they always do it but it doesn't make it right. League games in Croke Park are always the worse for this because these clowns would not be able to get near a ticket for a final or other sold out Championship match but yeah salt in the wound for sure. In the pub afterwards another gentleman took it upon himself to come over at intervals and announce to us David is "a hatcher" whatever that means. The Hogan Stand Dublin poster were obviously out in force at this game!!!
Would love to have the last laugh come the summer but its hard to get excited for the campaign ahead on Saturday's showing, still will be down in Killarney on Sunday hoping they can show us a response.
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Post by Attacking Wing Back on Feb 26, 2024 10:04:50 GMT
Apologies if I re-tread some old ground. I was working yesterday and last night and have only been able to skim the thread since the game on Saturday night.
I knew I was in for a long evening when I took my place in the stand only to realise I had forgotten to bring my glasses. I brought the case alright but, left the glasses in situ on the car dashboard after wearing them for the drive. No bother, I only really need them for night time driving anyway and certainly was able to see the blue wave that engulfed Kerry time and again on Saturday.
Gerry Adams immortal words 'They haven't gone away you know' could easily be applied to this Dublin team. It seems a strange thing to say about the reigning all Ireland champions. 2021 and 2022 seem to be more akin to Kerry's all Ireland winning 'break' in 82 & 83 than any terminal decline. I heard snippets of interviews with Jack since the match and he doesn't seem unduly perturbed putting the performance down to malfunction & system errors.
Starting Bourke in place of the stricken Tom was a big gamble that was needless to take. Already taking to the pitch with two greenhorns in the half forward line and Joe O'Connor working his way back from the ACL we decided to throw another young tyro into the fray. Against Dublin, in Croke Park, under lights. So nearly half our middle third were lacking in experience and gametime at this level. However, this I can forgive as it could very well stand to them further down the line.
However what is less excusable is the naivety shown by Kerry throughout the game. Con's penalty came from Dylan Casey being caught ball watching and panicking when he realised he had been caught out. Why when the blue wave was surging in the opening period did a Kerryman not go down with a 'head injury' to halt the Dublin momentum. Did any one of the senior players have the foresight to tell the others to get 15 behind the ball until we weather this spell?
I see Ryan ha come in for criticism again on here for his kickouts. Especially in the first half apart from Graham there was no one making a hard run to receive the ball, so he had to go long. And when he did go long I couldn't believe what was happening. Four times in the first 50 mins the following happened.
Ryan placed the ball for the kickout and had no runners so decided to go long. Doing what every goalkeeper has been told since they kicked a ball he looked up and waited for the midfieders to go to opposite wings so that he could keep the ball away from the 'big fella'. The two O'Connors split, and he aims his kickout to whoever isn't being marked by Fenton.
Only it seems the O'Connor marking Fenton was missing the day they were taught this in u12's. (Sorry I don't know which as my aforementioned spectacle issue meant I couldnt make out the numbers under the lights) Anyway, while the ball is in flight, the lad being marked by Fenton decides he will come accross the field to contest the kickout too. All well and good but,you are now bringing the one lad you want to keep it away from into play. Whats more your are giving him a good runup to the jump just to make sure he can contest the ball with you.
Apart from the kickouts, midfield was a wasteland. DOC caught on good ball. Apart from that he was anonymous. Joe was a lot more visible especially in attack. But, his dithering on the ball in front of his own posts betrayed an ability to sense danger. Jack Barry always came back and played like an extra centre back especially if Tadhg had a man of his own to mark. Midfield is rapidly becoming a glaring issue and something the management team need to get hold of.
Finally, I understand everyone can have an off night shooting wise etc. However, DC's continued insistence to go for the spectacular when he is not in form or anyway close to it really needs to be curbed at this stage. Against both Tyrone and Dublin last year he insisted on taking shots when his conversion rate must have been well below 50%. I don't know if its because the game plan is to isolate David inside so he feels almost obliged to shoot when he gets on the ball. There was a goal chance for the taking when he hit the side netting instead of playing a pass across the face of the goal.
The performance is even more worry some when you consider that Dublin were missing a lot of first team players. The performance on Saturday night by no means sounds the death knell for our Summer campaign but, unless we address a few glaring issues we could well be getting the last rites soon enought
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Post by homerj on Feb 26, 2024 10:11:28 GMT
we had more goal chances on saturday than any game against the dubs i ever remember, they had 4 and took 3.
we had 6 and took 1 (3 of them ended being blazed over the bar). that was the difference in my opinion, everything else around the pitch comes after these. wouldnt be too worried just yet.
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Post by homerj on Feb 26, 2024 10:17:11 GMT
only read a couple of replies after the game here and gave up.....writing off the year after 1 game ffs.
by the way, for all the talk about Dublin missing lads, we had 8 lads, EIGHT, missing, that played against Dublin in the all ireland final last year. a bit of perspective please!
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Post by kerry97 on Feb 26, 2024 10:34:56 GMT
I was at the match Saturday evening I got good view of our defence in the first half in particular and our attack in the second half .
Firstly I thought we were completely outplayed everywhere and the only players to breakeven on the night were Cillian Burke and Graham O'Sullivan in my view .
As for the performance a couple of long standing issues came to the fore , midfield looks like the biggest issue in my view . Some posters above have highlighted issues with our kick out and I agree that it isn't functioning well at the moment . I think the problem is being exacerbated by the the midfields ability to gather long possession off our kick out on 60/40 split . If you take that option away , you are easier to squeeze and press.
As for the defence on Saturday evening we lost our shape I thought . It seemed to me that Dublin continually bunched our press into a small space between the 50 yard line and the midfield where 6/7/8 Dublin players would stay central and suck our defenders in with them and break accordingly or leave space for a ball in front of our full back line .This seemed to have the effect of creating a scenario continuously whereby we would have 12 plus players plus inside our own half but still leaving a 20/30 yard gap in front of our full back line . This seemed to continue throughout the evening and given the scores we were leaking I thought in the second half when we were not in possession we may have taken a more zonal approach by blocking the middle with bodies and allowing Dublin space on the wings . We could have done this by putting less men into Dublin's modified "edge of the box" corner kick routine . I felt we could have adapted to this a lot better.
In attack we were everything that Dublin were not on the evening . We didn't have any "corner kick " routines of our own and I felt our forwards were unable to make the runs or put pace into the game when not in possession to create time and space for each other , our attack as a result looked frazzled and unstructured at best . Too often I felt we resorted to long ball being horsed in on top of our inside forwards that didn't arrive at an angle or in front of our forwards . We really need a couple of scoring forwards to emerge and our attack to vary the play more , it can't always go to David Clifford .
As for the goal chances , we had our fair share and other than the poor finishing ( which is a long standing issue) I feel Dublin could have gone up a gear if required .
Looking towards the Championship it is very difficult to see us contending after that but four or five months is a long time in sport . Italy lost to France by 60 points at the World Cup in October and drew with them yesterday in the Six Nations away. We annihilated Tyrone in the League in 2021 but still lost to them in the All Ireland Semi Final . We beat Dublin by 17 points in 2009 but they managed to upend us in the final in 2011 .
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maryo
Full Member
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Post by maryo on Feb 26, 2024 10:37:38 GMT
I watched Limerick where I lived for 40 years play beautiful hurling and went to second game hoping for same. Disappointed is not strong enough, no one running for short kick outs, need o Beaglaoich back. Our midfield were poor on night. Again where are our kickers from 35/40 yards? We seem to be afraid of losing or kicking the ball. Dubs ran through us like butter, where were our markers? We were like headless chickens. Hoping for better against Tyrone.
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Post by veteran on Feb 26, 2024 12:04:56 GMT
Somebody suggested Gavin Horan for midfield? You would get away with calling in somebody out of the blue decades ago but not now with so much intensive physical conditioning involved. Would need to be in for a season or two to build up the required reservoir of fitness.
Comparing Dylan Geaney with Dara Moynihan is a case of chalk and cheese.
Like Aodhan, I do wish Dan O’Donoghue was available. Always impresses me with club and district. Could fill roles in both lines of defence . Why don’t our local media push that issue?
Both Ciarraimick and I have suggested Adrian Spillane as a possible CHB. Too daring I suppose. Milk O’Dwyer would try that experiment in a heartbeat.
I have noted the critique of DC. One thing he can very rarely be accused of is failing to pass to a better placed colleague. Obviously, being human, he will fail to do that the odd time. A very odd time.
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Post by homerj on Feb 26, 2024 12:16:31 GMT
for the goal chance that David put into the side night, i was right behind it, the goal was most certainly on, as the keeper left the entire near post area wide open. it just wasnt executed.
we put 3 goal chances over the bar. David dropped another, put 1 wide. we scored 1. im probably missing another chance, i think there was one.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Feb 26, 2024 12:52:27 GMT
for the goal chance that David put into the side night, i was right behind it, the goal was most certainly on, as the keeper left the entire near post area wide open. it just wasnt executed. we put 3 goal chances over the bar. David dropped another, put 1 wide. we scored 1. im probably missing another chance, i think there was one. It was really clever work by David Clifford to force the GK to leave his post. It would have been a great goal in that sense.
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thepope
Fanatical Member
Posts: 1,277
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Post by thepope on Feb 26, 2024 13:18:11 GMT
To Veteran.
I thought Graham O'Sullivan played well too. In the ground it seemed to my eyes that he carried ball well, played good foot passes down the channel and at least tried to get physical with Kilkenny.
Kilkenny is, for me, Dublin's best player of the last 5/6 yrs and he played well also but players marking each other can both have a good game.
The pressure we put ourselves under off our own kickout was very bad. Dubs had 2's and 3's lined up on the wing and got to within 40m of goal, or closer, without being touched.
I thought we made very poor use of the sweeper, often neither pressuring the pass inside or protecting the D. Given how Con started, we shud just have screened him with the extra man as the Dubs did with Clifford.
For all the work of the early league games of playing Seanie at FF. The minute we hit trouble we had to drag him out to the middle third which makes of mockery of trying to play him in at 14 (which is where I wud play him but leave him there). If we hit trouble in the summer bringing Seanie out the field just makes us toothless inside then and Seanie will run himself into the ground.
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Post by colinsworth1 on Feb 26, 2024 13:22:20 GMT
Somebody suggested Gavin Horan for midfield? You would get away with calling in somebody out of the blue decades ago but not now with so much intensive physical conditioning involved. Would need to be in for a season or two to build up the required reservoir of fitness. Comparing Dylan Geaney with Dara Moynihan is a case of chalk and cheese. Like Aodhan, I do wish Dan O’Donoghue was available. Always impresses me with club and district. Could fill roles in both lines of defence . Why don’t our local media push that issue? Both Ciarraimick and I have suggested Adrian Spillane as a possible CHB. Too daring I suppose. Milk O’Dwyer would try that experiment in a heartbeat. I have noted the critique of DC. One thing he can very rarely be accused of is failing to pass to a better placed colleague. Obviously, being human, he will fail to do that the odd time. A very odd time. Not so sure that we have the luxury of having three out and out scoring forwards on the field at the same time. We have Sean O Shea and DC. Up front everyone else need to be a workhorse Dogged workers that can score close in if required 10 and 12 need to be as good as 5 and 7 at defending 10 Paidi C 11 Dylan Geaney 12 C Burke 15. D Moynihan All good on the front foot but need to be better trackers defenders too as they get fitter can play that role attack and defend their DNA is tilted towards attack Do we have a Brian Dooher type in our front six ? We’d need a few
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Post by mnagle on Feb 26, 2024 13:45:24 GMT
DC is incredible and the wonderful thing is that he could possible get better even. He is some man to get on the ball and create chances. But, ever Since his debut season his conversion rate in some games can be really really low.
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Post by ciarraimick on Feb 26, 2024 14:29:23 GMT
DC is incredible and the wonderful thing is that he could possible get better even. He is some man to get on the ball and create chances. But, ever Since his debut season his conversion rate in some games can be really really low. Yes indeed and I really think if we had a forward coach like Gooch or Maurice to work with David his scoring rate would go through the roof.
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Post by veteran on Feb 26, 2024 16:08:55 GMT
To Veteran. I thought Graham O'Sullivan played well too. In the ground it seemed to my eyes that he carried ball well, played good foot passes down the channel and at least tried to get physical with Kilkenny. Kilkenny is, for me, Dublin's best player of the last 5/6 yrs and he played well also but players marking each other can both have a good game. The pressure we put ourselves under off our own kickout was very bad. Dubs had 2's and 3's lined up on the wing and got to within 40m of goal, or closer, without being touched. I thought we made very poor use of the sweeper, often neither pressuring the pass inside or protecting the D. Given how Con started, we shud just have screened him with the extra man as the Dubs did with Clifford. For all the work of the early league games of playing Seanie at FF. The minute we hit trouble we had to drag him out to the middle third which makes of mockery of trying to play him in at 14 (which is where I wud play him but leave him there). If we hit trouble in the summer bringing Seanie out the field just makes us toothless inside then and Seanie will run himself into the ground. Thanks for that Pope. I am always interested in the views of somebody who was at the match. I share your assessment of Ciaran Kilkenny. I have stated here previously that I felt he has been their most consistently outstanding player. I don’t think we have ever been able to handle him. As for Sean O’Shea drifting outfield again, I referenced that after the Mayo match. I will not dwell on it again in the interest of my blood pressure. As regards the kickouts at either end, I am blue in the face from saying we simply do not appear to have a strategy. When we were making a comeback in the second half Dublin seemed to be able to waltz up the field from their kickout and register a score to nullify one of ours. That was breaking the back of our renaissance. Are some of our boys up there too lazy to shadow their man in order to complicate their kickout? I am so glad I did not have to negotiate the M7 after that evisceration.
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Feb 26, 2024 16:31:50 GMT
If Kerry didn't fight back it would have been shades of Tyrone in Killarney in the league in 2021.
Any rumours of Kerry players running on Dollymount during the rugby match?!?
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Post by Kingdomson on Feb 26, 2024 16:33:46 GMT
Éamonn Fitzmaurice's weekend picks: Farrell is putting a monster Dublin squad together
Take your pick. Derry, Dublin, Down, Westmeath, Laois, Armagh, Donegal, Con O’Callaghan, Brian Fenton, Conor Glass, Shane McGuigan, Ciarán Kilkenny and Darragh Canavan.
I have watched Canavan in the flesh twice in the last few weeks. For the Sigerson Cup final, I was on the sideline for TG4 and I watched him closely for the first half, on and off the ball. His movement off the ball is outstanding. However it is when he gets the ball in hand that he really comes alive. He is low to the ground, quick, agile, has superb balance and is bilateral.
He is a nightmare to mark in one-on-one situations, as the unfortunate Sam Callinan has found out in both of those matches. He has developed further this season and is now excellent at coming onto the ball at full throttle in crowded areas.
This allows him to either blitz through the melee of bodies and get his shot off or get fouled. His kicking style is reminiscent of his father's. He also reminds me of Mike Frank Russell. He is tremendously accurate off both sides but crucially he can get his shot away quickly. He can shoot from distance with very little back lift making it virtually impossible to block him down. Importantly, he has remained injury free this season and is now an established player with a huge amount of experience amassed over the past few seasons.
Tyrone can do more to help get the best out of him. In the first half against Mayo Saturday, he was predominantly ploughing a lone furrow upfront. He had to win the ball, often far from goal and had to take his man on, often with no support. Darren McCurry’s introduction at half time brought a much better shape to the Tyrone attack. Rather than being the initial outlet Canavan could stay closer to goal. His goal was a perfect example of him getting the ball in the right area allowing him to go at Callinan and finish with aplomb. Keep him injury free and play with a shape that gets the best out of him and Tyrone will always have a chance.
Who's not?
That heavy defeat in Croke Park on Saturday was definitely not what Kerry would have been planning. They would have travelled with determination and with revenge on their minds. This fixture would have been circled in the calendar from the off and one would have expected an angry performance from the Kingdom. Judging by Saturday night, Dublin may have had the answers anyway but as it happened Kerry were well off it. Loose and open at the back. Struggling on kickouts, both their own and the oppositions. Wasteful upfront. Their key men and leaders peripheral. When all of this occurs together what happened happens. They have plenty to think about this weekend with Tyrone in town on Sunday.
As poor as Kerry were, Dublin were excellent. It seemed in the first half as if everything they kicked was going over the bar. Con O’Callaghan is back to his best and is playing serious football. Critically from the Dubs perspective they are now supplying him early and often. And generally in a far more direct manner. Rather than constantly having to operate on the loop he is once more getting the opportunity to drop the shoulder and go at his man.
Ciarán Kilkenny is playing closer to goal. He has moved away from his point guard role and is now revisiting his original guise. He is scoring freely and is a major threat. He was clearly stung by being left out for the biggest games last summer and looks determined to reassert his importance. Dublin were excellent attack-wise. They tried an interesting innovation for Paddy Small’s point in the 21st minute. In possession they bunched six of their players into a tight space centrally outside of Kerry’s 45. The Kerry players were sucked in and followed their men leaving huge space behind. Con, Small and Kilkenny were all inside one-on-one and made their runs into space from the edge of the small square. Niall Scully was able to get his head up outside and kick a bouncing ball in front of Small and the Ballymun man did the rest.
While Kerry looked open it was more from Dublin engineering than from Kingdom carelessness. At times when Kerry dropped off into said space the All Ireland champions were comfortable running at them from outside. When their decision making is right, as it was Saturday evening, that potent mix is tormenting to deal with.
The scary thing for everyone else is that they were missing Stephen Cluxton, Michael Fitzsimmons, James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey, Paul Mannion and Cormac Costelloe. Lee Gannon and Seán Bugler continue their progression at pace with Ross McGarry, Cian Murphy and Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne all clearly developing during this league. Theo Clancy looks at home. Dessie Farrell is redeveloping a monster of a panel. The All Ireland champions remain the team to beat.
Shiny new things
Once more we are seeing more conversations, including on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football show, around the best viewing position for managers at matches. Our biggest county grounds could do with modern facilities for management teams. On Saturday we saw Jack O’Connor continue with his pattern of spending the first half in an elevated position. James Horan highlighted the issues with this on last week's podcast particularly when it comes to sitting in the middle of the crowd. Alongside well-wishing and the lack of confidentiality people can be very quick to offer their opinions on a match once it has started.
Croke Park has a managers' box but interestingly one shot of Jack, Diarmuid Murphy and Paddy Tally showed them seated in the middle of the stand, as the analysis team were probably in the box. While there are boxes in Croke Park they are not elevated enough in my opinion. They are located at the back of the lower deck of the Hogan Stand. While they offer privacy and a TV feed, the best view in the house is from the front of the press box.
I have been fortunate to have been there on a number of occasions and the overview is unmatched and informative. I would prefer as a manager to be watching a match from such a vantage point and I tried it for a while in 2014 but eventually moved away from it.
The lack of facilities and the fact the players felt a manager's presence on the sideline was important meant we binned it. If the facilities were in our grounds I think all management and analysis teams would use them. Until then the hybrid model will continue and anyone entering the stand will be ready to deal with the unsought advice that is readily available.
Keep an eye on
Cillian Burke is Kerry’s shiny new thing for this season. He continues to impress with each passing game. His performance on Saturday was one of the few positives for Jack O’Connor to reflect on. Burke was once more excellent, a willing worker, a kickout target and full of strong running. He was involved in Joe O’Connor’s goal and kicked a fine point himself. He was defiant and carried the fight to Dublin throughout. I was surprised to see him taken off. This is possibly part of a plan to manage him to avoid an injury. Even though he was under 20 last year he plays like a player that is much older. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the middle of the field, and sooner rather than later.
In serious bother
No prizes for guessing this one. But for substitute Maurice Shanley sticking that late goal for Cork to put them into the lead for the first time in Fermanagh, they would also be featuring here. The nature of that away win now means it can be a turning point. In Kildare, they welcome a side next Sunday that are in serious bother. Should Kildare lose that match, remaining in Division 2 will be out of their hands. In the meantime, the blows continue to come. Against Meath Sunday, they led by the minimum as the game entered its final ten minutes. Meath reeled off four points in a row to win by three. They lost both Darragh Kirwan and Ben McCormack to injury before half time. The body language and public utterances from the players and management are typical of a group under serious pressure. Staying united, keeping their head and nerve in this situation is of paramount importance.
Observing from the outside there is little evidence of this. From now on the equation is simple for them. They need to win all of their remaining matches against Cork, Donegal and Louth. Either that or they need to start planning to reach a Leinster final by probably having to beat Westmeath and Louth to secure Sam Maguire football.
To be fair to them they improved as the season went on last year and had an okay championship. That is all for another day, the immediate here and now is about fellow strugglers Cork. Win and they are on the move. Lose and they really are in the mire.
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