James Kavanagh leaves Kildare panel.

I Have heard Kavanagh has left the Kildare panel for the foreseeable future.

Has anybody else heard anything about this?

http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=183021

Apparently so / not good news - hopefully its just for a break, deserves that at least after 9/10 (probably more) years of commitment to Kildare County teams.

Wasn't it mentioned before that he was getting married soon and was in the process of building a house down in Galway or wherever the wife to be is from?

Hopefully that's all that's behind the "personal reasons" and nothing more serious. When on form he's one of the few players we have who can create something out of nothing, hopefully everything is okay and he'll be back with the panel at some stage during the year.

Heard this was on the cards from a while back. Has been building a house down in Tuam seemingly. Will be a loss

Have heard he was transferred to Mayo with work - agreed big loss

Had heard his long-term plan was to move West but thought we'd get a few more seasons out of him. Absolutely gutted. The most skillful, creative forward we had.

On another note, I see Chalky is still on the panel. Was all that talk of him dropping off just shyte then?

Absolutely gutted is an understatement. Class act. Without sounding like a fan boy , he was a favourite of mine.

Think the story with Chalky was that he was going to be away with the army for a few months at some stage of the year, so there were reports he wouldn't be on the panel early in the season at least.

Also see that only four new players are reported to be on the panel; "Newcomers James Eaton, Cathal McNally, Conor Mellett and Willie Groome will all be hoping to get an opportunity to impress"

Does anybody know if other players have been training with the county team but will instead be playing for their colleges in the O'Byrne Cup, only having four new players seems to be on the low side...

only four new players? so basically we are going back this year with the same players who have proved not good enough over the last 5 years. hard to be optimistic for the year ahead.

fat full forward wrote:

only four new players? so basically we are going back this year with the same players who have proved not good enough over the last 5 years. hard to be optimistic for the year ahead.

Which is pretty much what the last three All Ireland winners have done, granted not saying we will be near that. The days of a lad wandering in from a club and making an instant impact are largely gone. The step up to intercounty is so huge and the top level is so professional that most guys will take at least a season within that set up to make a step up in my opinion. You need to find guys with what it takes and who can commit and then develop them as well as the team's tactics, rather than chopping and changing players at every awkward moment.

FFF the truth is that any adult players who are good enough to make a major impact at inter-county level are already on the panel. Lads past the age of 21 who get a chance have normally played well for their clubs but there's a long gap from scoring 1-4 in the Kildare intermediate championship and making the difference for Kildare in a Leinster semi-final against Dublin or an AI quarter-final against Cork.
If you're looking for new players to break through to the starting 15 and improve the team then it's the young lads or nothing. And most of them will be playing with their colleges during the OBC.
Our best hope of fresh blood, IMHO, is that Paul Cribbin settles back in and starts fulfilling his potential. I'd also have high hopes for David Hyland and Niall Kelly but it will take them a couple of years probably. Maybe Sean Hurley or Conor Brophy but we've been here before mentioning those names.

Agree with TommyKeegan and Ohtoohtobe.

What won Donegal the All Ireland was their system and the way they implemented that system. They by and large won it with the same players that have been around the panel the last 2/3 years.

Some are even around it 5-10 years like McFadden who was nominated player of the year and Lacey who won player of the year. I've seen McFadden play Football quite a lot. If someone told me he would play like he did this year and Donegal would win an All Ireland 2 years ago when Kildare played Donegal in the League up there which ended in a 1-03 to 0-6 draw I would have told them where to go.

What McGeeney needs to do this year is get the best out of the bunch of lads we have by coming up with a system that best suits their attributes.

I never thought I'd be saying this watching him back in 2007 but Jimmers has been one of Kildare's most creative players of the past five years and will be a huge loss. Wish him all the best. Rumours that he's transferring to Milltown in Galway but from what I hear, that's not the indications he has been giving. He'd walk onto the Galway team, but as Ger McNally said to me and he's right, at his best, he'd walk onto most teams in the country.

I know I'm apparently the cheerleader for Kieran McGeeney and the county board (some man to have a foot in two diametrically-opposed camps, so I'll take it as a compliment to my political nous) so I'm glad to see the last three posters put this garbage about new players and freshening things up to bed. People throw out names on the strength of a few club games - the difference is unbelievable. You often hear a guy being called the best club footballer in the county. It doesn't mean he would ever make a county team.

Johnny Maher is right about Colm McFadden. Here's another. Rory Kavanagh. Journeyman half-forward - there almost a decade and told he's going to be turned into an inter-county midfielder. But he has to eat ten meals a day, whether he's hungry or not, and then work like a dog to bulk up.

But apart from that, you only bring lads in if they're going to improve it. And with the U21, there would probably a couple that might be promoted if they show well - I hope Paul Cribbin hasn't forgotten what to do with a round ball but he has to show that.

As Tommy says, the last three All-Ireland winners have gotten there without making many if any changes in personnel. That's not saying Kildare are good enough to get there anyway. But change for change's sake is destructive. Hopefully changes in the coaching structure will have the desired effect.

Sad to see Kavanagh drop off the panel but hopefully it's just a temporary absence. I don't agree with the Colm McFadden thing, he's always been a class act even when playing in a poor team. It's just that the last couple of years Donegal have won more posession to feed him.

I certainly hope we see Kavanagh back in the white shirt this year. He has a lot to offer still. He didn't play as well last year as he has done previously, so maybe a small break would do him good.

Comparing us to the last 3 winners is plain silly. Cork won the all ireland after losing the final the year before, both Dublin and Donegal lost narrowly in the semis the years before they won so all 3 were clearly on the right track to make the breakthrough. We on the other hand had embarrassing defeats to Meath and Cork to look back on. How can anyone say with any confidence that with the same players we have a hope this year? What confidence can you have that the manager can do something different this year that he has done already? We looked a dispirited team last year who had little more to offer and as a Kildare supporter I found that very sad. You will never know how good a player can be until you give him a chance to play with established county players. I find the oposition on this forum to trying out younger players baffling. Good thing Donegal didnt have the same attitude to young McHugh.

murof wrote:

Comparing us to the last 3 winners is plain silly. Cork won the all ireland after losing the final the year before, both Dublin and Donegal lost narrowly in the semis the years before they won so all 3 were clearly on the right track to make the breakthrough. We on the other hand had embarrassing defeats to Meath and Cork to look back on. How can anyone say with any confidence that with the same players we have a hope this year? What confidence can you have that the manager can do something different this year that he has done already? We looked a dispirited team last year who had little more to offer and as a Kildare supporter I found that very sad. You will never know how good a player can be until you give him a chance to play with established county players. I find the oposition on this forum to trying out younger players baffling. Good thing Donegal didnt have the same attitude to young McHugh.

I'm all for young and up and coming players. I believed at the time Darroch Mulhall was the next big thing seeing him kick a 45 into the hill in the in the Minor final a few year back.

Subsequent players have come and gone without impacting at their own level, let alone at Senior intercounty.

The single biggest aspect murof is that we don't get to see these great white hopes that you speak about in trial matches and training like coaches and management at the different grades.

As a matter of interest who would you like to see included in the O'Byrne cup squad?

What young players are you referring to Murof - this has been done to death on this forum.

These phantom young players are non-existent as far as I can tell - of the last decent minor team we produced 4 of the best 6 players have been involved with senior panel.

1 (Cribben) is only available now.
1 (Hurley) is in Australia.
1 Feeley is playing Soccer

The other 3 are involved on the senior panel and have been for the past 4 years.

Where are these players that should be given a try?

I dont like naming young players as its inevitable that some posters will wade in and tear them to pieces and as young amateur players they dont deseve that. However 3 players who never got a fair run on the team were Hurley, Moolick and Brophy. I know all 3 were on the panel but both Hurley and Moolick were very badly treated when they were substituted against Dublin and Tyrone. I dont actually have a huge list in mind and never had but I found it frustating that the manager persisted with Flanagan for so long when he clearly was a very limited footballer. He kept players like Hendy, Rainbow and Brennan on the panel for a couple of years and they rarely featured. Would it not be better long term policy to have younger players there instead who might improve and feature at some stage?. If the rumours about the manager wanting to choose between college and Kildare is true then things are unlikely to change much in the future. Judging a player on a trial match is unfair, the O'Byrne Cup is designed for that surely. It's easier to improve playing along side JD and Dermot than trying to look good in a trial match with a handful of spectators.

best of luck to jimmers what ever he decides owes kildare nothing pity he didn't pick up any silverware during his playing days. Always remember the goal v meath in 2010 thanks for the memories

There's no point in criticising the management for not freshening things up when a ball has yet to be kicked in anger. Wait and see.

I expect we'll see some experimentation and we'll see a bit more of some of the younger names this winter. I think that's a lot of the reason why McGeeney is also taking the u21s this year. He sees the majority of new faces coming from that set up and its hard to disagree with him having watched the club championship. Most of the lads who were showing up well for their clubs are long established on the Kildare panel.

Sad that Jimmers won't be involved and hope that we have not seen the last of him in a Kildare jersey, likewise Cian Reynolds. On the plus side it's great that Chalky is still there and hopefully he will be around for the championship. I'd like to see him get an extended run at midfield to see can he cut it out there at inter county level.

Best of luck to Kavanagh. A player i felt prob didnt get the plaudits he deserved both within and outside the county.
His goal against Cavan in Newbridge in 2008 really kicked started the McGeeney journey.
The Kaka celebration in Carlow in 2009 was a rare moment of humor from an otherwise stoic appearing chap.
His goal against Meath in 2010 pure Class.
Mammoth point from under the Cusack Stand V Donegal to bring us back into the game in 2011.
Plus his assist for Boltons goal in Cavan this year really summed him up. The vision, the subtlety and the skill. All of which will be sorely missed in my opinion. A lad who I would have liked to have seen given a prolonged run at 14.

Good luck to the lad. For me he was our most natural forward and with that the best score taker we had. A huge loss to Kildare. It really is hard to be positive about Kildare this year and I have my doubts whether its in them to turn around last years defeat to Cork.

Murof, I think your bang out of order!!

If your good enough you will get your chance. Look at Eoin Doyle last year sure. Wasn't on the panel till after the Derry league game in March and started in all championship games bar the Meath one.
I think we have an tendency to over hype young lads in this county.

Best of luck to Jimmers who owes the Kildare set up absolutely nothing, just to clarify a couple of points from my pals in Ballymore, Jimmers married to Linda, baby due in February, he works in Dublin while she works in Westport, house built in Milltown in Galway and i know both Milltown and Galway welcome him with open arms.
I also know it is not the easiest getting a transfer from Crumlin where Jimmers is stationed to Galway or anywhere for that matter.
I don't know Jimmers that well but the bit i do know is that of a very well liked and well rounded young man, always one of the last to leave the pitch after a game where he would spend ages signing autographs and letting young fans have photographs taken with one of their heroes.
Known fact that him and Geezer were never the best of "buddies" so maybe there is a bit more than the obvious involved in him walking away.
Good luck Jimmers, Kildares fucking loss.