Kildare v Kerry

How do we see this one going? What changes would you make?

The defence requires a bit of surgery but we are so short on options at the moment that it's hard to see who will come in. I suspect Hyland will start instead of McGrillen. I would like to see Campbell getting a run at full back but playing three rookies in that line is probably not going to happen against a team like Kerry. Fergal Conway will most likely come back in at 6 although there could be a case for trying Chalky there with O'Neill or Flynn (if he's ready) coming into midfield. Forwards likely to remain the same if all are fit. I'd like to see Fogarty get a start but to be fair to Tomás it's hard to drop him given his improved form so far this year. I wonder will we see the Allenwood maestro sprung from the bench at some stage?

paddy power kildare 4 / 5 to relgated


joe mc quillian is ref the match @ 2.30PM

our defense clearly needs some work and a lot would depend on who is available but i would like to see foley or chalky @ 6, mollick and hurley if daryl not fit @ 8-9, brophy, flats and p cribbin with mulhall, tomas and fogarthy inside. Kerry ruled the air ways last year but kicked an amount of wides so a big challenge awaits

Only place I'd play Chalky atm is full back, he's not cutting it at centre field and I don't know what he could bring to centre back. I'd be disappointed if he stuck will the same full back line. Other than that, Conway at centre back same as with the rest.

i'd hope chalky or foley could bring some experience and organisation to the half back line . the hand passing out of defense was very poor and is an obvious area where we could and should improve

Huge game, tough one to call. If the defence doesn't tighten up, it's hello Portlaoise and Navan. Hopefully if we can improve in that department, we'll have enough scoring power to get us over the line. Gonna keep the faith and go for us to win, just.

Selecting the full-back line is a really hard call. Dropping McGrillen and Foley could backfire, starting them could backfire. Given the lack of options (David Hyland is a half-back in my book) I'd probably start them but be ready to make changes quickly if things don't improve.
Assuming Emmet is available, I'd start with:
Connolly;
McGrillen, Foley, O'Grady;
Hyland, Conway, Bolton;
Moolick, White;
P Cribbin, O'Flaherty, Hurley;
Mulhall, O'Connor, Brophy.
With Murnaghan ready to come in at half-back and Hyland to revert to full-back if McGrillen or Foley aren't playing well early on. And Paudie also ready to come in at midfield or half-forward.

It cant really backfire any worse than it has OTB.. Cant see Hugh starting this one in fairness..

SeamusMurphy wrote:

It cant really backfire any worse than it has OTB.. Cant see Hugh starting this one in fairness..

You're probably right, I reckon he'll probably drop him for Hyland. I'm just saying that I don't see Hyland or Murnaghan as a corner-back and with Lyons, Peter Kelly and Eoin Doyle out Hugh might still be the best option, even given how badly he did on Andrews.

But I couldn't argue if he didn't start.

Giving it is a must win game it would be a danger to start two rookies like Campbell and to a lesser extent Hyland but without being harsh I dont see them doing any worse than Hughie and Foley at the moment.. Hughie seems completely out of form right now while I personally think Foley has last that yard of pace he had.. Too many times has he been caught behind his marker this season.. It is a worry..

Kerry will be fully of confidence and they will have no worries coming to Newbridge and will fancy their chances... We need to keep the full forward line quiet especially O Donoughue.. If we can keep it tight at the the back I would hope we could get enough scores to win.. That will take that bit of pressure off going into Derry and Westmeath.. I would personally go for Hyland for Mcgrillen and Fergal Conway for Chalky.. Stick Hurley in midfield with Paul Cribbin/Keith Cribbin pushing into the forwards.

What really worry me is if he left the backs as they were. Foley has been below par in nearly every game including O'Byrne cup yet Ryan is persisting with him, maybe even with no experience would be a better option.

The only viable alternative to Foley at full back is P Kelly who is not available at the moment.
I think Foley will be our full back for the championhsip so it is worth persisting with him and letting him get up to speed as to allow him hit form for the summer.
Remember the full back line in most of our games have been left isolated as our half back line surges forward and often gets turned over.

Umpireontheditch, we can't persist with foley the way he is playing. If u don't drop him now and this form continues into the summer, u are left with an out of form full back and no idea how good/bad the other options are.

Lads everyone is crucifying the defence but Christ there is no protection. That Dublin forward line will destroy most defences when they are given space to run into.
We have been looking for a number 6 for years but who plays with a Glenn Ryan nowadays. Teams have a system and that involves good work from midfield and half forwards and that needs mobile players.
Playing Paul Cribbo at the back is grand at times but neither him nor Keith are defenders. Even though Alan Brogan is nowhere near right Paul was way off him because he can't actually mark a man. I am not picking on him as I think he should be half forward and that's it.
The defence needs protection! Not much we can do if we are missing sticky men like Kelly and Lyons at the moment mind but MF and half forwards need to up the work rate when they hit Croker.

TopCat, very naive of you to blame this on Foley, they are basically being left wide open. All forwards prosper in space. Foley is a class act and will come good with game time

So basically and correct me if I am wrong here, you believe it is a system failure whereby, we are not giving enough cover to the full back line, I wouldn't disagree with that, however if a player doesn't fit or can't operate in the system the manager wants to use, then surely said manager has to try and find players who do fit what he is trying to do?

Foley has played full back in all bar one of Kildare's games this year and in my opinion has struggled in all of them, if one of the newer players were playing to that level of form they would have been dropped ages ago. I believe Foley should be held to the same standard as everyone else on the panel. i.e if your not performing we will try someone else to see if they fair any better.

Can someone explain to me how "lack of protection" causes a full back to be consistently yards behind his man? Is he expecting someone else to mark them? Forgive me if that's a naive question - I was a tricky corner forward (well the corner forward piece is true) and there was nothing I loved more than knowing my market was going stay 5 yards behind me when the ball was coming in. It stands to reason. Both Hugh and Mick seem either too slow or too afraid of a card to get "out in front".
I don't think it is unreasonable at game 5 of the league for Mick to be up to speed in terms of sharpness. If we had a Peter Kelly-type alternative he would be replaced by 99% of managers including Ryan I would imagine.

What gets me with Foley is when he has the ball he runs towards the spot that has most opponents. Now that's fine if having drawn in the opponents he gets the ball away to free team-mates. The problem is that too often he now gets bottled up and loses the ball, as happened when he got the Black Card.

When he got the ball on that occasion he had free Kildare players to his right and his left. He chose to run into the group of Dubs in the middle lost the ball and fouled. Why did he not move left or right initially???

Imagine what those Dublin Forwards would do to our Full Back line come June, when the sod is hard and the Sun is shining... and with Brogan, Mannion, Costello to come back in.. Help us.

Kelf I see what you're saying but it's easier to play in the full-back line if there's pressure on the ball out the field. At the moment he has to mark forwards who are faster than him and are getting the ball exactly where they want it. When he won his All-Star at full-back Kildare were a lot meaner and no better man to read the game and win 50-50s when the ball in is not perfect.

Anyway I wouldn't give up on Mick yet, couple years left in him if he recovers form. Is a move up the field out of the question?

Class is permenent. Drop Foley, throw some one in for the last few league games, that'll go tits up and then we revert back to Foley for the summer minus those 3 league games sharpness. P Kelly is the only other option but i feel he'd be better served in the corner!

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Kelf I see what you're saying but it's easier to play in the full-back line if there's pressure on the ball out the field. At the moment he has to mark forwards who are faster than him and are getting the ball exactly where they want it. When he won his All-Star at full-back Kildare were a lot meaner and no better man to read the game and win 50-50s when the ball in is not perfect.

Anyway I wouldn't give up on Mick yet, couple years left in him if he recovers form. Is a move up the field out of the question?

I said this earlier in the year that I think he could be what we're missing at centre back where pace isnt so vital. He could sure up the middle.

umpireonditch wrote:

Class is permenent. Drop Foley, throw some one in for the last few league games, that'll go tits up and then we revert back to Foley for the summer minus those 3 league games sharpness. P Kelly is the only other option but i feel he'd be better served in the corner!

Don't understand that logic, remind us where and how Peter Kelly originally arrived on the scene...

Peter Kelly went into thte corner for starters which is a tad less risky. His job was mainly to mark a man. At full back its a bit less about the man and more about the position.

Kelly also came in on the back of scorching performances in training and in a number of challenge matches played in the wake of the defeat to Louth in the first round of Leinster that year.

If there is a simillar player shooting the lights out in that position in training by all means throw him in. But I do not believe there is and there was nothing in that position that stood out down in Athy last Wednesday night either.

The fact of the matter is, we will need Mick Foley at the top of his game during the summer at full back, dropping him now isn't going to help him get towards that.

I remember in 2012 Brolly talking about McGuinness and about his psychology with players.
After a league game Brolly asked Jim why he hadn't taken McFadden off despite him having an absolute nightmare of a game. Jim said something along the lines of " McFadden will be our go to guy in the championship so he has to be fully confident and not be looking over to the sideline at any stage wondering if he is going to be kept off. Knowing that he was fully trusted by management was great for his confidence and then his performance".
My point in Foley is proven class and as they say form is temperary class is permenent. Good to see a manager back his players with the longer term in mind.