Player Watch

SeamusMurphy wrote:

From what was witnessed Saturday, I wouldnt say Jason is too optimistic..
For Me, Conor Brophy and Ollie Lyons stood out, and I suppose Id have to mention Adam Tyrell for Moorefield, but Jason wont be calling up any Forwards from the First Match..

For all their multitude of Talent, Athy managed 6 first half points, and 4 second half points.. Who was it on here that was calling for Eaton, Reynolds, etc to be added to Panel ???
Robbie Confrey, Mattie Byrne and Ben Mac (2nd half) stood out for Me..

Agree on Conor Brophy . Find it strange that he cannot get into Kildare panel given our lack of strength in the midfield area

Though Conor Brophy was effective but every time he got into a good position to score he turned back to hand it off. That is not a good sign in my eyes. Most if not all county footballers would be able to score in those positions no matter where they play on the field. Maybe he is just a good athlete? Only my opinion.

Ollie was prominent throughout.

Thought corner backs for moorefield were tight and had great battles with their men eventually winning them.

Cian o connor looked accurate and seemed o be assured in his play.

When Moorefield got into scoring positions they took them. Celbridge could not.

Scoring wouldnt be Conors strongest Point.. Then again looking at both Matches, was their any stand out Forward ?, certainly not in Blue or Red Jerseys anyway..

Fair point SM. No stand out forwards in any of the games

I thought Ben McCormack was the best forward on show on Saturday. Athy couldn't handle his pace and direct running.

I agree Conor Brophy was impressive. I'm not sure he has the skill for inter-county level but you couldn't fault his work-rate.

I also thought Barry Coffey was impressive for Sarsfields. He's an excellent kick-passer - a skill that seems to be dying out.

Barry was good in fairness.. Where did our U21 Manager play Him this Year ?, Half Forward ?
Great battle between Cambo and Eaton..
Moorefields Goal, which ultimatly won them the Game, was for Me such an obvious push, that the Ref somehow didnt see.. Moorefield also must have went at least over 20 mins without scoring.. In saying that, will they be as bad again ?.

Pascal Connell looked good carrying the ball, passing players at ease, got done for taking too much out of the ball but that can be coached out of him! I'd imagine he will be involved in the senior panel

umpireonditch wrote:

Pascal Connell looked good carrying the ball, passing players at ease, got done for taking too much out of the ball but that can be coached out of him! I'd imagine he will be involved in the senior panel

Was surprised by Athy management as he played well around the middle in the first half but he seemed rooted in the Half Forward line for the 2nd half. He was doing well I thought early on.

Pascal is a powerful runner with the ball alright but doesn't seem in as much of a hurry to track his man back, Robbie Confrey got forward on numerous occasions to damaging effect for Sarsfields on Saturday, I believe he was directly involved in 1.03 for Sarsfield in the 2nd half which is a huge total for a wing back.

Athy seemed to kick most kickouts in Pascals direction, and He won His share.. While He is strong on the Ball, His distribution lets Him down.. maybe that will improve in time.. Kicking Coach !!!

SeamusMurphy wrote:

Who was it on here that was calling for Eaton, Reynolds, etc to be added to Panel.

Me, still stand by it. I got Darroch Mulhall and Niall Kelly right! I believe they deserve a chance.

Also, I did have a dig at Athy earlier so I'm not blinkered about them by any means... I do think those players have something to offer. Not saying they're the Gooch or Bernard Brogan or anything but they're good, like Mulhall and Kelly.

Also, I tend only to see the odd championship match, maybe more informed observers could offer a better perspective...

Is it maybe a bit odd there aren't more Moorefield and Sarsfields players pushing for places in the Kildare squad, given that they have been the most consistent teams over the past couple of years?

I wasnt suggesting You were biased HG, but are all the above good enough for Inter County ?.. Not on the evidence so far imo.. With your suggestions, and others, we should have 5 out of the 6 (that started v the Sash) Athy Forwards on the County Panel.. again, Athy scored 6 first half points and 4 second half.. free taking wasnt of Inter County standard, or most of their decision making..

Yeah no, that's fair enough Seamus.

I am interested in what people think of Moorefield and Sars though - who could genuinely make the step-up... I mean, you'd think there'd be more than there are given their recent dominance... Like, there's loads of Athy and Celbridge players with the Kildare seniors and underage, it's odd.

Ross Glavin, Ciaran Kelly, David Whyte, Tom Corley, Kevin O'Neill and the Lonergans have had chances in the past. Murnaghan and Tyrrell will likely be on the panel again next year. Maybe if Eanna O'Connor is interested he will be tried out.

From Sarsfields maybe Sean Campbell might get more opportunities for Kildare next year. Conor Tiernan couldn't commit last year. Ray Cahill is one player who could see action in the O'Byrne Cup considering we are not exactly overstocked in the half forward line.

Yeah, Ray Cahill has been a key player for Sarsfields for a few years now. He's certainly given some impressive performances.

Did he get a chance at all before, or did he train with Kildare at any stage?

Think he was there last year, but got a groin injury that meant he wasn't able to show his talents.

Well able to kick scores off both feet, even kicks frees off his left for Sarsfields.

Lads the thing is, there's only so many forwards you can have on a county panel. Lads who'll definitely be there next year (barring injury/retirement)include Leper, Cathsy, Flats, Niall Kelly, Paul Cribbin, Mulhall, Smith, Fogarty, O'Connor, Paudie. Then you'd have the likes of Robbie Dunne, Fionn Dowling, Adam Tyrrell who were involved last year.

Not saying we shouldn't give new lads a chance but if you took every suggestion from the past few posts you'd be adding Cahill, Eaton, Reynolds, O'Connor. Chris Healy will probably be worth a panel place in the next couple of years if he keeps progressing. Wayne Fitzpatrick has also been mentioned.

That's 19 forwards. We can only field six. And we can muck about with who makes up the fringe players but the reality is that when Kildare play championship next year, it's highly likely the six forwards will come from the first 10 players I mentioned. The rest are making up the numbers.

Out of that list of players Ohtoo only Smith, Cribben, Kelly and possibly Mulhall would be automatic choices for the squad next year in my opinion.

The others for various reasons i.e form, miles on the clock, injury prone or just not suiting the way Ryan wants to play should be in the same boat as every other player.
There are a number of current players who have been on the end of too many bad defeats and are basically shell shocked, the time to freshen things up a little might just be here.
That's not to say you throw the baby out with the bath water but the time is close to a changing of the guard.

I'd like to see youth get a chance. In that I mean have a few old experienced heads in certain positions and let the younger lads have a go. It's a young mans game now, let them go out and express themselves. I think people no matter the results would get behind a youthful team giving their all rather than the same players of the last 7 years shipping more heavy defeats.

We are a long way off the top table so why not try something different, tell the lads that results are important but not the end of the world. It's about giving everything you have, playing with courage and belief in your own abilities and if people see you doing that they will be happy enough.

Ask yourself when was the last game you thought that every Kildare player gave everything they had for the jersey in a match. Donegal 2011 would be my answer, that is over three years ago. It's got to change.

Cant disagree Rex, there is no doubt McGeeney was very loyal to certain Players.. and I hope that Jason hasnt the same attitude.. Jason and Murph were seen together at a few Matches lately, so maybe there will be a bit of unity here..

OTB , I have seen a lot of Club Matches this Term, and have seen most Players from that list above, and from what I have seen a good few are not up to Inter County Football..

Good points there Rex about how much some players have left to offer. Successful counties like Kilkenny will always put there faith in young players and use experienced players to fill the central positions.
The McGeeney era is over and if we can find a few defenders and have a better defensive set up we can have a good year next year. Fitzpatrick showed this year what he can do when finally given a chance and maybe Campbell could do likewise.
Expectations are a lot lower now and with Dublin dominant it might give us a chance to establish ourselves as their main challlenger for the future. It's easier do that starting with a younger age profile.

Some of those Minors from last Year might be worth looking at, they certainly showed no fear of the Dubs in Parnell Park,.. But maybe lets see how they do with the U21s first I suppose.

Most inter county panels carry about 30+ players these days so there is always going to be room for new additions especially given the chances that inevitably there will be a small percentage of that 30+ who are injured, losing form, not able to commit etc.

We are going to be without Brophy and Hurley (lined out in the half forwards as much as he did at midfield) next year so that's two places up for grabs straight away. There were also a few guys last year who looked well off the pace which is a pity because they have been great servants to Kildare football. Who knows whether they will be back again for another year. I would agree with the list of names Rex has put up as automatic choices although I would also add Eoghan O'Flaherty to it. O'Neill would be another but he seems to be seen as more of a midfield option these days.

We will have a solid enough panel compared to the majority of counties. Outside of Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Mayo and probably Cork we measure up favourably enough to the rest. We probably have better depth of numbers than most. Where we fall down is the lack of real top quality players; guys that would walk on to any other team in the country. We had two in Johnny Doyle and Dermot Earley for most of their careers but it's difficult to make a case for any of our players nowadays. A fully fit Peter Kelly might possibly have a case as would an in form Emmet Bolton. Some of the younger guys have potential (Paul Cribbin, Niall Kelly, Eoin Doyle) but that is all they have at the moment. They have to go and do it on the big days.

That's what is most disappointing about the loss of players like Brophy and Flynn. They could possibly have been the future All Star players that a county like Kildare desperately needs to be successful. We cannot afford to lose players who have that potential. At the moment we could pick any number of combinations of 15 from a group of around 40 footballers and produce similar results. We need a few guys to develop in much the same way like Johnny Doyle developed into a top footballer in his mid to late twenties and that is not an easy task.

I heard that a Number of Players have being added to Jasons Panel to play some up and coming challenge Matches.. Has anyone any info ?

GK: James Robinson (Round Towers), Tom Corley (Moorefield), Robbie Eyres (Clane)

DEF: Brian Kinahan (Athy), Liam Healy (Moorefield), Jamie Brilly (Rathcoffey), Luke Flynn (Johnstownbridge), Seamus McNally (Johnstownbridge), Donnachadh McDonnell (Sarsfields), David Slattery (Confey), Barry Coffey (Sash), Ryan Houlihan (Moorefield), Eddie Delahunt (Athy), Paul Clifford (Sallins)

MID: Conor Brophy (Celbridge), Johnny Byrne (Allenwood), Paschal Connell (Athy), Mattie Byrne (Sarsfields), Jason Acton (Rathcoffey),

FWD: Adam Tyrell (Moorefield), Ray Cahill (Sarsfields), Neil Flynn (Maynooth), Ciaran Gravin (Clougherinkoe), Stuart Murphy (Round Towers), Cian Bolton (Eadestown), Shane O'Rourke (Kilcock), Eanna O'Connor (Moorefield), James Eaton (Athy), Chris Healy (Two Mile House), Andy O'Neill (Straffan)

Trial games against Laois in Athy on Sunday 12th October, Meath in Kilcock on Thursday 16th October and Carlow in St Laurences on Thursday 30th October.