Kildare v Sligo

Apropos League Sunday. Did anybody else think that whelan's grin was sly and smug after Dermot mentioned that Kildare would definitely get promoted? Maybe I should find something else to get annoyed about. But I do find him obnoxious when it comes his commentaries on Kildare

Of course, after winning the opening four games, I had to open my big mouth and say we'd "definitely" get promoted. Will I ever learn?!

Did Cian O'Neill do an interview with KFM today? Just wondering if anyone caught it and heard his take...

From afar, it looks to me like we fielded a very weak team - the type we'd put out in the O'Byrne Cup - and we were punished for it. We aren't good enough to take the piss in this division and get away with it.

Yea he did an interview on KFM today. He basically said he's still trying out different players. They've started 29 different players in the league so far. It's not just about winning one match he's thinking long term so wants to get a good look at players. He said they were skating on thin ice the last few matches and players aren't happy with how they are performing but the mistakes they're making are all things they can fix. He wasn't happy with the referee (but didn't blame him for the loss) and said it took them three attempts to get a sub on as there was something wrong with the linesman's radio thing which was unacceptable. Bolton has a re-occurring back injury so needed to come off. He was asked about the U21 players and said they are fully released to the U21 squad for now as it's important they play with them and it would be great for Kildare GAA in general if they could win something. That was the general gist of it.

Thanks for that Lily8, good update.

To be fair, it is good to try out players. Looking at the likes of Tyrell, O'Connor, Byrne and a few others who've come in - I suppose they've all had one or two good moments, but have any of them really put their hand up? Not for me they haven't. And Tyrell got sent off today. I actually thought the refereeing was an improvement on last week (not hard admittedly) and was a far less of a factor today.

In general, the quality of the players he's trying out isn't as high as those we have coming through from U21 and minor. That's just my opinion of course.

Certain deficiencies are fixable alright but for me a big concern would have to be the way we were opened up today. The league is nearly over - good luck trying to fix that in two weeks before you play the likes of Kerry or Dublin!

I agree with him about the U21s. However, personally, I'd be benching a few lads next day out and moving closer to the championship team. There's a core of players there who've had plenty of chances without delivering the goods.

Terribly disappointing result but on balance we're lucky to have won two of the last three. Disappointed also with our apparent lack of strength in depth. However on balance I think now is the time to try players, if good enough we'll still qualify and everyone will have had a fair shot. Glad also that the 21st are left alone , it will stand to them in the long run.

Anyone play well today?

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Anyone play well today?

Not in any sustained manner. Fitz, Ollie, Feely, N.Kelly, Moolick had their moments but all of them mixed the good with the bad.

Well, let's see...

Donnellan had a nightmare.

Collectively, the defence were pulled all over the place, particularly in the second half, although Ollie Lyons made a few trademark surging runs. Sick of saying it, but his attacking potential would be much better realised from half back. There's a reason Dublin didn't play Jack McCaffrey in the corner.

Midfield - Feely and Moolick both put their shoulder to the wheel, and Moolick kicked a couple of points, although neither was as dominant as they can be. They were both out on their feet by the end - a situation not helped by Donnellan's kickouts and their sledgehammer subtlety.

Of the forwards who started, Niall Kelly is the one elite level player. As always, O'Neill and Callaghan gave their all, although it is pretty alarming that we're still relying on them. This is 2016 not 2010!

After that I am running out of players.

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Anyone play well today?

Was happy with Moolick's performance considering he's only coming back. Lyons and Feely did well enough. Niall Kelly got two good points near the end. Thought McNally, O'Donoghue and Johnny Byrne made a difference when they came on.

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

Thanks for that Lily8, good update.

To be fair, it is good to try out players. Looking at the likes of Tyrell, O'Connor, Byrne and a few others who've come in - I suppose they've all had one or two good moments, but have any of them really put their hand up? Not for me they haven't. And Tyrell got sent off today. I actually thought the refereeing was an improvement on last week (not hard admittedly) and was a far less of a factor today.

In general, the quality of the players he's trying out isn't as high as those we have coming through from U21 and minor. That's just my opinion of course.

Certain deficiencies are fixable alright but for me a big concern would have to be the way we were opened up today. The league is nearly over - good luck trying to fix that in two weeks before you play the likes of Kerry or Dublin!

I agree with him about the U21s. However, personally, I'd be benching a few lads next day out and moving closer to the championship team. There's a core of players there who've had plenty of chances without delivering the goods.

Mine too. That's the big worry. Not sure there's that much talent in the under-21s to make a huge difference for a year or two either although if they could even bring some pace in attack it would help. Today was pedestrian and depressing. Not sure how we managed to score 2-14.

Thanks lads. HG maybe the kickout thing is predetermined? Maybe he's not allowed go short?

While we do have players to come back like Cribbin, Flynn and Doyle, the general lack of urgency today was concerning. O'Neill's comments after last week were clearly designed to light a fire under a few lads but we never looked like a team who were up for it at any stage today.

We do lack quality in certain areas which is forgivable but we were totally outworked today by a fairly limited outfit. The selections in the next two games are going to tell a lot.

The strength in depth has to be a concern, because expecting a few lads to come in from U21 and save the day - it's not going to happen. They're only going to be finding their feet at senior level and it could take a couple of years for them to properly bed in. We scored two 2-14 thanks to a couple of fortuitous goals!

The kick-outs in the second half... if Cluxton has made it into an artform, Donnellan displayed philistine tendencies. He's all warhead, little or no guidance system. Feely and Moolick had scud missiles raining down on them and weren't making much head way. In fairness, I've seen him do much better in the past so maybe just a bad day at the office.

Thanks lads. HG maybe the kickout thing is predetermined? Maybe he's not allowed go short?

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

From afar, it looks to me like we fielded a very weak team - the type we'd put out in the O'Byrne Cup - and we were punished for it. We aren't good enough to take the piss in this division and get away with it.

I'd agree with this. We had Adam Tyrell, Eanna O'Connor and Matty Byrne in the half-forward line and this is way too experimental for me. Especially with O'Flaherty and McNally on the bench. I also thought it was a mistake to play Fergal Conway on the wing. He looked out of sorts there and it took ages to change it. I also thought it was strange to move Hyland to centre-back after doing well at full-back recently.

The selection seemed to take Sligo for granted. The priority should be to get out of this division as quickly as possible.

Trying to look on the bright side the manager has been very fair in giving players a second or even third chance. We saw enough today that several players are not up to the standard required but if he had not tried them many of us would have been complaining later in the summer that the best players in the county did not get a fair trial.
On the bright side a bit longer, we look to have found some good prospects in Feely, Byrne and O'Donoghue. Hyland and Flynn are back on board and look as if they will have good seasons and there are some very good footballers like Cribben, Doyle and the U21's to come back.
Better to take a loss now and learn about what players can and cant do rather than bring them on in Croke Park later in the summer and be disappointed.
Not wishing to restart the TOC debate again but he would have given us an option to beat the blanket defence today. We really need to find a ball winning full forward as we are so pedestrian in getting the ball forward. And at the other end our tackling is abysmal and has to improve before the summer.

I'm just curious as to what u21s are likely to nail down a permanent place before the championship ?.
There's a lot of mention here of "the u21s to come in / back in". . I wouldn't say flynn, Houli or sherry are certain to start.. or am I wrong ?.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

I'm just curious as to what u21s are likely to nail down a permanent place before the championship  ?.
There's a lot of mention here of "the u21s to come in / back in". . I wouldn't say flynn, Houli or sherry are certain to start.. or am I wrong  ?.

On the basis of what I saw in the last two games I'd say two of those three you named are certain starters.

Just from listening to O Neills interview, I got the impression he was happier with what he saw this week than what he saw against Limerick. Maybe I am picking it up wrong.

Anyway regardless I'm happy enough the u21s are being left to concentrate on Wednesday night.

murof wrote:

Not wishing to restart the TOC debate again but he would have given us an option to beat the blanket defence today. We really need to find a ball winning full forward as we are so pedestrian in getting the ball forward.

I'd be with you on that murof

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Thanks lads. HG maybe the kickout thing is predetermined? Maybe he's not allowed go short?

He kicked one kick out directly to Roli on the line,

Gaa1928 wrote:

I think this game will be tough enough.

Thought as much, I know that we are still experimenting but I feel that we should have selected a stronger team to ensure promotion first and foremost.   We should have known that Niall and Roli would have Sligo up for this game.

Gaa1928 wrote:

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Thanks lads. HG maybe the kickout thing is predetermined? Maybe he's not allowed go short?

He kicked one kick out directly to Roli on the line,

The lack of kickout strategy has been Kildares big downfall over the last couple of years.

Donnellan and Corley are top class Keepers but when it comes to there kickouts they lack the requirements to implement the proper kick-out (they look like a forty foot trailer turning when giving a quick kick out). They seem not to be confident in standing back and waiting for a space to develop to give a quick ball,
of course you have to practice in this area and i dont know if Kildare are doing this in training.
I did a few stats on games in the league and we are down as low as the 50s% mark and only as high as 63% on possession of our OWN kickouts...
9/10s of the law is possession in winning matches and Kildare need to develop better tactics in this area and get this to 70%-85% of winning our own kick outs......