Kildare v Mayo

K365 wouldn't disagree with a word of it. Little details coming back like the Feely nothing line ball to Flynn... I can guarantee you a Dublin player would have been crucified at next team meeting for that. As you point out, just one of a series of utterly stupid decisions that occurred in the opening half alone.

I'm sorry but they need to hear all this – if they think they've been anything other than completely found out in Div 1, they're deluding themselves.

"Customary point on his 9000th substitute appearance" – about the only thing that made me smile on a day I want to forget as quickly as possible.

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

"Customary point on his 9000th substitute appearance" – about the only thing that made me smile on a day I want to forget as quickly as possible.

28 sub appearances..if he was ginger we could call him David Fairclough. Leper still leads the way with 43 appearances off the bench. Hope County Board is covered for splinter injuries. Roli came off bench 33 times.

kildaregaa365 wrote:

Hope County Board is covered for splinter injuries.

kildaregaa365 wrote:

Hated writing this..  really hated it.. but have got myself into the habit of chronicling matches.  Maybe now is the time to stop.

http://kildaregaa365.com/index.php/kildare-1-12-mayo-1-19-shambles/

Read that through my fingers. Brilliantly put and it gives a version which those who witnessed it can relate to instead of the sanitised account that the locals will serve up.
Agree with everything in it.

As for stopping, no way. That kind of view is absolutely necessary and whatever else are a great read.

To be fair to the locals I couldn’t write that if I was writing for them. Locals need co-operation of the management and players. Can’t be as provocative therefore. I get that.
I’m just a fan with a keyboard which gives the benefit of being able
to call it as I see it. I try not to get personal but you can’t sum up yesterday without calling some players and the management to task. Would like to think I give them due credit when it’s earned. Your typical fickle fan in other words!

Agree with everything 365 think hyland lucky to get 3/10 though....
I hope CON reads it to the players might get some sort of a reaction.....

Great write up as always KG, couldn't be there thankfully but but felt like I know what happened.
I had great hopes for this group this year thinking it might be like 97 again when a group of players got tired of losing and toughened up .
But then we had a few nasty guys like Ryan, Dalton and Lacey who could also play ball. Can't even think of one current player even remotely similar to them.
JD wasn't nasty but by God he was brilliant and so talented compared to what we have now.
Depressed now but 3 days in Cheltenham to look forward to

If things could get worse David Coldrick is referee for Saturday night in Tralee

Oh ffs.

Really think Sat night could be carnage.

Although a tiny, weeny part of me (no sniggering) clings to the “if we could just beat Kerry” morsel of hope..

kildaregaa365 wrote:

To be fair to the locals I couldn’t write that if I was writing for them. Locals need co-operation of the management and players. Can’t be as provocative therefore. I get that.
I’m just a fan with a keyboard which gives the benefit of being able
to call it as I see it. I try not to get personal but you can’t sum up yesterday without calling some players and the management to task. Would like to think I give them due credit when it’s earned. Your typical fickle fan in other words!

It's not getting personal when calling Someone's performance as a footballer or manager into question. I'm sure most lads on the panel are decent fellas doing their best . It's not a slight on them as a person , it's a slight on their footballing acumen .

Should they actually ever reach the height of being a top player or team competing for an All Ireland, they only need to look at Mayo as a team and how to deal with over the top personal criticism. It's part and parcel of being a county player. If you take it to heart You're not mentally strong enough to be there in the first place .

I always believed if I was as good a footballer as say Dan Flynn or Niall Kelly and after a loss like Sunday I'd be out in the field on Monday kicking points and pinging shots in an attempt to improve myself so it doesn't happen again . Maybe I'm watching too much sporting movies but I don't get that kind of impression from any of these Kildare players. I got it from Johnny Doyle however for some reason .

Reckon Johnny’s still out doing that Xavi. Fair points.

Was chatting to one of the Mayo players off the record last night, and fascinating insight into how top teams think. I joked could you not have gone easy as my heart is broken, he said ye kicked 14 wides. Basically while we learn little from defeats, they are furious at themselves and desperate to right wrongs in easy wins.

Doesn't surprise me Tommy, easy to tell Dublin and Mayo have a perfectionist streak. The only streak we have currently is a losing one that will likely stretch into nearly 12 months by the time league is over.

2 years ago Kildare were in Division 3. This year we lost 3 games very narrowly...by 4 points in total against hardened division 1 teams. We were outclassed by the top 2 teams in Ireland and lost by 7 each time. Is it really that unexpected? Get real ffs. We are dining at the top tier now. The same fate will befall Cavan and whoever else get up this year. Hopefully next time we can learn from the narrow defeats and do enough to stay up. To expect much more is unrealistic. 2 games still to play. Reserve your despondency at least until the campaign is over.

Thanks Lilysavage. Will be sure to check in with you before feeling anything in future.

Good to know where to go for these things.

Were you at the match? What has you so pleased with our display?

This has to be one of the most fabled learning experiences in human history. Definitely going to be several PhDs in the squad by the time it's concluded. Anyway, the good news is that they're in every Kildare team's favourite position for the next two games - the pressure is off.

Apparently O'Neill is also looking to make pre-match drills more authentic in Tralee. Instead of a group of them running in a line towards goal, they're going to stand still and pass it amongst each other. The drill concludes with one of them taking the ball into contact, getting stripped of possession and launching a counter attack that results in a goal at the other end.

"We can expect this to happen up to six times per half," said O'Neill.

Anyway, a few of the many things that baffled me on reviewing this game on recording: Hyland's leg seemed to be hanging off; Brophy apparently playing half back (?!); Donnellan's first half free (should never have taken it on); Donnellan's attempt to grow hipster beard (ditto).

Think a big problem is we're not getting the best out of our best players. I have sympathy for them all. Hylo has been proven a good man marker in the past but he was at sea with good ball coming in exactly where Moran wanted it; Doyle doesn't seem to know where he's meant to be and it led to an untypically poor performance; Paddy Brophy is stuck coming on to the ball when he's proven very effective in the past playing as a full forward with his back to goal; Niallers is trying but getting swallowed up in traffic; Feely is being asked to shoulder too much and when he misses a free it must knock his confidence.

With all that in mind I'd swap the pieces around. Move Doyle to number five and David Hyland to centre-back and both will be in their natural positions ... we'd have to try to find a full back but the risk is worth the reward.

I'd get Niall and Paddy into the full forward line, they're natural finishers. Dan Flynn can cause havoc in there at times but it gets far too predictable when he's our only outlet, so why not play him half-forward, where he can go where he needs to to influence the game. If I was an opposition manager that would be a very big headache, bigger than trying to crowd him out on your own 21.  

I'd get Neil Flynn back in asap ask him to take all the frees, and stick to this. Leave Feely to play.

Also, sorry, I know Tommy works hard, but his skills aren't up to scratch against the best teams. I'd start Fionn Dowling against Kerry because he's a better foot passer.

Another example of the square pegs in round holes is Keith Cribbin. I love what he offers us going forward but when he's asked to tackle lads running at him in our danger zone, it's a disaster. He gave away three scoreable frees in this situation in the first half. I'm not having a pop at him, I'm just saying he should start in the forwards, or not at all. He might be very well suited to a role as an impact sub and again, that's not to run him down, the 15 you finish with is just as important as the 15 you start with.

Bad as this run of results is, we're still in a better position than in the mid noughties because back then we had a generation gap where there just wasn't the talent. We have some good players now, we're just not getting the best out of them, so it's time for a rethink on how we play.

I honestly have a horrible feeling Westmeath are going to beat us again this summer.

HauntedGraffiti wrote:

I honestly have a horrible feeling Westmeath are going to beat us again this summer.

Might not be as horrible as the hiding Dubs will give us.

True.

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

Think a big problem is we're not getting the best out of our best players. I have sympathy for them all. Hylo has been proven a good man marker in the past but he was at sea with good ball coming in exactly where Moran wanted it; Doyle doesn't seem to know where he's meant to be and it led to an untypically poor performance; Paddy Brophy is stuck coming on to the ball when he's proven very effective in the past playing as a full forward with his back to goal; Niallers is trying but getting swallowed up in traffic; Feely is being asked to shoulder too much and when he misses a free it must knock his confidence.  

With all that in mind I'd swap the pieces around. Move Doyle to number five and David Hyland to centre-back and both will be in their natural positions ... we'd have to try to find a full back but the risk is worth the reward.

I'd get Niall and Paddy into the full forward line, they're natural finishers. Dan Flynn can cause havoc in there at times but it gets far too predictable when he's our only outlet, so why not play him half-forward, where he can go where he needs to to influence the game. If I was an opposition manager that would be a very big headache, bigger than trying to crowd him out on your own 21.  

I'd get Neil Flynn back in asap ask him to take all the frees, and stick to this. Leave Feely to play.

Also, sorry, I know Tommy works hard, but his skills aren't up to scratch against the best teams. I'd start Fionn Dowling against Kerry because he's a better foot passer.

Another example of the square pegs in round holes is Keith Cribbin. I love what he offers us going forward but when he's asked to tackle lads running at him in our danger zone, it's a disaster. He gave away three scoreable frees in this situation in the first half. I'm not having a pop at him, I'm just saying he should start in the forwards, or not at all. He might be very well suited to a role as an impact sub and again, that's not to run him down, the 15 you finish with is just as important as the 15 you start with.

Bad as this run of results is, we're still in a better position than in the mid noughties because back then we had a generation gap where there just wasn't the talent. We have some good players now, we're just not getting the best out of them, so it's time for a rethink on how we play.

Good assessment, but when you implement those changes you are moving half the team to new positions. That can't be a good reflection on management. I would add Conway to another player who is out of position. He will never be a half forward or any forward. He starts at centre back or no where.

Frees are a major issue, it's either Neil Flynn or Eanna O'Connor. One of them starts. I don't care if they are stinking the place out in open play. If they kick 8.5/10 frees it will be worth it. Allow Feely to concentrate on doing what he does best.

I'd also bring James Murray straight into that defence. His aggression and willingness to do what has to be done is badly missing.

So that's nearly a 2/3rds of the team changed. Thats without deciding on the full back line who might as well have been standing with me watching on Sunday.

More questions than answers.

Sensible post Ohtoo.. Its actually had a calming influence on me

My gut feeling is telling me though that the core issue is still cluelessness and panic when the heat is on. Game management and an ability to adapt to what is going on is a massive shortcoming of ours (players and management have to question themselves in this regard)

As has been aluded to , every man and his dog could see Hyland was being taken to the cleaners so why not switch it up. Not necessarily subbing him but changing tactically in game.

Raw talent is there. we cant be going mad in thinking that... Brophy, Feely, Cribben Flynn all had enough potential to be tried for professional sports so there is something there.. not sure if ability to cope under pressure has improved and this for me is key. Its also obvious the run of defeats is zapping all confidence from some players (Doyle, Feely to name but two)

Neil Flynn coming back in and the Moorefield lads should give us some more options to allow for a few tactical and positional changes over the next couple of games. Effort levels need to vastly improve rather than throwing in the towel. This was the unforgiveable element of Sundays defeat. If it wasn't for Donnelans saves we would have been done by double digits.

As an aside its amazing that an ex professional athlete such as Paul Cribben has fallen down the pecking order to such an extent that he has barely got a mention .. Are we not getting the most out of our top guys or are they just not at the level we thought they were? Perhaps its a bit of both -

I think we are all waiting for the "f*** this, we aren't going to be beaten anymore" kind of revolution from this gang but will it come?..

Plenty of ability but zero - and I mean ZERO - capacity to cope with pressure. There were a few moments in this campaign - the final stages of Monaghan game; after O'Donoghue and Feely's late points against Tyrone; after Flynn's wonder goal at the weekend - when they could have taken the Great Leap Forward, but each time, right on cue, they lost their heads and caved.

We can now see this as part of a pattern stretching back to Armagh game last summer. And they may very well come straight back up next year, but until they produce it when it counts in a big game, you can take it they have a nice big asterisk next to every thing they do. I swear to god, I'm sick looking at them.