All Ireland 2023

Someone might as well start it.

No guarantee we'll be in the top tier but as it stands, we're 15th on the list (12 ahead us in league, Westmeath and Sligo/Leitrim all above us for quaification). That means to miss out, two of these three would need to happen:

- Meath to reach a Leinster final
- Clare or Limerick beat Cork
- Cavan/Down beat both Armagh and Donegal

Could very well happen, so no guarantees but we are where we are with our own issues. Way I see it, way more questions that answers around the following areas.

1. Set-up.
What's our style exactly?
Can we stop giving up endless goal chances?
Can we create any?
Can we be more direct and stop the back-and-forth across pitch?
Can we implement a good kick-out strategy?
Can we implement a strategy on the opposition kick-outs?
Can we improve on the basic skills even?
Can our shot selection improve?

2. Team.
Anyone have any clue, particularly in forwards, as to what best line-up us?
What's up with form of Dan Flynn and Jimmy Hyland?
How fit is Kevin Feeley?

3. Attitude.
Players may not like the management but that management is there for the summer at last, so do they throw away a year or buy in and give it their all?

Personally worried, depsite yesterday, but time will tell.

Jimmy’s been injured

TommyKeegan wrote:

Someone might as well start it.

No guarantee we'll be in the top tier but as it stands, we're 15th on the list (12 ahead us in league, Westmeath and Sligo/Leitrim all above us for quaification). That means to miss out, two of these three would need to happen:

- Meath to reach a Leinster final
- Clare or Limerick beat Cork
- Cavan/Down beat both Armagh and Donegal

Could very well happen, so no guarantees but we are where we are with our own issues. Way I see it, way more questions that answers around the following areas.

1. Set-up.
What's our style exactly?
Can we stop giving up endless goal chances?
Can we create any?
Can we be more direct and stop the back-and-forth across pitch?
Can we implement a good kick-out strategy?
Can we implement a strategy on the opposition kick-outs?
Can we improve on the basic skills even?
Can our shot selection improve?

2. Team.
Anyone have any clue, particularly in forwards, as to what best line-up us?
What's up with form of Dan Flynn and Jimmy Hyland?
How fit is Kevin Feeley?

3. Attitude.
Players may not like the management but that management is there for the summer at last, so do they throw away a year or buy in and give it their all?

Personally worried, depsite yesterday, but time will tell.

Ok let me have a crack at this one.

Granted my attendance at away games has been poor but anyhow.

1) Style: We have a style, i think its patient, dull and lethargic. Very systematic and often that kind of style can lead to sloppy handpasses & kicks that are never on (as channels are blocked and congested due to slow build up). This is not a dig or a pop at management. But I think we can all agree, we are dont have a clue how to counter attack at pace.

Solution to above: Play with pace, immediately when we turnover ball, we should commit the ball forward (the ball is key here), im not saying bomb up the field and leave us open, but at least bomb the ball forward, fizz everything quick and fast. We dont have big hardy players (thats a fact) but we do have quite a few fast young nippy lads, move the ball & try get it into kirwan,jimmy, jack, paddy,flynners,neilers. The talent in that group is crazy, lets feed them quick ball.

2) Defensively: Get contact on around the oppostion full back line. ( bear with me here), lets press from the top hold our block high and stop worrying about teams breaking our press, if we cant hold our block, we just foul. It's slightly agricultural advice, but i think we are conceding a hell of a lot of ball where teams are building from. Lob 4 up top on oppostion kickouts, and force everything long on kevin and KOC. Lets not try re invent the wheel, we have 4 great hands around that middle area. Full back line has been poor but i think that stems from poor contact by forwards.

3) Basic skills are poor- but look mayby management can look at a coiple of skills sessions, taper down the fitness work and just focus on execution. These players are incredibly skillful just not showing it- at this moment in time I would worry more about us not scoring. But yes, fundamentals are crucial I agree, but no point in worrying about skills if your just fluting around the oppostion d going no where.

4) i dont want to comment on team selection- but saying that we need power pace and energy.

PACE, POWER, SPEED, ENERGY, PRESS

that should be the focus for the summer.

We will not beat dublin unless we learn to score 2-15 minimum.

For the first time in probably 11/12 seasons, Dublin appear to be beatable . The aura that once surrounded them seems to be somewhat dissipated.

It's just so very frustrating that our own house seems to be in its worst order since the mid 00s.

I've written off this year if I'm honest. The wins over Limerick and Meath mask massive deficiencies all over the pitch.

We beat Louth on the 1st May 2022 by 16 points in the Leinster Championship. Less than 1 year later. We lost to them by 5 points. A 21 point turn around in 10 months. And ultimately if we fail to make the All Ireland series it will be this game where we failed.

Louth have not won a match at u20 grade since 2018. 5vyears since they've won a game at u20.

It's criminal.

I said that on here before it's disgraceful that for the first time in years. The dubs whether people on here want to admit it or not ARE beatable in particular in Leinster and Kildare should have been ready to at least try and I was laughed at.
Lets be honest if we had decent managment, a well coached, drilled team who truly believed in their system of play and who would give it their all for the cause because they truly truly believed in what they were doing. To arrive up to Croke Park believing its their day. Put that in with all the Kildare supporters shouting them on it would go a long way to beating that shower but thats not what we have here. It is so disappointing.

But look I will glady and I mean glady take back anything. I have said if the team and management pull off the biggest shock of the championship if not the biggest shock in the gaa in the last 5 years if they were to beat Dublin in Leinster. I wouldnt have belived anyone if they said to me at halftime in 2000 Kildare would win. Stranger things can happen on a gaa day, but first Wicklow/Carlow.They have only a few weeks to implement an actual gameplan/ new system of play. Can that be done?

So I guess we need to be shouting for Cork on Sunday if we want to play Sam Maguire.

Presume footballers will play home championship games in Portlaoise? Any idea where hurlers will host McDonagh Cup games?

So Clare just won. Along with Sligo/New York ending up in a provincial final, alongside Clare or Limerick...we are provisionally 15th in the rankings if I'm doing it right?

Thin ice...if Louth don't make Leinster final, and Meath do...and then Westmeath as TC winners of 2022 replace us as the lowest ranked team? So TC for us.

That's accounting for no surprise in Ulster too.

EDIT: I'm confusing myself. I guess Meath are top 16 already, so do they 'leapfrog' us then? but they are the same as us in the sense a Munster finalist and Connaught finalist below them shunt them down the order too.

In fairness we committed daylight robbery in Ennis. Clare deserve to be ahead of us. Neither ourselves or Meath have any business in the Sam Maguire competition. Congrats to Clare.

Basically if one of Meath, Down, Cavan ( or Fermanagh) reach a Provincial final , we are playing Tailteann. Its looking a lot more likely now, Meath will be all out for that. Cavan are in good nic and very capable of beating Armagh at home. Donegal in disarray.

Well done to Davy Burke again who in their right mind was on that panel that choose Ryan over him sickening.... well done to Roscommon work rate, all rowing in behind the cause, right tactics for the right game, shrewd management in that tactics and plans are changed depending on the opposition and weather. Ive no doubt we would have had a good go at Dublin with Burke at the helm.
Its a big two fingers up to the Kildare county board deserveldly so.

Well done to Davy Burke again who in their right mind was on that panel that choose Ryan over him sickening.... well done to Roscommon work rate, all rowing in behind the cause, right tactics for the right game, shrewd management in that tactics and plans are changed depending on the opposition and weather. Ive no doubt we would have had a good go at Dublin with Burke at the helm.
Its a big two fingers up to the Kildare county board deservedly so.

This whole “we are in the Tailteann cup if…” thing has always kinda irked me. If we’re all just going to assume that Dublin beat us in a Leinster semi, then what would we want to be in the Sam Maguire for anyway? We, like Clare, Cavan, Down, Meath, whoever can stay in the All Ireland race as long as we keep winning. Time to stop thinking about everyone else and to make our own luck.

Based on the Leinster final last year it's going to take a bit more than luck to beat Dublin. Our form since has been awful at times. No guarantee we will beat Wicklow without a major improvement in tactics.

Some day , someone will explain to me how we let davy go . That was a tactical masterclass

Yep, if Cavan or Down reach Ulster final we are gone, OR Meath reach Leinster final. Former unlikely, but think we might be nervously hoping Westmeath or Louth do in the Royals. My natural reaction to Tailteann maybe is problem, I'd be embarrassed celebrating it and no guarantee of winning it.

Clubman wrote:

Some day , someone will explain to me how we let davy go . That was a tactical masterclass

What I would like to know is wasn't there a selection committee of 4 and some high up director of gaa appointed to find the right man for the Kildare job.
What on earth was their conclusion? Seriously? Why was Ryan actually choosen over Burke? What was the actual rationale?

I think Glenn Ryan was chosen just to get supporters on side with county board. I was never a fan of Davy Burke but I've turned & think County board made a massive mistake.

I've a feeling the ship has sailed with Davy and Kildare. He'll be in with a shout for the Dublin job if all keeps going well with Ros. He was involved with their ladies for a couple of years, so they know him.

The only manager this century to win an All Ireland with Kildare and they dont choose him? You couldn't make it up.  Absolute madness. Hopefully and prayfully it's not sailed.
What sickens me the most is that should be Kildare with Davy potentially taking a scalp (Dublin) out of Leinster but no who are Kildare to have these aspirations. Tell that to Roscommon 12 months ago they would be still in division 1 and after defeating Mayo league 1 champions in Mayo. Joke the whole thing.

Clare beating Cork relegates Meath to Tailteann Cup, unless Meath reach Leinster Final, which would relegate us to Tailteann Cup position.
If Cavan, Fermanagh or Down reach Ulster final that would also relegate us to Tailteann Cup position.
One scenario that would help both us and Meath would be Westmeath making Leinster final, They would then qualify for round robin as no 1 or no 2 seeds, (rather than Tailteann cup winners) and free up another space for the lowest ranked league team ( Meath at the moment, but possibly Kildare)

We play Wicklow on the 23 April, and one thing is for sure, if we lose that we are in the Tailteann cup, They are in good form and have nothing to lose, so we cannot be in anyway complacent.

If we do win, we have a shot at the Dubs to secure our own Sam Maguire spot and this is how we must view things,
The Ulster semifinals are schedule for 29th and 30th of April, The Leinster semi finals are a double header on the 30th April, so we may not know what we need to do, so we will have to go for the win.

If we view it as a knock out game and last chance it should give us that extra bite, Dublin will be in the group stages regardless so the game isn't do or die for them (Like Cork v Clare yesterday), but I fear Dublin will want to qualify as number 1 seeds so that they avoid a Kerry or Galway or Derry in the group)

I think you’re wrong there on two fronts. Westmeath getting to a Leinster final doesn’t free up an additional space, it would just put Meath into the Tailteann.

Also if we lose to Wicklow we’re not necessarily in the Tailteann Cup, it would be pretty much irrelevant as both us and Wicklow are almost certainly going to get beaten by Dublin

I wouldn't bet my house on Kildare beating Wicklow but as you said twentyeight. If and only if we beat Wicklow. I think we have no option but to beat Dublin. Do or die

Clubman wrote:

Some day , someone will explain to me how we let davy go . That was a tactical masterclass

Ask the likes of the gobshite Taibi who was railing against Davy Burke and going out of his way to downplay achievements. 

Clueless.

With all the resources or potential resources at our disposal, it's hard not to conclude we are the most poorly ran county in the country.

Twentyeight wrote:

I think you’re wrong there on two fronts. Westmeath getting to a Leinster final doesn’t free up an additional space, it would just put Meath into the Tailteann.  

Also if we lose to Wicklow we’re not necessarily in the Tailteann Cup, it would be pretty much irrelevant as both us and Wicklow are almost certainly going to get beaten by Dublin

I am fairly sure on the Westmeath point, at the moment the 8 provincial finalists qualify for the the Sam Maguire plus Westmeath as Tailteann cup winners, If Westmeath make the provincial final it does free up a space for the next best placed team in the league. You are right on the Wicklow point.