Where and how to improve for 2011

carburyman wrote:

Dont agree stonecold Shortie,didnt do much wrong this year

Never said he did anything wrong, I did say he was short. I seen the minor keeper in Navan catch one of those cross bar points. Plus Daryl Flynn did it several times near the ends of matches this year.

Kildarecat

Of course your training get be set to peak around a particular time of year.
You obviously dont understand the concept of training for fitness.

McGeeney and a number of players agreed that they had to change the type of training they done, otherwise they would get no further than the last 8.
And it was clear to me that it paid off. Last year against Dublin and Tyrone we went in at half time with leads after putting in big first halfs, only to come out and fall flat in the second.

I also cant believe Paddy Murray is being mentioned also, in another thread it was Kevin O'Neill - and Sam1928 wonders why there is such strong feelings against Moorefield in here and around Kildare.

What i will say is Kevin walked away from the panel, and by all accounts hasn't set the world alight when he returned to Moorefield. If he is worth his place again, he has to prove it.

When it came to the championship Shortie did not do much wrong but for me I would like to see Eyers from Clane get a shot between the posts.

The full back line is starting to look like a unit and I cant see any changes being made here.

A lot of people are saying that they would like to see Chalky at 6 along with Conway and Foley giving a chance. I cant see all 3 half backs being dropped from this year. A more imposing center back would be high on my list as I do see this a weak spot it the team. Chalky, Foley, D. Lyons, Moolick or even D. Whyte could be the answer with Flanagan being the one to lose out.

We are always going to struggle in Midfield without Dermot. Flynn has settled into his role now so we need to find him a partner for when Dermot is not available. Lynch, Sweeney, O'Connor, D. Whyte, Foley, Chalky, P. O'Neill and R. Kelly are all options here.

The forward line of Doyle, Callaghan, E. Flats, O'Neill, Smith and Jimmers is one of the best around in IMO and it is going to take alot for any player to take one of these spots. Maybe R. Kelly in place of O'Neill to add more scores.

Of course I would always be hopeful that Geezer will find some fresh blood like he did with McGrillen and Kelly.

All in all maybe 2-3 changes to this years team is all that is needed as they were only the width of the bar away from an AI apperance.

fionnmccool wrote:

Kildarecat


I also cant believe Paddy Murray is being mentioned also, in another thread it was Kevin O'Neill - and Sam1928 wonders why there is such strong feelings against Moorefield in here and around Kildare.

Thats just being silly now ....People are entitled to opinions are they not irrespective of their clubs? Why would forumites and people around Kildare have strong feelings against a club for someone on a forum mentioning these players? Thats really bad Fionn in fairness. I dont care who hates Moorefield but Jumping down peoples throats or dismissing their contributions constantly just because The M word is mentioned is wrong.

Anyway, I think the squad is very strong as it is plus we will have the benefit of adding some excellent minors to it.
If we can unearth another Peter Kelly and get one more year out of Dermot then we go into next year much stronger than this year.
There is always room for improvement

Paddy Murray is a fantastic player but I do not see him playing for the county again.Kevin O'Neill has a lot on his plate at the moment so we will see what 2011 brings.

I have no doubt that the Geezer ( heard through the grapevine that he was saying but don't quote me on that ) will look to unearth 2 to 3 new players this year.We were 7 points down at one stage last sunday and this will not rest easy with him although I know that so much went against us at many stages of the game.So expect a lot of spies at the championship games to unearth those 2 to 3 players that we need to make the next step.And mark my word Gilroy will be at the same in Dublin.If you fall short in any sport you have to unearth new talent.

A lot of interesting suggestions about how we go next year.I looked at the match again on real player last night.Down just about deserved to win,however that square ball was a game changing score.Smiths point,the early wide by Lynch,Kavanaghs 13 meter free and O'Flaherty's miss from Callaghan's goal post rebound all these would have seen us home even allowing for our loss of the mid field battle.We need to find about two pacy forwards that can accelerate and open up defences.Down had a few of these last Sunday plus the Centre half back who made very incisive runs and scored a couple of points.We were a bit laboured in our build ups .I wondered whether Killian Brennan or W.Heffernan would have been a better option to combat Down's airial superiorty at the kick outs.I recall in a qualifier game against Offaly in Newbridge a few years ago,we were about 9 Pts behind at half time. Heff was brought in for 2nd half and the ball never passed the half way line.We lost by a point only after Dermot miss kicked a gilt edged chance of a goal in the last minute .If we had the luxoury of moving McGrillen to wing back it would be great,but since he has solved the Full back position so well,I would be loathe to move him.We have Conway back next year and Foley is a good man in this area as well.If Kellys shot had gone in ,the topics would all be different now.It was a wonder full strike against a packed goal mouth.
Older readers will remember Kieran O'Malley hammering in frees in similar situations,from placed balls of course.
Teams that use the so called sweeper,well I believe the way to counter act that is to put a man on him and not let him have fee reign,after all both teams have only 14 outfield players there is no extra man.Un like soccer our game has no offside to frustrate attacking play,hence the sweeper should not be allowed to be an effective ploy.Finally we had a few kicks into empy space with not a lilly in sight to offer support.At least two of these turnovers resulted in a score for Down .I would suggest that when no support is at hand,the best option is long high kick into the nearist man to the goal,even if he does not get possesion should still be in a position to harrass his man,thus preventing a build up for a score as previousley mentioned.
Paulus

Have to agree with tomcruise hopefully the club championship this year we will find a few lad that can push the current players for places on the panel. Hopefully i will get to a few game in the next couple of weeks check out a few teams and if any one catches my eye I will post them on here to see the reaction.

steviegenius wrote:

Have to agree with tomcruise hopefully the club championship this year we will find a few lad that can push the current players for places on the panel. Hopefully i will get to a few game in the next couple of weeks check out a few teams and if any one catches my eye I will post them on here to see the reaction.

do same . going 3 games next weekend

kildarecat if your going to try talk up moorefield why do you use two players that don`t have the pace for inter county football ye have two seriously talented men and they both have all the attributes of an inter county footballer in ross glavin and james lonergan why not throw them names in?
most lads will always try to talk there club players up and theres nothing wrong with that someone even mentioned b kinahan for the county obviously a athy member but again nothing wrong with that.

the squad that was there this year i believe was strong enough only injuries hampered any real progress. in the o`byrne cup and league i think we should give chalky back his favourite number6, give david whyte a few more games, rest earley, give cribben a free role in the forwards like he had at under 21 and get mickey and rob back fit and playing to there full potential again if we do these things and they are successfull i see us bein the greatest team in history better than any kerry team i do have my kildare goggles on though

il just add to that we could do with improving between the posts how much is the longford keeper going for? surely worth €5m

I just sat down to try to pick a team for next year and assuming everyone is fit and available it's almost an impossible (though pleasurable) task. There are some serious talents that are not going to get a regular game next summer if we don't have a lot of injuries. To answer the question Where to improve, my priorities would be:
- keeper
- half back line ( Flanagan in particular)
- perhaps centre forward ( O'Neill still a bit hit and miss but a tremendous worker)
- this will get me lynched... Smith blew very hot and cold this year for me and given our squad I would be looking for him to show more consistency. Very poor against Down.

Looking at players that I know (and as I am exiled I don't see any club games), my suggested team would be :

Donnellan (minor goalie)

Kelly
McGrillen
McLoughlin

M.O'Flaherty
Callaghan
Bolton

Flynn
Earley

Kavanagh
Conway - our quarter back potentially !!
E. O'Flaherty

Smith
R.Kelly
Doyle

Back Up
GK : Corley, McCormack
Full Back Line : O.Lyons, D.Brennan if available
Half Back Line : Flanagan, Foley, D.Lyons, Moolick, White

Midfield : Lynch, Whyte, T.O'Connor

Forwards: O'Neill, Dowling, P.Cribben ( wishful thinking.. believe he is a real talent), K.Cribben.

plus 2 to 3 others from the u-21/ minor or who impress in club championships to freshen things up. Was impressed with the likes of Comerford, Feely, Hurley, Fogarty from minors

I would lose the following from the panel (apart from the 3 retiring) : Sweeney, Heffernan, Donnelly, Flood

I think we've a really good squad and young players with potential and its a matter of inches, a bit more composure and some luck with injuries next year to take us further. Having said that I think the opposition will be tougher with Kerry, Tyrone, maybe Galway/Mayo/Laois/Armagh with potential to improve.. roll on 2011

paulus wrote:

I recall in a qualifier game against Offaly in Newbridge a few years ago,we were about 9 Pts behind at half time. Heff was brought in for 2nd half and the ball never passed the half way line.We lost by a point only after Dermot miss kicked a gilt edged chance of a goal in the last minute .

Think we actually lost by 4 points with Fennin missing a penalty with the last kick of the game. Were 14 points down at one stage too.


Don't want to upset the few hardy souls who get upset at the mention of Moorefield but is Ian Lonergan still playing football these days? Felt sorry for him that time he was hung out to dry against offaly, making his intercounty debut without as much as a minutes action in the league. Nevertheless looked liked he could be a decent corner back.


Would like to see Johnny Browne from Suncroft contest one of the corner back spots too. How is Tom Byrne progressing? Very good for the 21's on the run to the All Ireland in 2008.

How can a good league harm our championship progress? Geezer will want to win every match, remember promotion didn't do Down any harm

shoutitout wrote:

We are always going to struggle in Midfield without Dermot. Flynn has settled into his role now so we need to find him a partner for when Dermot is not available. Lynch, Sweeney, O'Connor, D. Whyte, Foley, Chalky, P. O'Neill and R. Kelly are all options here.

Until Roli learns how to catch and solo the ball he should never play at midfield for Kildare, he was dreadful against down

I agree with you Wingback Roli was terrible against Down, making basic mistakes. He did the same against Meath when he messed up two good passes only it didn't matter at the time. I think his time is done with Kildare.
As regards sourcing forwards that can run at defences I think Eamonn Callaghan is very good in this area. He is very pacy and very difficult to disposses as seen the time he ran at Meath and again at Down, he was pulled down on both occasions.

Roli should not be dropped from the panel. We need guys with experience to stay around, they add so much to cause. With Rainbow and Brennan retiring its crucial that Roli stays on the panel. So what he had a bad game, he played a blinder up in Casement park and scored a great goal against Mon. Give him a break.

Exactly KildareCrazy.

Roli was motm against Antrim in Newbridge and was very effective up in Belfast too. He didn't have a great game against Down but he wasn't alone in that regard. You'd wonder what matches some people are watching at times.

There are more talented footballers out there but few are as honest and he's a good asset to have on the panel.

We need all the help we can get, why would you drop an experienced player who still has something to offer the panel. If you look at Tipp and Kilkenny yesterday they had very strong players coming off the bench some. Tipps bench scored 5 points when introduced.

And in fairness Kildare's bench has made contributions in a lot of games but you always need to keep improving and no one will know this better than Geezer.

If we add just a few more players in the league and hopefully come back stronger and more determined than this year and have a bit more luck cos that's the one thing we never seem to have!!!!!

I think McCormack's getting a hard time here. In my opinion he's the best man to have as goalkeeper. You can't blame him for Coulter's goal. The only ones to blame for that were the 2 blind umpires.

As for Sweeney he has given a lot of time and effort to Kildare over the years but honestly he had a terrible game against Down. How he was brought on ahead of some of the otherlads like Chalky, O'Connor, Whyte, Foley etc raised a lot of eyebrows.

I agree that McGeeney and co. definitely planned traiing for the lads to peak at the right time and I don't think he will be too fussed on the O Byrne Cup or the league for 2011 apart from using those matches to try out new players.

If Conway and Kelly are back to full fitness and Dermot of course we'll have a great shot at gettin to the all ireland again next year

Colm O'Rourke said in his article in the Sunday Independent that McCormack should have taken man and ball out of it and burried his knees in Coulter's back. I don't believe McCormack has the size to do that. You can't always depend on the ref or the umpires to get it right. Like I said before Kildare were on the receiving end of bad calls relating to "square balls" against Monaghan this year and against Cork 2 years ago in the Quarter Finals.

McCormack was certainly at fault for that goal. O'Rourke was spot on. He should have buried coulter. He's probably a decent shot stopper but he's no presence and is too small. Problem is there's not much better out there.

Roli should be going nowhere. He'd be a useful man around the edge of the square for a few years yet. He's no midfielder. We were being cleaned out in midfield when roli came on and for about 20 mins we were really being destroyed there. We need another top class midfielder asap. I'd be looking for Brennan to come back in to free up McGrillen if we can't find anyone else.

Derfil wrote:

Roli should be going nowhere. He'd be a useful man around the edge of the square for a few years yet. He's no midfielder. We were being cleaned out in midfield when roli came on and for about 20 mins we were really being destroyed there. We need another top class midfielder asap. I'd be looking for Brennan to come back in to free up McGrillen if we can't find anyone else.

i really dont get this whole notion of bringing hughie out the field. he has performed admirably in his first two seasons in the full back line. talking to lads in DCU and they told me that he was prob lucky that he got his place on the Sigerson team and was only playing midfiled as they were short on options there. He was taken off in 2 if not 3 of their games. He is a great defender in the full back line he offers height and great ball skills, why move move him out when realistically our best 5 and 7 are flats and conway?

Think shortie is the man for the job,dont forget he did save a great shot.Didnt do anything wrong all year.

Jayus lads if he buired coulter and gave a way a peno what would ye say.
Some people here are just never happy,in fact he is a small bit bigger than christy byrne

Difficult to look for improvements from this team.

We have a great team, great management set up, great manager, great young players coming through. Along with all that we have a bunch of brilliant players with unbelievable attitude and comittment. We also have great supporters. We are the envy of many a county. The future is still very bright and the future is white !!!

Was talking to a Cork friend of mine yesterday and he said they're delighted they're playing Down instead of Kildare. They have a huge sense of relief that they're not playing Kildare, the only team they feared since the quarter finals.