Midfield problems: Is Kavanagh a viable alternative/stop gap

Having read the reports on the Ballymore games recently it seems Jimmers it seems is playing out of his skin in midfiled. In the last game he dominated Padraig Clancy in that area such to an end that Clancy was moved into full forward with their Goalkeeper being brought out, not that it had any effect.

He has great vision and distribution allied with fantastic pace and drive. His ball fetching ability in the forwards has been obvious for the last couple of years and since midfield has eveolved into winning braking ball instead of high fielding even if he was not able to reach into the clouds he would still prosper by recieving the ball and picking out passes or driving forward using his pace.

Although he has been immense in the forward lines needs must and with Dermot being out for the forseeable future and Flynn staring into a ban the options are getting thin. We have a number of youg lads that could be tried in the forwards in the O'Byrne cup as in Dowling and the likes of Mulhall so why not try him where we are struggling.

Sometimes there is no harm in trying something diffferent when the oppertunity arrises. Of course it all depends on Ballymore's success (which I hope continues all they way) as he will not be available until that ends.

Get Feeley from Athy in there as soon as possible. Best young midfield prospect in the county and a brain as well.

Feeley from Athy is only 18 years old, doesn't even play midfield for the Athy Seniors, in fact he doesnt play whatsoever with the Athy senior team.

He is not a realistic option at the moment. Let him learn his trade with the u21's first before we rush him into Senior intercounty football.

Yeah feeley is bit young yet but certainly will be a main player for kildare in the future if he avoids soccer.
Kavanagh is better suited to forwards in kildare,we have enough midfielders without moving one of our best forwards.d white,chalky,hugh lynch,sweeney,earley flynn,tom o connor, then theres few younger guys like feely in a few years.

I see flynns suspension and earleys absense as a good chance to mould 2 other alternatives in midfield for the day when earley wont be around.

agree supersub, it could be a blessing in disguise

Dunno I think Jimmers is more effective closer to the goals. When he started off this year on the half forward line he found it very hard to find himself, only when he moved into the full foward line did he run riot.

There are plenty of options out there, we know Hugh Lynch can do the business there and its about finding a partner for him............. maybe a Gary White............ or

tomcruise wrote:

Get Feeley from Athy in there as soon as possible. Best young midfield prospect in the county and a brain as well.

he plays soccer bohemians

Has to be david white for me,he was probably the player of the club championship this year.Was improving quickly there last year too.
Would like to see tom o connor tried out there too but unlikely.
Outside of the panel paddy dunne looks worth a look at.

what about tommy moolick

Sean Hurley is one of the best young midfield prospects around. Outstanding fielding ability, gets scores, good athlete, I would be surprised if he wasn't involved with the squad at least at some stage this year.

Not a realistic shout for the championship team this year though. Having seen Jimmers for Ballymore this year, I definitely think he could do a job for Kildare in midfield. If Mikey Conway's injury woes continues, Jimmers is one player who could definitely replace his foot passing ability. Kavanagh is brilliantly accruate with his foot and could serve up some great ammunition for the forwards.

The only thing is, if Ballymore win their final, the All-Ireland series doesn't begin until after christmas so if that happened, Jimmers is going to need a rest and mightn't play much of the league campaign either.

I thought Sean Hurley was more impressive than Tommy Moolick for the minors and hope he can make it at senior level.
Is Hugh Lynch over rated? I wouldnt be convinced yet that he has what it takes to be a top class inter county midfielder to partner Flynn, likewise Rob Kelly who might be a better prospect but again a whole lot to prove. David White was excellent in the senior championship, with Flynn beside him could be the long term partnership.
James Kavanagh might be too valuable up front but his foot passing ability is second to none

Feeley is a talent alright but way to young and unproved to make the step up yet. See how he goes in the U21's if he decides to move up. I also though Hurley was the one of if not the stand out Midfielder in that team.

At the minute we are looking a totally new Midfield for the O'Byrne which is ok as it's just an oppertunity to dust the cobwebs off. It's the 9th of Feb that is the important one.
Reading through some of the names mentioned it will probably be the two White's. Don't think Rob Kelly is a middle man, he done his best work from the half forwards before he got injured. Hugh Lynch did really well when he came in but can he keep that level up for a season, I'm not sure.

As TBFF mentioned with Conway still out we are missing that playmaker and bringing James back may revive that in the team. I'd like to see it tried just out of curiosity.

We're all aware that midfield is a problem. We ended with Roly and for the last few mins John Doyle out in the middle against Down....

When McGeeney took over we we lacking scoring forwards and he's corrected that problem. He's also brought on some backup from the Minors and U-21 teams. Our backline has also improved with an All-Star thrown in aswell.

Hopefully McGeeney will use this year to finally line up a replacement for Dermot Earley. We know Dermot can't go for ever but hopefully the O'Byrne Cup can be used to sort out the future of our midfield.

Geezer well aware of midfield issue.

Hugh Lynch very good last year. David Whyte also good.

Other options Tomas O'Connor, R.Kelly ? D.Lyons very strong and mobile too.

I think Foley played midfield for county before as well.

I'd be reckoning you'd be avoiding taking Jimmers away from the danger area if at all possible - I'd also think he's too 'nice' for inter-county midfield - he isn't the type of man to win dirty ball but when he gets it, his range of passing off either foot is certainly a sight to behold so I see the merit in the suggestion.

I'd disagree with the notion that Rob wouldn't be a midfielder. In fact it's as a midfield sub for Darryl he burst onto the scene last year, scoring on each occasion. When fit, he has a brilliant engine and he was playing so well that I thought he should start ahead of Flynn in last year's quarter-final against Tyrone. But of course, he would also do a great job as one of the first bank of two in particular of the forwards, with licence to run from deep. I would reckon Kelly, Whyte and Lynch will be given the chance anyway at 8,9,10.

I dunno if Feely will be playing football in a couple of years... a pity because he is different class. Would agree completely that Sean Hurley was head and shoulders above Moolick this year with minors but to be fair to Tommy, he was recovering from an injury

I wouldn't like to see Kavanagh moved out the field. He's too dangerous inside.

Even without Flynn and Earley, we still have midfield options - Lynch, Kelly, O'Connor, Roli, Whyte, Lyons, Foley, Chalky. It's a case of finding the right pairing during the league.

Feely, Moolick and Hurley are all fine prospects but they're 18 and should be allowed develop in the u21s. Inter-county midfield during the NFL is not the place for a young lad to learn his trade.

with dermot out we need to find an attacking midfielder i see david whyte our best option here he has a great drive in the break with a speed that is unstopable plus he is good in the air, only downfall is his distribution.
with flynn out i think we need a player with a good footballing brain to break up the oppositions attack and start our attacks. i was impressed with lynch at times last year he has some distance in his kick and this could be usefull to start quick attacks and early balls for smithy and jimmers which could be devastating on opposition but i wouldn`t be so sure about his work rate and footballing brain to play as the defensive midfielder. however i would love to see ross glavin get the chance in this role i believe he has one of the best footballing brains around and when he played centreback for kildare he was excellent showing how good he reads the game anyone know how he is getting on with his injury?

I suppose Whyte, Lynch and Rob Kelly will be the main ones tried out in the middle.
It probably is better off if they leave Kavanagh nearer to the goals cause he's a bigger threat there but he's good enough for the middle and could be used as a back up plan if the others dont work out.

I presume McGeeney and Co will use the O Byrne Cup to experiment with lads in different positions and Kavanagh will hardly be playing in that. Whether we win or lose the final against Nobber he's going to need a well earned break so I'd say he'll slot back in at half forward whenever he returns to the county.

Glad to see him getting the Garda GAA Player of the Year award too.

Maybe david whyte, tommy moolick, gary white?

centreback wrote:

however i would love to see ross glavin get the chance in this role i believe he has one of the best footballing brains around and when he played centreback for kildare he was excellent showing how good he reads the game anyone know how he is getting on with his injury?

He was excellent at centreback for Kildare?????? While he may be an excellent club player for me he never made the transition to county and now he is excellent, hmmm maybe we should start the KON best full back in the country thread again..............

I would agree that Sean Hurley should be brought in at some stage.To be honest looking at hugh lynch i don't think he is the answer to oure problems.there is a massive hole left there to fill for the league.

Stonecold wrote:

centreback wrote:

however i would love to see ross glavin get the chance in this role i believe he has one of the best footballing brains around and when he played centreback for kildare he was excellent showing how good he reads the game anyone know how he is getting on with his injury?

He was excellent at centreback for Kildare?????? While he may be an excellent club player for me he never made the transition to county and now he is excellent, hmmm maybe we should start the KON best full back in the country thread again..............

I presume centreback is referring to when Ross played for Kildare u/21s. He was very commanding at no.6 then. Would like to see him get a sustained run when he is injury free either at centreback or midfield.

exactly fear an geata and he was excellent and as you say he deserves a sustained run.
can you remember him playing for the senior kildare team stonecold and where he played??

Ross played full forward, didn't really suit him. The problem, judging from last year, is that he doesn't seem willing to try and make it through the juniors.... how far is he from actually togging out again?

good man ogie"stonecold"