Challenge match

I would agree with Junior A..I too feel that gary white is definitely the best centre back in the county and prob is the best since ryan..He proved himself at U21 level where he carried that team to an all-ireland final with some unbelievable performances from centre back..he is a great distributor of the ball which is vital for a centre back but more so his ability to read the game puts him well ahead of the rest

From the indo....

Kildare could be lining up John Doyle for a place at midfield in their opening Leinster championship match against Wicklow in Portlaoise on Sunday.

The possibility of Doyle lining out at midfield has been raised by his presence there during a challenge match against Armagh last week and again in an internal practice match over the weekend.

Doyle has spent a career in the Kildare attack but the prospect of a move further outfield, while far from certain, has been raised by recent moves.

Daryl Flynn is almost certain to start in midfield for Kildare and Paudie O'Neill would still appear to be his most likely partner.

But Kildare may have plans to give their long-serving 33-year-old marksman a spin there at some stage during the game.

Kildare will be without Dermot Earley, Peter Kelly and Ken Donnelly for the game as they are all recovering from cruciate ligament problems.

Time has gone against Mikey Conway as he recovers from a similar injury, although he is close to a making a return.

Eamonn Callaghan and Ronan Sweeney missed recent challenges against Armagh and Tipperary, but took part in the practice match over the weekend and are in contention for starting places.

It's a big year for Kildare and despite the progress and improvement in performances, there's a growing pressure on the team to deliver some championship silverware in the months ahead. Doyle, for one, is prepared to acknowledge that.

"That's what you are judged on, regardless of the football you play. Every team in the country goes out and will judge their year on what they have to show for it," said Doyle (left).

"We are four years with this management and we have nothing to show for it. You try to win every competition that you are involved in. Our next competition is the Leinster championship. We're no different than any other team. That's your goal, to win a Leinster championship.

"We'll stand here at the end of the year and we'll be judged on what we have to show for it. It's plain and simple."

Reaching the semi-final last year was no consolation and the indifferent nature of their league campaign has left them concerned, but, on their day, Doyle believes they are as good as any team.

"You get to an All-Ireland semi- final on merit. Everyone has their own opinion, but we'd like to think we're as good as any team on the day, if we perform to our ability," he said.

"We can do all the training we want, but you have to perform. You can be up and down with that, our championship last year was a bit like that. We performed well some days and the days we didn't, we just got over teams."

Not sure Gary White is suited just look back at games he played in that position the big one that jumps out is Wicklow in Croke park, he is much better player since he has being given a chance as wing back and not being moved into forwards or full back line. Morgan o Flatherty will do a good job as center back. Chalky to provide a lot of people wrong on Sunday

Think we will have to start with the best 15 we can.Think hugie and flynn midfield is a must with paudie in the forwards.
The back line must be the best we have also,with lillte or no change otherwise we will have the result like we did against louth.
Think 1-8 is vital.
My back line would be .
hank Foley mac
Flats Chalky Bolton

agree square ball,think chalky has come on leaps and bounds,and could be one of our best players this year..

JD midfield

Think it you be a bold move to have Jd midfield,think we need him in the forwards

I'd like to see a team of:

Connolly

McGrillen Foley Fitzpatrick

Morgan Flats Chalky Bolton

Flynn Doyle

Eoghan Flats P O'Neill Leper

Smith O'Conor Kavanagh

I think it would be interesting to see Doyle start mid-field as he works so hard for the team, has a fantastic catch and superb distribution (impossible to get the ball off him). With P O'Neill and O'Conor in the team it's easy to switch one of those to the middle if needed. It would also show that Kildare are not a one man team rely solely on Doyle as those 6 forwards will cause any team problems.
Also a bonus is that we have strong options on the bench like Brophy, Mac, David Whyte, Flanagan and a few of the u21s coming through.

Doyle played midfield against a pretty average Towers pairing a few weeks ago and was pretty anonymous throughout.

I think there are better options available - but it's an interesting one - maybe it could be an inspired choice if it does come to pass - intriguing.

It is a great thing that from 8 - 15 we have so many viable options - but a bit concerning that we, maybe do not know our strongest 15 yet - but I guess that could work in our favour. If all us experts on here do not know our starting 15 - Micko and other managers will not have a clue either - which I guess makes it tough to prepare for a match against us.

From recent Challenges that I have seen - this is I believe team that will start.


Connelly

Mac
Foley
McGrillen

Chalky
Bolton
Morgan

Flynn
Johnny

Flanagan
Flats
Kavanagh

O'Neill
O'Connor
Smith

Not a fan of Flanagan, but it appears geezer is and he seems hell bent on making room for him by accommodating in the half forward line.
This is the team I believe will start - not the one I hope starts.

Interesting idea's there MidfieldMaestro - but no room for Kelly?

At this stage I'd be happy enough with any of Geezer's selections. He bases his decisions on current rather than past performances. He is also quick to change things that aren't working, in fact he's probably the most decisive manager in the country. Complete confidence in him (until he puts JD in goals !!).

Is this playing JD at midfield for real lads? I read it on here earlier and chatting to a bloke at lunchtime about the game and didn't feel it was right to say it to him. Think I will wait for throw in on sunday before I mention it to anyone.

jd wont be mid field............will he?

An awful tanking yis gave us - best of luck for the year ahead!

Kil Bill,

I presume you mean Rob Kelly - I know he was in good form playing full forward in the Sigerson Cup and again would be a good option off the bench. Might make the breakthrough later in the championship - at his best he can be very good but has been unlucky with injuries.

I do MidfieldMaestro, I think he is good enough to start, more a form player that Smithy at the moment, I'd take a win of any type right now, A scrappy 1 point win if it comes to that.

Thanks armagh4sam, actually I hope you lot see off Down, but you will have your work cut out.

Rob Kelly has played one decent game for Kildare against Meath in the NFL........ thats all i remember anyway... There's always something wrong with him injury wise.......he still has to convince me anyway....maybe im wrong...

peile wrote:

At this stage I'd be happy enough with any of Geezer's selections. He bases his decisions on current rather than past performances. He is also quick to change things that aren't working, in fact he's probably the most decisive manager in the country. Complete confidence in him (until he puts JD in goals !!).

jd played in goal for allenwood u/8

By the way, Met Micko in Kill filling station on Friday afternoon, asked him if Wicklow were confident of beating Kildare on Sunday, "maybe, maybe not". you know what he's like, innocent foolish young thing that he is, always blurting out things he shouldnt..........................

Wicklow dual players pulled out of the hurling game.

ChopperDalton wrote:

Wicklow dual players pulled out of the hurling game.

doubt that went down to well!!!

flourman wrote:

Doyle played midfield against a pretty average Towers pairing a few weeks ago and was pretty anonymous throughout.

I think there are better options available - but it's an interesting one - maybe it could be an inspired choice if it does come to pass - intriguing.

It is a great thing that from 8 - 15 we have so many viable options - but a bit concerning that we, maybe do not know our strongest 15 yet - but I guess that could work in our favour. If all us experts on here do not know our starting 15 - Micko and other managers will not have a clue either - which I guess makes it tough to prepare for a match against us.

From recent Challenges that I have seen - this is I believe team that will start.


Connelly

Mac
Foley
McGrillen

Chalky
Bolton
Morgan

Flynn
Johnny

Flanagan
Flats
Kavanagh

O'Neill
O'Connor
Smith

Not a fan of Flanagan, but it appears geezer is and he seems hell bent on making room for him by accommodating in the half forward line.
This is the team I believe will start - not the one I hope starts.

Different calibre of player around him now, and different style of play/tactics as well

Team for weekends program has been named.

Has anyone heard it?

fionnmccool wrote:

Team for weekends program has been named.

Has anyone heard it?

I wouldn't pay attention to it even if it has. There will b loads of changes to it by Sunday if it's already named