Kildare team v Derry

Stonecold wrote:

Its a pity Eoghan wasn't available for the league because I don't doubt his potential but there is something amiss and I can't put my finger on it.

Potential is a great word, one which Geezer dosent rate or use too much. Eoghan has got it, but it was always going to be a gamble bringing him on to the panel so late. He's missed al lthe high speed, high intensity and damn hard training. There is no way he could be at the same level as those who were training all year.
I think he's better being brought in as a sub when defenders have been worn down a little, might allow him find his level and pop a score or two.

fionnmccool wrote:

Stonecold wrote:

kickingking wrote:

No James Kavanagh Stonecold?

Nope, I'd say he had about a 40-50% return last Saturday from the amount of possession that came his way (and thats when the pressure was off). You can get away with that against teams like Leitrim or Antrim but it's not good enough for what lies ahead.

You've finally lost the plot.

Really? Instead of tackling the man try the ball and go examine the facts. 20 minutes in the 1st half, 15 in the 2nd without a score, ample possession wasted against a poor team and this is the 3rd game in a row that its happened (21 wides against Antrim 1st day, 18 last Saturday). That is not acceptable and against better opposition we will be eaten alive.

Time to change tack, O'Connor deserves a start and as been pointed out before we need Smithy back.

Stonecold you really don't have a clue. Kavanagh 40-50% return?? he kicked 2 wides and scored 1-4. would it be better for a forward to score 1 point a game but not kick any wides.

In the other thread you were sayin kavanagh and o'neill kicked to many wides?? o'neill had 2, kavanagh had 2.. john doyle had 4 in the 1st half alone.. So you are obviously biased in your views..

As fionnmacool said, u have lost the plot..

gibbs wrote:

Stonecold you really don't have a clue. Kavanagh 40-50% return?? he kicked 2 wides and scored 1-4. would it be better for a forward to score 1 point a game but not kick any wides.

In the other thread you were sayin kavanagh and o'neill kicked to many wides?? o'neill had 2, kavanagh had 2.. john doyle had 4 in the 1st half alone.. So you are obviously biased in your views..

As fionnmacool said, u have lost the plot..

Wides and how many times did he fumble, drop, poorly control and loose the ball take the bloody glasses off man.

After 30 minutes of the 1st half the score was Leitrim 3 points Kildare 2. Then we scored 4 points in about a 2 minute spell. Against LEITRIM, that's called a famine

The team he will play will be very similar to last week i'm sure...

Shorty

Mac
Mcgrillen
Kelly

Flano
Leper
Bolton

Fylnnn
Early

Flats
O'neill

Kavanagh
Sweeney

JD
Smith/O'connor

stonecold were you at the match, it was possiblt the worse conditions i've ever witnessed at a Kildare match in July.

Shocking stuff.

On what are you basing that O'Connor deserves a start?
over and above Kavanagh

Only for James Kavanagh we wouldn't even be in this position. It was him who made the 60 yard run from attack to track Antrim player in the last minute of extra time might i add and put pressure on him forcing him to put it wide, resulting in a draw.

I'm in agreement wih O'Connor starting but I would drop O'Neill and bring Sweeney out and use him as a kind of extra midfielder, O'Neill might weigh in with the odd point but he goes missing for long periods of the game, which has of course gone straight over McGeeneys head, he's been very stubborn with his selection process in both the league and Championship and is very reluctant to change even if it jumps up and bites him in the nuts that such and such is not cutting the mustard.
What you'll have on Saturday is the same team that started against Leitrim!.

Stonecold you're entitled to your opinion but it seems to me you have it in for James Kavanagh regardless of the evidence.
If you're dropping lads for kicking wides/losing possession against Leitrim every other Kildare forward would be dropped ahead of Kavanagh.
He's proved his mettle time and again - excellent against Louth when no-one else bar Johnny Doyle was, All-Star nominee last year, including good performances against Dublin and Tyrone, scored the last-minute goal that kick-started our run in 2008 - to me he'd be one of the first names on the teamsheet.
As for Eoghan Flats, all that's lacking is a a bit of strength and experience. That will come. He has the potential to be a class act and I'm glad he's getting game time. It takes time to adapt to this level but in a year or two I think he'll be a top class inter-county forward - like, say, James Kavanagh.

Because plain and simply what we have is not working, the wides tally, the scoreless minutes tally, the possession tell us this. Therefore you have to look at what you have and how it can be changed. It's not about J Kavanagh it's about Kildare football.

So in my humble opinion we have to look at the 6 players that lined out in the last 4 matches and assess them.

John Doyle: Cannot be done without and can fit in anywhere. Best position 13.
Roli: Being played in the wrong position. Best position 12.
Leper: Seems to be playing everywhere except goals and pops up for crucial scores. Cannot be done without. Best position 10.
P. O'Neill: Need his presence at no. 11.
J Kavanagh: Not agressive enough for 11 or 14, good player on his day but how long do we wait? Cannot win a 50/50 ball. Best position: Impact sub
Eoghan Flats just hasn't been able to adjust to this level yet. But has a role to play. Sub

Options.
A. Smith: Need his pace and attack badly, plus his goal scoring threat. Best position 15.
T O'Connor: Need his agression and ball winning skills. Best position 14.

So that's my assessment and why.

i'm sure he didn fumble the ball once and didn get caught in possesion..

u dont know what your talkin about.

Fionnmccool, lads like stonecold dont notice things like that, they only see what they want to see..

cannot win 50/50 ball??not aggresive enuf?? are u talkin about some1 else?? u not see the catch he made from the antrim kickout antrim last week??

we dont play a traditional 11 or 14 so that point is irrelevant..

Leper is flyin now playin in the backs, but u think he shud be in the forwards...

Ohtoohtobe, I disagree with you on Eoghan Flats. He has been given his chance and didn't come up to the mark. At one stage in the first half last Saturday night he went on a good run into a scoring position and kicked the ball across field straight to a Leitrim player. In the second half he was in a good scoring position again but kicked an easy chance wide.
We can't afford to to give him time to adapt to Championship level, he can be given that next year in the League.

gibbs wrote:

Ah stonecold your brain dead.. i'm sure he didn fumble the ball once and didn get caught in possesion..

I think your a bit of a clown and u dont know what your talkin about.

Fionnmccool, lads like stonecold dont notice things like that, they only see what they want to see..

Well your solutions to the problem amount for a lot, which like your contributuion to this thread, absolute zero. All you seem to be able to do is insult me which is fine by me.

Scoreless minutes tally was down to not winning primary possession around the middle. Against Letrim if you can remember we went 10-15 mintues before we had a shot at goal and it was a free from JD which he put wide.

Bolton shot wide from 21 yards also shortly after this.
When we clicked we got a bit of a run and score 5 on the trot, jimmers getting 2 of these coming in from the wing.

Jimmers is one of the first names on the team for me to be honest.


My assessment for what its worth.

JD- Cannot be done without, can play anywhere in the forwards. best position anywhere on the pitch.

Jimmers- great at taking on his man, can score off the left or right, good in the air. maybe lacks aggression but he did last year also. Class act. no12

Roli- can blow hot and cold. mixed teh good with the bad, when good can be excellent. best position 10.

Leper- Seems to be lpaying centre back.. has done excellently when moved back. New best position 6. best other positon 10,11,12,13,14,15,2.

E.Flats- only 21/22.. excellent prospect. Geezer brought him back from no where, see's he has a part to play. and i agree. done well in spurts in games. best position yet to be decided.

P.O'Neill- great ball winner, strength adn never shrugs a tackle. doenst score much but does the donkey work, best position 11.

Smith- Goal poacher and free winner. great speed, great turn, can beat his man can kick scores.. no 15, no where else. give him the ball he'll do damage. FACT

O'Connor- yet to prove himself, brought back before start of championship, big and strong, huge leap on him. One catch against Leitrim wont make a summer.Missed an open goal against Antrim,not a great score taker for a full forward. Needs to come off the bench on a regular basis and contribute to be considered. Sub (for now).

This is a farcical discussion, drop a player who scored 1-4 from play and ran his socks off to win possession all over the pitch, in near monsoon conditions.

Move our new centre half back who has been outstanding from his new position.

Are the above two points even worth debating?

....

sorry stonecold, couldnt resist....

LOL

Ah boys, back ff stonecold, have to say myself I find jimmers a frustrating player to watch at times, yes he can be brilliant and exceptionally skillful at times, but do you get that each time he lines out in a white jersey...i dont honestly think you can say that judging by what I have seen to date, still though the gametime he is getting will hopefully bring more confidence and consistency to his game

And being honest, he is not the only kildare player that tends to float in and out of games, daryl fylnn and roli are guilty of this as well.

Saying that, I think our last two performances have set us in the right direction and I fancy us to beat derry this weekend by 2/3 points. Thank god dermot is fit to play...

flourman wrote:

Move our new centre half back who has been outstanding from his new position.

Are the above two points even worth debating?

What are you on about man? Bolton & Leper swap roles contanatly the entire last 2 matches, who said anything about changing that?? He starts with no 15 but moves to accommodate the 2 man full foward line. My line up suggests going back to a 3 man full forward line, nothing about tactics after that.

Kieran McGeeney is confident that Dermot Earley will be fit for Kildare's All-Ireland football qualifier against Derry at Celtic Park on Saturday.

The current All-Star midfielder was replaced in the 53rd minute of last weekend's win over Leitrim at Newbridge after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury which kept him out of latter stages of the National League, but McGeeney expects him to be fine for the long trip north.



"It was just a precautionary measure (to take him off)," the Kildare manager said.

"If you start to get fatigued or get a wee bit of a knock, it could become more serious. Dermot being Dermot wasn't over the moon about it, but you have to think of the bigger picture with Dermot.

"The referee said he was only swung around the neck so he didn't have to do something about it, it was just his knee that was hurt."

McGeeney's Derry counterpart Damian Cassidy, meanwhile, is hoping midfielder Patsy Bradley will be able to play some part in the game after missing the wins over Carlow and Westmeath due to a back problem.

"Patsy might have played against Westmeath, but we decided against it. I'd say he will be available for the Kildare game," he said.

Cassidy is also hopeful that team captain Gerard O'Kane will shake off the dead leg he sustained against Westmeath last Saturday, but must plan without Fergal Doherty, who has a shoulder injury, and torn hamstring victim Michael McGoldrick.

gibbs wrote:

Who cares what number is on his back stonecold? he started center back and flats started in the forwards and moved back into defence.

I agree with flourman, no point in even discussin these 2 points. especially with a clown.

Nice picture fionnmccool!!

Yeah keep in up Gibbs, one thing for sure in real life I'd let you away with that once

Think you better go read the forum charter and then worry about your IQ.

Gibbs read the forum charter,and delete any name calling posts you made.

There has been a good mood around the forum and some good friendly banter.

Dont drag it down.

Why are we persisting with John Doyle taking frees from out on the right instead of using a natural left footed player for this task? These missed scores could prove very costly in a tight match. Also he has not been very successful with taking 45s, maybe he should try taking a short one and kicking over the return from a more favourable position?

Major problems :

1. Free taking
2. Forwards confidence
3. Decision making

They are the 3 areas I would be working on this week. Dont ask me how but if it were me I'd make this list and take it from there. All 3 are not easy fixes and a manager can only do so much.

The way I see it is if we dont improve on those 3 areas by at least 50%-75% this weekend then we will be finished for this year.