Kildare v Monaghan, 4 Feb

Lose this and it will be a very tough ask to stay up.

Definitely - win and we give ourselves a bit of wriggle room, lose and each game starts to get very pressurised.

Kevin Feely was struggling with calf injury in second half hopefully he not fit enough to play for IT Carlow on Wednesday

I said in the Dublin thread that if we lose we are gone. I firmly believe that. We'll need 6 points and hope our svoring difference is not disastrous because there will be multiple teams on the same points. The only positive thing from last night was it was 7 points in the end. Others will be beaten by more as the Dubs mive through the gears.

One primary request to Cian - formation..

We HAVE to try giving the FB line some protection in the first instance.. that means allowing Doyle to drop back without having to also mark their CHF.. I've been trying to figure out who was marking Kilkenny and I think it was actually supposed to be Doyle while his natural instinct at times was to drop in and protect Hyland (who's is not really a FB to my mind.. herein lies a different problem).

We HAVE to sacrifice a forward to achieve this.. it can be the same players on the pitch but my thoughts are either have Conway (not a forward anyway) or Byrne (though not in form) or maybe Luke Flynn (played in defence plenty) sitting at CHB or "Defensive midfield a-la Colm Cavanagh).

Midfield could then be Feely (if fit.. prayers will be said on that one), with any of Luke, Conway, Cribbin or even Moolick (can do the job there in Newbridge).

Then a two man half-forward line with Daniel operating down the middle between half forward and full forward and a two man full forward line.

Haven't given a lot of thought to personnel but assuming similar personnel to last night:

Donnellan
Kelly Hyland O'Grady
Doyle
Byrne Luke O'Donoghue
Feely Conway
Slattery Cribbin
Daniel
Kelly McCormack

As I say ignore personnel to a degree -- is that not a system that would make us more compact / competitive and play to players strengths?

Definitely - the full back line is simply not getting enough protection from the midfielders and wing forwards. Flynn being specifically detailed to fill in the CB slot when Doyle drops sounds eminently sensible to me. Dublin are still scoring goals against us and once more, it totally killed us.

O'Neill can rightly point to defensive record in league last year - only two conceded, both of which should arguably have been disallowed - but Div 1 is a whole different ball game. Monaghan will relish counter-attacking a team like us and McCarron inside is an extremely dangerous forward on his day... We can't say we haven't been forewarned.

On the plus side, I believe Conor McManus is out which is like having a migraine-sized headache go away.

Why not just move Conway back, he's totally ineffective up front. He has plenty of experience playing centre back. But unless we give Donnellan easier options on restarts we will continue to struggle and leaking scores.
It's not rocket science and should be sorted out by now.

Very true Murof... Kickouts in third quarter last night a total disaster. Also agree re Conway... He's kind of in no man's land currently. Not chipping in with points and meanwhile we're still getting opened up at the other end.

murof wrote:

Why not just move Conway back, he's totally ineffective up front. He has plenty of experience playing centre back. But unless we give Donnellan easier options on restarts we will continue to struggle and leaking scores.
It's not rocket science and should be sorted out by now.

Both fair points. As I said I wasn't so much focused on personnel. Conway and Flynn could be interchangeable almost around that CB/middle area.

Kildare by five if we prepare for a puling and dragging filthy nasty outfit clinging to past equipped with what I genuinely believe to be best player in Ireland. Think we win, and if we don't we are back to D2.

Best player in Ireland not available I think Tommy.

Thinking a draw myself..

Tommy couldn't agree with you more on McManus - there is not a doubt in my mind if Mayo had him they'd have at least one AI by now. But he is highly unlikely to play any part in this game (thank Christ).

Also agree re their general approach - they are usually a nightmare to play against. Not likely to be one for the faint-hearted... But do you know I'm glad. We're going to learn far more about our boys fighting for their lives against Monaghan and Tyrone than blowing away non-entities like Meath last year.

From looking at Saturday's game again yesterday it's obvious to see our two half backs contribute nothing with that personal and we have a centre back who is neither minding the full back line or marking the centre forward.
Look at O Donoughe, the first 3 balls he got he gave a sloppy kick pass for the first, over carried the second and kicked an easy score wide, after this he never kicked the ball forward.I'm sorry but he is not intercounty standard. I didn't see anything from Byrne on the other side. The two wing backs are supposed to be the launch pad for every attack but we dont have this at the minute. Look at all the good teams, mayo have Keegan, Durcan, Boyle , Kerry have Murphy, Tyrone have McCann, Harte, Donnelly, the Dubs have McCarthy and Small.
Personally i think we need a bit of a reshuffle to the back 6 and would liketo see something along the lines of,
2- O Grady
3- J Byrne
4- D Hyland
5- F Conway
6- E Doyle
7- K Cribbin if available/ P Cribbin

I think we have to look at the keeper he was terrified to go short and when he did he kicked it straight to Brogan. Football now its so important to win most of your kickouts, a chap told me on the train on the way home Kildare lost 13 of there own kickout in a row and that is where the dubs won the game.

Throw in full back, centre back and centre forward aswell..
Looking at the Kerry v Donegal match yesterday, we're unlikely to get anything there.. so the Monaghan game is simply a must win.

Have to say it's great to have weekly games again and not have to listen non-stop Premiership rubbish.

Anyway, tactical points for this game...

I've heard it said Monaghan are trying a more attacking game his year – wouldn't be hard – but we can still expect them to be pretty damn defensive. We have to be alert to getting picked off on the counter – which means the defence being really intelligent about holding the shape and picking their runs. Personally, the only ones I have confidence in are Hyland and Doyle – the rest I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them.

This is another steep Div 1 test. I'd imagine Hyland will take McCarron with Doyle again dropping back in front – no doubt management will be drilling into the wing forwards and midfielders this week the need to provide extra cover. Also as mentioned above – the kickouts. Third quarter last week was the opposite of catenaccio. Thirteen consecutive kickouts – Christ! Needless to say that can't be replicated.

Also - our forwards. There's no getting around it: when Monaghan get their defensive game right – and they usually do - it's like playing in quicksand. Patience will be needed – and that means people in the stands resisting the urge to shout "kick it!" (fat chance).

Really hope Brophy is available to play a part, especially with N Flynn out (absolutely dreadful what's happened to him again with the hamstring). While McNally is good, I do think he's a bit one-dimensional at Div 1 level.

Obviously I hope we blow them away, but have a feeling this one is going to be nerve-shredding.

Is McManus out for this game and who was sent off for them on a straight red yesterday? Someone important I hope.

McManus is taking a rest for early part of league - he's broken up with injuries – so unless they send out the bat signal it's hard to see him taking any part. You'd think how could he be up to scratch anyway - but his leg was virtually hanging off during International Rules and he was still Ireland's player of the series by a mile. But I seriously can't see him featuring.

Think Ryan Wylie which would be a bonus too

Rex wrote:

Is McManus out for this game and who was sent off for them on a straight red yesterday? Someone important I hope.

Ryan Wylie got straight red

What's wrong with Brophy ?.

fone wrote:

Rex wrote:

Is McManus out for this game and who was sent off for them on a straight red yesterday? Someone important I hope.

Ryan Wylie got straight red

Monaghan apparently very angry over red card, don't be surprised if its overturned.

Brophy apparently had the proverbial "knock" - really hope he's available next weekend. It's weird cos I thought McCormack was definitely out for Dublin game but he did come on in second half... Anyway the more the merrier etc.

SeamusMurphy wrote:

What's wrong with Brophy  ?.

Was told he had a back injury of some sort but I've no idea how serious it is.

I presume we're back to the dreaded green jerseys for the next 2 games??