dstuction
County: Donegal
Posts: 859

1810813 Connacht is getting competitive again as the last two years have shown.

That comment is deadly considering last year was the biggest defeat in connacht final ever (20 points).

It might be close between the rest but it isn't what id call competitive.

What happened last year wont happen this year as I have a really strong fancy for Roscommon to cause an upset, They have huge talent from the last 5 under 21 years coming through, and with a more settled management team in place I think Mr Mc Stay might get his charges working to be ready for a serious tilt at Connacht..

Belclare1 (Galway) - Posts: 1626 - 01/12/2015 15:05:41    1810854

lowballplease
County: Galway
Posts: 502

1810803
TheMaster you know well that set up will cost a fortune! Come on now...!!!


Not as much as Mcstay wanted.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7907 - 01/12/2015 15:19:28    1810863

Hopefully the medical team involved last year are kept on! I think it was the first year in 5 or 6 we more or less had a full strength panel throughout the championship!

daftdave (Mayo) - Posts: 83 - 01/12/2015 16:10:02    1810878

Now now the flaker there no need to be jealous lol.

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 01/12/2015 20:39:31    1810954

I'd give Barry Solan a lot of the credit for keeping lads fit. Serious back room team which would indicate Rochford is well regarded by his peers and isn't afraid to delegate

lillyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 429 - 01/12/2015 21:14:39    1810959

Hard to know what to expect. A lot of pressure and focus will be on these players and this group because of all that went on and this wil be difficult. But at the same time there is a strong core group of guys there with plenty of experience now and more than reasonable strength in depth. E.g. can easily pick a team of 15 from following wall with plenty of experience.
Clarke, Hennelly
Barrett, Cafferkey, Keane, Higgins, Cunniffe
Keegan, Vaughan, Boyle, Durcan, Drake
SOS, B Moran, T Parsons,
Mcloughlin, D O Connor, Dillon, J Doherty,
AOS, Freeman, A Moran, E Regan, C O Connor, Sweeney

Others
Kirby, Harrisson, C Loftus, D Coen, J Gibbons, O'Malley, Douglas, and more to come from e.g. minor panel possibly or from club teams Hollymount and maybe even from Ardnaree.

Looking back on last year Vaughan and Cunniffe were injured for the semi-final replay. Drake and Durcan were drafted in and now have experience at the top level of championship. Also Parsons got injured and Barry Moran ran outta steam just before critical time in game. SOS got black card as well. But to that if I remember correctly we were level if not on top and managing Dublin attacks well.

MaigheoAbu (Mayo) - Posts: 343 - 03/12/2015 11:07:27    1811199

I wouldn't be as impressed with McEntee as others seem to be from his stint in charge of St Brigids in Dublin. He took a team who had won a Dublin Senior Championship and the following year a team who won a Dublin Senior League the year before he took over to become a team that only narrowly avoided relegation in league and a team who didn't beat any decent team under his reign. His tactics during games were questioned in 2014 when St Judes beat Brigids and Kevin Mc scored 3-05 and McEntee continued to go man on man. What was more worrying was against the same team in 2015 they were again outclassed on the line.
Maybe it's the players at his disposal but he hasn't impressed as manager in Dublin 15 but maybe he just isn't cut out for management and will be better as a selector/motivator

dubshurling7 (Dublin) - Posts: 1017 - 03/12/2015 19:18:36    1811316