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I was one of the posters here that was confident of us retaining our div 1 status, therefore I have to say that I am bitterly disappointed that we have failed to do so & especially when I think it's fair to say that we could/should have got additional points in both the Monaghan & Kerry games and if we had performed yesterday took 2 points of Roscommon. Having attended all 7 games I thought we were gaining momentum in the previous 2 games & if we had won yesterday & was still relegated then that momentum would have continued. However yesterday's performance was abysmal especially in the scenario of mayo losing early in the second half. Like a lot of posters on here I couldn't understand why the need for so many changes in the lineup & to again get caught for having no replacement for maddens black card is ridiculous. It will be tough to bounce back up next season with the rossies, Meath, cork & Tipperary. In fairness to the management they now have approximately 8 wks to work with the panel & install consistency in performance & selection & also spice up our attacking idea's. we have at times in this campaign being stuck in limbo with no clear definition of transfer from defence to attack.

bond (Longford) - Posts: 174 - 03/04/2017 17:43:29    1974937

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Replying To MadgeKing:  "Agreed. This time last year after the Galway match the Celt ran a banner headline 'Back Where We Belong'.
They may reprint it this week"
I remember that headline. Completely sensationalist and uncalled for. I also recall seeing flags with the words "the future is blue" emblazoned on them at several matches in recent years. So much hype, nothing delivered.

We're all guilty of losing the run of ourselves as supporters and buying into the "future is blue" nonsense. That's understandable considering we are so starved of anything to shout about for the past 20 years. Hard to believe that 28 years is our longest stretch without a provincial title, and it's now 20 years since we last won it.

I've said it many times before, and I reiterate the point again, we are going nowhere unless the woeful state of club football in the county is addressed and that means, tough as it is to swallow, that a number of forced amalgamations need to happen, because we have too many clubs diluting a small talent pool. In fact this was already identified in a report commissioned by Peter Quinn (former GAA president) a number of years ago because the county board couldn't figure out why our clubs were so bad. But was any meaningful action taken? A re-shuffle of competitions here and there. That was it.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 03/04/2017 18:07:04    1974952

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Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "I remember that headline. Completely sensationalist and uncalled for. I also recall seeing flags with the words "the future is blue" emblazoned on them at several matches in recent years. So much hype, nothing delivered.

We're all guilty of losing the run of ourselves as supporters and buying into the "future is blue" nonsense. That's understandable considering we are so starved of anything to shout about for the past 20 years. Hard to believe that 28 years is our longest stretch without a provincial title, and it's now 20 years since we last won it.

I've said it many times before, and I reiterate the point again, we are going nowhere unless the woeful state of club football in the county is addressed and that means, tough as it is to swallow, that a number of forced amalgamations need to happen, because we have too many clubs diluting a small talent pool. In fact this was already identified in a report commissioned by Peter Quinn (former GAA president) a number of years ago because the county board couldn't figure out why our clubs were so bad. But was any meaningful action taken? A re-shuffle of competitions here and there. That was it."
Permanent or temporary? We should definitely only have one club per parish in my opinion.

doratheexplorer (Cavan) - Posts: 1467 - 03/04/2017 18:46:32    1974975

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Yesterday saw the conclusion of the first phase of the new management teams term of office. 7 games since early February and 4 games over the past 4 Sundays. I for one think that management are in a better position to pass judgement on the players they inherited. The next phase will hopefully see the introduction of some new players into the panel.

I assume that the players will be back with their clubs for the next 4 weeks and that the preparations for Monaghan / Fermanagh will start in early May. I hope that management are open to bringing in players who are producing the goods at Club level. The new manager can certainly justify this course of action given the timing of his appointment.

Assuming that we play Monaghan in early June we will be going in as under dogs. However, that's not such a bad place to be. Over the past number of years we have a history of producing losing performances in the last round of the league, we lost in Navan to Meath two years ago and two years earlier we took a pasting from Roscommon.

As for yesterday, the big worry is that just like the scenario with Tyrone we appear to be spooked by certain teams. However, there may be an argument that yesterday was partly due to the fact that it was the fourth Sunday on the go and it caught up with the team in the second half.

We have to take hope from the performances against Monaghan, Kerry and Mayo and to the first half showings against Tyrone and Roscommon.

The season did not end yesterday!

kildare blue (Cavan) - Posts: 578 - 03/04/2017 18:58:42    1974981

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Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "I remember that headline. Completely sensationalist and uncalled for. I also recall seeing flags with the words "the future is blue" emblazoned on them at several matches in recent years. So much hype, nothing delivered.

We're all guilty of losing the run of ourselves as supporters and buying into the "future is blue" nonsense. That's understandable considering we are so starved of anything to shout about for the past 20 years. Hard to believe that 28 years is our longest stretch without a provincial title, and it's now 20 years since we last won it.

I've said it many times before, and I reiterate the point again, we are going nowhere unless the woeful state of club football in the county is addressed and that means, tough as it is to swallow, that a number of forced amalgamations need to happen, because we have too many clubs diluting a small talent pool. In fact this was already identified in a report commissioned by Peter Quinn (former GAA president) a number of years ago because the county board couldn't figure out why our clubs were so bad. But was any meaningful action taken? A re-shuffle of competitions here and there. That was it."
The clubs have to vote for it. The clubs don't want it. Simple.

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5010 - 03/04/2017 19:20:11    1974999

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Replying To cavanman47:  "The clubs have to vote for it. The clubs don't want it. Simple."
You're right. Therefore we need to work within the parameters of what we have and it's clear now that the best we can hope for, is to be a competitive division 2 team, but won't win anything. That's the reality. Very sad for a football mad county with no other sport to compete with.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 03/04/2017 20:12:45    1975027

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Replying To kildare blue:  "Yesterday saw the conclusion of the first phase of the new management teams term of office. 7 games since early February and 4 games over the past 4 Sundays. I for one think that management are in a better position to pass judgement on the players they inherited. The next phase will hopefully see the introduction of some new players into the panel.

I assume that the players will be back with their clubs for the next 4 weeks and that the preparations for Monaghan / Fermanagh will start in early May. I hope that management are open to bringing in players who are producing the goods at Club level. The new manager can certainly justify this course of action given the timing of his appointment.

Assuming that we play Monaghan in early June we will be going in as under dogs. However, that's not such a bad place to be. Over the past number of years we have a history of producing losing performances in the last round of the league, we lost in Navan to Meath two years ago and two years earlier we took a pasting from Roscommon.

As for yesterday, the big worry is that just like the scenario with Tyrone we appear to be spooked by certain teams. However, there may be an argument that yesterday was partly due to the fact that it was the fourth Sunday on the go and it caught up with the team in the second half.

We have to take hope from the performances against Monaghan, Kerry and Mayo and to the first half showings against Tyrone and Roscommon.

The season did not end yesterday!"
We are 8 weeks out from Ulster, you think there are club players at the start of their season with adequate fitness, strength and conditioning to make an impact in the Ulster championship? No chance. Whatever is coming from the u21s is it.

fredflint (Cavan) - Posts: 1483 - 03/04/2017 20:23:12    1975035

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How often do Cavan flatter to deceive. We thought things were on the up but that performance yesterday was a real kick in the teeth. There was no great will to win shown by the team yesterday. We need to get some leaders in the squad.

marita (None) - Posts: 467 - 03/04/2017 20:48:19    1975060

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Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "I remember that headline. Completely sensationalist and uncalled for. I also recall seeing flags with the words "the future is blue" emblazoned on them at several matches in recent years. So much hype, nothing delivered.

We're all guilty of losing the run of ourselves as supporters and buying into the "future is blue" nonsense. That's understandable considering we are so starved of anything to shout about for the past 20 years. Hard to believe that 28 years is our longest stretch without a provincial title, and it's now 20 years since we last won it.

I've said it many times before, and I reiterate the point again, we are going nowhere unless the woeful state of club football in the county is addressed and that means, tough as it is to swallow, that a number of forced amalgamations need to happen, because we have too many clubs diluting a small talent pool. In fact this was already identified in a report commissioned by Peter Quinn (former GAA president) a number of years ago because the county board couldn't figure out why our clubs were so bad. But was any meaningful action taken? A re-shuffle of competitions here and there. That was it."
So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year.

MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts: 493 - 03/04/2017 20:57:32    1975068

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Im tired of hearing we need good forwards ,, with the style of our play if we had the 3 best forwards in the country in our full forward line they would be no use , i can only remember 3 decent balls played into our full forward line yesterday , and 2 scores came of them ,a goal and a point . This way of letting the opposition have there own kick outs un challenged is crazy ,letting them up to our half back line, are we trying to copy a Donegal style . Yesterday was Mattie's 10th game in charge I fear he has learned nothing and just wondering who he is taking advice from on team selection ,

goonie (Cavan) - Posts: 308 - 03/04/2017 21:18:31    1975074

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So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year.
MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts:189 - 03/04/2017 20:57:32 1975068


Well personally I have always been a county over club man, I make no apologies for that, my own view is it would mean more to me to see Cavan win provincial titles and challenge for the AI like the old days, rather than seeing my club do well. Wouldn't it be better to see the whole county happy than your own little corner? I know that's a minority view, but such is my rationale.

Anyway, as for who should amalgamate, yeah, neighbouring clubs where there is no justification for two clubs in a sparsely populated area. It is that simple Madge. Fun fact for you Madge: When Cornafean and Killeshandra were best friends they produced some of the finest footballers the game has ever known.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 03/04/2017 21:35:46    1975079

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Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year.
MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts:189 - 03/04/2017 20:57:32 1975068


Well personally I have always been a county over club man, I make no apologies for that, my own view is it would mean more to me to see Cavan win provincial titles and challenge for the AI like the old days, rather than seeing my club do well. Wouldn't it be better to see the whole county happy than your own little corner? I know that's a minority view, but such is my rationale.

Anyway, as for who should amalgamate, yeah, neighbouring clubs where there is no justification for two clubs in a sparsely populated area. It is that simple Madge. Fun fact for you Madge: When Cornafean and Killeshandra were best friends they produced some of the finest footballers the game has ever known."
When was this Ned? The 1930s and 1940s? That was after the 2 clubs had split if I'm not mistaken. Fun fact alright.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1057 - 03/04/2017 22:23:20    1975104

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Replying To MadgeKing:  "So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year."
Well Madge in Kerry they still keep their Junior and Intermediate competitions for small clubs and they also keep the Senior Championship but the County Championship is the big one where every club is represented with amalgamations. It's not just about the county team either. It's great for good players from smaller clubs who may take football more seriously than your average player. They don't necessarily have to be county standard either. But they get the chance to play at a higher level than Junior and try and win a very coveted County Championship medal. It's good for football fans, families, kids etc to have games of a high standard to attend and see their local heroes in action. These games draw big crowds and are great occasions for all. It's not all about the county.

Hardtimes (Cavan) - Posts: 1056 - 03/04/2017 22:32:16    1975111

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Replying To Eddie the Exile:  "
Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year.
MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts:189 - 03/04/2017 20:57:32 1975068


Well personally I have always been a county over club man, I make no apologies for that, my own view is it would mean more to me to see Cavan win provincial titles and challenge for the AI like the old days, rather than seeing my club do well. Wouldn't it be better to see the whole county happy than your own little corner? I know that's a minority view, but such is my rationale.

Anyway, as for who should amalgamate, yeah, neighbouring clubs where there is no justification for two clubs in a sparsely populated area. It is that simple Madge. Fun fact for you Madge: When Cornafean and Killeshandra were best friends they produced some of the finest footballers the game has ever known."
When was this Ned? The 1930s and 1940s? That was after the 2 clubs had split if I'm not mistaken. Fun fact alright."
Clubs were split since day 1. However, to play for cavan you needed to play for a senior club so the best killeshandra men and arva men and even gowna men were playing senior with the reds. An amalgamation of sorts but not what ned proposed.

fredflint (Cavan) - Posts: 1483 - 03/04/2017 22:41:02    1975118

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Replying To Ned_Stormcrow:  "I remember that headline. Completely sensationalist and uncalled for. I also recall seeing flags with the words "the future is blue" emblazoned on them at several matches in recent years. So much hype, nothing delivered.

We're all guilty of losing the run of ourselves as supporters and buying into the "future is blue" nonsense. That's understandable considering we are so starved of anything to shout about for the past 20 years. Hard to believe that 28 years is our longest stretch without a provincial title, and it's now 20 years since we last won it.

I've said it many times before, and I reiterate the point again, we are going nowhere unless the woeful state of club football in the county is addressed and that means, tough as it is to swallow, that a number of forced amalgamations need to happen, because we have too many clubs diluting a small talent pool. In fact this was already identified in a report commissioned by Peter Quinn (former GAA president) a number of years ago because the county board couldn't figure out why our clubs were so bad. But was any meaningful action taken? A re-shuffle of competitions here and there. That was it."
Sorry Ned, Myself and DeanMartin have been making those exact same points time and time again, and we got ridiculed for it. The Anglo Celt and Northern Sound have a great habit of sensationalising Cavan Football week in & week out, and it as never more particular than under Terry's reign.
Last years headline 'back where we belong', fine if we were playing Division one football regularly over the last 20 yrs, but we weren't. They should actually use that headline this week, because Division Two is exactly where we belong.

But Ive also said it, the club scene, regardless of amalgamations, needs a total revamp, league football in Cavan is no longer competitive, when you go 50/60 days between Round 5 and Round 6/7/8, theres a drastic problem that needs fixing.

cavanblueman (Cavan) - Posts: 636 - 04/04/2017 09:28:12    1975208

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Simply not good enough, majority of the players lacking any kind of footballing ability and intelligence. Fitness and Strength will get you so far, but it doesn't improve your brain.

Manager has taken a lot of criticism, its is first year, and maybe when he gets to see a few more club games, he might identify some potential.

The manager can only pick the team, its then up to the team to perform. Unfortunately for him, most of the them arent up to it, because they lack the basic footballing ability, top footballers should know when to make runs, look up and give an early pass, support, run off the shoulder, its all common sense and very basic.

cavanblueman (Cavan) - Posts: 636 - 04/04/2017 09:51:49    1975235

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Replying To fredflint:  "
Replying To Eddie the Exile:  "[quote=Ned_Stormcrow:  "So who would you force to amalgamate Ned?
Templeport and Corlough? Swad and Shannon Gaels? Maybe all 4 together-Western Warriors!
Munterconnaught and Maghera in the south?
Maybe Cornafaen and Killeshandra should both bury the hatchet and become a heartland powerhouse once again. Should all this be 'forced' on clubs to make the county team competitive? In the era of club v county debate, let me think on that.
In the meantime just think about Cork football, with its 8 divisional teams and every player in the county being eligible for senior football every year. Working wonders down there...we will see it up close in Div2 next year.
MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts:189 - 03/04/2017 20:57:32 1975068


Well personally I have always been a county over club man, I make no apologies for that, my own view is it would mean more to me to see Cavan win provincial titles and challenge for the AI like the old days, rather than seeing my club do well. Wouldn't it be better to see the whole county happy than your own little corner? I know that's a minority view, but such is my rationale.

Anyway, as for who should amalgamate, yeah, neighbouring clubs where there is no justification for two clubs in a sparsely populated area. It is that simple Madge. Fun fact for you Madge: When Cornafean and Killeshandra were best friends they produced some of the finest footballers the game has ever known."
When was this Ned? The 1930s and 1940s? That was after the 2 clubs had split if I'm not mistaken. Fun fact alright."
Clubs were split since day 1. However, to play for cavan you needed to play for a senior club so the best killeshandra men and arva men and even gowna men were playing senior with the reds. An amalgamation of sorts but not what ned proposed."]Yes, there were two clubs Fred, I never said there was just one club. However, the best of Killeshandra players played with Cornafean, so in effect it was really just the Reds, with the best from Killeshandra playing for them.

Ned_Stormcrow (Cavan) - Posts: 1071 - 04/04/2017 10:24:43    1975266

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They said they would be keeping a look at Club football. Strenght and conditioning wouldn't be that big an issue. Most clubs do a fair bit anyway. It's 10 weeks until the championship.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2763 - 04/04/2017 15:15:50    1975481

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Can anyone give an update on the following players. . .

Ray Cullivan - was on the panel during the winter.
Barry Reilly - is he around? Ideal man to provide full forward line with good ball
Martin Dunne - will he ever play for cavan again?
Enda Reilly - Think he was on the panel. Is he injured/dropped?
Eugene Keating - Mattie said he'd consider any of the 4 who left the panel. Givney is abroad but Keating in Dublin as far as I know. Will he committ?

One or 2 of those guys and any of the under 21s who put their hands up (and tomorrow is a great opportunity to do just that!) would strengthen the panel and provide good competition for places ahead of the championship.

I know we play Meath in a challenge on May 7th. Anyone know of any other challenges coming up?
How are league fixtures looking? It'd be great to see 4 or 5 consequetive weekends of games where management could see players in action.

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5010 - 04/04/2017 15:53:53    1975509

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Replying To cavanman47:  "Can anyone give an update on the following players. . .

Ray Cullivan - was on the panel during the winter.
Barry Reilly - is he around? Ideal man to provide full forward line with good ball
Martin Dunne - will he ever play for cavan again?
Enda Reilly - Think he was on the panel. Is he injured/dropped?
Eugene Keating - Mattie said he'd consider any of the 4 who left the panel. Givney is abroad but Keating in Dublin as far as I know. Will he committ?

One or 2 of those guys and any of the under 21s who put their hands up (and tomorrow is a great opportunity to do just that!) would strengthen the panel and provide good competition for places ahead of the championship.

I know we play Meath in a challenge on May 7th. Anyone know of any other challenges coming up?
How are league fixtures looking? It'd be great to see 4 or 5 consequetive weekends of games where management could see players in action."
Don't think Martin Dunne would make a difference to the panel to be honest.
Barry Reilly is quality and would add a different dimension in the forwards. He is working fairly locally as far as I know but cannot commit, which is a pity but understandable. Same goes for Eugene Keating.
More annoying is the fact we have good lads already in the setup who need exposure but still didn't see much game time in the league. Smith and McCutcheon from Cootehill would be 2, and Michael Argue too although injury played a part there. Is brian Sankey still on the panel?

MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts: 493 - 04/04/2017 18:27:36    1975620

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