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Overall a draw was probably a fair result on the day. Tyrone point disallowed which I though should of stood as Beggan wasn't going to control it and then the other end Monaghan had a chance of taking all the points. Thought a draw was fair. On the performance- brutal day for football, conditions were tough and looked to be a lot of water on the surface of the pitch. Both teams gave it their all on the day and played a tough battle. A lot of hard hitting and messy football but it is January at the end of the day. We got a point so lets move. Mayo next weekend to look forward to in Clones. Hopefully a decent enough day and we get to see two teams go at it. No game in Div 1 is a guaranteed result for us but also no team will look forward to playing Monaghan. Beggan again was brilliant. Watching himself and Morgan is just brilliant. They offer so much to their teams and the point from play to top it off. Probably should of went for the final free himself but Conor Boyle was in a good position. Definitely won't be something to hold against either player. Boyler has been immense so far as well as Darren Hughes. Playing as a team well and getting a good few scorers on the board. Think we need to nail down a midfield pair ASAP. A lot of changing between Kearns and Lavelle. Whats everyone opinion on this?? Great to have McManus back for 15 mins of the opening game of the league. I would believe they will just be using him as a sub for the first half of the league. What a snapshot to come on and kick though. We are blessed to have such talent. Going to be a very interesting league campaign and its hard to say where we will gain or lose points. But looking forward to it. countymonaghan (Monaghan) - Posts: 289 - 01/02/2022 10:56:07 2397648 Link
Kearns not fully fit yet so the switching with Lavelle makes sense. Pity that Conor Leonard got injured as he would have added to the options here. Big questions for me is the FF line. Jack, Mulligan or Garland don't make the ball stick. Would like to see Woods and Gary Mohan being worked better up top, even as a pair for times in the game. They could change the whole thing up and break that predictability. McCarthy needs to hitting at least 3 or 4 points a game not chasing lads around the field Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1195 - 01/02/2022 16:03:00 2397759 Link
I think McCarthy at wing back has its merits. He has more space to operate in. He is getting on the ball too. For too long he was up in the forwards getting crowded out and getting frustrated. I do not think wing back is now his full time role. He is a score getter after all. But for now I think he looks more comfortable than he has in a while. Tim_NicebutDim (Monaghan) - Posts: 347 - 02/02/2022 11:53:16 2397904 Link
Replying To Tim_NicebutDim: "I think McCarthy at wing back has its merits. He has more space to operate in. He is getting on the ball too. For too long he was up in the forwards getting crowded out and getting frustrated. I do not think wing back is now his full time role. He is a score getter after all. But for now I think he looks more comfortable than he has in a while." McCarthy is a much better player when he is running at the opposition rather than trying to win his own ball and then turning to take the opposition on. The quality Monaghan have in the half back/forward line allow these players to switch seamlessly throughout matches and gives each player breaks. On a side note, why is the first league game for club scheduled for Sunday the 24th of April. Meath league starts tomorrow, Friday the 4th of February. This is a gap of 79 days. Perhaps its a bit too early to start but surely players would rather more matches than just slogging away training. MonaghanMaverick (Monaghan) - Posts: 13 - 03/02/2022 12:06:17 2398092 Link
Replying To MonaghanMaverick: "McCarthy is a much better player when he is running at the opposition rather than trying to win his own ball and then turning to take the opposition on. The quality Monaghan have in the half back/forward line allow these players to switch seamlessly throughout matches and gives each player breaks. On a side note, why is the first league game for club scheduled for Sunday the 24th of April. Meath league starts tomorrow, Friday the 4th of February. This is a gap of 79 days. Perhaps its a bit too early to start but surely players would rather more matches than just slogging away training." there's 50 somthing clubs in Meath only 30 in Monaghan. more time required in meath to run it off i presume. Monaghan league proposal this year is a single league . starting 24th April. 9 rounds of fixtures, league semi finals penciled in for 23rd July. Championship group stage fixtures due to start 7th of August. latefortraining (Monaghan) - Posts: 127 - 03/02/2022 12:44:15 2398103 Link
Very unimpressive from Monaghan again yesterday , shot selection , shooting very poor, and kickouts were shocking , mayo got out nearly every time with a handy short kickout , No sign of any improvement s this year Monaghan78 (Monaghan) - Posts: 22 - 07/02/2022 08:49:10 2398778 Link
No complaints but no dressing it up either this was a bad defeat. You couldn't fault the players efforts but the quality is lacking in really making chances count on the scoreboard. Mayo are a v good side and were always going to come back into the game but we should been further in front at half time. Missed the win against tyrone last week who are still coming back from holidays and this defeat makes survival v hard at this point. Id say the next game v flying armagh is really a must win if we want to stay up as we have kerry after that with dublin and donegal to come. seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1881 - 07/02/2022 08:57:49 2398782 Link
when mayo got the second goal they did something that we seem to struggle with - they held on to their lead and done it comfortably. We'll rue missed chances in this game and the last. I thought we might've been able for mayo & tyrone at this stage in the year but i suppose theyre all ireland runner ups and champions respectively...still cant help but feel frustrated... my current division 1 rankings are Armagh Tyrone Kerry Mayo Monaghan Donegal Dublin Kildare having said that, we're just as capable of beating armagh/kerry by one point as we are of loosing by one to kildare/donegal. which ultimately is a great endorsement of the league but still very frustrating. MalsBalls (Monaghan) - Posts: 221 - 07/02/2022 10:44:35 2398829 Link
Banty can sugar coat both the Mayo and Tyrone game as much as he wants and spin whatever rubbish he wants but bottom line is we should have won both games.. fully expected us to beat both and especially yesterday against a Mayo team at home minus 5 of their best players (Mullen, ruane, McLoughin, o Connor, conroy)… as I stated in a post last week we are set up in a way that we won't be hammered or rout anyone but unfort these caveman tactics won't win us many trophies… mick2007 (Monaghan) - Posts: 570 - 07/02/2022 11:13:01 2398838 Link
Replying To mick2007: "Banty can sugar coat both the Mayo and Tyrone game as much as he wants and spin whatever rubbish he wants but bottom line is we should have won both games.. fully expected us to beat both and especially yesterday against a Mayo team at home minus 5 of their best players (Mullen, ruane, McLoughin, o Connor, conroy)… as I stated in a post last week we are set up in a way that we won't be hammered or rout anyone but unfort these caveman tactics won't win us many trophies…" Sugar coat all you like, we have one of the smallest pool of player in all of Ireland, we have been punching above our weight for this last 12-15 years. You cannot fault the players or the management - we have played the AI championships and one of the best teams in Ireland over the last 10 years for God stake, a bit of prespective is needed, people just expected to much. patmouse (Monaghan) - Posts: 122 - 07/02/2022 12:17:11 2398871 Link
Replying To patmouse: "Sugar coat all you like, we have one of the smallest pool of player in all of Ireland, we have been punching above our weight for this last 12-15 years. You cannot fault the players or the management - we have played the AI championships and one of the best teams in Ireland over the last 10 years for God stake, a bit of prespective is needed, people just expected to much." couldn't agree more. how in name of god a county with the population of monaghan is able to compete and hold their own with the top 8 teams in ireland is nothing short of miraculous. look at mess Cork , Meath and Down are in , we were beat by one of the top teams in Ireland yesterday , yes we could won, and for the want of the free taker we might of got over the line. attack wise McManus, Sean Jones and Kieran Hughes will bolster our attack when the return to full fitness, a bit of perspective is needed indeed. latefortraining (Monaghan) - Posts: 127 - 07/02/2022 13:05:15 2398888 Link
Replying To patmouse: "Sugar coat all you like, we have one of the smallest pool of player in all of Ireland, we have been punching above our weight for this last 12-15 years. You cannot fault the players or the management - we have played the AI championships and one of the best teams in Ireland over the last 10 years for God stake, a bit of prespective is needed, people just expected to much." I'm not blaming the players, it's the tactics that there instructed to play by..we may be punching above our weight for the last 12-15 years but I'm sure many would also agree that we have underachieved to an extent is well.. fist pumps on the line for the camera don't win to many trophies…..we've had a golden generation of players during that period.. we have left numerous ulster games and an all Ireland final behind us by sitting back instead of pushing on.. moral victories are no use to anyone.. mick2007 (Monaghan) - Posts: 570 - 07/02/2022 13:27:19 2398901 Link
Definitely agree with the above posts but the team has to take some criticism as well- the seeing out of games has been a major psychological issue even since MOR tenure. In fairness, it is only the league, monaghan have beaten all the top teams in recent times in this division , was a victory over mayo really going to be that special- I suspect monaghan will go down which I don't think will be a bad thing going forward for the new crop of players. 222 (UK) - Posts: 846 - 07/02/2022 13:37:01 2398909 Link
The comments about us overachieving are as pointless as the man on the line!! We failed to beat a Tyrone team only off a plane with big names missing, we failed to beat a Mayo team who doesn't start playing football until April.. we are so far away it's actually scary, Armagh will show exactly that in 2weeks time when they highlight the gulf in class.. We look extremely poor conditioning wise, one thing a Monaghan team always had was work rate and legs, especially in the league where we caught under prepared teams out and caused major upsets. Whatever Bantys mercenaries are doing isn't working, we are lost.. Blueblood4life (Monaghan) - Posts: 200 - 07/02/2022 14:41:23 2398956 Link
The comments about us overachieving are as pointless as the man on the line!! We failed to beat a Tyrone team only off a plane with big names missing, we failed to beat a Mayo team who doesn't start playing football until April.. we are so far away it's actually scary, Armagh will show exactly that in 2weeks time when they highlight the gulf in class.. We look extremely poor conditioning wise, one thing a Monaghan team always had was work rate and legs, especially in the league where we caught under prepared teams out and caused major upsets. Whatever Bantys mercenaries are doing isn't working, we are lost.. Blueblood4life (Monaghan) - Posts: 200 - 07/02/2022 14:46:30 2398963 Link
Replying To mick2007: "Banty can sugar coat both the Mayo and Tyrone game as much as he wants and spin whatever rubbish he wants but bottom line is we should have won both games.. fully expected us to beat both and especially yesterday against a Mayo team at home minus 5 of their best players (Mullen, ruane, McLoughin, o Connor, conroy)… as I stated in a post last week we are set up in a way that we won't be hammered or rout anyone but unfort these caveman tactics won't win us many trophies…" Right on the money. With Malachy in charge we have at least 3 points out of those 2 games falling where they did. Headless chickens up front would describe those 2 displays.. seamusorinn (USA) - Posts: 295 - 07/02/2022 18:46:29 2399111 Link
The Armagh game which is two weeks away will tell the tale on this league for monaghan. We were v fortunate to stay up the last few years and people do need to be realistic here in that a lot of newer lads will take time to adjust to top level inter county football. Its not the end of the world if we go down but team do need to win some games for confidence ahead of summer. They haven't won many over last few years against div 1 opposition. seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1881 - 07/02/2022 20:07:03 2399147 Link
Replying To patmouse: "Sugar coat all you like, we have one of the smallest pool of player in all of Ireland, we have been punching above our weight for this last 12-15 years. You cannot fault the players or the management - we have played the AI championships and one of the best teams in Ireland over the last 10 years for God stake, a bit of prespective is needed, people just expected to much." Ah Patmouse. I hope you wintered well. Now I am sure there is a division 4 thread on here for your county team. Now scurry all the way down there. greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 07/02/2022 20:23:23 2399155 Link
Replying To Blueblood4life: "The comments about us overachieving are as pointless as the man on the line!! We failed to beat a Tyrone team only off a plane with big names missing, we failed to beat a Mayo team who doesn't start playing football until April.. we are so far away it's actually scary, Armagh will show exactly that in 2weeks time when they highlight the gulf in class.. We look extremely poor conditioning wise, one thing a Monaghan team always had was work rate and legs, especially in the league where we caught under prepared teams out and caused major upsets. Whatever Bantys mercenaries are doing isn't working, we are lost.." Dublin Kerry & Monaghan are the longest residents in Division 1. At this point I find the talk of over achievement patronizing & I tend to find it comes from those who hail from counties who consistently under achieve (even though they might declare their county to be Monaghan on this forum) Let's get it into perspective here. We have played 2 games in the league so far & we have one point. Our first 2 games happen to be last years All Ireland finalists. Tyrone just off a plane you say - they were back 3 weeks and I am sure they might have a had a couple of training sessions before the game, but then again maybe you know something that I don't. Regarding the big names missing from Tyrone, who exactly. Maybe you are thinking of some of their lads who have left the panel. We should have beaten Mayo and there were some poor decisions made & opportunities missed. Again little in it,We have yet to meet Armagh, Dublin Kerry & Kildare. The team - and particularly the newly blooded lads on the panel - will continue to refine their game and I expect a couple of big performances over the coming weekends. This is division one football & it is competitive. If you want to see what' ' lost', really looks like, look over the hedge at the neighbours. As always MUINEACHÁIN ABÚ! greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 07/02/2022 20:58:27 2399166 Link
Replying To seanie08: "The Armagh game which is two weeks away will tell the tale on this league for monaghan. We were v fortunate to stay up the last few years and people do need to be realistic here in that a lot of newer lads will take time to adjust to top level inter county football. Its not the end of the world if we go down but team do need to win some games for confidence ahead of summer. They haven't won many over last few years against div 1 opposition." On that point, would it be no harm for ye to drop down to Div 2 for a year or so? I'm being honest now, not stirring. It shouldn't be a stay in Div 1 at all costs, as it seemed ye have done over the years. A drop down, use more youth and move on some older fellas, and come back up with a strong promotion year could do wonders for ye. I feel personally that you go hell for leather for the league in order to stay up, and then you aren't right for championship after ye emptied the tanks in the Spring. Just my opinion, but dropping down a division here and there isn't a big deal and can be used well (just don't do what my fellas did though and completely ignore the league for years). Being solely in Division 1 hasn't done much for ye since 2015... Loughduff Lad (Cavan) - Posts: 2466 - 08/02/2022 08:26:52 2399201 Link