abl, brian farrell is still the best full back in the county, and the only player who could compete with him for that title over the past 10 years was andrew corden, RIP

thinlizzy (Carlow) - Posts: 263 - 20/11/2008 15:38:00    145982

abl, I never criticised Shane Myers. Read my post again. I wish he was 10 years younger and a Carlow man, that's it.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1566 - 21/11/2008 23:56:03    147410

Onion breath, do you not like Wicklow? Shane Myers is a good player, the best full back in CarlowTown. He'd still do a good job at county level, but with bigots like you sniping from the sidelines he's hardly likely to.

1944 (Carlow) - Posts: 89 - 26/11/2008 16:46:52    150626

1944, to answer your question, no I do not like Wicklow, and with good reason. I agree with you that Myers is the best full back in the town but he is nowhere near as good as non Town men like Brian Farrell and Mark Brennan to name just two.

Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1566 - 26/11/2008 20:09:08    150803

1944


Go a bit easier on the cooking sherry.

moll (Carlow) - Posts: 153 - 26/11/2008 20:39:25    150822

1944 its posts like that, why i hate u robbed my old username!! Especially as u picked it during a Carlow U-21 game v Offaly which i obviously was at & of course as a wicklow lover u were not!!
But best full back for 2009 should still be Brian Farrell..he is only 30/31. Mark Brennan is a much better option in mf or late in a game at full forward.
But for next year a few of the young Eire Og guys despite last sunday have come on a lot over past few months!
Hennessy in goal has been quality, Gannon..while probably not yet up to an inter co mf standard should play in half fw line, and Mullins as a corner forward has been so exciting and got EO replay v Colmcille in Longford.
Also Co midfield will be Pat Walshe/Thos Walshe (see below) and Derek Hayden, who is returning to both Eire Og and the county for next year. That is a fact. Transfer has been done and he is back where he belongs.
Also talks are being held with Thos Walshe, and as someone who liked Luke D in 2004 and is living with 2 Carlow players in Dublin, he is seriously considering a return to his native county.
So with a midfield like that, and hopefully a youthful approach involving Hennessy, Redmon, St.Ledger, Gannon and Mullins we can look forward to a promising league and Louth game.

The Real 1944 (Carlow) - Posts: 1114 - 26/11/2008 23:49:21    150992

But for next year a few of the young Eire Og guys despite last sunday have come on a lot over past few months! Hennessy in goal has been quality, Gannon..while probably not yet up to an inter co mf standard should play in half fw line, and Mullins as a corner forward has been so exciting and got EO replay v Colmcille in Longford. Also Co midfield will be Pat Walshe/Thos Walshe (see below) and Derek Hayden, who is returning to both Eire Og and the county for next year. That is a fact. Transfer has been done and he is back where he belongs. Also talks are being held with Thos Walshe, and as someone who liked Luke D in 2004 and is living with 2 Carlow players in Dublin, he is seriously considering a return to his native county. So with a midfield like that, and hopefully a youthful approach involving Hennessy, Redmon, St.Ledger, Gannon and Mullins we can look forward to a promising league and Louth game. Real 1944, Good post but I disagree with you on Brian Farrell, he is not the best full back in the county and both himself and Joe Byrne showed signs of their age this year in the club championship. Anyway, that point is irrelevant because Farrell is not on the panel. The Mark Brennan situation is unclear until we discover Kevin Ryan's attitude to dual players and we learn what his management team will be. Your post is accurate when it comes to Derek Hayden and I think that would be a huge boon to us and it also appears, yes, that Thomas is cons idering a move home but that he is really in two minds on the matter. His work situation may be a factor here. Patrick Walshe is not an option this year as he will not be in Ireland. Also Paul Cashin may not be an option which is very sad. I would say that what is of greater significance than Walshe, Farrell etc. is the fact that Palatine's Reid brothers are coming in. That shows the real genius of Luke Dempsey. Luke knows what our problem has been and we all know it. We have never gotten our best 15 players or even close to it out on the pitch and as a county with only 20 odd football clubs we have to do that. It's starting to look that Luke may get at least 11 or 12 of them out on the pitch at the same time and if he achieves that - we will be a very strong county in football. Also, good on to see Seamus Gray and David Bermingham on the panel. Two big strong men who can score from distance - we need that sort of player badly. From what luke has on his panel it's possible we could get a midfield and forward line resembling this out.. N Reid, D Bermingham; S Gray, P Reid, S Gannon; D Hayden, M Carpenter, JJ Smith - that would be very exciting and S Rea and R Walker would be there or thereabouts. I won't even attempt to guess a defence - that area has been a mess for years and it depends on what luke desires. I would imagine Christy Bolger, Daniel St Ledger and Shane Redmond will feature mind.

TAFKANO1FAN (Carlow) - Posts: 588 - 27/11/2008 11:39:57    151197

a lot to take in from those last two posts... firstly id like to know if anyone knows Mark Brennan's thoughts on it? even if Ryan allows dual players on the hurling panel, would Brennan be interested in committing to the footballers too? he's a decent option at midfield, but id prefer him a full forward or even in the half forward line for his ball-winning abilities re Brian Farrell and Joe Byrne, i still think you'd go a long way to find better options at 3 and 6 in the county, but they are getting on in years. i think Farrell is 31 next year, and Byrne is older, so maybe would be best to give a few possible successors a chance, seeing as we're talkin about 5 year plans and all. on the rest of the Pal contingent, is it actually true that the Reids are in? great news, if so. is it just Paul and Niall, or is John or even Darren involved? presumably David is still regaining fitness how about Skeagh, or has he retired from intercounty? Gannon is a handy player, but of course he shouldnt be midfield for the county. maybe in the forwards, but does no-one else think that we're accomodating too many small fellas in the side? is Cashin's injury that bad, that he'll miss the whole year? whats the Ray Walker situation? he interested? how about John Murphy? or could someone give us a list of who was at this meeting? what age is yer man Bermingham anyway, sure wasnt he playing Junior football a year or 2 ago? surely past it finally, if its true re Hayden and Thomas Walsh, then great. wouldnt be overly happy about how they've been towards Carlow football the past couple years, but we cant afford to be without players like that. is it definite that Hayden is back with EO, so? how do the guys at the club feel about him? as for Walsh, it'll take guts to walk away from Wicklow when they're on an upward curve, but hopefully the call of home will be enough to persuade him. he's a Carlow-man at the end of the day

thinlizzy (Carlow) - Posts: 263 - 27/11/2008 14:46:57    151495

thinlizzy - i tend to agree with you - alot of people saying things on this website i wonder just how much is actually official. My sources tell me there was no palatine lads in at meeting last friday night - i know alot of guys were excused from different clubs but even so eire og had a big contingent there and they were out on sunday against rhode but wanted to hear what luke demspey had to say. I dont think its set in stone about derek hayden and as for thomas walshe i think i will wait for them to take to the training pitch before i believe stories. Personally i think its too hard to be a dual player in any county nowadays - i would be surprised if mark brennan returned to football - depends what this new trainer is like in hurling. Paul cashin is not suffering from an injury but has had to undergo tests for chest pains - hopefully he will be given the all clear although you would imagine he would be taking a rest for a while depending on the outcome. Dont know anything about skeagh or ray walker.

dual supporter (Carlow) - Posts: 772 - 27/11/2008 15:51:21    151617

J.Brennan
B.Cashin
B.Farrell
C.Bolger
A.Curran
J.Byrne
B.Hennesy
Strech.Reid
T.Walsh
D.Hayden/Paul Reid
M.Carpenter
B.Carbery
P.Broderick
E.McCormack
S.Rea

A lot of E.O lads but if you look for people to win you games and these lads play to their a best of their ability shouldnt really be any problem for Carlow in the 4th division.

May08 (Carlow) - Posts: 9 - 27/11/2008 17:54:36    151787

thin lizzy id love to no why your sayin young gannon isnt up to it for the county the lad was great all year and didnt lose a midfield battle in carlow?? theres plenty to come from him...as to accomodating small players on the team well theres no point puttin big oafs on the field that cant kick a ball out of there way....

abl (Carlow) - Posts: 8 - 29/11/2008 03:58:20    152864

May08, are you sure you've enough Eire Og lads in there!!

what makes you think Ber Hennessy would cut it at that level? he's never thrown his lot in with the county before, there's a lot of lads id have ahead of him, not least John Hayden

too many small fellas too. i know there were plenty of reasons Meath hammered us this year, but lookin out on the pitch, the size difference between the 2 sets of players was frightening. this needs to be corrected

thinlizzy (Carlow) - Posts: 263 - 29/11/2008 09:46:05    152872

Lads ye need to step back a bit and enter the real world!! Bryan Farrell & Joe Byrne are too old end of! Don't get me wrong Bryan Farrell has been a tremendous servant to carlow football...he's been there through thick n thin! Can't say the same for Byrne....he wouldn't go in last year when we really needed him..! Anyway, we can't live on past performances. And in the latter stages of the championship this year Bryan farrell didn't hve the legs...he was almost anonymous in both the drawn game & replay, it's a pity really but we have to move onwards & upwards! Does anyone have an opinion on Seamus Farrell...he did a great job for the blues this year at that position & only that they didn't have quality fresh legs on the bench should have beaten Pal!

Andi (Carlow) - Posts: 40 - 29/11/2008 10:12:37    152876

Lads some good posts goin up at present and its great that the interest in the footballers is goin again. Regards the stories about Tom Walsh,i will only believe it when hes out on the pitch in a carlow jersey although my own personal view is that he should be left where he is,why should we go chasing him? Its him that should be makin the first move to see can he help out his native county although to be honest he went down big time in my opinion when he left us 4 wicklow of all teams but sure if hes anyway decent he l come back.As 4 Dereck Hayden,hes young and needs to be encouraged and not treated like he deserted us the way t walsh did, rem he was man enough to commit to the county against offaly the year b4 last when others sat in the stands critising,hopefully he l make a quick recovery n we l see him back in the carlow colours soon. As a Naomh Brid man mark brennan has hes own view on dual players n it has notn 2 do with wat the new hurlin boss is happy with,he said himself at the CR homecomin that he thought he could play the 2 sports all along and give equally 2 both but dat he found out he was only kiddin himself so i guess he wont play both but i wud dearly love to see him back in football.As 4 Brian Farrell n Joe Byrne i think people are goin over the top about omitting them saying their 2 old,for god sake Johnny Nevin played a lot longer and i do believe they have a lot 2 offer the set up still n i hope they both come back in. I hav 2 agree we need to get bigger players onto the team we have 2 many small players in key positions but i have every confidence in Luke sorting it all out.

THE BOSS (Carlow) - Posts: 475 - 29/11/2008 22:21:59    153124

abl, read what i said about Gannon again

i never said he wasnt up to it, on the contrary id love to see him on the panel, ive rated him very highly the past few years. what i said was he shouldnt be midfield at intercounty. can you imagine him going up against Nigel Crawford or Shane Ryan? he doesnt have the physique. he was even well beaten at midfield against Kildare in the u21 earlier this year, and that was against lads more his own age

id see him playing a role in the half forwards though, if anywhere. he can run all day

and i hold my position regarding too many small players. of course we need lads who can kick a ball, but equally there's no point taking the field if we're gonna be totally outmuscled in 5 or 6 positions. the physical side of intercounty football is too important

thinlizzy (Carlow) - Posts: 263 - 30/11/2008 03:46:23    153238

Lads...Johnny Nevin like Willie Quinlan is an exceptions to the rule! Their longevity is due to their committment to the game, especially OFF THE FIELD OF PLAY!!!! Can't be said for the "younger" generation...sad but true! As I said in my previous post, Bryan Farrell was poor at club level so to be honest I think he'd be at nothing at Inter county! As for Joe Byrne.....I!! Hopefully we'll get the right mix of both youth & experience! Remember lads the County team commitment is "NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS"!!!!!!

Andi (Carlow) - Posts: 40 - 30/11/2008 11:03:55    153265

surprised to see liam murphy not even being mentioned in any of the panels or in talk about full backs either. hes had a lot of injury problems but i hear hes back involved and training pretty well!!
also i really hope we have mark brennan availble to the footballers this year. patrick walshes decision to travel for the year means we are ver light on midfielders and we could desperately do with him....

johnno44 (Carlow) - Posts: 17 - 01/12/2008 13:53:02    153790

Thin Lizzy.... Ber Hen was EO best delivery of a ball all year. He set up number of attacks from half back with exceptional ball in, very rarely gave it away. If we had 15 lads that dont give the ball away we will go places. And about the small lads?? what will we do.. throw in 6 big lads that cant kick a ball.. we usually have the small lads to do that in other teams i seen picked

May08 (Carlow) - Posts: 9 - 03/12/2008 19:04:40    156244

Up Meath!!:)

updaroyals (Meath) - Posts: 53 - 04/12/2008 00:13:11    156492

true enough, but a good club player doesnt always make a good intercounty player, and i think if he was good enough to be considered one of the best wingbacks in the county (as ur saying by puttin him in there) he would have had a go with the county team at this stage. he's gettin on a bit, isnt he? must be late 20s atleast. there's plenty of lads id have in ahead of him anyway

thinlizzy (Carlow) - Posts: 263 - 04/12/2008 13:22:39    156810