Who's the fool now Sledger ? as I suspected - utter muck with players who were miles oit of their depth !

OurKid (Louth) - Posts: 195 - 22/02/2009 18:28:55    214852

Ourkid... Yeh,right the 2nd half did show dublins quality....the goals at teh start of wither half killed us!But we did have our chances,and in the 1st half matched the dubs for effort and quality!To knock them and say they where uttermuch is very harsh. Top performers today for louth where Deci Byrne,McGuire,Pepe and Mulligan....Jason Clarke wsa propbably the best defender we had!I do however question the sideline....change in the middle should have happened earlier,and rogers was having a poor game from the very off.Would like to have seen mcguire play in full forward line,i though niall conlon and sean mccann put in an awful lot of work! Inntroduction of duffy didn work,he just wasn in the game when he came on... Goals win games and the dubs got them when it mattered,in knocked the lads...Their number 10 and six where class acts!

kingJay (Louth) - Posts: 42 - 22/02/2009 20:38:06    214972

Embarrased is what I am after that. How can a team go out 1 point down going into a second half with the wind and lose by 7, its unbelievable. A lot of the players on that team are just not good enough.Only 2 players came out with a bit of credit, Mulligan and Smith!!! although the balls going into these two at times made them look terible. Also Cooley won the Minor 3 years ago and not 1 player on the team, A JOKE(And im not a Cooley man).....How are there so many Geraldines players on the squad, Ah i forgot where is the manager from??? I could pick a squad of U-21 players that would beat that Louth team,

Jimmymac1 (Louth) - Posts: 60 - 22/02/2009 20:59:34    214990

Pepi smit and Derck maguire were the only 4wards and young dean mathews was outstanding for an 18 year old... to be fair thats going to be the same team next year for louth just take out 3 players peope will say its not good enough but to be honest i think its a great chance for louth under 21s next year i think these players were fantastic and we should be encouraging them instead of given out about them..i thought peter nixon and gerry hoey were good peter nixon is very fast and athletic big guy good decsion for future full back on the louth senior team but i reall belive he should have been mid field today great at going forward...gerry hoey played a stormer and padraig rath i do belive the future looks great as i sed b4 give them a chance this is developin these guys 4 the feature and they all got futures except for mulligan we wont cut it.

Seandun (Louth) - Posts: 55 - 22/02/2009 22:23:41    215042

Ur havin a laugh mate arnt you!Except for mulligan??????U must be talking about someon else!Mulligan was brilliant yesterday.Caused his marker endless problems!
Gerry didn play the way he can yesterday....Would like to have seen nixon moved into the middle also!
Jimmy mac....you sayin the cooley team of three years ago woulda made a big difference...?what louth needed yesterday was brian donnly in te middle!He was a huge loss.We need a better keeper,although Kearney did little wrong.Would like to have seen if pat lynch could have madde a difference!From teh team 3 years ago its missin donnlly,cian smith and kevin mcardle!

Jimmy mac im not trying to stir anythin here,but what team would you have had out of interest?

Sorefoot (Louth) - Posts: 90 - 23/02/2009 09:26:45    215187

In fairness lads Louth never had a chance given the size difference. They made a huge effort in the 1st half put to sustain that and keep taking them hits for 60 mins is unrealistic. The fact is Louth never had a chance cos the size of the whole Dublin panel was unreal.

blueisthecolour (Louth) - Posts: 151 - 23/02/2009 09:43:16    215199

For a club that should have been relegated down to junior and to division 3 (didn't happen because both the relevant games were thrown), and have continued on where they left off last year by losing their first two games, their representation on yesterday's panel appears to be extremely disproportionate to their actual strength.

Wonder why that is??

LumpHammer (Louth) - Posts: 66 - 23/02/2009 11:55:57    215362

Lads while not wanting to defend the present manager I think it was clear yesterday that the first problem was that Louth had nice footballers but could not get near Dublin in the physical stakes. The upper body strength of the Dubs was miles ahead of ours. Thats something we will need to address at 16 on if we are to compete at any underage level. The other thing to note was Dublin played a team almost exclusively on the age thus given lots of lads a chance of experiencing intercounty football at championship level. We only had 3 players starting on the age we should look at this as there are surely players on the age who deserved a chance.

cuchulainn1 (Louth) - Posts: 246 - 23/02/2009 12:41:57    215446

Would i be right in saying that the team that nearly got relegated, have won the last 2 minor championships and that both mc eneaney and hoey missed the entire season last year through injury...also keelan doesnt start with his club in goals and connolly isnt as good as he was, so that explains kearneys choice in the nets...am sure young rogers is on the squad for development purposes, seeing as the young fella is touchin 6'7..any more ridiculous points from lumphammer there?

2009man (Louth) - Posts: 14 - 23/02/2009 18:00:42    215890

I think the fitness levels let louth down the always seemed to be second to every ball...all the forwards that were playing can score when given good ball...i think derek maguire is such an overrated player he was pretty poor yesterday for all the talk that goes on about him..andy mc donnel is definetley a player that will be featuring for louth in the next few years blues got a class in player in getting him

cunday9lu (Louth) - Posts: 175 - 23/02/2009 21:57:43    216145

Fair point two players injured. But if ya look at most teams intermediate, senior teams starting panels usually suffer at least one long term injury per year so ya cant go simply by that. Also 2009man you would have to agree thta a certain club do have disproportionate munmbers on that panel. Also lumphammer dont go talkin the gers down cos of defeats in winter league, its not takin seriously plus they have a decent numbers invoved under 21's and willl be a different story come next game...

boss (None) - Posts: 88 - 23/02/2009 22:12:40    216182

2009man n - the gers may have won 2 minor champs but those players are all between 17 and 19 . The brigids steamrolled through a well contested under 21 championship in louth in 2008 and only had 2 representatives on the starting 15. Having been at the final in darver in november I cant understand how more of them were not involved. Is bevan Duffy over age he was a revelation and would certainly have had the strength for Dublin- Like wise Pat lynch who's strength in running and scoring goals would have been cruical- Butch O' Briens pace and strength in defence and shevlin who is an excellent half back would also be contenders for the panel. Up front beano and Holdcroft may have had roles to play - Holdcroft would certainly have been better than the full forward that was selected. Why was Andy mcdonnell brought on when the game was more or less over. Was the louth manager even at the under 21 final ????

blueboy (Louth) - Posts: 331 - 24/02/2009 09:14:51    216422

2009man

What was the score on Sunday?
When did Louth last win an U21 championship game?

LumpHammer (Louth) - Posts: 66 - 24/02/2009 10:40:03    216574

have to agree wit blueboy beano and holcroft destroyed teams in u21s all year and 1 of them isnt on the u21 squad and the other playing corner back in friendlys for u21 louth! also liam shevlin was one of the best players for dreadnots last year not in the squad! plus 2 players under 5ft trying to compete with the physicality of the dublin players.... have to question McEneaneys picking of the team!

skidrowkid (Louth) - Posts: 3 - 24/02/2009 11:04:32    216610

Fair enough on the shevlin point, i thought he was good enough for the grade,but butch o brien cant defend..so he couldnt be picked, dublin had the strenght to deal with pat lynch and stop him running and he doesnt offer much else...Could someone name a intercounty defender that holcroft destroyed in the u21 championship??...If he did fair enough...If the players were good enough from the brigids team they would have been picked! I mean Califf is a selector with mc eneaney, he would have had a fair say on who should be on the panel...there was only 3 geraldines players in top 24 i think from lookin at the programme and dont think there can be much arguing with there inclusion..And lumphammer could you be a little more mature with your comebacks..the lads dropped the heads to early and were set up well for the 2nd half...they were unlucky as moran and mc donnell were flyin fit for original match date..

2009man (Louth) - Posts: 14 - 24/02/2009 12:33:41    216701

2009man

Could you display a bit of maturity and answer the questions. We have been comprehensively beaten in every single U21 Championship game over the past 4 years. 6 of the 32 man panel listed in the programme and togged out come from a club who should have been relegated down to junior in league and championship last year.

We all knew that patience was going to be essential, when the new regime took over. Its just that comprehensive hammerings on a consistent basis do tend to make people sit up and ask questions, particularly as there seems to be no expense being spared in the team preparation.

Perhaps, you have noticed the progress that seems to be escaping everybody elses attention.

LumpHammer (Louth) - Posts: 66 - 24/02/2009 14:40:27    216925

Lads yere all missing the point. Mac should not be in charge of the team. He is using this grade to warm up players tha may make a senion panel. Lets face facts- a full back stepping up from club junior team to play inter county championship,, centre half back in the same mould--this will not work at this level. Mac has wasted this very important grade for us over the last 4 years. Players should be on the age and not from 18 years (ther are exceptions I agree) and preferably playing football at the highest level in the county. There is a world of difference playing Junior club to playing inter county and this was shown up last Sunday. Mac will do the same with the Junior team now in May.
We as a county should have separate U21 and Junior team management teams. There are plenty of young coaches coming through the ranks and they should be given the opportunity to shine. Treat these competitions with respect.
We have talked long enough about the shortcomings of our Minor teams--no wins in four years for our U21s (a very important age group) is horrendous.

Bluebod (Louth) - Posts: 89 - 24/02/2009 16:59:11    217105

Liam Shevlin could not get a game with the minors last year so how would he b good enough even for the squad..i agree with bluebod about mc enaney.. he takes on too much being manager of three teams and because of this he is not getting to see enough players and what they have to offer

cunday9lu (Louth) - Posts: 175 - 24/02/2009 21:21:16    217313

Thats a fair point about taking two many teams...and i'd agree that in part hes doin it to prepare lads for senior level..but i suppose if thats his plan it is workin to a degree in that the senior team is improving, and benefiting from young blood...but 2 years ago we lost to laois by a point from a last minute winner, that laois team won leinster and reached all ireland final...and the two main players colm judge and mick fanning didnt play even half a game if i remember...tough draws in last few years u21 and that dublin team looked strong sunday..but look im not tryin to defend the u21 players over ast few years, am sick of losin, even if its close...sickens me to the stomach..but i think mc eneaney is improving things...i mean we needed to give a manager a bit of time....instead of constantly changin...because as they say..if ya do what ya always did, your only gona get what ya always got...Louth to make huge strides in next 5 years, watch this post!! Mc Eneaney will leave a strong young squad there and walk away leaving it to a new voice to take louth forward...

2009man (Louth) - Posts: 14 - 25/02/2009 00:33:14    217469

how can ya say gers should have been relegated in champo? They were drawin with na piarsaigh with 58 mins gone when when na piarsagh got 2 late goals, then the followin round were beatin the o raghs by 4 points with 4 mins to go, when o raghs got two points followed by a late jammy goal(referee).not takin anythin away from o raghs tho.and then went on to win sufficent games to stay up.and believe me now.they are dark horses for a good run in intermediate!. especially after leavin cert, but that argument is for another day, sorry postin on thread for u21s...hard luck on sunday lads..keep the heads up..(will ya look at that, a bit of encouragement.haha)

Mc Geough (Louth) - Posts: 61 - 25/02/2009 00:40:16    217473