It will all depend on what score teams but up against Roscommon, heads to heads and score difference could play apart, think it was similar few years ago with Westmeath been the whipping boys, it came down to how much other counties put up against them.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2017 21:37:16    1946509

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 17/01/2017 21:50:05    1946516

Cuckoosinging (Roscommon) - Posts: 992 - 17/01/2017 22:06:02    1946523

1. Tyrone- expect them to be flat out all year. A big push for all ireland on the cards
2. Dublin- slow start followed by the usual class
3. Kerry- may put a bit more into this year's league as a rebuilding job is underway
4. Cavan- will surprise a few including an early win against Dublin
5. Mayo-will go through the motions this spring. 5 or 6 points will do
6. Roscommon- no high pressure games except Mayo, will pick enough against weaker Ulster teams
7. Donegal- may not get their house in order in time to survive. Tired.
8. Monaghan- lack of class has to catch them up eventually, this is the year. No midfield, and one injury away from oblivion.

MadgeKing (Cavan) - Posts: 493 - 17/01/2017 22:10:45    1946524

D.Hyde (Roscommon) - Posts: 143 - 17/01/2017 23:02:29    1946534

golfcar (Roscommon) - Posts: 60 - 17/01/2017 23:16:55    1946537

After the u21 semi in 2015 it was all about injuries. Every county suffers from injuries. Should stay up but I feel the semis will be a stretch, especially if we don't have a free taker.
The_Fridge (Tyrone) - Posts:321 - 17/01/2017 20:44:48

I don't recall any Roscommon supporter mention injuries after that U21 AI semi. Now last year our U21s were badly hit with injuries which included 3 key players that got the dreaded ACL before the Connacht final v Mayo, a game we lost by one point which we should have won comfortably.

BTW no semi finals this year.


As for ourselves this year in division one very little training has been done and a big change in the panel of players has been done. I fear we are going to go into this years league a little under cooked however i have hope with the Meath lad on here predicting our doom

ispeakwisdom (Roscommon) - Posts: 2487 - 18/01/2017 00:21:12    1946543

I think Tyrone will have a right go at the League and will win it. It is an important morale boost.

Who they play in the Final I think will depend on which team Gavin will play. We he test his resources and go for it. If not Dublin the Final will be Kerry

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 18/01/2017 09:13:05    1946570

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9104 - 18/01/2017 09:32:47    1946573

In terms of the Ulster teams its great to have 4 in division 1.

Tyrone will take some beating this year and look like All Ireland winners in the making they have all the right match ups to dominate for 2/3 years provided they dont pick up any more injuries. Will be expecting them to go flat out in the league to lay down an early marker. Will be in a final with Dublin/ Kerry

Donegal will still be there or thereabouts, they wont go away as they prob have as many good younger players coming through as any county does. Mixed with plenty experience still there. They must be laughing in Donegal at the suggestions they are on a downward spiral considering Murphy / McBrearty / McGlynn / Mcgee / Mchugh / Lacey would get on to any team in Ireland. Teams like Monaghan / Cavan /Roscommon will never have players of this caliber. Still a 2 way tie between them and Tyrone for Ulster IMO. They wont be to worried about the league should survive with 4 home games. They also have a Tyrone man training them this year which will bring new life into them.

Cavan have good players and should improve again this year with the new manager. Dont think they are in above two teams league but still might survive and may shock Dublin in the first game.

Monaghan unfortunately are a one man team and have had their days in the sun. Might get to an Ulster final later in the year as they are on the easier side of the draw but cant see them staying in division 1.

ulster83 (Tyrone) - Posts: 114 - 18/01/2017 09:35:55    1946574

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9104 - 18/01/2017 10:01:26    1946580

Mobot (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 18/01/2017 11:54:50    1946610

With their strength in depth on a different level to every other team it's hard to see past Dublin winning another div one title.

Relegation much harder to call. Cavan Roscommon odds on for the drop but I have a feeling with extra and earlier training than most Cavan will stay up while Monaghan or Donegal will fall through the trap door.

Roscommon had a good league last year finishing 3rd but they go into this years league without Donie Shine,David Keenan,Conor Daly,Cathal Cregg,Niall Carty,Neill Collins,Ronan Daly,Ian Kilbride,Sean Purcell,Senan Kilbride,Geoffrey Claffey so simply put it would be a remarkable archivement if they manage to stay up this year

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3336 - 18/01/2017 12:46:21    1946621

Tyrone under Harte have always taken the league seriously and with four home games should make the top two. In the final I have a fancy for Monaghan to make it an all Ulster affair with Tyrone coming out on top.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 18/01/2017 12:59:44    1946627

We are happy to be back in Division 1 but I think everyone knows that it will be a tough challenge to hold onto our top flight status. For us, missing Gearoid McKiernan for the first few games will hurt us but hopefully we can keep ourselves in it. We know that others won't use some key men in league games so that is not meant as an excuse. Delighted to be back up and looking forward to seeing some of ye all in Breffni Park!

Don't forget to spend a few quid while you're in Cavan too :)

Reformation (Cavan) - Posts: 356 - 18/01/2017 13:08:36    1946632

problem for counties like ourselves with small playing pool is we go all out in the league and then being in a competitive province are spent force later in the summer when the big games come round. In 2015 even through we won Ulster we peaked earlier in the year in the league and had nothing left come August that year. We will be introducing hopefully a lot of the u21s this year who won Ulster last year so I'd be happy enough during this transition just to stay up in what is bound to be a fiercely competitive league. I think we will finish 6th again like last year.

seanie08 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1798 - 18/01/2017 13:43:48    1946649

FrDougalMaguire (Cavan) - Posts: 152 - 18/01/2017 13:57:38    1946652

I think it will come down to the last day of the season once more, a gaggle of teams around 5 or 6 points and perhaps 6 points going down to points differential to find out who goes into last 4 and the 2nd team go go down. Roscommon, Monaghan, Cavan, Mayo, Donegal would be those 5 teams with kerry doing enough to go into last 4 with Tyrone and Dublin doing their thing. I expect the first round games to be very interesting. Especially Donegal v Kerry in Letterkenny. I believe if Donegal struggle to get a result here or anything short of a good performance, it will bench mark the team for the rest of the season.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 18/01/2017 14:13:25    1946656

A lot of deluded people on here who have yet to taste Division 1 football........specially Cavan and Tyrone!!

As for us il be happy to see our U21 Ulster Championship winning players blooded in our 7 games so that come the summer we will have a well drilled out fit with a better scoring treat that will shock a few teams and shut them up for a while!!

Dublin,Mayo,Kerry look the best bets for the final.............any of the other teams can go down as we seen with Cork last year after going down with 6 points on score difference.................and theres a lot worse teams in this division than Cork.

hardcore (Monaghan) - Posts: 1366 - 18/01/2017 14:50:15    1946676

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 18/01/2017 14:57:22    1946679