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Galway Football thread

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Replying To togoutlads:  "Galway forward play has absolutely no penetration so far. Easily defended. Easily turned over. Tell me this, anyone in Galway or in Gaelic football in general, what has our esteemed forwards coach done to improve our attacking play during his lengthy tenure? One positive thing and we'll take it from there?"
Yes I agree. Too easy to score against and no bite whatsoever in whatever tackles they were trying to put in which weren't many in fairness. Forwards were starved of possession and I lost count of the number of sloppy turnovers like what happened in the Monaghan game but the Dubs had the forward power to punish the turnovers. Trying to convert backs / midfielders to forwards will never work. PJ and Cian O'Neill have taken the team backwards from even where Kevin Walsh had them and they don't seem to have any discernable game-plan whatsoever. Not good enough - time for them to go now and bring in a manager / coaches that know what they are doing.

tommy k (Galway) - Posts: 3323 - 16/03/2024 17:18:00    2531425

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O'Curraoin maybe the only positive today. Yes, his shot selection could be better alright. Hopefully that comes with experience. For a long spell today he looked like the only Galway player who could kick a point from any kind of distance.

Wasn't expecting a win but still disappointing how easily Dublin got their scores. A couple of handpasses between runners and they would get someone free in acres of space. Not nearly enough pressure on the ball from Galway who were far too passive.

Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2216 - 16/03/2024 17:54:35    2531444

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My main issue with the performance today was the lack of pressure and intensity. Dublin got a lot of scores without a hand being laid on them, all the way from their own kickout. Our tackling was poor to non-existent at times.
I can understand a lack of quality, with some key players missing, but some of the fundamentals when we weren't in possession were very poor.
We constantly backed off the man in possession, even when well inside our own 45. It was almost as if there was a fear of having their man go by them, so they settled for letting them kick a handy point under no pressure.
An exception to this was Johnny McGrath, who tackled and pressured throughout.
John Maher also worked incredibly hard for the whole match, won some good ball and drove at Dublin. Cillian Ó Curraoin kicked some very good scores. He missed a few too, but was one of few forwards looking to do something positive.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 2042 - 16/03/2024 18:32:12    2531458

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Yuck, cold, wet, miserable day, two poor games (hurling was OK at times), football was like a challenge match, and was surrounded by dubs.

Galway9801 (Galway) - Posts: 1708 - 16/03/2024 18:38:41    2531466

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Replying To Marooned:  "O'Curraoin maybe the only positive today. Yes, his shot selection could be better alright. Hopefully that comes with experience. For a long spell today he looked like the only Galway player who could kick a point from any kind of distance.

Wasn't expecting a win but still disappointing how easily Dublin got their scores. A couple of handpasses between runners and they would get someone free in acres of space. Not nearly enough pressure on the ball from Galway who were far too passive."
Tbh I think it should have dawned on us Galway supporters by now that we have not had consistent distance kickers for a long time now as far back as the John O'Mahoney era I would argue. And those saying we have gone backwards since the KW era very disingenuous to the current panel. Maybe the PJ era is running it's course like the KW era ran out of road in 2019 but both managers have brought us on in different ways and the criticism is over the top. Bar Dublin (and they might struggle more than we think) no county would be able to absorb the mumber of missing key players we have out at the one time. That is the reality and rightly or wrongly the current mgt deserve to be judged at season end and not from day one like this season.

kiloughter (Galway) - Posts: 1946 - 16/03/2024 18:49:00    2531475

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Replying To Gaa_lover:  "Very routine win for Dublin and to be honest I thought margin would be lower than 8 points with Galway's system of play. Dublin in that form will be hard stopped and Galway will need McDaid,Kelly,Comer and Walsh back ASAP."
The intermediate players in the forwards looked like intermediate players today.

crankyincorofin (Galway) - Posts: 78 - 16/03/2024 18:58:17    2531481

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Replying To crankyincorofin:  "The intermediate players in the forwards looked like intermediate players today."
Wasn't Shane Walsh intermediate club footballer for years? It was the other end of the field was the issue for Galway, 0-22 a big score to concede when you consider Galway was conceding 0-14 per game average coming into that game today.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3347 - 16/03/2024 19:27:00    2531491

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Replying To crankyincorofin:  "The intermediate players in the forwards looked like intermediate players today."
Such a stupid comment referencing intermediate. Every person in Galway knows Niall daly isn't a full forward, it's PJ's decision to select him there. It does baffle me that albeit extremely depleted, PJ doesn't think we've a better option for full forward

allstars23 (Galway) - Posts: 47 - 16/03/2024 19:47:39    2531497

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Replying To crankyincorofin:  "The intermediate players in the forwards looked like intermediate players today."
I said it after the Monaghan match and I will say it again this evening. Our HF line is a serious issue.
Sweeney was all over the place today but having no impact on the game and coughed up possession a few times, Darcy was trying to track runners in our HB line and all Heaney does at this stage is recycle the ball.
I'm starting to think Sean Kelly is needed there.

I thought Maher battled away against Fenton and kept with him which is no mean feat. Other than that I'm struggling for positives. There were more scores there for Dublin if they were clinical.

smallfrank (Galway) - Posts: 365 - 16/03/2024 20:10:04    2531503

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Serious question marks have to be asked of the S&C and medical team given the ongoing volume of injuries which has been heightened by the fact that they're to our key players. Doesn't reflect well at all when so many are repeat or new injuries off the same players. That is unforgiveable at the elite level. It's no secret that some players are using their own preferred physio. Speaks of an environment that is below the top level of professionalism needed to reach the top. Just not good enough; to me its a weak spot in Padraic Joyce's overall approach to managing at this level possibly because it wasn't something he had to deal with too much as a player. The players deserve better than this. Feel really sorry for the likes of Sean Kelly who has been completely mismanaged from a player welfare perspective since his initial ankle injury last yr. You reap what you sow.

galway2015 (Galway) - Posts: 52 - 16/03/2024 20:37:23    2531515

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Listening to Joyce's comments after the game, Sean Kelly has picked up a small muscle injury, likely to miss the match against Kerry. He said that all other injuries are somewhat long term so unlikely to see anyone else back in the short term

allstars23 (Galway) - Posts: 47 - 16/03/2024 20:41:18    2531518

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Replying To allstars23:  "Listening to Joyce's comments after the game, Sean Kelly has picked up a small muscle injury, likely to miss the match against Kerry. He said that all other injuries are somewhat long term so unlikely to see anyone else back in the short term"
Championship not that far away now. If he's still describing injuries as long term it's not a great sign.

Marooned (Galway) - Posts: 2216 - 16/03/2024 21:17:56    2531533

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Replying To galway2015:  "Serious question marks have to be asked of the S&C and medical team given the ongoing volume of injuries which has been heightened by the fact that they're to our key players. Doesn't reflect well at all when so many are repeat or new injuries off the same players. That is unforgiveable at the elite level. It's no secret that some players are using their own preferred physio. Speaks of an environment that is below the top level of professionalism needed to reach the top. Just not good enough; to me its a weak spot in Padraic Joyce's overall approach to managing at this level possibly because it wasn't something he had to deal with too much as a player. The players deserve better than this. Feel really sorry for the likes of Sean Kelly who has been completely mismanaged from a player welfare perspective since his initial ankle injury last yr. You reap what you sow."
It's going on years of you ask me.
Donnellan was crocked in his mid 20s.
Mike Meehan and Armstrong were never looked after properly and suffered terribly with injury.
You see a clip the other night of Eoin Concannon scoring 8 points on Philly McMahon in 2010. Think he was out injured the following season.
James McLaughlin a more recent example

smallfrank (Galway) - Posts: 365 - 16/03/2024 21:20:18    2531535

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Replying To smallfrank:  "I said it after the Monaghan match and I will say it again this evening. Our HF line is a serious issue.
Sweeney was all over the place today but having no impact on the game and coughed up possession a few times, Darcy was trying to track runners in our HB line and all Heaney does at this stage is recycle the ball.
I'm starting to think Sean Kelly is needed there.

I thought Maher battled away against Fenton and kept with him which is no mean feat. Other than that I'm struggling for positives. There were more scores there for Dublin if they were clinical."
Bit harsh on Heaney I think. He broke tackles today especially in the first half. Was one of the Galway players physically able to break a Dublin tackler.

jam83 (Galway) - Posts: 134 - 16/03/2024 22:14:53    2531556

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Replying To galway2015:  "Serious question marks have to be asked of the S&C and medical team given the ongoing volume of injuries which has been heightened by the fact that they're to our key players. Doesn't reflect well at all when so many are repeat or new injuries off the same players. That is unforgiveable at the elite level. It's no secret that some players are using their own preferred physio. Speaks of an environment that is below the top level of professionalism needed to reach the top. Just not good enough; to me its a weak spot in Padraic Joyce's overall approach to managing at this level possibly because it wasn't something he had to deal with too much as a player. The players deserve better than this. Feel really sorry for the likes of Sean Kelly who has been completely mismanaged from a player welfare perspective since his initial ankle injury last yr. You reap what you sow."
It really is chronic. It's the muscle injuries which jump out as something that's not happening across the board.

jam83 (Galway) - Posts: 134 - 16/03/2024 22:17:55    2531558

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Replying To Marooned:  "Championship not that far away now. If he's still describing injuries as long term it's not a great sign."
2024 is a write off.
None of Walsh, Comer, McDaid, Tierney anyway will be back before a Connacht final at the very earliest.
Even if we got everyone back then - they have no time to get up to speed in terms of sharpness or match fitness.
As we've seen in the league so far - we don't have the ammo to cope without these lads.
Even with who we have - how management are still persisting with playing Niall Daly at 14 & starting Sean Mulkerrin in every game is beyond me.

galwayman2 (Galway) - Posts: 1241 - 16/03/2024 22:22:57    2531560

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Replying To galwayman2:  "2024 is a write off.
None of Walsh, Comer, McDaid, Tierney anyway will be back before a Connacht final at the very earliest.
Even if we got everyone back then - they have no time to get up to speed in terms of sharpness or match fitness.
As we've seen in the league so far - we don't have the ammo to cope without these lads.
Even with who we have - how management are still persisting with playing Niall Daly at 14 & starting Sean Mulkerrin in every game is beyond me."
You are too negative thinking. London match and Connacht semi final will be used to get those players up to speed and Connacht final will be the first test which Galway should be ready for and after that the aim will be to top the group. Today was a free hit and was a lesson on how not to defend against better teams and Dublin weren't at full pace either.

Drax_the_destroyer (UK) - Posts: 96 - 16/03/2024 22:59:20    2531564

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Replying To galway2015:  "Serious question marks have to be asked of the S&C and medical team given the ongoing volume of injuries which has been heightened by the fact that they're to our key players. Doesn't reflect well at all when so many are repeat or new injuries off the same players. That is unforgiveable at the elite level. It's no secret that some players are using their own preferred physio. Speaks of an environment that is below the top level of professionalism needed to reach the top. Just not good enough; to me its a weak spot in Padraic Joyce's overall approach to managing at this level possibly because it wasn't something he had to deal with too much as a player. The players deserve better than this. Feel really sorry for the likes of Sean Kelly who has been completely mismanaged from a player welfare perspective since his initial ankle injury last yr. You reap what you sow."
You do realise that a large amount of injuries were caused outside of Galway football.. eg Liam Silke playing soccer... Mc Daid at club... ffs blaming our S and C coaches... cop on..

Galwaymaster9 (Galway) - Posts: 397 - 16/03/2024 22:59:21    2531565

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Replying To Galwaymaster9:  "You do realise that a large amount of injuries were caused outside of Galway football.. eg Liam Silke playing soccer... Mc Daid at club... ffs blaming our S and C coaches... cop on.."
S&C and medical team need to look at themselves. Any muscle injury is preventable and is often linked to training overload. Plenty of the injuries that the Galway lads have did occur while with the county. It's likely that Joyce could be too strong a personality when it comes to how much players are doing; that still doesn't excuse the team specialists in standing their ground- it's the least the players deserve. Everyone has to question themselves in high performance environments like this. Either that or keep your head in the sand like it looks like you wish to continue doing.

galway2015 (Galway) - Posts: 52 - 16/03/2024 23:23:19    2531571

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I thought Paul Conroy really struggled today. I remember seeing him playing back in 2010. And he is still playing today. Can Galway go down to Killarney and win. Yes, but it is a big ask. And a big improvment is needed.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 16/03/2024 23:40:13    2531574

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