Replying To sleater: "While second half against Donegal was very poor, overall from the 4 Mckenna cup games, there was a lot more positives than negatives. I didn't see the full Fermanagh game only the highlights but I watched the other 3 games.
Negatives - - across all games Monaghan struggled to win primary and secondary possession from kick outs. I'm sure this is not lost on management. - the gap in quality between Beggan and whoever stands in for him is substantial. - options in midfield remain scarce
Positives - - the collective defending and attacking was generally (bar the 2nd half of Donegal game) very good. The defending was tactically disciplined and also the team were not giving away too many cheap frees. - Attacking wise there was a decent % conversion of scores and the team was decisive when attacking looking for the quick score rather than passing it around. - Some new players really stood up and look like they will get a sustained chance during the league. D Treanor, T Hughes, F Carolan, Ryan Duffy all impressed.
Two years ago in McKenna cup, Monaghan played Fermanagh in Enniskillen in a freezing cold evening. Monaghan laboured unconvincingly to win with at that time a very experimental team. I remember the comments on this forum at the time, that few to none of those players would be part of the team come championship time. A terrible league and injury crises later, meant those same players from that Fermanagh game ended up being the regulars that season. The point is, Monaghan are in a similar situation now. There is a lot of injuries and the Scotstown lads are missing.
The Scotstown lads will be back during the league at some point and the injuries we know about will clear up come championship time. But the first few league games will be a serious test for the new lads in the squad. Gary Mohan getting injured on Sigerson duty last week really didn't help matters."
Gary got injured at training not sigerson as far as I'm aware.
Replying To farneygael3: "Is Gary Mohan better than Kieran Hughes?"
in the current county conversation? i think if kieran made a comeback - id see him more as an impact sub...maybe im wrong but mohan has youth on his side and for me is a guaranteed starter if fit
what about barry mcbennett? is that ship sailed?...also bobby mccaul - gabriel spoke so highly of him last year, is he still injured? two good big lads
McPhilips is a loss but he was barely used in the championship last year when Mohan wasnt fit after a pretty decent league and cameo v Donegal in Ulster so you can't blame the lad heading off on his travels.