2020 league

[The Big Easy]

Some credit yes but they still havent addressed the issue of opposition players running at our defence and then crumbling. If I was Derry I would play pacy forwards and tell them to run at the Armagh defence. Laois, Westmeath, Roscommon and Clare all caused us problems with the same issue.

I think the harsh reality is that we don’t have the stuff at the back. They are average defenders. We don’t have a few dogs in there. No leaders in the back 6. Nice players but far too nice. Our best defender is done - Donaghy. A class player but the man is done and owes us nothing. We need a proper trawl through the clubs to find a few better defenders. Are they out there ? That’s the question. This defence won’t stand the test of Division 1 and Geezer knows it. Quality up front though which might get us enough points in a division 1 to hang around until we develop a stronger defence.

 

[M18]

Great result today and an outcome I would have grabbed at the start of year

Roscommon worthy of winning league but our score difference is very impressive and the scores we are doing is also very impressive - don’t think Derry would keep up with it


The goalkeeper debate is never ending


It is a position that everyone notices and mistakes are obvious
Our defence have allowed too many shots over past couple of years and to be fair Blaine is a very good shot stopper

But I think criticism is counter productive. He is very inexperienced and young still. Some might hold that against him but they are likely the people who criticizes McNiece to the hilt and McEvoy before that

But what a luxury it would be to have mcniece now with 5/6 years of experience
Constantly starting fresh is not the answer always

I do like the look of Magill but he is so young
Hope he gets as much game time as possible before his time comes to play for Armagh. Does players no good wasting their skills sitting on bench and never actually playing

 

[thecritic]

I think the harsh reality is that we don’t have the stuff at the back. They are average defenders. We don’t have a few dogs in there. No leaders in the back 6. Nice players but far too nice. Our best defender is done - Donaghy. A class player but the man is done and owes us nothing. We need a proper trawl through the clubs to find a few better defenders. Are they out there ? That’s the question. This defence won’t stand the test of Division 1 and Geezer knows it. Quality up front though which might get us enough points in a division 1 to hang around until we develop a stronger defence.

I agree to a certain degree, but our current crop are certainly not 'nice'. Morgan, McCay, McCabe, Kennedy etc are all tough men but seem to be lacking in presence and height. In fairness to McG and his team they have clearly targetted Kennedy as a lad in his mid-20's with potential and he's really come-on. There are players within the current panel that can be developed to strengthen our defense. RG will try to win 8-7 next week but it's wee Mickey in the next round that could make hay on our defense!

 

[huggy2002]

I agree to a certain degree, but our current crop are certainly not 'nice'. Morgan, McCay, McCabe, Kennedy etc are all tough men but seem to be lacking in presence and height. In fairness to McG and his team they have clearly targetted Kennedy as a lad in his mid-20's with potential and he's really come-on. There are players within the current panel that can be developed to strengthen our defense. RG will try to win 8-7 next week but it's wee Mickey in the next round that could make hay on our defense!

Someone correct me if im wrong but think Ryan kennedy would be the wrong side of 30 im pretty sure he was playing for Armagh under 21,s in 2009 but again can’t be sure so dont think he is in his mid twenties

 

[thecritic]

Great result today and an outcome I would have grabbed at the start of year

Roscommon worthy of winning league but our score difference is very impressive and the scores we are doing is also very impressive - don’t think Derry would keep up with it


The goalkeeper debate is never ending


It is a position that everyone notices and mistakes are obvious
Our defence have allowed too many shots over past couple of years and to be fair Blaine is a very good shot stopper

But I think criticism is counter productive. He is very inexperienced and young still. Some might hold that against him but they are likely the people who criticizes McNiece to the hilt and McEvoy before that

But what a luxury it would be to have mcniece now with 5/6 years of experience
Constantly starting fresh is not the answer always

I do like the look of Magill but he is so young
Hope he gets as much game time as possible before his time comes to play for Armagh. Does players no good wasting their skills sitting on bench and never actually playing

Blaine has been really, really good. A stand out for me was his catch on the goaline in Thurles a couple of years ago - immense. But, if i was the Derry manager, I would hang-in for 60 mins then reign the box with high balls for the next 10. It's up to our boys to know this will happen!! Do we sacrifice a midfielder or forward back to counter-act this? I would have Oisin, Rian or Jarly ready for this!

 

[thecritic]

Someone correct me if im wrong but think Ryan kennedy would be the wrong side of 30 im pretty sure he was playing for Armagh under 21,s in 2009 but again can’t be sure so dont think he is in his mid twenties

Possibly right but in fairness to the team they've fairly developed him in the last couple of years. Donaghy has been mentioned as done also but I think he's another couple of big years in him.

 

[cailín beag88]

Anyone virtually drunk yet?

Me don't think the hangover will be virtual but sure beats drinking to drown your sorrows

 

[PutTheHighBallInLow]

Me don't think the hangover will be virtual but sure beats drinking to drown your sorrows

 

[CruppinAbu]

What happened to McEvoy is what I am afraid of in regards the same happening to Blaine.

Blaine as others have said is a super lad. Philly got a raw deal and it did have an effect on him personally.

I'm not sure that there are too many better in the county - it is a worry for us yes and has been a problem position for a few years but Blaine has done super on many occasions.

Kearney from the Ogs is a super keeper but he walked from the panel. Magill in time may dislodge Blaine but I haven't seem too many others that I would say yes - he should be starting for Armagh.

The Conor Burns as a keeper was an unknown to me - I can only remember him playing outfield - I think he represented Armagh at minor or u21 outfield.

My opinion is that we are very quick to jump on Blaine to point the blame. I may have tinted glasses on as I know him personally and have a lot of time for him.

I'll repeat my first point - we don't need another McEvoy incident.

On a side note let's hope we get back into AG before next year as there are some super teams coming to town.

What about that all star keeper from the championship last year, from college land anyone seen or heard tell of the fella?

 

[thecritic]

It’ll be Donegal

Disagree. Tyrone will win this game.

 

[William Of Orange]

Well done to all the players and management on achieving promotion to the top tier of league football . I am sure that this was one of the main goals of the team at the start of the year along with breaking into the super 8s which unfortunately is something that we will never know how it would have turned out, unless we win in Ulster .
Yesterday’s game was similar to a lot this years , some movement and scores up front that would be up there with any team in the country ,and severe lapses of concentration , not just on defence but all over the field which lets teams back into the game, how we rectify it I don’t know .
While I agree about the over zealous criticism of Blaine in particular we do have to recognise that he does make some mistakes , however they all do Cluxton , Morgan and in big games , he was at fault for the goal and he needs to learn from that , it highlights issues that he wasn’t confident that we could deal with the high ball in the square , again it happens, he is the no 1 keeper and the ‘trawl for a keeper on this forum is the biggest waste of resources since Cash for Ash . He’s the choice and it’s going going to change soon .
Overall we are on a good place , a few years ago when we played Laois and got knocked out of the championship 3 times I couldn’t face going to games , their was despair around , the lack of imagination and scoring power was evident , playing with 3 sweepers in some cases it was horrible to watch , we now have a nucleus of a good squad that hopefully will continue to improve , most players are the right age and barring serious injury and temptation from abroad, they should be around for a long time . The free taker issue has been put to bed , Rian is a beautiful striker of a ball , a. 45 will mean a point for us on most cases , that’s something we were missing badly . Just keep the mouths shut everyone and get on with the game , the old saying is true, the referees not going to change his mind ,so just get on with it , and it’s worth noting with no crowds they hear everything now .
A big banana skin next week , going up means we will be hot favourites to win this match and it’s not something we have handled well before . It will be a true test of character for all the players and hopefully they rise to the challenge .
Thanks again for giving us all a lift in these dour times , wouldn’t it be great to get a run in Ulster take on Tyrone or Donegal in knockout match and the prospect of welcoming Dublin , Kerry or Mayo is mouth watering next year even if we don’t get to go to the AG , I know even to watch it on the TV will give many people on here a big lift and help them forget other problems they might have , just for a little while anyway .Exciting times ahead .

 

[Kem]

What about that all star keeper from the championship last year, from college land anyone seen or heard tell of the fella?

I think the comments on the keeper issue are missing the obvious point is that Blaine, through no fault of his own, lacks the physical presence to be a modern intercountry keeper. The likes of Morgan, Beagan etc would have taken ball, forward and all in the match yesterday. Most intercountry keepers are not club keepers so it is pointless comparing current club keepers. Like almost every other county we need to make a keeper out of an outfield player.

 

[PatMustard]

Me don't think the hangover will be virtual but sure beats drinking to drown your sorrows

Oh my head! Whose idea was this?! I’m never virtual drinking again!

 

[Throwball]

What about that all star keeper from the championship last year, from college land anyone seen or heard tell of the fella?

Think he is still on panel

 

[thecritic]

Well done to all the players and management on achieving promotion to the top tier of league football . I am sure that this was one of the main goals of the team at the start of the year along with breaking into the super 8s which unfortunately is something that we will never know how it would have turned out, unless we win in Ulster .
Yesterday’s game was similar to a lot this years , some movement and scores up front that would be up there with any team in the country ,and severe lapses of concentration , not just on defence but all over the field which lets teams back into the game, how we rectify it I don’t know .
While I agree about the over zealous criticism of Blaine in particular we do have to recognise that he does make some mistakes , however they all do Cluxton , Morgan and in big games , he was at fault for the goal and he needs to learn from that , it highlights issues that he wasn’t confident that we could deal with the high ball in the square , again it happens, he is the no 1 keeper and the ‘trawl for a keeper on this forum is the biggest waste of resources since Cash for Ash . He’s the choice and it’s going going to change soon .
Overall we are on a good place , a few years ago when we played Laois and got knocked out of the championship 3 times I couldn’t face going to games , their was despair around , the lack of imagination and scoring power was evident , playing with 3 sweepers in some cases it was horrible to watch , we now have a nucleus of a good squad that hopefully will continue to improve , most players are the right age and barring serious injury and temptation from abroad, they should be around for a long time . The free taker issue has been put to bed , Rian is a beautiful striker of a ball , a. 45 will mean a point for us on most cases , that’s something we were missing badly . Just keep the mouths shut everyone and get on with the game , the old saying is true, the referees not going to change his mind ,so just get on with it , and it’s worth noting with no crowds they hear everything now .
A big banana skin next week , going up means we will be hot favourites to win this match and it’s not something we have handled well before . It will be a true test of character for all the players and hopefully they rise to the challenge .
Thanks again for giving us all a lift in these dour times , wouldn’t it be great to get a run in Ulster take on Tyrone or Donegal in knockout match and the prospect of welcoming Dublin , Kerry or Mayo is mouth watering next year even if we don’t get to go to the AG , I know even to watch it on the TV will give many people on here a big lift and help them forget other problems they might have , just for a little while anyway .Exciting times ahead .

Agree with most. To accept that our keeper is inept and just go with the old 'sure there's noone else' line is wrong though. We won't win the big games with the smallest player on the team in goals. Management have to 'manage' that situation better in the long term.

 

[northarmaghgael]

Dont like to pull your post to shreds but...
1 Defending is a team game now 1 player cant fix that. We lack pace all over the backline.
2 Grimley is clearly carrying an injury and Jamie is still a class act, doesnt get enough protection and hasnt been playing enough games, ie at club level.
3 If you just stick Jamie and Rian in the full forward line, they would be too easy to take out of the game. One of Rian's best attributes is long range shooting. So certainly have the two of them in there at times but let them out.

1) Our issue has been teams running through us down the middle too easily. Having a solid spine won’t fix our problems, but it would at least eradicate issues we are seeing. Having a CHB that sits on our 45/in front on the full back IMO is key.
2) If Grimleys carrying an injury preventing him from playing to his potential, why risk him in the first place. We have a number of midfield options. On his day he is up there with one of the best midfielders in the country, but he isn’t hitting form atm.
3) Rian won his nomination for his YPOTY last year playing in deep and being a goal threat. We need an outlet in full forward and having them 2 in there is as good as any.

 

[Eireogatron]

Does Blaine even do goals for cruppen?

He did the last couple of times we played them

 

[Eireogatron]

Great result today and an outcome I would have grabbed at the start of year

Roscommon worthy of winning league but our score difference is very impressive and the scores we are doing is also very impressive - don’t think Derry would keep up with it


The goalkeeper debate is never ending


It is a position that everyone notices and mistakes are obvious
Our defence have allowed too many shots over past couple of years and to be fair Blaine is a very good shot stopper

But I think criticism is counter productive. He is very inexperienced and young still. Some might hold that against him but they are likely the people who criticizes McNiece to the hilt and McEvoy before that

But what a luxury it would be to have mcniece now with 5/6 years of experience
Constantly starting fresh is not the answer always

I do like the look of Magill but he is so young
Hope he gets as much game time as possible before his time comes to play for Armagh. Does players no good wasting their skills sitting on bench and never actually playing

Great post.

The only thing I'd say is that Hughes isn't inexperienced, he's been the county keeper for going on 4 years now and he hasn't improved, or learned from mistakes. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm picking on the guy but we're going into Div 1 next year, and it's only going to get more difficult for him and the full back line.

I saw another poster saying he's been very good, I can't believe that tbh. Don't get me wrong, he's a decent GK and like all gks he can make a nice save or catch a high ball but his mistakes and inconsistent kicking isn't div 1 standard and I just don't see us progressing with him. The fact we haven't really explored anyone else in competitive games is a bit of a worry for me. Harks back to McKinney scratching his arse on the bench for years and never being given a fair shot at it.

 

[William Of Orange]

Agree with most. To accept that our keeper is inept and just go with the old 'sure there's noone else' line is wrong though. We won't win the big games with the smallest player on the team in goals. Management have to 'manage' that situation
better in the long term.

My post wasn’t saying or I didn’t mean for it to come across that the keeper is inept , I think that’s harsh , he made a mistake for the goal and one bad kick out yesterday ,someone commented he dropped a high ball if it’s the same incident I remember it was very briefly but there was no danger .
Listen everyone has and is entitled to their opinion , living outside the county I wouldn’t know club football to enough to say if there’s a better keeper around but throwing names around here is pointless because unless there’s a change of management he will be the keeper that was my point . I have never played as a goalkeeper but it’s become the position that seem massive changes over the past 20 years , I would say however that a players confidence in this position is more important than others on the field and the lad won’t get any confidence reading a few posts on here .

 

[Diarmi]

I really don't get all the negativity about Blaine, it's almost as if people are forensically analysing the guy's every move. If we were to do this on every player they would all be crap. Both Rian and Oisin played wayward kick passes yesterday, they also missed some scores and both went for shots that were too difficult but I have not heard one person mention it, which they shouldn't. For the goal, if you watch it again it was more Ryan Kennedy's fault, he didn't even contest the ball. Also, the Clare defender can be seen to come across Blaine's path stopping him from getting good contact with the ball. Decision wise it was correct for him to contest the ball but with how the ball was dropping from so high made it difficult.
I think his kickouts are actually good and the issues are more related to outfield players movement when he goes long. His short kicks are normally excellent.
Some people are saying he is too small. He is 5'11" so just 1 inch smaller than Cluxton, indeed Morgan is only slightly over 6' . Granted he is a good bit smaller than Beagan but then there are very few that big. All these top keepers make mistakes too but seemingly we need a perfect one.