2020 league

[ragingbull]

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.

the Blaine game

 

[niall1980]

Jamie doesn't look fully fit so fingers crossed we can get through next week's massive banana skin and he'll be rocking for Tyrone in the semis!

It’ll be Donegal

 

[Pat Cully]

Never in doubt

Don’t know what’s more deadly watching Armagh or the corona lol

 

[Pat Cully]

Yeah consistency seems to be an issue, but let's be fair, not too many in recent years had the consistency of the likes of Andy Mallon.

Hopefully he just needs football
He never had a club championship or league so fingers crossed he’s just rusty

 

[The Big Easy]

He was better than people think. Constant running off the ball dragging two defenders out of position. He don’t a fair few quick off-loads in first half and created space. Got a very important point at a crucial time in the game. Will get better & better.

 

[portadownarmaghfan]

Virtual pints anyone?

You get the first round in!

Anyone virtually drunk yet?

 

[Seamy]

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.

Wasn't aware Kearney had walked. He certainly has all the attributes to be a top drawer Intercounty Goalkeeper.

Agreed regarding Magill. Certainly a good back up to have but if Blaine were to get injured, you'd be a little nervous throwing a relative unknown in to the fray in an Ulster Championship Game.

Burns played against us a few years ago in a Championship Semi Final between the posts with Forkhill. Solid enough from what I remember but not sure how he's fared in Dublin. You'd imagine playing Senior Championship Football would be a high standard in Dublin though.

We're thin on options otherwise so it's hard to know where to look. I still personally think Blaine is a good option, but someone to challenge him would possibly increase his ability.

Getting back in to the AG next year is a must. Salavating at the prospect of welcoming Dublin or Kerry to Armagh. It'll be a great experience.

 

[Too Long Ref]

Getting back in to the AG next year is a must. Salavating at the prospect of welcoming Dublin or Kerry to Armagh. It'll be a great experience.

The buzz will be massive and can you imagine how big a help this will be to promote our games.

Our young club players being able to see someone like David Clifford or Aidan O'Shea in the flesh at the Athletic Grounds.

Young and old will be excited.

 

[Armagh2002]

Great to get promoted and next years goal should simply be to stay up and solidify. We are a few defenders from the next level but we are not that far off. Geezer has his critics, me being one of them but this year has seen steady progress. I still think he needs assistance on some things as defensively there are concerns but bit by bit the team is improving. That organic way of developing is much better than a big burst and then a blow up!

This post is bang on. Great to go up but a lot of work to be done. We have some great talent but as Bcb says we need to just add incrementally a couple of players every years and hopefully we can solidify our position on the top 8 over the next few years. Congrats to players and management

 

[JoeH]

Brilliant to be in div 1 again
Brilliant at times today, off the pace at others
The covid issue must have had huge impact on the squad
Let's just hope spectators can return to games next year so we can see the top players in person

 

[PatMustard]

Brilliant to be in div 1 again
Brilliant at times today, off the pace at others
The covid issue must have had huge impact on the squad
Let's just hope spectators can return to games next year so we can see the top players in person

I really hope so.

I doubt everything will be back to normal by the start of the NFL in late Jan/early Feb. But hopefully some fans can attend at least.

So, let’s all do what we can to improve things.

 

[Gaamaniac]

on the beer since half 3
ill not bother to write my thoughts on the game to another day
UP OURMA

 

[northarmaghgael]

After the dust has settled we deserved promotion this year. Apart from Laois we have played at D1 standard all year.
Still a few concerns, none more so than the strength of our spine - defensive in particular. IMO, the answer to this is to have McKay/Donaghy up the middle. Someone else mentioned about our county champs Maghery having only one player on the panel. Perhaps C Higgins could be an option?
going into the championship, we need Grimley and Jamie firing on all cylinders. I still think we have Jamie and Rian playing too far out. Ideally, we need them playing in a 2 man FF line.
All in all, I am a happy Armagh man tonight and no doubt this will give the lads a huge lift going into next week. Hoping for a Monaghan and Mayo win tomorrow to see them bunch of shire so and so go down.

 

[ragingbull]

What club does Jamie Clarke play with? Sad to see him been sub, but he want not up to speed with the game

Its the system that Armagh play,not Clarke's fault that 2/3 hanging of him all the time

 

[The Big Easy]

The lack of discipline is just shocking. Many players just lack the bottle to simply win possession.

Does anyone do any coaching? What are the roles of the backroom team?The amount of times armagh players are appealing for marks when they simply aren't on?????

I seriously despair!! They aren’t appealing for marks. It’s obvious that’s it’s a signal for a particular move or set play that they want the forwards to do.

 

[ragingbull]

I've seen better keepers in the junior League this year and intermediate. It's not a personal attack on the fella, I'm sure he's a great lad but he's not up to it. The goal today was comical, he dropped a free catch in the first half, he did the same last week and he has a habit of chipping it to the opposition CHF. It's not just one game, it's been going on for 2 years. McEvoy got absolutely slated between the sticks and I'd wager he made less mistakes than our current incumbent.

Does Blaine even do goals for cruppen?

 

[the real mouth]

Does Blaine even do goals for cruppen?

Yes he does do goals for Cruppen, seen him in a league game this year and he was good.

 

[The Big Easy]

I think we are by far the best team in Div 2 this year unfortunately we are also one of the worst when we switch off in games. It is so frustrating and I just can't understand how it happens. It's not just this year we have been the same for some time. Watching today's game it looks like the problem arises when a team switch tactic mid way through the game. Geezer has always been poor at making changes during a game and to me that is what our problem is.
Pat Spillane was very complimentary in his commentary and I think we can live with some of the best teams in the country but if we don't rectify the switch off problem then we will be hammered.

Poor at making changes to tactics, personnel or both? Because what I seen today was a ruthless McGeeney. Shields got a yellow (for mouthing) then removed within 3 mins. Duffy picked up a cheap yellow just before half time - then didn’t surface for the second half. Two very quick decisions which I think were important for us to win the game. In fact, bringing soupy on was a game changer for us as he was a constant threat with his direct running. I feel McGeeney needs to be given credit when it’s due.

 

[the real mouth]

After the dust has settled we deserved promotion this year. Apart from Laois we have played at D1 standard all year.
Still a few concerns, none more so than the strength of our spine - defensive in particular. IMO, the answer to this is to have McKay/Donaghy up the middle. Someone else mentioned about our county champs Maghery having only one player on the panel. Perhaps C Higgins could be an option?
going into the championship, we need Grimley and Jamie firing on all cylinders. I still think we have Jamie and Rian playing too far out. Ideally, we need them playing in a 2 man FF line.
All in all, I am a happy Armagh man tonight and no doubt this will give the lads a huge lift going into next week. Hoping for a Monaghan and Mayo win tomorrow to see them bunch of shire so and so go down.

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.

 

[the real mouth]

Poor at making changes to tactics, personnel or both? Because what I seen today was a ruthless McGeeney. Shields got a yellow (for mouthing) then removed within 3 mins. Duffy picked up a cheap yellow just before half time - then didn’t surface for the second half. Two very quick decisions which I think were important for us to win the game. In fact, bringing soupy on was a game changer for us as he was a constant threat with his direct running. I feel McGeeney needs to be given credit when it’s due.

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.