Fringe players and good subs

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ballymanabroad
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Fringe players and good subs

Post by ballymanabroad »

Now that the team for the championship has been 90% nailed down who can we expect will make the subs bench with a view to taking some part in the game. You have to be careful in this situation because some players need time to get into the flow of the game while others are great at springing from the bench and making an immediate impact.

I see that Nigel "Chop" Grennan is the 7th back at the moment with James Keane and Ger Rafferty close behind. How is Shaper playing now? A few weeks ago it seemed that he could do no wrong. I hear that Rory Guinan was told he was no longer needed and Pascal has left too. So who else in the forwards will be on the bench with a view to making an impact. Roy, Mark, Joe Quinn? What kind of back up do we have all around the field?

Excuse my ignorance of the current situation but it is hard to find out about local stuff in an internet cafe in the middle of Argentina.

Hope we win on sunday. We need good football. And if Wastemeath went down then all the sweeter.
It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe - Muhammad Ali

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Lone Shark
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Subs

Post by Lone Shark »

This has come up in a few threads - I'm quite concerned to be honest. I think in terms of replacements/cover, the cupboard is pretty bare. We'd be okay in goals, or around the middle of the park, but for 2-4 or 14 & 15 we'd struggle, and even though I wouldn't pass too much remarks on Sunday's result, the game really highlighted how dependent we have become on Colm Quinn to take the ball and deliver it accurately in to the two boys inside. Our general play wasn't good anyway, and they did look like a disinterested team, but in Quinny's absence we were savagely short on any kind of passing skill.

I still don't think Nigel Grennan belongs in the backs - he doesn't look like a guy who's at home there at all. He's very fit, and will work his socks off, but he's quite easily sold, and is too prone to giving the ball away with an aimless kick when he's under pressure. He scored a fine point yesterday, but that's hardly what you pick your backs for.

Shaper has fallen away big style. Whether it was that he was just sharper than most in February due to Sigerson and now the pack has come to meet him, or else other reasons not known to the public I couldn't tell you, but he hasn't been chipping in with nearly enough scores, and Damien Hunt's little cameo yesterday will have opened Kilmurray's eyes to that option as well. I'd say either he or Daly will be dropped for the Louth match, though Daly's woeful display probably put's him at the head of the queue.

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Bord na Mona man
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Post by Bord na Mona man »

What are people's view on possible impact subs?
You should always think in terms of a 20 minute player, rather than a man who is pushing for a place in the starting 15.

Someone like Alan Mulhall might fit the bill here. Accurate boot, especially if we need to change the game plan and play it in high.
Roy Malone also tends to do better when coming on as sub, than when he starts. A tired back hates to see a runner coming off the bench who will compete for every ball.

We all know what kind of "impact" Jimmy Grennan can make. Is he destined for the role of coming off the bench to bust...catch ball?

If we are chasing a game, what are our options for changing tactics?
4 points down with 10 minutes to go - what would you do?

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Lone Shark
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Post by Lone Shark »

I'm a big fan of Mulhall, but I would like to have seen him be given a game in the league at some stage. His ability to kick points is not really the issue, but his ability to move three yards to get the ball is unproven as of yet. But certainly if we felt the need to throw someone in on the edge of the square, I could see the logic.

I'm a great believer in Roy Malone when you're playing against the wind - I'd use that as the criteria rather than the timing. I think he's one of the best lads to take a ball between the 45 and 65 and make hard yards going forward. He's not accurate at the best of times, but in a situation where there won't be much shooting going on, I've great time for his ball winning and movement.

I still think Jimmy has to get fit enough and he has to start. McManus is more than fit enough to do the tracking up and down beside him - and anyway, you don't have to defend as much when you catch the ball in the first place.

Kiely is another that seems to have dropped off the radar entirely. I thought he was a good all round player who could have expected to make an impression. It hasn't worked out at all for him really.

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