Dr McKenna Cup - second most important trophy?

Obviously Sam is the most pre-eminent and sought after football prize in the country but what is next in terms of importance, kudos and glory? Well it ain't the provincials anyway - not with the backdoor system now in operation. Look at that tragic weekend last summer when Kerry, Tyrone, Roscommon and Meath all bit the dust in 48 hours - so much for provincial glory. Sure Dublin won 5 in a row and what was it worth? Then you have the League - I mean who takes it seriously?? The ones who win it are like the jockey who won the race he was trying not to - cos the other jockeys were 'pulling' harder than him. Most teams win it by accident.

No the real business are the January competitions! This is where the marker is laid down for the year and they don't come much bigger than the Dr McKenna Cup. The O'Byrne and McGrath Cups pale into insignificance when put alongside Ulster's premier cup competition! And the rivalry is intense, crowds huge and every county has won it - even Cavan!

Can Donegal do the 3 in a row - a feat not accomplished since 2007 when Tyrone won their fourth in a row. Can the mighty Saffrons win it for the first time since 1981 - currently the longest drought of any Ulster county. Armagh have amazingly not won it since 1990 - 20 years - and Derry not since 1999! Bring it on!

Well Donegal certainly appear to be peaking earlier each year
A 2007 league title demolishing all before them except Fermanagh - and from that they have moved on leaps and bounds - 2009 Mckenna cup glory and ran out of steam before the league even started
However their 2010 Mckenna cup campaign began in July 2009 with a decent back championship run ensuring that they were at full pace by January 2010 -
This year I think they will be even stronger - A tactical choice to limit their 2010 championship run to 2 games has left them with nearly 6 months to prepare -

Rumour has it the squad is so Fit that they were running up errigal backwards on XMAS morning
And none of the John Maugh nonsense these men have been pushing oil tankers across the Barnesmore Gap without even pausing for breath as they passed Biddy's

I encountered 3 of the Cavan McKenna Cup squad over the weekend. None sober..

They must be aiming to peak in August/September..

Jonsmith wrote:I encountered 3 of the Cavan McKenna Cup squad over the weekend. None sober..

They must be aiming to peak in August/September..

Why would they peak two months after going out of the C'ship?

Its all about the clubs here Jayo peaking for the club championship!

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

Jonsmith wrote:I encountered 3 of the Cavan McKenna Cup squad over the weekend. None sober..

They must be aiming to peak in August/September..

Why would they peak two months after going out of the C'ship?

Should be no hassle getting past Antrim side or Donegal, Monaghan will provide the only real challenge in Ulster. Winning the U-21 this year will give us a good boost too so I'd be hugely surprised if we don't get at least one trip to Croker. Givney will get his All Star and Barry Reilly won't have much opposition for young player of the year..

Jonsmith wrote:Should be no hassle getting past Antrim side or Donegal, Monaghan will provide the only real challenge in Ulster. Winning the U-21 this year will give us a good boost too so I'd be hugely surprised if we don't get at least one trip to Croker. Givney will get his All Star and Barry Reilly won't have much opposition for young player of the year..

I love the talking up here JS - but ya can fook right off if ya think GT are adopting ye this year!!!!

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

Jonsmith wrote:Should be no hassle getting past Antrim side or Donegal, Monaghan will provide the only real challenge in Ulster. Winning the U-21 this year will give us a good boost too so I'd be hugely surprised if we don't get at least one trip to Croker. Givney will get his All Star and Barry Reilly won't have much opposition for young player of the year..

I love the talking up here JS - but ya can fook right off if ya think GT are adopting ye this year!!!!

There's nothing like the optimism that comes with the start of a new season! I'm also expecting some controversy when the All Star Committee don't give Gearoid McKiernan the second midfield All Star when he blatantly deserves it.. Johnston for top scorer seems a certainty at this point.

When you say that Jayo we should be starting up a thread with a poll for who we'll adopt this year...?

Do indeed JS - we might try to weight something up during the League or summat! And we'll have to consider a hurley one this year too!

Wont be cavan in the hurling anyway!

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Do indeed JS - we might try to weight something up during the League or summat! And we'll have to consider a hurley one this year too!

Ive been rebuked before for using that word to describe anything other than the implement
and even then Kilkenny people call it a Hurl.

We call it hurley here in Dubland - or hurdley even!

Donegal have a handy enough start. Even the Dubs won in Healy Park by 6 points last April. Add that to the fact that there are fellas leaving the home panel almost daily and you can clearly see problems in the camp. Also old age can cause grumpiness - look at Boxty - that may be a factor. 3 in a row looking good.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Donegal have a handy enough start. Even the Dubs won in Healy Park by 6 points last April. Add that to the fact that there are fellas leaving the home panel almost daily and you can clearly see problems in the camp. Also old age can cause grumpiness - look at Boxty - that may be a factor. 3 in a row looking good.

You're not too bad yourself!

The club championship is the biggest thing now after Sam.

Alas the GAA have gone down the soccer path and there is only one BIG trophy. The Dubs won 5 in a row in Leinster and Armagh won 7 Ulsters but Tyrone won more plaudits than Armagh.

Nope, provincials are only meaningful if say Antrim were to win Ulster, or obviously Fermanagh, or Louth were to win Leinster.

Yes very good P - but we are on about the McKenna here - having already dissed the provincial c'ships (do read the posts please). The club title matters only to 400 people in Newtownshandrum or 68 in Kilmurry-Ibricane. It is a nice competition and keeps you out of the pub on Paddys Day but does not carry the importance of Sam (obviously) or the Bishop Mc. As stated earlier Antrim have not won this since 1981 - the longest drought of Ulster counties. Do they not take it seriously enough or are they all on the piss for December and January?

Ah yes, the McKenna Cup. The time of year when Mickey Harte traditionally unveils the finest young talent in Ireland.....before veiling it again, and keeping it on the bench all summer.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Ah yes, the McKenna Cup. The time of year when Mickey Harte traditionally unveils the finest young talent in Ireland.....before veiling it again, and keeping it on the bench all summer.

Though I'd say he'll have no choice this year but to throw in a few!

I hope so Jayo, although seeing the likes of Dooher & Gourley back for another crack at it is worrying.

After the Cork defeat, Mickey wrote in his book that reputations would count for nothing in 2010, and that players would be picked on form. He was true to his word until the Ulster final, when he dropped Carlin & Swift for Ricey & Davy Harte, the latter in particular having been very poor all year. Dooher coming back in for the extremely promising Peter Harte was even worse.

The performance of the Tyrone U-21s will be very important to how our season goes this year. With 2 all-ireland minor wins in the last 3 years, Tyrone should be winning the U-21s. If we do, expect to see a 2-3 of them getting starting places on the senior side; if not, expect the same old, same old.

And the same old, same old getting older and older. I dunno what he is thinking really. Take Sean C for instance - he has been poor for the last couple of seasons. Surely he would benefit from being dropped for a young lad. Might be the kick up the **** he needs.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:And the same old, same old getting older and older. I dunno what he is thinking really. Take Sean C for instance - he has been poor for the last couple of seasons. Surely he would benefit from being dropped for a young lad. Might be the kick up the **** he needs.

Agreed Jayo. Sean Cavanagh could have been dropped, or at least substititued, a couple of times last year, as his form was very poor.

From what I've heard, his form/attitude last year in particular has not gone down well with the management at all, but what they do about it is anyone's guess. Whether it is an arm around the shoulder, or a kick up the ass, something has to be done, as Sean Cavanagh is too good a footballer to be functioning as a passenger. I'd play him as a 3rd midfielder with an attacking licence, a free role if you like, as he doesn't like marking and doesn't like the rough and tumble of contesting kick-outs (like a traditional 8 or 9 would be doing).

As for the others, Dooher is finished, sadly, and I can't see what he will bring to the team this year. Davy Harte was always slow, but seems to have lost another yard. Enda McGinley has had 2 very poor years, and Kevin Hughes and Brian McGuigan have only their strength and smarts left to offer. Ricey is fine for 15-20 minutes, while Gormley and Jordan are still the best options we have in those positions. Up front, O'Neill needs to be injury free, and probably also needs someone else to take a lot of the attention away from him. If Mugsy can recapture the form he showed last year he will be worth a place.

All in all, Tyrone need 2-3 good additions to their first 15 to emerge from this years U-21s, and also need the likes of PJ Quinn, Cathal McCarron, Carlin, Swift, Colm Cav and Aidan Cassidy to continue to improve.

Thomas Clarke wrote:[Sean Cavanagh is too good a footballer to be functioning as a passenger. I'd play him as a 3rd midfielder with an attacking licence, a free role if you like, as he doesn't like marking and doesn't like the rough and tumble of contesting kick-outs (like a traditional 8 or 9 would be doing).

That's the role he played his best football alright - sometimes unplayable. Destroyed us in 2008 - largely from there. Though Dooher was flying then and giving him a licence to do that - so you need players to do the work for him too.

Met MH through work about this time two years ago.
Ended up 4-5 of us having lunch and talk inevitably turned to matters GAA - AI predictions etc
MH was predicting that Cork would win Sam at that time
but anyway back to TC's point
One of the people at the table mentioned a comment that SC had made in the papers relating to the GPA.
I won't document MH's reply but given the year that SC had just had it was surprising

OMAR wrote: One of the people at the table mentioned a comment that SC had made in the papers relating to the GPA.
I won't document MH's reply but given the year that SC had just had it was surprising

SC's 2008 is a thing of myth. He was very good against the Dubs, quite good against Wexford, and outstanding against Kerry. For the 8 months before that he did very little. Enda McGinley should have been player of the year in 2008, and Dooher or Ricey would have been next on the list from a Tyrone perspective.

Sean Cavanagh was immense from 2003-2005, but his only sparkled in patches since then. He hasn't even done that in the last 2 years, and has looked miserable on the field. Having said that, he is too talented to let drift away, and getting him happy with his football again should be Mickey's top priority for 2011.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

OMAR wrote: One of the people at the table mentioned a comment that SC had made in the papers relating to the GPA.
I won't document MH's reply but given the year that SC had just had it was surprising

SC's 2008 is a thing of myth. He was very good against the Dubs, quite good against Wexford, and outstanding against Kerry. For the 8 months before that he did very little. Enda McGinley should have been player of the year in 2008, and Dooher or Ricey would have been next on the list from a Tyrone perspective.

Sean Cavanagh was immense from 2003-2005, but his only sparkled in patches since then. He hasn't even done that in the last 2 years, and has looked miserable on the field. Having said that, he is too talented to let drift away, and getting him happy with his football again should be Mickey's top priority for 2011.

SC is not a very popular member of the Tyrone squad from what i can gather particularly amongst the senior members - if he paid half as much attention to improving his game and footballing duties as he does to GPA duties he would be a grand fella