Derry GG News

I agree, Boc, that if Bradley had goaled at that stage it could have been a very different game. I don't actually think he was being double marked at any stage. Down played with a sweeper, but he was miles off Bradley for the vast majority of the time. Personally, Id've put 2 out-and-out markers on Bradley at that point, as he was the outlet for everything, and the only threat.

Eoin is well capable of doing what he did in the first half yesterday, and we've seen it before from him. Derry though, have little else. James Kielt could do worse that watch some footage of John McEntee tackling and working. They are a similar size and both have an exquisite left foot, but that is where the similarity ends. Derry need Kielt to be better than he currently is.

Thomas Clarke wrote:I agree, Boc, that if Bradley had goaled at that stage it could have been a very different game. I don't actually think he was being double marked at any stage. Down played with a sweeper, but he was miles off Bradley for the vast majority of the time. Personally, Id've put 2 out-and-out markers on Bradley at that point, as he was the outlet for everything, and the only threat.

Eoin is well capable of doing what he did in the first half yesterday, and we've seen it before from him. Derry though, have little else. James Kielt could do worse that watch some footage of John McEntee tackling and working. They are a similar size and both have an exquisite left foot, but that is where the similarity ends. Derry need Kielt to be better than he currently is.

maybe not double marked per se but the ball going into him at times should have been intercepted a number of times by the sweeper if he had been reading the game right.

Derry will be missing Eoin Bradley for all of the league, given his commitment to playing soccer for Coleraine until May.  

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Big blow to their chances of surviving in division 1, and you now have to wonder if he'll figure in their championship opener against Donegal.

He must be handy enough at the soccerball. Giving it a bit of committment at least.
Derry to struggle in 2014....Cue denials from Beagle.

Boxtyeater wrote:He must be handy enough at the soccerball. Giving it a bit of committment at least.
Derry to struggle in 2014....Cue denials from Beagle.

No Bradleys and no Ballinderry lads to start the league. Division 1 this year, and Donegal in the first round of the championship. It's a huge ask, and they could struggle.

Still, on the plus side, Derry are likely to be fitter than some of the other division 1 sides in Feb/March. They will also be targeting wins over Westmeath and Kildare, which might in themselves be enough to ensure survival. They've a good man at the helm, but this is a big challenge for him, especially with Donegal looming in May.

Boxtyeater wrote:He must be handy enough at the soccerball. Giving it a bit of committment at least.
Derry to struggle in 2014....Cue denials from Beagle.

he has banged in 9 goals in 15 games for Coleraine so he must know something

if some players can juggle the demands of Gaelic football and hurling i dont understand Mcivers problem with Bradley doing the same with soccer.

I suppose the only thing is soccer on a Saturday and Gaelic the next day might be asking a bit too much

Derry football crisis growing, and still no sign of Beagle. Joe Brolly, a one-time fairly good Derry player turned omnipresent pundit, has attacked Eoin Bradley for his choice of committing to soccer in the immediate future.

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To be fair to Brolly, I haven't yet read the Gaelic Life article, but the inference here is that he was criticising/belittling Bradley's choice. If that is the case, I think that Skinner responded very well, and comes across as the bigger man.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Derry football crisis growing, and still no sign of Beagle.  Joe Brolly, a one-time fairly good Derry player turned omnipresent pundit, has attacked Eoin Bradley for his choice of committing to soccer in the immediate future.

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To be fair to Brolly, I haven't yet read the Gaelic Life article, but the inference here is that he was criticising/belittling Bradley's choice.  If that is the case, I think that Skinner responded very well, and comes across as the bigger man.

Brolly turning out to be a bigger w*nker every time he opens his mouth!!!! Bradleys choice of sport is entirely his and if he is getting a few pound for his efforts let him at it. Unfortunately Brolly has a real go and his mouthing extends well beyond Bradleys decision to play soccer. Truth is he wants to play for Derry McIver doesnt think he can manage both codes - so to say he is turning his back on his County is bollox.

Brolly makes the comment that when Bradley suffered his cruciate injury he is alledged to have said "there goes my All Star" again so what if thats what he said no big deal is it. However Bradleys strenuously denies making any such comment, not like a barrister to work of hearsay and rumours!!!!

Just read the article after seeing Boc's comment, and it is indeed a disgrace.

Brolly is not only wrong, but also a hypocrite. He sneers at a man for trying to earn some money, yet I'd doubt that anyone has made more money from the GAA in the last few years than he has. I should also add that Bradley is making his £100 a week for slogging his guts out on a field, whereas Joe probably makes 10-20 times that amount for uttering nasty (often untruthful) comments about people. Joe should be very proud of himself.

Eoin Bradley is an easy target, as neither he nor his brother are particularly popular, even in Derry. As I understand it, they aren't bad lads or anything, but just a bit too cocky for most people's tastes, a charge that could very easily be levelled at Brolly himself.

Eoin Bradley was an excellent forward for Derry, and played for the county for 10 years. His brother Paddy was even better, and played for longer. Joe Brolly may have an AI and a couple of All-Stars, but was he really a better footballer than Eoin Bradley, or did he just happen to play in a better side? Whichever, he certainly wasn't close to the player that Paddy was.

Here's Brolly's effort from Gaelic life. Gutter journalism is the best description of it.

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I'd agree with TC, either of the Bradleys were worth 2 Brollys.

Haven't read the article but I'm in Skinners corner here, he's getting paid well to play soccer and fair play to him, he owes us very little. I feel McIver has just went down the Mickey Harte route when he more or less forced the lad McCullagh to quit as captain of Omagh Town in order to play for Tyrone, McCullagh chose Tyrone, Skinner chose soccer and I really don't see what the big deal is. Skinner is a plasterer and must be delighted to get a wedge for kicking a ball around, I do not blame him at all as if he wasn't good enough Coleraine would have got shot of him plus its a very short career for a player to earn anything from sport.

Bocerty had cause to travel to a wake over the weekend in Belfast for the mother of one of the guys who does a bit of coaching with me. In the car were 3 other Gaels one of whom is very well informed on all things GAA throughout most counties and another guy who has some very reliable contacts throughout Ulster.

The picture they painted of this 'disagreement' between Mciver and Bradley (and both had the same story) portrays things a little different than what we perhaps thought.

By all accounts Derry training thus far has been nothing short of brutal, this came from current member of the Derry squad, the feeling within the camp is that Bradley isn't a great trainer and that his ploy was to miss the hard grind of the pre season training and most of the league, play the last two league games and then get picked for the championship.

Now it doesnt change the fact that its not Brollys beef so he should stay out of it and he must be decent enough at the soccer but maybe McIver knows him better than we do and has perhaps being trying to call his bluff in trying to get him to commit to the Derry team over the soccer

That wouldn't surprise me at all, but it doesn't change my view, specifically:

- Brolly took a cheap shot at Bradley. Gutter journalism, but no less than I'd expect from him.

- McIvor is cutting off his nose to spite his face. Bradley must be in fairly good shape to be playing Irish league soccer and, while he may not enjoy the tough GAA winter training, is a late return any different to what several senior players with other counties have done in recent years? If Bradley was available in May/June and in fairly good shape, I'd rather have him on the pitch than in the stand.

Thomas Clarke wrote:That wouldn't surprise me at all, but it doesn't change my view, specifically:

- Brolly took a cheap shot at Bradley. Gutter journalism, but no less than I'd expect from him.

- McIvor is cutting off his nose to spite his face.  Bradley must be in fairly good shape to be playing Irish league soccer and, while he may not enjoy the tough GAA winter training, is a late return any different to what several senior players with other counties have done in recent years?  If Bradley was available in May/June and in fairly good shape, I'd rather have him on the pitch than in the stand.

going by what they showed yesterday they could be doing with him TC

Well if he's not picked come the end of the league then it really is Derrys loss. In an ideal world we would only pick the people who trained all the time, but when the heat of championship battle comes round you need your best players, and i think that after kicking a soccerball round for Coleraine he'd be fit enough!

Keep my good mate, former Derry captain & All Star, Kevin McCloy in your thoughts after he suffered a suspected heart attack during his club Laveys Championship match with Magherafelt last night. I have been told that the good work from the medics and medically trained supporters on the scene helped save his life and he is now stable and undergoing assessment.  A mate of mine since our school days, this news has knocked me sideways.

bald eagle wrote:Keep my good mate, former Derry captain & All Star, Kevin McCloy in your thoughts after he suffered a suspected heart attack during his club Laveys Championship match with Magherafelt last night. I have been told that the good work from the medics and medically trained supporters on the scene helped save his life and he is now stable and undergoing assessment.  A mate of mine since our school days, this news has knocked me sideways.

Just heard that - shocking stuff. A very fine footballer, and am sure the strength and determination he always showed on the field will stand to him now.

A bit of a shock there in fairness Beagle. Not the sort of news you would want to get. Still, he's a rugged enough character, his resilience will be a help. There are great advances in this field of late so hopefully he'll repel this "invader" over the next few weeks/months.

You'd want to mind yourself Beagle, all this work and more work is a load of oul' bollox. Take a few months out (I know a Doc who'll sign you off as stressed) kick back, spot of golf, fishing, all these things are good for the body and soul. Trust me.

Good wishes Kevin.

Delighted to tell you Kevin is out of his coma and responding well. Lucky boy!

bald eagle wrote:Delighted to tell you Kevin is out of his coma and responding well. Lucky boy!

Yes, heard that. Great news indeed. Ironically, he could end up being very lucky as a result of what happened - if the weakness was there, it's much better it happened at a championship match with several doctors on hand, rather than running/cycling the roads or sitting at home alone.

Interesting read from big McCloy -

Kevin McCloy has criticised the GAA for refusing him payment from its players’ injury scheme after he almost died after collapsing during a club match last summer.

The former Derry captain and All Star full back spent three days in a coma after his heart stopped suddenly just minutes into the senior championship encounter between Lavey and Magherafelt at Owenbeg last August. But he claims his biggest battle has been with the GAA whose players’ injury scheme refused to pay out because his medical condition did not result from an accidental bodily injury.

“I had fought for my life for the last three months and the last people that I thought I would have to try and fight would be the GAA,” he tells today’s Irish News.

“It just went against the whole ethos of what I thought the GAA was about.

“I always found that the GAA was about family and if anybody was in trouble we all looked after each other. But I soon found out that whenever it came down to it, they threw me up a letter like everybody else and said ‘good luck.”

The 36-year-old civil engineer recalled how he and his family had struggled financially until they eventually received a “goodwill” payment from the Association.

A GAA spokeman said: “Kevin’s injury is not covered as a pre-existing underlying condition. But the GAA made a payment to Kevin that would have matched the amount had his condition been covered by the player injury scheme.”

McCloy said the experience had left him “totally dejected”.

“If truth be told for a few weeks and months there, I didn’t even see myself sending the two children to a GAA pitch. If anything at all I would take them to rugby,” he added.

While I feel sorry for Kevin (or anyone else who would find themselves in such a situation), I'm not sure that I have enough knowledge to form an opinion on this. Beagle is friends with McCloy, and is likely beter informed.

On face value, an insurance scheme didn't pay out as he didn't meet the payout criteria. That is consistent with every insurance scheme that was ever put in place. Now, is the scheme operated for profit by the GAA, or is it simply that the GAA are using a large insurer to run the scheme, and the GAA is simply a badge on the front. The latter is much more likely and, in that case, it would be the insurer (understandably) witholding payment, not the GAA.

Credit should be given to the GAA for making a goodwill gesture and, while I'm sure that Kevin would rather have had it sooner and without the fight, I'd suspect that if it is a 3rd party insurer, the GAA were trying for a couple of months to see if they could pressurise the insurance company into making the payment instead.

Overall, a sad situation for Kevin and poor publicity for the organisation. As I said at the outset, I'd need more detail but, at face value, it sounds like it has played out just as you'd expect in an insurance claim.

Thomas Clarke wrote:While I feel sorry for Kevin (or anyone else who would find themselves in such a situation), I'm not sure that I have enough knowledge to form an opinion on this.  Beagle is friends with McCloy, and is likely beter informed.

I haven't spoken to Kevin in a while, however in this instance i feel that he has been very much misinformed.  People around our way are extremely quick to jump on the GAA, like playing gaelic games means that the GAA owe you all and sundry.  The GAA are a games organisation and not an insurance company, in this instance the insurer refused to pay upon looking at the evidence and the GAA got the blame.  What I am surprised in, is that when the GAA issued a payout from their benevolent fund to cover the refusal of the insurers payout, they still get stick!

There are processes to follow and Kevin should be aware of that, regardless of your views on things, the GAA simply could not pay out before the insurer refused as that would be silly, the GAA would then get stick for paying out early and probably even more stick for asking for any funds to be returned.  Sometimes i feel that the GAA get kicked for the sake of kicking something.

bald eagle wrote:

Thomas Clarke wrote:While I feel sorry for Kevin (or anyone else who would find themselves in such a situation), I'm not sure that I have enough knowledge to form an opinion on this.  Beagle is friends with McCloy, and is likely beter informed.

I haven't spoken to Kevin in a while, however in this instance i feel that he has been very much misinformed.  People around our way are extremely quick to jump on the GAA, like playing gaelic games means that the GAA owe you all and sundry.  The GAA are a games organisation and not an insurance company, in this instance the insurer refused to pay upon looking at the evidence and the GAA got the blame.  What I am surprised in, is that when the GAA issued a payout from their benevolent fund to cover the refusal of the insurers payout, they still get stick!

There are processes to follow and Kevin should be aware of that, regardless of your views on things, the GAA simply could not pay out before the insurer refused as that would be silly, the GAA would then get stick for paying out early and probably even more stick for asking for any funds to be returned.  Sometimes i feel that the GAA get kicked for the sake of kicking something.

valid points lads and i may have jumped in with both feet initially and took McCloys view on things as being gospel but i have heard of instances in the past where guys had injuries which were covered under the insurance scheme and it still took forever to get money out of the GAA and the insurers.

I suppose it also begs the question did he not have critical illness cover or some sort of cover to protect his income in the event of an injury or something like this leaving him being unable to work.

bocerty wrote:
I suppose it also begs the question did he not have critical illness cover or some sort of cover to protect his income in the event of an injury or something like this leaving him being unable to work.

Most people don't, Boc.  It's funny, I actually took out Critical Illness cover and Income Protection Cover on myself last week.  Having been employed most of my career, I'm currently self employed and, after having it nagging away in the back of my head for the guts of a year, I finally decided to insure myself.

The cost can certainly be off-putting and it can work out to be 'dead money' but, for me to be very well covered, it was working out at about 5% of my take-home monthly income, so I decided that it was worth it for peace of mind.  

It's a field that I know well from earlier in my career, and I know for a fact that very few people have any protection policies on themselves.  They insure houses, cars, jewellery, phones, weddings, holidays, pets and just about anything else you can think of, yet they don't insure the goose that lays all those golden eggs.