I suppose when you look at major decisions the CB made, or didn't in recent years, I believe two stand out. Firstly, they left Terry on for too long. Did a great job initially, but should have gone after the Kerry game in CP.
The second major mistake was leaving it too late to select his replacement. It came down to a choice of three and Mattie won out on the back of his club success and the assumption that he was on the way up. However, not much homework seems to have been done prior to appointing him as Scotstown weren't exactly mourning his departure. Need to face facts, he's not up to this task and we should not allow him an another year's training for his next job.
We need a manager who can make a difference on the day of a game like Kearns did today for Tipp at half time. We also need to appraise the players we have at our disposal. The better club managers in Cavan wouldn't select some of our regular starters. We have lads who constantly foul in free conversion range and get their start the next day - no consequences for sloppy defending. We also don't set up goal scoring opportunities. Twice we placed the ball at the edge of the square and on each occasion we had a presence at the far post. U12 coaches would encourage their players to pass the ball high to the far post for a palmed/ punched goal. Not us, we take the point if we're lucky.
Also, no speed in our attack to penetrate defences with direct running. Again, coaching deficiencies, not acceptable at this level.
How to move on form here? Bye bye Mattie and get the best available proven manager. Is Pete McGrath available for instance? There's a man who can make decisions to change a game, and motivate his teams at half time.

ondforty (Cavan) - Posts: 461 - 08/07/2017 19:06:28    2012433

. He seems out of his depth we looked so clueless at times this year. He was lucky to be over a gifted Scoutstown team who by the way are unbeaten all year I believe and now look better than ever. The county board have a load to answer for too. The three men going for the Job was Banty Sheedy and McGlennan. Surely there is better options out there than that. Look how well Jason Reilly has done in his management career. He is a potential option . Unfourtanatley I expect him to stay on , But we need to realise this team are another year older why waste it on a manager who judging by the mood in Brefni today the cavan people have no confidence in.

blueskies (Cavan) - Posts: 197 - 08/07/2017 19:58:00    2012472

fredflint (Cavan) - Posts: 1485 - 08/07/2017 22:46:54    2012631

The Quiet Man (Cavan) - Posts: 4601 - 09/07/2017 02:45:24    2012745

Decisive action is needed:
1. P45 to current management
2. Play off remainder of league games in July and August.
3. Use the time now immediately to put a new manager in place.
4.With manager in place start the championship in September allowing a new manager time to see players at their best

It is a big call for the county board but one that needs to be made urgently.

shannon414 (Cavan) - Posts: 228 - 09/07/2017 08:51:45    2012778

At this stage, my conclusion is that there is no appetite for success in Cavan GAA. Decades of underachievement and losing have turned us soft. We've become inured to being whipping boys, losing is our rightful place in GAA. Even a glimmer of success, perhaps at underage, sends the county into a spiral of madness. A handful of provincial titles at u21 level, and suddenly "The future is blue". Well that future sure is blue, because there's a lot of misery out there after that performance yesterday.

Cavan_Shambles (Cavan) - Posts: 575 - 09/07/2017 09:57:42    2012808

Pete McGrath isn't available , staying with Fermanagh . Doubt he would be the man to lead Cavan for few next years at his his age.

The lack of interest in the Cavan job was because the top managers know there isn't much top quality players in Cavan. McEntee, Gilroy,Anthony Cunningham had little interest.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2832 - 09/07/2017 11:32:39    2012863

fredflint (Cavan) - Posts: 1485 - 09/07/2017 13:32:13    2012928

What happened yesterday was an utter and pure disgrace, management can not stand over a result like that.

ramor101 (Cavan) - Posts: 289 - 09/07/2017 14:24:54    2012954

The county board is responsible for this.. They took forever to find a replacement for Terry, and once they did they opted for a man with no inter-county experience.

Two wins all year. One against Offaly. Relegated in the league. Boring, ineffective defensive style. No heart or fight in the team. Beaten at home by a depleted, injury ravaged hurling county.

Sorry, but that's simply not good enough. We don't have much talent in Cavan football, we have to acknowledge that we don't have the players to win anything, but we should be doing better than how we performed this year, we should at least be competitive. The collapse yesterday was astonishing.

Cavan_Shambles (Cavan) - Posts: 575 - 09/07/2017 14:57:42    2012980

I cant wait to hear what Mattie had to say after that defeat. He was probably super positive as always talking about how much he and the team will learn from it. I loved hearing him talk when he first arrived, he seemed like a breath of fresh air. But this talk was never backed up with results in my own opinion.

blueskies (Cavan) - Posts: 197 - 09/07/2017 15:52:57    2013046

BlueHeaven (Cavan) - Posts: 75 - 09/07/2017 16:01:34    2013059

So we gave the last man 5 years and we give Mattie 9 months?
He deserves next year .. a full year. He can pick his own players that he sees in this years championship.
Yes the CB were at fault in delaying the process last year and not appointing Mattie until after the county championships were over.
But nobody in the CB is never held accountable for any of their actions.
Out of respect Mattie deserves a 2nd year.
Even McStay got it right today in the Connacht final in his 2nd year after all the stick he took last year.

Inaroundehouse (Cavan) - Posts: 975 - 09/07/2017 16:54:05    2013123

I see a lot of talk about defensive football. We didn't even have a defensive plan. If we did we wouldn't have conceded such big scores to Offaly and Tipperary.

We had no semblence of a gameplan. Quit saying it was defensive. It wasn't. It was clueless.

doratheexplorer (Cavan) - Posts: 1467 - 09/07/2017 16:59:01    2013130

Is it a coincidence that our better performers spent their formative football years before what I refer to as the defensive mindset. We were grand yesterday when Tipperary allowed us our short kick outs and defended deep allowing our players to kick for some beautiful long range scores. Second half they played like it was their last 35 minutes of football. I am sad to say that not one of our team gave me that impression.
However I will not be joining the rest of the sack the manager crew on this site.
Our problems begin and end with the state of Club football in this County.
Too Many Clubs
Too many grades at underage.
Players are not encouraged to take risks to play with flair and imagination
The ability to perform basic skills at high intensity seems completely absent with the foot pass the very obvious casualty in Cavan. High Fielding from Kickouts another. Sideways , backwards run into contact and loose the ball give the opposition every chance to come back at you.

rahanman (Cavan) - Posts: 127 - 09/07/2017 18:47:16    2013251

wow..the begrudgers...like it or lump it but who in the name of god do you think we are? A small county with limited resources and you expect everything after 9 months. we are an above average team with an under par forward line and the best the manager can do is get the best out of those group of players. Mattie is still learning and thats obvious.

The first year is getting to understand your players and building your core while trying to stamp a new style. The only bit i am surprised with is the new style which is more defensive than ever. I have a funny feeling that will change next year. Our lads were crying for half time yesterday even though we were 6 up and had nothing in the tank when we needed it in the second half. This transitioning is physically killing us.

So people grab a dose of reality and realise that we have what we have and move on to next year. Changing the manager would solve nothing.... because one thing for sure is that you would have another year just like this year with a new manager getting to know the players

ponger (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 09/07/2017 19:31:12    2013302

Things won't improve in Cavan.
We accept mediocrity from players and manager.
The County Board haven';t a clue just like Mattie.
If you want to succeed you need to appoint a manager who has had success at this level and we never do that.

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 09/07/2017 19:56:04    2013326

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2832 - 09/07/2017 20:19:27    2013338

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 09/07/2017 21:32:11    2013407

Silverblue (Cavan) - Posts: 10 - 09/07/2017 23:45:12    2013557