'A lot of questions to be answered' for Derry
BBC Sport NI analyst Philly McMahon says there are "a lot of questions to be answered" for Derry after their 1-25 to 1-15 defeat by Donegal in their opening Ulster SFC encounter at Ballybofey.The eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin told the BBC's GAA Social podcast he believes the Oak Leafers' relatively late appointment of Paddy Tally as their new boss in November may have put them on the back foot.Derry were relegated from Division One last month after picking up just a single point from their seven Football League outings."They had a slow start to the season with being back so late with Paddy Tally and his management team so that's quite difficult for them to get going," said McMahon."That probably fed into their league campaign. I think they had shown good spells in the league. They could have got a couple more points on the board but that has bled into today's [Sunday's] game."There was one team that was showing confidence and another that is showing under-confidence, under-performance. How they get it together now over the next few weeks is going to be important for them."There are a lot of questions to be answered and they'll have time to build on things."McMahon believes the fact that Ambrose Rogers was Derry's standout player was both a positive and a negative."They're trying to get results and performances but sometimes that can be counter-productive because you do your own thing or you don't do what you should be doing."You look at [Ambrose] Rogers and for me he was the only player who was giving it to Donegal as much as he could."That's a good thing and a bad thing. When you see someone standing out like that it's like 'what's their system, what's their structure?' "The one thing I'd have questioned going away from today, 'Did they have a plan? If they stuck to that plan and they lost then their standards weren't high enough, but if they went out and didn't stick to their strategy or their gameplan then why did they not?"Listen to the GAA Social on BBC Sounds right here
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
20 hours ago
- BBC News
'Vivid memories burned into your brain' - McGuigan reflects on Pedrosa fight
In an interview with BBC Sport NI's Thomas Niblock, forty years on, Barry McGuigan reflects on the night when a UK television audience of 19 million watched him beat Panamanian fighter Eusebio Pedrosa to win the world title at Loftus Road on 8 June 1985.
Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
BBC Sport presenter bravely opens up on miscarriage heartbreak
BBC Sport presenter bravely opens up on miscarriage heartbreak The GAA Social Podcast with Oisin McConville and Thomas Niblock spoke to former Galway All-Ireland-winning hurler Johnny Glynn about his and his wife Serena's fertility issues Thomas Niblock opened up about the miscarriages his wife Kirstie has had to go through (Image: thomasniblock/Twitter ) BBC Sport presenter Thomas Niblock has opened up about the personal anguish of miscarriage and fertility complications following his revelation that his wife Kirstie tragically lost three pregnancies. In an emotive segment on the GAA Social Podcast, Niblock and fellow host Oisin McConville invited ex-Galway hurling champion Johnny Glynn to share his harrowing experiences. Living in New York with his wife Serena, Glynn faced similar sorrows in his journey to parenthood. Only recently, after steering New York to victory in the Lory Meagher Cup at Croke Park, Glynn learnt that their latest IVF attempt had failed. During the podcast, McConville described it as a "privilege" to hear such candid and heartfelt discussions about the struggles of fertility, pregnancy loss, and ectopic ruptures, reports Belfast Live. Niblock laid bare the trials he and his wife Kirstie have endured. "It is not an exaggeration in any way - my family and friends would know this - we were very close to losing Kirstie," he disclosed. "So that shapes you. You go from your fertility after that and I am thinking, it would be amazing and I'd love to have kids, like most people would. "Not all - but certainly most. But at the same time when you nearly lose your wife that's the game changer for me and that's the priority. That shapes you as well. Article continues below Johnny Glynn joined Oisin McConville and Thomas Niblock on the BBC's GAA Social podcast "Then time passes by and you definitely do want kids. So that's where we're at, at the minute. We haven't tried IVF. That may be coming down the pathway. My wife is very lucky. She has a great set of friends - been really supportive towards her. She's a very strong person. "She doesn't take things too seriously whereas everybody I would find would be quite different in this scenario. She has a good head on her shoulders. But it still is heavy stuff. I just feel it would be hypocritical if I didn't put myself out there, even though it's a bit weird to be talking about it." Glynn's experience echoed similar sentiments, as he disclosed: "Unfortunately we've had a few miscarriages. We've had an ectopic pregnancy. We've done a few rounds of IVF. "We are after finishing our fifth round of IVF transfers and they've all been unsuccessful so far. To be honest with you, where we are at I don't know exactly. I don't know how we are going to get there yet but we are going to get there. Thomas Niblock opened up about the fertility issues he and his wife Kirstie have endured (Image: thomasniblock/Twitter ) "When we do have kids and if they grow up to be healthy and fine, do you know what I'll take these two years. I'll take this tough time because it's only going to be for a little bit of time. We are going to get over it. We are going to be fine. "Not to sound soft or anything, but as long as myself and Serena have each other, we'll be okay. What upsets me is seeing her so upset. I firmly believe, I will be ok, if she is ok. It's not being able to fix this for her, it's the one thing that is out of my control, that I can't do for my wife. It's a f*****g killer." The pair opened up about their fertility journey, including sperm testing and confronting the discomfort caused by questions about starting a family. Niblock shared an anecdote of common enquiries he faces: 'No kids yet Tommy?' before adding: "I would have known, even not going through our experience, if someone is married a year or two and they are in their 30s and there's no kids, there might be a wee issue there. Don't maybe say something to them. "So I push back and say: 'To be honest, we've had three miscarriages' and the face just drops. But I feel that's important to say that. It's not me being guarded. It's just maybe more: 'you should have a wee think about that.' I am grand with it and it doesn't bother me, but I definitely know of other people it does. The BBC presenter revealed his wife had gone through three miscarriages (Image: thomasniblock/Twitter ) "I am always amazed by the response of so many people. Once you tell people you've had a miscarriage, they'll say: 'Tommy, know all about it, one or two myself.' "Now their stage is different. This is what I think, my whole thing is if you have two or three kids and you have two or three miscarriages before, I'd be 100 percent with that. "It's not mitigation against what happened in the past but your journey is a past tense one. But I think if you are in the midst of it and you don't have any kids and your story to tell is - in my case three miscarriages - you are in a very different place. Article continues below "Not in a mean way but because so many people have no history of talking about it. It is bit weird for me even talking about this. In my life I'd say this is the most I've ever put myself out there so I am at fault as much as anybody else, because it's not talked about. It's not normalised and people don't really know what way to deal about it. "We're still clinging on to hope and hope is a very powerful thing. If hope was gone, then you're realigning yourself - adoptions, fostering, no kids whatsoever. Me and Kirstie will have a brilliant life, no matter what way that goes, as long as she's there." The full podcast is available on BBC Sounds here.
Leader Live
a day ago
- Leader Live
Mike Fondop played for Wrexham during non-league era
In the build-up to The Latics' thrilling 3-2 win over Southend United that secured the Lancashire club promotion back to the Football League, what was Fondop listening to? "I love Andrea Bocelli, Time to Say Goodbye is one of my favourites," former Wrexham striker Fondop told BBC Radio Manchester "On game-days I listen to gospel and that is what calms me. I love jazz music as well, I don't have one specific type of song, I love a bit of everything. "Usually in my downtime I can listen to opera and jazz. I don't like listening to things that give me headaches." Fondop, who played for Wrexham in the Sam Ricketts era in the 2018/19 season, scored 18 league goals as Oldham made it through to the National League play-offs where they beat Yorkshire duo Halifax and York before coming from behind in extra-time to beat Southend last Sunday. He's been at Boundary Park since 2022 when The Latics became the first former Premier League team to be relegated to non-league. Fondop could have been tempted away with Football League clubs looking to sign him but the 31-year-old Cameroon-born frontman stayed loyal to The Latics. "The manager at the time, John Sheridan, called me after the end of the season and said 'I need you to come back," added Fondop. "You owe me because I signed you and you only played two games, 'I want you to get this club back where it belongs.' "So that has always been an objective because I came and I didn't have a chance to help them stay in League Two. Oldham now have new owners in place with businessman Frank Rothwell taking over from Abdallah Lemsagam. "The club is absolutely different now," said Fondop. "The ownership now is more family orientated. The owners are approachable and want everyone to feel part of a family," he added. "In the past it felt toxic. As a player I was focused on what I was signed to do but the environment at the time felt toxic. Now it is so different. "If a club doesn't treat its players well you might think in the long run you can get away with it, you might for a period of time, but eventually it is going to affect results. Now the treatment is completely different." MORE WREXHAM AFC NEWS Fondop, who lists Halifax, Chesterfield, Burton Albion and Hartlepool as his former clubs, can now look forward to life back in League Two. "It has been 34 years since we experienced promotion. I'm 31 so last time they won promotion I wasn't even born," Fondop added in the build-up to their tremendous win at Wembley. "After the gaffer said that I went home and wrote down 34 years in bold on a piece of paper with my goals for the season and I put it on my kitchen wall. It's always in my mind. "It's in my head every day because I want to be part of history and I want the fans to get back into the feeling of what Oldham deserves."
