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Post by kerrybhoy06 on Jun 2, 2015 17:20:51 GMT
Massive difference between physicality and cynicism- its a contact sport so being legally physical is fine
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Post by dubkerry on Jun 2, 2015 17:54:42 GMT
They could take this a step further and give Dublin a bye into the Leinster Final and play a Leinster championship among the remaining teams for the right to play Dublin in the Leinster final. The gap between Dublin and the rest of Leinster is only going to accelerate as modern advances and capital investments in the game are further developed in the Capital. Rural Leinster won't be able to compete. Leinster have a serious issue on their hands now which must further advance the debate on retaining the provincial structure as they currently stand. Four regional groups of eight are imminent now I would think. Each group of eight will need three counties that have the ability to qualify for the top two places in each regional group to make the groups competitive. Fixtures at club level are also a shambles under the current format that retains a numerically uneven provincial structure. Kilmacud Crokes football players have been told that their 2nd round county championship game has been postponed until October due to the Dublin Hurlers drawing. Now thats a shambles for the club players
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Post by Annascaultilidie on Jun 2, 2015 17:55:07 GMT
Massive difference between physicality and cynicism- its a contact sport so being legally physical is fine It really annoyed me when people said stuff like, "ah, the black card is taking the manliness out of the game". Absolutely nothing manly about pulling a lad to the ground.
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Jun 2, 2015 18:28:19 GMT
I see the philanthropic mission here to save Leinster carries on apace. Strange that there was never any such campaign to save weak counties before when the top teams were walloping them on a regular basis. Tipperary's (that's TIPPERARY FOOTBALLERS) 17 point win over Longford last year didn't seem to be an issue, but suddenly the plight of poor Longford is in the spotlight this week. I wonder why?
Evidently the fact that Meath & Kildare are going through a very poor run, entirely down to their own deficit of good development, or good husbanding of their resources, means that Leinster is under some sort of terrible tyranny. Yet Connaught has been every bit as weak overall with Galway struggling as badly as Meath the last 10 years or more and Mayo dominating the rest (they've won 7 of the last 11 CC's), even though they haven't yet won an All-I, so haven't been quite as strong as Dublin, Donegal or Kerry. Doesn't seem to be any sort of a concern for the keepers of the flame here though.
In Ulster TYrone & Armagh won all 12 championships between them from 1999 to 2010, (and Tyrone also won 95 & 96), even though Ulster is considered far and away the strongest province, yet no concerns were expressed by the saviours of the GAA here. And closer to home, where maybe some people should focus more of their attention, Kerry have won 13 of the last 19 Munster Champs (soon to be 14 from 20), whilst they and Cork have carved up every champ bar 2 since 1922. Yet no crisis.
Poor aul Leinster footballl though, like the poor aul Dublin hurlers, well they are a massive cause celebre to one or two people here. Yet strangely, more Leinster football counties (five) have won their provincial championship in the last 14 years than the numbvers who have won other championships. And if not for the terrible decision at the end of the 2010 Leinster final, that statistic would be 6 different winners.
Yet we are led to believe by one or two people here that somehow Leinster football is some sort of awful black hole outside of 'the priveledged'. Keep the comedy gold coming lads.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 2, 2015 22:43:55 GMT
The promotion of the Spring series in Dubs Park has contributed to creating and spawning a monster that has seen the startled earwigs emerge and evolve into a serious machine. The facade continues with all Dublin's games being home games in the championship.
The gap in Leinster is becoming more pronounced as a result. Sunday was like throwing dead mice to a captive snake. Dublin didn't leave first gear on Sunday. The crowds wont continue support this charade in Leinster.
Further debate on the merits of retaining the provincial championships in their current guise is inevitable.
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Jun 2, 2015 23:08:22 GMT
Ah the campaign continues. The obsession. The great Kildare dream collapsing must still hurt
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 3, 2015 8:05:57 GMT
Sean Moran: Mismatches will continue until the GAA sees sense The counties most adversely affected by current structures refuse to accept need for change
Wed, Jun 3, 2015, 07:45 With the politics of the last atrocity now in full flow, it’s as well to remind ourselves of the central realities about the GAA and its championships: the structure underpinning them is and always has been crackers and it endures because those most adversely affected wish it to. In the drive by the founding fathers to give voice to local identity and its associated rivalries, a championship evolved that was based on the 32 counties of Ireland, ostensibly a perfect number for running sports competitions? Instead the carve-up was five, six, nine and 12. All sports have issues with population and demographic disparities but of these 32, a relatively obscure county on the east coast would end up with 28 per cent of the national population. It would get to play matches against units with the more constrained choice of, say, 38,970 people – around three per cent of the bigger rival – and when the inevitable happened there would be a great uproar. The two most obvious questions are: one, the scale of the problem and two, possible solutions? The problem Viewed one way the problem isn’t huge. For all the evidence of poor competition levels within the All-Ireland in both football and hurling, 23 counties (24 if London is included) have actually won a senior title of some sort at some stage in history. The spectre of Dublin’s imminent monopoly of the football championship is unsubstantiated. To date, after a great spell at underage yielding three under-21s and one minor championship, and with two exceptional managers at the helm, the county has managed two senior All-Irelands in four years. Guess how many times a county has been able to say that it has won two All-Irelands in four years? It’s happened 112 times and 14 counties can say that they made it happen since the All-Ireland started in 1887. Narrow the focus to Leinster and it’s clear there is a problem. No county in history has previously managed to win nine titles in 10 years in the province. There are concerns that Dublin’s massive appeal for commercial partners and sponsorship are playing a role in this and that can’t be argued. For instance there have been instances of broadcasters opting for Dublin matches to chase viewership figures even though other fixtures with better competitive prospects are available elsewhere. So good Where TV goes, commercial interests will inevitably follow. But Leinster’s football championship is suffering not just because Dublin are so good but because competition is so poor and one isn’t necessarily the consequence of the other. The province is at such a low collective ebb at the moment that there are for the second successive year – and for the fourth time in seven seasons – no counties apart from Dublin in Division One of the football league. Next year all of the other provinces have at least two representatives at the top level. Will Dublin’s domination not ultimately be self-defeating for Leinster Council in that the crowds will stop coming? If so there’s no great sign of that happening. Although there was adverse comment on the size of the crowd that attended the hurling quarter-final, the double bill attendance of 33,544 was the highest opening weekend in six years at Croke Park outside of double bills featuring the Meath footballers. Two obvious solutions suggest themselves. Firstly make Dublin travel outside Croke Park for a few provincial matches and that might thin the winning margins even if it wouldn’t alter the outcome. Secondly, introduce graded championships. These may be obvious but they’ve already been rejected and astonishingly, been rejected by those most affected. Leinster counties vote to keep Dublin in Croke Park in order to maximise the revenue from gate receipts and counties the country over have an inexplicable attachment to getting trimmed by stronger teams in championship. As soon as the mild reform of confining Division Four counties to a separate competition, the Tommy Murphy Cup, was introduced in 2007 counties appeared suddenly to realise what they had done and immediately commence campaigning to reinstate the status quo ante, which was eventually successful at the congress of 2008. Remotest chance Say the field for the Sam Maguire was limited to the two top divisions of the league (relegated counties in Division Two to be replaced by those promoted from Division Three). There isn’t the remotest chance that this would be accepted by congress, as the relevant half of the counties would refuse to agree to their demotion. Yet the GAA badly needs to encourage the culture of earning a right to compete rather than just exercising it regardless of capacity. Such a structure wouldn’t eliminate all the mismatches but it would reduce their number. It would also make the league more relevant and competitive. Until then, the beatings will continue.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 3, 2015 8:08:09 GMT
Provincial structure has run its course, insists Dessie Farrell Donnchadh Boyle Twitter
PUBLISHED 03/06/2015
Dessie Farrell has argued that changes are needed in the structures of the football championship It's not that he's jumping on the bandwagon, Gaelic Players' Association CEO Dessie Farrell insists, but change is needed in the football championship.
Dublin's hammering of Longford and their general domination in Leinster has brought the issue to the forefront of many people's minds but this is a drum he's been beating for a while. The championship in its current form, he says, isn't maximising its full potential or worth to the association. "I just firmly believe the championship structure needs to change," Farrell said as the GPA became charity partner with the Childhood Cancer Foundation "It's our premier competition and I don't think we are maximising the potential within it. Hurling is in a really strong place at the minute, football is lagging way behind. "There are a combination of things, the tactical evolution of the game is problematic to some degree "But definitely the competition structures themselves are a huge restriction to where the game of football and the championship could be at. It's long overdue that a serious debate takes place." What shape any change to the championship may take remains to be seen but the issue was discussed at the most recent Central Council meeting with Farrell reporting that an appetite for change exists among the association's top brass. What is clear is that the GPA chief believes the provincial format, in football, has run its race. As ever, any change will come slow and the provinces are sure to resist any attempt to remove their championships but Farrell believes it's time to "grab the nettle". "My personal view again is that any changes that come about that still retain the provincial structure are only moving the deck chairs around. It's time to grab the nettle and make a serious change and we're going to canvass our players in relation to this. "We'll be doing that within the next fortnight. We've already done some of it in the past two years. "There's definitely an appetite for change. "We're going to bring forward a particular model that we've been working on ourselves and run that by our own membership first and as I indicated at Central Council the last day, we're going to bring a proposal forward to Central Council. "The two-tier one is interesting. I think it depends on what proposal you put forward. The Tommy Murphy Cup, on its own and in the way it was run previously, I don't think there is a massive appetite for that. "Could you introduce a second competition whereby both finals were played on the one day here on the third week in September? I think that would hold more appeal. "But my sense is - and talking to more and more players - that the provincial system is the major stumbling block and we need to overcome that in some way. And I know Munster hurling has been referred to but we're not asking that. This is a football issue as far as I'm concerned." Sledging is another talking point that has dominated the early part of the championship and Farrell announced that the players' body was soon to launch an initiative aimed at tackling the issue. There has been plenty of comment since Tyrone and Donegal clashed in the Ulster Championship, while there were shocking claims that one minor footballer was abused over the death of his father. "This is something we've been looking at for a while and I've gone on record saying it's an issue with have to be vigilant of," Farrell continued. "There were some examples of it earlier in the season as well in the league and it's something that we take very seriously. "It's a big issue for our game and we're initiating a campaign over the next couple of weeks to try to draw greater awareness among the playing population." The former Dublin All-Ireland-winning footballer described the tactic as "horrible" and insisted that managers are sometimes turning a "blind eye" to the practice instead of trying to eradicate it. "It's just an issue that we need to get on top of because it doesn't augur well for the game. It's horrible, horrible to look at. I think the managers and coaches need to step up to the plate here as well. "I wouldn't go so far as to say it's being encouraged by some coaches but I'd definitely go so far as to say that coaches are turning a blind eye to it in certain situations and that can't be tolerated. "My sense is that we'll have to go through a process but that there will be a change in behaviour." Irish Independent
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 3, 2015 8:10:20 GMT
Micheál Quirke: We need to give weaker counties a real sense of purpose Wednesday, June 03, 2015By Micheál Quirke It’s the start of summer again, and it feels distinctly like we’ve all been here before, at this very point, it’s more like déjà vu than just another year.
Similar to that movie “Groundhog Day”, where Bill Murray’s character was stuck in a repetitive loop, tasked with waking every morning and reliving the exact same events over and over again.
Murray had to try and find a solution — a way out to save himself from the madness of having the same conversations with the same people about the same subject every single day.
The inequality that exists within the senior football championship is our very own Groundhog Day.
The same idle talk, the same suggestions, but nothing ever seems to change.
Take Longford last weekend. It was impossible not to feel sorry for them, conceding 1-5 without a reply after eight minutes. All I kept thinking as I watched through my fingers was; these lads have been training since October for this. Okay, they got promoted in the national league, and they beat Offaly in the first round, but they get a 27-point tanking in Croke Park on national television, and head into the qualifiers with zero chance of winning the competition. So what’s the point? Why are they playing in a competition they can never win or achieve success in? Would you do the national lottery every week if the slogan read: “if you’re in, you CAN’T win”.
We owe the Longfords of the GAA world something better than that.
Now, the championship structure has serious flaws admittedly. But before abdicating Longford of all responsibility, I thought it was ferociously naïve and unfair of Jack Sheehy and his management team to send his players into Croke Park so devoid of any semblance of a defensive game plan. I mean, if Kerry, Cork, Donegal or any top team were playing Dublin next weekend, they would play with some form of defensive screen to provide a degree of protection for their defenders.
Longford inexplicably, decided they would go out and die on their shields — mano a mano. Such is the potency of the Dublin attack, playing man to man defence is tantamount to sending players into a gunfight wielding little more than a plastic spoon.
I believe Jack Sheehy did his players a great disservice by not providing them with a defensive structure in training to take into this game. It could have enabled them to at least have kept the score in the realm of respectability.
I’ve read and listened to suggestions about how the championship can be restructured to give a more meaningful competition to all counties, but none, in my opinion is better than that of former uachtaráin Sean Kelly back in 2012.
His basic premise was to run off the provincial championships as they are, insofar as the provincial councils decide how best to run their competitions. Upon their conclusion, two separate championships begin; one for the Sam Maguire, one for the Tommy Murphy Cup. Sixteen teams would battle for Sam Maguire, the rest competing in the second tier of championship football.
For the first year, the 16 teams would be made up of the eight provincial finalists, along with another eight selected on their finishing position in the national league. After year one, the finalists of the Tommy Murphy Cup would be promoted to the Sam Maguire competition and six teams would be selected according to their finishing position in the national league.
I believe Sean Kelly’s proposal is one that ticks a lot of boxes. As a former player, I would hate to see the abolition of the provincial finals. A Munster final against Cork or Limerick in recent years, have always been special days for Kerry, and the atmosphere of a packed Fitzgerald Stadium with silverware on offer is an occasion I would vehemently oppose being scrapped.
So too, would the provincial councils, who depend on the money that comes from big match-ups to fund staff, clubs, initiatives and facilities within each province. This suggestion keeps them sweet, while also crucially providing a viable alternative to counties who currently find themselves unable to realistically compete for Sam Maguire. Is it perfect? No, absolutely not. There is no magic wand solution. Dublin can still hammer Longford in this structure, but it would give Longford somewhere meaningful to go after, unlike what we have now. It would provide them and others with a level where they could potentially achieve success.
In Munster, Tipperary’s football revolution continued a pace, and they fired a real warning shot across the bows of the plane being boarded by the Kerry boys, bound for a warm weather training camp in the Amendoeira Golf Resort in the Algarve. A 22-point winning margin by Tipp will do much to sharpen the minds of the All-Ireland champions under the Portugal sun.
This is the latest time of the year that Kerry have ever gone on a warm weather camp, only two weeks before their opening championship appearance. I’m sure it will be a very different camp to normal, where previously there was always a big emphasis on physical conditioning with three sessions a day — running in the morning, football in the afternoon, and gym work in the evening. Not quite the normal sun holiday.
Portugal will be less about the physical and more about honing aspects of teamwork and strategy by playing ball.
When we first started going on these camps, we would always train for four and a half days out of the five. The last evening would be reserved for ‘bonding’. We would all go into the marina for a meal and a few drinks together. The likes of Figo’s bar and the Irish cabin were always genial hosts to a gang of weary looking, red-faced Kerry lads. Unfortunately for the current crop, thanks to the recommendations of modern sports science, that final night’s bonding has transformed into a far more civilised par 3 golf competition back at the resort, followed by a prizegiving ceremony and an early night.
Ours was definitely a better night out, but that was a time when Tipperary posed no real threat.
KEYWORDS: Longofrd, Dublin, Kerry, Cork, Donegal, All-Ireland SFC
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 3, 2015 8:13:03 GMT
Hopefully the conversation to examine the fixtures structure has started.
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Post by Corner Back on Jun 3, 2015 20:08:39 GMT
Do those calling for a Champions League format think it will stop the Dubs hammering Longford? Just because it works in soccer.....
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Post by wayupnorth on Jun 4, 2015 7:26:11 GMT
Ah it's that time of year again and journalistic thoughts turn to Championship mismatches and the need to do something about the provincial system. Look - if a team isn't good enough it won't win matches no matter what system there is in place. It's called competitive sport for a reason and the only way to succeed is to get better. It's an insult to the weaker teams to suggest they are corralled into a junior championship. How can they possibly improve if they are not tested to the limits of their abilities? We have a league that keeps teams of a similar level together already. The Championship is a glorious free-for all with the last team standing claiming the spoils and long may it remain so. or do we want to introduce a handicap system giving weaker teams a six or seven point advantage in each game? I think not!
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Post by southward on Jun 4, 2015 17:43:24 GMT
The previous attempt at a "B" competition (a.k.a. the Tommy Murphy Cup) attracted three entrants on it's first outing. Actually four, I think, but then someone gave a walkover as far as I remember. It ran for, what, one or two more years before disappearing? (presumably due to lack of interest).
It's not that long ago. What's changed ?
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 4, 2015 22:03:15 GMT
The previous attempt at a "B" competition (a.k.a. the Tommy Murphy Cup) attracted three entrants on it's first outing. Actually four, I think, but then someone gave a walkover as far as I remember. It ran for, what, one or two more years before disappearing? (presumably due to lack of interest). It's not that long ago. What's changed ? Declan Brown was delighted to captain Tipperary to the Tommy Murphy Cup in Croke Park!
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keane
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Posts: 1,267
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Post by keane on Jun 8, 2015 15:21:16 GMT
I think the pretty obvious difference is that Tommy Murphy was optional and teams were still playing in the All Ireland?
If a county's only option is to play the B Championship or play nothing I suspect they would take it more seriously. If not, you're probably wasting your time with them either way.
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Post by glengael on Jun 10, 2015 10:14:53 GMT
Best wishes to Michael Lyster and hopefully, he'll be back in due course.
You'd expect Darragh Moloney to get most of the Sunday afternoon shows, given that there is no World Cup or Euro Finals this year and the international soccer season will be ending after this coming weekend.
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Post by glengael on Jun 12, 2015 10:43:49 GMT
For the statistics people, it was mentioned that Sean Cavanagh was making hie 73rd championship appearance v Donegal last month. Is he the highest ranking non-Kerryman in the C'ship list so?
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Post by Layeth the Smacketh Down on Jun 13, 2015 10:15:43 GMT
Combine the league and championship using the current league tables, only play home and away, all counties get more games, if you start first week of February you could have a final on last week of June, all clubs play co league without inter county players if needs be during this time as well, from Beginning of July you could have club championships run off over 8 weeks then a straight knock out county championship over the next 8 and once out of county championships divisional championships could be run, season over by early November.
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Post by wayupnorth on Jun 15, 2015 6:17:14 GMT
Combine the league and championship using the current league tables, only play home and away, all counties get more games, if you start first week of February you could have a final on last week of June, all clubs play co league without inter county players if needs be during this time as well, from Beginning of July you could have club championships run off over 8 weeks then a straight knock out county championship over the next 8 and once out of county championships divisional championships could be run, season over by early November. As someone from around these parts (Antrim) once said "Never!Never!Never". If it ain't broke - don't fix it. And no word please about a certain Northern pundit's return to "I JMcG" and naming the lesser rung after a Kerry great. Pure bovine excrement!
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Post by Deise Exile on Jun 15, 2015 20:38:36 GMT
So good to hear tommy carr back on our screens
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 15, 2015 22:28:34 GMT
Have to say I nearly crashed the car when I heard Brenda Donahue on the Marty squad on Sunday. I had nearly expected to hear her ask a county player about the nesting habits of some local bird.
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Jigz84
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Posts: 2,017
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Post by Jigz84 on Jun 16, 2015 12:44:05 GMT
www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/jim-mcguinness-mayo-must-adjust-defensive-strategy-to-earn-all-ireland-glory-1.2250276One of the tantalising questions of every recent All-Ireland championship has also been one of the hardest to answer: can Mayo win the All-Ireland? On Sunday, I felt we saw a new and compelling reason as to why they can. But I also felt we saw the reason why they may perish by the same sword unless they adjust their defensive strategy between now and September. For me, placing Aidan O’Shea in at full forward answered many of the questions that been asked about the Mayo attack. With Cillian O’Connor playing alongside him, Mayo have a top-class inside forward line in terms of ball-winning capability, free-taking, an obvious point of attack and options from both the long diagonal ball delivered from deep and the little dink ball to run onto. A revamped football season would still likely witness Kerry celebrating All-Ireland wins in front of Hill 16 but it would give so-called weaker counties added incentive. Photograph: Alan Betson Jim McGuinness: How I would reinvigorate football championship Longford goalkeeper Paddy Collum lies prone after conceding Dublin’s fourth goal. Here was a match completely devoid of the so-called blanket defence approach and there seemed to be uniform agreement that it was a very poor spectacle. Photograph: Donall Farmer/InphoJim McGuinness: Ambitious counties will continue to threaten the status quo Being congratulated by Páidí Ó Sé after the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final. When Páidí managed Kerry, he knew exactly what to do to me. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/InphoDarragh Ó Sé: Players want managers to tell them what to do ‘The Sunday Game’ pundits Joe Brolly, Pat Spillane and Colm O’Rourke watch a game in Croke Park with the show’s presenter Michael Lyster. Former Derry footballer Brolly has apologised for making a comment about RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey at half-time in the Cavan-Monaghan game. Photograph: James Crombie/InphoJim McGuinness: RTÉ need to draw line between opinion and disrespect Referee Joe McQullian books Donegal’s Neil Gallagher and Tyrone’s Seán Cavanagh following one of the many incidents during the Ulster SFC clash at Ballybofey. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Presseye/InphoJim McGuinness column: Mature Donegal display could herald a new era If you bring Aidan out to centre-half for kick-outs, he becomes an option along with the brother, Barry Moran and Tom Parsons. His presence gives the Mayo attack a balance. He is not a typical marquee forward in terms of scoring prowess but in stature, size and skill level and, critically, in his leadership he is all that and he brings a shape to their attack. In doing so, he will cause sufficient distraction for space to open up for his team-mates. In addition, Diarmuid O’Connor is big and hard-working. When Mark Ronaldson came on, apart from a bad decision to shoot rather than slip Séamus O’Shea through the middle in his first possession, he didn’t put a foot wrong thereafter and that too is a positive. So if Mayo persist with O’Shea as a target and choose to move him in and out – much like Donegal do with Michael Murphy – it gives the team a very strong offensive threat. Opposition managers will be cognizant they need a sweeper to cope with him – therefore freeing other people up. Mayo’s attitude is so strong. They went into Salthill with a very strong mindset. Even in their post-match interviews, they were controlled and focused and they just know what they are about. They are very experienced. Concede goals So what is going to hold them back? Mayo need to bite the bullet and sort out their defence. I don’t believe they can continue to leave their full backs hanging out to dry if they want to win an All-Ireland. Mayo have to get to the point where they don’t concede goals. It is not about personnel: it doesn’t matter if it is Ger Cafferkey or Tom Cunniffe or Kevin Keane or Keith Higgins on a smaller player we are talking about. When you watch Mayo play, with the defensive system they have in place, you always feel it is inevitable that sooner or later a goal is going to come. Mayo are very strong on their kick-outs. They are good going forward and now have a point of attack and they are a mature team. They have almost all of the required qualities to go all the way. But if you ask me are they going to win the All-Ireland as they are set up now: I think they will come close but will probably perish on the same sword that has caused them so much devastation in recent years. Goals conceded will be their undoing. But it doesn’t have to be that way and if they make a minor concession in their approach they can make it much more difficult for opposition teams. Their man-to-man system works extremely well high up the field when they press and in the middle third of the field. But once the ball goes deep, I don’t see that ruthless, relentless hunger among the middle-third players to get back and help out the full backs. It absolutely astounded me to see Galway attacking and three or four Mayo men sticking to their own men while the ball travelled past them towards the Mayo full-back line. Once the ball goes into the final third, I feel they must become ruthless and single-minded in the protection of their goal. They need two or three men programmed to help their full backs once that happens. You don’t have to go extreme. You can still leave three or four men up. But for the Galway goal, I just saw a three-on-three situation inside the 45. That won’t work against the very top teams. It comes down to a one-on-one scenario for attacking players every single time. Any defender in Ireland would struggle in Mayo’s full-back line because of the lack of support. At the moment, you can almost foresee what will happen. If you have 40 or 45 scoring chances like Dublin, for instance, often do and it is three v three or two v two, then what is the end result going to be? For me, it is a numbers game. A defender can defend brilliantly 19 times but on the 20th, the ball ends up in the back of the net. This is increased when you meet forwards like Bernard Brogan, Michael Murphy, Colm Cooper and company. Changing that doesn’t require Mayo to abandon their football philosophy. But if you were facing a Mayo team, with the fitness level, the strength, the age profile, the mentality and experience they have, which had also developed a reputation for not conceding goals, then as a manager you would know you have a serious job on your hands to try to beat them. Mayo shouldn’t have a problem in making that adjustment. It wouldn’t be a betrayal of their football beliefs. Every time a question has been asked of Kerry, they swallowed their pride and went in a different direction. They did it with Tyrone. They did it with us in Donegal. The bottom line for Kerry is winning the All-Ireland and they adapt as they must to do so. Little detail The big question for Mayo is: if you really, really want to win it then why not eliminate the chances in the last third of the field? For instance, they have a converted wing back in Kevin McLoughlin who has a marvellous work rate. Why not deploy that? That little detail would put them in a bracket where they have a very strong chance. We all know that they have been really close in the last few years. But have they? Bernard Brogan’s goal in the 2013 final: over the course of 70 minutes, based on the numbers, was that not inevitable? So I feel this is a critical issue for Mayo because the weekend games confirmed the provincial champions are in the position they expected to be as the championship goes through its sorting process. Donegal are in a position now where they will try to improve by a further five per cent in each of their performances and I can see them doing that. It was a very classy execution of their game plan in Armagh. Michael Murphy was obviously a towering figure. People talk about Michael on the edge of the square but there is nobody better in Donegal at delivering those long, diagonal quality passes from 60 metres and when you have an excellent forward like Patrick McBrearty in there, it can cause damage. Because Michael is a natural full forward, he knows the type of ball that player wants. Paddy McGrath closed out Jamie Clarke completely and the Armagh attack struggled as a result. Karl Lacey brought his form from the Tyrone match into the Athletic Grounds and proved again how important he is to Donegal. He got on a lot of ball and I don’t recall him making a single mistake. Key figure Within an excellent team performance, Odhrán MacNiallais was outstanding in his athleticism and decision-making and in the switching of the direction and emphasis of play. He is a very fine footballer and emerging as a key figure for Donegal. But Armagh mystified me. Both Galway and Armagh lost on Sunday but there are ways to lose. I liked everything about Galway’s approach. They refused to be intimidated and had a cut and worked some terrific scores. They didn’t do everything perfectly but would still have woken up on Monday morning knowing they had given everything and probably feeling they had closed the gap on Mayo. You can feel at peace with yourself when you lose in those circumstances. My hunch is the Armagh players will feel very differently because they know they offered no resistance. They essentially prepared for this match for nine or 10 months. Kieran McGeeney spoke last week about physicality and how the Kerry-Mayo semi-final was the best game of the year – even though it was officiated to a level where anything was let go. It made me think it was going to be a war in Armagh. But the opposite was true. Nothing happened. There was zero pressure on Donegal. Karl and Neil Gallagher and Michael got on ball and threaded passes through without a hand raised or a shoulder put in. There was so little tackling or turnovers. So what happened? For me, one of two things: either the management got it badly wrong or the players let them down very badly. The question I would ask is: did the Armagh players believe they could win the game? I am not so sure. Armagh lost by nine points. Donegal were beaten by10 points four years ago in Crossmaglen and maybe for the same reason. Belief is a big factor when it comes to winning. The top teams acquire that. Mayo are still clearly pulsing with belief. The importance of that can’t be underestimated. I feel that if they are willing to take steps to eliminate the factor that has repeatedly tripped them up in recent years, then they increase their chances of squeezing the race for the All-Ireland much more in their favour.
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Post by givehimaball on Jun 16, 2015 20:31:59 GMT
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Post by buck02 on Jun 17, 2015 8:15:27 GMT
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Post by seaniebo on Jun 17, 2015 9:47:58 GMT
Tomás is hammering the hammer there. Talk about stoking the fire early. If Cork needed any extra motivation after last year's drubbing well they certainly have it with this piece! I do think they will be seriously up for the fight the next day out. It will be interesting to see what fight is in Cork. I'm expecting quite a bit.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 17, 2015 10:06:18 GMT
Kerry need a really competitive Munster Final to focus minds and hone form.
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Post by MrRasherstoyou on Jun 18, 2015 18:39:21 GMT
TOSé clearly looking to rile Cork there. Seems inappropriate for a columnist in national media to be taking a role for his county, in whatever way. If it's said in humour fair enough but this was quite a dig. Not what I would expect from such a great player and person.
But then the Bindo has long since ceased to be a quality paper trying to give the impression of upholding high standards of objectivity, balance, and integrity. That's Ireland.
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Post by kerrygold on Jun 18, 2015 18:49:25 GMT
Ya, there are plenty of Dublin choir boys in the various media outlets also.
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Post by southward on Jun 18, 2015 18:57:29 GMT
T[ OSé clearly looking to rile Cork there. Seems inappropriate for a columnist in national media to be taking a role for his county, in whatever way. If it's said in humour fair enough but this was quite a dig. Not what I would expect from such a great player and person.
But then the Bindo has long since ceased to be a quality paper trying to give the impression of upholding high standards of objectivity, balance, and integrity. That's Ireland.He's doing anything but. This piece does Kerry no favours at all. Cork dressing room wall fodder for sure. I'm surprised at him, actually.
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Post by southward on Jun 18, 2015 19:00:33 GMT
He has no reason to antagonise them anyway. Lives and works there and is a clubmate of some of them.
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