Jim McGuinness fears that Sunday's All-Ireland SFC finalists are going to dominate gaelic football's top table for the foreseeable future.

Writing in The Irish Times, the former Donegal All-Ireland winning manager points out that other counties simply don't have the resources to compete with the Dubs and the Kingdom:

"The more things change, the more they say the same. Kerry and Dublin is often described as the dream final. But whose dream?

"What we can say is that the two best teams in Ireland have made it through to September and, in the immediate context, there is a really intriguing game of football to look forward to. But overall, this championship summer has not promised much in terms of other counties breaking through in the years ahead.

"But to what end? Has anything we have seen this summer suggested that other teams can break the Kerry-Dublin football hegemony? The same is true with Kilkenny in hurling. The dominance of those counties is the reality which all other teams now face. Dublin have joined Kerry in learning how to perpetuate the winning tradition, which brings an infusion of energy and heroes and aspirations and dreams and numbers playing the game.

"Has anything we have seen this summer suggested that other teams can break the Kerry-Dublin football hegemony? The same is true with Kilkenny in hurling. The dominance of those counties is the reality which all other teams now face. Dublin have joined Kerry in learning how to perpetuate the winning tradition, which brings an infusion of energy and heroes and aspirations and dreams and numbers playing the game.

"I gave a talk in Laois during the week and met a man involved in Kilmacud Crokes. I was taken aback to learn that they have over 900 kids showing up for underage training. One age group alone had 120 kids. I am not sure we have that number in Glenties from under-eight through to minor. It becomes a numbers game. The cream will come to the top because of coaching and desire and self-determination. It is hard to compete with that. A young footballer with athletic potential in Dublin is entering a different realm of expectation and goal-setting than a young footballer with the same potential in Longford.

"I think that no matter what happens Dublin and Kerry will always field very strong teams. That introduces a sense of inevitability about the future. The gap seems to be getting bigger. It is very difficult not to see Dublin and Kerry contesting many more All-Ireland finals in the years ahead. It is so difficult for teams to break that trend. This is a big question for them to ask themselves this winter.

"Are teams trying to do that - win the All-Ireland? Or are they merely trying to progress and do their best? Because there is a world of difference. Do they have clear, cold objectives of how they want to make an assault - for it is that - on the establishment? I do think that Cork, Mayo and Donegal have the potential to win an All-Ireland title in the next three years but it is very dependent on variables: on the management, on getting a decent draw in the championship, on key players hitting form - and not being injured. For Kerry and Dublin, those variables are not quite as important because of their strength in depth allied to tradition."

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