Gigoer

I'm well aware it's not pretty to watch and yesterday was quite possibly the worst AI semi I've ever seen but ask a Donegal man if he would give a monkeys if they had gotten through

These words of your own are the reason for negative comments nothing to do with Jealousy Wnen a soccor teams scores the same amount of Goals as a Gaelic team scores points to win a game then there is something very very wrong and it is not good enough to say winning is more important than the sport. Managers might feel they have no obligation to entertain but they do have an obligation to the sport and to the players. I would be in agreement with Tony Davis when he said the Donegal players when they look back on this year will not have enjoyed their season

derryman (Derry) - Posts: 3246 - 29/08/2011 10:05:49    1021305

Gigoer, fair enough winning is the ultimate test and what Donegal do is within the rules.

However - the logic of every team playing that way would be that the game is reduced to a farce.

Thank god for hurling!

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 29/08/2011 10:11:06    1021313

That really says it all if you believe. it pretty much sums up tony Davis as a pundit too.

Lot of bitter Derry and Kildare people on these boards.

Well done to Dublin, proved you are mentally strong enough to cope when I thought we had you on the rack at one stage

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1422 - 29/08/2011 10:20:45    1021322

NavyNBlue
County: Dublin
Posts: 902

1021289 I don't have a problem at all with Donegals style of football. If they want to play all their men in defence and win games 1 point to nothing, so be it. Thats their game plan, its up to the opposition to get around it.
What I do have a problem with is players feigning injury or players and maor uisce's trying to influence referees. I would regard a lot of this stuff by Donegal similar to some of the stuff we've seen between Barcelona and Real Madrid recently. Sad to see a team want to bring this kind of rubbish into gaelic football.
Yesterday was not one for the purists at all but it was great to see a Dublin team having such great conviction of character to get over the line in a horrible game of football.
September 18th can't come fast enough


The reason you dont have a problem with Donegals style of play is that Dublin where as bad as them for men behind the ball. 2 of the most defensive teams i have ever seen. Worst game of football i have ever seen. Dublin where clueless 1st half, kicking balls into no mans land. No one can deny that. Fair play to Dublin they kept going and got over the line. All they wanted was to get to the final. I just dont think their a great team and this years championship is a poor 1. Kerry aint the team they where so the final will be a toss of a coin although their is no way i would put my money on Dublin. I just wouldnt rely on them. If galvin is fit then Kerry will win it.

rebeltrev (Cork) - Posts: 344 - 29/08/2011 10:21:09    1021323

I agree boys and I most certainly hope football never degenerates into that in the general sense

But this thing of the players should be respecting the game instead of their own style is rubbish, a misguided sense of romance at best.

Managers/players want results and they won't care how they get them. Indeed this style of play may be the only way that lesser teams can get past better teams.

Donegal are not the first team to play like this and won't be the last.

So get over it

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 29/08/2011 10:28:42    1021343

I'm delighted Dublin got over the line yesterday. I understand Donegal were playing in the way that would give them the best chance of winning but glad to see Gaelic Football win out. I'll have to agree with some people's comments and say that this defensive style game can only take you so far. Donegal and Tyrone were being compared but this is not fair at all to Tyrone. They were more counter attack than totally defensive, they would get numbers back alright but when they got possession, they moved the ball quickly and would have at least 4 or 5 players in scoring positions when the chances are created. Donegal refuse to go forward in any way, this is the big difference. To sum up, they will say Donegal gave Dublin a tougher game, maybe so in some ways but they only kicked 6 points, Tyrone were destroyed by Dublin but kicked 15 pts so this proves the difference in styles between Tyr & Don. Teams (like Kerry and Dublin especially) will just develop ways of breaking down defensive teams so Donegal may win Ulster but if they dont start attacking more, they will never win an All-Ireland. Michael Murphy, class footballer, let the man play for god sake!It should be a great final, Kerry are tough to beat in finals but the Dublin forwards will really appreciate the extra space against a Kerry defensive that's not as good as it was. Dublin need to limit the supply going into the kerry forwards because if kerry can break anywhere near even in defence then Gooch and co will hit that 1-17 or so mark that will give them a narrow victory at the end. Disappointed with B Brogans miss yesterday, he cannot afford to miss these goal chances against Kerry. Dublin will get goal chances v Kerry too, id be certain of that, taking them or not will decide the outcome I think!

JGiles (Limerick) - Posts: 88 - 29/08/2011 10:34:24    1021353

come on you boys in blue
all those years of hurt finaly put to bed.hard fought win yesterday and obviously not a great game on the eye but surely everybody expected that heading into croker yesterday,donegal have played that way all year and in fairness it got them this far so why would they change it but what they lacked was a plan b,dublins patience was immense i said it all along if dublin remained patient they would get the scores and its great to see we learned from the lessons of the past and didnt panic.
as for people saying both teams play same style i would not agree at all,dublin style is when they get the men behind the ball they turn it over and burst with pace from defence to attack and have learned from last year to mix that defnse with much more attacking football that we always used to have.as for donegal well they played the entire game with 14 men in there own half and when they did attack it was like ants coming a cross chalk they would go in lines of 6 and 8 up to half way and lthen turn back again almost in fear of crossing the half way line haha,i think they were quite content at 6 v 3 that they only had to concede to points and not score themselves to win,but as dublin learned last year defnce can only get you so far you cannot defend for 70 minutes its impossible as when dublin used there heads in the second half and forced donegal to run across the pitch with some nice kick passes from philly mcmahon and kevin nolan and paul flynn donegal gaps began to open as it ment they would tire from all the defensive grafting.it was just a matter of dublin biding there time and being patient.as for some saying kerry would have done this and that i guarantee you it would have been a simliar game as dublin didnt set up defnsivly they only played 3 defenders for most of the game as donegal had 1 man in dublins half and a good move from gilroy was bringing o gara on for mccarthy as it ment an extra forward.
just a last note alot was made of donegal strategy for dealing with cluxtons kickouts haha well i guess they decided just let him have them full stop haha as he had 3 men either side of him free for all 15 kick outs haha was weird to watch.great atmosphere in croker especially when the game got tense in the last 10 minutes,up the dubs

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 29/08/2011 10:46:30    1021379

Please do not compare Tyrone with Donegal. We have never played like them, 13 men in your own half with two attackers up front.....a style that is unprecedanted in all of GAA history. Yes we defended in numbers but we attacked in numbers, that is the key difference.
Looks like Tyrone are still the only ulster team to win an all Ireland in the last ten years or so, sorry i forgot it was three. Unlucky Donegal, get back to your mud huts and tend to the goats

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 29/08/2011 10:50:41    1021385

brilliant point by ciaran whelan last night. What are coaches to now teach young kids learning the game ? Yes Dublin play a defensive game, but when they break they usually do it with style and panache with some great scores at the end of it. I had a great view of the match on back row of cusack and was looking forward to the tactical battle. Sad to say that I think others may adopt the Donegal style and it will take the game back years. Are we going to see underage development squads coached this way. At one point in the match Donegal were attacking between the 45 and the half way line in their half of the field. They had still only one player in the Dublin half.

thistle_harps (UK) - Posts: 879 - 29/08/2011 10:54:41    1021390

JGiles
County: Limerick
Posts: 79

spot on with your comment

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 29/08/2011 11:02:02    1021406

hill16no1man

I was just reading some of your comment there re people comparing styles of Dub & Don, what game are these people watching at all! Dublin kicked almost 4 times as many points against Tyr as Donegal did yesterday. That should be enough to prove the contrast in styles. It's simple enough, Dublin through youth mainly and hunger are now a better version of Tyrone, they can keep the high tempo up for longer. Donegal are on another planet re tactics. Pat Gilroy deserves any amount of credit for this transformation. Again going back to my point re goal chances, Dublin had loads v Tyrone also and scored none, thats my concern. It they scored those chances v Tyrone, I think it would have put the icing on the cake and went down as the greatest performance of all time. S

JGiles (Limerick) - Posts: 88 - 29/08/2011 11:22:14    1021445

hill16no1man and JGiles. Get a room you two!

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 29/08/2011 11:36:39    1021472

Good vs Evil played in Croke Park yesterday and luckily good triumphed

woops (Kerry) - Posts: 2073 - 29/08/2011 11:42:17    1021487

JGiles
County: Limerick
Posts: 80

yes i agree with the goal chances
while it was pleasing to see us win two big games running without scoring goals something that is rare for dublin i think they will get more goal chances against kerry as that match yesterday is better then any training drill for forwards as there will be so much more spce against kerry not that kerry are not good at marking they are but the fact that they wont play 14 men inside there own 45.if dublin start o gara on o se in the final and isolate him in there it could lead to goal chances as o se struggled on andy moran in the semi final with his physicality

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 29/08/2011 11:49:20    1021494

Lot of bitter Derry and Kildare people on these boards.

So that accounts for 1 or 2 percent of the detractors what about the rest. As a derryman I am well used to having been beaten in the Ulater championship over the years and have always supported the Ulster champion afterwards but that was when football teams win it.

derryman (Derry) - Posts: 3246 - 29/08/2011 11:49:47    1021496

Evil? EVIL?

It was a game of football between Dublin & Donegal in Croker, not the battlefield between the Orcs & Hobbits in Mordor

Jaysus........

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 29/08/2011 11:51:55    1021500

I liked davis' point also about "playing within the spirit of the game", similar to what John Brennan said recently. We often hear people complaining about there being no punishment for a professional foul in the game. I think a good suggestion would be a yellow card for not playing within the spirit of the game which would encompass cinical fouling, feigning injury, trying to get the opposition sent of, time wasting, etc etc.

Derry_ledd (Derry) - Posts: 2093 - 29/08/2011 12:03:13    1021519

Derry-Ledd,

I liked davis' point also about "playing within the spirit of the game", similar to what John Brennan said recently. We often hear people complaining about there being no punishment for a professional foul in the game. I think a good suggestion would be a yellow card for not playing within the spirit of the game which would encompass cinical fouling, feigning injury, trying to get the opposition sent of, time wasting, etc etc.

Impossible to enforce a "spirit of the game" rule. There are plenty of existing rules that referee's can use but they don't.

Blocking runners - is that not technically a foul after the ball has gone or a tackle off the ball?? Rule already exists. Referee's just need the cojones to enforce the rules. Holding onto the ball and wasting time - Ref is allowed to bring the ball forward 10 yards. Playing on after the whistle and/or kicking the ball away - bring it back and hop the ball.

Feigning injury, diving, time wasting - all of these things can be dealt with withing the current structures but the GAA would need to get rid of the various disciplinary bodies - The CCCC, DRA, UN High Commission, Court of Human Rights is rubbish.
In AFL, a player is reported, the crime is reviewed and the punishment dealt out by one body and one body alone. It can be contested, but if it fails the ban is doubled automatically. This is where the GAA could get weveryone to sign up to a code of conduct, but on the pitch its almost impossible to police.

diablodeKingdom (Kerry) - Posts: 210 - 29/08/2011 12:28:23    1021560

When B.brogan got a free 15 yards out Donegal put 10 men behind the ball and another encroaching - ridiculous stuff! Thank God it's over and we're in the final and we're in it to win it.

Floops (Dublin) - Posts: 1623 - 29/08/2011 12:34:00    1021569

Can i get a refund from donegal board for inflicting that garbage out in front of 81,000 people

heresam (Dublin) - Posts: 156 - 29/08/2011 13:32:08    1021698