To the naysayers I hope you were paying attention yesterday. Donegal did what most on here knew was always possible. This forum has been awash with posters feeling sorry for themselves and not up to the fight, we even had a thread looking to put Dublin into a different province. Now will you, your team and county boards get off your backsides, show some bottle next year and just a little belief. Donegal hopefully will inspire the Leinster championship to be just that a championship, competitive and one to be worth winning.

1) First of all other counties are not "wannabes"
2) Whatever about county boards the other teams in a Leinster have trained as hard as anyone and have been off their backsides for months
3) We don't need lectures from Dublin fans about the Leinster Championship as a knee jerk reaction to last Sunday where many are surmising that defeat was due to Dublin not being "road tested" in Leinster as Kevin Mc Stay said on the Sunday Game. It's not the fault of the Leinster Championship that Dublin were humbled last Sunday but it seems to be a fitting excuse over the past 72 hours

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 03/09/2014 10:00:50    1647304

joncarter
County: Galway
Posts: 1200

1647146 Cant apply the same rules to both provinces. As much as I dont like saying it, Ulster teams simply have more bottle than their southern counterparts. If that was Kildare, Meath or Wexford playing Dublin last Sunday the game would have been over before a ball was even kicked.

Why do you not like saying it?

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12120 - 03/09/2014 10:19:07    1647315

Dublin are the best team in Ireland by a country mile. They lost on Sunday to a good Donegal side who were better on the day but are still a long way of Dublin. They got it right on the day and fair play to them. However, if they were to play every day again for the next week- I genuinely would think that Dublin would win all of them handsomely (which is obviously pure irrelevant conjecture) I hope Donegal go on and win the All-Ireland now as they deserve too. Dublin will be beaten again in the future. There is no doubt about that. However, they will win a lot more games than they lose. Over the next 10 years I expect 9 Leinsters 5 All-Irelands and 7 leagues to be won at a minimum. I expect that they no team will win the head-to-heads with them in that time. Of course I could be wrong and hope I am as I am anything but a Dublin fan.

Is the best team in ireland not normally measured by being the team who remains undefeated in a particular year?

I find that a strange statement bennybunny, so in your opinion what happened was Donegal caught the Dubs on a bad day. Bearing in mind that Dublin were playing extremely well and scoring some fantastic points in the first 20/25 mins thats quite a statement to make.

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 03/09/2014 12:56:29    1647437

Ban
County: Westmeath
Donegal, Tyrone, Kerry, Cork, Mayo, Dublin - all the big hitters over the past while have been consistently present and competitive in Division 1, that's not by chance. All the rest have been hovering around the lower leagues and that's not by chance either.

***************************

That's not entirely accurate now. Donegal were relegated 2 years ago to Div2 and while they won their way back to Div1 it was as runners up to Monaghan. If they do go on to win the All Ireland it will put an end to Mickey Harte's prediction that no team outside of Div1 will ever win the All Ireland again. The point is that it's not impossible for lower division teams to be more competitive. However the playing field in Leinster is simply not equal. to be honest it looked on TV like most teams take to Croke Park in the Leinster championship against Dublin already beaten in their own heads.
Dublin lapped this up. Ok they beat Monaghan but don't forget that this was a Monaghan team that should have been beaten by Kildare the week before except for poor shooting. Also they had only 7 days to recover from that washout in Croker which also was a 90 minute game. There was no way they were going to recover in time for a team like Dublin.

Dublin then went on to meet a team that weren't afraid of them, that had a system in place, that wouldn't be intimidated by the atmosphere in Croke Park. And they beat them !! But a Div2 team nonetheless.

MaigheoAbu (Mayo) - Posts: 343 - 03/09/2014 13:22:12    1647459

Htaem nailed it on the head its baggage for a lot of the Leinster teams v Dublin. This summer, Longford beat Derry in Derry, Kildare beat Down in Newry and Derry & Down would be counties that would fancy their chances of beating the top team in Ulster. Do Kildare & Longford have the same belief that they could beat Dublin as they had in going up north and beating Derry and Down, the answer is no. Donegal didn't have baggage of getting throunced by Dublin at all under age levels and senior for the past 3 years. Kildare and Meath I think would fancy their chances of winning Ulster rather than having to face up and trying to beat Dublin very summer!

wwfan (Wicklow) - Posts: 108 - 03/09/2014 13:22:47    1647460

MaigheoAbu
If you have 8 top teams and 2 are up for relegation then what happens is 2 top teams must go down every 2 years. Donegal did go down my point is that the big hitters are consistently in division 1 (not all the time cause its not possible with relegation)

I for one am board with the Championship format and find the League far more enjoyable. Its like the Premiership in England & the FA Cup. What Damothedub is looking for is like asking Championship and League 1 teams in England to get over the mental block of going to Old Trafford, The Bridge, Anfield and getting beat. Its nice in fairy fairy land but the facts are that its highly unlikely.

Most Counties are giving it their best to improve - but this open letter to invite the teams to get over themselves and take on the Dubs lacks substance and proper analysis

wwfan
History has shown that anything can happen in the qualifiers. Teams are out of their provincial championship which may have been a realistic goal at the start of the year but when they go into the qualifiers some of these teams lack interest as All-Ireland glory is hard to believe in.
I dont believe you can reference the qualifiers as a consistent competitive environment which you can make proper judgement about counties mental ability.

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 03/09/2014 13:47:18    1647482

bennybunny
County: Cork
Posts: 2425

1647235
Dublin are the best team in Ireland by a country mile. They lost on Sunday to a good Donegal side who were better on the day but are still a long way of Dublin. They got it right on the day and fair play to them. However, if they were to play every day again for the next week- I genuinely would think that Dublin would win all of them handsomely.

Jaysus benny, what does JMcG have to do to catch a break off some people.

Nobody disputes that Dublin have probably the best individual players but that does not automatically make them the best team.

They are going to have to change their tactical approach which will inevitably blunt their attack somewhat, no more throwing bodies forwards regardless. To say that the Donegal team is a long way off the Dublin team is nonsense especially if you include the management as part of the team & to say that Dublin would beat Donegal easily if they played every day for the next week would only be true if they were playing frendlies & league games. Put them out on a big occasion & Donegal would win their share.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 03/09/2014 14:07:48    1647497

Ban
County: Westmeath
Posts: 253

1647482
MaigheoAbu
If you have 8 top teams and 2 are up for relegation then what happens is 2 top teams must go down every 2 years. Donegal did go down my point is that the big hitters are consistently in division 1 (not all the time cause its not possible with relegation)

I for one am board with the Championship format and find the League far more enjoyable. Its like the Premiership in England & the FA Cup. What Damothedub is looking for is like asking Championship and League 1 teams in England to get over the mental block of going to Old Trafford, The Bridge, Anfield and getting beat. Its nice in fairy fairy land but the facts are that its highly unlikely.

Most Counties are giving it their best to improve - but this open letter to invite the teams to get over themselves and take on the Dubs lacks substance and proper analysis

****************************************

I agree to the majority of that. That's why I said you need ot make the playing field more level in Leinster. OK Pairc Tailteann only holds 10,000. well so be it. Give 5000 to Dub supporters and 5000 to Meath and play the game there if it is a first round match. Let Dublin get on with it. The point is that Meath would be far more likely to be competitive if trhey played Dublin in the atmosphere of their own ground in front of a smaller crowd than playing then time after time in Croke Park.

The white elephant of course is money. But it's up to the rest of the Leinster county boards to put their feet down or else it probably will continue to remain the same.

MaigheoAbu (Mayo) - Posts: 343 - 03/09/2014 14:30:10    1647511

I believe the only ulster teams that would not fear Dublin are Donegal and tyrone, all the rest would be beaten before taken to the field, and by the way a lot of people are putting meath in the same bracket as all the other leinster teams fearing Dublin, however the leinster final this year was the first time I can remember where meath went out and got beaten by Dublin by that much. in 2012 and 2013 meath showed no fear and both times put up a good fight, meath were always known as the one leinster team who did not fear Dublin and would give them a game. before the leinster final a lot of meath people were very hopeful even the team seemed to be too so until Dublin beat meath like that again I refuse to believe we fear Dublin I think we underestimated how good Dublin were.

meathalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 789 - 03/09/2014 14:39:06    1647523

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 3150


1. Jaysus benny, what does JMcG have to do to catch a break off some people.

2. Nobody disputes that Dublin have probably the best individual players but that does not automatically make them the best team.

They are going to have to change their tactical approach which will inevitably blunt their attack somewhat, no more throwing bodies forwards regardless. 3. To say that the Donegal team is a long way off the Dublin team is nonsense especially if you include the management as part of the team & to say that Dublin would beat Donegal easily if they played every day for the next week would only be true if they were playing frendlies & league games. Put them out on a big occasion & Donegal would win their share.

1. I think I was more than fair to Donegal in my last post. I said nothing bad about them at all.
2. You are right there. I don't dispute that. However, it is my opinion that Dublin have much better players than Donegal. That is all. As a person from Cork, I would much rather say something else. I never ever as a rule shout for Dublin but I call things as I see it. I am not saying I am right.
3. I did say that Dublin beating Donegal everyday was irrelevant conjecture.

Ultimately my last post was brave as I was predicting forward 10 years. I will have to wait 10 years to see if I am right. Everybody else gets the chance to say I am wrong and they can use evidence of Dublin using their last game as evidence of that.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 03/09/2014 15:29:48    1647557

First of all it's not my place to speak of Leinster affairs.

The Leinster semi-finals are in Croker so it's not as if those regular semi-finalists are not used to playing there. Rounds before the semi-finals possibly should be a home and away arrangement between the respective counties or a neutral venue. It'd have been interesting to see the Dubs go to Portlaoise this year.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7857 - 03/09/2014 21:02:04    1647709

bennybunny - Donegal are better than Dublin. That's why they play the games, to find out who is better.
Next year, who knows? But this year Donegal and Kerry are the best.

rcarragh (Dublin) - Posts: 305 - 03/09/2014 21:58:03    1647751

I have read some tripe on here but this is ridicules.
First off. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the last time Meath played a Leinster game in navan , can any other county say that about their provincial championship?
Secondly. . Meath had a bad year this year, but to put that down to belief is simplistic and tabloid journalism in its worst form, Meath were without Gillespie, wallace, O'Sullivan, Dalton, all certain starters had Meade and O'Rourke returning from long term injuries and a injury stricken Newman along with injuries to Reilly. No county in the country could be without so many or have so much walking wounded and compete with the likes of Dublin, now yes management made huge mistake too and must take their share of blame, players not fit enough, played out of position, starting players that shouldn't have started and not starting those that should..
. also with the unprecedented level of injuries in hindsight it was probably a mistake not having the like of cian ward, Jamie queeney or Joe sherridan on the panel to bring on at crucial times, but as they say hindsight is 20 20 vision.
So with a renewed backroom team a proper focus on game plans and above all a clean bill of health I have no doubt Meath will push Dublin or anyone else for that matter in the not too distant future.
Rant over

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 04/09/2014 08:30:17    1647759

It's a fair argument. Leinster football is extremely weak. You have almost have the province in division 3 and 4 and the rest are average div 2 teams. It's not going to change over night either.probably the most notable thing about Leinster is the amount of counties who opt for outside managers. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but it's a sad state of affairs when you can't find anyone inside your own county capable of running a senior football team. Clubs are the same! In carlow this year it's quite possible that 3 of the 4 semi finalists will have out side managers. Counties need to focus on producing high quality coaches of their own

Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1595 - 04/09/2014 09:32:36    1647775

Excellent thread and I agree with the general sentiment that Leinster is no longer a competitive province and something has to be done to identify the problem and address the issue.
The problem with leinster counties apart from the Dublin region is lack of resources and paucity of finances. The way to address this problem is for Central Council to invest funding for coaching and development of Gaelic games in Leinster apart from the Dublin region.

This funding is already available and just has to be transferred from the Dublin region to the rest of the Leinster counties.

Funding for development and coaching of Gaelic games in Leinster apart from the Dublin region would benefit the Leinster championship resulting in a more competitive province.

bryanadams (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 04/09/2014 10:07:47    1647801

rcarragh
County: Dublin
Posts: 117

1647751
bennybunny - Donegal are better than Dublin. That's why they play the games, to find out who is better.
Next year, who knows? But this year Donegal and Kerry are the best.

Donegal were better on the day. I said that in my first post. If you think that makes them a better team overall, then fair enough. That is your opinion and I respect it.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 04/09/2014 10:39:47    1647815

Its a sad state of affairs that the Leinster championship is so weak at the moment. I have seen Meath, Offaly, Dublin,Kildare, Laois and Westmeath all win Leinster titles so like Ulster it shows the depth of competition that can be there but at the moment it seems to be a struggle. Dublin will always be strong but when will another county from Leinster win the All-Ireland?

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1780 - 04/09/2014 13:45:29    1647911

byranadams, you are part of the "Dublin region"!

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 04/09/2014 13:59:35    1647920

hurlingdub
County: Dublin
Posts: 6581

1647920 byranadams, you are part of the "Dublin region"!

Ah come on, you lot have enough advantages already, without wanting to annexe Kildare. lol

bryanadams (Kildare) - Posts: 733 - 04/09/2014 14:04:23    1647922