everybody knows there will be semi finals before the ball is thrown in to start the league
so therefore the aim is to get into the top4 and make the semis
it doesnt matter who finaishes in 1st 2nd 3rd or 4th
whos to say cork would have finaished 1st if the league was handed out for the team who finshed 1st
as the other teams would have approached matches different

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 27/04/2015 11:31:47    1717874

Thought both games were dreadful- how we didn;t get out of division two i will never know.

Football has gone to pot altogether.

lowballplease (Galway) - Posts: 935 - 27/04/2015 11:53:35    1717886

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 7294

1717630 The play offs and knock out formats should be abolished. Ruining the league. Cork didn't give a hoot and Dublin hardly out of second gear. A league medal means about as much to these lads as a trip to the lav after a indian
________________________
Couldn't agree more RD, its filler, nothing more, nothing less.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 27/04/2015 12:00:21    1717891

uibhfhaili1986
County: Offaly
Posts: 491

1717542 . First game is dire stuff partly because neither team seems to have heard of a thing call the full forward line.I'll never know why players in the full forward line just can't stay inside the 21 at least 5 or 6 times balls have landed inside the 21 and there was no forwards in site to get on the ball.
______________________________________________

Valid points but if we all tried to copy what was a free flowing game of football that Offaly were involved in on Saturday evening, we'd be hockeyed.

It's really boring to see people continually whingeing about defensive tactics. The fact is that the Down v Ros game yesterday was close and interesting for most of the match. It was more exciting than the second game anyway..........

In other news, there appears to have been a bumper Lemon crop in County Meath this spring. Get over it lads.

decky (Roscommon) - Posts: 384 - 27/04/2015 12:14:36    1717902

I agree football is dire right now and I don't think anything can be done to save it, people keep saying "ah the game was terrible in such an era" but I don't remember anyone giving out about the state of the game back then as they are now.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 27/04/2015 17:15:02    1718120

clondalkindub - Today we have a large amount of matches televised live. Back in the day we'd see the highlights of everything bar the All-Ireland semi-finals, so we didnt get exposed to the full 70 minutes and highlights are obviously more entertaining.

We're finished with the league and now comes the big lull - the Championship. We are going to have to watch a load miss matches for the next 2 months and people will be giving out even more. The Championship only gets good when the top teams start meeting each other, provincial finals and knockouts - then people will lay off a little.

Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 27/04/2015 17:26:13    1718129

It's only the league people and you can't use it to make a judgement on any game or team and definitely not on the sport as whole!

supporter (Donegal) - Posts: 205 - 27/04/2015 17:27:19    1718130

agree with Ban. there is too much football on TV. Long ago the only games you saw were involving your own team and you probably didn't really know or care what standard it was as you were so caught up in it. the other games you saw live were the really big ones i.e. all ireland finals or semis.

nowadays you can see league games in freezing blizzards live, under-21 matches in winter and spring , club matches, first round championship matches, qualifier rounds etc etc. matches were not all good in the old days, very far from it in fact.

something to note re. the 4 matches this weekend gone by. Referess are just not up to the pace of modern football and they are not up to television scrutiny.

every game is littered with bad decisions, non-decisions, yellow cards when they should be black, random black cards, yellow cards when there should be no cards, no card when it should be a yellow,black or straight red. constant over-carrying and over-stepping going un-penalised, then a random free for one over-carrying occurance. Refs who can't wait to give a free against a man who is being mauled by 2 ,3,4,5 opponentsand can't even attempt to play the ball as he is being assaulted from all sides. advantage rule not being applied properly. It must be so frustrating for players and mgmt to put so much effort in to the game and to be let down so badly by the refs. now don't get me wrong here. this is nothing personal against any referee, i'm sure they are all lovely people and are dedicated but something needs to be done to get them up to speed. perhaps we should have an elite panel of professional refs who are constantly assesed and can be demoted from the panel if found to be making too many mistakes.. maybe we need 2 refs or 3 refs on the pitch, maybe the linesmen need more powers. it's killing the game.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 27/04/2015 17:58:59    1718143

I think that if the Down v Roscommon game had been played in a full Croke Park, or a full provincial stadium somewhere, it would have seemed a better spectacle for the fans at home and in the stadium. It was hard to get into the game at all when you're sitting with a scattering of supporters around you, it must have been horrible sitting at home. I think once the next round of premium tickets come up for renewal, the GAA should look at taking the league finals and AI quarter finals out of the offering. Fair enough, the prices would have to be reduced, but seeing as they have now (I believe) paid off the stadium I think it's fair enough that they reduce the price of the tickets and give fans the spectacle they and the players deserve. Either that or somehow market the a*se out of the games so they can convince 60,000 to turn up.

OgraAnDun (Down) - Posts: 406 - 27/04/2015 18:54:11    1718169

clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 6004

1718120 I agree football is dire right now and I don't think anything can be done to save it, people keep saying "ah the game was terrible in such an era" but I don't remember anyone giving out about the state of the game back then as they are now.
_________________________
Did you ever think for one minute that the games exposure has never been higher than it is right now before you came out with such a crass statement. There will be 40 or so games televised live over three channels, two of which are national broadcasters and one a global media outlet, coupled with the ability to view online anywhere in the world, even the onset of social media, don't you feel a tad stupid with that statement now CD? During the games 'golden era' I remember watching the AI semis and the final on a very scratchy RTE reception in the North,not much was said about it afterwards, now, every game, player, manager and referee are dissected, scrutinised and analysed to death. The only thing that will save football, if it indeed requires saving, is to drown out the downright negative merchants of doom like yourself and let the game continue evolve like it has done for the last 100 years.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 28/04/2015 08:14:52    1718268

Good points, S Goldrick and Brendtheredhand

Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1550 - 28/04/2015 10:09:58    1718302

There showing as many games now as they did in the 00's so I don't agree with your point, football is dire right now and every gaa person I talk to is of the same opinion and I mean everyone.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 28/04/2015 10:30:13    1718317

But of course me saying it like I'm the only one in Ireland saying football is "dire" is somehow a stupid statement.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 28/04/2015 10:40:13    1718332

Evolving into rubbish with everyone afraid of Dublin hammering them so they put 15 players in there own half of the field and counter attack by handpassing the ball to death and then when they lose possession or shoot they all run back like lunatics and it all begins again , I'm sorry but it's absolute rubbish. How many more times are we going to see a corner forward win a ball then have 5 lads on top of him so he has to recycle the ball out to the half forward who then passes it sideways all the way over the other side of the pitch it's so bleeding boring. Thank god for hurling right now cause football is Dire.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 28/04/2015 10:46:44    1718342

Clondalkins 'golden era' keeps changing to suit his analogy, you keep on moving those goalposts lad!

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 28/04/2015 10:50:24    1718348

I do think the games are of a lower standard then say the 90s which Imo was the pinnacle of football, the 00s weren't too bad either, i think in those times the best players would normally get to the all ire final nowadays that might not be always the case.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 28/04/2015 11:14:01    1718367

Ok lad your right football is great everyone loves it I'm the only one complaining about how s---e it is.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 28/04/2015 11:22:55    1718376

clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 6007

1718342
Evolving into rubbish with everyone afraid of Dublin hammering them so they put 15 players in there own half of the field and counter attack by handpassing the ball to death and then when they lose possession or shoot they all run back like lunatics and it all begins again , I'm sorry but it's absolute rubbish. How many more times are we going to see a corner forward win a ball then have 5 lads on top of him so he has to recycle the ball out to the half forward who then passes it sideways all the way over the other side of the pitch it's so bleeding boring. Thank god for hurling right now cause football is Dire.

This is very little to do with Dublin as most teams play this way irrespective of the opposition, Dublin included.

It's not as if this is a new development, it's just an evolution of what Tyrone started 20 years ago & attackers will have to up their game to counter it.

If you look at the league semis & final it's not as if they were low scoring games, quite the opposite in fact so I don't really see where the "dire" description comes in to it.

I've said it before & I'll say it again I challenge anyone to show me the golden era when football was perfect. That mythical age never existed as a quick view of old games on TG4 will show.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 28/04/2015 11:33:10    1718385

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 7311

1718367
I do think the games are of a lower standard then say the 90s which Imo was the pinnacle of football, the 00s weren't too bad either, i think in those times the best players would normally get to the all ire final nowadays that might not be always the case.

have you ever looked back at the games from the 90tys
I used to think growing up they were brilliant too
but just watch tg4 and see them
most of the football was hoofing a high long ball aimlessly into the forward line
or the drive it anywhere will do hurling style out of defence
which came back twice as quick
also 90% of the scores came from both free takers
there was a huge reliance on free takers for scores very rarely was there a spread of scorers in games

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 28/04/2015 12:07:51    1718406

But Hill we all loved it no one ever complained about the state of the game back then we all thought it was great and it was nowadays the rubbish these teams are serving up is heartbreaking to see.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 28/04/2015 12:26:29    1718420