1790607 Every manager gets criticism when the team is beaten - can only imagine the grief Jim Gavin would have got if Kerry had sneaked a late goal..Good to hear EM is ready to dust himself down and go again next year - he's going to need to rejuvenate the squad with some new blood. Damo - you're spot on re JoC - went back to scratch setting up a proper underage development structure and now has two AI's on the back of it and by all accounts the next two minor teams are shaping up to be top class also. Hopefully he can give some direction to the minors as well as working with the U21's next year...exciting times ahead.
The minor teams and Jack O Connor are another reason for Dubs enjoying this win and currently having the upper hand on Kerry , theres new blood a brewing and Kerry will come after us , just a note on JOC how on earth can others on this forum not see that good coaching and strutures a man with a bit of know how is the recipe for success , would it really be that hard to replicate what JOC has done in places like Meath Cork etc
I would say that JO C is a better manager than EF. EF took over a team full of All Ireland medal winners plus most times he sent out a team he had a host of players on the bench with All Ireland medals. Compare that with J McGuinness and where Donegal were at when he took over. I'd say Donegal were ranked about 15 or 16 in the country at the time. Within two years he had Donegal at number one Another manager people seem to forget about is M Hart ----- took Tyrone to three All Ireland's in six years and that's with a county that had no pedigree as All Ireland winners. And indeed it was a long time before Tyrone got the recognition they deserved--- I say it was not until they had win their third. The Dublin poster is right about development squads and about the work J o Connor has done in Kerry. Donegal are doing similar at the moment and we won both u16and u17 in Ulster this year. This u 17 squad we have are supposed to be an excellent side so I take Donegal to have a good minor team this coming year. My only fear is have Donegal gotten talented enough to manage a minor team to glory. I think this year we had a great minor team yet left it behind against Derry. Donegal were defiantly a lot better than what is saw in either Kildare or Tipp So I think a good management team is very important and it's important at any grade. IMO we lost the Ulster U 21 final to Tyrone by I point, we lost the minor semi final by I point and we lost the senior final by I point and I'd say poor management decisions contributed to those defeats. So take these posters in Kildare/ Meath and indeed other counties complaining about Dublin( finance coaching etc) it's time their counties got off their backside and developed good under aged structures. I'm fully confident that over the next 3/4 years teams will come out of Donegal/ Tyrone that will not alone challenge both Dublin and Kerry but will also be able to beat them. The worst thing that could happen is both Donegal / Tyrone could end up similar to Armagh / Tyrone in the years 2003/2004/2005. We could end up one having to beat the other but we could have the two best teams in Ireland. But let me tell you all-- Dublin won't stay at the top for too long. There will always come a good team around , always do and that team can appear in a very short time.
We do have a habit, as Michael Portillo puts it, to misremember things (ie things we forgot to remember).
Before Kerry played Cork last year, there was genuine fear on our side of the county bounds that we were in for a hiding. Indeed, one oracle in the medja had us all but written off for the foreseeable.
EF, calmly and clinically, guided the team to victory last year. We made another final this year, even though doubts persist about the defence and certain key players (eg D Moran) have been out of sorts of late.
So, more work to be done. No better man than EF to do it. But, who knows, next year may see Dublin even more centred, Mayo with that little bit extra, Tyrone with their killer instinct better focused... etc. If it was predictable it wouldn't be worth the bother, would it???