Donegal V Armagh - 13 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 04/11/2020 16:07:50

Donegal GAA thread - 12 Like(s)
Thanks to Declan for all he has given to Donegal football over the years. Things had gotten stale and it was time to go, but I hope he knows that Donegal people appreciate everything he has given and the 2 Ulster titles were savoured by myself hugely after the Rory years. That draw against Kerry in 2019 was one of my most enjoyable days out supporting Donegal ever, it was a thrilling match and Declan had a huge part in that. I said I couldn't be ***** with this forum any more and the same reasons apply but I just can't stand some of the stuff being said. Murphy's goal in 2012 defined the whole game, so therefore Murphy was the main or only reason we won it... the goal doesn't happen without the 2012 footballer of the year and one of our other best ever players, Karl Lacey. We haven't won or contested an All-Ireland since 2014 because of Dublin even though we've had Murphy in his prime (the main and only reason we won in 2012 apparently) as well as a good mix of youth and the 2012 side, and it's only because of Dublin and not because of management... even though since 2014 we've met Dublin exactly once in a knock-out championship game, 2016. How are Dublin to blame for us not reaching an All-Ireland semi-final other than that year? We also played them in the 2018 Super 8s but we had Tyrone at home to get to a semi-final that year. Finally, it seems to me that the one poster going on and on and on and on and on and on would only be delighted for the next manager to fail in the same way as Declan did in the end because he could crow on here about the players not being good enough, it seems to me there'd be more pleasure taken from that than there would from the potential new manager making strides in year one and getting us to an All-Ireland semi. That may be harsh or unfair but to be honest that's how it has come across at this stage. There is a toxic atmosphere on this board and one poster consistently attacking everyone, posters that have not been against Bonner from day one, posters that supported Declan all the way through his tenure, posters that have come up with interesting posts and analysis and ideas about how we set up and posters that have been more than fair all through the last 5 or 6 years. What some don't seem to understand is not the losing, it's the manner of it. I was very very proud of Donegal against Tyrone last year, in all the circumstances and with the game stacked against us, they fought tooth and nail until the heat really took its toll on our 14 men and Tyrone pulled away in the final stages. But jesus I walked away thinking we've the seeds of a great team here if we get a clear run. Fast forward to this year and the manner of both the Ulster final defeat and the 2nd half against Armagh was just so disappointing. And the signs had been there all year even though "it's only the league" was trotted out, that game in Killarney was one of the worst I have ever seen from a Donegal senior side and I have been following Donegal for a long long time. The last thing you want is to walk away from a game thinking "we didn't really go for that". Some times players underperform, sometimes there's a moment of madness that changes the game, sometimes you're just unlucky, sometimes management gets it completely wrong and sometimes a game takes on a life of its own and you just have to watch it play out. We're all only human at the end of the day. But if I see the same mistakes being repeated game to game, the problem goes deeper than the usual "on the day" type stuff. We can disagree about what that problem is but I just can't fathom anyone who has followed Donegal over Declan's tenure thinking for example that Galway are so far ahead of us, and that thinking we could also reach an All-Ireland final with our current crop of players in a different set up is some sort of mad thinking. Galway are a really good team that have had a clear run this year but in a knock out championship game I think we'd give them a great run and who knows how the game would turn out. And they made the final and by god they nearly won it. Armagh were penalties away from a semi-final vs. Derry, a team we beat out the gate earlier in championship. Derry we brought to extra time and I felt we really had them in the 2nd half but didn't kick on. All these teams competing in the All-Ireland series and yet we don't have the man markers and therefore we're crazy to believe we should perform better than we did this year. I've heard Oisín McConville a few times saying that this year there will be a good 8 or 9 teams looking at the championship thinking "We have a real shot next year". He hasn't named teams but I've no doubt Donegal are one of them. There is no stand out side any more, Kerry are possibly about to kick on but I still think you can get at them. Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan, Armagh, Derry, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon will all be thinking they are not far away and could take Dublin or Kerry on their day. Kildare I think will have huge huge regrets about how the championship shook out in the end for them. All of these teams have flaws, every single one of them, and pretending that Donegal having some flaws is an automatic reason we can't compete for Sam? That's lunacy to me. People seem to forget a time that flawed teams won All-Irelands. Dublin are not the force they were under Gavin and I don't think we'll see their like again, not for a long time. Tyrone last year were flawed. Kerry this year are flawed. Kerry in 2014 were flawed. We were flawed in 2012! That's normal, no team is perfect and no team at the minute is perfect, not least Donegal. But can we be good enough in other areas to compete with these other flawed teams at the top table? Absolutely.

JoeSoap (National) - 28/07/2022 14:39:51

"Why Should Anybody Have The God-Given Right To See All Games On Television?" - 11 Like(s)
Guess I'll be one to go against the consensus here. The debate that's been sparked now isn't really about watching all games, it's about the availability of our national sport to as many people here as possible. The Sky deal was peddled as a great way for the diaspora to get access to games. Now people on our own island can't see them. The broadcasting rights weren't perfect before either. But it's my opinion that as much of the games should be free-to-air as possible. Take a look at other sports and you'll see that if you put a paywall up, interest drops, it's just the way it is. And to make some comment about people just wanting everything for free, are you telling me the Sky deal is the only thing keeping the GAA afloat? Nonsense. Harking back to 40 years ago sitting by a wireless is just an absolute nonsense point as well because the fact is, we're not back in those days, we're in 2019 and if the will is there, everyone COULD have access to these games. It's not about any "god-given" right or anything else, it's about community and access to our sports. The only game with anything on the line at the weekend and half the country couldn't see it. The same reason I don't have an issue with Dublin getting a lot of money for games development is the same reason I have an issue with the big championship matches not being free-to-air. The GAA first and foremost is about community and developing and promoting our games. Everything should be geared towards that in my opinion. It's not about wanting something for nothing, we all put plenty of money in the GAA coffers following our clubs and counties. So give me a break making this out to be some freeloading motive. One final point, I find Mickey's comment here: "I've never seen so many people so interested in people in homes & other places around the country that can't see the games on TV. It seems strange that these people suddenly have such a grá for these kinds of people." extremely distasteful. But I'll say no more there.

JoeSoap (National) - 06/08/2019 15:15:01

Donegal V Longford - 9 Like(s)
I have to say that Saturday was a grim experience from a Donegal point of view. I'll start with the very short list of bright sparks - Martin McElhinney turned the game on his own coming off the bench, and had some great fielding in the second half as well. Eoghan Ban Gallagher probably played his best game since the league, and Neil McGee looked fitter even though he was inexplicably up in the full forward line on numerous occasions. Patrick McBrearty shows his class again, imagine if he got more ball. I'd also like to say hats off to Longford and their support. From what I understand it's a young team in Longford and that showed at times with inexperience. They also missed a few very handy frees that let us off. I think as well, if I was a Longford fan, I wouldn't be happy with the ref. That's not related to the cards - to be honest I think they were all fair. But more that the ref gave us a few handy ones, and there was one or two times I felt we could've seen a black card ourselves. So it must have been frustrating for Longford in a lot of ways - we were definitely there for the taking. Onto ourselves - it's baffling to me how awful we've been in Championship. We beat Antrim easily after a dodgy first half, and who knew that the first half was the better indicator of where we were at for the summer. I've seen some say maybe we put too much into the league (but I think it was very important not to get relegated) but to be honest we don't look like we're doing the same things as we were in the league. I saw a lot more variation during the league, and the first 50 minutes against Mayo for example was some of the best football I've seen us play in years. I saw support runners and little dinked balls into the corners, pulling defenses wider and great score taking as well as great decision making. That's all disappeared. We get to the oppositions 40, turn back, hand pass, turn back, hand pass, hand pass again, eventually it makes it's way to maybe Murphy or Thompson who try and make a burst, a shot under pressure, a terrible wide, or just turned over as they try another handpass out of the tackle. It was woeful. Nobody supporting. Runs inside being ignored. Shooting from all angles. How many wides did we end up with? At least 20? All the good aspects of our league has disappeared as well as our best performers from the league going off the boil. I can't really get my head around it, I felt Rory was doing good things during the league and now it seems it's all out the window. I'm normally one to take a breath and review things, sometimes it's just not your day and all that. But Saturday was truly one of the most demoralising and apathetic performances I've seen from Donegal in years. Very worrying.

JoeSoap (National) - 03/07/2017 11:51:32

Donegal Have The Friendliest Supporters In The Country - 7 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 16/07/2019 22:14:11

Nobody Shouted Stop - Our National Game Being Destroyed And Dumbed Down - 7 Like(s)
Typical hysteria. If it's not the Dubs money it's Ulster football. Get over yourselves.

JoeSoap (National) - 30/05/2022 09:49:05

2021 Hurling Championship - 6 Like(s)
I can't remember ever watching such a one-sided game, in any sport, and enjoying every second of it. Limerick are an absolute joy to watch. Comhghairdeas mór daoibh

JoeSoap (National) - 23/08/2021 10:05:06

Mayo V Dublin - 5 Like(s)
Some amount of doomsday merchants on here, my god. Personally as a massive fan of GAA, I can't help but admire this Dublin team. They play great football, they have great decision makers and leaders all over the park, they are decent people off the field and are humble and love the sport. What more could you want from your champions? They represent the very best of the GAA, the whole ethos we're supposed to laud, the Dubs have it in spades. They are a special, special group. If they do the five-in-a-row we couldn't ask for a better bunch to go into the history books.

JoeSoap (National) - 11/08/2019 11:37:36

Is Dublin's Success False, Tarnished And Bought? - 5 Like(s)
Dublin will always have natural advantages, the way GAA is set up in that you play for where you're from, the sponsorship, the natural hype that surrounds a successful Dublin setup - it's all part of it. It's only an issue for some people now that Jim Gavin has developed a culture within the senior set up with a special, special group of lads. He is bringing in one or two youngsters every year to keep it ticking over but I don't think you'll see players of the calibre of Kilkenny being replaced easily (I acknowledge he has probably another 10 years in him if he wants though!). You can point out injustices within the GAA, bad structures, poor supports for weaker counties, all those things can be true. But I don't think the deck is stacked in Dublin's favour any more than it has been since the inception of the GAA. Should the GAA do more to help weaker counties? 100%. Should the structures be looked at to give weaker counties a chance of success, a chance of competitive games deep into the summer? Yes, of course. That doesn't take away from this Dublin team. McGuinness showed in Donegal that you if you have the right attitude, the panel are in the right headspace, and yes of course you need some great natural talent as well, you can do it. I think this Dublin team are probably the best I've ever seen, but god I'd have loved to see them up against Kerry or Tyrone from the 00's, or even ourselves in 2012. There are great teams in the past that would match up to them, there are no doubt great teams coming down the road that will challenge and beat them. Dublin sorted out their structures and their coaching and they should be lauded for that. It's not a million years ago that you would love to get the Dubs in a quarter-final in Croke Park, the feeling that you could bully them or get the crowd to turn against them. The problem as I see it is there is a dearth of imagination and belief in a lot of counties that would be traditionally strong. That's a pity but nothing to do with Dublin or the odds being stacked in their favour. We have a young team in Donegal that is very exciting. I believe we have talent in our panel that matches up to anyone in the country. We just need a bit of extra physicality and a bit of nous on the sidelines and I think on our day we can beat anyone, even Dublin. There's no reason that Tyrone, Monaghan, Galway, Mayo, Kerry, even Kildare can't do the same. This is a special group in Dublin at the minute and I believe they'll do the five-in-a-row, but who knows? It's 15 on 15 at the end of the day. Bit of a ramble but in short I think MacKenna has a lot of great points about inequalities within the GAA but his obsession with the Dubs is just boring at this stage. Personally as a massive fan of GAA, I can't help but admire this Dublin team. They play great football, they have great decision makers and leaders all over the park, they are decent people off the field and are humble and love the sport. What more could you want from your champions? They represent the very best of the GAA, the whole ethos we're supposed to laud, the Dubs have it in spades.

JoeSoap (National) - 05/09/2018 12:31:54

Thank You TG4 - 5 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 29/07/2019 11:17:18

Disingenuous, Disgusting, Odious, Nasty!! - 5 Like(s)
He also said Shane Lowry "accepts fascism" because he didn't immediately condemn Rory McIlroy for playing a round of golf with Trump. He's done some great work in the past but he comes out with some awful tripe.

JoeSoap (National) - 22/07/2019 14:47:43

Dublin's Success Not Down To Money - GAA President - 5 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 25/07/2019 22:09:17

Financial Doping in the GAA - 5 Like(s)
First of all, some of the posts in here are pretty disappointing. I can understand Dublin fans being defensive regarding this, but let me just say that what the DCB and GAA people in Dublin have achieved over the last 10-15 years is phenomenal and they should be applauded. This is probably the greatest Dublin team ever at this stage and while of course funding helps, it's nothing without the dedicated people within Dublin GAA to implement strategies and plans and give up their own time to do so. Saying all of that, the current level of funding, the disparity with the other 31 counties, it can't continue. The GAA need to consider it's own ethos and commitment to promoting and growing the games on the entire island. That is clearly not the case at the minute. Again, Dublin came up with a plan, they applied for the grants and the funding - fair play to them. It is not Dublin's responsibility to give Wexford or Fermanagh or Cork a kick up the arse regarding their funding. However, it IS the GAA's responsibility to ensure the games are getting promoted and developed in ALL counties across the island. Is there any proactive initiatives from within the GAA to correct the imbalance in Leinster for example? Why can't the GAA take the model the DCB came up with and apply it island-wide? Obviously it won't work for all counties considering the different demographics and population spread, but it's a start. Why not provide extra funding to counties only on the condition they come up with a clear 5 year plan with achievable goals? And future funding to be dependent on the success of said plan? Why aren't the GAA giving funding for each county to have a games development co-ordinator for example? Could there not be some sort of link to performance over the past 5 years and funding going forward? How can Fermanagh ever be realistically expected to win an Ulster when they are starting from a disadvantaged position, and are never given extra funding or help over the likes of ourselves and Tyrone? What counties manage to fund raise on their own through sponsorship and donations should be that counties money to spend (but should of course be closely audited and monitored by the GAA), but what goes into Croke Park should be used to improve our games, promote our games and ensure kids are enjoying and want to continue playing our games. That is quite simply not happening at the minute. Counties are struggling big time. That's not Dublin's problem, but it is the GAA's. Small sidenote: A Dublin poster mentioned Dublin being a soccer city, and losing players to soccer. Donegal is one of the biggest soccer counties you can find - things have changed immeasurably in the last 5 years for us but I can tell you of at least 4 lads I know personally who were hugely talented GAA players and could easily have made county had they carried on, but made the switch to soccer and are now playing Sunday league stuff. That's just myself, I'm sure other Donegal folk could tell you of 2 or 3 from every parish with a similar story. I'm not saying funding is the reason for that - but pointing at other sports as a reason for more funding to stay competitive is a complete red herring as the implication is no other county has to compete with other sports.

JoeSoap (National) - 10/10/2016 13:04:28

Donegal V Armagh - 5 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 03/11/2020 17:48:49

Dublin's Success Not Down To Money - GAA President - 5 Like(s)
Well said @Whammo. A lot of the funding the likes of MacKenna go nuts about is based on one key thing - getting kids playing our games. It's what the GAA is all about. I do think the GAA should do more to help weaker counties, maybe something like puting structures in place similar to the brilliant job the DCB have done in the past 20 years. But that's nothing to do with funding for Dublin, just in the spirit of competition it's something I'd like to see.

JoeSoap (National) - 25/07/2019 16:48:17

Armagh Vs Galway - 5 Like(s)

JoeSoap (National) - 26/06/2022 15:47:40

The Donegal/Armagh Row - 5 Like(s)
In the footage I have seen that I can't link here I'm afraid, there is clear evidence of Donegal players going after one Armagh lad and tickling him even tough he was shouting that he was insanely ticklish. It was horrible behaviour and brought shame on the county jersey - luckily they were all wearing bibs, without numbers no less

JoeSoap (National) - 30/03/2022 15:38:02

Kerry V Dublin - 4 Like(s)
I really thought yous would have to be near perfect in front of goal in order to push Dublin all the way, the fact you weren't will be a big plus on the training ground over the next two weeks surely. Everyone is talking about the red card and Dublin being off colour, well jesus I thought Kerry should've been 5 up before the red card! Would JOD maybe get onto the 26 the next day? Although your bench was fantastic in fairness. And another 2 weeks training in the legs for Jack Barry. I'd be very optimistic if I was from Kerry. You showed yesterday what I've thought all year, this is a great Dublin team but they're not invincible! Fair play to your defence, Morley was fantastic.

JoeSoap (Kerry) - 02/09/2019 12:15:39

Cavan V Donegal - 4 Like(s)
Comhghairdeas mór to all in Cavan. There was only one winner there today, the belief drained out of us and the tackling from your boys was just demonic. And the ref against yous as well. Maith sibh, I hope Cavan football can build on this, a wonderful traditional county.

JoeSoap (Cavan) - 22/11/2020 17:44:13

Mayo V Tyrone All-Ireland Football Final - 4 Like(s)
McQuillan is an awful selection for this match and I am sorry to say I have absolutely zero doubt that we will be talking about his decisions at the end of it all unfortunately. He was absolutely atrocious in the Donegal Tyrone match earlier this year, you know it's bad when both sets of supporters aren't complaining about the end result, but are complaining about the ref!

JoeSoap (National) - 04/09/2021 13:54:10