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Fair Play Diarmuid Connolly - 6 Like(s)
Credit where credit is due. Thought he was immense on sunday considering he hadn't played in months. He received a lot of criticism after the Carlow game but he accepted his ban and obviously kept working hard to ensure he was in the form required when called upon. Connolly has got a tough time of it over the years and maybe rightly so at times but he came good yet again when needed. I think it's a shame he hasn't received more personal accolades although he still has a few years left (Think he only has 2 all stars) but when this great Dublin team is talked about in the years to come I think he'll be up there with Cluxton as one of the all time Dublin greats.
Mobot (National) - 19/09/2017 13:51:04
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Dublin's Success Not Down To Money - GAA President - 5 Like(s)
Replying To clondalkindub: "Gerry nearly all our team had parents or relations who played county or sports at a top level , these guys were going to make it no matter what. Money has nothing got to do with it. Our we not allowed have a great team like Kerry and Kilkenny have?" I agree with this. The majority of this Dublin panel would have come through anyways. Dublin have always been a top team but the fact an extra special golden generation have come through in the last decade have brought them to a level never seen before. Their rise can also be put down to great management teams under Pat Gilroy and Jim Gavin who both have brought levels of professionalism that wasn't there before.
That said even Dublin supporters much look at the financial support Dublin GAA get compared to other counties and cringe. Then you look at little things at how Dublin get to use Croke Park as a home venue and play more games there than any other team and you wonder why give them any sort of advantage that they don't even need. I look at my own county, who I'd consider a top 8 team, and they have played in Croke Park 3 times in the last 2 years and twice was against Dublin. How many times have Dublin played in Croke Park in the last 2 years not including all ireland semi finals and finals?
This is a great Dublin team, possibly the best of all time. They don't need advantages over other counties but for some reason they get them. Do I think these advantages make a huge difference? Probably not to this particular Dublin team but we often hear it's up to the other counties to close the gap and get their own house in order but if the current financial backing of Dublin GAA remains as is and the Croke Park issue remains unchanged then Dublin will always have an advantage over others and it will be impossible to close gaps. They might lose the odd all ireland but they won't lose too many.
Mobot (National) - 13/06/2019 10:24:39
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There is no magic bullet. - 4 Like(s)
As I said before I'd be all for a change in managment if that happens because over his 3 years in charge Rory doesn't look like a person that learns form any mistakes made and doesn't seem open to change. That said I don't agree with alot of what is being posted here in the last week. Some posters have mentioned that the current panel of players and Odhran MacNiallis speak highly of Rory only because they don't want to upset him and not be part of the panel in the future.....I can't imagine players like Michael Murphy and Ryan McHugh want to be wasting their time playing for a manager they don't believe in and these lads have played under the best. Posters blaming Rory for players being no longer part of the current set up is wrong. I'm pretty sure any player not involved decided upon themselves not to be part of the panel and weren't dropped or thrown off it. Rory has been quoted on many ocassions that the door was open to players who opted out in the past like Odrhan, Leo and Anthony when they dropped out. Rory even managed to convince Rory Kavanagh out of retirement and also got Odhran to delay his decision in taking a year out by a year. Rory has many weaknesses but gaining respect from his players doesn't seem to be one of them. It would be easy for the players to give a vote of no confidence to Rory staying on now and that might well happen but if it doesn't I don't think any of us are in a position to say he isn't respected and has lost the dressing room etc.
Mobot (Donegal) - 28/07/2017 15:52:41
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NFL Division 1 - 4 Like(s)
Replying To sligo joe: "Same Michael Murphy that gave Fenton a closed fist shot to the jaw, all-ireland q/f 2016, when Dublin were out the gate, mis-timed shoulder???" Murphy definitely plays the game on the edge at times. The Fenton incident you refer to was a red card challenge for me and there was also a bordeline one on Connolly back in 2014 when he caught him with a closed fist in the gut. Unlike a lot of Dublin supporters us Donegal supporters aren't afraid to admit when our players cross a line from time to time. You lads never like to admit it when a Dublin player may have done wrong and your go to defence is to point out a wrong doing from an opposition player and completely deflect. For what it's worth I think Donegal lack a John Small type player in our team and outside a few experienced players our team is too nice at the moment. Stephen McMenamin and McFadden Ferry have that dog in them so hope they can develop that because if the top team are getting away with those tactics we need to adapt them too. Our 2012 team had a few of them and that helped us get over the line.
Mobot (National) - 24/02/2020 15:16:41
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Donegal V Cavan. Ulster Final. 2019- - 4 Like(s)
Replying To westcavankid: "4 days to go boys. Anyone any idea when the teams are named, Friday night I presume? Do you expect to see many changes from the starting line ups in the semis and who do we see as the match ups across the field?
Anyway I'm going to lay out my prediction and as much as my heart says Cavan my head strongly says Donegal. All I hope is our boys put in a performance.
Donegal by 4." I would think Donegal would go with the same 15 from the start as what started v Tyrone. Jason McGee's injury didn't sound that serious so I suppose it just depends on how much training he got in the last 2 weeks. If he's not 100% then I'd imagine Thompson will be in from the start. Bonner and his management team threw a few surprise late changes before throw in with Niall O'Donnell and Eoin McHugh coming in so as a previous poster mentioned it wouldn't be a massive shock if young Gallen came into the team. Cavan wouldn't expect this and he could cause damage in the early stages of the game if he does start. I can see Niall O'Donnell having a big game if he keeps his place. Cavan will be more concerned with other star players in the Donegal team and Niall is capable of scoring heavily if given space and has 2 good feet. He also scored 2-10 in an under 20 game v Cavan last year so the sight of a Cavan jersey might give him some confidence to go out and put in a coming of age performance.
There is no doubt that Cavan are a team on the up and they have a top manager in Mickey Graham. It will be interesting to see how he sets them up on Sunday. Kickouts will be huge as they always seem to be now and I think based on what I've seen from both teams I'd give Donegal the edge in this dept and if they get on top here I think it will be very difficult for Cavan to win this game. Donegal are really good in possession and they've shown in the 2 games they've played that they can attack any gaps in the opposition's defense at speed or if a team gets numbers back against them they have shown a lot of patience to work an opening. They also have a variety of different scorers so are not heavily reliant on one or two players to do the bulk of the scoring like Monaghan were when playing Cavan in earlier rounds.
I think this game will show us where Donegal are at. It was great to beat a top team like Tyrone but now they need to back it up. I can see Cavan hanging in this game for 45/50 mins but I think Donegal will eventually get on top and I also think Donegal have the stronger bench to finish the game out. I think/hope Donegal win this one by 5 to 10 points. If I'm wrong, I will be back on here apologising to Cavan supporters.
Mobot (National) - 19/06/2019 16:14:18
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Rules - Here We Go Again ! - 4 Like(s)
Replying To omahant: "https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/bohan-believes-fourpoint-goals-are-worth-trialling-37643235.html
Another shot from the hip, perhaps ? Why can't we 'unfreeze' the game by SIMPLY calling for the defensive team in possession of the ball to make a required '2-line kick' from any ONE of the following THREE options -
a) from behind OWN 20 to beyond OWN 45 (incl kick outs from the 20);
b) from behind OWN 45 to beyond OWN 65; or
c) from behind OWN 65 to beyond THEIR 65.
Once past THEIR 65, the attacking team cannot play the ball backwards across THEIR 65.
That's it - no restrictions on hand passess - no need for the mark - but to keep the game moving, teams have a liberal 30 seconds to cross THEIR 65 - so allow back passes too within that time.
What do you think ?" Serious question, have you ever actually played the game? The suggestions keep getting worse
Mobot (National) - 21/12/2018 14:02:07
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The Dubs, The Monies & The Prejudices - 4 Like(s)
Replying To ConnollyDub: "Knew the culchies would be upset by this ;)
Anyway one thing I've noticed on here is the amount of kerry posters that constantly moan and try to discredit this teams achievements.
The big bad dubs are here to stay lads the GAA is finished bla bla bla... Doomsday merchants.
You can just tell they are hurting big time. They can't stand this Dublin teams success!! Wasn't a peep out of them when we were winning nothing. Sure they loved us... And why wouldn't they... Considering we are their biggest rival in GAA yet failed to beat them in championship football in 30 years. Along comes a golden generation of Dublin footballers and they haven't beaten us this decade... So of course it must be the money. Just like the excuses they rolled out when they couldn't get a win over Tyrone in the noughties, too rough that Tyrone side they said. Very sore losers that lot ;)" Success of a team should be taken out of this debate. I'm sure when Kerry were completely dominant a lot of GAA supporters from outside the county were bored and fed up of them winning just as people outside of Dublin are now. That's a natural feeling to have when one team is so far ahead of the rest. It also happens within counties when you have dominant clubs winning several championships in a row.
Usually in these scenarios, the dominate team might have some advantages over others and the main one usually is they simply have the best players of that particular era. Other advantages can be things like population and facilities available to that team but that has always been the case up and down the country and not much can be done about it except maybe helping out the less successful clubs and counties with their facilities and a lot of this work has been and is going on.
A lot of Dublin supporters point to previous eras of dominance from other teams like Kerry and Kilkenny etc and say that there wasn't the same begrudgery shown to those teams as Dublin get now and that might well be true but no one loved those teams outside of those counties. Dublin supporters also say that people from outside Dublin are only complaining about the money side of things because of their success but as I said at the start of this post if you take success out of it, do you think everyone would be okay with the funding figures that have been revealed in recent times? The fact Dublin are successful definitely adds fuel to the fire but it's something that would cause a huge issue no matter what.
I believe this Dublin team would be there without the additional funding they get and I don't hate this team because of that. I dislike them because they are so good and if anyone was to beat them I'd be delighted. I've mentioned on other threads that this particular Dublin team have small advantages over other teams and the main one is their use of Croke Park. I know it's out of their control but when you look at how the GAA have designed certain things to Dublin's advantage and then you throw the funding and the sponsorship deals on top of that then it's hard to say it's not played a small part on their success. Yes, this is one of the greatest groups of players ever to have come through but as pointed out by a previous poster some of Dublin's victories in all ireland finals over the last 4 years have been quite small and when it comes down to fine margins like that then you would have to ask do those small advantages add up to 1 win?
Mobot (National) - 28/06/2019 11:34:35
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Kerry V Tyrone - 4 Like(s)
Replying To browncows: "I thought the better team won, but the Ref watched Harte being fouled throughout the game and ignored it. The Ref has always been poor (like a few more)" It was comical at times alright. There was one particular incident just before half time when Harte was trying to run by O'Sullivan and was being held back and both players were no more than 2 yards away from Deegan and he just looked at them and turned away. O'Sullivan must of thought he could get away with anything at that stage.
Mobot (National) - 12/08/2019 12:15:37
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NFL Division 2 - 4 Like(s)
Replying To royaldunne: "Meath best player this year, James mcentee looks likely to miss cork game through injury, huge loss to Meath." Who mentioned excuses?
Mobot (National) - 21/02/2019 14:11:15
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Donegal v Longford - 3 Like(s)
Replying To panamasam: "Eh how is it disrespectful? And who actually said anything about the lad bar fact he does not want to be considered for selection." I agree with TRS's post here. There has been several posts putting players that have made themselves unavailable this year in the same bracket. I'm pretty sure Odhran said he needed some time out for personal reasons and had absolutely nothing to do with the management yet this doesn't stop people saying that both Leo and Odhran have left the panel because of Rory Gallagher.
Mobot (Donegal) - 03/07/2017 09:22:37
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NFL Division 1 - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Joxer: "Did you not see the live Dublin Mayo match half time analysis? Brolly led the witch-hunt on Small alleging that he dived when clothes lined by the Mayo player. In fairness to Tomas O'Se he called it, a high dangerous tackle. If the HT performance during the Mayo Dublin match was not vilification then I don't know what is. So Small gets his fair share of it, some justified some not perhaps but he's seen the line more times than any player I can remember in a blue shirt and I'd be including Keith Barr and Eamon Heary in that number." He gets sent off so much because of the way he plays. Do you think he deserved to last until the 74th min on Sat night for example? Should of been black carded just before half time for a deliberate pull down right in front of the linesman...you have to wonder what these officials be looking at.. He was hanging off Murphy for the majority of the game and then there was the Ryan McHugh incident when he pretended it was an accidental clash but saw a chance to take out one of Donegal's main men and you have to remember he was already on a yellow card. The point I'm making by the time he does get sent off it's well overdue but as you said earlier I'd love him in the Donegal team. The McGee brothers done plenty of this sort of work for us in the past but I think because Neil has been around so long now I don't think he can get away with as much as he used to but he still tries.
Mobot (National) - 25/02/2020 09:30:50
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Loughnane tears into Galway - 3 Like(s)
Replying To SamandLiamSoon: "How about we just take 2015 as an example of Joe and his reputation. JC ended 2015 with a total of 5-55. Top scorer overall in the championship. Second top scorer from play. His 1-15 scored against Laois was the joint highest individual tally in one game along with Seamus Callanan. And yet no All Star. JC is set to such a high standard I don't know if anyone could live up to it. And the strangest part of it all is JC was poor in 2015. And that's even by his own admission. That's how good he is. And no Loughnane didn't see him up close and personal for two years because JC wouldn't play for him straight out of minor." I don't claim to know that much about hurling but anytime I'm watching Galway I always find myself wanting Canning to play well. The reason being if he has an off day he seems to get alot of critism even if he still has ended the game with a big score tally. As you said he has set the standard so high that people expect too much from him all of the time. I couldn't believe he didn't get an all star last year. Usually the top scorer is guaranteed and all star. I sometimes see comparisons between Joe Canning and Michael Murphy in football. People always want more from them, they want to see them play FF for longer, nowadays they have to play the perfect game to get a motm award or any award for that matter, they are alot younger than some people think and I don't they'll will be fully appreciated until they are retired. I just hope Canning can win an All Ireland which he deserves!
Mobot (National) - 08/07/2016 15:37:53
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Donegal v Tyrone - 3 Like(s)
Donegal are past it, too many miles on the clock. Won't have the legs for Tyrone, they'll never be able to stop Harte, Donnelly and McCann etc.etc.
It's amazing how many times I've heard this sort of stuff over the last few days and no doubt it will continue on up to throw in on sunday week. Now, I know I'm probably biased but I cannot understand why Donegal continuely get written off as past their best. They have over an 80% win rate in championship matches since 2011 so are used to winning big games. I would admit that some parts of their game (defensive side) isn't a good as it was a few years ago but I would also argue that there are aspects of their game that has improved and I actually think that there is more speed in this Donegal team that in previous years. 6 or 7 new faces have been introduced into the side since 2012 and that will continue to happen over the next few years because the quality is there. My point is that Donegal are going nowhere and will continue to challenge for honours but they will probably continue to get written off.
In relation to the upcoming game itself Tyrone are a very good side and are improving all the time. I love their style of play. It's going to be an intriging battle and it's going to be so interesting to see some of the match ups but ironically I think Donegal's experienced players will get them over the line. Murphy will be fitter and sharper come the game, Rory Kavanagh is getting back to his best and Karl Lacey is still one of the best readers of the game. They are a proud bunch of players and I'd imagine they will use things like the match odds of 2/1 for them to win the match as huge motivation. I wouldn't of been surprised if Tyrone or Donegal for that matter were slight favourites but I can't figure why Tyrone are 1/2 favs!! Put it this way, imagine Cork go on a run in the qualifiers and lose out in the all ireland semi final and go on to win Divison 2 in the league next year. Would they be 1/2 favs against Kerry in the Munster Final next year? Doubt it! Not having a go at Tyrone by the way, I do rate them really highly and wouldn't be surpised if they beat Donegal but I also rate Donegal highly.
Mobot (National) - 07/07/2016 17:22:37
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Simple Rule Change to curb blanket defences - 3 Like(s)
Averge points per game from 1996 and 2016:
1996 Ulster Championship: 26.3
2016 Ulster Championship: 33.4
1996 Munster Championship: 30.6
2016 Munster Championship: 38.0
1996 Leinster Championship:30.9
2016 Leinster Championship:35.7
1996 Connacht Championship:29.2
2016 Connacht Championship:34.3
The average winning margin is slightly up and down depending on which province you're looking at but the total average scores were quite a bit higher in 2016 as you can see. This despite football being so open in the 90's compared to ultra defensive systems we see applied today......
I'm not going to say that modern day football is a better game to watch than it was in the 90's because it's probably not but I think there's no doubt that football is played at a higher level now than before. Skill levels are much higher now to the extent that almost any player on the team is capable of taking a score. Teams used to be heavily reliant on 2 or 3 players to get their bulk of their scores and although teams still rely on their main men to step up the days of getting 1-5 etc. from play in big games are gone. Teams now need to have around 8 different scorers to win a match. Fitness and condtioning levels have also increased and the game has also evolved tactically and while there is a heavy emphasis on defence there is also an equal emphasis put on to retaining possession and not giving the ball away cheaply. This is also a factor which leads to situations where a team could have possession of the ball for well over a minute without really making any real progress but they're trained to be patient and won't give in to cries of the crowd "to kick the fu**ing thing in". Although it's still an amateur sport it is treated professionally by the modern day managers and players. That is the reason the chances of a shock result has become almost impossible as the top teams are so well drilled and know exactly their role. Dublin are the best example of this as they have system and process they stick to and you often hear their players talk about this. If Dean Rock has a bad day at the office it doesn't effect them, if Connolly picks up a black card.. its doesn't effect them. The next man will pick up the slack. They just stick to the process.
The game in the 90's was a simpler game. There were some brillant games and there were also plenty of poor ones but defending wasn't a priorty and neither was retaining the ball. This meant there were alot of individual battles all over the field which don't really exist anymore. If a key player didn't show up on the day it was curtains for the team involved because there was probably no plan/system in place to fall back on. No rule changes will ever bring back the game from the 90's as too much work goes on behind the scenes by management looking for new ideas to try and gain an advantage.
I can see why people prefer the game from 20 years ago but I personally think it's important to move on with the times and embrace the modern game. Last year's Ulster final was a horrible game of football but that doesn't mean that I'm not excited about the upcoming ulster semi final between the same 2 teams. It may not be like the 90's in terms of individual match ups but I'm curious about who for Donegal is going to pick up Peter Harte, Cavanagh and Donnelly etc and I'm sure Tyrone supporters are wondering which Tyrone player will be assigned to deal with Ryan McHugh and Murphy etc. I think the bigger issue is the growing gap between the top 6-8 teams to the rest more so than blanket defenses. All the top teams know how to set up defensively but they all can attack as well. Just look back at this years league. Theres wasn't too much talk of getting rid of blanket defenses then because each divison was competive and we were treated to some very good games of football as well as some poor ones but in whole it was an exciting league campaign.
Mobot (National) - 31/05/2017 17:20:25
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Bubbles O'Dwyer Swearing - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Lockjaw: "Don't get me wrong. I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to a bit of swearing. The wife has threatened a swear jar introduction in the past!
I appreciate that men are men, adrenaline will be pumping etc. But even so, a bit of decorum wouldn't have gone amiss. It did sound forced to me rather than an inadvertent slip of the tongue. But listen - who cares really, let's not get silly here." I would have to agree with you. It wasn't the actual swear word that annoyed me in the interview, it was the manner in which he used it and the manner of his whole interview in general. It didn't seem like a slip of the tongue because if it was accidental I'm sure he would of attempted to apologise or say whoops or something. You could tell last year when Glynn from Galway let something slip he panicked and it definitely seemed like a genuine slip of the tongue. O'Dwyer teammates and manger all gave great interviews and came across really well but O'Dwyer, even taking the swear word out of it, came across as a bit of a so and so. The only thing I can think of is that he must have a lot of haters and had planned to vent his fustration to the whole of Ireland if given the chance but I don't think he went up in any ones estimations as a result of doing so.
Mobot (National) - 05/09/2016 16:51:45
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Would AOS or COC be a Dublin regular? - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Liamwalkinstown: "Genuine question, not shit stirring, just want genuine opinions
Would either AOS or COC get game time, and I mean 50 mins a game kinda game time for Dublin?
I honestly dont think so.
AOS certainly wouldn't make the Dubs MF, would he make it as our 11? Again, all players fit, not for me. Dubs half forward line all players fit would be
Connolly Kilkenny Mannion, I dont see him getting in there
As for COC, up to now his greatest threat has been his free taking, and that has waned this year significantly. Deano is a better free taker and as good if not a better footballer. No way after that that he dislodges Con. So would he take the last spot over Andrews/Kmc/Brogan et al....again, not for me.
As I said, this is not a go at them, don't go taking it as a slight, its a genuine question.
Thanks" This is a bit of a silly thread. We all know Dublin have the best panel of players and doing 3 in a row proves this but why the need to question players who continuously run Dublin so close? Enjoy your own team without worrying about others. Any team that has the luxury of starting an All Ireland final without Connolly, Brogan, Kevin Mc, MDMA and Paul Flynn among others shouldn't really be too concerned if players from other counties make their starting 15 or not.
Mobot (National) - 20/09/2017 15:49:54
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Dublin's Success Not Down To Money - GAA President - 3 Like(s)
Replying To Joxer: "Yes. I think no doubt the financial injections have helped to some degree but certainly not converting directly to success. That's down to organisation and hard work largely. Home advantage maybe against weaker teams but at business end how many times has Lee Keegan, Michael Murphy, Peter Harte, any number of Kerry players played there? It's no away ground for them, in fact it probably spurs them on more than meeting Dublin in Portlaoise. Population? Meh. All relative when you compare across counties. Always been like that and always will be in "geographical sport". Ireland v Gibraltar, Brazil v Croatia in soccer." First off, fair play on giving an honest answer. I do agree that the money needs to be used wisely and Dublin have orgainsed a great system and use of the cash but I suppose other counties would like to have a similar chance.
I disagree on the use of croke park. I do feel this does give Dublin an unfair advantage. And as I said earlier an advantage they don't need. The example of players you gave from other counties are already made stars of the game and they could be asked to played anywhere and would perform just like most of the Dublin team would. It's players who are potential stars in the making playing in their first or second season is where the disadvantage for players from other counties starts. Using my own County as an example, Donegal played Dublin in the super 8's. Shaun Patton playing his first season in goals was making his first appearance in Croke Park that day. He had been immpecable with his kickouts all season until that game and he didn't have the best day but I'm sure that experience will stand to him if Donegal make croke park this season. He wasn't the only player making his first appearance for Donegal in Croke Park and a few of them like Patton let their nerves get the better of them. Contrast that with man of the match on the day Brian Howard for Dublin. Croke park wasn't as a big a factor for Howard as he had already had at least half of dozen games under his belt in Croker. It takes players from other counties longer to get comfortable playing in HQ compared to Dublin players and that for me can be worth a few extra scores to them. It's not Dublin's fault and they would play were asked but it's definitely an unintentional advantage created by the Gaa.
Mobot (National) - 13/06/2019 21:22:20
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You Couldn't Pay Me To Go And Watch A Game Of Football - 3 Like(s)
Replying To GeniusGerry: "Was about to say the same thing I remember that thread the conclusion was that attendances fell sharply for about a decade before a small bounce in 2016.
To say there are more people attending matches than ever is just not true there has been an alarming drop off for some time." If the media continue to focus the bulk of their analysis to poor parts of a game or poor matches and not give good games and great passages of matches the same attention then this thread may continue. There is no way RTE should ever have 2 of Brolly, Spillane or O'Rourke in the same studio for a game again as they all sing of the same football is dead hyme sheet no matter what the game brings. I for one am delighted Michael Lyster has retired and is finished because he didn't help the thing with his line of questioning and he used to have a habit a poking fun at certain matches too.
I hope there is more than a week between the last round of the super 8's to the all ireland semi finals in 2019 as well because this had a massive impact on attendances. Very hard to expect supporters to travel to so many games in such a short space of time. As for the neutral rounds of games in croke park....these need to be brought to smaller venues going forward. Croke Park should be only used for winner take all games.
Mobot (National) - 21/12/2018 13:51:41
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Return of attacking football - 3 Like(s)
Replying To TheUsername: "It's just my impression is all, I think you could count on one hand teams that really try to win a game and attack.
Not to pick individual counties but if you look at relative success I wouldn't define Donegal, Tyrone, Kerry or Mayo ( from last year on) as attacking teams.
I admire teams like Kildare, Meath, Roscommon who actually come out and have a go.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with playing defensive/counter attacking football, it's pragmatic and successful, I just don't enjoy watching it, or watching it being broken down.
I do think many counties are at a cross roads, in terms of identity and philosphey and I do wonder will this lead to problems in the future. For example Mayo went from a very swashbuckiling team to a very defensive team, similarly Kerry have gone for a very defensive structure, the last Time I saw them in the semi last year, I was shocked that a Kerry team set up so defensively against Dublin in Croke park, I would have thought that unthinkable.
That's not a criticism of a defensive approach it's just an observaion, opinion and an analysis, probably one others will disagree with and it's not knocking, if anything a defensive approach has proved more successful than an attacking one. I just find it startling that a lot of counties have moved away from their traditional footballing philospheys and identities, I wonder what or if any long term MPs that that will have.
I was thinking after reading this thread today of that time not long ago, when Dublin got hammered every August, despite decades of a lack of success they never changed that philosphey of attacking creative football and having ago, it's part of Dublins identity even when and will again get hammered, maybe they should have gone defensive. So I find the subject and change in other counties fascinating." I understand what you're saying in this post but I'm not sure if I agree completely regarding Dublin. I honestly thought Dublin in 2011 were quite a defensive team because Pat Gilroy realised that they needed to be strong defensively to win an All Ireland after losing to Cork the year previous in a great attacking game of football at semi stage. I think the All Ireland semi final in 2011 is a great example of this. I would obviously hold Donegal largely to blame for the game that unfolded that day but there were 2 very defensive teams in action that day and both teams had 13/14 men behind the ball for large periods of the match. Jim Gavin came in and definitely brought a more attacking edge to Dublin's play and played some brilliant attacking football in both 2013 and 2014 until they played into Jim McGuinness's hand and got beaten by counter attacking football. Jim Gavin being the great manager he is made tactical adjustments for 2015 and ever since then Dublin have had an excellent defensive structure married with good attacking play. I honestly don't think the top teams like Dublin, Mayo and Kerry (and even Tyrone) play that differently from one another. Dublin just have a better group of players at the moment which is giving them the edge over their rivals but if Dublin were to revert to the all out attack approach of 2014 I don't think they would make it beyond the semi final stage. The game has moved on alot in recent years. A team without a good defensive game plan won't be collecting any major silverware.
Mobot (National) - 15/02/2017 12:25:44
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Kerry V Tyrone - 3 Like(s)
Replying To KingdomBoy1: "And what did mcminamin do to Clifford a few weeks ago? He wasn't interested in the ball what so ever only in keeping Clifford away from it.
I'm not complaining by the way as every team does it.
As for the reff, I and many Kerry fans around me thought that deegan was screewing us big time then I come on here and read yer comments and I'm thinking what the fook, but then again I suppose being Kerry fans we were being a little bit biased.
Now I'm off to bed only just in the door and il watch the game back tomorrow at some stage." It's funny I was watching the game yesterday and it was amazing to see what Tom O'Sullivan was getting away with off the ball on Harte. You say you're not complaining about McMenamin on Clifford from a few weeks ago, well, there was a lot of Kerry moaning after the Donegal game about how Clifford and O'Se were treated off the ball. So much so that the sunday game panel comprised of 2 Kerry men felt the need to show incidents were Donegal players had crossed the line on a couple of occasions. That would of been fair enough had they evened it up and showed Enright hanging off Murphy and O'Sullivan pulling and dragging Brennan all over the field. It seems it's okay when Kerry apply these tactics to others but once other teams and especially Ulster teams lay a hand on their precious young forwards it's highlighted as much as possible by Kerry supporters but more worryingly Kerry pundits working for the national media!
Mobot (National) - 12/08/2019 12:11:23
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