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Donegal GAA thread

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Going to county matches is only a small part of being a stakeholder in Donegal GAA. The bread and butter stuff of coaching the kids, organising blitzes, selling the club lotto tickets etc is more important than traipsing to Clones to watch a team which if we're being honest here, was a beaten docket under current management."
You're correct there, without the GAA volunteers (stakeholders) all over the county (and every other county too) who give many hours of their time every week of every year working in the heart of GAA clubs there would be no county teams to follow. Those people are the true Donegal GAA supporters

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 633 - 19/07/2022 11:41:15    2432894

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Do club delegates accurately report everything back though? I'd have my doubts.
Having professional journalists there ensures that nothing is missed and the general public is kept abreast of all developments. Like it or not rorysboys we are all stakeholders in the well being of Donegal GAA as well."
If a club don't send a delegate that can't report back correctly then that's the club's challenge. I'm not privy to the ins and outs of various county board meetings and how sensitive the various meetings are. I wouldn't take a journalists opinion as gospel though. He mentioned local journalists are not into sensationalism the way the national media are but they are there for a story and that's the job of a professional journalist and that's not necessarily in the interests of Donegal gaa. If someone wants to bring up or challenge things at a meeting and there's a journalist in the corner then many will be less likely to bring it up because they will be reported on in the paper. Also I wonder why did the ban come in the first place. Did a journalist report something incorrectly or sensationalise something that broke a certain level of trust that has to exist.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 815 - 19/07/2022 11:45:24    2432898

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Replying To greenfan:  "You're correct there, without the GAA volunteers (stakeholders) all over the county (and every other county too) who give many hours of their time every week of every year working in the heart of GAA clubs there would be no county teams to follow. Those people are the true Donegal GAA supporters"
No there not, there true club supporters. Big difference. The true Donegal gaa supporters are both.. suppose that's wrong too.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2615 - 19/07/2022 11:49:18    2432899

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Replying To rorysboys:  "We all help out our clubs well I hope most of yous do. A lot of yous have plenty of opinions on the Donegal team, yet you say a lot more important things than going to clones to watch as you say a beaten docket under current management.
Your the last person I expected to come out with tripe like that. Just sums most of yous up, we'll only go to clones if we have a good team. As I said before most of yous deserve nothing and I'm delighted mgt and players have taken the stance they have.. don't waste your time attacking me lads I'm sure yous could be out selling lotto s and coaching a few kids. Sure it's only the senior team and nobody cares yet we can talk plenty about it."
Ah here listen I've probably attended more Donegal games than you've had hot dinners so don't be giving me that.
Not that it's yours or anyone else's business but I had a family commitment down the country that weekend that made it impossible for me to get to Clones.

And anyway - like it or not that's just the way things are. When Derry were in the wilderness did their fans attend games in their droves? Galway? Bandwagon support isn't just applicable to Donegal you know. In an ideal world we'd sell out our allocation for every single game. But in reality, things have gone stale. It's unfortunate for Declan who has been a magnificent Donegal GAA servant over the years but people are voting with their feet. You also have to factor in the current cost of living. Financially it's getting more and more prohibitive to attend each and every game. Not everything is as black and white as you're trying to make out.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9762 - 19/07/2022 12:01:31    2432903

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Replying To rorysboys:  "No there not, there true club supporters. Big difference. The true Donegal gaa supporters are both.. suppose that's wrong too."
think what u want, I'm not wasting my energy getting into a pointless argument with you on an online forum. Without the people running the clubs and promoting the games in parishes all over the county there would be no county teams. Plenty people would like to be at county games but don't have the luxury of attending those games for many different reasons, (emigration, ill health, financial constraints etc etc). . It's not fair to just label them as just 'club supporters' and say that they're not 'True Donegal Supporters'. Their support for their county is as strong as the people sitting in the stands in Clones or Ballybofey at games, they just might not be in a position to be there for games.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 633 - 19/07/2022 12:07:34    2432906

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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32:  "If a club don't send a delegate that can't report back correctly then that's the club's challenge. I'm not privy to the ins and outs of various county board meetings and how sensitive the various meetings are. I wouldn't take a journalists opinion as gospel though. He mentioned local journalists are not into sensationalism the way the national media are but they are there for a story and that's the job of a professional journalist and that's not necessarily in the interests of Donegal gaa. If someone wants to bring up or challenge things at a meeting and there's a journalist in the corner then many will be less likely to bring it up because they will be reported on in the paper. Also I wonder why did the ban come in the first place. Did a journalist report something incorrectly or sensationalise something that broke a certain level of trust that has to exist."
Maybe so, but when all is said and done it's a game consisting of 30 lads chasing a leather ball around a field. There are way more important things in life going on at the minute. Cost of living, MICA crisis, climate change, the war in Ukraine take your pick. Look we all love our GAA and I'm as guilty as anyone of over emphasising its importance, just ask the wife! But this secrecy, paranoia almost is not a good thing.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9762 - 19/07/2022 12:08:27    2432907

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Replying To greenfan:  "think what u want, I'm not wasting my energy getting into a pointless argument with you on an online forum. Without the people running the clubs and promoting the games in parishes all over the county there would be no county teams. Plenty people would like to be at county games but don't have the luxury of attending those games for many different reasons, (emigration, ill health, financial constraints etc etc). . It's not fair to just label them as just 'club supporters' and say that they're not 'True Donegal Supporters'. Their support for their county is as strong as the people sitting in the stands in Clones or Ballybofey at games, they just might not be in a position to be there for games."
Honestly your last few lines baffle me. How the hell can people s support for the county team be as strong sitting at home as it is being at the game.. ask the players and they might tell you differently. Mind boggling

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2615 - 19/07/2022 16:11:30    2432974

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Bonner talking to media after meeting tomorrow night. What will yous have to gave out about then.??

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2615 - 19/07/2022 16:57:01    2432989

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Bonner talking to media after meeting tomorrow night. What will yous have to gave out about then.??"
You spend most of the time giving out about the majority of Donegal fans and many other things so you're really one to talk.

Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1411 - 19/07/2022 19:04:17    2433008

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Replying To Lockjaw:  "Maybe so, but when all is said and done it's a game consisting of 30 lads chasing a leather ball around a field. There are way more important things in life going on at the minute. Cost of living, MICA crisis, climate change, the war in Ukraine take your pick. Look we all love our GAA and I'm as guilty as anyone of over emphasising its importance, just ask the wife! But this secrecy, paranoia almost is not a good thing."
You're right there are more important things in life so why do folks need to get so worked up about the donegal gaa football manager. Is the perceived paranoia and secrecy not more a reflection of the general donegal gaa public than anything else. The due process it seems is for the manager to present at the next county meeting which he is doing. Maybe he goes or maybe he stays but just wait for the due process. If he didn't want to speak to the media or make his intentions clear before the meeting so what. As you say there are more important things going on.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 815 - 19/07/2022 19:37:02    2433011

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Honestly your last few lines baffle me. How the hell can people s support for the county team be as strong sitting at home as it is being at the game.. ask the players and they might tell you differently. Mind boggling"
Just wondering why you choose to pick an argument with pretty much everyone on this forum. Fair enough there are some posters I've not much problem you having it out with them. They have little positive or constructive to say about anything and seem to lambast every coach that ever existed (bar Jim mcguinness). If you are to take test view there would be no coaches available to do anything. The gap certainly wouldn't be filled by the folks that are always criticising on here.

With that said the majority are very reasonable and why the need to take pucks off them. I agree about the support this year. I was disappointed by being outnumbered by Armagh in Letterkenny and ballybofey and then the "where's wally" amount of support in clones against them. Declan Bonner, Michael murphy and the team that given huge joy to donegal through the years deserved better than that. The overall support in donegal is fickle. In saying that people can't get matches for whatever reason and it's not fair to criticise everyone.

I also get your point on supporters being both club and county but why make it so crudely and have such a go at a very genuine poster. And realistically is there really any club coaches and volunteers who don't want donegal to do well. By the very fact they are involved in helping with the club is a cog in helping the county team succeed.

Ulsterchamps_32 (Donegal) - Posts: 815 - 19/07/2022 20:56:19    2433016

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We discuss here a lot about the depth of our squad, and ask are they good enough. I see an interesting stat this morning. In Galways Championship opener against Mayo this year, 7 of their 11 subs had no championship experience, while Owen Gallagher had only championship experience with Antrim.
That's a light bench. Fair play to them.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 777 - 20/07/2022 08:58:28    2433033

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What we need from management is leadership not silence, declanboys who pollutes this thread is to PR what Declan Bonner has become to intercounty football management,
The only thing I want to hear from Bonner now is that he is gone, we need a change of direction and new leadership,
Bonner has 'all the gear-no idea, let's see what a new manager can do with the talent we have in Donegal,
win or lose I'd like to see us playing proper football that people want to go and see.

Tirchonaill1 (Donegal) - Posts: 3187 - 20/07/2022 09:34:36    2433042

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Replying To Tirchonaill1:  "What we need from management is leadership not silence, declanboys who pollutes this thread is to PR what Declan Bonner has become to intercounty football management,
The only thing I want to hear from Bonner now is that he is gone, we need a change of direction and new leadership,
Bonner has 'all the gear-no idea, let's see what a new manager can do with the talent we have in Donegal,
win or lose I'd like to see us playing proper football that people want to go and see."
The new manager has to win games lad, standards are set , Ulster, all Ireland semi final, , first year,if not he's going to be a failure. That's the bar. Going by the posters this talented squad has just to be managed properly. Ha.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2615 - 20/07/2022 10:07:29    2433046

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CLG Ghaoth Dobhair is doing a fundraiser raffling two All Ireland tickets. It's limited to 100 entries. Check out CLG Ghaoth Dobhair website or Facebook for more details.

Thanks

tickets (Donegal) - Posts: 103 - 20/07/2022 10:27:28    2433055

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Honestly your last few lines baffle me. How the hell can people s support for the county team be as strong sitting at home as it is being at the game.. ask the players and they might tell you differently. Mind boggling"
nothing mind boggling about it. The point I tried to make is that support for the county teams isn't confined to sitting at county matches, there are different ways to support the teams. Its not right to be saying that people who aren't at every game aren't proper supporters. Support for the county teams also comes from people in clubs who generate income that is paid to the county board, club people who help with fundraisers for centre's of excellence, people who coach and develop players that eventually play in county teams etc etc.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 633 - 20/07/2022 10:47:38    2433063

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Replying To rorysboys:  "The new manager has to win games lad, standards are set , Ulster, all Ireland semi final, , first year,if not he's going to be a failure. That's the bar. Going by the posters this talented squad has just to be managed properly. Ha."
Quarter final exits in year one wouldn't be a failure. Need to beat the bad habits out of them.

Quarter final exits (or earlier) in years 3, 4 or 5 with talk of staying on for a 6th year however, that would surely put pressure on such a hypothetical manager...

papa_pump (Donegal) - Posts: 71 - 20/07/2022 10:57:35    2433069

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Replying To rorysboys:  "The new manager has to win games lad, standards are set , Ulster, all Ireland semi final, , first year,if not he's going to be a failure. That's the bar. Going by the posters this talented squad has just to be managed properly. Ha."
So it has to be done year one under someone new, but you're advocating for a continuation of a management team who haven't got to a semi-final in 5 years? Makes perfect sense…

Donegal_abroad (Donegal) - Posts: 1411 - 20/07/2022 11:01:12    2433076

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Replying To Ulsterchamps_32:  "You're right there are more important things in life so why do folks need to get so worked up about the donegal gaa football manager. Is the perceived paranoia and secrecy not more a reflection of the general donegal gaa public than anything else. The due process it seems is for the manager to present at the next county meeting which he is doing. Maybe he goes or maybe he stays but just wait for the due process. If he didn't want to speak to the media or make his intentions clear before the meeting so what. As you say there are more important things going on."
Yeah maybe a reflection on society these days in general. People want instant results and gratification for everything.
I think at the heart of it all is that we're all proud Donegal people who want to see our county team doing well, or at least better than what we've been showing over the last two years or so. I wonder about the imact Covid had. I mean it's fair to say that Declan was doing most things right in the early part of his tenure. Noone was criticising the style of play and it was felt that with another wee push we'd be competing in very latter stages of the All Ireland. The defeat to Cavan and fallout thereafter seems to have set us back.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9762 - 20/07/2022 11:09:43    2433082

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Replying To rorysboys:  "No there not, there true club supporters. Big difference. The true Donegal gaa supporters are both.. suppose that's wrong too."
I'd say 90% of retired intercounty players never go to a county match after they retire. I still salute their efforts during their careers and would respect their opinions.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 777 - 20/07/2022 11:28:58    2433090

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