Cork or Kerry for sure. Dublin though a decent, hardworking physical side got lucky in last year's final and Kerry were the better footballing team bar the last 4 mins when they threw it away bigtime. I wouldn't be surprised if Dublin don't even win Leinster this year and that's just a football opinion Dubs nothing else.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9818 - 16/05/2012 14:55:25    1173563

How is it? We're after walking the U 21 championship like no team before has ever done so obviously are player standard is very high and he is the main man. How is that so ridiculous? I've gone to all the Leinster 21 games this year and honestly I've never seen nothing like kilkenny before. The under 21 manager has said he's never seen played or managed a better underage player than Kilkenny.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 16/05/2012 15:02:43    1173576

clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 1924

1173576 How is it? We're after walking the U 21 championship like no team before has ever done so obviously are player standard is very high and he is the main man. How is that so ridiculous? I've gone to all the Leinster 21 games this year and honestly I've never seen nothing like kilkenny before. The under 21 manager has said he's never seen played or managed a better underage player than Kilkenny.

Honestly mate, you need to broaden your horizons.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12372 - 16/05/2012 15:18:22    1173592

is he a better prospect than a 20 year old Jimmy Keaveney? Brian Mullins? David Hickey? Bernard Brogan Snr? Maybe he is, or maybe you dont know Clondalklin as you dont know how good they were/werent at that age!
Listen I am not having a go at you personally, but all this hype about him being "the best we have ever produced"....it doesnt sit well with me atall.

Dublin as a county has produced some of the greatest players to ever play the game in the last 127 years, to say this lad who is still in school is the greatest prospect of them all.......

Remember all the hype about Kyle Coney? Aodan McGearailt? Fintan Goold.....etc etc
Not knocking those lads, and Coney in particular is still very young, but that kind of pressure doesnt sit will with anyone, and the only ones we are harming with all this hype is the lad himself.
(and dont forget, he is going down to Oz after the leaving for a few weeks on holiday by his own admission so he certainly wont be playing for the Dubs this year)

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 16/05/2012 15:22:20    1173594

Hes 18 Liam sitting his leaving wanted by clubs in oz of course he is a better prospect than any other Dublin player before

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 16/05/2012 15:27:25    1173599

Clondalkin, lets agree to disagree ok man :)
Have no interest in falling out with a fellow Dub this close to battle commencing!!

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 16/05/2012 15:35:17    1173606

Liamwalkinstown
County: Dublin
Posts: 3251

Just read your posts there on the previous page & I have to agree that I think Dublin and Cork may dominate and clash in a few AI finals over the next few years. Of course you can never right Kerry off either and I actually think the Kingdom will win Sam this year.

But in the future, when we get rid of Conor Counihan & play a better style of football then I think we will be well able to challenge for Sam. Unfortunetly this year we will still be playing the same boring, lateral way and I think it will be the Kingdom who come out on top in 2012.

But like you said Dublin & Cork certainly have plenty of talent coming through. That Dublin U21 team this year were awesome and I think we could be in for some great battles between Dublin & Cork over the next few years.

Rebel.Og (Cork) - Posts: 519 - 16/05/2012 15:48:24    1173624

Rebel Og is amazes me how many Cork fans wand CC gone!! Half of Cork seem to want him out!
be careful what u wish for. Lose CC and you may well lose Cadogan and Walsh and even Sheehan!

Dublin Cork in football is THE great untapped rivalry. Imagine if there was a real interest in Cork. Imagine of it took off. There is a natural rivalry there between the 2 cities as it is. Imagine if we developed a real tasty football rivalry that took off in Cork!
Cork Dublin knock out 1/4 final in the Pairc would be EPIC :)

Its a real shame this rivalry has not developed, it would have the potential to dwarf Dublin Kerry, Cork Kerry and even Dublin Meath if it did!

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 16/05/2012 15:58:24    1173638

Ya that's true Liam, it certainly has potential to be a great rivalry. The 2010 AI semi-final was the best atmosphere at a match I've ever experienced. The noise that day in Croker was incredible. God knows what it will be like if we meet in an AI final.

As for wanting CC out, I think most people in Cork are just tired of the fact that after 5 years in charge our style of play hasn't changed or improved 1 bit under him. Fair enough the man lead us to our first Sam in 20 years, great credit due there but in all fairness we stumbled over the line to win it & didn't have to play Kerry in Croker so there was an element of luck to our success in 2010.

This Cork team has the potential to be a great team with the forwards we have but until we adopted a more fast attacking & direct approach like the Dubs or Kerry, I think ultimately we will come up short.

Rebel.Og (Cork) - Posts: 519 - 16/05/2012 16:15:02    1173660

Ha Liam I'm not falling out with you at all, your giving your opinions and I'm giving mine that's all bud.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 16/05/2012 16:26:26    1173670

Rebel.Og

Truth be told, I am no great admirer of Counihan myself, but to be fair to the guy he did try to implement a more direct gameplan in the League this year, hence the move of Walsh to the square. Most of Cork's scores in the League came from a more direct style of football. Whether that is something that he will continue to implement in the summer remains to be seen. At least it offers the potential of a plan B that was missing last year when we lost to Mayo.

I would agree with you that the full potential of this Cork team is yet to be realized. Counihan is poor tactically, he is slow to read games and make changes, certainly compared to guys like Gilroy, O'Connor and Horan. On the flipside, he seems like a guy that is well-respected by the panel of players and he is open-minded enough to accommodate dual players which is a big positive for me.

Like yourself, I probably wouldn't be too dismayed if and when Counihan departs, but as Liamwalkinstown says, sometimes 'you should be careful what we wish for' in life. There is no guarantee the next guy in charge would be significantly better and he may not enjoy the same rapport with the players, or be as accommodating to the dual players (and the next batch are potentially very good as well, lads like Hallisey, Cahalane and Wall, as well as Walsh and Sheehan who will probably declare for hurling next year).

Back to the Dubs. Who would the Dublin posters see as the starting midfield this year? Bastick and MDMA? Or any other significant change in personnel from the 15 that started last September? McMahon to slot in somewhere in the backs?

eviemonkey (Cork) - Posts: 308 - 16/05/2012 17:14:22    1173737

Evie monkey, have a few Cork contacts and they tell me Walsh is 100% a footballer first and will never drop it. Same goes for Sheehan. Cads is the one would possibly drop it if push came to shove

Regarding Dubs MF this year, I think he will go with MDMA and Fennell to start with and its up to Fennell to convince us he has the balls to keep the place. Not so long ago he was the "new mullins" !!! He aint no Brian Mullins in my opinion!

I wouldnt be against seeing Barry Cahill as a MF either. He more or less played there last year and plays there a lot for Brigids. we are not so good as to be leaving quality like Cahill on his ****

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 17/05/2012 09:21:48    1174100

Haha sorry Liam but I disagree with you again, no way is fennell mobile enough to start for Dublin, he will be an impact sub IMO, he needs runners like as you say cahill or Bastick to start. The day of the big midfielder who just catches a ball are long gone.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 17/05/2012 10:17:16    1174150

clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 1929

1174150 Haha sorry Liam but I disagree with you again, no way is fennell mobile enough to start for Dublin, he will be an impact sub IMO, he needs runners like as you say cahill or Bastick to start. The day of the big midfielder who just catches a ball are long gone

Eamon finished the league starting in the middle CD so I would be surprised if he doesnt start the championship there.
Some of his media appearances make me cringe, but he is a talented footballer and deserves his shot. If all else fails we can go back to DB, worked last year after all!
Disagree re the days of the high fielding MF being over. Sure MF's are more mobile now and are expected to do more but essentialy winning primary possesion is still number one on the list of priorities for a MF. John Galvin has been far and away the best MF in Ireland for the last 10 years after DOS, and his main attribute.....catching high balls and winning possesioon. And DOS wasnt too bad at that himself!!

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 17/05/2012 11:23:38    1174219

Liam I said the day of a midfielder just catching a ball are over, I never said the catch has gone out of the game or anything. I mean you have to be a serious athlete these days to play midfield and to me fennell isn't.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 17/05/2012 12:33:18    1174287

Like I said before, even the great Tyrone team of the noughties couldn't do it, its asking a lot and I would be surprised, and happy, if Dublin win it this year!

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8766 - 17/05/2012 15:05:34    1174467

Ulsterman
County: Antrim
Posts: 5078

1173563
Cork or Kerry for sure. Dublin though a decent, hardworking physical side got lucky in last year's final and Kerry were the better footballing team bar the last 4 mins when they threw it away bigtime. I wouldn't be surprised if Dublin don't even win Leinster this year and that's just a football opinion Dubs nothing else.

So we all imagined Dublin leading for most of the 1st half and start of the 2nd!

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13803 - 17/05/2012 15:20:36    1174483

id love to see fennell start in midfield personally myself too, also agree he done well in the league great at retrieving high balls in midflight but what i noticed more too in the league and ive said this before he is a class act how he can come onto an opponent from the side and snatch the ball too and many times ive watched him do this..

dubbydave. (Dublin) - Posts: 3927 - 17/05/2012 15:31:13    1174494

Ulsterman tipped Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry to beat Dublin in 2011

Says it all about his football opinion.

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 17/05/2012 15:40:34    1174502

Then Dublin make a holy show of Tyrone and all of a sudden Ulsterman is calling Tyrone over the hill, finished etc etc....

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 17/05/2012 15:45:16    1174506