First post so don't shoot me down

I read a lot of your comments on the daily basis and most point of views are very interesting (with the exception of a few mayo supporters) and this is also a good source for information, I am huge Kerry fan but alas I am living in Dubai at the moment and don't get to go to many games anymore, I have my tickets booked to go home in sep for 2 weeks as I did last year so hopefully I'll have another All Ireland final to look forward to. With respect to this "blanket defense' topic, I applaud tryone and Armagh especially Micky Harte and Big Joe with their backroom staff who were the masterminds behind this tactic that stopped Kerry in their tracks at the beginning of this decade, without the introduction of this tactic football over the decade would have become very uneventful with Kerry marching to the All Ireland year after year, ppl on here say that this Blanket defense took the class from the game I say it moved football to a new higher level of fitness and more athleticism and brought more passion into the game made it unpredictable and more interesting, it made teams think/evolve to counter act this tactic, it looks like teams have evolved and found the key to unlock these defenses its now upto teams to think of other tactics to put it up to the likes of Kerry, Dublin, Cork Tyrone etc

PS Tyrone 10/1 to win the AI could be the bet of the year

Dubai (Kerry) - Posts: 7 - 12/08/2008 07:53:36    71608

Excellent post Ulsterman,the truth seems to be hurting a few people on here.
Heard that rumour about a certain Tyrone man as well,unfortunately for me my da's a Tyrone man,he's said a few dozen rosaries for this rumour to bear fruit.

sean og (Armagh) - Posts: 1072 - 12/08/2008 08:35:50    71617

The anti-Ulster mindset is amazing. It was most marked by the prejudiced anti-Francie slander on the commentary on Saturday. The two worst finals in recent years have been the last two, not involving Ulster teams. Boring rubbish football.

Veritas (Armagh) - Posts: 51 - 12/08/2008 09:40:31    71640

11/08/2008 18:31:18
Dubsforsam1
County: Dublin

From an outside Ulster perspective all we have heard for the last few years is how superior Ulster football is,
Yeah, you are probably right.

how tough the ulster championship is,
Yes.. This is true.

how rubbish Leinster/Munster football is,
INCORRECT. The vast, vast majority of posts from Ulster people have been in praise of the Ulster championship and teams rather than in criticism of other provinces. This compares to the attitude from other posters where they are taking delight in Ulsters failings rather than being proud of thie own achievements.

how defence wins championships etc
It does.

and only Ulster teams know how to play modern football
Ulster teams led the way with a new and effective style of football.

....and you wonder why people take delight in knocking ye????
Yes I do.

RMDrive (Donegal) - Posts: 2202 - 12/08/2008 09:55:49    71650

Nothing wrong with seeing Matt Clancy congratulate an opponent who was on the winning side- its called good sportsmanship- something which seems to be dying out in our game. Another punter called us Galwegians glorious losers. Well there is nothing wrong with losing when you have tried your best against a super footballing side. We are on the way back after the puke football Peter Forde tried to impose on us so well done to the Galway management for bringing us back to our traditional style. We are a few players short yet to be considered a genuine All Ireland contender but hopefully in next years NFL we might discover a couple.

galwaycelt (Galway) - Posts: 307 - 12/08/2008 10:40:00    71713

its was beautiful to see skill less players being shown up in croker cause they havent an ounce of football in them, pace and strength will get you on all ulster teams bar monaghan, if you can kick a ball thats a bonus- the end of puke is near and the country is delighted- never as happy in my life to see a division 3 team totally dismantle armagh is was a pleasure to watch i really enjoyed it, football over fists - yes please keep it coming

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 12/08/2008 12:30:08    71870

Ball-Boy for once i agree with you however some teams like Westmeath are adopting a similiar style...They have more skillfull players however!

paddym123 (Meath) - Posts: 367 - 12/08/2008 12:36:23    71881

paddy to be honest f anyone worries about westmeath they aint too bothered about winning anything, westmeath are a bit like armagh a one trick pony- delighted football over fists

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 12/08/2008 12:45:32    71906

I cant see Westmeath changing there style of play next year. Thats not saying I like the 'Blanket Defence', aka' 'Puke Football' game but it has served us well. Lets be honest if we went out against Dublin this year and played the same style as Wexford we wouldve got thrashed just as they did. Teams have to play to there strengths and Westmeath have some very good defensive, strong footballers. If we had a better attacking half forward line then we could afford to play traditionaly like we did up to this year, but O'Flatharty recognised our strengths and weakness's and I think he's made it ugly but hes done a good job. If we had support for Dessie and Denis up front then we'd be a good team. I'm sure if we get some better forwards in the coming years then you will see Westmeath resorting back to good open attacking football.

Jack Daniels (Westmeath) - Posts: 152 - 12/08/2008 12:52:52    71928

i agree with you paddy123.not often we can say that!!westmeath kept certain teams scores down this year but this is because they had 4 of their forwards behind the ball aswell.westneath dont need to try tactics like this.their full back line is suppose to be solid enough to deal with the best forwards in the country.well john keane is anyway.

daytona11 (Kildare) - Posts: 4012 - 12/08/2008 12:53:55    71933

difference is jd wexford have the kind of forwards who can damage teams so theres no need to play a damage limitation game at the back.fair enough they didnt fire against the dubs.the defence wasnt the huge problem that day either it was midfield.and at the end of the day there in a semi final.

daytona11 (Kildare) - Posts: 4012 - 12/08/2008 12:56:03    71941

will ya stop it's only starting another forward and we are seriously going to be very very good

footiemad (Westmeath) - Posts: 733 - 12/08/2008 13:01:49    71959

From an outside Ulster perspective all we have heard for the last few years is how superior Ulster football is,
Yeah, you are probably right.

Even though for since 2005 they have done nothing to deserve this claim.

how tough the ulster championship is,
Yes.. This is true.

But it is only tough because it is filled with avg teams and not cause it is of a really high standard

how rubbish Leinster/Munster football is,
INCORRECT. The vast, vast majority of posts from Ulster people have been in praise of the Ulster championship and teams rather than in criticism of other provinces. This compares to the attitude from other posters where they are taking delight in Ulsters failings rather than being proud of thie own achievements.

No the amount of posters saying Kerry only win cause they have an easy ride and that Dublin are rubbish cause they can only beat rubbish Leinster teams etc is unreal....People talking in the qualifiers about how Fermanagh/Down should easily beat Kildare/Weford or how Armagh got lucky to draw Wexford etc..

how defence wins championships etc
It does.

Well how come the best defences such as Fermanagh/Westmeath/Armagh are all out then - Defences only win when you have good enough forwards

and only Ulster teams know how to play modern football
Ulster teams led the way with a new and effective style of football.

an ugly style of football which only worked cause Armagh/Tyrone had 4/5 quality forwards in their teams but now that they don't they are incapable of changing what they do even when it is proven not to work

....and you wonder why people take delight in knocking ye????
Yes I do.

Dubsforsam1 (Dublin) - Posts: 164 - 12/08/2008 13:02:59    71963

Somebody mentioned Canavan, O'Neill, McGrane, McDonnell, McConville - they are/were great players. Only problem is that most of this generation of Ulster footballers have already, or are about to retire and aren't being replaced. It was a good spell for Ulster, but it's over.

Keano (Mayo) - Posts: 412 - 12/08/2008 13:53:27    72059

does putting 2 defenders onto one dangerman count as blanket defence? effective defending is good defending. The teams that employ it are doing so because it is their strength. all winning teams play to their strengths. If this means they isolate their best forwards and use extra men out the field so be it. This is not unique to Ulster football. Someone suggests that only Monaghan play without blanket defence. I think it's fair to say that Down don't play this way or Derry or Donegal or Antrim for that matter.

Also, Black&white from Sligo made a good point about all the top teams using handpassing to retain posession in their own half before using any kicking.

Lets hope this negativity about teams styles of play disappears along with the term puke football which was, as someone else pointed out , dreamt up by Pat Spillane when he was upset at losing to Armagh years ago.

Suas Sios (None) - Posts: 1558 - 12/08/2008 13:57:49    72068

Suas Síos he actually said that at half time in the Tyrone game. He had egg on his face in 2002 when he said at half time that his grandmother would run faster than some of the Armagh players. Anyway, it's 5 years ago and people use this as reason to have a go at Kerry lads. Notice that the people on here deriding Tyrone, Armagh et al are not from Kerry at all!

Kingdom Come (None) - Posts: 264 - 12/08/2008 14:52:33    72174

suas sios this is not a blanket defence in my view.i think a blanket defence is when 3 of the forwards are deployed as defender thus increasing the defence to 9 men.these extra 3 defenders are very hesitant to get forward and support the attackers.

daytona11 (Kildare) - Posts: 4012 - 12/08/2008 14:52:53    72175

"Armagh/Tyrone played and won with a defensive style of football when they had Canavan, Mulligan, O'Neill, McGuigan, or McConville, Clarke, Marsden, McDonnell, McEntee etc as scoring forwards....They have continued to try and play the same style of football but now only have 1 or 2 real scoring options which means they won't win anything...There is also the issue of the blatant off the ball fouling, checking, gamesmanship, cynical fouling, diving that goes on with some Ulster teams and the total refusal to accept any critiscism from anyone outside Ulster..."

Tyrone scored an average of about 17/18 points a game when they won the all-ireland in 03 and 05 with Canavan and O'Neill playing. A lot of criticism of Tyrone being defensive stems from the second-half of the 03 semi-final. People forget about the good stuff very easily.

MichaelO (Tyrone) - Posts: 820 - 12/08/2008 14:53:22    72176

thank god its the end, perhaps we can have an end to the northern attitude that is blighting our games too, then it would be a great year, a genereal clear out and clean up of football in the north is needed, and that starts with people admitting they were 100% wrong

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 12/08/2008 14:57:06    72188

Whats next? Basketball teams complaining that the other teams are crowding the scoring area and they have no space to shoot?! Hmm pretty similar isnt it!"

Actually isn't there a rule in basketball where defenders can't standing in a certain area for longer than 3 seconds or something? Maybe we need to bring that in...

If all these crying ulster countyman look back at this thread they'll see its anti-blanket-defence, not anti-ulster. It also criticizes westmeath, kildare etc... Sheesh... you guys are just too DEFENSIVE! ha... Well, anyway, I'll be glad to see the back of negative football, whether its Armagh, Tyrone, westmeath or kildare playing it. *shrug*

5wingback (Dublin) - Posts: 118 - 12/08/2008 15:04:48    72202