The power of jimmy mcg reaching the Donegal man in the street. The power of positive thinking! Finally making its way west?

beal (Mayo) - Posts: 1388 - 26/06/2013 20:26:28    1416333

If you don't think it's in decline , then read what The Gooch has to say on the main page.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 27/06/2013 10:49:09    1416551

Despite all the negativity around here, it seems that many people actually want to play inter-county football: http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=195375&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Maybe my username shows my bias, but I can't help thinking that a lot of the anti-football stuff on this site is driven by hurling people who're just a little bit jealous!!

football first (None) - Posts: 1259 - 27/06/2013 12:10:19    1416636

Clondalkindub,
Interesting article, no matter what your views are, you have to listen to what is being said within the game. And then you post is follewed by football first! With views like that the game is well and truly screwed.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4956 - 27/06/2013 12:42:09    1416672

RE:- Niall McNamee article on Offaly Football "Maybe next year we could work something together between the two panels to have access to them."
It would have been nice if Niall had finished that line with "and vice versa".

Brian_Coyote (Antrim) - Posts: 346 - 27/06/2013 13:04:51    1416703

Well done to the Gooch, saying what all right minded gaelic football people have been thinking.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1729 - 27/06/2013 13:05:09    1416704

Brian_Coyote
County: Antrim
Posts: 108

1416703 RE:- Niall McNamee article on Offaly Football "Maybe next year we could work something together between the two panels to have access to them."
It would have been nice if Niall had finished that line with "and vice versa".

There is only one hurler that was on the football panel and he has been injured all year and played no football so him adding and vice versa wouldnt really apply in this situation.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 27/06/2013 13:43:58    1416751

I agree with the Gooch to a degree, but to say you have to be 6ft 4in & built like a tank is overegging it more than a bit!! Even Donegal who are supposed to be a team of gym monkies with no talent have players like Mark McHugh, Ryan McHugh Ross Wherity who are by no means built like tanks. Yes if Cooper was coming into county football at 10st the he would have to bulk up a bit but even in his day 10st for a county footballer was exceptionally light. As he admits himself if there had been a strong wind he would have been blown over the bar!!!

With regard to conditioning you can hardly expect teams to cut back on it & be less able to contest, that is just unreasonable & not going to happen. If people want the game to open up the changing the rules is the way to go.
1 Move to 13 a side.
2 Black card will help.
3 No tackling a man on the ground.

To blame the teams is silly, they operate within the framework given them by the authorities who have the power to change things. If the grassroots feel strongly enough then that is where change will come from, through motions at club, & county level.
Hand wringing, sorrowful pronouncements will achieve nothing & it's all very well for "right thinking" Gaelic people to agree with the Gooch action at grassroots from the clubs & counties is the only thing that will improve things

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 27/06/2013 14:33:55    1416817

What is destroying Gaelic football at the minute is lack of competition in provinces such Munster, where games are over before the first half, and crowds leave early...... recent examples Cork 3-17 Limerick 0-8, Kerry 2-18 Tipperary 0-8. Attendance for Cork vs Limerick was 4,138

Compare to Ulster Donegal vs Tyrone sold out 18,000, Donegal vs Down sold out 22,000 (game even had to be delayed by 10 mins with traffic congestion with crowds packing in)

People like tight matches with real competition, and I agree with Gooch people ARE voting with their feet. Who has interest in turkey shoots (in any sport)?

Aiders (Donegal) - Posts: 49 - 28/06/2013 08:34:08    1417282

GaryMc82, never mind Muckross, apparently I have so many chips on my shoulder its a wonder I have a shoulder left at all. My dislike of Donegal comes down to the way they play our once great game, nothing more.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1729 - 28/06/2013 11:25:21    1417452

Absure, I have watches many all-Ireland gold finals including some of yours in 60s, it was total muck. Yes Galway played nice football in 98 and 01. We played ureal last year. Even when Galway had a good side, your support was dire. One sided puke games from Connaught moves the game into decline

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 28/06/2013 12:16:37    1417515

ahsure.
County: Galway
Posts: 858

1417452
GaryMc82, never mind Muckross, apparently I have so many chips on my shoulder its a wonder I have a shoulder left at all. My dislike of Donegal comes down to the way they play our once great game, nothing more.

All I can go by is the tenor of your posts. When you make snotty comments about the "stature" of Donegal then you can expect both barrells, just as I would expect & deserve if I said something similar about the county of Galway.
What exactly is it you hate so much about our football anyway?

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 28/06/2013 16:00:27    1417741

You'd think the Galway supporter would be more worried about the decline of football in his/her own county before talking about the 'stature' of the current All-Ireland Champions. It just stinks of jealousy, understandably so, Galway are stuck in the stone age in terms of football and are miles away from success.

MourneArmy (Down) - Posts: 1787 - 28/06/2013 16:15:17    1417752

Ulster football on the rise, like I said earlier the attendances speak for themselves, Gooch should get himself to the gym and stop whinging in the papers...... If this were any other sport he would be made a mockery off for complaining about athleticism and style of opposition...... Long live Ulster football, best attended, most competitive and most exciting to watch

Aiders (Donegal) - Posts: 49 - 28/06/2013 19:17:08    1417882

I love this idea of Donegal being the heavily built gym monkies destroying the game!

As already stated we have some of the smallest and lightest intercounty players in the country: Mark McHugh, Ryan McHugh, David Walsh, Declan Walsh, Ross Wherity, Rory Kavanagh all played against Down and even Karl Lacey - all fleet footed light players with great stamina playing out around the middle of the pitch. Should this be stamped out?

We played great football all of last year and played admittedly a very poor game against Down in dreadful conditions, which apparently means we're guilty of destroying the sport.

SeanieSense (Donegal) - Posts: 328 - 28/06/2013 20:55:18    1417944

Aiders
County: Donegal
Posts: 3

1417882
Ulster football on the rise, like I said earlier the attendances speak for themselves, Gooch should get himself to the gym and stop whinging in the papers...... If this were any other sport he would be made a mockery off for complaining about athleticism and style of opposition...... Long live Ulster football, best attended, most competitive and most exciting to watch

Welcome to HS Aiders & good post. We Donegal & Ulstermen need every bit of help we can get

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 28/06/2013 21:00:08    1417950

'Most exciting to watch'. should have gone to Specsavers. :).

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 28/06/2013 21:12:33    1417959

Criticising football has been a national pastime since time immemorial. I well remember people saying at the time that the great Dublin and Kerry teams of the seventies would never have lived with the great Kerry team of the late thirties and early forties. They also compared Jack O Shea unfavourably to Mick O Connell and Paddy Kennedy. Breandan O hEithir said in 1984 in his book Over The Bar that "if football were a hospital patient it would be on life support" The public discourse around football has been negative since I started watching it.
No team sport exists where every game provides free flowing, riveting entertainment. Last Sundays game was a monumental contest. Every ball was fought over with huge intensity. That is the essence of team sport-a contest for the ball.For the supporters of both teams the tension was huge. Nobody left early. To say there is no skill in the modern game is ignorant rubbish. To say football is played by pumped up athletes and not skilled footballers is rubbish. We have tremendous footballers today. Defending properly with intensity is a skill and is of itself skillful. To overcome the defensive systems of today demands high levels of skill and ability. The general quality and skill levels of todays footballers is higher than thirty years ago. It goes back to the fact that whinging and moaning about football is a national pastime going back decades. If you don't like the football you saw last Sunday fine. Don't however make vacuous comments and deny the quality of the contest that was played out. To do that is to be ignorant of what constitutes the essence of team sport. We will have more contests like that this season. We will also have more matches like St. Brigids v Ballymun and Down v Derry. The game is in very rude health. Appreciate that and stop whinging

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6182 - 28/06/2013 21:58:54    1417998

Nice post aiders...

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 29/06/2013 09:58:13    1418016

Excellent post, Greengrass.

football first (None) - Posts: 1259 - 29/06/2013 10:12:19    1418024