MesAmis
County: Dublin
Posts: 6055

1424884
Dublin are clearly behind both Donegal and Mayo at the moment.

Nothing can be taken about these new players until they do it when it matters. Some posters seem to think they've nothing to prove at all but that's clearly ridiculous.

I personally don't think Mayo or Donegal have gone so far backwards to be languishing behind a bunch of inexperienced Dubs. If it's true, as some are suggesting, then serious questions need to be asked of Horan and McGuinness in terms of how they've let their teams slip so badly.

Not so much that the opposition might have slipped, more that Dublin are unrecogniseable from the underperforming team of last year which at the end of the day weren't that far off the pace. Gavin like McGuinness & Horan has taken a talented group & brought out the best in them.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 06/07/2013 11:40:45    1424902

Dublin are clearly behind both Donegal and Mayo at the moment.

Nothing can be taken about these new players until they do it when it matters. Some posters seem to think they've nothing to prove at all but that's clearly ridiculous.

I personally don't think Mayo or Donegal have gone so far backwards to be languishing behind a bunch of inexperienced Dubs. If it's true, as some are suggesting, then serious questions need to be asked of Horan and McGuinness in terms of how they've let their teams slip so badly.
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Agree wholeheartedly with this. The foundation of this Dublin team is a bunch of kids at the moment. Granted they are talented and will mature with time but Donegal and Mayo are the standard bearers and anything less than a final for either will be viewed as failure looking back at where they were last year. A semi final spot for Dublin's rookie players and manager will be viewed as a great success and solid platform for the future.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 06/07/2013 11:58:19    1424913

MuckrossHead
County: Donegal
Posts: 1622

1424314 AthCliath
County: Dublin
Posts: 2106


If you you think that that Dublin's ambitions stop at being Leinster Champions then you are in a minority of one in the entire universe!!!

Never used the word ambition:)

I stand corrected AthCliath. However I still don't think that the Dublin camp will be sitting back after the Leinster final thinking "well we've reached out goals, that was a great year". I'd say there are a whole new set of goals on the dressing room wall by now.

Nope , our only goal at the moment is how to quieten the new Biggy Smalls and his entourage.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 06/07/2013 13:58:01    1424974

Plenty of cute hoorism floating around this thread now from Dubs and Cul an ti's alike! But the reality is somewhat different. I expect the AI series to be excellent this year. Last year we had a Kerry team out of sorts, a Cork team out of sorts and a Dublin team unable to keep up the required standards. But this year if everything goes to plan we should see,

1.Donegal. Attempting to enter the book of legends and i feel this is something Jim really wants. Not playing great at present but doing enough.
2. Mayo. Playing well against limited opposition. Very dangerous with a strength everywhere.
3. Dublin. Playing very well against limited opposition. Great blend of youth and experience but the youth are untested at AI series level.
4. Cork. Unknown quantity in terms of form and talented dark horse for Sam. Nobody is taking about them but just look at their team.
5. Kerry. Many saying its a sinking ship but any side with that forward line can win an AI. Will be as dangerous as ever in Croke Park.
6. Tyrone. Guaranteed to get to Croke Park unless they meet Cork/Kerry or Dublin in the qualifiers.
7/8. Too hard to call but i don't expect any of them to get to the semi's.

I genuinely think it will make for compelling viewing and we will see some titanic clashes in the coming months when the form teams face off against each other!

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1663 - 06/07/2013 15:04:21    1425002

Athcliath
Nope , our only goal at the moment is how to quieten the new Biggy Smalls and his entourage.


And that ain't going to be as easy as some of yous think.
hon the royal.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 06/07/2013 15:49:27    1425030

royaldunne
County: Meath
Posts: 4280

1425030 Athcliath
Nope , our only goal at the moment is how to quieten the new Biggy Smalls and his entourage.


And that ain't going to be as easy as some of yous think.
hon the royal.

Thats it, only thing on our mind is Leinster Final.
we havnt got the luxury of Donegal and Mayo of looking forward to their meeting of each other in the semi finals.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 06/07/2013 16:09:41    1425047

Kildare minors just did a good job of it anyway!

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 06/07/2013 16:26:42    1425072

Are Dublin invincible? A.No
Have they won a load of All Ireland's over last few years? A.No
How many All Ireland's have they won since turn of century? A.1
All Ireland final appearance since turn of century? A.1
Have they been so called favourites this century and not even reach an Ireland final? A.Yes

kerryluck (Kerry) - Posts: 2517 - 06/07/2013 16:35:21    1425080

Hype won't make a difference to the dubs. On current form only one team playing with the intensity and speed outta defense to seriously counter act the Dubs game plan. Mayo. Don't think Mayo will be stopped. Hope I'm wrong.

DLlegends (Donegal) - Posts: 503 - 06/07/2013 17:11:03    1425109

So if the 9/4 favourites for Sam don't win , it ain't a failure. Ha ha, if I back a horse at 9/4 and he don't win, I'd class it a failure. If Donegal, Dublin, Mayo, Cork or Kerry reach last 4 and don't win , it's a failure. Do yous think the two Jims will be happy with just a final place - doubt it

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 06/07/2013 17:29:00    1425127

I doubt Jim Gavin would be happy coming second, but I'm sure he would be satisfied looking in the long term - To win the league, Leinster (assuming we were to) and lose in the final with a new manager, new style of play and several teenagers in the team is hardly a failure. Yes, of course we have high expectations in Dublin, but too many people are going way too far trying to hype up Dublin IMO, to say it would be a failure for us to not win the AI is utter tripe to be perfectly honest.

CaisleanCnucha (Dublin) - Posts: 1379 - 06/07/2013 17:42:13    1425138

TheRightStuff
County: Donegal
Posts: 275

1425127 So if the 9/4 favourites for Sam don't win , it ain't a failure. Ha ha, if I back a horse at 9/4 and he don't win, I'd class it a failure. If Donegal, Dublin, Mayo, Cork or Kerry reach last 4 and don't win , it's a failure. Do yous think the two Jims will be happy with just a final place - doubt it

Betting prices take a lot of factors into consideration, Dublin even when not playing well are always short priced because of bookies fear of betting patterns. nothing new there. only thing you have right is JMG wont be happy with just a final place.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 06/07/2013 17:45:25    1425142

Muckross

So yous are basing this opinion that Dublin have passed out Donegal and Mayo on a league campaign and a couple of facile wins in the opening rounds of Leinster?

Naive to say the least imo

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13833 - 06/07/2013 17:56:53    1425160

Everything seems to be going well for the Dubs (a bit like ourselves) sweeping teams aside but the real tests lie in the August bank holiday weekend. I think the young dubs may come up short this year with maybe too many youthfull changes in the ranks. That said its all set up for Dublin to dominate this decade. I just feel its a season too soon for Jim Gavin and O think of Dublin don't win Sam this year Gavin deep down wont be terribly disappointed but make no mistake they will go for it.

Donegal still the team to beat and cork/Kerry/Tyrone won't be far behind. I think we hav a great chance ourselves but only if we have all our top players back fully fit and hitting peak form. Bad news sweating mayo this weekend is that Alan Dillon is out for the rest of the summer....:(

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11679 - 06/07/2013 17:59:34    1425163

I'd agree JMG won't be happy with second place , if London get that far, they wouldn't be happy with runners up. You would think Dublin are in transition the way some some of yous guys are talking, ok yous have some young guys(excellent) but Dublin were champs 2011 and there's plenty of experience. I know Donegal would not beat Kildare by that much and probably it's because we drop bodies back however it was relentless from Dublin. It wouldn't bother me if Dublin win it , I'd be worried though that you's could dominate with your underage talent and playing population. I'm not saying yous can't be beating but yous are superior than two years ago and with our squad being limited , we need injuries to clear up. Mayo are going nicely too. If Cork changed manager , they would be dangerous. Kerry are Kerry but no pace at the back.

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 06/07/2013 18:00:52    1425164

TheRightStuff
County: Donegal
Posts: 276

1425164 I'd agree JMG won't be happy with second place , if London get that far, they wouldn't be happy with runners up. You would think Dublin are in transition the way some some of yous guys are talking, ok yous have some young guys(excellent) but Dublin were champs 2011 and there's plenty of experience. I know Donegal would not beat Kildare by that much and probably it's because we drop bodies back however it was relentless from Dublin. It wouldn't bother me if Dublin win it , I'd be worried though that you's could dominate with your underage talent and playing population. I'm not saying yous can't be beating but yous are superior than two years ago and with our squad being limited , we need injuries to clear up. Mayo are going nicely too. If Cork changed manager , they would be dangerous. Kerry are Kerry but no pace at the back.

Truth is nobody knows how good or bad teams are till everything is over in September, look at Roscommon today nearly beating tyrone, yet we are slagged for saying we are gonna take Meath very seriously and if not focussed we could get caught cold.
This is a Dublin team in transition , new manager with totally different ideas on how the game should be played. one new half back,two new corner backs , different person in midfield ,one new half forward , two new corner forwards and that is just the starting 15.
Would you call Donegal in transition if this amount of changes happened to your team, i think ye would.I appreciate we have bigger squad ,but ye can only play 15.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 06/07/2013 21:24:33    1425367

What's all this failure crap regarding Dublin, IMO if Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Cork or Mayo don't win it, they will have failed.

Looks like Mayo have the most to lose as it's a generation since they've won it, so I'd imagine that's where most of the pressure lies, make sense?

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8808 - 06/07/2013 21:36:25    1425385

AthCliath
County: Dublin
Posts: 2115

Truth is nobody knows how good or bad teams are till everything is over in September, look at Roscommon today nearly beating tyrone, yet we are slagged for saying we are gonna take Meath very seriously and if not focussed we could get caught cold.
This is a Dublin team in transition , new manager with totally different ideas on how the game should be played. one new half back,two new corner backs , different person in midfield ,one new half forward , two new corner forwards and that is just the starting 15.
Would you call Donegal in transition if this amount of changes happened to your team, i think ye would.I appreciate we have bigger squad ,but ye can only play 15.

We know Dublin are very good this season, that much is very clear. What we don't know just yet is where they are in comparison to the other big sides. We won't fully know this until the All Ireland series kicks off.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 06/07/2013 21:59:12    1425410

Dublin will be tested next weekend. They will still win. But they will be tested.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/07/2013 09:26:25    1425426

Don't know about that RD, think the Dublin forwards will destroy your backline from what I seen last Sunday in both matches. Meath will probably give a better game than us but just haven't seen anything in them to indicate that they put Dublin to a genuine test. Think Meath forwards will make better use of any supply than we did but god help them if they play the "shoot-out" style of game that was played against Wexford. Will be there shouting for our minors and ribbing the in-laws (Meath fans to the core)
On an other note much kudos to the manner in which Dublin fans i encountered last Sunday, and on here, reacted to their trouncing of us. I was giving out a few weeks back about Dublin fans I seen in CP taking the piss out of Westmeath fans in a nasty way but as a fair person I have to say the reaction to last week was very magnanimous, even more encouraging than some of the reaction of our own fans, no gloating, no mind ups etc...in fact fans of certain other counties seemed to spend more time gloating about our defeat than any other result, including their own. Take a bow Dubs and best of luck to all teams next week.....looking forward to it.

commander (Kildare) - Posts: 225 - 07/07/2013 13:44:46    1425597