I think most people are in broad agreement that the style of football today is not as attractive as it was years ago. But equally it is silly and to suggest that everyone should play in the style of an young, naive Galway side. No offence meant to Galway who I'm sure will develop over the next few years. It is easy to hark back to the past and blame various teams and managers for ruining the game, but what exactly do people expect to happen. Gaelic Football like every field sport has seen formations and tactics evolve over the years. You can be sure 5 years from now it will be different again, and like all competitive team sports the ultimate goal is to win. That is why players train and play 10 months a year, sacrificing their free time to sit on front of the TV on cold winters nights or indeed mornings to go out and do the exhausting slog of modern training routines, to win and be successful, not to provide Eugene McGee with some romantic notion of pretty football.
What would people expect the teams and managers to do. Do they think Mickey Harte should pop in to the Monaghan changing room on Saturday afternoon and say - "Look, Malachy lets give Pat Spillane and Eugene McGee a show here. I promise to play 6 forwards who will not cross behind the 50 yard line if you do the same." It's a ridiculous notion. It boils down to this very simply. Managers and teams are out to win games. They will do it however they can and it is silly to blame them or expect any different of them. If we want the game to move away from the current style it is up to the rule makers. That is who the spot light should be on.

johnboy7 (Tyrone) - Posts: 79 - 31/07/2013 11:27:40    1448531

Spot on johnboy7

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1428 - 31/07/2013 11:42:13    1448549

Very well said Johnboy7. The problem is that rules are voted on and passed by Congress which is pure madness.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6178 - 31/07/2013 11:46:39    1448561

Jagerbombs
County: Galway
Posts: 38

1448368
If Cork scored the 4-5 goals they should have and Meehan didnt score his wonder goal we would have lost by 11-12 points and we would be tslking about how far this Galway team is behind the rest of the pack.That is a fact

----

Ah sure look if my aunt had .... she'd be my uncle you know!

That's all ifs, buts and maybes. Sure enough Cork did have goal chances but bare in mind Galway also had their fair share.

ahsure. (Galway) - Posts: 1666 - 31/07/2013 11:54:08    1448569

Lads,
no reasonable person has any problem with different formations or tactics. The levels of conditioning in the GAA now stand comparison with any team sport and make some full time professional sports look amateur. Kudos all round.
Cynical fouling, stopping the opposition by any means possible, constant argy bargy at the breakdown of play, feigning injury, cheap shots off the ball, snarling at and berating officials, blocking players making support runs. This is the type of stuff Ulster labels as "intensity", reasonable minded people see for what it is. Undignified attack on the sport itself.
Incessant hand passing and negative defensive set ups I can live with but the blatant cheating and undermining of the sport has to dealt with.

Bosco (Carlow) - Posts: 664 - 31/07/2013 11:54:38    1448571

Most people would want to see a provincial team doing well after their own county goes out. But, being from Down, and Ulster, not being bitter, but there's NO way I wanna see an Ulster team winning Sam again for a while! The blanket defence is destroying football, or should I say handball! People class Ulster as best province!? Bull- it's the most competitive cause most teams play same physical defensive style!
The worst part about Down's championship isn't that we lost essentially a replay to Derry (which opens another can of worms), but the style in which we played. Wee James stayed as manager to right the wrongs from last season's spankings by a super physical defensive Donegal and a super physical cynical Mayo. Fair enough. But while he made us more solid at the back, he sacrificed the style of football Down are famous for! And the manner in which we beat Derry, scoring long range points, which seems to be best way to beat blanket defenses, seemed to have been forgotten against Donegal, in which plan a was to contain them, and plan b was to keep them from hitting double figures. They were there for the taking, as Monaghan showed. And the 2nd half of Derry replay- worse than last year!
My point is Down are classed as a traditional football team, albeit not as successful as the Kerry's, Meath's, Dublin's, Galway's. For football to progress and make people want to watch, we need a Dublin or Kerry or team with attacking prowess and not just 13 behind ball and counter attack to win Sam for next few years, and maybe a few of the new generation of managers don't follow the Mickey Harte blueprint perfected by McGuinness last year

beansycpn (Down) - Posts: 128 - 31/07/2013 12:13:04    1448601

Of course, its all ulsters fault!! There were plenty of southern teams who employed 'negative tactics' before tyrone and donegal came along! Its just too easy to listen to spillane and the likes and point the finger at the northerners!

bigboon (Tyrone) - Posts: 50 - 31/07/2013 12:18:54    1448612

Absolutely spot on! Word perfect post!

Bosco (Carlow) - Posts: 664 - 31/07/2013 12:20:12    1448615

Bosco, fair enough. So lobby the rule makers to do something about it. I don't think the likes of Dublin and Mayo have had to summon much "intensity" in their runs through their respective Championships, nor Cork or Kerry until they met each other. Lets see if "intensity" is shown by all teams, and not just the Ulster ones now we are down to the business end of the year.

johnboy7 (Tyrone) - Posts: 79 - 31/07/2013 12:21:08    1448617

Would somebody please tell me what a "traditional" football team is ? As far as I can gather most counties have been playing football for well over a hundred year. Is that not tradition ?

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6178 - 31/07/2013 12:23:46    1448621

the galway backs should have done what sean cavanagh did against meath for the concession of the goal against cork, we play like underage players,that leads to open football in attack but to be succesfull you need to be cynical at the back too. it would be interesting if teams started with 13 a side if this would reduce the influence of bunching and swarm defence. i still think with that system that donegal dublin kerry cork mayo tyrone would be be the top teams. it would be more enjoyable for the neutral to watch defenders trying to stop mc brearty,murphy,gooch,brogan with that little bit more space to thrill us with their skills.

jj19 (Galway) - Posts: 448 - 31/07/2013 12:27:51    1448623

I agree with much of what johnboy is saying - rules rules rules.....it all boils down to rules.

Apply them properly and consistently or change them. What we have at the moment is the worst of both worlds - ref's who won't apply the rules and rulemakers who won't make tough calls (or simplify the existing rules - how many cards do we have now?)

kingdom_come (Kerry) - Posts: 83 - 31/07/2013 12:30:16    1448625

Greengrass
County: Louth

Would somebody please tell me what a "traditional" football team is ? As far as I can gather most counties have been playing football for well over a hundred year. Is that not tradition ?

I agree and have an issue with that term also. What makes Kerry or Galway more traditional than say Louth or Leitrim. The GAA has been around as long in every Irish county. I think they mean to say the more successful counties as if they have also played football the way it should be.

Forgive me but I have watched some of the so called glory days on All Ireland gold and some of the football played is not great and slow.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11547 - 31/07/2013 12:32:53    1448632

Bosco
County: Carlow
Posts: 532

1448571
Lads,
no reasonable person has any problem with different formations or tactics. The levels of conditioning in the GAA now stand comparison with any team sport and make some full time professional sports look amateur. Kudos all round.
Cynical fouling, stopping the opposition by any means possible, constant argy bargy at the breakdown of play, feigning injury, cheap shots off the ball, snarling at and berating officials, blocking players making support runs. This is the type of stuff Ulster labels as "intensity", reasonable minded people see for what it is. Undignified attack on the sport itself.
Incessant hand passing and negative defensive set ups I can live with but the blatant cheating and undermining of the sport has to dealt with.
______________________________________________________________________________

This stuff has been going on since the game was first played, it is nothing new. And it is certainly not just an Ulster thing. You are kidding yourself if you think different.

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1428 - 31/07/2013 12:50:44    1448656

beansycpn
County: Down
Posts: 22

1448601
Most people would want to see a provincial team doing well after their own county goes out. But, being from Down, and Ulster, not being bitter, but there's NO way I wanna see an Ulster team winning Sam again for a while! The blanket defence is destroying football, or should I say handball! People class Ulster as best province!? Bull- it's the most competitive cause most teams play same physical defensive style!
The worst part about Down's championship isn't that we lost essentially a replay to Derry (which opens another can of worms), but the style in which we played. Wee James stayed as manager to right the wrongs from last season's spankings by a super physical defensive Donegal and a super physical cynical Mayo. Fair enough. But while he made us more solid at the back, he sacrificed the style of football Down are famous for! And the manner in which we beat Derry, scoring long range points, which seems to be best way to beat blanket defenses, seemed to have been forgotten against Donegal, in which plan a was to contain them, and plan b was to keep them from hitting double figures. They were there for the taking, as Monaghan showed. And the 2nd half of Derry replay- worse than last year!
My point is Down are classed as a traditional football team, albeit not as successful as the Kerry's, Meath's, Dublin's, Galway's. For football to progress and make people want to watch, we need a Dublin or Kerry or team with attacking prowess and not just 13 behind ball and counter attack to win Sam for next few years, and maybe a few of the new generation of managers don't follow the Mickey Harte blueprint perfected by McGuinness last year
______________________________________________________________________

If the rules dont change then I dont believe this would change anything. Teams will continue to use tactics that give them the best chance of winning. Why would you not play in a way that gives you the best chance of winning? Its absurd to think that any team would play an 'easy-on-the-eye' brand of football if it means playing the game on the oppositions terms.

I dont believe football will ever go back to 6 backs and 6 forwards (not that it has been for the last 15 years and often beyond) because of the fitness and conditioning of modern day players. Its simply not an optimal strategy. Why have 6 in an attack and 6 in defense when you can have ~12 in attack and ~12 in defense?

I wrote an article on this recently for anyone who wants a read
http://bigsportingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/game-theory-and-gaelic-football.html

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1428 - 31/07/2013 12:59:38    1448667

Anybody who says this type of football started in Ulster is either pathetically and tragically naive, or simply a bigot

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12299 - 31/07/2013 13:08:25    1448686

Hopefully you're just naive.

Breffni40 (Cavan) - Posts: 12299 - 31/07/2013 13:09:18    1448687

Benjyyy,
read your blog. Why use one word when ten will do eh?
Read carefully. Formations and tactics are up to the individual teams to decide upon. Employ the strategy that suits you and your playing personnel best. Best of luck to you.
The cheating has to stop. Deliberate systematic fouling. Off the ball hits and intimidation. Feigning injury etc.
it's obscene. It's present to an extent everywhere but at the risk of repeating myself its off the scale with Ulster teams.

Bosco (Carlow) - Posts: 664 - 31/07/2013 13:14:51    1448691

yew_tree
County: Mayo
Posts: 4807

1448632 Greengrass
County: Louth

Would somebody please tell me what a "traditional" football team is ? As far as I can gather most counties have been playing football for well over a hundred year. Is that not tradition ?

I agree and have an issue with that term also. What makes Kerry or Galway more traditional than say Louth or Leitrim. The GAA has been around as long in every Irish county. I think they mean to say the more successful counties as if they have also played football the way it should be.

Forgive me but I have watched some of the so called glory days on All Ireland gold and some of the football played is not great and slow.

Exactly. More successful teams is the phrase. Your phrase " as if they have also played football the way it should be" is also very accurate and telling.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6178 - 31/07/2013 13:19:59    1448697

Greengrass
County: Louth
Posts: 2693

1448621
Would somebody please tell me what a "traditional" football team is ? As far as I can gather most counties have been playing football for well over a hundred year. Is that not tradition ?
_______________________________
Spot on greengrass, I'm sick of that tired old mantra being trotted out by posters from the usual suspect counties as if there is some sort of unofficial pecking order in the GAA, a line that must not be crossed by those who are not 'pure' enough. Now theres another one for you, purists, pure footballing counties, give me strength.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 31/07/2013 13:40:11    1448732