[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1029156, member: 377”]It wasn’t my point, I was dealing with all the moaning about Dublin having an unfair advantage playing all their games in Croke Park and not having to play games outside of Croke Park.
.[/QUOTE]
You responded to my post but I didn’t mention having an unfair advantage, I mentioned boring days in Croke Park playing shit teams. Most Dubs would like an away day from Croke Park…albeit to play shit teams in Leinster.
Leinster Final onwards would be Croke Park although there could be an argument for playing the quarters elsewhere too.
[QUOTE=“Ebeneezer Goode, post: 1029184, member: 1785”]You responded to my post but I didn’t mention having an unfair advantage, I mentioned boring days in Croke Park playing shit teams. Most Dubs would like an away day from Croke Park…albeit to play shit teams in Leinster.
Leinster Final onwards would be Croke Park although there could be an argument for playing the quarters elsewhere too.[/QUOTE]
It mightn’t have been yourself then that made reference to an unfair advantage but other contributors certainly have.
It sounds like we are broadly singing from the same hymn sheet. Dublin should be on the road prior to Leinster Final (unless maybe its Kildare or Meath and the capacity issues that go with those match ups) and from Leinster Final/AI Quarter final onwards, they are in Croke Park.
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1029185, member: 377”]It mightn’t have been yourself then that made reference to an unfair advantage but other contributors certainly have.
It sounds like we are broadly singing from the same hymn sheet. Dublin should be on the road prior to Leinster Final (unless maybe its Kildare or Meath and the capacity issues that go with those match ups) and from Leinster Final/AI Quarter final onwards, they are in Croke Park.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1029185, member: 377”]It mightn’t have been yourself then that made reference to an unfair advantage but other contributors certainly have.
It sounds like we are broadly singing from the same hymn sheet. Dublin should be on the road prior to Leinster Final (unless maybe its Kildare or Meath and the capacity issues that go with those match ups) and from Leinster Final/AI Quarter final onwards, they are in Croke Park.[/QUOTE]
I know a couple of the Meath players and one of the coaches. I asked them where they would want to play Dublin. I expected them all to say Croke Park was fine and it was a great pitch/stadium/occasion…they all answered Navan…and they said the Dubs had an unfair advantage playing all their games in Croker.
More proof it it was needed that the Meath men don’t whinge mantra is well and truly dead - as also evidenced by their carry on after this year’s Leinster final. There’s no unfair advantage in playing in Croke Park, its a neutral venue.
[QUOTE=“Ebeneezer Goode, post: 1029128, member: 1785”]Yes we would beat them but I meant at least it wouldn’t be another boring day in Croker.
[/QUOTE]
The last time I went with you to Croke Park was for the classic Kerry vs Dublin semi final last year.
I recall that we were in the company of @Rocko[/USER] , [USER=9]@Colin Montgomerie and some catering staff.
You never once ventured out of the box to view the game. Perhaps, if you did, your trips to HQ mightn’t be so boring
[QUOTE=“thedancingbaby, post: 1029241, member: 48”]The last time I went with you to Croke Park was for the classic Kerry vs Dublin semi final last year.
I recall that we were in the company of @Rocko[/USER] , [USER=9]@Colin Montgomerie and some catering staff.
You never once ventured out of the box to view the game. Perhaps, if you did, your trips to HQ mightn’t be so boring[/QUOTE]
I think that game was late August and therefore not a boring game. Read my original post!
[QUOTE=“Manuel Zelaya, post: 1029181, member: 377”]You’re talking about a lot of poor teams there. If we take the 5 in Ulster you have referred to, Donegal are a Top 4 side (most probably on the way down due to their age profile). After that, maybe Tyrone at a push are just about a Top 10 side. Derry, Down and Armagh are light years away from where they were when they were winning All Ireland’s in 1991, 93, 94 & 2002.
Derry haven’t won a provincial title since 1998 and in this decade Derry have exited the Championship twice at the hands of Longford (2012 & 14) - a Longford side that are in Division 4 of the national league and twice to Kildare (2010 & 11) - with an 11 point hammering at home in Celtic Park to Kildare in 2010.
Down haven’t won a provincial title since 1994 and have had a few right hammering in recent years - Kildare beat them by 10 point in Newry this year, in 2012 Donegal beat them by 11 points in Ulster and Mayo then knocked them out of the Championship beating them by 12 points and in 2011, Cork beat Down by 12 points.
Armagh haven’t been in an Ulster Final since they last won it in 2008, and they’ve exited the Championship to the likes of Wexford, Roscommon & Galway in recent years and were even held to a draw by Wicklow. They are now operating in Division 3 of the National League.
Tyrone haven’t plummeted to those levels, but no provincial final appearance since 2010 and well beaten by Dublin by 7 points in 2011, Kerry by 10 points in 2012 and Mayo by 6 points in 2013 and were awful this year when they went out to Armagh.
I would see the top half of the draw in Leinster as comparatively difficult to that if not more difficult. You have Dublin there, a top 8 side in Kildare, Laois who are probably a top 10 side and Longford (who despite their lowly league status) can be a dangerous proposition in the championship.[/QUOTE]
Longford were genuinely one of the worst teams I saw play last year. Wexford beat them and Tipp beat them by about 17 points. Derry either didn’t give a shite about that game or Ulster is disgustingly bad.
I didn’t see Longford play at all but I would suspect the latter is the case. You don’t end up in Division 4 of the league by accident. The standard in Ulster is appallingly bad at the moment and has been for a good 6-7 years now. Its more or less back to the level it was at in the 1970’s and 80’s. It still equates to a competitive enough provincial championship because most of the sides are more or less at the same level in their mediocrity but nationally and in terms of the business end of proceedings, Ulster is largely an irrelevance now. Its a pity after the Ulster sides became such a competitive force in the early 90’s and mid noughties that they’e slipped back so much, but its up to them again now to raise their levels and get back to the requisite standard.
It cyclic for, generally, smaller counties. They need to find another way to win, catch the book g guns on the hop again. Big Counties generally adjust easily and quickly enough. Although I believe it took Kerry, Jack O Connor in particular way too long. God only knows how successful that 2000’s Kerry team would have been if they had dropped the arrogance and ignorance about “the way football should be played” shite.
I think its only in the fullness of time that we will really appreciate what Tyrone pulled off. 3 All Ireland’s was a fantastic return for a county who had never win one before off the bones of the same squad. Counties like Galway, Cork, Meath with arguably better resources and equally brilliant teams only ever got as far as 2. I think pound for pound that Tyrone team can be classed with any other team in history.
[QUOTE=“caoimhaoin, post: 1029266, member: 273”]It cyclic for, generally, smaller counties. They need to find another way to win, catch the book g guns on the hop again. Big Counties generally adjust easily and quickly enough. Although I believe it took Kerry, Jack O Connor in particular way too long. God only knows how successful that 2000’s Kerry team would have been if they had dropped the arrogance and ignorance about “the way football should be played” shite.
I think its only in the fullness of time that we will really appreciate what Tyrone pulled off. 3 All Ireland’s was a fantastic return for a county who had never win one before off the bones of the same squad. Counties like Galway, Cork, Meath with arguably better resources and equally brilliant teams only ever got as far as 2. I think pound for pound that Tyrone team can be classed with any other team in history.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely, it was an incredible achievement by that Tyrone side to win 3 All Ireland’s particularly for a county that up until just over a decade ago had no great tradition of winning. Outside of Kerry, the only other living men with 3 All Ireland medals are Martin O’Connell and Colm Coyle from Meath, Dublin players of the 1974-83 era, a handful of the Down 1960-61 team who were still there in 1968 and the Galway 3 in a row team of 1964-66.
Down and Galway had to wait 23 and 32 years respectively for their turn to come around again in the 90’s after the glory days of the 60’s. When Meath won in 1987, it bridged a 20 year gap back to 1987. After their great era from the mid 80’s to late 90’s, by the time championship 2015 comes around, Meath’s wait will be 16 years, Galway 14 and Down 21. I hope Tyrone supporters appreciated and savoured how good they had it from 2003-08 because of the lessons of history show us anything, the likelihood is they’ll be waiting a while for their turn to come around again.
[QUOTE=“thedancingbaby, post: 1029241, member: 48”]The last time I went with you to Croke Park was for the classic Kerry vs Dublin semi final last year.
I recall that we were in the company of @Rocko[/USER] , [USER=9]@Colin Montgomerie and some catering staff.
You never once ventured out of the box to view the game. Perhaps, if you did, your trips to HQ mightn’t be so boring[/QUOTE]
+1. I recall the event junkie (aka @Ebeneezer Goode) cut his shin when jumping up and banging it against a radiator in the corporate box when McManamon scored the last gasp goal for Dublin.
[QUOTE=“caoimhaoin, post: 1029266, member: 273”]It cyclic for, generally, smaller counties. They need to find another way to win, catch the book g guns on the hop again. Big Counties generally adjust easily and quickly enough. Although I believe it took Kerry, Jack O Connor in particular way too long. God only knows how successful that 2000’s Kerry team would have been if they had dropped the arrogance and ignorance about “the way football should be played” shite.
I think its only in the fullness of time that we will really appreciate what Tyrone pulled off. 3 All Ireland’s was a fantastic return for a county who had never win one before off the bones of the same squad. Counties like Galway, Cork, Meath with arguably better resources and equally brilliant teams only ever got as far as 2. I think pound for pound that Tyrone team can be classed with any other team in history.[/QUOTE]
the tyrone performance in 2008 against the dubs in the lashing rain was greatest performance of a football team I have ever witnessed…basic skills mastered, switching play in an instant , running off the shoulder, knowing when to skin a lad for a goal instead of settling for point…it was phenemonel…all executed in monsoon conditions…
Derry had players leaving for a summer in America after they got beat by Donegal and were missing 8 players from that starting line-up against Longford. They had to draft players onto the panel from when they played Donegal to the Longford game and started an 18 year old who only joined up with the squad a week earlier. They still should have beaten Longford, but there are deep rooted problems for them at county level despite having a good playing squad.
I hope they get their act together as they have some great players in the likes of O’Kane, Lynch, McGoldrick, Lynn and McKaigue as well as some really talented youngsters like McFaul, McKinless and Bell. It’s worth noting that James Kielt barely played last year and he’s probably the best footballer in Derry, don’t think Eoin Bradley is playing soccer this year so he might be back in the squad. If they can keep the squad united and together for the full season then they have a good chance.
They gave Donegal a good game in Ulster and were in the Division 1 final, the Longford game was an outlier in their season.