Word has it Cork have had a major cull of panel including Aidan Walsh.
I know the lad is responsible for himself too but the treatment and abuse of this fella is a scandal and reflects badly on coaches and any of his advisors alike.
Itâs astonishing though that management have not adjusted themselves and leave everything at players door.
If the West cork drinking contingent remain then I will not be spending any money going to see or support these fellas.
haed to see him being at the pace . He was tried and never really made the grade at senior IC hurling . He was totally off the pace this year at senior IC football.
His brilliant performances in both codes back in 2010 & 2011 are a distant memory .
I think his performances back then are vastly overrated. He had a big second half against Down in the AI final in 2010. The reality is that Down midfield of Kalum King and Peter Fitzpatrick played very little intercounty football before and after that final.
What Dublin have at the moment though is a lot of their top out-field players are mid 20âs - Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton and Jack McCaffrey are all 25. Paul Mannion who had a terrific season is 25. Brian Howard who had an outstanding debut season only 20. Jonny Cooper, James McCarthy and Dean Rock who are still key are all 28. Its that ability to come up with a readymade replacement for the player or two that have gone over the hill, all the time keeping the same age profile that sustains it. Youâd imagine Philly McMahon (30) who had a difficult enough season wonât start next year and possibly Cian OâSullivan (30) if the injuries he had this year persist.
Over the All Ireland Finals in the 4 in a row, Dublin started 26 different players and 4 more players saw action as subs.
Different times and systems, when Kerry were in their pomp over the 4 in a row from 1978-81, Kerry started just 17 players in their finals and used just 3 more as subs. One of those 17 starters was their Mr Versatile first sub Tommy Doyle, who actually ended up starting three finals as Ger Power was injured in 1979, Eoin Liston got appendicitis before the 1980 final and Pat Spillane was injured in 1981. Of the three subs, one was Paudie OâMahoney the sub goalkeeper who came on in the 1978 final when Charlie Nelligan was sent off. Kerry were using pretty much the same players and team year in year out. Of the starting 15 from the first of the 4 in a row in the 1978 final, 10 started the 1986 final to finish off their last 3 in a row.
I think a cool idea might be to have a âPretty Decent 8sâ competition running simultaneously with the Super 8s. The next best 8 teams in the country, on the basis of how they did in the qualifiers. All the matches would be in regional venues except for the final. The cunts are moaning about they want a 2 tier championship, anyone would have a chance of winning the Pretty Decent 8s.
The nature of gaelic football makes it easy for dublin to replenish and keep winning. Sure you have exceptions like connolly but generally dublin are made up of brilliant athletes who do the basics well and dont make mistakes. Good fielders, great engine (bench helps) can kick accurate twenty yard passes, run hard and shoot high percentage shots. They dont have too many ove the shoulder from 45 out at an angle merchants, gooches or canavans, but they dont need them. What they have can be replaced.
Heres a left fieldish analogy, one of the best ladies football teams in America is charlotte North Carolina . Iirc they won the north Americans last year, i checked there and they lost the final by a point this year. They play against teams full of irish girls many of whom played intercounty, but the charlotte team is as far as im aware fully American. They are just drawn mainly from collegiate soccer players, superb athletes, well used to a round ball, finding space, movement etc. Its just a sport that the right person can be coached into being a very effective player. similar could never happen in camogie or hurling.
I was told five or six years ago by a Dublin under age manager that they chose 20 athletes. The football can come later if needs be but the athletic ability was the main criteria they looked for. They reckoned other teams would have a max of 8 to 10 versus what Dublin could produce.
On every other panel in the country youâll have plenty of guys who are very talented footballers but lack the size/power/pace/fitness for intercounty football, itâs just not in them.
Dublin donât have that problem, itâs a numbers thing, for them you have to be the complete package - you need the skill, the size, the power and pace - they can afford to be that selective due to the numbers - they can afford to focus on developing these types of players where other counties canât. Theyâve got their house in order in the past decade and are now reaping the benefits of it, no county can compete with Dublin if all counties are getting the maximum out of their resources.
