Iād agree with that alright. Although the Ulster teams in general now are probably better than they were in say 2017 when Tyrone were the only semi-final representative and were torn asunder by Dublin. For most of that decade only Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan competed at all and the latter were always susceptible to a shock defeat at the hands of teams like Longford. At least now the likes of Derry and Down are making progress and for all the criticism of Armagh here, theyāre a far better team than when they were languishing in Div 3 and couldnāt win a game in Ulster.
I thought we had a very open championship heading into today but Kerryās dominance and a limited enough Monaghan team reaching a semi have tempered my optimism. Itās a real pity Galway arenāt still knocking around to add another quality team to the mix.
Ulster had 3 quarter-finalists in 2017, all probably equally as poor as this years crop. We have forgotten what a proper footballer is up here, go back a decade and we had forwards across the province like McDonnell, Coulter, OāNeill, Bradley, McFadden, Finlay and Gallagher. Conor McManus was a star then as well, he is 36 now and possibly still the best forward in the province.
Think it was a league game. If Brigidās won they stayed in Division 1. Paddy went on a weekend with other Dublin players to New York instead. Brigidās lost and were relegated to Division 2. Have they came back up?
McDonnellās last season was 2011.
Coulter and OāNeill were both almost done by 2013.
Paddy Bradley was done playing for Derry by 2013.
Paul Finlay was never a top forward.
I donāt know who Gallagher refers to.
Rian OāNeill, Oisin Gallen, Michael Langan, Shane McGuigan, the Canavans and Darren McCurry are all brilliant forwards. Paddy McBrearty is not yet 30 and might still have a kick left in him yet.
Ulster is shaping up as well as it has done for a while. Monaghan have stuck around, Derry are transformed, Tyrone should be back under a new management team, Donegal could be back if they got organised, Armagh are reasonably strong, Down are coming like a train under a manager who knows what heās doing.
Esteemed former poster @Fulvio_From_Aughnacloy made the astute and blindingly obvious observation that armagh gave done nothing at minor or u21 for yearsā¦it shows, because theyāve a few aging footballers, great heart and a terrible ethic. Most other teams would have been awarded that free at the end, deserved or not. Lane instinctively blew for it but couldnāt stomach awarding it. He basically fucked armagh over, mcgeeney was right to be livid, but heās made his bed so he may lie in it.
They would, but then the coach wouldnāt be the centre of attention would he. Vinny Corey a nice contrast to McGeeney - Iād say Vinny would be delighted if he was never talked about but Kieran has to be out in the middle of the field throwing shoulders.
Armagh are some team over the years to give away cheap frees in the last attack of a level or one point game at Croke Park.
The drawn semi-final against Kerry in 2000
The Cosgrave free in 2002 (which they got away with)
The Canavan free in 2005 (which they didnāt)
The one on McManus today
You can throw other times theyāve folded there in razor tight games:
v Galway in 2001 - Justin McNulty got blocked down by Michael Donnellan and Paul Clancy pointed the winner
v Sligo in 2002 - they inexplicably collapsed against 14 men and were saved by the bell and Sligo not going for the jugular when they should have
v Fermanagh in 2004 - lost to a last minute point
v Galway 2022 - were ahead very late in extra-time.
They totally folded in the when in a great position against Meath in 1999.
They fell back in defence when in a great position against Kerry in the 2000 replay.
They fucked away the 2006 quarter-final against Kerry with a gift goal when only two points down with five or six minutes left and with the momentum behind them.
They got away with it against Kerry in the final in 2002 despite doing their best to fuck it away.
Throw in the three penalty shoot out defeats and thatās a county with a pathology about winning big games.
Armagh play the worst style Iāve ever seen, even worse than anything Donegal produced under McGuinness.
Pile everyone back, every time, and then break at speed. Donāt even keep one or two forward which means the opposition have to keep two or three back.
And the infuriating thing is theyāve good forwards, better than most teams. Including Monaghan. But no, have to follow the process. Do me a favour. McGeeney an absolute clown.
Any manager that canāt envisage oāneil catching a ball on the edge of the d, turning his man and slotting over a point basically has no business managing oāneill.
