Philly McMahon was still 20 when Caffrey resigned and was not ready.
Connolly had just turned 21 when Caffrey resigned - he was far from the player he is now.
As I’ve said, Bernard Brogan was also not the player in '07 and '08 that he is now.
That’s ridiculous and disingenuous selectivity.
Ryan was turned into an excellent midfielder by Caffrey having never played there before '05.
Griffin, Henry, Keaney and Quinn were useful players but not All-Ireland winning quality. O’Shaughnessy wasn’t great. Bastick at the time was a basket case.
In terms of overall quality in '05 to '08 Dublin were well behind Kerry and Tyrone and also behind Armagh in '05 and '06.
Dublin were the second best team in the country in '07 and pushed Kerry to the pin of their collar to win.
Would there be any chance that the likes of Bastick, Bernard and Connolly were not the players they are now be anything to do with the fact that they had a crap manager in Pillar and once they got a proper manager (Gilroy and Gavin) they improved?
Griffin, Henry, Keaney and Quinn were indeed useful and much less talented players have won All Irelands in recent y say they are not “All Ireland Winning quality” is simply untrue
Shane Ryan was an excellent player before Pillar came in. Moving him from wing back to midfield was a success but hardly tactical move of the century. Moving him out of midfield at half time v Mayo in 2006 probably cost us the game but that’s Pillar for you. It was arguably an even more stupid move than the childish shoulder he hit Morrison before that game.
I couldn’t fault your football knowledge and I know you are probably prepared to go on for days with this one so I am going to do what Pillars team did when they met the Tyrone lads with the beards in 2008 and throw in the towel.
I don’t think Dublin are overly bothered with goals. The effort and energy needed to break down and work through a massed defence can be better expended out the field with moving the ball around in a larger area and thus make more space to get a shot away for a point. I think theyre happy to keep the scoreboard ticking over rather than make big statements like scoring a goal. I also think Connolly’s goal shooting selection is poor and more often than not he is the one breaking through for goal chances when they arise.
Bernard Brogan’s comparative lack of potency is one reason - he hit 6-21 in 7 games last year (5.57 points per game) but has scored just 1-9 in five games this year (2.4 points per game).
The back six have only contributed 0-6 this year (1.2 points per game) compared to 2-10 last year (2.28 points per game).
The bench contributed 2.28 points per game last year compared to 1.8 points per game this year.
Overall however there hasn’t been a massive drop in their overall average points scored per game - 24.57 in 2015 as against 22.6 in 2016.
The main difference would appear to be in the amount they are scoring from frees - 7.0 points per game this year compared to 2.85 points per game last year. So teams are fouling against them more.
Kerry actually outscored Dublin from play in the semi-final 2-10 to 0-12.
In the case of Connolly and Brogan it was youth. In Bastick’s case it was a discipline problem - he’s always been mainly a bit part player anyway although has made the most of his career since 2011.
The difference between useful and “All-Ireland winning quality” is the difference between Griffin, Henry, Keaney and Quinn and their Kerry and Tyrone equivalents - Philip Jordan, Tom O’Sullivan, Tomas O’Se, Ryan McMenamin, Stephen O’Neill, Kieran Donaghy, Eoin Mulligan, Colm Cooper etc.
He was one of the greatest bluffers in history of IC management. He may not have had an AI winning team available, but they imploded too many times for him to be considered anything other a world class bluffer.
Them lads are all stars. But there are plenty of lads on those teams who would fit into the "useful " category and were no better than the Dublin lads mentioned. Ryan Mellon, collie Holmes, martin penrose, Dermot Carlin, Killian Young, Patrick Reidy, Eoin Brosnan.
