Maybe puberty has finally finished for you Kev and youāre maturing at last.
Down will win the AI.
Lads Down are a limited team in a couple of areas. Mark one or two players out of it and they are goosed. Getting to All-Ireland Final doesnāt make you the 2nd best team. Cork should have beaten by a bit more too, and i daresay if it was this year they would.
Depends on the draw obviously, but i wouldnāt be surprised if they only made 1/4ās. Some of ye donāt rate Kildare at all yet they could very easily have beaten them. And Kildare would beat Cork?!? Youāre having a laugh. They would stay with them running wise, but wouldnāt have the power or scoring ability of Cork.
I would rank, based on league & Championship for past 2 years including this year;
Cork.
Kerry.
Dublin.
Tyrone.
Down.
Kildare.
Mayo.
Donegal.
Meath.
Monaghan.
Sid are you serious about rating Kildare above Dublin? I think Dublin are a better team than Kildare. There are couple of problems with Dublin such as the lack of depth in the squad, midfield and the inability to pace themselves through 70 minutes but I still think they are the strongest team in Leinster but in saying that I donāt think they will win leinster. I can see Dublin using the early rounds to experiment to sort out the problems at midfield and to blood a few of the squad in championship and I think that will cost them and then we will be in the qualifiers. I see Dublin getting to the semiās and as long as they donāt face either Cork or Kerry I can see them making it to the final.
Agree with you on that ranking. Like I said in the post above I can see Dublin reaching the final as long as they avoid playing Cork or Kerry in the semi. But in saying that I do think Kerry are there to be taken this year.
Iād go along with that, although Iād have Tyrone up further, but I respect your gut feeling as being yours and yours alone with regards to them, I feel they have more than fighting chance this year having seen them tear up O Moore Park earlier this year. I wouldnāt even have Kildare that far up though, as without Earley they are a one man band with a lot of workers and youāll not win much with a team of grunts. I also doubt Donegal will do much but theyāre probably about right there. Youāve given up on Armagh?
Ya, Iād agree with most of that. I know said earlier in the year Cork wouldnt retain the AI, but itās hard to see where the opposition is going to come from.
The Dubs would be the most likely I think, but obviously there are questions of mentality and strength indept, but a fully fit, confident Dublin team could probably turn over Cork in a an AI semi final.
Havenāt shown enough to go ahead of Monaghan who stayed Div 1 for so long, or Donegal who iām basing mostly on this year and the consistancy they have found. I believe Armagh have talent, but seriously lack consistancy. Iād say a younger coach (McNulty type) is what they need. Iām sure Oā Rourke is a decent coach and man, but i just canāt see him getting it out of them like a military type McGeeney would. Heās got a Down attitude i would suggest, and the Armagh forumla for success is different. May not be the right fit.
Runt - I donāt think Dublin would touch Cork this year. They are carrying too many players. It will keep happening, Ger Brennan could get sent off, Quinn will lose his cool when tired at vital times, midfield remains light weight and has no depth. I think in time they will sort these areas, as the footballers are in Dublin, they just are not old enough yet. I mean later in the summer Cork could be bringing in Aidan Walsh, Graham Canty and Donnacha Oā Connor or Kerrigan to win games depending on selection and form. Dublin have nothing like that. Kerry donāt even have it now.
According to the RTE website it looks like Sheilds and Mcmahon are looking at 4 week bans for their handbags in the tunnel on Sunday.
As expected really, and has no affect on either.
I could never understand the why suspensions in the GAA are based on weeks and not on games. Surely it would hurt the players more if they imposed a 3 game ban rather than a 4 week ban where they would probably miss 1 game. Cant see why they wont change that rule.
Is changing next year Taz, as far as iām aware it got passed at Congress.
I hope i didnāt imagine that now.
Ya itās stupid, especially in the club competitions. We have two games the next two weeks, and then a break of 6 weeks at least until our next one.
If some smart alec defender is annoying my brain in the last few minutes of the 2nd game I could flatten him, take my red knowing full well Iād miss no championship game. Itās a bit nuts really.
Isnt there currently differing sanctions you can impose where if there is no game in the 4 weeks they will instead miss the next game outside that period? The suspension system in the GAA is baffling.
Iām happy to say that was a knee-jerk reaction to Sunday 
Dublin definitely have more talent but there isnāt more than a kick of the ball between the two teams in my opinion. I expect Kildare to be there at the business end again this year and I would not read anything into their league campaign which as far as I remember was poor last year too. Theyāve shown they are an exceptionally well drilled unit with plenty of scoring power. I could certainly see them beat any team on their day. If they met Kerry this year for instance I think theyād steamroll them.
Ya I remember something on that alright. Do you have to miss the next game in the competition at least?
I might hold my fire so until I get this clarified.
I think it has something to do with the differing category of offences. I had originally been lead to believe both these suspensions would be of that order that I mentioned, but it seems like they chose the low end one. Like I said, its a baffling system. Caoimhaoin is right, something is to be trialled next year I believe, in the league perhaps, but I couldnt be arsed trying to find the information about Congress to be honest.
Sid you have some weird views on Gaelic Football.
Are you a Dublin based journalist by any chance?
Agree with you on Armagh.
Funny enough I know Dublin people moan about our midfield being lightweight and I did too after Sunday but I watched the game back on the replay the other night and Dublin actually had the better of midfield. Midfield is a team effort these days really and itās no use to just focus on numbers 8 and 9. 10, 12, 5 and 7 are nearly as important and Dublin are pretty good at getting possession from those areas. You can win an All-Ireland without a big midfield. Tyrone proved it.
Dublinās problem more than anything is in the head and the League final was the nadir in that regard. Not enough leadership. It was a choke which wasnāt helped by one or two bizarre sideline decisions. They let Cork run at them and stood off far too much thinking that the blanket would crowd them out and neglected to actually mark up properly. It was like a game of pass the parcel in Dublinās defence in the last 20 minutes.
The inability to hang onto a lead is pathological now in Dublin football. Look back at most big matches Dublin have been involved in over the last 20 years and you see it. It goes back to Meath in 1991 for me.
Add in:
Derry 1993
Tyrone 1995 (nearly blew it)
Meath 1996
Kildare 2000
Armagh 2002
Armagh 2003
Tyrone draw 2005
Mayo 2006
Cork 2010
Cork 2011 League final
Mayo 2011 League
Galway 2011 league
In all of those matches Dublin had leads and blew them. These patterns tend to perpteuate themselves in counties. There are loads of teams out there who are playing against historical baggage as much as against their opponents. Until Dublin struggle over the line and win an All-Ireland this will be a problem.
Limerick
Yes Kev, Iām Kevin Myers, hence my weird views.