This is great stuff from Down. There’s serious pace in this team.
Scintillating performance from the Mighty Mournemen. 
Prepare to be smashed, Donegal. 
[quote=“Rocko, post: 780578, member: 1”]I don’t think anyone is getting too excited Kev. There’s just a general acknowledgment that he played well. I didn’t think he was outstanding but he was certainly good on the ball and worked really hard. He was probably unlucky to to get a couple of goals.
I also think it’s nonsense to say Gavin is being naive. You may not think that attacking football is the best tactic in modern football but it certainly suits the personnel he has. Whether it’s right or wrong is one thing but calling it naive suggests he hasn’t even thought about the implications of being so attacking, which is of course a little unlikely.[/quote]
I’m not suggesting he has not thought it thru, but I am suggesting he is being naive. Just cos someone thinks something thru does not mean they are not naive. It’s not Minor & U21. Now maybe he is going the reverse of Donegal, building confidence thru attacking play, but I doubt that. I think he thinks he has the players to out score any team, which is certainly questionable.
Scumpot was getting a bit carried away with Connolly to be fair, hence my post. He has often shone against weaker opposition. Maybe Gavin can get more out if him than anyone else, who knows. But it’s unlikely he’s maturing as a player if he’s not maturing as a person.
[quote=“caoimhaoin, post: 781035, member: 273”]I’m not suggesting he has not thought it thru, but I am suggesting he is being naive. Just cos someone thinks something thru does not mean they are not naive. It’s not Minor & U21. Now maybe he is going the reverse of Donegal, building confidence thru attacking play, but I doubt that. I think he thinks he has the players to out score any team, which is certainly questionable.
Scumpot was getting a bit carried away with Connolly to be fair, hence my post. He has often shone against weaker opposition. Maybe Gavin can get more out if him than anyone else, who knows. But it’s unlikely he’s maturing as a player if he’s not maturing as a person.[/quote]
Four enough, maybe I’m being pedantic, and maybe I’m even wrong, but naive suggests to me that he isn’t aware of the consequences or hasn’t considered them. He has obviously made a conscious decision to play this way and I’d argue that’s after considering the positive and negative implications of it, so it might be wrongheaded or based on an invalid assumption (ie out scoring everyone as you suggest) but not naive.
I think where I’m getting the naive suggestion from is he has been with alot of these lads thru Minor & 21’s and obviously (and correctly) has alot of confidence in them. But he might just be not allowing for the step up. I realize he played IC and would be well aware of a step up, but sometimes we (any coach) don’t allow enough for a young player to develop and don’t allow for the day for instance Donegal or Cork start making the game a mess down in the Dublin half and these young defenders are pinned down and not able to counter attack at will. They will be drained of confidence. I don’t even think this is a possibility, I’m absolutely sure it will happen. How they react I don’t know, but it’s alot to expect them to react too well.
The other thing I think is naive, is thinking Brennan is suddenly going to become the center back they need. He’s a massive weakness and at this stage is unlikely to change.
Nevertheless Dublin are a serious team with depth. And he may well be looking beyond this year. They will win an All-Ireland or two over next 4-5 years, I’m pretty sure of that.
[quote=“caoimhaoin, post: 780531, member: 273”]Getting excited about Connolly performing eel in round 1 against Westmeath is pretty silly at this point. How many false dawns has there been with him.
I’d be pretty happy if he’s on the team come August. I think Gavin is being very naive.[/quote]
utter nonsense kev…connolly played well on saturday and deserves credit for that…just like the gooch deserved it against div. 4 side tipp the week before…connolly has that lovely lazy natural talent that is so off the cuff and unfortuiantely that is so reliant on being in the mood…You´ll find that most players of a similar style will be inconsistent…I was very impressed by the strength of connolly on the ball…he seems to have really developed physically and was able to break past a lot of tackles on sunday…also his workrate and fitness were impressive…
I thought gavin was being naive myself but i was talking to somebody that was at the match and they made a good point about dublin forwards and working so hard when they lose possession that its just more Dublina are applying the pressure further up the pitch as opposed to funnelling back…he was saying they were swarming to the westmeath defenders… so maybe its not naivety on gavin´s part just a different tactic…like barca used to do in soccer and the 7 second rule…will be interesting to see if Dublin forwards get many turnovers against kildare backs the next day…
also heard in the pub last nite that alan brogan is fooked…something to do with him only being able to run in straight lines and not able to turn due to whatever injury he has…i was too pissed to remember exactly the ins and outs…
My biggest worry for dublin is they don´t seem to have any real man marker …I´d also like to see kevin nolan in dublin team somewhere…brilliant footballer…i´d even consider putting him in centre forward…kilkenny is a great player but seems to still play like a minor and holds up the ball too much at times…he might be better in nearer the goals…
[quote=“caoimhaoin, post: 781035, member: 273”]
Scumpot was getting a bit carried away with Connolly to be fair, hence my post. He has often shone against weaker opposition. Maybe Gavin can get more out if him than anyone else, who knows. But it’s unlikely he’s maturing as a player if he’s not maturing as a person.[/quote]
that harsh kev…connolly was man of the match in an all ireland club final at the age of 21 against nemo…he kicked 7 points from play in an all ireland quarter final against tyrone the year dublin won all ireland…
Agree with much of what you say, and as I have indicated Gavin may be up to something else, your “Barca” analogy is a believable one, but the thing I other teams also emply this but have much tighter defense. Donegal in particular have the backs to move the ball efficiently enough to expose this. We’ll have to wait and see though. Cork have physically strong players to win frees from that type of defending. Also Brogan and Connolly have been known to switch off in this regard alot.
Rory O Carroll is a pretty good marker, although not an out and put “tagger” as the Aussies call it.
Will take alot for me to be convinced by Connolly. As I say, he is great when things are going well, not so when not.
You are really stretching now, how’s by years back do you need to go? Club completely irrelevant anyway, it’s a serious drop in level. If he was all that, and fulfilling his undoubted talent, Dublin would have won 3-in-a-row '10-'12
[quote=“caoimhaoin, post: 781132, member: 273”]Agree with much of what you say, and as I have indicated Gavin may be up to something else, your “Barca” analogy is a believable one, but the thing I other teams also emply this but have much tighter defense. Donegal in particular have the backs to move the ball efficiently enough to expose this. We’ll have to wait and see though. Cork have physically strong players to win frees from that type of defending. Also Brogan and Connolly have been known to switch off in this regard alot.
Rory O Carroll is a pretty good marker, although not an out and put “tagger” as the Aussies call it.
Will take alot for me to be convinced by Connolly. As I say, he is great when things are going well, not so when not.[/quote]
i know everyone raves about o carroll but i´d worry about him on a lighter fella who doesn´t engage him physically…he loves getting a big lad in on top of him and then he gets in their face but i think he can be caught by a more pacier forward…especially with no protection from brennan in front of him…bernard brogan would want to start buying into what gavin is doing pretty quick…gavin already had a little pop at him in the papers regarding his shooting from everywhere…
jaysus you hardly think a lad that young shoulders responsibilty for his team not doing 3 in a row??..something that hasn´t been done by any team in nearly 30 years…
He’s not a young lad, stop trying to make out I’m ribbing a 19 year old. He’s on the go quite a while. He went missing big time more than once.
I actually have him credit back along for a game thinking he’d turned the corner, but since he has continued to be very inconsistent.
I saw Connolly at Forbidden Fruit yesterday. He had gold glitter in his hair.
That would be par for the course really.
Just came across (wahey) the elite referees list for the SFC this year. Derek Fahy is still on it. That’s baffling.
I’m sure you’re a nice guy Derek but I don’t think you’re one of the top 16 referees in the country. Michael Collins (not the lad from the War of Independence) is surely a better option?
[quote=“Appendage, post: 782032, member: 11”]Just came across (wahey) the elite referees list for the SFC this year. Derek Fahy is still on it. That’s baffling.
I’m sure you’re a nice guy Derek but I don’t think you’re one of the top 16 referees in the country. Michael Collins (not the lad from the War of Independence) is surely a better option?[/quote]
The nordies hated Collins, they got him shafted.
did he attack you?
Dublin’s Tomas Brady done for the year with his second cruciate injury in two years, not that he was going to be playing much for Dublin this summer anyway.
was it not Meath and Ollie Murphy he had the big run in with?..
[quote=“Appendage, post: 782032, member: 11”]Just came across (wahey) the elite referees list for the SFC this year. Derek Fahy is still on it. That’s baffling.
I’m sure you’re a nice guy Derek but I don’t think you’re one of the top 16 referees in the country. Michael Collins (not the lad from the War of Independence) is surely a better option?[/quote]
how could it be that Michael collins you dumb cunt?..you were giving out to some other poster for stating the obvious in a post and then you go and post this…:rolleyes: