Coughlan at centre forward for them is a big worry for us, particularly if Rory Maguire comes back in centre back and will give him all the space in the world to do damage. They also have an excellent manager in Mark Fitzgerald and would not surprise me if he outsmarts Cleary tactically.Clare deservedly beat us in championship last year, and have us at their home again for what is for them (and probably for us) a knockout game. We're up against it, and it'll take a great performance, and perhaps a bit of luck, to come out of there this year with a result.
Spot on about Dublin. The GAA has two imperatives which are pulling against each other: to get as many people as possible playing the games to a decent level, and to have genuinely competitive intercounty championships. When some counties have vastly larger populations than others, pursuing the first imperative is in effect giving them a competitive advantage. Obviously there are other things which could be done in the specific case of Dublin (e.g., the farce of Croke Park being a neutral venue for them) but in the long term something else will be required to rebalance intercounty football.It's not mad. You might have a better idea, but to call it "mad" is inaccurate when there has been clear logical thought put into it. With the current arrangement, there's a reward for every position in the group:
1st gets a quarter final against a team which is mentally and physically exhausted.
2nd gets a home preliminary quarter final
3rd is at least still in it - they get a preliminary quarter final, but it's away
4th is gone.
I don't see the problem (or at least not a madness) with having a competition where every team gets at least 3 matches, the outcome of which determines the above.
The situation with Dublin is an entirely different problem. Long term, given urbanization but not only that, if we want to achieve the following:
then those geographical areas can't be based on county-bounds set up by the Anglo-Normans or whoever. Otherwise you get far too uncompetitive a situation - the most extreme example being Dublin, who will otherwise win most All-Irelands until there's a profound failure of football in Dublin (and what GAA person wants that really).
- a properly competitive national GAA football competition amongst representative teams (i.e. teams of the best players in a broad geographical area of many clubs), and
- football successful at ground level everywhere,
Definitely. No idea why so many people seemed to be assuming that Cork would beat them in their own patch. For me it's a fifty-fifty game at best. At least Cork's performances in the latter stages of the league and in Killarney offer hope that the team is getting sone some degree of confidence and cohesion.I watched most of the Kerry v Clare yesterday.
Cork will have their hands full against Clare. They will be tough to put away. Certainly no pushover, particularly in their home ground.
Maguire will surely not come back in at CB?Coughlan at centre forward for them is a big worry for us, particularly if Rory Maguire comes back in centre back and will give him all the space in the world to do damage. They also have an excellent manager in Mark Fitzgerald and would not surprise me if he outsmarts Cleary tactically.
He’s one off our only men who can take a score on the run . Don’t think Meehan is better than himMaguire will surely not come back in at CB?
Making mistakes unnecessarily taking the ball into tackle when they could play back and forth and force Donegal to come out.Armagh 4 up on Donegal with 20 to go
Can't defend and leaves a hole down centre. Who gives a fuck if a CB can kick a score.He’s one off our only men who can take a score on the run . Don’t think Meehan is better than him
