Ulster Championship is Muck

[johnneycool]

The Wexford Longford game was poor as well, two teams oveplaying the ball and trying their best not to score. The Dubs were made look special by a poor Louth team. Makes me long for the balmy days of autumn watching Cross strut there stuff. County teams could take a leaf out of Tony's book.

Watched the second half of the Longford/Wexford game and then Spillane and Brolley analyzing/talking over each other, both arguing in agreement (hard to do, but the two boyos managed it) that the players with a bit of ability to take scores and kick passes are being coached out of the game based on banal stats, don't take the chance and kick for a score, just pass it sideways until you're 30 yards in front of the posts. In the meantime there's 20 odd players in that area and the ball is going nowhere.

Is kicking a ball a no no with these coaches now as its too risky?

[INDIANA]

The Wexford Longford game was poor as well, two teams oveplaying the ball and trying their best not to score. The Dubs were made look special by a poor Louth team. Makes me long for the balmy days of autumn watching Cross strut there stuff. County teams could take a leaf out of Tony's book.

or dublin's book. the ulster championship is heading back to the 70's.

[DuffleKing]

Calm down there Indy. The dubs have beaten louth after not making the top four in the league. They were second only to donegal in defensiveness last year and are far from pleasing on the eye when they think they're in a contest.

Besides, as you said yourself so many times, Gilroy hasn't a clue and Dublin are on the road to nowhere.

[BarryBreensBandage]

Right, trying to look positively on it - poor game between Fermanagh and Down, yet looking at the stats, Down's 12 scores were by 11 different players. Is this not a way of beating the blanket defence?

I would like to commend McCartan and Down on achieving 2-10 against a team intent defence.

The main answer to how to beat it arises in the basic skills, and this is true for all team sports. Excellence will shine through if a team is handling passing and moving the ball well.

What cheeses me off watching these matches is not the blanket defence, but dropping passes, poor shooting, bad tackling and start stop football. I actually could watch Donegal last year because I thought their defence and tackling was first class, up there with the Meath defence in late 80s/early 90s.

It is up to the coaches of our teams to provide a winning formula to beat blanket defence; this has to lie in better ball skills, long range shooting, faster forwards, moving the ball at speed and accurately, which will in turn make a better spectacle.

[INDIANA]

Calm down there Indy. The dubs have beaten louth after not making the top four in the league. They were second only to donegal in defensiveness last year and are far from pleasing on the eye when they think they're in a contest.

Besides, as you said yourself so many times, Gilroy hasn't a clue and Dublin are on the road to nowhere.

Introduce yourself to our scoring stats .

Ulster championship is beyond awful at the moment. Plenty of talent available to Mark Anscombe if he needs a few players next year.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Right, trying to look positively on it - poor game between Fermanagh and Down, yet looking at the stats, Down's 12 scores were by 11 different players. Is this not a way of beating the blanket defence?

We also had some good quick hands for passing which meant the blanket could never focus around one player.

There are ways to beat the blanket, but it takes absolute precision with passes and good running off the ball. One mis-step or pause to take a bad pass and the move will break down.


Of course, another way to beat the blanket is to have men that can regularly score from 40+ yards. Very hard to hold the blanket defence out that far.

[DuffleKing]

Can't mind the score but did one of the lower half Ulster teams not take Dublin apart in the league this year?

Scoring heavily against weak & tactically inept outfits like louth can tilt the stats all right.

That's five or six times your criticism and vitriol last year towards Gilroy has been cast up to you and you consistently blank it. I'd have thought a man of your calibre would by now have had the good grace to acknowledge your error and hold your hands up? 

[Orchardman]

Can't mind the score but did one of the lower half Ulster teams not take Dublin apart in the league this year?

Scoring heavily against weak & tactically inept outfits like louth can tilt the stats all right.

That's five or six times your criticism and vitriol last year towards Gilroy has been cast up to you and you consistently blank it. I'd have thought a man of your calibre would by now have had the good grace to acknowledge your error and hold your hands up?

I'm glad you brought him to task over this. And yes, only a week or so after armagh got hammered in croker (when we were told that other teams like us were light years behind in 'conditioning' etc, then down put dublin to the sword fairly easily in newry.

Finally, one of the few games i went to last year was donegal v dublin in the semi final. I have said it a number of times, i found it fairly interesting to watch. Standing on hill 16, listening to the venom coming from the dub fans ( i actually like dublin, and was there with dub mates) about how shite both teams were. It was interesting as donegal had a game plan, carried out really well, lost lacey and ran out of steam. Dublin for the first 50 minutes kicked balls into a brogan with 4 men hanging of him, i mean really hopeful aimless balls, they hadn't a notion until their super sub came on.

And yes i agree, the ulster championship is fairly muck, just as most of the other games are until July anyway. Still, I wouldn't watch any other sport over it

[brokencrossbar1]

So once again the annual analysis of shite football begins.  The reality is that consistent quality of football matches only really begins come July as the pitches firm up and the fitness is at a peak.  Also by that stage you're down to the last 16 or so teams and the quality is evidently going to be better.  When a lot of us grew up the only games we saw on the TV were the AI semis and finals.  Nowadays with 2-3 games every weekend and the over analysis of the the game by so many different medias  we are flooded by games and therefore have higher expectations. 

True football has become more defensive and more focused on fitness than skill but as he season progresses the fitness generally evens out and the skill/tactics become the winning factors.  It is easier for inter county managers to coach a team to play 12 men behind the ball and move the ball through the hands as the reality is that it makes the coaches job easier and they have a "job" to maintain by winning games.  Very few of them will risk that "job" by going out to win.  Also if there is not a culture among a county team/club team of kicking the ball then it is not easy to change that.  A manager comes in to a county set up with ideals to play fast flowing kick passing football and finds out that half the squad cannot kick a ball accurately over 30 yards because they have come from a coaching system either within the county or in their clubs where the focus was moving the ball through the hands and very little work done on kick passing.  What is any manager to do? 

The reality is that rule changes may make no difference but there needs to ba a change of mindset.  In fairness to Dublin they have hybrided(is there such a word?)  their game to mix in the phyiscal, hard working game common today with a strong ability to play long early passes into space for the forwards to work with.  The game is eveolving and always evolves but the reality is it will never change so much that there needs to be drastic changes.  The only change needed is in the head.

[trileacman]

Your're a crowd of whinging feckers, Down played quite well yesterday, Fermanagh were dirt. Down kicked a good amount of ball, created alot of chances and scored the majority of points from open play, when 2, 3 and 4 get on the score-sheet surely your attacking gameplan is doing all-right.

Who was the MOTM yesterday? a corner forward FFS. The championship will become alot better once these "spoiler" teams are put out of the championship.

[INDIANA]

Can't mind the score but did one of the lower half Ulster teams not take Dublin apart in the league this year?

Scoring heavily against weak & tactically inept outfits like louth can tilt the stats all right.

That's five or six times your criticism and vitriol last year towards Gilroy has been cast up to you and you consistently blank it. I'd have thought a man of your calibre would by now have had the good grace to acknowledge your error and hold your hands up?

you find the vitriol and i'll agree with you. I'll give you a dictionary in case you dont know what vitriol means. As it happens i know Gilroy better then you since i see him every other day.

Just remember where Sam sits. It aint in Ulster and wont be for a long long time. We're long past the stage of league titles in Dublin. You could probably use one in armagh. even a div 2 one.

[Armaghgeddon]

Right, trying to look positively on it - poor game between Fermanagh and Down, yet looking at the stats, Down's 12 scores were by 11 different players. Is this not a way of beating the blanket defence?

I would like to commend McCartan and Down on achieving 2-10 against a team intent defence.

The main answer to how to beat it arises in the basic skills, and this is true for all team sports. Excellence will shine through if a team is handling passing and moving the ball well.

What cheeses me off watching these matches is not the blanket defence, but dropping passes, poor shooting, bad tackling and start stop football. I actually could watch Donegal last year because I thought their defence and tackling was first class, up there with the Meath defence in late 80s/early 90s.

It is up to the coaches of our teams to provide a winning formula to beat blanket defence; this has to lie in better ball skills, long range shooting, faster forwards, moving the ball at speed and accurately, which will in turn make a better spectacle.

Really?

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

...the ulster championship is heading back to the 70's.

Dream on Indy, in your dreams  ...

1. The inferiority complex of the 70s is just that, of the 70s!
2. Half of the potential star footballers aren't currently locked up in Long Kesh.
3. There was no equivalent of Mickey Harte, or James Mc Cartan for that matter, in the 70s.

[Captain Obvious]

Minor football is better viewing than the main event.

At underage level teams go out and impress. When it comes to senior football teams are in fear of losing.

[seafoid]

...the ulster championship is heading back to the 70's.

Dream on Indy, in your dreams  ...

1. The inferiority complex of the 70s is just that, of the 70s!
2. Half of the potential star footballers aren't currently locked up in Long Kesh.
3. There was no equivalent of Mickey Harte, or James Mc Cartan for that matter, in the 70s.

her majesty's government wasn't funding much sport in NI back in the 70s either.