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Good piece by Eugene Mc Gee today.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/what-wont-happen-this-year-30881979.html

Every Armagh man,woman and child will be relieved that Armagh are not part of Eugene McGee counties list that will not win the Sam Maguire Cup in 2015.

I thought Gillen got his Haughey more from Dermot Morgan than CJ himself. Not impressed.

Mara (Tom Vaughan Lawlor) is the only character along with the civil servant Nally (Risteard Cooper) well acted. The rest are awful.

As for Terry Keane (wearing either a black dress or a duvet - ffs who had duvets in 1980) getting a letter from P.O'Neill. Now I never heard that - surely a fabrication.

And where would we have been without Geraldine 'Lois Lane' Kennedy. Popping up like a bad smell.

No - it's very hammy and 'Abbeyville' looks nothing like the real place!

Where was the one eye looking at you, one eye looking for you? That reporter looked much nicer than Geraldine Kennedy.

Yes much nicer on the eye.

What stands between this Mayo team and an AI (including not having won it by now), is a tactically astute manager. Huge pressure now on the new management.

In fairness the Mayo team James Horan took over compared to the team he left is chalk and cheese. Who knows the new manager(s) might have taken over a side that has already peaked?

Injuries are high risk when training on frozen pitch like that.

Restricted view, side of stage 69.50 Euro tickets currently for sale on ticketmaster.

A mickey mouse competition.

Does the sucessful team win a trip to Disney land? for example Wicklow,Clare might only get one U-21 championship game surely a competition like this with three extra competitive games should help in their development for future senior players.

I'd say Dublin do less then 50% of the amount of collective training then others at this level.  Each to their own but it's a template that's working and it's nothing to do with funding either.

I doubt that. From one U-21 All Ireland to three in five years, i'd say a more focused effort and more money spent on this grade has delivered more success for Dublin.

3 u21 challenge games will turn an u21 into a senior- hmmmm- I'll leave that one go.

There isn't a more focused effort at u21 level. Dessie would be lucky to see his senior panelists at training the week of a championship game

Hmm the sudden improvement for Dublin at this grade would say different. I would say these three competitive games would be more of benefit than thirty challenge games.

A mickey mouse competition.

Does the sucessful team win a trip to Disney land? for example Wicklow,Clare might only get one U-21 championship game surely a competition like this with three extra competitive games should help in their development for future senior players.

I'd say Dublin do less then 50% of the amount of collective training then others at this level.  Each to their own but it's a template that's working and it's nothing to do with funding either.

I doubt that. From one U-21 All Ireland to three in five years, i'd say a more focused effort and more money spent on this grade has delivered more success for Dublin.

I've never seen Declan Brown play apart from the odd highlights reel. Couldnt compare him with Bradley, Forde, Coulter etc as I havent seen much of him. Some talent by all accounts

How much has anybody here who goes on about Declan Browne seen him play? Not very much would be the answer, I'd guess. Clearly he was a very talented player but Forde, Meehan and Bradley all made much more of a mark on championship football.

He made a serious mark given the circumstances under which he played.

Exactly and Declan Browne was one of the best ever players to never win an All Ireland.

[Has the modern day addiction to advanced training methods produced better footballers]

We live in crazy times. We are an amateur association based on the spirit of volunteerism. Any commitment asked of club members be they players or officials should acknowledge and be guided by that fact. A manager who seeks payment is a mercenary who should be shown the Door. Attempts to justify payments by extending their job description far beyond that which is necessary, is merely a ploy. Has the modern day addiction to advanced training methods produced better footballers, i see no evidence of that.
The beating Heart of any Club is its local volunteers, with their pride of place and sense of community. A Clubs success can not be measured in Trophies, indeed some of the most active and effective clubs are rarely winners on the field of play. Too recognise the contribution of one individual through monetary payment, demeans and denigrates the equally valid and important contribution of the volunteer who may put in as many hours on Club business. Lets get back to cutting our Suit according to our cloth, before we destroy ourselves

The answer to that question is yes, exponentially so. Leaving aside the phenomenal athletic development as the generations pass, the execution of the skills of the game have improved no end. A glance through old games demonstrates that very simply. It's not a sleight on previous generations - they and they're games were a product of their environment.

Thats debatable many would say too much is put into athletic development nowadays and the skill level is becoming less.  Very few top championship games this year for example 1991 had many classic games however todays game isn't helped by the over the top on tactics.

The poor choice of management damaged the structures of the club. The team finished seventh last year and were low on confidence going into this season.

Van Gaal is doing a great job with man Utd so far and he has the one ingredient that seemed to desert Moyes....luck. Whilst nothing seemed to go right for Moyes everything seems to be going the way of LVG at the minute. With Di maria, Falcoa and a few other defenders to come back its not unrealistic to think they could yet challenge for the title. There is more scope for improvement with man Utd than with either Chelsea or man City and they don't have the distraction of European football. I think they will fall slightly short but if Van Gaal gets another pot of money in the next couple of windows I can see them challenging on all fronts next season.

Moyes had no ingredient to ever manage a side the size of Manchester United. The man was out of his depth when facing the brutal realities of life outside of the bubble he had created at Everton. If Van Gaal had taken over when Ferguson retired they would be challenging now instead he's still in a process to repair the major damage of last season.

Schmeichel played along side a settled and quality defence. Balotelli's save onto the bar yesterday was special and that late save against Everton was probably the save of the season so far. DeGea is the best and most overworked goal keeper in the league.

did we hammer them 9-0 or something?

Besiktas board member Ahmet Nur Cebi said: "Liverpool should be more concerned about us than we are about them. We will knock Liverpool out of the competition. There is an account which wasn't settled in England from previous years. Yes, I mean that 8-0 defeat. We'll settle the account now."

All ifs buts and maybes..... Utd had the better strikers on the pitch to put away the chances that were presented to them, Liverpool didn't. Had Liverpool done so (a better striker would have) then the scoreline would have been different.

The difference from last year is crazy... One striker. Had anybody the choice they would have channelled all that money into a like for like player

In fairness the difference is more than one striker. The year before last year he also played and Liverpool finished that season in seventh.

Gaelic games,No extreme weather,the scenery.