Messages

Ahh it's just the "Nordies against change" bellyaching again.

The move from 21 aside to 17 aside was the start of the slippery slope I tell ya.

I am one "Nordie" who has no issue with change - but change the things that are not working.
Ulster Championship works - so why change it? (Antrim/Fermanagh might disagree granted)
Change what needs to be changed in other provinces to improve their championship.
Personally I don't like the group stages and didn't like the Super 8s.
Revert to back door maybe, but like I've said before, there's no magic solution for it all.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68851378

Ukrainian refugees coming this way and we are sending kids to Ukraine for brain surgery.

Fair play to the mother.
I hope it works out for the child. Does ask the question around the capability of NHS though.

[No Murphy on the bench??]

Derry going with the same team as the league final.

No real surprise didn't think they'd risk McKinless from the start and he's a great impact sub.

No Murphy on the bench??

Wondered about that myself. Unless he's injured maybe?
It's almost full strength starting lineup with only McKinless missing out. If he's not fully fit, I wouldn't risk him at all at any stage, unless we really need him.

[Really in a match we didn't lose]

Really in a match we didn't lose we shouldn't worry about a soccer penalty shoot out because of the GAA imposing it to free up Croke park for handy money, strange logic.

Yeah yous did.
Worse than that, it's a match you should have won and had every chance of winning, but bottled it.
Derry in the week leading up to the final had an unprecedented level of upheaval and that was evident in their performance. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
We had Brendan Rogers on a black card at the end of normal time and the and most of the first part of extra time. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
Yous were a point up towards the end of extra time and Rian O'Neill gave away a stupid needless free giving Derry the opportunity to draw level - and they took it. All Armagh had to do was keep their discipline and they probably win. But they didn't.
Armagh were given yet another chance to win in penalties - but bottled it again.

How many chances to yous need to be given to win a game before you stop moaning about not losing?
It was a losing performance from Armagh all day when they should absolutely have won. And you're complaining about penalties? If it went to a replay we'd have won again too. 

Maybe that's strange logic too!    

So, silliness aside, I'm looking forward to the game against Donegal with equal measures of excitement and fear - proper championship game. I really hope we get an opportunity to contest another Ulster final - we haven't played Down in a final for along time   

I don't agree with the narrative that Armagh should have won. We led that game the whole way through normal time, we were 2 points up on more than one occasion in the last 10 minutes of normal time. I remember Brendan Rogers fisted an easy one wide that would have put us 3 up in normal time with not long left and it would have been game over. Armagh were chasing us the whole game, had their chances to win it too in the end but from the position we were in we should have closed that game out in normal time.

Did you not see all my wee smilies? lol.

[Really in a match we didn't lose]

Really in a match we didn't lose we shouldn't worry about a soccer penalty shoot out because of the GAA imposing it to free up Croke park for handy money, strange logic.

Yeah yous did.
Worse than that, it's a match you should have won and had every chance of winning, but bottled it.
Derry in the week leading up to the final had an unprecedented level of upheaval and that was evident in their performance. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
We had Brendan Rogers on a black card at the end of normal time and the and most of the first part of extra time. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
Yous were a point up towards the end of extra time and Rian O'Neill gave away a stupid needless free giving Derry the opportunity to draw level - and they took it. All Armagh had to do was keep their discipline and they probably win. But they didn't.
Armagh were given yet another chance to win in penalties - but bottled it again.

How many chances to yous need to be given to win a game before you stop moaning about not losing?
It was a losing performance from Armagh all day when they should absolutely have won. And you're complaining about penalties? If it went to a replay we'd have won again too. 

Maybe that's strange logic too!    

So, silliness aside, I'm looking forward to the game against Donegal with equal measures of excitement and fear - proper championship game. I really hope we get an opportunity to contest another Ulster final - we haven't played Down in a final for along time   

Was that free the one where McGuigan took a bite out of him or was that a different incident?

What bite? I didn't see any bite. Neither did the officials. So no idea what you're talking about.

[Really in a match we didn't lose]

Really in a match we didn't lose we shouldn't worry about a soccer penalty shoot out because of the GAA imposing it to free up Croke park for handy money, strange logic.

Yeah yous did.
Worse than that, it's a match you should have won and had every chance of winning, but bottled it.
Derry in the week leading up to the final had an unprecedented level of upheaval and that was evident in their performance. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
We had Brendan Rogers on a black card at the end of normal time and the and most of the first part of extra time. Yet Armagh couldn't win.
Yous were a point up towards the end of extra time and Rian O'Neill gave away a stupid needless free giving Derry the opportunity to draw level - and they took it. All Armagh had to do was keep their discipline and they probably win. But they didn't.
Armagh were given yet another chance to win in penalties - but bottled it again.

How many chances to yous need to be given to win a game before you stop moaning about not losing?
It was a losing performance from Armagh all day when they should absolutely have won. And you're complaining about penalties? If it went to a replay we'd have won again too. 

Maybe that's strange logic too!    

So, silliness aside, I'm looking forward to the game against Donegal with equal measures of excitement and fear - proper championship game. I really hope we get an opportunity to contest another Ulster final - we haven't played Down in a final for along time   

[And if Donegal were to leapfrog us]

Without getting into the penalties argument. Still think if Derry were to beat us in normal/extra time it signifies a step back. If Derry have improved so much then why havent we? And if Donegal were to leapfrog us then thats a poor reflection for a team in really the first year of its rebuild.

Donegal were in the final 2 years ago and Derry just beat them.
They had a poor year last year with Murphy leaving and new management - but the ship has steadied and management is at a high level. I feel Donegal are getting back to where they were 2 years ago - which was already ahead of Armagh. That's why I'd be concerned about playing them this weekend.
Armagh could beat Derry/Donegal/Down, but I would be more confident from a Derry pov of playing Armagh than Donegal.

[forget about this draw nonsense, they beat us hence they are the defending champions]

Armagh season imo hinges on some silverware and the only thing left open to them is an Ulster title, should they get beat by Down or lose an Ulster Final but achieve a step further than last few years in the All Ireland - will that be a success?

Would have to be seen as a step backwards wouldnt it?

If we lose to Down its a disaster. Looking at potential final opponents- we beat Cavan last year easily so you'd want to be doing the same, we drew with Derry so losing to them would be a backward step, Donegal were shit last year so questions would need asked if they managed to leapfrog us with a new manager. Wouldnt even want to contemplate losing to Tyrone!

if we get to the final and were beat, again (forget about this draw nonsense, they beat us hence they are the defending champions), by Derry it wouldnt be a step back in my eyes.
Arguably last year was a failure by Armagh given we had played in a higher division and the shenanigans around derry in te lead up to the final. This year, again presuming it is us and derry in the final, derry go in as league champions with a multiple all ireland winning manager and we, well, we dont. Thye played at a higher level than us all year also.

Though it really isn't nonsense they won a penalty shoot out based on rules introduced by Croke Park to compress the GAA season under the guise of Club Welfare  (what has a penalty shoot out got to do with a GAA match),  but really for the leasing of Croke Park over the summer as a business venture.  That aside another year under Geezer with nothing to show would be a failure.

Derry won based on the rules of the game.
Whether or not you agree with the rules is up to you but result is there. Derry beat Armagh.
Remains to be see if we can do it again. At the minute I'll be happy if we beat Donegal.

There honestly is no weight of expectation from Derry fans that I'm aware of, I think coming from years of false dawns we now always expect the worst but doesn't stop us from hoping for the best.

This site is making the over projection of a Derry v Armagh final. I rather literally take it one game at a time, this Saturday could see us out on our ass very handy,

100%
I've been saying all along, Donegal could knock us out in the first round.
I'd love to see us win another Ulster - but if we get beaten on Saturday it wouldn't be a huge shock.
Donegal were in the final 2 years ago and we just beat them.

Any early adopters for Fallout. I've read some big reviews for it. Need to finish Ripley tonight then straight into it.

Watched the first couple of episodes, not bad so far.

[The Derry county board is notoriously tight fisted, yet have managed to navigate a path to competitiveness.]

Paul Flynn says  the likes of Meath and  Kildare  more or less need to get the finger  out if they want to be competitive 

Aye and a few  million quid!

But  nobody  seemed to address that bit on TSG

The Derry county board is notoriously tight fisted, yet have managed to navigate a path to competitiveness.
Meath and Kildare have no excuses for failing to put up a fight to Dublin.

They have more than adequate playing populations, I imagine in the top 10 at worst?

They have facilities aplenty and aren't faced with the issues that many counties have trying to get players down from Dublin for training.

So even if that argument around funds being pumped into Dublin creating this situation had some validity (it doesn't in my experience), it still would not account for the inability of another Leinster team to field 15 players able to compete with 15 dubs at senior level every once in a while.....

That's not quite a fair comparison.
Derry are competitive now for about 3 seasons - for the previous 25 we were not.
It might just be a purple patch....it'll be 10 years before we know what the landscape of Derry football is really like. We've had a perfect storm of restructuring at CB level, 2/3 exceptional club teams in Slaughtneil, Glen and Magherafelt and a string of strong county minor teams - this didn't happen overnight. Realistically it'll take 10 years for any of the Leinster teams to hit the heights again if they are only starting today. In the noughties when Tyrone/Armagh were lording it in Ulster - Derry were one of the top spenders and it didn't bring success.
It requires the right underage structures and CB structures and funding - and proper governance of that funding so that it's spent on the right things.
It requires players at the top level (which I think Meath actually have - Kildare not so much) and a management team that can focus the players and devise a game plan that works for the players available.
Before Rory Gallagher came into Derry, we were not on the landscape - Meath/Kildare need a Rory Gallagher drive them.

For what it's worth, I thought Meath were decent in the first half until the goal went in, then heads dropped a bit.
They got plenty of turnovers, and frustrated Dublin. They struggled making the right decision in attack. But they looked better than the last time I watched them, so perhaps progress despite the result? Dublin just wore them down I think.

How do we make provinces competitive again - maybe put a spending cap on county boards to level the playing field?
Ulster works (unless you are Antrim/Fermanagh and to a lesser extent Cavan) - what do they do in Ulster that they don't in other provinces?

The complaint used to be it was unfair on teams that they only had one chance and the year could be over, so the back door came in. Then super 8s. Now another iteration with people saying if you want to win an AI it might be better to not contest the provincials and with uncompetitive nature of 3/4 of the provincials there's a call to scrap them. If the the old system was returned, with only provincial winners getting through to AISFs, it adds weight to the provincials, declutters the calendar and 9 times out of 10 the top teams win. The weaker teams are not progressing in the current setup anyway - so why bother with the seeding etc?

What I'm getting at is that there's no perfect solution. Keep messing with structures, the problems just move around. The real question is why are so many counties not progressing or improving? Improve individual counties and the quality of championships improve.
The question of footfall falling is a combination of issues on the inevitability of some games and the costs. With the increased number of games, the cost for a family to attend is pricing many out of it. It doesn't matter if its value for money or not, the cost is still the cost.

Awful game.
Fermanagh had their chances of goals but either miskicked, took the wrong option or just messed it up.
Armagh deserved winners - but goals aside, they didn't look overly impressive.
Missed a lot of frees. Didnt look fluid, should have scored more points from play given the way Fermanagh just kind of stopped. If I was from Armagh I'd be worried enough.

Jarly Og lucky to stay on the pitch imo.

Goals aside...not impressive (they won by over 10 points)

If you were from Armagh what would you be worried about? Down...seriously? Do you think their "supporters " will stay on beyond half time.. unlike last year.

Derry...of course we'd be worried..they're a top 3 team standing between us and a first Ulster title in nearly 20 years...and they've improved since last year.

Was Jarly's the only bad tackle in the game?

The 2nd half was a draw. Yes the game was already won, but the better sides would just keep going and rack up a cricket score.
For what it's worth, Armagh should beat Down and I've no doubt they'll give who ever they play in Ulster Final a game of it. But for me, they're not yet playing at the level you'd expect of a team with ambitions to win Ulster. It still might come...but against a Fermanagh side that were beaten 20 mins in you'd have expected them to pull away in the 2nd half. That's the worrying bit for Armagh in my view.

[Jarly Og is one of the least aggressive players on the Armagh squad]

Awful game.
Fermanagh had their chances of goals but either miskicked, took the wrong option or just messed it up.
Armagh deserved winners - but goals aside, they didn't look overly impressive.
Missed a lot of frees. Didnt look fluid, should have scored more points from play given the way Fermanagh just kind of stopped. If I was from Armagh I'd be worried enough.

Jarly Og lucky to stay on the pitch imo.

Jarly Og is one of the least aggressive players on the Armagh squad so I'd be very surprised if there was any intent there. A yellow card was fair in that instance.

I'd agree - not a dirty player. But so far as I know a dangerous tackle is a red card offence, accidental or otherwise. He looked to catch the man head height with no effort to get the ball and his elbow looked high. That was dangerous. For me it was a red all day.

The real story here is that Aston Villa are on the verge of qualifying for Champions League football.
Some turn around for a club that were in the championship not that long ago and that almost headed back there under Steven Gerard.

Doesnt surprise me that Arsenal choked....seems to be expected of them in recent years.
Liverpool slide "post-Klopp" has started while he's still there.
Man City likely to win given the run in.

Awful game.
Fermanagh had their chances of goals but either miskicked, took the wrong option or just messed it up.
Armagh deserved winners - but goals aside, they didn't look overly impressive.
Missed a lot of frees. Didnt look fluid, should have scored more points from play given the way Fermanagh just kind of stopped. If I was from Armagh I'd be worried enough.

Jarly Og lucky to stay on the pitch imo.