Messages

The whole thing has cowped. I want my 3 quid back!

What now?

they'll have to change the design. the planning approval was deemed unlawful but not quashed.

I hate this hateful shite where the only thing people can think of to talk about in the aftermath of the game is the negative, who made faces at who else and their estimation of the character of people they don't know or have never even met. Talk about the football. All the people on the field today are decent people as far as I know and I'd want pretty convincing evidence before I'd start calling them names in public.

Spot on. Donaghy is a madman but also a real gentleman off the pitch. He has Tyrone blood so that has to be taken into consideration.

He is some bloody footballer all the same and fair play to him.

Massive game by Donegal yesterday. I felt the Dubs panicked a bit once Donegal got the first goal. They didn't recover from that and the result was never in doubt.

Let's not kid ourselves though. Both teams pump vast amounts of resources into the thing from different sources and the players from both counties very seldom play any games with their clubs. They're both very professional outfits.

The Dubs will be back. They deserve great credit and are a joy to watch for the neutral. Yesterday shows they can be beaten which is probably a good thing for the game.

Kerry might just pose Donegal more problems than a lot of people think although the men from the hills will start favorites.

All these people were on TV3. The only difference is everyone has to pay for it now.

Agree. Don't get it at all. Certainly not what it was talked up to be. Senan Connell is the GAA's Andy Townsend.

The most anticipated games of the year so far?

That's subjective of course

It's absolute bollocks is what it is. The most anticipated games of the year so far and only available behind a pay wall. I know there's no entitlement to see games etc etc but it's still really shit.

Jeez, the Cork men will be in bother the next day

[why do they create so many chances, their conditioning is tailored towards speed, their middle 8 are all athletes with great mobility, they have recognized that turnovers are key and they will move the ball at speed once a turnover is complete.]

The best way to win an individual battle is to simplify it down to what the basics are.  First touch, pace of foot and speed of thought, comfort on the ball and and total team work.  That is the way Dublin play the game and that is the best way forward.

Yet Dublin have the largest backroom team of them all! Coincidence?

It makes no odds though that they still do the basics better than anyone else.

They don't really, if you look at their execution in front of goal it's not particularly clinical, what they do better than any other team is create opportunities on average 45 chances per game. So what you need to be asking is why do they create so many chances, their conditioning is tailored towards speed, their middle 8 are all athletes with great mobility, they have recognized that turnovers are key and they will move the ball at speed once a turnover is complete. Their kick-out strategy is scientific and geared towards retaining possession. These things don't happen through doing the basics properly, it's done towards establishing a game plan and selecting and preparing players to play in that game and even their substitutions are based around continuing the game plan and maintaining the intensity particularly in the last 20 when opposition teams tend to drop off in their own intensity.

Yes Dublin's under-age structure is identifying players but Jim Gavin is coach with a vision, he has built a team and a backroom team to fulfill that vision. He doesn't leave things to chance, every player that plays for Jim Gavin knows his own weaknesses, strengths and his role within the team.

This is correct but they do this mainly through accurate kicking of the ball and fast running of forwards presenting options. It's then that the mobility comes into play to provide support. However, the key points are the kicking and intelligent, pacy running i.e. the basics like BC1 said.

Dublin have worked exhaustively at accurate kicking. They move the ball through the middle third faster than any other team which is why they create the chances.

There seems to be a lot of focus on dick here.

Give a Dick a Mone.

It's catching. Must be all the Mickey bashing on the Tyrone thread.

Dozens of players do it at every level of the game. Doesn't make it any more palatable. It should be highlighted.

Cavanagh has possibly the highest media profile of any player in the GAA. He does every press function that it's possible to do.

It might go a bit of the way to explaining 'why me'.

It might also be because his style of play were he is one of the very few players who directly runs at defences and takes them on meaning that defenders tend to stop him by any means - often by fouling him. As such it is often him who finds himself in these situations. How many times in that last 10 mins alone did Cavanagh run at that Monaghan defence and create panic? His plight is highlighted because he is a superbly direct footballer who runs at defences and feck all to do with the fact that he attends functions.

Don't disagree. I said 'a bit of the way'. We're still talking about this 4-5 days on. Why? Because he did press yesterday to promote the GPA and PWC with this Ballotelli line. He knows what he is at so can't complain about media coverage when he doesn't like it. That's my point.

He is an absolutely excellent footballer. No angel on the field mind but does get a lot of abuse on it as well.

Dozens of players do it at every level of the game. Doesn't make it any more palatable. It should be highlighted.

Cavanagh has possibly the highest media profile of any player in the GAA. He does every press function that it's possible to do.

It might go a bit of the way to explaining 'why me'.

Ruairi Mac giolla Ruaidh

It's a good thing for the game and has improved it. It didn't go far enough in removing cynical play but it's a process.

The question should be: why the constant focus on referees and not on those who try to cheat or commit the fouls? Refs make mistakes with the most obvious one so far by David Coldrick in Omagh and not giving McGinn a black card for the penalty. Most of the rest have been correct. The hysteria comes because many people at games don't actually know the new rules.

Watching the world cup, players diving is absolutely endemic in soccer. It's actually part of the culture of that game now and it's horrible. It's so bad that it's tolerated by commentators with a mild 'harsh' or 'not much in that' comment when it's clear that a player is deliberately trying to get another booked or sent off.

It makes soccer unwatchable for me and it's something which needs constant focus in our game.