We need to talk about Diarmuid

[yellowcard]

There certainly seems to have been a big surprise in the media yesterday about Jim Gavin's strange interview. I really only got to watch it in detail last night and even the way it started off was very peculiar in that he was almost denying there was a problem and that he was doing interviews in the more public domain of the auditorium.

It really looked like a staged performance to get a reaction or as some say to difuse away from their huge win over Westmeath. It so reminds me of how Mickey Harte used to do impeccable interviews back in the early 2000s where he spoke openly and honestly like Gavin likes to appear but then it all went pear shaped.

I think part of it is that RTE have 3 Kerry men now on the TSG panel and he maybe felt he had to lay down a marker than he would stand by his player no matter what. However, like I said yesterday I think he's just drawn more attention to Connolly and his past and maybe this is a big ploy to force some fans to think Connolly is just not worth the hassle any more and Dublin can win without him anyway. Most of expect Dublin to get to the AI final again this year without Connolly and so maybe Gavin's plan was to show that Dublin GAA are better off without all the hassle he brings to the table.

Listening to Brolly last night and it's hard to take the man seriously at any level as he spouts so many tall tales and exagerrations of the truth. Most of what he said of Spillane was untrue and I don't get the big deal being made of him reading out a script. I mean so what if he did read something out of his notes, as long as it was accurate. Was his point about if it was Gooch then would it have been different?
If Gooch had of pushed the linesman then he too would have been punished the same in my eyes.

If it was pre-rehearsed press conference which I do think it was, there is no way Gavin simply dreamt it up as a reaction to beating Westmeath by 31 points. It was thought up between the suspension being issued and Sunday's match. For a team that plan everything meticulously I don't believe that this was an off the cuff reaction to deflect attention from a big win.

I think you may be on to something in relation to the number of Kerry men in the media. He referenced Spillane particularly who was definitely wearing his county hat. The more serious matter imo of the failed drugs test got no media attention whatsoever and was swept under the carpet by most pundits with comments such as 'ach sure he's a lovely fella' so there is a certain element of hypocrisy here.

I also don't believe that Dublin are better off without Connolly. They will sail into a qf/sf depending on the draw but in those last 2/3 matches they will need to have the manic aggression needed to win 3 in a row. Connolly is proven at that level and whilst they have some fine players on the bench, they are not proven serial winners like Connolly.   

[BennyHarp]

There certainly seems to have been a big surprise in the media yesterday about Jim Gavin's strange interview. I really only got to watch it in detail last night and even the way it started off was very peculiar in that he was almost denying there was a problem and that he was doing interviews in the more public domain of the auditorium.

It really looked like a staged performance to get a reaction or as some say to difuse away from their huge win over Westmeath. It so reminds me of how Mickey Harte used to do impeccable interviews back in the early 2000s where he spoke openly and honestly like Gavin likes to appear but then it all went pear shaped.

I think part of it is that RTE have 3 Kerry men now on the TSG panel and he maybe felt he had to lay down a marker than he would stand by his player no matter what. However, like I said yesterday I think he's just drawn more attention to Connolly and his past and maybe this is a big ploy to force some fans to think Connolly is just not worth the hassle any more and Dublin can win without him anyway. Most of expect Dublin to get to the AI final again this year without Connolly and so maybe Gavin's plan was to show that Dublin GAA are better off without all the hassle he brings to the table.

Listening to Brolly last night and it's hard to take the man seriously at any level as he spouts so many tall tales and exagerrations of the truth. Most of what he said of Spillane was untrue and I don't get the big deal being made of him reading out a script. I mean so what if he did read something out of his notes, as long as it was accurate. Was his point about if it was Gooch then would it have been different?
If Gooch had of pushed the linesman then he too would have been punished the same in my eyes.

If it was pre-rehearsed press conference which I do think it was, there is no way Gavin simply dreamt it up as a reaction to beating Westmeath by 31 points. It was thought up between the suspension being issued and Sunday's match. For a team that plan everything meticulously I don't believe that this was an off the cuff reaction to deflect attention from a big win.

I think you may be on to something in relation to the number of Kerry men in the media. He referenced Spillane particularly who was definitely wearing his county hat. The more serious matter imo of the failed drugs test got no media attention whatsoever and was swept under the carpet by most pundits with comments such as 'ach sure he's a lovely fella' so there is a certain element of hypocrisy here.

I also don't believe that Dublin are better off without Connolly. They will sail into a qf/sf depending on the draw but in those last 2/3 matches they will need to have the manic aggression needed to win 3 in a row. Connolly is proven at that level and whilst they have some fine players on the bench, they are not proven serial winners like Connolly.

Do you think Dublin were expecting a tight game v Westmeath? There was every possibly that this was going to be a turkey shoot. Gavin's outburst is so utterly ludicrous that there must be a motive behind it because if he genuinely feels that Connolly's been hard done by here then he really has lost the plot.

[screenexile]

He's obviously studied the Alex Ferguson/Mickey Harte book of building a siege mentality!!

[Buttofthehill]

There certainly seems to have been a big surprise in the media yesterday about Jim Gavin's strange interview. I really only got to watch it in detail last night and even the way it started off was very peculiar in that he was almost denying there was a problem and that he was doing interviews in the more public domain of the auditorium.

It really looked like a staged performance to get a reaction or as some say to difuse away from their huge win over Westmeath. It so reminds me of how Mickey Harte used to do impeccable interviews back in the early 2000s where he spoke openly and honestly like Gavin likes to appear but then it all went pear shaped.

I think part of it is that RTE have 3 Kerry men now on the TSG panel and he maybe felt he had to lay down a marker than he would stand by his player no matter what. However, like I said yesterday I think he's just drawn more attention to Connolly and his past and maybe this is a big ploy to force some fans to think Connolly is just not worth the hassle any more and Dublin can win without him anyway. Most of expect Dublin to get to the AI final again this year without Connolly and so maybe Gavin's plan was to show that Dublin GAA are better off without all the hassle he brings to the table.

Listening to Brolly last night and it's hard to take the man seriously at any level as he spouts so many tall tales and exagerrations of the truth. Most of what he said of Spillane was untrue and I don't get the big deal being made of him reading out a script. I mean so what if he did read something out of his notes, as long as it was accurate. Was his point about if it was Gooch then would it have been different?
If Gooch had of pushed the linesman then he too would have been punished the same in my eyes.

If it was pre-rehearsed press conference which I do think it was, there is no way Gavin simply dreamt it up as a reaction to beating Westmeath by 31 points. It was thought up between the suspension being issued and Sunday's match. For a team that plan everything meticulously I don't believe that this was an off the cuff reaction to deflect attention from a big win.

I think you may be on to something in relation to the number of Kerry men in the media. He referenced Spillane particularly who was definitely wearing his county hat. The more serious matter imo of the failed drugs test got no media attention whatsoever and was swept under the carpet by most pundits with comments such as 'ach sure he's a lovely fella' so there is a certain element of hypocrisy here.

I also don't believe that Dublin are better off without Connolly. They will sail into a qf/sf depending on the draw but in those last 2/3 matches they will need to have the manic aggression needed to win 3 in a row. Connolly is proven at that level and whilst they have some fine players on the bench, they are not proven serial winners like Connolly.

Do you think Dublin were expecting a tight game v Westmeath? There was every possibly that this was going to be a turkey shoot. Gavin's outburst is so utterly ludicrous that there must be a motive behind it because if he genuinely feels that Connolly's been hard done by here then he really has lost the plot.

Sure he said he accepted the ban?

[Taylor]

It is a shrewd move by Gavin and even if it gets them a 1% advantage or creates a doubt in a referees mind later in the season it will have been worth it

[yellowcard]

There certainly seems to have been a big surprise in the media yesterday about Jim Gavin's strange interview. I really only got to watch it in detail last night and even the way it started off was very peculiar in that he was almost denying there was a problem and that he was doing interviews in the more public domain of the auditorium.

It really looked like a staged performance to get a reaction or as some say to difuse away from their huge win over Westmeath. It so reminds me of how Mickey Harte used to do impeccable interviews back in the early 2000s where he spoke openly and honestly like Gavin likes to appear but then it all went pear shaped.

I think part of it is that RTE have 3 Kerry men now on the TSG panel and he maybe felt he had to lay down a marker than he would stand by his player no matter what. However, like I said yesterday I think he's just drawn more attention to Connolly and his past and maybe this is a big ploy to force some fans to think Connolly is just not worth the hassle any more and Dublin can win without him anyway. Most of expect Dublin to get to the AI final again this year without Connolly and so maybe Gavin's plan was to show that Dublin GAA are better off without all the hassle he brings to the table.

Listening to Brolly last night and it's hard to take the man seriously at any level as he spouts so many tall tales and exagerrations of the truth. Most of what he said of Spillane was untrue and I don't get the big deal being made of him reading out a script. I mean so what if he did read something out of his notes, as long as it was accurate. Was his point about if it was Gooch then would it have been different?
If Gooch had of pushed the linesman then he too would have been punished the same in my eyes.

If it was pre-rehearsed press conference which I do think it was, there is no way Gavin simply dreamt it up as a reaction to beating Westmeath by 31 points. It was thought up between the suspension being issued and Sunday's match. For a team that plan everything meticulously I don't believe that this was an off the cuff reaction to deflect attention from a big win.

I think you may be on to something in relation to the number of Kerry men in the media. He referenced Spillane particularly who was definitely wearing his county hat. The more serious matter imo of the failed drugs test got no media attention whatsoever and was swept under the carpet by most pundits with comments such as 'ach sure he's a lovely fella' so there is a certain element of hypocrisy here.

I also don't believe that Dublin are better off without Connolly. They will sail into a qf/sf depending on the draw but in those last 2/3 matches they will need to have the manic aggression needed to win 3 in a row. Connolly is proven at that level and whilst they have some fine players on the bench, they are not proven serial winners like Connolly.

Do you think Dublin were expecting a tight game v Westmeath? There was every possibly that this was going to be a turkey shoot. Gavin's outburst is so utterly ludicrous that there must be a motive behind it because if he genuinely feels that Connolly's been hard done by here then he really has lost the plot.

No, I don't. Equally I don't think they would have expected it to be as easy. I certainly don't think the motive was to deflect from a big win against Westmeath. That game was never going to define Dublin's season. Dublin's biggest rivals for retaining Sam are Kerry and Gavin knows this. It's why he chose to isolate Spillane in his criticism of the coverage (though he was the pundit who set the ball rolling on this). It's a source of motivation for him and his team to use Spillane's criticism as fuel over the next 3 months. Spillane was clearly wearing his Kerry hat and Sunday Game pundits do have too much influence, but equally Gavin has over reacted. However he doesn't care one jot, his only duty is to win an AI with Dublin, not whether he fulfills his media duties for the rest of the season. 

[Croí na hÉireann]

Not a big fan of Conlon but he's spot on here https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/23e367be-5aa8-11e7-ad31-8e588690cd15

[BennyCake]

Managers are starting to sound and act like politicans.

[Syferus]

Managers are starting to sound and act like politicans.

Starting?

[The Hill is Blue]

Not a big fan of Conlon but he's spot on here https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/23e367be-5aa8-11e7-ad31-8e588690cd15

If you need to use the likes of Conlon to plead your case then God help us.

I prefer Paul Grimley's take on the matter.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/the-sunday-game-panel-cant-be-involved-in-character-assassination-paul-grimley-backs-jim-gavin-stand-35868951.html

[Syferus]

Not a big fan of Conlon but he's spot on here https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/23e367be-5aa8-11e7-ad31-8e588690cd15

If you need to use the likes of Conlon to plead your case then God help us.

I prefer Paul Grimley's take on the matter.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/the-sunday-game-panel-cant-be-involved-in-character-assassination-paul-grimley-backs-jim-gavin-stand-35868951.html

This the same man who invented his own reasons to be angry at the media because he was shite at his job?

[BennyCake]

Managers are starting to sound and act like politicans.

Starting?

Oh yes. Sorry about that.

[yellowcard]

Not a big fan of Conlon but he's spot on here https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/23e367be-5aa8-11e7-ad31-8e588690cd15

If you need to use the likes of Conlon to plead your case then God help us.

I prefer Paul Grimley's take on the matter.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/the-sunday-game-panel-cant-be-involved-in-character-assassination-paul-grimley-backs-jim-gavin-stand-35868951.html

Grimley is 100% correct here. If anyone thinks that a few Sunday Game pundits do not set the narrative, then watch the reporting of Down at the weekend. Instead of reporting knee dropping and aggressive tactics with slo-mo's of the controversial incidents, we got affectionate descriptions of anarchy and chaos and statements that that's what you've got to do to win.

I've no problem with them not highlighting Downs misdemeanours but it's the double standards and hypocrisy that exists depending on the colour of jersey worn. If it had been another county with a different manager the narrative would have been completely different. Plenty of people won't admit it but there is an irrational hatred of Dublin and their recent success by many media pundits and print journalists. They all each have their set agenda's but they have the luxury of getting paid to comment on these sideshows.

[Main Street]

Exactly what part of Spillane's punditry supports this hysterical claim of a "character assassination" on Connolly?

[Wildweasel74]

Always liked dublin and they have played great fball over the past 5-6yrs but they became a dislikeable team and you could laid alot of that at gavin!  Oh poor dermot; seriously how about some player and team discpline! The blame for connolly attitude lies with the player himself and the manager! The sunday game only pointing out a issue which we all can see, now its a attitude of get the player off where he was right or wrong!